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BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will make a statement at 1130 GMT on Thursday, the regional government said, amid speculation he could declare independence from Spain or call new elections. The Catalan government said he would make an announcement, without giving further details. Puigdemont is under intense pressure from members of his party to call early elections to ease the separatist crisis, according to a source close to the Catalan leader, who […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia will train Filipino soldiers in urban warfare to combat the spread of the Islamic extremism after months of fierce fighting against militants in the country’s south, it was announced Tuesday. Canberra has been aiding Manila against local supporters of the Islamic State group in the southern city of Marawi since September, deploying two AP-3C Orion aircraft for surveillance while helping in information-gathering and analysis. Defense chiefs in the Philippines […]
Clark, Philippines (AFP) — US Defense Secretary James Mattis on Monday praised the Philippines for its successes in battling Islamic State supporters, as he began an Asian trip aimed at reaffirming American support for regional allies. Mattis echoed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement last week that Filipino forces had “liberated” the southern city of Marawi, after five months of bitter urban fighting that had claimed more than 1,000 lives, even though battles have continued. […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The media has “exaggerated” the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing an army crackdown, Myanmar’s commander-in-chief said Thursday, in a brash rebuttal of accusations of ethnic cleansing by his forces. Some 520,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s western Rakhine state since August 25, when the military launched a sweeping campaign against militants from the Muslim minority. The crackdown has been so intense that the UN on Wednesday accused Myanmar of trying to purge its entire Rohingya […]
COX’s BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) – At least 12 people died and scores were missing Monday after a boat packed with Rohingya refugees — many of them children — capsized, the latest tragedy to strike those fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Coast guard and border guard officials said the boat was overloaded with about 100 people when it sank late Sunday in the mouth of the Naf river that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh. Border […]
SHAH PORIR DWIP, Bangladesh (AFP) — Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh amid a fresh exodus from strife-torn Myanmar have described whole villages being emptied and thousands marching to the border as security forces redouble efforts to drive the remaining Muslims from their homes. More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled ethnic bloodshed in Myanmar in the past month and numbers are again swelling, with Bangladesh reporting 4-5,000 civilians now crossing the border each day after a brief […]
by Layal Abou Rahal Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – Syria’s war killed at least 3,000 people including 955 civilians in September, the deadliest month of the conflict this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and millions displaced since the war erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. It has since spiralled into a complex conflict involving world powers, […]
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — The United Nations has drawn up a contingency plan to feed up to 700,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar after some 480,000 fled to Bangladesh over the past month and arrivals continue. A senior official from the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) told AFP they were now prepared to provide massive food and other emergency aid if the influx continues in coming weeks. “All the UN agencies together have now set a […]
LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) – Britain will give Nigeria aid worth £200 million over five years to help it cope with the brutal insurgency being waged by Boko Haram jihadists, the foreign ministry in London said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson visited Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s northeast Borno State and epicenter of the Boko Haram organization, to meet some of those involved in the fight. The Islamist militant group has increasingly used child suicide bombers […]
MAUNGDAW , Myanmar (AFP) — At least 18,500 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since fighting erupted in Myanmar’s neighboring Rakhine state six days ago, the International Organization for Migration said Wednesday. Plumes of smoke billowed from several burning villages in the worst-hit section of the state, according to an AFP reporter on a government-led trip to the area, as the violence showed little sign of abating despite security sweeps by Myanmar’s police and troops. The clashes began on […]
UNITED STATES (AFP) – Iraq has asked the United Nations to assist it with gathering evidence of crimes committed by the Islamic State group and said it was working with Britain to draft a Security Council resolution to establish an investigation. In a letter dated August 9 but given to the press Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari, congratulating his country’s army on its “brilliant military victories” against the militant force that once controlled vast […]
