Philippines accuses China of water cannon attack on supply vessel

A Chinese coast guard ship uses water cannon on Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 as it approaches Second Thomas Shoal, locally called Ayungin shoal, at the disputed South China Sea on March 23, 2024. (Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP)
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Updated 24 March 2024
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Philippines accuses China of water cannon attack on supply vessel

  • Philippine military say the nearly hour-long attack occurred off Second Thomas Shoal

MANILA: The Philippines accused the China Coast Guard of blocking a Filipino supply vessel and damaging it with water cannon Saturday morning off a remote and contested South China Sea reef.
The Philippine military said the nearly hour-long attack occurred off Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannon and collided with Filipino vessels in similar stand-offs in recent months.
The military released video clips that showed a white ship repeatedly dousing another vessel sailing alongside it with a water cannon. One clip showed two white ships simultaneously firing water at the same vessel.
It also released another clip showing a white ship marked “China Coast Guard” crossing the bow of a grey vessel it identified as the Philippine supply boat Unaizah May 4.
It said the videos were taken Saturday morning while the Unaizah May 4 was on its way to Ayungin Shoal — the Filipino name for the outcrop garrisoned by a small unit of Philippine troops that is also claimed by Beijing.
“The UM4 supply boat sustained heavy damages at around 08:52 (am) due to the continued blasting of water cannons from the CCG vessels,” the military said in a statement, without describing the nature of the damage or whether there were any casualties.
A Philippine coast guard escort vessel later reached the damaged boat “to provide assistance,” the military said.
China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu said in a statement that the Philippine convoy “forcibly intruded into the area despite the Chinese side’s repeated warnings and route controls,” adding the Chinese carried out “control, obstruction and eviction in accordance with law.”
“We sternly warn the Philippine side: those who play with fire will bring shame on themselves. The Chinese Coast Guard is ready at all times to resolutely safeguard our country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” Gan added.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The latest confrontation came four days after visiting Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its “ironclad” commitments to defend longtime ally Manila against armed attack in the South China Sea.
Two days after Blinken’s visit to Manila, the China Coast Guard also tried to drive away Filipino scientists who landed on two cays near Scarborough Shoal, another contested South China Sea outcrop.
The Unaizah May 4, which was also damaged in a China Coast Guard water cannon attack off Second Thomas Shoal earlier this month, had returned to the area on Saturday escorted by two Filipino coast guard vessels and two Philippine Navy ships, a Philippine military statement said.
The Philippine soldiers stationed on the shoal live on a derelict navy ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities.
“This particular mission was set up to ensure a full troop complement on board BRP Sierra Madre after one personnel needing serious medical attention was recently evacuated,” the military added.
Four crew members had been hurt by broken glass during the previous water cannon attack on the Unaizah May 4.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine coast guard spokesman for South China Sea issues, said in a separate statement that its escort vessel, the BRP Cabra, was “impeded and encircled” by three Chinese coast guard and other vessels early Saturday.
As a result, Cabra was “isolated from the resupply boat due to the irresponsible and provocative behavior of the Chinese maritime forces,” he added.


Is Iraq ready to stand alone against extremist threats if US withdrawal goes ahead?

Updated 7 min 54 sec ago
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Is Iraq ready to stand alone against extremist threats if US withdrawal goes ahead?

  • Decades of training and investment have improved security forces, but critical capability gaps remain
  • Analysts warn premature pullout could erase progress against extremism and empower armed groups

LONDON: When Daesh extremists seized control of swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, many wondered whether the onslaught could have been prevented had US troops not withdrawn from the country three years earlier.

As the militants surged into Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, there were reports of members of the Iraqi Security Forces stripping off their uniforms as they fled.

“We can’t beat them,” an unnamed army officer told Reuters amid the chaos. “They are well-trained in street fighting, and we’re not. We need a whole army to drive them out of Mosul.”

After three years of fierce fighting that took Daesh within 25 kilometers of the capital, Baghdad, the extremists were finally driven back and Mosul was liberated.

The gargantuan military effort was spearheaded by Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service, bolstered by the return of American troops and the US Air Force.

Images of the destruction in Mosul, along with the catastrophic impact of Daesh’s occupation, might be playing on the minds of Washington officials as they once again weigh whether or not to remove American troops still stationed in Iraq.

As it stands, the US and Iraq have agreed to end Operation Inherent Resolve — the US-led coalition’s mission to combat Daesh — by September. Most of the 2,500 US personnel in Iraq are scheduled to leave in the initial phase, with a small number remaining until 2026.

File photo showing US soldiers near an Iraqi army base on the outskirts of Mosul during the fight against Daesh militants on November 23, 2016. (AFP)

Many believe US President Donald Trump, acting under his isolationist tendencies, will want to hasten the withdrawal of those forces, or is unlikely to extend their stay if the Iraqi government requests it.

With reports of an increase in attacks by Daesh sleeper cells, fears of instability across the border in Syria, and with Iran looking to shore up its proxy militias in Iraq, there are concerns that another complete US withdrawal will once again leave the country vulnerable.

“The risk of premature withdrawal from Iraq is that the Iraqi Security Forces will lose critical operational and tactical support, and Daesh will seize the opportunity to reconstitute and once again terrorize the Iraqi people and state,” Dana Stroul, research director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former Pentagon official, told Arab News.

The mooted withdrawal of US troops comes more than 20 years after the US-led invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam Hussain, freeing the country from dictatorship, but ushering in a period of sectarian civil war.

US forces were drawn into cycles of violence and routinely became the target of two mutually antagonistic sectarian forces: Iran-backed militias and an insurgency in which Al-Qaeda played a prominent role.

Members of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) paramilitary unit take part in a parade in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on December 10, 2024, to mark the nation’s victory against Daesh militants. (AFP)

When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he vowed to end US involvement in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not without first ordering a massive troop surge in an attempt to salvage the mission.

In Iraq, where more than 100,000 people were estimated to have died in the violence, there was widespread public anger at the American presence. In the US, the war was also deeply unpopular with thousands of American soldiers having been killed.

Some American and Iraqi officials wanted to maintain a US military presence in the country, fearful of an Al-Qaeda resurgence. But attempts to negotiate an agreement for a reduced force failed and in October 2011 Obama announced that all of the remaining 39,000 US troops would be withdrawn by the end of that year, bringing a close to the mission.

The US spent $25 billion on training and equipping Iraq’s security forces up to September 2012, alongside Iraq’s own spending on fighter jets and other advanced materiel. So it was something of a surprise that Iraqi forces were so quickly overrun when Daesh launched its offensive in 2014, having emerged from the remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Images of Daesh fighters driving around in US armored vehicles captured from the Iraqi military symbolized how quickly Iraq’s armed forces had deteriorated since the 2011 withdrawal.

An image grab taken from a propaganda video released on March 17, 2014 by the Daesh's al-Furqan Media militants with their flag as they stand on a captured armored vehicle in Iraq’s Anbar province. (AFP/File)

As the extent of Daesh’s brutality began to emerge, including the slaughter of the Yazidi minority and the beheading of Western hostages on YouTube, the US ordered its forces back to the region, as part of an international coalition, to fight the extremists in both Iraq and Syria.

After some of the most brutal urban warfare seen since the Second World War, Iraq’s then-prime minister, Haider Al-Abadi, declared the territorial defeat of Daesh in December 2017. US forces continued to help their allies in Syria to defeat the extremists there in March 2019.

By December 2021, US forces in Iraq no longer held combat roles, instead working on training, advisory, and intelligence support for the country’s military. The remaining 2,500 US troops are spread between Baghdad, Irbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and Ain Al-Asad air base.

However, soon after Al-Abadi’s declaration of victory over the extremists, a new threat emerged in Iraq in the shape of Iran-backed militias, originally mobilized to help defeat Daesh. Having extended their reach over Sunni and Kurdish areas, these groups began attacking US bases with rockets and drones in a bid to force their immediate withdrawal.

These attacks, sponsored by Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, prompted President Trump, during his first term, to order the killing of militia chief Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike on their motorcade as they left Baghdad Airport on Jan. 3, 2020.

This picture taken on January 8, 2022, shows Iraqi Shiites commemorating the second anniversary of the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (posters) in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (AFP)

Soleimani’s death was a major setback for Iran’s proxies throughout the region, but the attacks on US positions did not subside. In fact, with the onset of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Iraq’s Shiite militias mounted a fresh wave of strikes, ostensibly in support of Hamas.

The deadliest of these occurred on Jan. 28, 2024, when three US personnel were killed and 47 wounded in a drone attack on Tower 22 just over the border in Jordan, prompting then-US president, Joe Biden, to order a wave of airstrikes on militia positions in Iraq.

Mindful of the need to protect its proxies in Iraq, at a time where Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis have been weakened and the sympathetic Assad regime in Syria has fallen, Iran appears to have forsworn further militia strikes on US forces.

The latest agreement to end the US presence was reached in September last year with the aim of moving to a fully bilateral security partnership in 2026.

Meanwhile, the US Defense Department announced in April it would be halving the number of troops in northeast Syria “in the coming months.”

An indication of Trump’s aversion to the continued US military presence came during a speech in Saudi Arabia while on his tour of the Gulf in May when he decried “Western interventionists.”

A clear concern surrounding a US withdrawal is whether Iraq’s security forces are now strong enough to withstand threats like the 2014 Daesh assault. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 is also no doubt fresh in the minds of defense officials.

A recent report by the New Lines Institute think tank in New York said that a US withdrawal from Iraq would “heavily impede the intelligence and reconnaissance collection, artillery, and command-and-control capabilities of Iraqi military forces.”

The report studied quarterly independent audits for the US Congress between 2019 and 2024 to assess the capabilities of Iraqi forces. It looked at the three main forces in Iraq: the Iraqi Security Forces, Counter Terrorism Service, and the Kurdish Peshmerga.

The report said: “While segments of Iraq’s military, such as the CTS and Kurdish security forces, have proven efficient in counterterrorism operations, several gaps exist in Iraq’s conventional capabilities, including artillery, command and control, inter- and intra-branch planning, and trust.”

The think tank said there were serious questions about whether Iraq’s security forces would be able to “hedge against internal and external challenges” in the absence of the US security umbrella.

The report’s co-author Caroline Rose, a director at New Lines, says the gaps in Iraqi capabilities “could reverse over a decade of progress that Operation Inherent Resolve has made in Iraq.”

“If the objective is still to advance Iraqi forces’ operational capacity, sustain gains against Daesh, and serve as a ‘hedge’ against Iranian influence, there is work still to be done,” she told Arab News.

While Iraq has enjoyed a period of relative stability, the threats to its national security continue to lurk within and beyond its borders.

The biggest fear is of a Daesh resurgence. Although the group has been severely depleted, it continues to operate cells in rural areas of Iraq and Syria, and has since made headway in Afghanistan, the Sahel, and beyond.

“Since January, the US military is still actively supporting the Iraqis,” said the Washington Institute’s Stroul. “There have been monthly operations against Daesh, including the killing of a senior leader in western Iraq. This tells us that Daesh is still a threat, and the US support mission is still necessary.”

Another concern is that instability in Syria, where the embryonic, post-Assad government is facing significant security challenges, could again provide a breeding ground for Daesh that could spill across the border.

“There are still 9,000 Daesh detainees held in prison camps in northeast Syria,” said Stroul, adding that these present “a real risk of prison breaks that will replenish Daesh ranks and destabilize Syria, Iraq, and the rest of the region. If the security situation deteriorates in Syria, this will have seriously negative impacts in Iraq.”

And then there is the ongoing threat posed by Iran-backed militias. While these militias have been officially recognized as part of Iraq’s security apparatus, some believe the US presence in Iraq helps keep them — and, by extension, Iran — in check.

“The staging of US forces and equipment, combined with a deep Iraqi dependence on American technical and advisory support, creates an obstacle and point of distraction for Tehran and its proxies,” Rose said.

If the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq is inevitable, then how can Washington best prepare Iraq to go it alone?

For Rose, the US should play a “long game” to sustain security ties with Iraq and preserve the progress made under Operation Inherent Resolve.

She recommended the US continue investing in Iraq’s defense and security, conducting regular joint military exercises, and using its current presence in Irbil and Baghdad to build strong relations with security officials.

She also advised other international bodies, like the NATO Mission-Iraq and the EU Advisory Mission Iraq, to coordinate closely with the US as the drawdown gets underway.

Although the US appears set on pivoting away from the region to focus strategic attention on the Asia-Pacific, some still hope there could be a way for America to maintain some form of military presence, given the rapidly evolving situation in the wider Middle East.

Reports earlier this year suggested some senior Iraqi politicians aligned with Iran privately want a US presence to continue, at least until ongoing US-Iran nuclear talks reach a conclusion.

“The US military mission is one of support, advice, and assistance by mutual consent of Baghdad and Washington,” Stroul, of the Washington Institute, said. “If the Iraqi government invites the US military to remain for some period of time, there should be agreement on the supporting role that the US can play.”

If Iraq hopes to maintain lasting stability, it needs to ensure its security forces can act alone to protect the country and population from internal and external threats.

Continuing to work with the world’s foremost military power, even in a limited capacity, would go some way to ensuring the horrors of 2014 are not repeated.
 

 


Firefighting and rescue drone to be used during Hajj for first time

A firefighting drone called “Falcon” will be deployed during this year’s Hajj for the first time. (SPA)
Updated 18 min 56 sec ago
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Firefighting and rescue drone to be used during Hajj for first time

  • The drone, enhanced with AI, is specifically designed for firefighting and rescue operations in high-altitude or otherwise challenging-to-access locations

RIYADH: A firefighting drone called “Falcon” will be deployed during this year’s Hajj for the first time, the General Directorate of Saudi Civil Defense announced on Sunday.

The drone, enhanced with artificial intelligence, is specifically designed for firefighting and rescue operations in high-altitude or otherwise challenging-to-access locations, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

It boasts an operational flight time of up to 12 hours at high altitudes and can carry a payload of approximately 40 kilograms, SPA added.

It is equipped with a versatile multi-purpose firefighting system, along with integrated rescue, control, and safety systems. Its capabilities include thermal cameras and the ability to broadcast live footage from the site, which can be directly linked to the command and control center.

The drone offers diverse applications for high-rise buildings, industrial sites, areas containing hazardous materials, crowded environments, and forest fires. Its key advantages include rapid response speed, reduced risk to personnel, and enhanced decision-making capabilities through real-time imaging, SPA said.

Director General of Civil Defense, Major General Hamoud bin Suleiman Al-Faraj, made the announcement at the Press Conference of the Hajj Security Forces Commanders.Al-Faraj emphasized the importance of preventive measures through pre-inspection tours of pilgrims’ residences, conducting safety patrols, and implementing a number of joint scenarios and exercises with the relevant authorities a the holy sites.

These efforts aim to enhance coordination and optimal response to emergency situations, with support from rapid intervention teams deployed around the clock, he said.

Meanwhile, the Director of Public Security Lieutenant General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Bassami said 269,678 non-residents of Makkah without permits were stopped from entering the holy city, 252 fake Hajj campaigns were apprehended, 1,239 people transporting others in violation of Hajj regulations were arrested, and 109,632 vehicles violating Hajj rules were sent back.

 


Pakistan police say four militants killed in operation in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan

Updated 46 min 46 sec ago
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Pakistan police say four militants killed in operation in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan

  • The operation in DG Khan was launched on intelligence reports about militant movement near the Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border
  • Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which Punjab’s DG Khan district borders

ISLAMABAD: Police killed four militants in a successful operation in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday.

The Dera Ghazi Khan, or DG Khan, district borders the southwestern Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies.

The operation was conducted in DG Khan’s Kot Mubarak area and the law enforcers recovered a sizeable cache of heavy weapons and ammunition from the site of the encounter.

“The swift and effective action of the police teams thwarted the terrorists’ nefarious plans,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported, citing officials.

“Inspector General of Punjab Police Dr. Usman Anwar commended the efforts of the Dera Ghazi Khan Police and said the Punjab police stand as a strong barrier against anti-state elements.”

Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies: one led by religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups in Balochistan.

Militants often seek refuge in border areas of neighboring provinces amid intensifying counter-insurgency operations in KP and Balochistan.

The operation in DG Khan was launched on intelligence reports about militant movement near the Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border, the APP news agency reported, citing a police spokesman.

“Some suspects fled using cover from bushes and mounds,” it said. “A search-and-sweep operation is ongoing to track them down.”
 


Egypt unveils plan for new desert city in latest megaproject

Updated 51 min 57 sec ago
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Egypt unveils plan for new desert city in latest megaproject

  • The new city, named Jirian, meaning “Flow” in Arabic, is part of Egypt’s Nile Delta scheme, a massive agricultural initiative to reclaim about 2.5 million acres west of the original Nile Delta

CAIRO: Egypt has unveiled plans for a vast new urban development west of Cairo where a man-made channel of the River Nile will eventually wind through what was once arid desert.

The new city, named Jirian, meaning “Flow” in Arabic, is part of Egypt’s Nile Delta scheme, a massive agricultural initiative to reclaim about 2.5 million acres west of the original Nile Delta.

The ambitious agricultural project, which started in 2021, seeks to boost production of strategic crops such as wheat and corn while reducing the North African country’s food import bill.

The project is the latest in a string of megaprojects launched by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in recent years, including a new administrative capital east of Cairo.

While officials say these projects are key to Egypt’s long-term growth, they have also contributed to the country’s soaring foreign debt, which quadrupled since 2015 to reach $155.2 billion by late 2024.

The country has also received billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund and the EU to ensure its financial stability, with the EU pledging billions more last month.

At a launch event on Sunday, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli called the Jirian project “an urban and development revolution.”

He added that it would create 250,000 jobs and serve as the cornerstone of a wider development zone equivalent in size to four to five governorates.

“We are talking about full-spectrum development,” he told reporters, describing a sprawling urban zone that will include industry, logistics hubs, and homes for “between 2.5 and 3 million families.”

The government did not disclose the project’s total cost, which is being developed in partnership with three major Egyptian real estate firms.

The new Nile Delta project comes at a time when Egypt is already under pressure to secure its water future.

With 97 percent of its fresh water sourced from the Nile, the country has been locked in a years-long dispute with Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Cairo fears could reduce downstream water flows.


Zelensky says Ukraine used 117 drones in attacks on Russian air bases

Updated 52 min 54 sec ago
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Zelensky says Ukraine used 117 drones in attacks on Russian air bases

KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday it deployed 117 drones in a massive attack against Russian air bases that he called “our most long-range operation” in more than three years of war.
“A total of 117 drones were used in the operation. And a corresponding number of drone operators worked,” Zelensky said in a statement, adding that “34 percent of the strategic cruise missile carriers at the airfields were hit.”