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Showing posts from April 11, 2021

ANALYSIS - What is happening on the Colombian-Venezuelan border?

CARACAS, Venezuela During the last three weeks, Venezuela and Colombia have experienced a new episode of diplomatic tension. The most recent impasse is set against the backdrop of the Colombian armed conflict and Apure's inhospitable regions and Arauca as the backdrop. Usually, what happens in the small towns of La Victoria or El Ripial, located in the southwestern Venezuelan plains, affects little or nothing within the Bolivarian Republic's political dynamics. The same happens on the other bank of the river, where what happens in Arauquita has marginal importance in the dispute for power in Colombia. However, both from Miraflores and the Palace of Narino, the realities of these places have become matters of state. Caracas has deployed more than 90 troops in Apure state, including an elite joint action brigade with troops from its various military corps, and recently announced the dispatch of 1,000 militiamen. For its part, Bogota mobilized 2,000 new troops from i

Landmine proliferation at epicenter of Colombia Venezuela border conflict

  The National Center for Historical Memory (CNMH) has released the official number of landmine victims in Colombia documented from 1958 to 2020. According to the Center’s Observatory for Memory and Conflict, 9,823 persons were maimed or killed as a result of explosive ordnances banned under the 1997 Ottawa Convention. The departments of Antioquia, Nariño and Meta have the highest numbers of victims since 1990. The study also claims that the guerrilla – FARC and ELN – were responsible for planting most the anti-personnel mines against members of the state’s security forces, as well as civilians. Among civilians, children and the elderly account for most deaths. Despite being one of 162 nations that ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2000, the scourge of landmines continues in Colombia, many sown by illegal armed groups to protect coca plantations and lucrative drug trafficking routes. By the end of 2016, with the signing of the peace accord with FARC, Colombia was the seco

'Enough is Enough', Says Relative of Elderly Sikh Woman Killed in Indianapolis Mass Shooting

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The grieving families of the Indian-Americans working at a FedEx facility in the US state of Indiana expressed their anger, fear and anxiety as they received the news of a mass shooting that killed eight people, including four Sikhs. Brandon Scott Hole, 19, and a former employee at the facility in Indianapolis carried out the mass shooting on late Thursday before allegedly committing suicide. © Provided by News18 'Enough is Enough', Says Relative of Elderly Sikh Woman Killed in Indianapolis Mass Shooting About 90 per cent of the workers at this delivery service facility are said to be Indian-Americans, mostly from the Sikh community. Late Friday night, the Marion County Coroner’s Office and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) released the names of the victims: Amarjeet Johal (66), Jasvinder Kaur (64), Amarjit Skhon (48) and Jaswinder Singh (68). The first three deceased are women. Enough is enough our community has been through enough trau

Has Taliban really changed?

The Afghanistan government believes that it can hold its ground without the help of foreign forces.  But the question is what about the Taliban? Is it prepared to participate in a democratic process? Would it agree to share power in the republic of Afghanistan? Or does it still insist on leading an Islamic Emirate? We asked Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif about this. Also read | Afghan, Indian NSAs speak in the backdrop of Biden's announcement of troop withdrawal He mentioned of the threat of violence. Because the risk of an escalation is real. The Taliban has promised fresh attacks If the foreign forces don't meet the deadline to withdraw.  Is the Taliban just waiting for the Americans to leave before it makes its first moves? Afghanistan feels that would be a mistake. Afghan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib said that there has been "no change in the Taliban". The world saw a Taliban regime more than 20 years ago and it's a

US and allies plan fight from afar against al-Qaeda once troops exit Afghanistan

US troops are set to leave  Afghanistan  no later than September 11, but the  Pentagon , US spy agencies and Western allies are refining plans to deploy a less visible but still potent force in the region to prevent the country from again becoming a terrorist base.  Drawing on the hard lessons from President Barack Obama’s decision a decade ago to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq — allowing the rise of the Islamic State three years later — the Pentagon is discussing with allies where to reposition forces, possibly to neighbouring Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, according to US officials.  Attack planes aboard aircraft carriers and long-range bombers flying from land bases along the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and even in the  United States  could strike insurgent fighters spotted by armed surveillance drones.  But there are risks.  Afghan commandos who have been providing the bulk of intelligence on insurgent threats could disintegrate after the United States withdraws, leaving a l

177 former extremists get aid from PLGU-Maguindanao

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao Province, Apr. 7-- A total of 177 former Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Dawlah Islamiya (DI) extremists have already received livelihood and farm assistance through the Anak na may GInintuang LAyunin, upang Hintuan Ang Violent Extremism Ngayon (AGILA-HAVEN) Program of the provincial government of Maguindanao. Based on the report of the Task Force AGILA, as of April 5, 2021, the provincial government already distributed 40 motorbikes or “Payong-payong”, 12 farm tractors, 13 motorized bangka, 131 farm merchandises, and livelihood assistance. The most recent aid were the livelihood assistance and farm machineries given to 42 members of the BIFF and DI. The assistance was intended to help former rebels start a peaceful and progressive life with their family and community. Governor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu expressed her appreciation to the former rebels for their decision to cooperate with the government. “Ngayon nandyan na ang tulong kaya

Wife Says Suspected Tajik Terrorist's Televised Confession Coerced

  DUSHANBE -- The wife of a suspected terrorist in Tajikistan, whose confession was shown on television nationwide, says her husband's admission of guilt was coerced by investigators. Imomali Idibegov's televised statement, where he admitted to having links with terrorists, was broadcast on April 14.  During the program where the statement was made, Idibegov's wife, Dilbar Ghanieva, confirms that her husband was detained on April 6 on terrorism charges. But on April 15, Ghanieva told RFE/RL that police had forced them to confess to something her 38-year-old spouse had not done. "The police interrogated us and insulted us with very vulgar words for a week. In the end, my husband could not stand it and said: 'Let my wife go, I will confess to anything you want,'" she told RFE/RL.  "I know for sure that my husband is not a terrorist. They also forced me...to say on television that my husband is a terrorist," Ghanieva said. Though there was no immedi

Conflict Alert 2020: Enduring wars

Analysis   Source   Int'l Alert   Posted   4 Apr 2021   Originally published   26 Jan 2021 Origin   View original Enduring wars hamper Bangsamoro’s conflict-to-peace transition An explosion of clan feuding and land related conflict in 2019 threatens to stall the momentum towards peace in the Bangsamoro region. This is according to  Conflict Alert , a subnational conflict monitoring system focused on Mindanao in the Philippines, which launched its 2020 Bangsamoro conflict report. By close of 2019, the conflict monitoring system logged a total of 2,655 violent conflict incidents in the five Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, including the cities of Cotabato and Isabela – a decrease of 9% from the previous year. Even as overall conflict incidents trended downward, flashpoints developed in many pockets and corners of the BARMM, said Nikki de la Rosa, Country Director of International Alert Phili

The other caliphate in the Philippines

For five brutal months in 2017 the black flag of so-called Islamic State fluttered over a captured city, and thousands of lives were destroyed. But rather than Iraq or Syria, this was a reality in Marawi, in the Philippines. Anna Foster travels to the heart of a devastated community - still off-limits to most - where ruined buildings cut through with shrapnel and bullet-holes are all that’s left of a once-thriving city.   Source:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09d7n5r

George Floyd, Daunte Wright & Now Adam Toledo: Timeline Of Racial Killings In US In Recent Yrs

  Chicago police have   released graphic footage of an officer shooting dead a 13-year-old boy   in a dark alley, last month. Bodycam video released on Thursday shows  the policeman shouting "Drop it" before shooting Adam Toledo  once in the chest on 29 March.  The boy does not appear to be holding a weapon in the split second he was shot, but police video shows a handgun near the spot where he fell. The boy, Adam Toledo, who was Latino and was a seventh grader, was one of the youngest people killed by the police in Illinois in years.  Small protests were held on Thursday evening around Chicago, hours after the city's mayor appealed for calm. What does the footage show? The clip shows the officer jumping out of his squad car and chasing the Latino boy on foot down a dark alley as another suspect disappears from view. The policeman shouts: "Police! Stop! Stop right [expletive] now! Hands! Hands! Show me your [expletive] hands!" The boy turns and raises his hands.

Lebanon-Syria: Smuggling and sanctions, the new front line

Despite being on the brink of collapse, the Lebanese economy is keeping a troublesome neighbour afloat: Bashar al-Assad's Syria. In order to dodge international sanctions on the Assad regime – notably the US-imposed Caesar Act – products such as food and petrol are being smuggled across the border into Syria on a massive scale. Our reporters James André and Mayssa Awad investigated a phenomenon that costs the Lebanese economy a whopping $15 million a day and prevents the international community from coming to its aid. Hermel is a  Lebanese  city located north of the Bekaa valley, 150 kilometres from the capital Beirut. Officially, the border with neighbouring  Syria  is closed because of the coronavirus. But in this region, all types of products are smuggled, especially those subsidised by the Lebanese state (such as sheep and hay) and smugglers risk few consequences. In the capital, the Lebanese pound has collapsed (it hit an all-time low in March 2021) and people are angry. Every

Heavy fighting near Yemen's Marib ‘leaves 96 dead’

  DUBAI: Heavy fighting near the  Yemeni  city of Marib has killed 96 combatants over the past two days as Houthi rebels press their offensive on the government's last northern toehold, loyalist commanders said on Friday. "Clashes between the two sides on several fronts in the Marib area on Wednesday and Thursday killed 36 loyalists troops and 60 rebels," one government military source told AFP. The Iran-backed rebels rarely disclose their own losses. Aircraft of a military coalition led by  Saudi Arabia  provided air support to government ground forces. Also read:  Why has there been a shift in Pakistan’s relations with the Middle East? The Houthis are "keeping up their slow advance on Marib and now constitute a very real threat on the Kassara and Mashjah fronts, northwest of the city," another loyalist military official said. The loss of Marib would be a heavy blow for the Yemeni government, currently based in the southern city of Aden, and for its Saudi backe

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai among democracy leaders jailed for protests

They were found guilty earlier this month of organising and participating in a massive protest in August 2019, where an estimated 1.7 million people marched in opposition to a bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland  China  for trial. The protest was not authorised by the police. Their convictions and sentencing were the latest blow to the city’s flagging democracy movement, amid an ongoing crackdown by Beijing and  Hong Kong  authorities on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.  Lai, the founder of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily tabloid, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for unauthorised assembly. He was later given an additional 14 years for a separate unauthorised assembly case. Prior to sentencing, he was remanded in jail on other charges, including collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the city’s affairs – a new crime under a national security law imposed on the city in 2020 by the central government in Beijing. Lee, an 82-year-old lawyer and