Tag: military

Indonesia halts deep-sea salvage of sunken submarine

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia has called off its bid to salvage a military submarine that sank off the coast of Bali, killing all 53 crew aboard, the navy said Wednesday. The KRI Nanggala 402 disappeared in April while it was scheduled to take part in live torpedo training exercises, sparking a desperate international rescue effort. An underwater rescue vehicle later spotted the German-built sub lying on the sea floor more than 800 metres […]

Malaysia scrambles jets to intercept Chinese military planes

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia scrambled jets to intercept 16 Chinese military aircraft off the country’s coast in the South China Sea, a rare incident that the foreign minister angrily denounced Tuesday as an “intrusion”. It took place Monday off the Malaysian part of Borneo island over the fiercely contested waters, where China and Malaysia have overlapping territorial claims. The Chinese air force transport planes approached Malaysian airspace in “tactical formation” and flew to […]

Myanmar journalist to seek asylum in Spain

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Myanmar correspondent Mratt Kyaw Thu will arrive in Madrid on Tuesday to ask for asylum after fleeing the military junta in Yangon, said the Spanish news agency EFE, which he worked for. The 30-year-old correspondent, who will travel to Spain after failing to obtain asylum in Germany, won AFP’s Kate Webb award in 2017 for his outstanding coverage of the ethnic and religious conflicts in Myanmar. “Tomorrow he will fly from […]

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi defiant in first comments since coup

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said her ousted party would “exist as long as the people exist” during her first in-person court appearance since a February coup, her lawyer told AFP Monday. Since the February 1 putsch, Myanmar has been in uproar with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement, with more than 800 killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group. “We met with Amay […]

Police and soldiers killed in eastern Myanmar amid heavy fighting

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Dozens of Myanmar security force members were killed Sunday, rebel fighters said, after heavy fighting in the coup-hit country’s eastern fringe. Myanmar has been in chaos since the February putsch, as the military uses lethal force to crack down on dissent. The civilian death toll has climbed to at least 815 people, according to a local monitoring group. The violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called […]

Japan could freeze all Myanmar aid, foreign minister warns

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo could freeze all aid to Myanmar, Japan’s foreign minister warned in an interview published Friday, as the military junta continues to use lethal force against opponents of its coup. Japan is a top donor to Myanmar, and has already suspended new aid after the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But Toshimitsu Motegi, speaking to the Nikkei newspaper, said the freeze could be expanded. “We don’t want to […]

Myanmar town pleads for help as thousands flee fighting

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Desperate residents of a Myanmar town hit by clashes between the military and an anti-junta defence force pleaded for help Wednesday as the UN warned the fighting may have forced thousands to flee. Government forces used artillery to flush out rebels from the western town of Mindat after fighting broke out on May 12, a spokesman for a local insurgent group said, and later cut off its water supply. One resident […]

Anti-coup militia says at least five dead in Myanmar clashes

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — At least five opposition rebels have been killed after days of clashes in Myanmar, an anti-junta militia said Sunday, as Britain and the United States condemned the military’s violence against civilians. The country has been in an uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 1 coup, triggering a massive uprising that authorities have sought to quell with lethal force. Some in the anti-junta movement […]

Japanese journalist to be deported from Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A Japanese journalist arrested while covering the aftermath of the Myanmar coup is to be deported, Tokyo said Friday, after charges against him were dropped as a diplomatic gesture. Yuki Kitazumi, held in Yangon’s Insein prison since his arrest last month, was one of at least 80 reporters detained during the junta’s crackdown on anti-coup dissent. Security forces have killed more than 780 people since protests erupted following the February 1 […]

Thai police arrest journalists fleeing coup-hit Myanmar

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Three Myanmar journalists have been arrested in Thailand after fleeing across the border to escape a crackdown by the military junta, their employer has said. The trio were set to appear in court on Tuesday, their editor added, urging Thai authorities not to repatriate them to the coup-hit country. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering a mass uprising […]

Myanmar counts cost of coup, 100 days on

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — One hundred days after the military seized power in Myanmar, the nun who pleaded for protesters on her knees in the street says the coup has cast a pall of fear and depression over the country. The image of Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng kneeling in the dust, arms spread, begging police not to shoot “the children” went viral in March as an uprising swelled in Myanmar. Today, the 45-year-old nun […]

US sends more reinforcements for Afghan pullout: Pentagon

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military has deployed more heavy bombers and fighter jets to protect withdrawing American and coalition troops from Afghanistan, which have so far sustained no direct attacks, the Pentagon said Thursday. “Less than one week in, the drawdown is going according to plan,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Pentagon Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley said that to defend the departing troops, six B-52 long range bombers and 12 […]