New Zealand on Monday unveiled the second round of restrictions on gun ownership in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at two mosques in Christchurch earlier this year.The new rules include establishing a gun registry, banning gun purchases by foreign visitors, and requiring gun owners to renew licenses every five years, instead of every 10. The proposed changes will “enshrine in law that owning a firearm is a privilege” rather than a right, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.Wellington moved swiftly after the attacks in March that killed 51 people and wounded dozens. Six days after the attack, Ardern announced a ban on semiautomatic weapons, including the type used by the gunman in the attacks. Since then the government has launched a buyback program to compensate people for the outlawed semi-automatics, and has collected and destroyed more than 3,200 weapons. The gun buyback and amnesty runs until December.Police Minister Stuart Nash said the new law would allow police to monitor people’s social media accounts to determine whether they were fit to own weapons.”What we do know is that the Christchurch terrorist was engaged on some sites which were promoting some pretty horrific material,” Nash said. “So that’s one thing police will have the ability to assess when they determine if someone is fit and proper to have a firearms license.”The new legislation is expected to be introduced into the Parliament next month. After that, it will be subject to three months of public feedback, before it is voted on by lawmakers.
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Month: July 2019
Tensions Escalate in Hong Kong as Protesters Blame Police
Residents of Hong Kong, already tense after weeks of protests against the city’s leader and police, were deeply shaken after masked assailants wearing white T-shirts savagely beat people dressed in black, the color of this summer’s democracy movement. The attackers descended late Sunday on an MTR rail station in the far northern district of Yuen Long, along the border with mainland China. Victims and rail riders uploaded dozens of videos that showed people bloodied and dazed. One witness complained that police arrived after a half hour and allegedly left after 15 minutes. Six were arrested, as police searched for the people responsible for the beatings of 45 people late Sunday night. The targeted victims included a lawmaker, journalists, and passersby. Businesses were so worried about further tensions that shops and malls remained closed.The smashed glass entrance to the office of pro-Beijing government lawmaker Junius Ho is seen as protesters gather in Hong Kong’s Tsuen Wan district on July 22, 2019.Kaylee Lee, a registered nurse, retreated to a women’s restroom at the station and treated wounded people with a physician. People kept pushing in to get away from the attackers.”I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Lee said. “Some passengers were so injured, they couldn’t walk by themselves. … It was like a zombie movie. Some zombies wanted to get inside and attack us. We keep asking them to hold the door. Don’t let them come inside.”As the government has been accused of ignoring demonstrators’ demands, protests have grown angrier. Hours after Sunday’s march, thousands of mostly young people wearing black clothing and construction helmets, joined rolling protests.Participants threw black paint at the Chinese national emblem outside state offices, blocked off highways and built barricades from street signs. The National Emblem of the People’s Republic of China is seen vandalized on the Chinese Liaison Office after a march to call for democratic reforms, in Hong Kong, July 22, 2019.By 2:30 Monday morning, all but a hundred or so protesters had left the unrest on Hong Kong Island.Carrie Lam, the city’s deeply unpopular chief executive, condemned the rail station attacks, but criticized protesters who defaced the national emblem on Beijing’s liaison office.”They blatantly challenged China’s national sovereignty … and angered the whole city,” she said at a press conference.Witnesses to Sunday’s chaos faulted the police’s slow and minimal response.”The police really cooperated with the white-colored T-shirt people,” said Mario, a bystander who asked that his last name be withheld out of fear that police might target him. “Why did the staff not do anything?” he asked. Lam Cheuk Ting, a pro-democracy lawmaker who was bloodied in the event, said the attackers could be triad, or gang members, and said the police deliberately declined to act.”It is a very serious misconduct in public office. It’s an offense,” he told journalists. “It’s not just a disciplinary problem, but a criminal liability they have to bear.”Men in white T-shirts and face masks attack demonstrators and reporters at a train station in Hong Kong, China, July 21, 2019, in this still image obtained from a social media live video.A few people at the MTR station tried to hold off the attackers by spraying them with water hoses. In a video posted on his Facebook page, Lam and a few others appear to lead people up the stairs and onto an awaiting train. Downstairs, the concourse filled with several dozen masked assailants who ran up the station stairs chasing passengers. One lunged for Lam, while others beat and kicked other passengers. The conductor left the train doors open, and minutes later, some of the attackers burst into the train carriage waving sticks. Some passengers beat them back with umbrellas. One passenger begged the assailants to stop but was punched so hard, he fell backwards. Another attacker lunged for Lam. With glasses in hand, he sat dazed, as blood poured from his mouth. Bystander Mario said he tried to fend off the attackers with a fire hose, but escaped by slipping under the metal gate of a closing shop. He was still furious on Monday. “I don’t know why suddenly there are no police in Yuen Long,” Mario said. “Why would the government do that? Why did they allow people to attack lots of people?”Protesters demand that an independent investigation be conducted into the forceful tactics used by police during previous demonstrations. Riot squads deployed tear gas, rubber bullets and bean bag rounds against mostly unarmed protesters, causing serious injuries.
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French Submarine Found 50 Years After Disappearance
The wreckage of a French submarine that disappeared more than 50 years ago has been found almost 45 kilometers from the vessel’s home port of Toulon.Fifty-two sailors were on board the Minerve when it vanished in January 1968.”It’s a success, a relief and a technical feat,” French Defense Minister Florence Parly tweeted Monday. “I am thinking of the families who have waited for so long for this moment.”An undated handout picture released July 22, 2019, shows personnel of the French Navy and Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy during a research campaign for the submarine Minerve, that disappeared Jan. 27, 1968, off Toulon, France.Parly, who announced a new search mission earlier this year, said its success was made possible thanks to “recent technological advances in underwater exploration, including the use of new sonars and research drones.” The cause of the accident involving the Minerve has never been announced.Experts have speculated that it could have been due to a problem with its rudder, a collision with another boat, the explosion of a missile or torpedo, or a fault with its oxygen supply systems.Parly said a ceremony will be held at sea for the families of the sailors who died. The wreck will stay where it is, serving as the sailors’ final resting place, the French Navy said.
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Heavy Smoke, Evacuations Expected as Arizona Wildfire Grows
A wildfire in the western U.S. state of Arizona grew from 80 hectares to more than 400 hectares overnight, officials said Monday. Residents of the city of Flagstaff and surrounding communities have been warned to expect heavy smoke to stifle the area. Campers and visitors to the Coconino National Forest have been asked to evacuate.Some 200 firefighters and a dozen aircraft, including four air tankers, have been fighting the blaze, dubbed the Museum Fire. The cause of the fire, first reported Sunday morning, is under investigation.Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said his office was in contact with emergency responders.”My thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters and first responders working to protect Arizonans, their pets and their property,” a statement released by his office said.
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Mexico Says No to Safe Third-country Asylum Discussion with US
Mexico will not agree to further discussion of safe third country status for asylum seekers, the foreign minister said, adding it was not clear what the Trump administration’s stance was on the issue despite a deadline reached on Monday.Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said that in weekend talks, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not address an earlier deal that the two countries look at making asylum seekers apply for refuge in Mexico if migration flows were not significantly lower by July 22.Proposal unnecessaryHowever, Ebrard said he told Pompeo in Mexico City on Sunday that Mexico’s view was that the proposal was unnecessary, after it helped reduce apprehensions at the U.S. southern border by a about a third last month.”I can’t anticipate what their stance is but the Mexican position is very clear. We are not going to change our position. We don’t agree, and we have not accepted a negotiation about it,” Ebrard said at a news conference.Mexican soldiers present arms as the country’s Minister of Defense drives by, in Tapachula, Mexico, June 11, 2019. Mexican officials say they are beginning deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops for immigration enforcement.Mexico has long resisted U.S. pressure to formally accept the safe third country status. Even so, it agreed with the United States to begin talks over changing rules to make Mexico into a safe third country if, by July 22, the United States deemed that Mexico had not done enough to thwart migrants.That June 7 deal was reached to avert U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of escalating tariffs on all Mexican products sold to the United States.Trump has made slashing illegal migration numbers a hallmark of his presidency and 2020 re-election bid, but despite last month’s decline in apprehensions flows are still near record highs.A safe third country agreement would in theory push asylum seekers, who currently make up a large part of those apprehended at the border, seek refuge in Mexico instead.Mexican efforts praised, but …Following the meeting on Sunday, Pompeo praised Mexican efforts in reducing U.S.-bound migrant flows but said there was still “more work to do.” He also said that he would consult with Trump about further action on immigration.”As for the next set of actions. I’ll talk with the president and the teams back in Washington and we’ll decide exactly which tools and exactly how to proceed,” Pompeo said.Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet on the topic ahead of Monday’s deadline.Migrant apprehensions on the U.S. southern border fell in June to some 100,000 people, according to U.S. data, after Mexico enforced new measures including the deployment of some 21,000 militarized National Guard police to its borders.
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Newly-Elected Greek Government Wins Confidence Vote on Economic Policy
Greece’s newly-elected conservative government won a confidence vote on Monday on its economic policy, which includes tax cuts and measures to speed up investments.Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s New Democracy party won a landslide election on July 7, on pledges to cut taxes and boost growth in an economy which shrank by a quarter during a protracted debt crisis.”We are going past the era of taxes and poverty to investments and well-paid jobs,” Mitsotakis told lawmakers ahead of the vote. “It’s up to us” to write our own history, starting today by voting the government’s program statements.”The policy was approved by all 158 lawmakers of the ruling conservative party in the 300-seat parliament.Mitsotakis has promised to reduce property, income and corporate taxation, and carry out reforms on public administration to remove bureaucratic hurdles for investments.He has also identified loss-making state-controlled Public Power Corp. (PPC) and the launch of a long-delayed tourist and property investment among his term’s top priorities.Greece’s energy ministry on Monday unveiled a plan to overhaul PPC, including voluntary redundancies and selling shares in its distribution network.The government also plans to speed up the regulatory process so that a long-delayed tourist investment project at a disused Athens airport can be launched by the end of the year, the development minister said on Monday.
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Empty Nets as Overfishing and Climate Change Sap Lake Malawi
On the shores of Lake Malawi, a crowd eagerly awaits the arrival of a white and yellow cedar wood boat carrying its haul.The crew of six deliver a single net of chambo, sardine and tiny usipa fish from the boat, just one of 72 vessels that land their catch every day on the beach at Senga Bay.But overfishing and climate change have taken their toll.Hundreds of local traders gather each morning and afternoon at Senga only to find that fish populations are falling in Lake Malawi, Africa’s third largest body of freshwater.”We were hoping to catch a half-boat full or maybe a quarter-boat … but I’m afraid the fish are dwindling in numbers,” port manager Alfred Banda told AFP staring wearily at the small catch as it was dragged onto the sand.”Before, we used to catch a full boat but now we are struggling,” he said, adding that a full boat would earn a team of between six and 12 fishermen about $300.Bordering three countries — Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique — Lake Malawi stretches across more than 29,000 square kilometers (11,200 square miles) with over 1,000 species of fish.The 14,000 people living at Senga Bay depend on the lake for food and for their livelihood.”Seven years ago there was lots more fish than today. In 2019 it is different, there’s no fish in the water,” trader Katrina Male, a 40-year-old mother of six, told AFP as she stalked the nets of newly brought in fish seeking the best deal.”The fish nowadays are more expensive, because they are becoming scarce,” Male said. “Some children have stopped going to school because their parents can’t find the money.”‘No alternative to fishing’ For both locals and climate experts, declining fish numbers reflect a combination of environmental change and overfishing that augurs ill for the future.The World Bank ranks Malawi among the top 10 at-risk countries in Africa to climate change, with cyclones and floods among the major threats.Senga community leader John White Said says increasing gale force winds and torrential rains have made it harder for fishermen on the lake.”Our men can’t catch fish because of wind which is much stronger than before,” he said, adding that the rains are increasingly unpredictable on the lake.”The rain before would not destroy houses and nature but now it comes with full power, destroying everything and that affects the water as well.”According to USAID, the number of rainfalls incidents in the aid-dependent country is likely to decrease — but each rainfall will be more intense, leading to droughts and floods.The threat was highlighted in March when Malawi was hit by torrential rains from Cyclone Idai, killing 59 people. The storm also cut a swathe through Mozambique and Zimbabwe, leaving nearly 1,000 dead.On top of the environmental impact, the number of fishermen in Senga had doubled in the last 10 years due to the lack of other jobs, Said said.”There is no alternative to fishing.”One of the few to benefit is 38-year-old boat owner Salim Jackson, who rents out his two vessels.
“I got into fishing 13 years ago because I had no other option, I never went to school. But it has brought me good money,” he said.’Unsustainable fishing practices’ By sunset, the balls of fishing net lay stretched out on the beach and both buyers and fishermen negotiate prices.Traders take their purchases in buckets to makeshift reed tables to be dried, smoked, fried or boiled in preparation for the market.”Declining fish catches are mainly due to unsustainable fishing practices,” said Sosten Chiotha, a Malawian environmental science professor who works for the Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) action group.”Overfishing is a challenge in Lake Malawi [but] there are efforts on co-management and closed seasons to ensure that the fishery recovers.”Chiotha added that climate change was hitting Malawi with “increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the major ecosystems including lakes.”That leaves Malawi’s agriculture-based economy sharply vulnerable to climatic events and entrenched poverty heightens pressure on the environment.Wearing a black silk thawb robe and white kufi cap, Said stands tall on Senga beach, surveying the scene around him.”I’m worried,” he said. “In Malawi most people depend on fishing financially and as a cheap food source.
“The men have to cast their nets further and further away from the beach.”
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Trump Praises Chinese Response to Hong Kong Protests
US President Donald Trump on Monday praised Beijing’s handling of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, a day after suspected triad gangsters attacked demonstrators in a bloody escalation.Hong Kong has been plunged into its worst crisis in recent history by weeks of marches, which drew millions, and sporadic violent confrontations between police and pockets of hardcore protesters.The demonstrations have evolved into a call for democratic reforms, universal suffrage and a halt to sliding freedoms which China had promised to respect in the semi-autonomous territory after its handover from Britain in 1997.”I know that’s a very important situation for President Xi” Jinping of China, Trump said during a White House meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.When a reporter suggested that the Hong Kong and Chinese governments were ignoring violence against the protesters, Trump replied that “I think it’s been relatively nonviolent.”Hospital authorities said 45 people were wounded in the attack late Sunday which led to the arrest of six men, some of whom police alleged had triad gangster backgrounds.”China could stop them if they wanted,” Trump said of the protests.”I’m not involved in it very much but I think President Xi of China has acted responsibly, very responsibly,” said Trump, who last year began a trade war with China that has led to tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in mutual trade, a dispute still unsettled.After Sunday’s violence critics accused Hong Kong police of responding too slowly.”They’ve been out there protesting for a long time. I’ve never seen protests like it where you have that many people. It looks like two million people,” Trump said.”Those are big protests. … I hope that President Xi will do the right thing, but it has been going on a long time, there’s no question.”Hardcore protesters have stormed Hong Kong’s legislature, and on Sunday some demonstrators targeted with eggs and graffiti China’s representative office in the financial hub, which China’s foreign ministry called “absolutely intolerable.”
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Cambodia Denies ‘Secret’ Naval Base Agreement With China
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday denied a report that his country had signed a secret agreement with China to allow the Chinese navy to use a naval base in the Gulf of Thailand.On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported a Sihanoukville CambodiaThe Wall Street Journal reported that neither China nor Cambodia has disclosed the agreement. The Journal report cited unnamed U.S. officials confirming that China and Cambodia had reached a deal for use of the naval base near Sihanoukville, a center of Chinese investment in Cambodia. The deal, akin to a lease agreement, would allow China “to use the base for 30 years, with automatic renewal every 10 years after that” for posting military personnel, storing weapons and berthing warships. Having access to a naval base on the Cambodian coast would extend China’s influence in Southeast Asia and help bolster its A Cambodian woman gives massage to a tourist on the beach of Sihanoukville, some 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia July 29, 2006.Chinese money and tourists have transformed once slow-moving Sihanoukville near the Ream base. Chinese-funded development in the coastal city has transformed it into a boomtown filled with glitzy casinos catering to Chinese tourists. Due in part to the speed of change, there is a local backlash against the investment and associated immigration.The Nikkei Asian Review reported that Cambodia’s tourism ministry recorded more than 1.2 million Chinese tourists visiting in 2017, a 50% increase year on year, making China the country’s leading source of visitors.This report originated in VOA’s Khmer service.
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Trump: Mueller’s Testimony Will End Badly for Prosecutor
U.S. President Donald Trump predicted Monday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony this week about whether the U.S. leader tried to obstruct his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election will end badly for him and that he shouldn’t even be testifying.Moreover, Trump said, “I am not going to be watching Mueller.””Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple,” Trump contended on Twitter. “In the end it will be bad for him and the phony Democrats in Congress who have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt. Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION!”Highly conflicted Robert Mueller should not be given another bite at the apple. In the end it will be bad for him and the phony Democrats in Congress who have done nothing but waste time on this ridiculous Witch Hunt. Result of the Mueller Report, NO COLLUSION, NO OBSTRUCTION!…— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Robert Mueller, then-special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 election, departs Capitol Hill following a meeting with lawmakers, in Washington, June 21, 2017.Mueller reached no conclusion whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to thwart the investigation, in part because of a Justice Department policy prohibiting charges against sitting U.S. presidents. However, Attorney General William Barr and then Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that no criminal charges were warranted against Trump.Opposition Democrats, however, are hopeful that Mueller’s testimony will give visual credence to the often dry, legal statements contained in his lengthy report. More than a third of the 235 Democrats in the 435-member House have called for Trump’s impeachment or the start of an impeachment inquiry, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has blocked an impeachment inquiry in favor of a range of investigations of Trump and his administration’s policies.Trump’s Republican colleagues on the House investigating committees are predicting the Mueller testimony will amount to nothing more than a rehash of previously published information and also hope to emphasize what they see as the faulty reasoning behind why the investigation was even started.Trump, in his tweets, attacked, as he has in the past, two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents involved in Mueller’s investigation who exchanged private messages disparaging then-candidate Trump. The two agents, who were involved in a personal relationship, were removed from the probe.House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler, one of the Democratic lawmakers overseeing Mueller’s testimony, told Fox television over the weekend that he expects the prosecutor will give “very substantial evidence” that will make the case for impeaching Trump.FILE – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 21, 2019.”This is a president who has violated the law six ways from Sunday,” Nadler said.But Congressman Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, accused Democrats of “going after things that we’ve already known.”Nadler said Democratic lawmakers “have to present, or let Mueller present” the case against Trump, “because the administration must be held accountable and no president can be above the law.”Mueller has said he chose the words in his report very carefully and would not provide any other information in his public testimony.But Nadler said Sunday he does not expect Mueller’s appearance to be what he called a “dud.””The president and the attorney general have lied to the American people about what was in the Mueller report…the president saying they found no collusion. That was not true, that it found no obstruction, that is not true.”Nadler says lawmakers will ask Mueller some very specific questions about parts of the report.”Look at page 344, paragraph two…does that describe obstruction of justice…did you find that the president did that, for example,” Nadler said.FILE – Some redacted pages of Robert Mueller’s report are seen on the witness table in the House Intelligence Committee hearing room on Capitol Hill, in Washington, April 18, 2019.Republicans are upset at what they see as Democratic efforts to keep what they regard as a one-sided but already completed investigation of the president in the forefront of American news.”It’s like going back and finding a book on the shelf that looks new and then all of a sudden you begin to read and you find ‘wait, I’ve already read this before’,” Collins said on Fox television.He said Republicans will also have questions for Mueller.”Let me tell you, Republicans have not forgotten how and where the investigation started and there’s going to be a lot of questions for what he did say, what he didn’t say, and how this thing started,” Collins said.
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British-Iranian Woman Transferred Back to Tehran Prison
A British-Iranian mother jailed in Tehran since 2016 has been returned to prison after being held in the mental ward of a public hospital for nearly a week, her husband said Monday.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was kept chained and under heavy guard for six days which she says left her “broken”, according to her husband Richard Ratcliffe.The 40-year-old detainee, who is serving a five-year term for sedition, was returned to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison — used to hold political prisoners — on Saturday, he said.She was then allowed to see her mother and five-year-old daughter Gabriella the following day, Ratcliffe added.”I am all right, broken, but I survived,” Zaghari-Ratcliffe said, in comments relayed by her husband in a lengthy statement detailing her detention in the psychiatric ward.”I wasn’t allowed to leave the room, as I was chained to the bed. It was proper torture.”I am relieved I am back to prison,” she added.Ratcliffe, who has spent the last three years doggedly campaigning for his wife’s release, said he hoped Iranian medical officials might now consider releasing her on health grounds.”The whole experience was deeply traumatising,” he said of her transfer to the mental unit.”Her lawyer will be pressing the Health Commission to finally rule that Nazanin is not fit to stay in prison and can be granted unconditional release.”Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 as she was leaving Iran after taking their then 22-month-old daughter to visit her family.She was sentenced to five years for allegedly trying to topple the Iranian government.A project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media group’s philanthropic arm, she denies all charges.Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case has unfolded amid escalating tensions between London and Tehran, with her days on the mental ward this week coinciding with a major diplomatic flare-up.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a UK-flagged tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Friday, in apparent retaliation for British authorities detaining an Iranian vessel earlier this month off Gibraltar.
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Taliban Talks Key Topic as Trump Meets Pakistani Leader
President Donald Trump is meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, about ending America’s longest war, the conflict in Afghanistan.
Trump and Khan are both unpredictable and have had a rocky relationship. Monday’s visit is meant to smooth tensions and deal with complex problems facing both nations.
The Trump administration wants Pakistan to use its leverage and influence with the Taliban to get a cease fire in neighboring Afghanistan, advance the peace process and create stability so he can end or substantially reduce America’s involvement in the war.
Pakistan, which is suffering economically, wants to reset relations and broaden the relationship in hopes of securing more investment, trade and possibly a restoration of the U.S. aid Trump cut.
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Cameroon: Separatist Fighters Occupy 50 Schools
Cameroon says armed separatists are occupying more than 50 schools in its western English-speaking regions, using them for training and to hide from the military. The alleged occupation could complicate government plans to restart education in the regions in September.”We have about 48 schools that have been destroyed in our system and another 53 schools that are occupied presently,” Cameroon’s basic education chief for the northwest region, Wilfred Wambeng Ndong, told reporters Sunday. “As regards our teachers, we are doubting the whereabouts of more than 3,000 teachers for the schools that are not going (working).”Wilfred Wambeng Ndong, highest government official in charge of basic education in Cameroons English speaking north west region. (Photo: M/ Kindzeka / VOA)Ndong said most of the missing teachers probably escaped to safer areas in French-speaking regions or are hiding in the bush. He said school attendance in the region has dropped from 422,000 in 2017 to 5,500 this year – and is mostly in safer towns like Bamenda and Nkambe.Cameroon separatists in social media posts denied they are occupying the schools but said they were deployed to areas prone to military attacks. The Anglophone rebels have attacked numerous schools over the past two years, in some cases abducting teachers and students.The commander of government troops in the northwest, General Robbinson Agha, says the military will make sure all schools are safe before September 3, when the school year begins.He says soldiers will kill all rebels who fail to disarm and surrender.”We have got firm instructions from the hierarchy to pursue them right at their hideouts. This situation has to come to an end,” he said. “We cannot accept that people cut (destroy) roads, burn bridges, burn schools.”Cameroon says the rebels have torched more than 130 schools while the separatists accuse the military of burning the schools to flush them out of hiding. The military has denied the accusation.Cameroon military deployed to protect schools and the population in Bamenda, July 21, 2019. (Photo: M. Kindzeka / VOA)For the past month, the government and civic society groups have called for the schools to reopen. Jude Mbaku, a campaigner for the Educate Them Now movement, says it is vital for both troops and rebels to consider schools no-go zones.”Belligerents of the crisis in the Northwest and the Southwest regions are not doing enough to ensure the rights to education,” he said. “We call for a cease fire and stop (to) all the attacks on educational structures, on learners and on teachers.”The conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions started in 2016 when teachers and lawyers protested the dominance of French language and officials in the bilingual country.Armed separatists in 2017 began demanding a separate English-speaking state, saying they would make the area ungovernable. More than 2,000 people, including soldiers and police, have been killed in mounting violence since.
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UK Legislator Charged With 2 Sexual Assaults Against Women
A Conservative Party legislator in Britain has been charged with sexually assaulting two women.The Crown Prosecution Service said Monday that Charlie Elphicke was charged with three counts of sexual assault.Prosecutors say the first charge stems from an alleged attack in 2007 and the other two charges relate to two alleged attacks in 2016.Elphicke’s lawyer, Ellen Peart, said he will “defend himself vigorously” and is confident that he will clear his name.The 48-year-old legislator is scheduled to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Sept. 6.Prosecutors said the decision to charge Elphicke was made after a review of evidence provided by London’s Metropolitan Police.The legislator had been suspended from the Conservative Party in November 2017 following “serious allegations,” but was controversially restored by Prime Minister Theresa May 13 months later.
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Police: 4 Turkish Nationals Kidnapped in Nigeria
Four Turkish nationals have been kidnapped at gunpoint in central Nigeria, police said on Monday, in the latest such incident in the country.Gunmen stormed a bar in the village of Gbale in the state of Kwara and seized the men on Saturday, national police spokesman Frank Mba told AFP.”We are working frantically to secure their release,” he added.Mba did not say if any ransom demands have been made.Local media said the Turks were working for a construction firm in the state.Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria, especially in the oil-rich south and the northwest.The victims are usually released after a ransom is paid although police rarely confirm if money changes hands.Earlier this month, two Chinese nationals were kidnapped in the southern state of Edo.Nigerian police could not confirm if they are still being held.There have also been many abductions in the northeast, where an insurgency led by Boko Haram jihadists has killed 27,000 people and forced some two million to flee their homes since 2009.
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Poland’s Politicians Condemn Aggression Against LGBT March
Poland’s politicians are condemning violence against the first LGBT rights parade through the eastern city of Bialystok.Police said Monday that 28 “hooligans” have been detained and have heard charges of disturbing a legal gathering.Local police have published images of at least two more men suspected of having thrown bottles and stones at police and at the marchers Saturday. Police responded with tear gas.The interior minister in the right-wing government, Elzbieta Witek, and the deputy prime minister Beata Szydlo, have condemned the violence and spoke in favor of tolerance. The spokesman for Poland’s Roman Catholic Church said that “violence and contempt” can’t be accepted. The government has tolerated marches by far-right extremists in Bialystok in the past.
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Kenya’s Finance Minister, Top Officials Arrested for Graft: Police
Kenya’s Finance Minister Henry Rotich and other treasury officials were arrested Monday on corruption and fraud charges over a multi-million dollar project to build two mega dams, police said.Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji had ordered the arrest and prosecution of Rotich and 27 other top officials on charges of fraud, abuse of office and financial misconduct in the latest scandal to rock graft-wracked Kenya.Rotich, his principal secretary and the chief executive of Kenya’s environmental authority then presented themselves to the police.”They are in custody now awaiting to be taken to court,” police chief George Kinoti told AFP.”We are looking for (the) others and they will all go to court.”Haji said the conception, procurement and payment processes for the dam project — part of a bid to improve water supply in the drought-prone country — was “riddled with irregularities”.”Investigations established that government officials flouted all procurement rules and abused their oath of office to ensure the scheme went through,” said Haji.He pointed to the awarding of the contract to Italian firm CMC di Ravenna in a manner that he said flouted proper procurement procedures, and despite financial woes that forced the company into liquidation and had led to it failing complete three other mega-dam projects.According to the contract, the project was to cost a total of $450 million (401 million euros), but the treasury had increased this amount by $164 million “without regard to performance or works,” said Haji.Some $180 million has already been paid out, with little construction to show for it.Another $6 million was paid out for the resettlement of people living in areas that would be affected by the project, but there is no evidence of land being acquired for this, the chief prosecutor said.”I am satisfied that economic crimes were committed and I have therefore approved their arrests and prosecutions,” said Haji.
‘Well-choreographed scheme’ -“The persons we are charging today were mandated with safeguarding our public interest and deliberately breached this trust.”Under the guise of carrying out legitimate commercial transactions, colossal amounts were unjustifiably and illegally paid out through a well-choreographed scheme by government officers in collusion with private individuals and institutions.”Rotich has previously denied any wrongdoing in the scandal.The dams scandal is one of several in the poverty-plagued country that has seen hundreds of millions of dollars of public money disappear due to fraud.In 2017 Kenya fell to 143rd out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s annual corruption index.In March 2018, a damning report from the auditor general showed the government could not account for $400 million in public funds.A string of top officials have been charged since last year as President Uhuru Kenyatta vows to combat corruption — a refrain weary Kenyans have heard from multiple presidents.
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Ukrainian President’s Party on Course to Win Majority in Parliamentary Poll
Servant of the People, the party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appears on course to win a parliamentary majority after some 44 percent of votes have been counted, according to data from the Central Election Commission.The comedian-turned-president’s party was in the lead in around 125 out of 199 constituencies in Ukraine, the data showed at 9:15 a.m (local time).Zelenskiy’s party also won a majority on the party lists with 42 percent of vote or 122 seats, according to preliminary results, well ahead of its nearest rival with just over 12 percent. If the result stands, it would be the first time in Ukraine’s post-independence history that a party has obtained a majority in the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.Under Ukraine’s mixed electoral system, half the Rada’s seats are determined by votes on party lists and the rest are first-past-the-post races in local constituencies.The latest results released by the election commission show the Servant of the People’s main challenger, the pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life party, was in second place with 43 seats.Voter turnout
Voter turnout was nearly 50 percent in the July 21 snap parliamentary elections held three months ahead of schedule, the Opora election watchdog said, which also monitors polling violations.Former President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party got less than 9 percent; ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s populist Fatherland party got 8.1 percent; and rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk’s Holos party received 6.38 percent.They all appear to have passed the required 5-percent threshold for legislative seats.
Zelenskiy’s Party Leads In Ukrainian Parliamentary Election video player.
Embed” />CopyBreak from establishment politicians
The strong result for Servant of the People, which was formed just a few months ago, underscores Ukrainians’ desire for a break with established politicians and parties that have failed to improve living standards enough. It also gives Zelenskiy — who won the presidency in April in a landslide victory — more power in choosing outsiders to occupy key government positions.“The bottom line is that Zelenskiy — between the presidential and the Rada [parliamentary] elections — has put himself in a position for serious reform if that is what he chooses to do,” John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told RFE/RL after the exit polls.Corruption
Zelenskiy told supporters at his party’s campaign headquarters that one of his main priorities will be “to defeat the corruption that continues to persist in Ukraine.”Graft has for years stifled economic growth in the Eastern European country.However, questions remain about how willing Zelenskiy is to break from the oligarch-and-backroom-deals tradition of politicking in Ukraine.Zelenskiy’s ties to one of the country’s wealthiest men, Ihor Kolomoyskiy, has worried reformers and some Western supporters. Zelenskiy’s chief of staff previously worked as Kolomoyskiy’s lawyer.However, Ambassador Herbst said Zelenskiy’s choice of reformers to fill crucial positions at the State Customs Service and Ukroboronoprom, the military conglomerate, bodes well for fighting corruption.
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Khan Says Afghan War ‘Has No Military Solution’
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that in his meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday he will stress the need for political resolution to the protracted war in Afghanistan.Khan, who is in the U.S. on a three-day official visit in a bid to repair strained bilateral ties, made the remarks to a big gathering of Pakistani diaspora in Washington late on Sunday. He had long campaigned against the use of U.S. military force to resolve the conflict even before he came to power after last year’s elections in Pakistan.“I feel proud that now the whole world is saying Afghanistan has no military solution,” Khan told the cheering crowd, which organizers said was the biggest gathering of Pakistani Americans to date.Earlier, a senior U.S. administration official said Trump will press Khan for assistance in advancing the Afghan peace process and encourage Pakistan to crackdown on militants within its territory. Pakistan has arranged Washington’s direct peace negotiations with Taliban insurgents who are fighting local and U.S.-led international troops in neighboring Afghanistan. The months-long U.S.-Taliban dialogue has brought the two adversaries in the 18-year-old Afghan war close to concluding a peace agreement to pave the ground for ending what has become the longest U.S. foreign military intervention.The U.S. official said Washington appreciates “the initial steps” Islamabad has taken to facilitate the peace process but it is “reaching a critical juncture” and more needs to be done to move the process forward. “The president will be most interested in encouraging Pakistan to… use its leverage with the Taliban to help bring about a ceasefire and genuine inter-Afghan negotiation that includes the Afghan government….We’re hoping that the discussions are productive.”The Taliban refuses to engage in peace talks with Afghan interlocutors until it concludes an agreement with Washington that would outline a timetable for withdrawal of all American troops. In exchange, the agreement will bind the insurgents to prevent foreign militants from using Taliban-controlled areas for international terrorism.The Taliban insists that once the agreement is signed with the U.S. in the presence of international guarantors it will initiate inter-Afghan talks to discuss a ceasefire and issues related to political governance in the country.Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group’s top political leader, left, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s chief negotiator, second left, and other members of the Taliban delegation speak to reporters prior to their talks in Russia.Last year, President Trump suspended military training programs and canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance to Pakistan. He accused the South Asian nation of offering “nothing but lies and deceit” while giving safe haven to terrorists staging deadly attacks on the Afghan side of the border.Islamabad rejected the charges and in turn accused Washington of trying to make Pakistan a scapegoat for U.S. military failures in Afghanistan, plunging bilateral ties to historic lows. Officials in Islamabad say the progress in Afghan peace has led to the warming up of ties with Washington, prompting Trump to invite Khan for Monday’s meeting.In the lead up to Khan’s visit, authorities in Pakistan arrested a radical cleric, Hafiz Saeed, who is wanted by the U.S. for terrorism in India and carries a $10 million reward. Pakistani officials have also taken control of hundreds of Islamic schools, health facilities and offices run by banned organizations blamed for cross-border terrorism.Saeed’s arrest, however, has come under scrutiny because he has previously been detained only to be freed by courts for a lack of evidence linking him to terrorism.“We’re monitoring the situation and — but we wouldn’t want to praise Pakistan for this step too early, because, you know, we’ve seen this movie before. We’ve seen this happen in the past. And we’re looking for sustained and concrete steps, not just window dressing,” the U.S. official told reporters.Khan, who arrived in Washington on Saturday, is also accompanied by the Pakistani military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa.The Pakistan army has long been accused of covertly maintaining ties with the Afghan Taliban and terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founded by Saeed. India accuses LeT of planning and executing the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 166 people, including foreigners.Another irritant in Pakistan’s troubled ties with the U.S. is the detention of Shakil Afridi, the jailed Pakistani doctor believed to have assisted the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 2001 attacks on America.“Dr. Afridi is a hero in our country. He helped us capture the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks…this is something that is of the utmost importance to us…it is likely to come up,” the U.S. official said when asked whether the administration would raise the issue in meeting with Khan’s delegation.
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China Lashes out at Hong Kong Protest Targeting its Office
The official People’s Daily newspaper, in a front-page commentary headlined “Central Authority Cannot be Challenged,” called the protesters’ actions “intolerable.”One group of protesters targeted China’s liaison office on Sunday night after more than 100,000 people marched through the city to demand democracy and an investigation into the use of force by police to disperse crowds at earlier protests.Police launched tear gas to disperse the protesters. Later, protesters trying to return home were attacked inside a train station by assailants who appeared to target the pro-democracy demonstrators.The attack on the liaison office touched a raw nerve in China. China’s national emblem, which hangs on the front of the building, was splattered with black ink. It was replaced by a new one within hours.Police said on their official social media accounts that protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs at them and attacked the Central police station.”These acts openly challenged the authority of the central government and touched the bottom line of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle,” the government’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a statement issued Sunday.The “one-country, two systems” framework allows Hong Kong to maintain a fair amount of autonomy in governing local affairs, but demonstrators fear the city’s rights and freedoms are being eroded.A group of pro-China lawmakers held a news conference Monday appealing for a halt to the violence, saying it was a blow to Hong Kong’s reputation and is scaring away tourists and investors. They also urged police to tighten enforcement against the protesters, whom Ip labels as “rebels.””The violent attack on the Liaison Office … is a direct affront to the sovereignty of our country,” said Regina Ip, a former security secretary.When asked why it took at least a half-hour for police to arrive at the suburban train station and intervene, Ip said the police were “overstretched.””The police have been under extreme pressure,” she said. Video of the attacks in Yuen Long showed protesters in black shirts being beaten by men in white shirts wielding steel pipes and wooden poles. Those under attack retreated into the trains, intimidated by the gangs of men waiting for them outside the turnstiles. The attackers then entered the trains and beat the people inside as they tried to defend themselves with umbrellas. They eventually retreated. One of the men in white held up a sign saying “Protect Yuen Long, protect our homes.”Subway passengers filmed by Stand News and iCABLE angrily accused police officers of not intervening in the attack. Stand News reporter Gwyneth Ho said on Facebook that she suffered minor injuries to her hands and shoulder, and was dizzy from a head injury. The South China Morning Post reported several people were bleeding following the attacks, and that seven people were sent to the hospital.
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All Aboard America’s Oldest Train
There is an allure and excitement to the power of an old-fashioned steam train. Coal powered trains plied the rails in the United States for 175 years, starting in the 1830’s, and were an integral part of America’s westward expansion and industrial revolution. Today, visitors can experience riding on America’s oldest operating railroad, which is only seven kilometers long. VOA’s Deborah Block tells us more from Ronks, Pennsylvania.
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El Salvador’s President Bukele Not Focused on ‘Free Money’ from the US
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele hailed a new chapter in his country’s relationship with the United States, thanking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for being the first top U.S. diplomat to visit his country in ten years.For his part, Secretary Pompeo praised Bukele’s shift towards the United States.“El Salvador with its new leadership has made a clear choice to fight corruption, promote justice and partner with the United States, and together both of our peoples will reap those benefits.”Pompeo also praised El Salvador for declaring it does not recognize what he termed “the corrupt Maduro regime” as the legitimate government of Venezuela.El Salvador’s Bukele spoke in English and it was clear that he has a warm rapport with Pompeo.“We talk about fighting the gangs together, we talk about interdicting narcotics together, we talk about reducing immigration together. So I think this was a very, very important meeting. I think that it’s a game-changer.”Asked about the U.S. freezing its foreign aid for El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to compel their leaders to stem the flow of migration to the U.S. southern border, Bukele had a strong response.“What do we want to do in El Salvador? Do we want to get more free money? Do we want more blank checks? No. We want to improve the conditions at home.”U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, listens to simultaneous translation as El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele speaks at the Presidential House in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, July 21, 2019.Bukele said it “sounds tacky” to have the top U.S. diplomat visiting and to ask him for free money. Benjamin Gedan of the Wilson Center told VOA Bukele is much more pro-American than his predecessor, and is committed to a new approach to fighting violent gangs and drug traffickers with the U.S.“The new president [of El Salvador] from the very beginning was very enthusiastic about the idea of working closely with the United States on any number of issues and in fact was skeptical about the role of China in El Salvador which was a source of tension with his predecessor.”U.S. lawmakers from both major political parties are calling on the Trump administration to restore U.S. foreign aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, saying it is counterproductive to punish countries fighting extreme poverty and violence, while at the same time calling on them to reduce the flow of migration. Before heading to San Salvador, Pompeo met with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on an overnight stop in Mexico City. Asked by VOA whether Mexico has done enough to meet the requirements of a 45-day U.S. deadline on imposing potential tariffs, Pompeo said there has been progress, but he would consult with President Donald Trump.“There are fewer apprehensions taking place today along our southern border, but we’ve got a long way to go yet. There is still much more work to do.”In this handout photo released by the Mexican Government Press Office, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard meet in Mexico City, Sunday morning, July 21, 2019.Mexico has deployed forces to its southern border to stem the flow of migration from Central America. But Benjamin Gedan of the Wilson Center said he is skeptical that Mexico has the resources to sustain this for a long time.“Rather than addressing the root causes of migration flows from northern Central America, there is this effort to harden the U.S. border, to encourage Mexico to harden its southern border and to have Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador take their own steps to really impede the flows of individuals north to the United States.”Before going to Mexico, Pompeo made a stop Saturday in Guayaquil, Ecuador to meet with President Lenin Moreno, the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to that country in nine years. They also stressed common goals and improved relations between the two countries. Moreno asked for more help from the U.S. and the international community to deal with the influx of refugees to his country from neighboring Venezuela, calling it a “social apocalypse.” Pompeo discussed the ongoing crisis in Venezuela at every stop.Pompeo started his jam-packed Latin America trip Friday in Argentina. He confirmed the U.S. has imposed financial sanctions against a Hezbollah militant group leader suspected of directing a deadly bombing in 1994 of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.“They were killed by members of a terrorist group, Hezbollah, and had help that day from Iran,” which provided “logistical support and funding through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Pompeo said at an event in Buenos Aires to rally support from Latin American leaders in the U.S. fight against Middle East militant groups.Standing at a memorial at the site of the car bombing, Pompeo lit a candle with AMIA President Ariel Eichbaum and said the worst terrorist attack in Argentina is a stark reminder of the danger to the Western Hemisphere from Hezbollah and other groups based on the other side of the world.“It was a moving reminder that our discussion today isn’t abstract; it’s not theoretical. The risk of terrorism is real for each and every one of us and each and every one of our citizens.”
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Lufthansa Resumes Flights to Cairo, British Airways Stays Grounded
The German airline Lufthansa resumed daily direct flights to Cairo on Sunday after a one-day suspension due to unspecified safety concerns.But British Airways still has all its flights to the Egyptian capital grounded and plans to keep them that way for six more days.The two airlines on Saturday abruptly canceled all flights to Cairo after the British government warned of a “heightened risk of terrorism against aviation.”Egypt’s minister of civil aviation, Lt. General Younes Elmasry, on Sunday expressed frustration that the airline suspended flights without consulting Egyptian authorities. He met with Britain’s Ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams and said the two sides would work to resolve the situation as soon as possible.Passengers scrambled to find alternative flights after receiving a notification from the airline informing them about the decision which came into effect immediately.In a statement, British Airways said the move was “a precaution to allow for further assessment”, without offering further details.The U.S. State Department warned citizens Friday about traveling to Egypt. “A number of terrorist groups, including Islamic State, have committed multiple deadly attacks in Egypt, targeting government officials and security forces, public venues, tourist sites, civil aviation and other modes of public transportation, and a diplomatic facility,” the State Department said. “Terrorists continue to threaten Egypt’s religious minorities and have attacked sites and people associated with the Egyptian Coptic Church.”It also warned of “risks to civil aviation operating within or in the vicinity of Egypt.”No American flights have been affected so far.
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IS Decentralizing Into ‘Provinces’ in Bid to Return
A series of Islamic State (IS) announcements of new provinces it controls in recent weeks has renewed debate over the group’s possible resurgence after its self-proclaimed caliphate fell, with some analysts warning an increasingly decentralized IS could recover and spread its tentacles to other parts of the world.During his first appearance last April after five years, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a new video was seen handling documents about the group’s global affiliates, including newly found provinces in Turkey and Central Africa.In the 18-minute video by IS’ media wing al-Furqan, al-Baghdadi also welcomed new joiners from Burkina Faso, Mali and Sri Lanka.Since its leader’s reappearance, IS has announced new “wilayats” or provinces, and has rearranged its existing ones ranging from different areas of the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.Last week, IS in a new video claimed a new province in Turkey. The five-minute long video showed a group of militants pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi and asking potential sympathizers in Turkey to join the group.This file image made from video posted on a militant website July 5, 2014, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq.Dogu Eroglu, a Turkey-based investigative journalist and expert on IS, said the video message is an effort by IS to remobilize hundreds of Turkish citizens who have returned home after partaking in conflicts in neighboring Syria.“Starting from 2017, after the Raqqa operation of the Global Coalition to defeat IS, many people fled to Turkey, and among those, most of them had fought with IS for many years,” Eroglu told VOA. “The announcement could be a call to them.”Wilayat structureWhen Islamic State in mid-2014 announced its so-called caliphate, thousands of people traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight along its ranks. The group, through its media organizations al-Furqan and Dabiq, released in detail how it formed new “wilayats” or provinces. In each province, IS said, local jihadists should agree to implement the group’s military and governance strategy before pledging allegiance to the caliph, al-Baghdadi.On July 2016, al-Furqan released a video titled “The Structure of the Caliphate,” in which the group claimed it had 35 “wilyats” or provinces, with 16 wilayats in Iraq and Syria, and the remaining elsewhere.The group now holds no territory in Iraq and Syria, but continues to remain a serious insurgent group in those so-called wilayats, according to Sarhang Hamasaeed, the director of Middle East Programs at the U.S. Institute for Peace.FILE – Men walk to be screened after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, near Baghuz, Syria, Feb. 22, 2019.“They continue to stage attacks in form of explosive devices, attack security convoys, and they set up checkpoints in some places,” Hamasaeed told VOA, adding the group dependents on taxation and extortion to collect revenues.Exploiting grievancesHamasaeed said the group’s insurgents have been particularly active in Iraq’s Nineveh, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Diyala provinces where both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region claim ownership. Disputes between the two governments over the land, combined with the diversity of its ethno-religious population, has allowed IS to flourish. Experts say IS, as an adaptive organization, continues to exploit community grievances and looks at other areas with ethnic and religious conflict as potential hotbeds. Said Nazeer, Pakistan-based defense analyst and retired brigadier, said the group has used a conflict between the government in Punjab and Baloch ethnics to establish a foothold in the Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan. Similarly, the group is utilizing a land dispute between India and Pakistan to establish itself in Kashmir.“Overall, Pakistan has contained Islamic State through operations, social media and keeping an eye on Kashmiri militants who may be recruited by [IS],” he said, adding “currently there are some 500 IS operatives in Pakistan’s jails.”FILE – Afghan police walk past Islamic State flags on a wall, after an operation in the Kot district of Jalalabad province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 1, 2016.Khorasan province
In May, IS announced through its news agency Amaq that it had created provinces in India and Pakistan. The announcement served as a restructuring of its “Khorasan province,” which was founded in 2015 to cover operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Jammu and Kashmir, and parts of Iran.Anees ur Rehman, a journalist in Afghanistan, said the IS break up of its Khorasan province shows the group is willing to adapt to new realities.“IS attempted to spread Wahabism through very violent means, through a Khorasan province that connected Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But that vision of the caliphate proved unacceptable in Afghanistan where most Afghans follow Imam Abu Hanifa,” Rehman said, noting different sects and schools in Islamic countries.The group at the peak of its power refused to recognize modern state boundaries, calling them a fabrication made by the West to keep Muslim nations divided. South East AsiaIn South East Asia, where IS claims East Asia province for its operations particularly in Philippines, the group is using isolated deadly attacks to remain relevant and drive recruitment, according to experts.Elliot Brennan, a research fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, told VOA that, unlike the past when IS fighters were concentrated in an identified geographic area of southern Philippines, the group now scatters its fighters throughout the region as a new strategy.FILE – Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde inspects guns, explosives, and Islamic State group-style black flags during a news conference, at Camp Crame in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines, April 1, 2019.IS affiliates Maute and Abu Sayyaf were removed from south Philippines’s Marawi in October 2017 after five months of deadly battle. Jihadists linked to IS have since claimed several deadly attacks, including January’s Jolo Cathedral bombing in southwestern Philippines that left 20 people dead and April Easter Sunday attacks on churches in Sri Lanka that killed 259.“Fighters from the Marawi siege scattered and pose a more dispersed threat today and are harder to counter as a result,” Brennan told VOA, adding that Southeast Asian countries have failed to prevent IS’ reorganization attempt.“The overall counter-terrorism approach in parts of Southeast Asia has been unhelpful. More needs to be done to understand and address the drivers of extremism rather than just post-facto and often heavy-handed counter-terrorism campaigns that often alienate local communities and actually drive recruitment.”Africa
Similarly, in Africa, where IS has established decentralized provinces in Egypt, Libya, Sahel and the Greater Sahara, the group is spreading its fighters in vast deserts that are difficult to secure, said Thomas Abi-Hanna, a security analyst with Stratfor in Austin, Texas.“Each Islamic State branch is operationally independent and there is little to no direct connections between the branches, aside from the Islamic State name,” Abi-Hanna told VOA.FILE – A member of the Libyan security forces displays part of a document in Arabic describing weaponry that was found at the site of U.S. airstrikes on an Islamic State camp near the western city of Sabratha, Libya, Feb. 20, 2016.He said the group tries to remain relevant by conducting high profile attacks and kidnappings to gain more local and international attention. It also disseminates propaganda through various channels to claim attacks, promote its brand and show its fighters in action throughout the region.IS last April for the first time claimed an attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo through its new province of Central Africa. The attack in Bovata, near the town of Beni, reportedly killed at least two soldiers and a civilian and injured several others.“While some branches may both benefit from extended smuggling and trafficking networks (Example: branches in Mali and Libya may benefit from the same arms trafficking network through the Sahel), the groups do not coordinate attacks or kidnappings,” said Abi-Hanna, adding that IS’s several branches in Africa remain effective by localizing their attention.IS ideologyRandall Rogan, a terrorism expert at the Wake Forest University in North Carolina, charged that IS’s recent announcement of new provinces and restructuring of others indicate the group has long-term plans.“The IS messaging should be taken very seriously,” Rogan told VOA “Although IS has lost physical territory, the virulent Islamist ideology that informs IS and its adherents continues to resonate with many disenfranchised radicalized individuals in the Muslim community and beyond.”
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