ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian forces have committed “widespread attacks amounting to war crimes against medical professionals, patients, and health facilities” in the conflict-torn Amhara region, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
The northern region was under a state of emergency until last month after fighting erupted there between federal forces and the Fano “self-defense” militia in August 2023.
In a 66-page report based on interviews with 58 people, including victims and eyewitnesses, global rights watchdog HRW said it had documented attacks by federal forces and a pro-government militia against “medical workers, health care facilities, and transports in at least 13 towns.”
“Soldiers beat, arbitrarily arrested, and intimidated medical professionals for providing care to the injured and sick, including alleged Fano fighters,” HRW said, adding that troops also “unlawfully attacked ambulances” and prevented hospitals from functioning.
“Federal forces have obstructed access to medical facilities, including by wrongfully arresting patients on mere suspicion of a Fano affiliation, causing widespread fear for those that may seek or need treatment,” it added.
The rights group said that international humanitarian law offered “special protections to health facilities, medical professionals, patients, and ambulances.”
But HRW deputy Africa director Laetitia Bader said Ethiopia’s federal forces “operating with near impunity are unsurprisingly disregarding civilian lives by attacking medical facilities.”
HRW noted that humanitarian agencies have struggled to operate in the region of 23 million people, with nine aid workers killed since fighting erupted, including four fatalities this year.
Media access to Amhara has also been heavily restricted, while the mandate of a UN commission of experts investigating atrocities in Ethiopia expired in October, leading to limited subsequent monitoring of rights abuses in the country, HRW said.
A report released last month by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that “Ethiopian federal forces and the Fano militia had been involved in numerous violations of international humanitarian law, resulting in over 2,000 civilian casualties in the Amhara region,” HRW said.
Bader called for “much greater international scrutiny” of the rights situation in Ethiopia.
“So long as the government feels no pressure to hold abusive forces to account, such atrocities are likely to continue,” she warned.
The violence in Amhara reignited concerns about Ethiopia’s stability, months after a peace agreement was signed in November 2022 to end a two-year conflict in the neighboring region of Tigray.
Amhara forces and the Fano supported Ethiopian troops during that war but fell out after Addis Ababa signed the 2022 peace deal, fueling a sense of betrayal among the Amhara, who have a history of land disputes with the Tigray region.
Rights group accuses Ethiopia of attacks on medical facilities
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Rights group accuses Ethiopia of attacks on medical facilities

- Documented attacks by federal forces and a pro-government militia against ‘medical workers, health care facilities, and transports in at least 13 towns’
Polish foreign minister takes aim at Musk after Trump clash
Warsaw’s top diplomat Radoslaw Sikorski found himself embroiled in an extraordinarily public clash with Musk and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March after he said Ukraine may need an alternative to the Starlink satellite service.
Amid a flurry of posts on his social media platform X, Musk had told Sikorski to “Be quiet, small man.”
On Thursday simmering tensions between Musk and Trump exploded into a public feud, as the president threatened to cut off government contracts to companies run by the world’s richest man. Musk suggested Trump should be impeached.
Sikorski took aim at Musk in a post on X, saying “See, big man, politics is harder than you thought.”
There was no immediate response to the post from Musk.
Europe eyes Kosovo-Denmark deal for foreign prisoners

- The agreement provides for the reception of up to 300 foreign prisoners sentenced in Denmark
- The prisoners must not be convicted of war crimes or terrorism, nor suffering from mental illness or a terminal disease
GNJILANE: By 2027, Denmark will relocate its foreign convicts to a prison in Kosovo under a 200-million-euro agreement that has raised concerns among NGOs and residents but which could serve as a model for the rest of the EU.
The agreement, reached in 2022 and ratified by Kosovar MPs in 2024, provides for the reception of up to 300 foreign prisoners sentenced in Denmark.
They must not have been convicted of terrorism or war crimes nor suffer from mental illness or a terminal disease. Once their sentence is completed in Kosovo, they will be deported to their home country.
In exchange, Denmark will pay 200 million euros ($230 million) — more than six times the annual budget of Kosovo’s Ministry of Justice.
The detainees will be imprisoned in a dedicated facility in the village of Pasjak, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of the capital, Pristina, where work on renovation of the facility is to start soon.
From the main road, the narrow path leading to the red-bricked prison divides the village in two, leaving about 1,500 residents on one side.
The school, mosque and cemetery are on the other near the prison itself, which is surrounded by high walls with barbed wire and observation posts.
The project has left residents perplexed.
“We don’t know who they will bring or if they will pose a threat to the village,” said Zeke Zeka, a 57-year-old farmer and deputy chief of the village.
“If they were good, Denmark would keep them and not transfer them out of the country,” he added.
Hanging out washing in the courtyard, Zeka’s wife, Hasime, 57, said she regrets having a prison practically on her doorstep but added: “It can’t be helped. We weren’t asked.”
Doubt has spread even inside the prison, where the guards feel discriminated against.
“We will continue to work for the same pay but under a Danish regime, which is therefore more demanding, and whose standards are among the highest in Europe,” one of them explained to AFP during a tour.
The agreement stipulates that Kosovo “must make the necessary adjustments to the prison facilities to ensure they meet the requirements of the sending state,” explained Ismail Dibrani, director of the Kosovo Correctional Service.
“Of course, the layout will be adapted to the Danish prison system,” he added, specifying that there will be “workshops where prisoners can work in printing, sewing, design, etc..”
On the Danish side, the government appointed a senior official, Mads Beyer, in April to co-direct the prison, in cooperation with local authorities.
His job, he confirmed to AFP, will be “to ensure that prisoners serve their sentences in accordance with Danish rules and under conditions similar to those applied in Danish prisons.”
The UN Committee Against Torture, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and several NGOs have expressed concern about the project.
But the initiative is being keenly watched across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently declared that prisoner relocation was “not taboo” while Sweden on Tuesday said it was looking to rent prison places in Estonia.
“Unlike the majority of European states that are facing prison overcrowding, we have sufficient capacity,” explained Dibrani.
“Our prison capacity is currently 2,500 places, while we instantly have around 1,800 prisoners.”
“After signing the agreement, we received a number of requests from European countries, for huge sums of money. But we haven’t discussed it yet,” he added.
“We already have a lot of work to do for our own country.”
Indian police arrest four people for cricket fans stampede

- Stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s trophy celebration killed 11 people and injured 47
Police in India’s tech capital of Bengaluru have arrested four people, including an official of a top cricket franchise, in connection with a stampede during a trophy celebration that killed 11 people and injured 47, media reported.
Four people, three from an event management company and one official from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team, whose victory in the Indian Premier League this week led to fan frenzy, were arrested early on Friday morning, media said.
Spokespersons for the team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
On Wednesday, Bengaluru were celebrating their win the previous day over Punjab Kings in the final of the IPL’s 18th edition, the world’s richest T20 cricket league. The team had given away free passes for the celebration at a stadium in the city but said that numbers would be limited.
Thousands of people gathered outside the stadium, and fans without passes tried push through the gates, leading to a stampede.
The franchise said later the incident was “unfortunate” and pledged one million Indian rupees to each family of the 11 fans who died on Wednesday.
Stampedes occur frequently in India, mainly at religious events, but it was the first time in 45 years that fans had died in a crush at a sporting event, media said.
India’s head cricket coach Gautam Gambhir said on Thursday he did not support such roadshows and celebrations.
“Celebration is important. But more important than that is the life of any person. So, if we are not prepared or if we can’t handle the crowd in that way, then we might as well not have these roadshows,” Gambhir told reporters.
Thai military prepared for ‘high-level operation’ if Cambodia border row escalates

- Thailand's military released a statement saying: “The army is now ready for a high level military operation in case it is necessary to retaliate against the violation of sovereignty"
BANGKOK: Thailand’s military said it is ready to launch a “high-level operation” to counter any violation of its sovereignty, in the strongest words yet in a simmering border dispute with Cambodia that re-erupted with a deadly clash last week.
The army said in a statement late on Thursday that its intelligence gathering indicated Cambodia had stepped up its military readiness at their border while diplomatic efforts were ongoing, describing that as “worrisome.” The statement was in sharp contrast with one from the government just hours earlier, when it urged Cambodia to positively engage in dialogue via an existing mechanism between them.
“The army is now ready for a high-level military operation in case it is necessary to retaliate against the violation of sovereignty,” it said, ahead of a meeting of its armed forces top brass scheduled for Friday.
“Operations of units at the border have been conducted carefully, calmly and based on an understanding of the situation to prevent losses on all sides, but at the same time, are ready to defend the country’s sovereignty to the fullest extent if the situation is called for.”
Cambodia’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Thai military statement on Friday. The governments of the two countries had for days exchanged carefully worded statements committing to dialogue after a brief skirmish in an undemarcated border area on May 28 in which a Cambodian soldier was killed. Although the two countries have a historic rivalry, their governments enjoy friendly ties, partly due to the close relationship between their influential former leaders, Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra and Cambodia’s Hun Sen, whose daughter and son respectively are now the prime ministers in their countries. The issue comes at a tricky time for the Pheu Thai Party-led administration in Thailand as it battles to revive a flagging economy that could be hit by steep US tariffs, while facing a challenge to its popularity having paused a signature cash handout to tens of millions of people.
The party of the billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the Thai military, which twice toppled its governments in 2006 and 2014 coups. Deadly clashes between Cambodia and Thailand last erupted in 2011 over the Preah Vihear, a 900-year-old temple at the heart of a decades-long row that has stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides. The International Court of Justice in 2013 ruled in favor of Cambodia in clarifying a 1962 decision to award it jurisdiction over the temple, saying part of the land around it was Cambodia’s and Thai troops must withdraw from the area.
Cambodia said this week it is committed to peace and plans to resolve the issue by referring disputes over four parts of their border to the ICJ and has asked Thailand to cooperate. Thailand says it does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
Intense Russian air attack on Ukraine’s capital kills four

- The attack followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US leader Donald Trump
- The city’s metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations
KYIV: Russia mounted an intense missile and drone barrage of the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing four people, Ukrainian officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the city.
The attack followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via US leader Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said 20 people were injured, 16 of them in hospital, in addition to the four deaths.
The city’s metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, Kyiv’s military administration said. Ukraine’s state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia said it was also detouring some trains due to railway damage in the region.
In the Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone’s engine.
Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.
Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites.
Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks.
Ukraine’s air force said the country had been targeted with drones and missiles overnight.
Russian forces struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, mayor Serhii Nadal said.
The regional administration said the attack injured five people and recommended residents stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire.
Five people were injured in the northwestern city of Lutsk where the attack also damaged private homes, educational institutions and government buildings, according to mayor Ihor Polishchuk.
In one of the most audacious attacks of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia’s strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds.
The Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases, Trump said after a telephone conversation with Putin on Wednesday.