6,000 Myanmar civilians killed in 20 months post coup: report

The Myanmar military annulled the legislative elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and overthrew her government on February 2021 and since then has carried out a large-scale repression of any opposition. (AFP)
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Updated 13 June 2023
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6,000 Myanmar civilians killed in 20 months post coup: report

  • Death toll is much higher than others that have circulated, including those from international organizations

OSLO: More than 6,000 civilians were killed in Myanmar in the first 20 months after the February 2021 military coup, a report published Tuesday by the Peace Research Institute of Oslo said.
“Our data shows that the human toll of the conflict is higher than previously reported, and while the junta is clearly the main killer, anti-junta forces also have large amounts of blood on their hands,” Stein Tonnesson, one of the two co-authors of the report, said in a statement.
The report said 6,337 civilians were killed “for political reasons” between February 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022, and 2,614 were injured.
That toll is much higher than others that have circulated, including those from international organizations.
According to the report, almost half of the deaths, 3,003, were attributed to the regime – the army, police and militias – while 2,152 were attributed to armed opposition groups.
Twelve were attributed to other civilians not affiliated with either the regime or opponents, and 1,170 to undetermined actors.
“This is a larger number than is normally cited in the media, and yet it is only an estimate, based on reported killings gathered from reliable media reports,” the report said.
“The actual total is surely higher since many killings have likely gone unreported.”
Alleging massive fraud, the Myanmar military annulled the legislative elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and overthrew her government.
Since then, the junta has carried out a large-scale repression of any opposition, arresting more than 23,000 people according to a local watchdog.


Norway to extradite man to Rwanda for trial on murder charges in 1994 genocide

Updated 3 sec ago
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Norway to extradite man to Rwanda for trial on murder charges in 1994 genocide

The Oslo district court ruled in September 2023 that the conditions for extradition had been met

COPENHAGEN: Norway will extradite a man to Rwanda on the East African country’s request, to stand trial on charges of committing murder during the 1994 Rwanda genocide, Norwegian police said on Tuesday.
The Oslo district court ruled in September 2023 that the conditions for extradition had been met, and Norway’s supreme court in June last year affirmed the ruling after the defendant appealed the initial decision, police said in a statement.
Norway’s justice ministry decided on February 14 that the man, who was arrested in the Nordic country in 2022, should be extradited to Rwanda, citing its obligation under the United Nations Genocide Convention to do so, police said.

Suicide bombers detonate and breach wall of a military facility in Pakistan’s northwest

Updated 20 min 33 sec ago
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Suicide bombers detonate and breach wall of a military facility in Pakistan’s northwest

  • Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air and there were gunshots after the explosions
  • Bannu is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban are active

PESHAWAR: Twin blasts struck a military facility Tuesday in the northwest Pakistani city of Bannu after suicide bombers blew themselves up to breach the wall, officials said.
Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air and there were gunshots after the explosions, said police officer Zahid Khan.
The army said two suicide bombers detonated near the wall of a sprawling military area in Bannu, which mainly houses offices and homes of security forces.
Bannu is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban are active.
“After a breach in the wall, five to six more attackers attempted to enter the cantonment but were eliminated. Operations in the area are still ongoing,” the army said in a statement.
The blasts happened after sunset, when people would have been breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, Jaish Al-Fursan, claimed responsibility for the attack, the third militant assault in Pakistan since Ramadan started Sunday.
In a statement, Jaish Al-Fursan said its fighters had killed dozens of security personnel. The army did not immediately provide casualty figures.
Armed groups have targeted Bannu several times. Last November, a suicide car bomb killed 12 troops and wounded several others at a security post.
In July, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle and other militants opened fire near the outer wall of the military facility.


Hungary PM Orban to meet French president for talks on Ukraine on Wednesday

Updated 43 min 43 sec ago
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Hungary PM Orban to meet French president for talks on Ukraine on Wednesday

  • Orban also said that he sees more chance to find ways to cooperate on common EU security

BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday that he would meet French President Emmanuel Macron to talk about Ukraine on Wednesday ahead of an extraordinary summit of European Union leaders scheduled for Thursday.
Orban also said that he sees more chance to find ways to cooperate on common EU security than on Ukraine at Thursday's summit. Replying to a reporter's question Orban confirmed that he had a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump in Sunday and that they discussed 'everything.'


Ukraine ‘determined’ to maintain US ties after aid halt

Updated 04 March 2025
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Ukraine ‘determined’ to maintain US ties after aid halt

  • “Ukraine is absolutely determined to continue cooperation with the US,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said
  • “The US is an important partner and we need to preserve this“

KYIV: Ukraine on Tuesday sought to maintain bonds with Washington after President Donald Trump ordered US military aid deliveries be suspended following a public clash with counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump’s stunning decision strengthened fears in Ukraine and in many European capitals that America was pivoting away from its allies — and toward Moscow.
“Ukraine is absolutely determined to continue cooperation with the US,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told reporters, adding: “The US is an important partner and we need to preserve this.”
US and Western security guarantees were “existentially important” for Ukraine and for Europe, he said, adding Kyiv was ready “at any time” to sign a strategic minerals extraction deal demanded by Trump.
The prime minister’s outreach followed Trump’s decision, which sent shockwaves across Ukraine, but which was also hailed by Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a “solution which could really push the Kyiv regime to a peace process.”
“If the United States stops (military supplies), this would probably be the best contribution to peace,” Peskov said.
The European Union, which along with Ukraine, has been excluded from US-Russian negotiations toward a potential truce in Ukraine, has been scrambling to up its support for Kyiv.
That urgency heightened on Friday, when Trump and Zelensky clashed in the White House, with Trump warning his Ukrainian counterpart “won’t be around very long” without a ceasefire deal with Moscow.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday presented an EU plan to mobilize some 800 billion euros ($840 billion) for Europe’s defense.
She said the funding would permit EU countries to “massively step up their support to Ukraine” and provide “immediate military equipment for Ukraine.”
Poland’s government noted that America’s decision was made without consulting NATO allies, and the impact was already being seen at a weapons and aid logistics hub for Ukraine it hosts.
“Reports coming in from the border, as well as from our (logistics) hub... also confirm the announcements made by the American side,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said without elaborating.
The US pause has gone into effect immediately and impacts hundreds of millions of dollars of weaponry in the process of being sent to Ukraine, The New York Times reported.
Ordinary Ukrainians who spoke to AFP were shocked and angry at what they viewed as a betrayal by Trump.
“It’s like a stab in the back,” a 33-year-old financial assistant in Kyiv who gave only her first name, Sofia, told AFP.
Trump “wants Ukraine’s surrender, the deaths of our people, the surrender of our territories,” one army volunteer, Sergiy Sternenko, said on Telegram.
With the US aid pause, “everything can change,” a 48-year-old military recruiter in Kyiv, Volodymyr Perkhrest, told AFP. “I don’t think Europe is able to meet these needs,” he said.
Ukraine’s prime minister vowed in a news conference that “we will do everything to hold out” despite the US aid cut.
A Zelensky aide, Mykhailo Pdolyak, said on X his country was “discussing options with our European partners.”
Zelensky has yet to comment publicly on the halt of the US aid.
Last week, he visited Washington to sign the multi-billion-dollar minerals deal — but ended up not doing so after his showdown with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
Trump — who has labelled Zelensky a “dictator” — said Ukraine should be “more appreciative” of US support.
Zelensky has accused Trump of succumbing to “a disinformation space” created by Russia, which he says is not serious about pursuing peace.
Ukraine is seeking tough security guarantees around an end to the war.
With the United States opposing its bid to join NATO, Kyiv is turning to other measures backed by Western countries.
After weekend crisis talks in London, Britain and France are investigating how to propose a one-month Ukraine-Russia truce “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure” — potentially backstopped by troops on the ground.


Germany suspends new financial aid to Rwanda over alleged support for M23 rebels in Congo

Updated 04 March 2025
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Germany suspends new financial aid to Rwanda over alleged support for M23 rebels in Congo

  • The ministry said Tuesday that, “in consultation with partners,” it will further restrict bilateral cooperation with Rwanda
  • It said that it will review existing development cooperation with Kigali

NAIROBI: Germany’s development ministry said Tuesday it will suspend new financial commitments to Rwanda over that country’s alleged support of the M23 rebels in neighboring eastern Congo.
The ministry said Tuesday that, “in consultation with partners,” it will further restrict bilateral cooperation with Rwanda.
It said that it will review existing development cooperation with Kigali, suspend high-level participation in development events organized by the Rwandan government and seek “an appropriate reaction” regarding multilateral programs.
Germany said Rwanda was informed of the decision in advance in a conversation in which the position of the European Union and expectations of Rwanda — particularly withdrawal of its troops and an end to support for M23 — were again underlined.
Germany is the latest country to announce measures aimed at piling pressure on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who previously has been defiant over his country’s efforts to secure its border with a largely lawless part of eastern Congo.
Rwanda recently said similar restrictive measures introduced by the UK were doing nothing to “help (Congo), nor do they contribute to achieving a sustainable political solution to the conflict in eastern (Congo).”
About 4,000 Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in eastern Congo, where the rebels now control the capitals of the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, according to a report by UN experts.
M23 is the most powerful of the many armed groups vying for a foothold in Congo’s east, a region possessing trillions of dollars in largely untapped mineral resources crucial for global technology.