Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation: JNU Prof Pushpesh Pant Consultant Curator of Ayodhya Mosque Archival Museum
New Age Islam
News Bureau
05 September
2020
Pushesh Pant of JNU
-----
• Muslim
Volunteers Help Husband Perform the Final Rites of Hindu Blind Poetess In Pune
• Supreme Court
of Pakistan Sees No Honour in Honour Killings in the Name of ‘Ghairat’
• Saudi Arabia
Sentences More Human Rights Activists to Jail As Crackdown Widens
• British Artist
Sells Fairuz Prints to Raise Money for Hungry Lebanese
• Malaysia’s New
Govt Says it Won’t Hand Over Uyghur Refugees to China
• Palestinian
Man Likens His Arrest To That Of George Floyd, Says He Was Nearly Paralyzed
• Experts: Boko
Haram Recruiting Children as Soldiers, Suicide Bombers
India
• Indo-Islamic
Cultural Foundation: JNU Prof Pushpesh Pant Consultant Curator of Ayodhya
Mosque Archival Museum
• Muslim Volunteers
Help Husband Perform the Final Rites of Hindu Blind Poetess In Pune
• Muslims Being
Targeted In UP, Framed in False Cases: Mayawati
• 35 Foreign
Members of Tablighi Jamaat Move Court Over Order to Frame Charges
• Court Overturns
Ban on Assamese TV Serial Accused of Promoting ‘Love Jihad’
• Pakistan
violates ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch
• 3 terrorists
killed, major, 2 policemen injured in ongoing encounter in Baramulla
--------
Pakistan
• Supreme Court
of Pakistan Sees No Honour in Honour Killings in the Name of ‘Ghairat’
• Imran ‘Satisfied’
With Bajwa’s Reply on Offshore Assets, Rejects Resignation
• At least 4
injured in blast outside mosque in Quetta
• Charlie Hebdo
protests grow across Pakistan
• 'Non-Muslim' sanitation
job advert draws flak in Pakistan
--------
Arab World
• Saudi Arabia
Sentences More Human Rights Activists to Jail As Crackdown Widens
• Organization
of Islamic Cooperation, Muslim World League sign deal to combat Islamophobia
• World Bank cancels
$224M loan to Lebanon over government failures
• One month
after the deadly Beirut port explosion, how is Lebanon coping?
--------
Europe
• British Artist
Sells Fairuz Prints to Raise Money for Hungry Lebanese
• Huge Library
of Online Daesh Propaganda Uncovered
• Turkey
supports military talks initiative with Greece
• Dutch
politician found guilty of insulting minorities
• Greece lied on
NATO’s E.Med meeting proposal: Turkey
--------
Southeast Asia
• Malaysia’s New
Govt Says it Won’t Hand Over Uyghur Refugees to China
• Indonesia
Condemns Series Of ‘Provocative’ Actions Against Muslims In Foreign Countries
• Malaysian
group decries reprinting of Muhammad cartoons
• Sabah leaders
sue PAS MP over insensitive Bible remark
--------
Mideast
• Palestinian
Man Likens His Arrest To That Of George Floyd, Says He Was Nearly Paralyzed
• Disrespect of
Quran Incompatible with Global Fight against Extremism
• Hamas urges
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia to stop helping UAE implement deal with Israel
• Israeli regime
has no future in Palestinian territories: Hamas
• Hamas inflicts
embarrassing political defeat upon Israeli regime
• Iran allows UN
nuclear watchdog to inspect one of two sites after pressure
• Al-Qaeda
joining Saudi-led forces in Ma'rib province: Yemeni govt.
• Palestine:
Serbia moving embassy to Jerusalem illegal
--------
Africa
• Experts: Boko
Haram Recruiting Children as Soldiers, Suicide Bombers
• Boko Haram
Terrorists Kill 20 Nigerian Soldiers In Borno Attacks
• 5 killed in
suspected Boko Haram raids in Cameroon’s Far North region
• Somalia says
two senior Al-Shabaab leaders killed in joint operation
• Sudan Transitional
Government, Rebel Group To Resume Peace Talks
--------
North America
• Donald Trump Urges
Iran Not To Execute Wrestler Navid Afkari
• Turkey's
Syrian mercenaries in Libya 'degrade security', US report says
• What is the US
aiming for by lifting the Cyprus arms embargo?
--------
South Asia
• 11 Dead After
6 Air Conditioners Explode in Bangladesh Mosque
• Officer Dies
after Afghan Border Clashes
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/indo-islamic-cultural-foundation-jnu/d/122796
--------
Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation: JNU Prof Pushpesh Pant Consultant Curator of Ayodhya Mosque Archival Museum
Sep 5, 2020
Pushesh Pant of JNU
-----
AYODHYA: The
Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation, the Trust constituted by Sunni Waqf Board to
build a mosque in Ayodhya in lieu of Babri masjid, has appointed renowned
historian, international relations expert and chronicler of Indian cuisine Prof
Pushpesh Pant, 73, as consultant curator of its archival museum, which will be
part of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre on the 5acre plot mandated by
Supreme Court.
The mosque
complex at Dhannipur village in Ayodhya will also include a hospital, school
and community kitchen. Pant, a retired JNU professor and recipient of Padma
Shri told TOI “the true spirit of India is embodied in its multicultural fabric
that we call the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. We will develop a centre that will heal
and feed humanity in the true spirit of Islam”.
The community
kitchen in the mosque complex will serve the finest Awadhi cuisine, he said.
“The menu may
include ‘Gosht-Roti’, Tehri and Puri-Sabzi. We will incorporate the taste of
Awadh from Lucknow to Faizabad and from Jaunpur to Banaras,” said Pant.
Talking about
the upcoming museum, he said, “We will develop a centre that will represent the
syncretic culture of India in which Hindus and Muslims live in harmony and are
tied by a strong thread of brotherhood. It will represent India’s illustrious
history in which a Hindu can serve at a mosque and Muslims patronize temples.
The museum will showcase the legacy of Sufis to Muslim rulers who embraced
Indian culture.”
Talking to TOI,
Athar Hussain, secretary of the mosque Trust, said, “We are honoured to have
Pushpesh Pant as a consultant. He’s a noted academic, food critic, historian
and India’s leading expert on international relations and Indian cuisine. His
book, India: The Cookbook (2011), was named by The New York Times as one of the
best cookbooks of the year.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/prof-pant-curator-of-mosque-museum/articleshow/77940981.cms
--------
Muslim Volunteers
Help Husband Perform the Final Rites of Hindu Blind Poetess In Pune
Abhay Khairnar
Sep 04, 2020
PUNE: The final
rites of blind poetess and social activist Pratibha Moreshwar Bhole was
performed by her husband with the help of a social group run by a Muslim
activist. The poetess passed away due to diabetes and kidney ailment at Deenath
Mangeshkar Hospital on September 1. She was 64.
As the family
and relatives of the couple, mostly senior citizens, did not come forward due
to fear of Covid-19 infection, Sunil Parmar, Pratibha’s husband, took the help
of a Muslim activist for performing the final rites.
“My wife’s
friend circle is big, but most of them are above 60 years of age and it is not
advisable for them to venture out because of the Covid situation. When I told
one of my friends that it is not possible for me to perform the final rites
alone, he asked Muslim Mulnivasi Manch’s Anjum Inamdar for help. Later, I got a
call from Inamdar and the group’s volunteers reached the hospital and made
arrangements.”
Parmar, who
hails from Mumbai before settling in Pune and is into printing business, said,
“Some ambulance drivers agreed to carry the body to crematorium, but denied to
help in performing the final rites saying that they have to attend to many
calls from hospitals. At least four persons are required at the crematorium and
the Muslim volunteers managed everything.”
Inamdar said,
“Since the first virus case was reported in the city, our organisation has been
voluntarily performing the final rites of Covid and non-Covid deaths when
relatives are not coming forward. We came to know that that the deceased was a
blind poetess and social activist from her husband when we were performing the
final rites.”
The senior
couple lived at Sadashiv peth area near Bharat Natya Mandir auditorium.
“Prathibha
became blind due to an accident when she was in Class 10. She was interested in
literature from childhood. She has written two books and aired over 50
programmes on radio. She has received many awards for her poetry, including
those presented by former Maharashtra governor PC Alexander and Nationalist
Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar,” Parmar said, adding that they got married
in 2009 and do not have any children.
Prathibha used
to work at Union Bank of India as telephone operator and remembered phone
details of 4,000 people, according to Pawar, who said that she was an active
social worker and organised many programmes for the disabled.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/muslim-volunteers-help-husband-perform-the-final-rites-of-hindu-blind-poetess-in-pune/story-NPI3jr3TPqIt06rMZneOsI.html
--------
Supreme Court of
Pakistan Sees No Honour in Honour Killings in the Name of ‘Ghairat’
Nasir Iqbal
05 Sep 2020
A two-judge bench headed by
Justice Isa had taken up the jail appeal of Mohammad Abbas against the Sept 8,
2015 verdict of the Lahore High Court in the murder case of his wife, Saima
Bibi. — Photo courtesy Supreme Court website/File
-----
ISLAMABAD: The
Supreme Court on Friday observed that the killing of women in the name of
honour had never been an honourable practice, saying such murders should not be
categorised as honour killings.
“It will help
deter such killings if the term ‘Ghairat’ is not used to describe them,”
observed Justice Qazi Faez Isa in a judgement he authored while hearing a jail
petition.
A two-judge
bench headed by Justice Isa had taken up the jail appeal of Mohammad Abbas
against the Sept 8, 2015 verdict of the Lahore High Court in the murder case of
his wife, Saima Bibi.
Justice Isa regretted
that not enough was being done to discourage crimes against women as extremism
and violence have permeated through Pakistani society and it has been
brutalised.
Justice Isa says
not enough is being done to discourage crime against women
Mohammad Abbas
was facing the allegation of killing his wife over suspected infidelity. Saima
Bibi was the sister of Mohammad Asghar, the complainant who reported to police
that his sister was killed by her husband. The crime was stated to have been
committed at 1am on May 17, 2009 and an FIR was registered at the Baraghar
police station, Nankana Sahib district.
Mohammad Abbas
was tried by the sessions judge of Nankana Sahib who convicted and awarded
death sentence to the accused for qatl-i-amd (murder) of his wife. He was also
directed to pay compensation of Rs50,000 to the legal heirs of the deceased and
in default of the payment he would face six-month simple imprisonment.
The high court,
however, reduced the sentence of death to imprisonment for life because the
accused had fired only once at the deceased.
The Supreme
Court, however, dismissed the jail appeal on the grounds that there was no
reason justifying the grant of leave as the trial court determined that the
petitioner killed his wife while the high court upheld the conviction though
reduced the sentence to life imprisonment.
Referring to
honour killing, Justice Isa explained that it was inaccurate to translate Urdu
word ‘Ghairat’ into English as ‘honour’, adding that the Urdu word did not have
an exact English equivalent.
A more accurate
translation of the trait of ‘Ghairat’ would be ‘arrogance’ and the one with
such a trait is an ‘arrogant’ person.
Pakistan has one
of the highest, if not the highest per capita honour killings in the world and
predominantly the victims are women, Justice Isa regretted, adding that by
stating that murder was committed on the pretext of ghairat (honour) the
murderer hopes to provide some justification for the crime.
It may also
elevate the murderer’s social status with those not familiar with what Almighty
Allah commands in the Holy Quran, Justice Isa observed.
This is
unfortunate, more so because there is no honour in such killings, Justice Isa
observed, adding that the parliament was rightly concerned with the prevalence
of such killings and enacted legislation to dissuade, if not stop, such crimes.
It did so by
ensuring that offenders do not avail of the benefit of section 302(c) PPC, for
which the maximum punishment is twenty-five years imprisonment but which does
not prescribe a minimum punishment, Justice Isa recalled.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1578016/supreme-court-sees-no-honour-in-honour-killings
--------
Saudi Arabia Sentences
More Human Rights Activists To Jail As Crackdown Widens
05 September
2020
Imprisoned Saudi human
rights advocate Dr. Fahd al-Saneedy
----
A court in Saudi
Arabia has sentenced six more activists to up to seven years in prison as a
crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman widens despite the kingdom’s
much-touted social reforms.
The Prisoners of
Conscience, an independent non-governmental organization advocating human
rights in Saudi Arabia, announced in a post on its official Twitter page that
the so-called Specialized Criminal Court in the capital Riyadh passed the
verdicts against the pro-democracy male activists, mainly writers, academics
and journalists, earlier this week.
🔴 BREAKING
2 (continued)
The so-called
Saudi Specialized Criminal Court issues prison sentences against some of the
September-2017's detainees as follows:
3- Sheikh Ahmad
al-Swayyan 3 years
4- writer
Abdullah al-Malki 7 years pic.twitter.com/ZdXLokTrkd
— Prisoners of
Conscience (@m3takl_en) September 3, 2020
They were
arbitrarily detained under a campaign launched in November 2017. Critics called
the measure a shakedown and power play by Prince Mohammed.
The post noted
that Abdullah al-Malki, a writer who defended members of the civil rights group
Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was tried under a
counter-terrorism law and sentenced to seven years.
While Dr.
Ibrahim al-Harthi and Dr. Yousef al-Qassem were sentenced to five years under
charges of freedom of speech, Dr. Khaled al-Ajeemy and Dr. Ahmad al-Swayan
received 44 months and three years respectively in jail under the same charges.
Also, Dr. Fahd
al-Saneedy was sentenced to three years and 6 months in prison on charges
relating to freedom of speech, after he was found to have defended
pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world and to have posted “inciting tweets”.
🔴 BREAKING
3 (continued)
The so-called
Saudi Specialized Criminal Court issues prison sentences against some of the
September-2017's detainees as follows:
5- Dr. Ibrahim
al-Harthi 5 years
6- Dr. Yousef
al-Qassem 5 years pic.twitter.com/sU5ENRtJOh
— Prisoners of
Conscience (@m3takl_en) September 3, 2020
Late last month,
the London-based group ALQST, which is an independent non-governmental
organization advocating human rights in Saudi Arabia, announced that Saudi
authorities had arrested a writer, a journalist and an activist after they
expressed great sympathy over the death of distinguished activist Abdullah
al-Hamid.
Hamid was
imprisoned several times for calling for the establishment of a constitutional
monarchy in Saudi Arabia. He died in custody on April 23, after suffering a
stroke and going into a coma.
Ever since bin Salman
became Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens
of activists, bloggers, intellectuals and others perceived as political
opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of
international condemnations of the crackdown.
Muslim scholars
have been executed, women’s rights campaigners – including Loujain al-Hathloul
– have been put behind bars and tortured, and freedom of expression,
association and belief continue to be denied.
Bin Salman also
stands accused of being directly involved in the cruel murder of well-known
Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in
Istanbul on October 2, 2018, after he entered the premises to obtain paperwork
for a planned marriage with his Turkish fiancée Hatice Cengiz.
Turkish
officials say his body was dismembered by the Saudi killers and his remains are
yet to be found.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/05/633352/Saudi-Arabia-sentences-more-human-rights-activists-to-jail-as-crackdown-widens--
--------
British artist
sells Fairuz prints to raise money for hungry Lebanese
04 September
2020
A British artist
is selling prints of legendary Lebanese singer Fairuz as part of a crowdfunding
project set up to help families now facing poverty buy essential goods.
Abu Dhabi-based
The National reported that the artist is seeking to raise 2,000 British pounds
($2,651) that will be donated to families in Lebanon’s second largest city
Tripoli who can no longer buy basic goods.
The number of
families that can no longer buy necessities in Lebanon has shot up as the
country continues to face its worst economic crisis since the end of the
15-year civil war in 1990.
For all the
latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Tripoli, known
for its poverty before the crisis set in, has been hard hit by the deepening
economic troubles.
According to
2015 United Nations figures, 57 percent lived at or below the poverty line in
Tripoli and 26 percent suffered extreme poverty.
Now, unemployment
has gone up, as well as the poverty rate. The prices of basic goods has
skyrocketed, and the devaluation of the local currency has seen the value of
people’s incomes plummet. The coronavirus has dealt an additional heavy blow.
Funds will be
delivered through local NGO Menna w Fina, run by Abdul Rahman Harrouk, and the
British artist, Rachel Smith, designed a lino print of the iconic singer
Fairuz, the National reported.
After the
devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut that destroyed some 40 percent of
the Lebanese capital, French President Emmanuel Macron has visited the city
twice, and on his second visit, he met with the singer.
A month after
the blasts, the country is still reeling, and tensions are high. The government
headed by Prime Minister Hassan Diab stepped down a week after the blast, and
diplomat Mustapha Adib has been designated as the new premier.
Per Macron’s
recently unveiled reform plan, the country, which has failed to make reforms
across various sectors for years, has two weeks to form a cabinet – a process
that typically takes years – and has three months to demonstrate that it is
making progress to electricity reform and is taking serious steps to crack down
on corruption.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/09/04/British-artist-sells-Fairuz-prints-to-raise-money-for-hungry-Lebanese
--------
Malaysia’s New
Govt Says it Won’t Hand Over Uyghur Refugees to China
2020-09-04
Malaysia’s new
government will not extradite ethnic Uyghurs to China if Beijing requests it
and will allow them safe passage to a third country, a cabinet member told
parliament recently, responding to questions from a lawmaker concerned that the
policy could damage relations with China.
Although the
government believes every country has the right to solve its internal problems
as it chooses, the government also believes Uyghurs are being oppressed in
China, so it won’t send them back there, said Redzuan Md Yusof, minister in the
Prime Minister’s Department.
“[I]n the matter
of Uyghur refugees, the government is of the stand not to interfere in the
internal affairs of China,” Redzuan said in his written response. “However, if
any Uyghur refugees flee to Malaysia for protection, Malaysia has decided not
to extradite them even if China requests it,” Redzuan said.
“Malaysia
believes every nation has the right to solve its internal problems without any
interference from other countries. [But] the issue of oppression against
Muslims around the world, including of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang in China, does
exist and must be admitted by all parties,” he said.
Redzuan further
said that any Uyghurs would “be allowed to go to a third country” via Malaysia
because “they have valid fears about their safety and about persecution against
them in their own country.”
Redzuan’s
comments mark the first time that the government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin
Yassin has publicly articulated a stance on the Uyghurs since coming to power
in Muslim-majority Malaysia six months ago.
The previous
government, led by Mahathir Mohamad, had also said it wouldn’t extradite
Uyghurs to China.
The minister’s
comments outlining the Muhyiddin government’s policy on Uyghurs were in
response to written questions posed by opposition parliamentarian Chan Foong
Hin in July-August. The minister’s replies were published on the parliament’s
website on Friday.
The opposition
lawmaker told BenarNews that he had questions about Uyghur refugees in Malaysia
because he wanted to know what the new government’s stance was and what its
implications would be for Sino-Malaysian relations.
“As far as I am
concerned, I recalled that the government extradited Uyghur refugees to China
during the Najib [Razak] administration, but Mahathir’s administration altered
the previous policy and refused to extradite them to China, though there was a
request from China,” said Chan.
“I am really
concerned about it as the changes in policy could have implications for
Malaysia and China bilateral relations.”
Human rights
group Amnesty International Malaysia, however, lauded the new government’s
position on Uyghur refugees.
“We are glad
that the authorities have stated on record that they will not violate the
principle of non-refoulement in international law, prohibiting the return of
refugees to their country of origin where they may face violence and
persecution,” Katrina Maliamauv, executive director of the rights group, told
BenarNews.
“The plight of
Uyghur refugees in China has gone on for far too long and the government’s
recognition of Uyghurs’ refugee status is a positive step forward.”
Maliamauv also
said the refuges must be able to seek asylum.
“To uphold the
principle of non-refoulement also means that refugees must be allowed to seek
asylum.”
On Friday,
officials at the Chinese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to
requests for comment from BenarNews about the minister’s statement to
parliament.
Beijing has been
accused of committing mass atrocities against Uyghur and other Muslim
minorities in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Chinese
authorities are believed to have held up to 1.8 million people in a vast
network of internment camps in the region since April 2017.
Beijing
describes the network of camps as voluntary “vocational centers,” but reporting
by Radio Free Asia (RFA) – a sister agency of BenarNews – and other media
outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in poor
conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political
indoctrination.
China’s
government has also defended its policies in the region as part of an official
bid to combat extremism.
Policy shift
The move by a
senior official from Muhyiddin’s government to say that it will safeguard
Uyghurs from extradition to China is significant because governments in
Malaysia have often shied away from commenting on the plight of that community.
At the same time, though, they have been vocal about criticizing the
mistreatment of the Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar, and have also supported the
Palestinians in the Middle East.
The change began
with the Mahathir government, even though the veteran politician told BenarNews
last year that many Muslim countries’ leaders tend to be silent on the Uyghurs
“because China is a very powerful nation.”
In October 2018,
the Mahathir government sent 11 Uyghur refugees from Xinjiang to Turkey after
dropping immigration charges against them, in defiance of a request by Beijing
that they be returned.
In doing so,
Mahathir distanced himself from the previous Najib administration, which wanted
to extradite the 11 Uyghurs who had entered Malaysia illegally after they
escaped from a Thai prison in Nov 2017.
“They have done
nothing wrong in this country, so they are released,” Mahathir told media days
after the Uyghurs were sent to Turkey, Reuters reported.
Mahathir took a
firmer stand on the Uyghurs a year later.
“The issues of
oppression against Islam worldwide, including the Uyghurs, exist and must be
acknowledged by all parties,” Mahathir said in parliament in December 2019,
even as he reiterated that his government wouldn’t interfere in China’s
internal affairs.
“If Uyghurs are
fleeing to Malaysia to seek asylum, Malaysia will not extradite them even if
there is an application from China. They are allowed to go to the third country
because they have valid fears over their safety.”
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/malaysian/Uyghurs-09042020182238.html
--------
Palestinian man
likens his arrest to that of George Floyd, says he was nearly paralyzed
04 September
2020
A Palestinian
whose videotaped brutal arrest by Israeli soldiers went viral earlier this week
has said that he was nearly paralyzed during the event, likening his arrest to
that of George Floyd, who died while being arrested by US police in May.
In an interview
published by the Ruptly video news agency on Friday, Palestinian activist
Khairy Hanoun recounted how the arrest happened after he went out to take part
in an anti-occupation protest in the Palestinian town of Tulkarm in the West
Bank.
He explained
that he had sought to tell an Israeli soldier not to point his weapon at
Palestinian children looking at the protest.
“But he refused,
so I tried to pull the weapon. Of course, I did not want to take the weapon
from his hand, but the rope of the weapon only," he said.
The 65-year-old
activist was then subject to a brutal arrest. Footage of the incident was
widely shared among English and Arabic-speaking social media users.
“What surprised
me was that he put his foot on my neck, I am old, lying on the ground, almost
paralyzed after the incident, I was not resisting," he said.
"What came
to my mind that moment is the American policeman who killed the black citizen
in the United States," he added in reference to Floyd whose death has led
to more than three months of anti-racism protests in the US.
“If you step on
his neck, you are trying to kill him,” he noted.
Many observers
have highlighted the similarity in tactics used by American police and Israeli
forces in suppressing protests.
According to the
UK-based rights group, Amnesty International, police from across the US have
been receiving training from Israeli forces on issues such as “crowd control,
use of force, and surveillance”.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/04/633329/Palestine-George-Floyd-Israel
--------
Experts: Boko
Haram Recruiting Children as Soldiers, Suicide Bombers
By Sirwan Kajjo,
Hassan Maina Kaina
September 04,
2020
ABUJA/WASHINGTON
- The militant group Boko Haram continues to recruit children and use them in
battlefields across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, officials and experts
say.
While it has
suffered major military losses in the Lake Chad Basin, the extremist group
seems to be adopting new strategies to revive its influence in the region,
according to the experts.
Officials with
the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), a regional military alliance
fighting the Boko Haram insurgency, say one strategy of the group is to step up
child recruitment.
"Information
on this disturbing development was brought in by human intelligence sources and
corroborated by concerned individuals and groups," said Colonel Timothy
Antiga, a spokesman for the MNJTF.
"Boko Haram
terrorists themselves further confirmed the atrocious acts when they posted
pictures of children dressed in military fatigues and holding assault rifles in
a video released during a celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha,"
he told VOA in a recent interview.
The Nigerian
military official added that the recruitment of child soldiers "is the
latest in a retinue of brutal and inhuman tactics deployed by Boko Haram"
since it began its insurgency a decade ago. Boko Haram has been fighting to
create an Islamic caliphate based in Nigeria.
Long-standing
practice
Boko Haram has
long engaged in mass abduction of schoolgirls, sexual enslavement of women and
the mass murder of innocent civilians, officials and rights groups say.
In July, the
United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict presented
a report to the U.N. Security Council in which it described "gruesome
violations against children" in Nigeria's northeast, Boko Haram's main
stronghold, and other countries where the militant group has an active
presence.
"The
children of Nigeria and neighboring countries continued to endure horrendous
violations by Boko Haram, and the expansion of the group's activities across
the Lake Chad Basin region is a serious concern for the
secretary-general," said Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the
secretary-general for children and armed conflict.
According to the
report, which documented violations between January 2017 and December 2019, the
recruitment and use of children accounted for the greatest number of verified
violations, with a total of 3,601 boys and girls affected.
Boko Haram was
responsible for the recruitment and use of 1,385 children, mainly through
abduction, used in direct combat and other support roles, including as sexual
slaves, the report said.
In 2014, Boko
Haram militants kidnapped 276 female students from their school in the Borno state
town of Chibok.
The kidnappings
gained international attention when many world leaders campaigned for the
release of the schoolgirls. Some of the girls escaped or were rescued by
Nigerian military forces. Currently, the militants are believed to be holding
about 112 of the girls.
New York-based
Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently said Boko Haram militants used child suicide
bombers in an early August attack on a site for displaced people in northern
Cameroon, killing at least 17 civilians, including five children and six women.
"Using
apparent children as suicide bombers to attack displaced people is a grossly
repugnant war crime," Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at HRW,
said in a statement.
Exploiting
victims of conflict
John Campbell, a
senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in
Washington, says while Boko Haram has been using children between the ages of 5
and 8, the militant group has also relied on older children whose families have
been killed during the conflict.
"The small
children are being used as suicide bombers and having absolutely no idea
whatsoever what is going on," he told VOA, "but if you take older
children, 13, 14 and 15 years old, particularly girls, as far as we can tell they
are very often orphans."
"They are
very often promised immediate entrance into heaven as martyrs, and their
position in this earthly life is pretty terrible," he added.
Campbell, who is
a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, said, "We have to consider that in
some cases what they're doing may be voluntary."
"Talking
about older and female suicide bombers, there is also the question of the
extent to which they are trying to avenge family members, spouses and so forth
that have been killed by security services," he said.
Terrorism expert
Mohammed Tukur Baba, who teaches at the Federal University of Birnin Kebbi in
Nigeria, says while the use of child soldiers is nothing new in Africa,
regional governments should increase their efforts to create better lives for
children, in order to dissuade them from joining armed groups.
Tukur Baba added
that such efforts "have to be regional so that we get these children out
of the street and on to schools and meaningful activities."
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/experts-boko-haram-recruiting-children-soldiers-suicide-bombers
--------
India
Muslims being
targeted in UP, framed in false cases: Mayawati
Sep 4, 2020
LUCKNOW: Bahujan
Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday alleged that besides Brahmins and Dalits,
Muslims are being being targeted in the BJP regime in Uttar Pradesh. She also
flayed incidents of idols of B R Ambedkar being broken in the state and asked
the government to take appropriate steps.
"In the SP
government, Brahmins and Dalits were oppressed selectively. Now in the present
BJP government, along with them, there is a lot of oppression of Muslims as
well. They are being framed in false cases, which is very sad," Mayawati charged
in a series of tweets in Hindi.
"Idols of
the messiah of Dalits-Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar- great saints and gurus
were broken in SP government, and names of districts and institutions etc.
named after them (Dalit icons) changed considerably...In the same way now the
present BJP government is also running," she alleged.
"Now even
the idol of Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar is being broken. The incidents of
Varanasi and now in Jaunpur are extremely condemnable. The government should
take appropriate steps in these matters," Mayawati said.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/muslims-being-targeted-in-up-framed-in-false-cases-mayawati/articleshow/77930130.cms
--------
35 Foreign
Members Of Tablighi Jamaat Move Court Over Order To Frame Charges
September 04,
2020
New Delhi:
Thirty-five foreigners from various countries, who have been charged for
attending Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, moved a criminal revision
petition in the sessions court challenging framing of charges order against
them by the magistrate court.
The revision
Petition moved through Advocate Ashima Mandla and Mandakini Singh, seeking to
set aside the order of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate dated August 24,
stating that no prima facie evidence is found against these people and they
were forced to take shelter at Markaz due to circumstances.
Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur of Saket Court had recently framed
charges against these foreign nationals for attending Tablighi Jamaat
congregation for allegedly being negligent and disobeying the government
guidelines issued in wake of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The magistrate
court, while passed order on framing charges to start a trial against these
foreigners, said the statements of the witnesses, especially the health
officials prima facie, showed that there was no social distancing being
followed.
The plea stated
that CMM-SE order of framing charges under section 3 of the epidemic diseases
act, Section 188/269 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 51 of the disaster
management act on the grounds that no prima facie evidence is made out qua
accused persons and seeking shelter at Markaz was a mere force of circumstance.
However, the
court also said there was no iota of evidence to suggest that the present
accused had in any manner professed or propagated the principles and doctrines
of the Tablighi Jamaat or had indulged in Tablighi work as alleged and
discharged eight foreigners of all charges.
The Saket Court
had framed charges against several foreigners under sections 188 (disobedience
to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to
spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code and
Section 3 (disobeying regulation) of Epidemic Act, 1897.
PromotedListen
to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com
The charges were
also framed under section 51 (obstruction) Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The prosecution
has levelled unsubstantiated allegations qua foreign nationals in connection
with Tablighi Jamaat by making inaccurate, statements alleging foreign
nationals from Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries to have attended the
religious congregation at Markaz and allegedly acting as coronavirus carriers,
read the plea.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/35-foreign-members-of-islamic-sect-move-court-over-order-to-frame-charges-2290398
--------
Court overturns
ban on Assamese TV serial accused of promoting ‘love jihad’
Utpal Parashar
Sep 04, 2020
The Gauhati High
Court has overturned a ban imposed on an Assamese television serial last month
and allowed its telecast as long as it doesn’t hurt religious sentiments.
A single judge
bench of Justice Suman Shyam on Thursday, acting on a petition by AM Television
and its managing director Sanjive Narain, lifted the two-month ban imposed by
Guwahati police commissioner MP Gupta on ‘Begum Jaan’, telecast by Rengoni TV,
on the ground the order didn’t follow laid down rules.
Based on four
complaints from Hindu Jagaran Manch that the serial hurt religious sentiments
and used content derogatory towards one religion, the police commissioner had
banned it on August 24 for two months and issued a show cause notice to AM
Television.
The complainants
had alleged that the serial promoted ‘love jihad’. The charge was denied by
Narain who told journalists that it was “about a Hindu girl who gets into
trouble in a Muslim locality and is saved by a Muslim boy”.
Challenging the
ban issued on recommendation of a monitoring committee, the petitioners
informed the court that the order violated guidelines issued by Government of
India as the committee didn’t include a representative from electronic media.
The petitioners
also informed the court that while the GoI guidelines require hearing versions
of both parties before such a ban is imposed, in the present case it was not
followed and the petitioners were not provided copies of the complaints or
given a chance to air their views.
After examining
records, the court found both contentions of the petitioners to be true and
castigated the police commissioner for issuing the ban without following laid
down guidelines.
“The respondent
number 4 (Guwahati police commissioner) was clearly not justified in suspending
telecast of the serial by an ex parte blanket order without giving an
opportunity of hearing to the petitioners to explain their stand or recording
any cogent reason for doing so,” the order read.
The court
disposed of the petition by setting aside the order issued by the police
commissioner and sent back the matter to the authority concerned for a “fresh
decision on the complaints in accordance with law” allowing the petitioners to
view the complaints and file replies to them.
The television
company, the court said, would be able to telecast the serial provided any
content which could disrupt communal harmony or hurt religious sentiments of
any community is deleted before it is aired.
“It is made
clear that violation of the above condition, in any manner, shall be viewed
seriously by this court,” the order read.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/court-overturns-ban-on-assamese-tv-serial-accused-of-promoting-love-jihad/story-ecO4VkvNQxGUaSDpferVDK.html
--------
Pakistan
violates ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch
Sep 5, 2020
POONCH, JAMMU
AND KASHMIR: Pakistan violated ceasefire in Shahpur, Kirni and Degwar sectors
in Poonch district on Saturday morning.
The ceasefire
violation began at 9.15am by firing with small arms and intense shelling with
mortars along the Line of Control.
Indian Army is
retaliating befittingly.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pakistan-violates-ceasefire-in-jammu-and-kashmirs-poonch/articleshow/77944083.cms
--------
3 terrorists
killed, major, 2 policemen injured in ongoing encounter in Baramulla
Sep 4, 2020
SRINAGAR: Three
terrorists were killed and an Army major and two policemen injured in an
anti-terrorist operation at Yadipora, in Pattan area of north Kashmir’s
Baramulla district.
An official said
the encounter occurred when a joint team of the police, the Army’s 29 RR,
CRPF’s 176 Bn and SSB’s 02 Bn launched a cordon-and-search-operation in
Yadipora. As the team encircled the spot where the terrorists were suspected to
be hiding, they were fired upon. The forces returned fire.
IGP (Kashmir
range) Vijay Kumar said the joint operation was based on specific inputs
regarding the presence of terrorists in Pattan area of Baramulla.
“The terrorists
were given the opportunity to surrender. However, they refused to surrender and
instead held two families, comprising 12 members, including children, hostage.
It was after strenuous efforts by the joint force that all the family members
were rescued and evacuated,” IGP Kumar said.
He said the
major and two police personnel were evacuated to a hospital for treatment and are
stable, he said. He added that the identities and affiliations of the three
slain terrorists were being ascertained.
The last rites
of the slain terrorists shall be performed after conducting medico-legal
formalities, including collection of their DNA. In case any family claims the
slain terrorists were their kin, they could come forward (before PCR Baramulla)
for identification and participation in the last rites, the IGP added.
Meanwhile, the
security forces busted three Jaish-e-Muhammed militant hideouts on Friday and
recovered incriminating material in Tral area of Awantipora, in south Kashmir’s
Pulwama district.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-terrorists-killed-major-2-policemen-injured-in-ongoing-encounter-in-baramulla/articleshow/77937944.cms
--------
Pakistan
Imran
‘satisfied’ with Bajwa’s reply on offshore assets, rejects resignation
Sep 4, 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan on Friday refused to accept the resignation
of his special assistant (SAPM) on information and broadcasting, retired Lt Gen
Asim Saleem Bajwa, claiming he was “satisfied” with his aide’s explanation
about his family’s assets.
Last week, a
Pakistani investigative journalist Ahmed Noorani broke the news on the ‘Fact
Focus’ website alleging that Bajwa had used his offices, since 2002, when he
was a lieutenant colonel, in setting up off-shore businesses of his wife, sons
and brothers.
Noorani provided
documentary evidence of Bajwa and his brothers getting rich in the US and gave
details of their pizza franchises and other companies in the US, the UAE and
Canada.
After days of
silence, Bajwa, a former director general of Inter-Services Public Relations
(ISPR), the army’s media wing, responded by announcing his resignation as the
PM’s aide on Thursday evening. He, however, vowed to continue to work as
chairman of the over $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Authority.
In his
clarification, Bajwa said he possessed all documents about his family’s assets
and was ready to present them and the money trail before any judicial forum.
“My resignation as SAPM is not linked to the questions about my family’s assets.
It is because of the attention required by CPEC,” Bajwa told journalists.
“Prime minister
Imran Khan has decided not to accept resignation of Asim Bajwa from SAPM (Info
and Broadcasting) post and has given instructions to continue working,” Senator
Faisal Javed posted on Twitter. According to local media, the PM further told
Bajwa that he was satisfied with the evidence of assets and explanation that
had been provided by the former military official.
In his defence,
Bajwa further said that the news report about his alleged corruption had been
filed to “tarnish my image” and claimed that his wife had divested herself of
her shareholdings in foreign companies a few weeks prior to his declaration of
his assets as SAPM and he had not “lied” on his declaration form.
In his official
declaration of assets, according to the article published by Fact Focus, Bajwa
did not record his wife’s ownership of shares in franchises of Papa John’s
Pizza and other companies, including real-estate and marketing services. According
to documents provided by Noorani, Bajwa’s wife Farrukh Zeba, is a shareholder
in these companies.
Ever since the
story of Bajwa’s family assets went viral, a campaign against Noorani and other
dissident journalists has been run on the mainstream media, alleging that it
was a conspiracy against CPEC by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/imran-satisfied-with-bajwas-reply-on-offshore-assets-rejects-resignation/articleshow/77937894.cms
--------
At least 4
injured in blast outside mosque in Quetta
Ghalib Nihad
04 Sep 2020
At least four
people were injured in a blast outside a mosque on Quetta's Sariab Road on
Friday, police said.
The wounded were
shifted to the Civil Hospital for treatment. The incident took place after
Friday prayers.
A video showed
worshippers coming out of the mosque as an explosion was heard and plumes of
smoke rose from a motorcycle on fire.
Quetta Deputy
Inspector General Abdul Razzaq Cheema said the nature of the explosion could
not be immediately ascertained and police were investigating if explosives were
planted on a bike or if the vehicle caught fire.
But another
police official told DawnNewsTV that 1-1.5 kilogrammes of explosive material
was left in a bag next to a motorcycle parked outside the mosque. He said the
blast was caused after the detonator blew up but the explosives themselves
didn't catch fire.
More destruction
would have been caused if the explosive material had gone off, the official
added.
Police cordoned
off the area as the probe into the blast went underway.
According to
state-run APP news agency, shops were shut down as panic gripped the area
following the blast. Rescue services were also dispatched to the site.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1577897/at-least-4-injured-in-blast-outside-mosque-in-quetta
--------
Charlie Hebdo
protests grow across Pakistan
Sep 4, 2020
ISLAMABAD:
Thousands of Islamist protesters rallied in anti-France demonstrations across
Pakistan on Friday as anger swelled over a French magazine's decision to
republish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Earlier this
week satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo -- the target of a massacre by
Islamist gunmen in 2015 -- reprinted the controversial images to mark the
beginning of the trial of the alleged accomplices in the attack.
The
publication's move sparked condemnation from Pakistan's foreign ministry along
with calls from Islamists to hold protests following Friday prayers, spurring
thousands to mass in cities where they called for boycotts and the French
ambassador's expulsion.
"We need to
send a strong message to the French that this disrespect to our beloved prophet
will not be tolerated," protester Muhammad Ansari said during a
demonstration in the eastern city of Lahore.
Images of the
Prophet are proscribed in Islam. Insulting religion under Pakistan's strict
blasphemy laws can carry the death penalty.
In the past,
politicians have been assassinated, European countries threatened with nuclear
annihilation and students lynched over blasphemy allegations.
Friday's
demonstrations were largely led by the hardline Islamist party
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which has organised huge and often violent protests
over alleged blasphemy in the past.
The group
paralysed much of Pakistan in 2018 with riots after a Christian woman accused
of blasphemy was acquitted by the country's supreme court.
Twelve people,
including some of France's most celebrated cartoonists, were killed on January
7, 2015, when brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi went on a gun rampage at the Charlie
Hebdo offices in Paris.
On Friday, the
paper said its Wednesday edition sold out the first day, prompting it to print
200,000 more copies that will hit newsstands in the coming days.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/charlie-hebdo-protests-grow-across-pakistan/articleshow/77934430.cms
--------
'Non-Muslim'
sanitation job advert draws flak in Pakistan
Zahid Hussain
September 04,
2020
A human rights
group has slammed the government of Pakistan’s Sindh province for a job advertisement
that invited applications from non-Muslims for a sanitation post.
The
Karachi-based government job advertisement was published in widely circulated
Urdu newspaper Jang on Sept. 2. Among other posts, the job specified only “non-Muslims”
for the post of sanitary worker.
“HRCP [Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan] deplores the continuing practice of advertising
posts that specify that #religiousminorities should apply for sanitation jobs,”
the rights body said in a statement on Sept. 3.
“Such ads
infringe on human dignity and violate the constitutional guarantee of equality
for all citizens because they deem religious minorities as only fit for work
that is traditionally looked down on.”
It also called
on the Sindh government to recall the advert and ensure that religious
minorities are encouraged to apply for any post they wish.
This is not the
first time that Christian activists and rights groups have pointed out what
they describe as a discriminatory job policy that further marginalizes and
belittles the country’s tiny minority population.
In June last
year, the Pakistan army was forced to pull a job advertisement seeking
applications only from Christians for sanitation jobs after social media
outrage from religious minorities.
In 2016,
Punjab's government struck down the policy of recruiting only non-Muslims for
sanitation jobs. Even so, government advertisements continue to display sweeper
jobs only for Christians.
According to
World Watch Monitor, an organization tracking persecution of Christians
worldwide, the minority representation in sanitation jobs in Pakistan is over
80 percent even though Christians constitute just 2 percent of the population.
As a result of
this continued practice in many parts of the country, many in Pakistan refer to
Christians as Churha (dirty), a highly offensive and derogatory term.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/non-muslim-sanitation-job-advert-draws-flak-in-pakistan/89404
--------
Arab World
Organization of
Islamic Cooperation, Muslim World League sign deal to combat Islamophobia
September 05,
2020
JEDDAH: The
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Muslim World League (MWL)
signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday.
The MoU aims to
achieve common goals in a number of areas, most notably combating radicalism,
extremism and Islamophobia; supporting the values of dialogue and tolerance;
and introducing the right values of Islam, which are based on moderation,
coexistence and respect for others’ culture.
The MoU was
signed by OIC Secretary-General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen and MWL
Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729711/saudi-arabia
--------
World Bank
cancels $224M loan to Lebanon over government failures
04 September
2020
The World Bank
announced Saturday that it had canceled a $224 million loan to Lebanon’s
government due to “non-completion of the tasks that are preconditions” to
starting construction of the Bisri Dam.
“The canceled
portion of the loan is US$244 million and the cancellation is effective
immediately,” a statement from the World Bank said.
Activists have
long demonstrated against the project, which would have seen one of Lebanon’s
biggest natural valleys destroyed. Civil society groups have dubbed the
potential dam an “ecological massacre.”
Ancient
archeological sites are situated alongside thousands of trees and wildlife in
the area. There have also been warnings against the dam’s construction, which
would sit on two seismic fault lines.
In June, the
World Bank suspended part of the project because of the Lebanese government’s
lack of progress in responding to concerns over the “successful
implementation.”
Among other
concerns, the contractor for the construction of the dam had still not been
mobilized at the worksite, according to the World Bank.
“In sum, as of
the agreed deadline of Sept. 4, 2020, the World Bank has not received
satisfactory evidence that the three required actions have been achieved.
Consequently, the above-mentioned cancellation has entered into effect,” the
statement said.
Following the
deadly Aug. 4 Port of Beirut explosions, the World Bank maintained its
preparedness to work with the Lebanese government, “to see how the existing
portfolio, including undisbursed amounts from the canceled Bisri project, could
be used most effectively to respond to the emerging needs of the Lebanese
people.”
Protesters have
been calling for early parliamentary elections in Lebanon after growing
frustrated with the country's ruling elite. French President Emmanuel Macron
recently threatened officials with sanctions if they fail to follow through on
a roadmap for reform by the end of the year.
A senior US
diplomat recently visited Beirut, but refused to meet with any officials in a
clear sign of disappointment with Beirut's leaders.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/2020/09/05/World-Bank-cancels-224M-loan-to-Lebanon-over-government-failures
--------
One month after
the deadly Beirut port explosion, how is Lebanon coping?
Fatima Al
Mahmoud
04 September
2020
“The brain does
not forget.” Those were the words of one doctor when talking about the August 4
Beirut port explosion.
One month on,
Lebanese are still reeling from the blast caused by a fire that ignited 2,750
tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port. People are still putting lives
and homes back together, and on Friday, the search still continued for
survivors. In a country accustomed to war and violence, Lebanese are now trying
to cope with a new kind of emotional trauma.
The explosion is
largely regarded as the result of government negligence, where subsequent
governments knew that the chemical substance had been stored at the port since
2014, and a paper trail shows that all who knew failed to act.
Dr. Georges
Karam, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology at
Saint George Hospital, was in the Gemmayze neighborhood near the port when the
ammonium nitrate exploded, shaking Beirut to its core. The blast, felt in
Cyprus some 200 km away, killed 191 people, injured over 6,500, and left tens
of thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands, of people homeless.
No number of
days, months, or years could wipe out the memory of the catastrophe that
decimated Lebanon’s capital on that fateful Tuesday.
Just like 30
years were not enough for Karam to overcome his own trauma from the Lebanese
Civil War that lasted 15 years, ending in 1990, Karam fears no amount of time
will allow Lebanese to forget the events of August 4. The blasts, for Karam,
triggered his own troubled relationship with the war and resurfaced nightmares.
As a mental
health professional, he understood the urgency of seeking help to process the
explosion and the unimaginable losses wrought by it.
In partnership
with the Institute for Development, Research, Advocacy and Applied Care
(IDRAAC), the first non-governmental organization dedicated to mental health in
Lebanon, the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology at Saint George
Hospital launched a free walk-in mental health clinic.
In the first ten
days after the blast, the clinic was receiving up to 20 patients per day.
Today, an average of 8 to 10 people are still coming into the clinic, with
common symptoms being anger and irritability, lack of sleep, recurrent
nightmares, loss of appetite, survivor guilt, dissociation, numbness,
depression, and more, according to Karam.
Post-traumatic
stress disorder, or PTSD, is a real concern for those in Beirut. Medically
speaking, those who do not see symptoms subside within 30 days are at risk of
developing PTSD, according to Karam.
He estimated
that 15 percent of people will still be emotionally scarred in the following
months and will need to come into the clinic for follow-ups and medical
treatment.
What about the
physical scars?
While the
emotional scars from the blast are invisible to the naked eye, the deformed
faces, missing eyes, and amputated limbs are a permanent reminder of what many
consider the crime committed by Lebanese authorities against their own people.
In the past 30
days, plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Joe Baroud has operated on more
than 150 patients free of charge. Cases ranged from wound infections to
improperly sutured injuries to surgeries to minimize scars.
“Once the
initial shock passed, we were left with complications that had to be attended
to,” he explained.
Many patients
were treated hastily in the blast’s immediate aftermath. As hospitals were
overwhelmed, hospitals, parking lots and streets turned to operating areas as
bloodied people staggered in and exhausted healthcare personnel worked relentlessly
to save as many lives as possible, while simultaneously processing their own
trauma.
More than half
of the hospitals in Beirut were damaged, and emergency rooms, operating rooms,
and intensive care units were at full capacity just moments after the blast.
Outside one hospital, doctors treated patients in the street as the hospital
lost electricity. A newborn, baby George, was even delivered with the aid of
cell phone light.
Today, third
year digestive surgery resident Dr. Christian Mouawad tells us that these
floors and units at Saint Joseph Hospital in Dora, a suburb just 7 minutes away
from Beirut port, and Hôtel-Dieu de France University Hospital in Achrafieh,
one of the oldest neighborhoods east of Beirut, are almost empty of blast
victims, and that the hospitals have cleared the material damages.
What about the
city?
While the Beirut
port is now fully operational again, according to its newly appointed director
Bassem Al Qaisi, businesses and homes have yet to be rebuilt.
At the end of
2019, more than 465 restaurants and cafes had closed due to the economic crisis
and subsequent diminished purchasing power, the Syndicate of Owners of
Restaurants, Cafes, Night-clubs and Pastries in Lebanon reported.
The coronavirus
pandemic and the blast destroyed the last bit of life in Beirut, and the sector
is now on its knees. According to president of the syndicate Tony Ramy,
financial losses in the sector are estimated to be around $1 billion, with no
one to bear the brunt besides already-struggling business owners.
For restaurants
who were able to pull themselves up and reopen their doors, business is slow
and government aid is nowhere to be found. In the aftermath of the explosion,
citizens picked up brooms and took to clean up their city where the government
was absent.
Huwaida Rajab,
co-owner of Orenda, a vegan eatery in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood that was hit
hard from the port explosion, told Al Arabiya English how reconstruction
efforts for the restaurant were supported through a fundraiser.
“No one from the
government reached out,” she said. “No one at all.”
Other cafés and restaurants
have launched similar fundraisers to help rebuild.
Rajab and her
partner Mirna Harb knew they had to do something and that they couldn’t sit
idly by. Despite sustaining major damages to both their business and their
home, they reopened Orenda, investing once again in the homey cafe. While the
duo is still in shock, they’re trying to adapt to the new “normal” and pick up
where they left off.
This, according
to Chief Psychiatry Resident at Saint Georges Hospital, Dr. Tatiana Warakian,
is another common response to crises.
How are people
coping?
This
“resilience,” Dr. Warakian pointed out, was noted in the attitude of volunteers
who took to the streets the morning after the blast. Slowly going back to work,
to school, to the site of the blast, and to simple activities that Lebanese
once enjoyed is part of the grieving process.
She explained
that exposure is much more beneficial than avoidance, adding “the earlier you
process the incident, the better.”
By re-telling
her story, Rayan Khatoun, Human Resources Manager, is trying to do exactly
that. Khatoun experienced the blast first-hand when she was in Gemmayze,
another hard-hit area adjacent to Mar Mikhael, and was left with multiple
injuries on her back, arms, face, and head.
After many
sleepless nights and personal efforts to provide disaster relief, she is now
emotionally well and physically healing. But even though she has the choice to
go back to “normal” now, she refuses to do so.
“If I do, it
means I am alright with what was done to me and to hundreds of others,” she
said. “I refuse to forget. I refuse to be beaten to within an inch of my life,
left with tens of millions in car damage bills and medical bills, and then one
day wake up and say ‘Oh, it’s fine now.’ It’s not.”
Despite slowly
settling into a new normal, Khartoun and many others are still waiting for an
apology and for those responsible – largely regarded as the government – to be
held accountable.
On August 5,
Lebanese President Michel Aoun gave an investigation committee five days to find
answers and present them to the judiciary. While arrests have been made, there
has been no formal announcement of the findings, and a month on, Lebanese are
still waiting to find out who holds culpability.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/09/04/One-month-after-the-deadly-Beirut-port-explosion-how-is-Lebanon-coping-
--------
Europe
Huge library of
online Daesh propaganda uncovered
September 04,
2020
LONDON: One of
the biggest collections of extremist online material belonging to Daesh has
been uncovered by researchers at a London-based anti-extremism think tank.
The digital
library, which was discovered by the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD), is
visited by around 10,000 different visitors per month, the BBC reported.
Most of those
visiting the library are 18 to 24-year-old males in the Arab world, with 40
percent of the traffic coming from social media including YouTube.
It contains more
than 90,000 items and provides a way to continually add to extremist content on
the Internet, the British broadcaster said.
However, taking
the material down is proving difficult because it is not stored in a single
location.
It continues to
grow despite counter-terrorism authorities in Britain and the US being alerted
to the growing collection, which was discovered after the death of Daesh chief
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, in October 2019.
After his death,
many social media posts supporting the militant organization contained a short
link that led to documents and videos in nine different languages.
They included
details of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, the 7/7 London bombings in
2005 and the 9/11 attacks in the US.
“[There’s]
everything you need to know to plan and carry out an attack,” ISD deputy
director Moustafa Ayad, who discovered the archive, told the BBC. “Things that
teach you how to be a better terrorist essentially.”
The collection’s
data is spread across a decentralized system and anyone can share the content
via servers based at multiple locations, researchers discovered.
This makes is
hard to take the library offline, and it continues to provide extremist content
to its readers.
Researchers
found that various methods are used to make the material available online.
Targeting and
hijacking Twitter accounts belonging to celebrities and athletes and using them
to promote the material is one method.
Another way is
to add material to social media comments pages and spreading it via bot
accounts.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729556/world
--------
Turkey supports
military talks initiative with Greece
Erdogan Cagatay
Zontur
04.09.2020
Turkey supports
an initiative on talks between military officials of Turkey and Greece,
following the meeting between the Turkish president and NATO chief, the
country’s defense minister said in the capital Ankara on Friday.
“After the
meeting of Turkish President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] and NATO Secretary-General
[Jens Stoltenberg], there is an initiative to start talks [on the Eastern
Mediterranean] between the military officials [of Turkey and Greece], which we
support,” Hulusi Akar said at a graduation ceremony at the National Defense
University in Ankara.
France’s
statements on the Eastern Mediterranean and Iraq “do not contribute to the
spirit of the alliance, nor to peace or dialogue,” Akar said.
On Thursday,
Stoltenberg announced that Turkey and Greece agreed to enter into technical
talks at NATO to reduce the risk of incidents and accidents in the Eastern
Mediterranean.
Greece has
disputed Turkey's current energy exploration in the region, trying to box in
Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast.
Turkey -- the
country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean -- has sent out drill
ships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that Turkey and
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have rights in the region.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkey-supports-military-talks-initiative-with-greece/1963552
--------
Dutch politician
found guilty of insulting minorities
Abdullah
Asiran
04.09.2020
Dutch far-right
politician Geert Wilders was found guilty of insulting a minority group during
his 2014 election campaign by a court on Friday.
The Court of
Appeal in The Hague however acquitted him from the charges of inciting discrimination
and hatred.
A previous
conviction by a lower court was overturned which fined him for €5,000 ($5,900).
In 2014, the
politician stated that he wanted to work for people who want fewer Moroccans in
The Hague.
After his
election victory in March of that year, Wilders repeated his statement in a
room full of far-right Freedom Party (PVV) supporters. He asked: "Do you
want more or less Moroccans in this city and in the Netherlands?" The
audience chanted "less, less". Wilders responded with: "Then we
will arrange that."
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/dutch-politician-found-guilty-of-insulting-minorities/1963307
--------
Greece lied on
NATO’s E.Med meeting proposal: Turkey
Merve
Aydogan
04.09.2020
The Turkish
foreign minister on Friday said his Greek counterpart denied agreeing to NATO’s
proposal for an unconditional meeting on tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
"It is
noteworthy that Greece lied about NATO Secretary General [Jens Stoltenberg].
They [Athens] initially agreed then told they did not. It is in fact Greece
that is lying and not the secretary general," Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a
news conference in the capital Ankara.
On Thursday,
NATO chief Stoltenberg announced that Turkey and Greece agreed to enter into
technical talks at NATO to reduce the risk of incidents and accidents in the
Eastern Mediterranean.
Greece once
again showed they are not in favor of dialogue, Cavusoglu added.
He also
criticized France for provoking Greece against Turkey and called on France to
end its "hysterical acts" as it "ridicules itself."
Greece has
disputed Turkey's current energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean,
trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the
Turkish coast.
Turkey -- the
country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean -- has sent out drill
ships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that Turkey and
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have rights in the region.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/greece-lied-on-nato-s-emed-meeting-proposal-turkey/1963020
--------
Southeast Asia
Indonesia
condemns series of ‘provocative’ actions against Muslims in foreign countries
Budi Sutrisno
September 4,
2020
The Indonesian
government has strongly criticized a series of acts targeting Islamic symbols
that occurred in at least three foreign countries recently. They include the
destruction of the Quran in Sweden and Norway as well as the republication of
cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad by a French magazine. “These acts are irresponsible
and provocative and have offended hundreds of millions of Muslims in the
world,” Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Friday. “They are contrary to
the principles and values of democracy and may potentially disunite religious
communities, just when the world needs unity to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Last Friday, a demonstration of about 300 people led to at least 10 people
being arrested and several police officers being injured in the Swedish city of
Malmo, foreign media reported. The violence was triggered by an illegal protest
earlier that day in Rosengard, a largely migrant neighborhood, where far-right
activists burned a copy of the Quran.
The leader of
Danish far-right anti-immigration party Stram Kurs, Rasmus Paludan, was
expected to attend that rally, but was stopped by the police at the
Swedish-Danish border and subsequently banned from entering Sweden for two
years. Last year, Paludan was in the spotlight after burning a Quran wrapped in
bacon. In June, he was sentenced to three-months’ imprisonment in Denmark over
racism and defamation. Following Paludan’s detention last Friday, members of
anti-Islam group Stop the Islamization of Norway (SION) held a protest in the
Norwegian capital of Oslo on Saturday, where protesters tore out pages of the
Quran and spat on them. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the French satirical magazine
Charlie Hebdo republished controversial caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. The
cover of the special edition showed the controversial cartoons of the Prophet
Muhammad along with the headline: “All that for that.” The cover was published
to mark the start of the trial of the alleged accomplices of the Islamist
gunmen who attacked the magazine’s offices in 2015 and killed 12 of its
staffers.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/09/04/indonesia-condemns-series-of-provocative-actions-against-muslims-in-foreign-countries.html
--------
Malaysian group
decries reprinting of Muhammad cartoons
Pizaro Gozali
Idrus
03.09.2020
A group of
Muslim organizations in Malaysia has strongly condemned French satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo for republishing offensive caricatures of Islam's
Prophet Muhammad.
Mohamad Azmi
Abdul Hamid, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic
Organizations (MAPIM), described the move as “deliberate intimidation” and “an
uncivilized action.”
“It wants to
create rifts between religious communities under the name of what is seen as
freedom according to the law of France,” he told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
He said the
publication seems to be part of a hate campaign attacking the sanctity of
religions, particularly Islam, and warned that the move was equivalent to
declaring a showdown with Muslims.
“We register our
unequivocal objection to the French law that does not prohibit such attacks on
religions,” said Hamid.
The alliance
urged the French government to stop the publication of the controversial
cartoons, saying such use of the freedom of expression was sparking tensions
between communities and even making an impact beyond France’s borders.
The magazine has
previously published inflammatory caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in 2006,
2011, and 2012.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/malaysian-group-decries-reprinting-of-muhammad-cartoons/1961788
--------
Sabah leaders
sue PAS MP over insensitive Bible remark
04 Sep 2020
BY JULIA CHAN
KOTA KINABALU,
Sept 4 ― Two Sabah Christians from Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) today
filed a lawsuit against Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh for his
statement that the Bible has been distorted.
Tanjung Aru
Sabah STAR division chief Marcel Jude Joseph and a Tambunan member of the party
Margaret Binsing said Nik Zawawi’s comments are blasphemous and in breach of
the Constitution, which allows everyone to practice and manage their own
religion.
In a writ of
summons filed at the Kota Kinabalu High Court here today, the two sought an
injunction to restrain Nik Zawawi from making defamatory, malicious, injurious,
blasphemous remarks about the Christian faith and religion.
“The statement
of the defendant is in contravention or unlawful interference of the
Plaintiff’s right to freedom of religion under Article 11 of the Federal
Constitution,” they said in their statement of claim.
Marcel and
Binsing claimed in their court papers that Nik Zawawi’s statement contained
contemptuous, reviling and scurrilous or ludicrous matter relating to God,
Jesus Christ and the bible.
They said that
the law does not interfere in the bona fide opinion of the religion, but only
if couched in decent and temperate language.
The duo is also
seeking damages for unlawful interference with their constitutional right to
freedom of religion under Article 11 of the federal Constitution.
The court has
fixed October 5 as the date of mention.
Nik Zawawi
sparked public outrage with his comment made during a debate on a
transportation Bill in Parliament’s Lower House last week.
While debating
the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2020 to propose heavier fines for
drink-driving offences, the Pasir Puteh MP asserted that the Bible had been
perverted or corrupted, which immediately drew condemnation from other members
of the hall.
Nik Zawawi was
later reported saying that he had no reason to apologise since his statement
was “a fact”, and suggested that the community had “no right to be offended.”
He has since
been criticised by political leaders from both sides.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/09/04/sabah-leaders-sue-pas-mp-over-insensitive-bible-remark/1900181
--------
Mideast
Disrespect of
Quran Incompatible with Global Fight against Extremism
Sep 04, 2020
“Insult to
Quran, Muslims' holy book, is not compatible with understandings about freedom
of expression and respect for people's rights and beliefs,” the university said
in a message.
“The act of
burning a copy of the holy Quran during anti-Islam rally, in the city of Malmo
in Southern Sweden, hurt the feelings of all freethinkers,” the message noted.
The university
message added that desecration of religious sanctities is strongly condemned by
all religions and intellectuals.
“Impudence,
stemming from blind terrorism against the beliefs of over 1.5 billion Muslims,
is provocative and unforgivable,” the message highlighted.
The message of
Al-Mustafa International University further stressed that if such a
sacrilegious move does not receive an effective response by global communities,
it will institutionalize aggression, creating rift among religious communities
and shaking the basis of peaceful coexistence.
“Al-Mustafa
International University explicitly states that Islam is a religion of peace
and friendship,” the message said, adding that Islam follows respect for
others' rights.
At the end of
the message, Al-Mustafa International University urged global communities to
take due measure as soon as possible to prevent from repetition of such
shameful moves.
During an
illegal gathering on Friday, supporters of right-wing Danish politician Rasmus
Paludan, who leads the anti-Islamic group Tight Direction (Stram Kurs), burned
a copy of Holy Qur’an in the Southern Swedish city of Malmo.
In relevant
remarks, Senior Shiite Muslim cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Javad Fazel Lankarani
in a statement on Thursday condemned sacrilege of the holy Quran in Sweden, and
asked the Iranian foreign ministry for strong reaction to the move.
Ayatollah Fazel
Lankarani issued a statement on Thursday, and urged the Iranian government,
especially the Foreign Ministry to take the strongest actions against Insulting
the Holy Quran in Sweden.
"The very
tragic incident of insulting the Holy Quran and the sanctities of Muslims that
occurred in Sweden has saddened the hearts of Muslims and followers of all
heavenly religions," the statement said.
"The
Swedish government must know that this incident has angered all the
freedom-seeking people and Muslims. Prophet of Islam is the identity of all the
Muslims and insulting him is violating the rights of one billion people,"
it added.
"It is a
matter of regret to see the silence of Islamic countries which indicates their
disbelief in the Holy Quran. We strongly urge the government of the Islamic
Republic, especially the Foreign Ministry to take the strongest approach
regarding this issue," the statement said.
In similar
remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh strongly condemned
the insult to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by the ill-reputed French Magazine
Charlie Hebdo, stressing that the move has injured the feelings of all Muslims
in the world.
Khatibzadeh said
any irreverence to the Prophet of Islam or other prophets is totally
unacceptable.
He noted that
the provocative move, under the disguise of freedom of speech, has hurt the
feelings of all monotheists in the world and also disrespected Islamic values
and the beliefs of more than one billion Muslims.
Charlie Hebdo is
a French magazine with a very black record of publishing anti-Islamic content.
It had published caricatures of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 2012 and 2015
that sparked million-strong rallies of Muslims around the globe.
In early January
2015, the ISIL terrorist group attacked the weekly after it released a cartoon
of ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al-Baqdadi. At least 12 people were killed when masked
gunmen stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo and opened fire.
Iranian
officials condemned the attack, but warned that the incident should not be used
as a pretext for accusing Islam or pressuring the Muslim community in the West,
reminding that ISIL is not an Islamic group.
The same day,
the former Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham condemned the attack,
and said any act of terrorism against innocent people is opposed to Islamic
teachings.
https://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13990614000189
--------
Hamas urges
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia to stop helping UAE implement deal with Israel
04 September
2020
The Palestinian
resistance movement of Hamas has called on Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to stop
helping the United Arab Emirates (UAE) implement its normalization deal with
Israel, which would embolden the Israeli regime to “commit more crimes.”
Hamas spokesman
Hazem Qassem made the remarks on Friday after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia opened
their airspaces to flights between Israel and the UAE, shortening the route
length and making flights less costly.
Qassem said that
backing the UAE in implementing the deal would embolden Israel in carrying out
its expansionist policies in the region.
All countries
should ban the UAE from implementing the normalization accord, he told the
Turkish Anadolu Agency.
US President
Donald Trump said on August 13 that Israel and the UAE had reached a deal to
normalize their relations.
Bahrain’s state
news agency BNA on Thursday quoted an official source at the Ministry of
Transportation and Telecommunications as saying that the country would “allow
all flights coming to and departing from the United Arab Emirates” to all
destinations to cross over Bahraini territory.
The move came a
day after Saudi Arabia’s aviation authority opened the country’s airspace to
all flights to and from the UAE.
The first direct
flight between Israel and the UAE was conducted on Monday through Saudi
airspace.
Palestinians
have denounced the UAE-Israel deal as a betrayal of the Palestinian nation and
the Palestinian cause.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/04/633324/Hamas-Israel-UAE-normalization-deal-Bahrain-Saudi-Arabia-help
--------
Israeli regime
has no future in Palestinian territories: Hamas
04 September
2020
Ismail Haniyeh,
the head of the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas’ political bureau,
says the Israeli regime has no future in Palestinian territories.
Speaking in the
Lebanese capital of Beirut on Friday, Haniyeh said Palestinian resistance would
continue until the complete liberation of all occupied Palestinian lands and
the return of refugees.
He said the
Palestinian nation would not cede an iota of its land to the Israeli regime,
which he also said Hamas would never recognize.
“Israel is our
enemy, and our only choice is all-out resistance,” Haniyeh said.
Haniyeh also
said that the meeting paved the way for strengthening Palestinian unity.
He said the
meeting “defined our strategic priorities, the first of which is that we will
not give up the right of return” for Palestinian refugees.
Haniyeh also
vowed to retaliate against all Israeli crimes, saying the regime wouldn’t be
able to get away with those crimes.
He said the
resistance had extended the range of its missiles. “Our missiles can reach Tel
Aviv and beyond,” he added.
The Thursday
meeting was joined by Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the leader of Islamic Jihad — another
Palestinian resistance group, which like Hamas is headquartered in the
Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also
addressed the gathering via video-link from the city of Ramallah in the Israel-occupied
West Bank.
The meeting took
place after Israel and the United Arab Emirates last month reached a
normalization deal, which has been denounced by the Palestinians as a betrayal
of their cause.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/04/633338/Hamas-Haniyeh-Israel-no-future
--------
Hamas inflicts
embarrassing political defeat upon Israeli regime
04 September
2020
By Robert
Inlakesh
For 19 days
Israel bombed the Gaza Strip and for 17 days closed the sole humanitarian aid
crossing into the besieged coastal enclave. But how did the latest round of
escalations begin and what political underpinnings did this round of
hostilities hold?
The recent
escalation of violence started when Israel decided to change its rules of
engagement with the resistance factions inside the Gaza Strip, returning
missiles for balloons sent over the separation fence between Israeli territory
and Gaza.
Israeli Failed
“Terror Balloons” Propaganda
Following the
decision to renew the flying of "firing-object-laden balloons",
primarily flown by Gazan youth, over the separation fence into Israeli regime
held land, Israel began using this explanation for its use of excessive force
and collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population. The first batch of
balloons, began on the 10th of August, and were not the work of military
movements, but instead ordinary teenagers and young adults.
The “terror
balloons” as Israel described them, managed to burn thousands of dunams of land
held by Israel and presented a problem for the Israeli government as settlers
would complain about the fires. A donum is a unit of area used for land
measurement in Israel and usually equal to 1,000 square meters.
Israel also
mobilized its military to deal with the fires and allocated resources to using
laser-beam technology to confront the balloons. This technology, which has in
recent years been promoted by Israel as a breakthrough in technology, which
they presented as ideally being capable of confronting ballistic missiles,
anti-tank munitions and rockets. However, this technology failed to even burst
party balloons filled with helium and resulted in Israeli soldiers having to
fire bullets from their semi-automatic weapons at the balloons.
In the early
hours of the 11th of August, Israel began what became a 19-day long campaign of
daily/nightly airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. As the flaming balloons
continued to fly, on the 13th of August Israel closed off Gaza’s sole humanitarian
aid crossing, preventing fuel from entering Gaza and closed off the fishing
waters. The prohibiting fuel getting into Gaza meant that Gaza’s
semi-functional power-plant stopped working and caused a 36hr blackout.
Despite the fact
that even ‘The Guardian’ newspaper featured the Israeli propaganda term
‘balloon bombs” in their headline when covering the bombing of Gaza, the
propaganda did not seem to stick as the staunch difference between a balloon
and a tank munition was too stark. Also, the numbers were disproportionate as
not a single Israeli civilian was injured or killed by the balloons. Despite
the portrayal of the balloons as being “bomb balloons”, the large majority had
no explosives attached to them and the Israeli military admitted as much. As for
the balloons that were carrying explosives, the explosives were small and
appeared to be handmade.
On top of this,
as an occupying power, Israel committed an active war crime by bringing
collective punishment upon the people of Gaza, for the actions of a few people
who chose to take to - what has been described as - primitive means, in order
to resist their occupier.
The decision to
allow the balloons to be flown, that is from the Hamas government in Gaza, was
done in order to apply pressure to the Israeli regime. But what virtually all
international press left out of their coverage, was the message relayed from
the Egyptian mediating delegations to Israeli media, that being that Hamas was
aiming to achieve more aid for its people and to secure funds to be transferred
to it from Qatar. The resistance also reiterated that it wished for Israel to
end the siege, a call which is endorsed by the United Nations as well as all
the respected international human rights organizations.
At first Israel
chose to confront the new method of demanding an easing of conditions for
Gaza’s civilian population, with bombs and the closure of the aid crossing, but
it later bowed to the demands of the resistance
Israel backed
down from military confrontation with the resistance
The Israeli
regime's military claims that within 19 days, it had struck 100 “Hamas
targets”, including 35 military complexes, 30 underground infrastructures and
20 military observation posts. What they forgot to include in their report is
that they also struck a UNRWA school and injured a pregnant woman, as well as
two small children, whilst striking open farmland. Israel’s claims are massive,
but the evidence for such destruction of significant sites is non-existent.
In reality
Israel struck soft targets, not killing or injuring any member of any armed
group in Gaza. It was careful to not strike anything of real value, this has
been confirmed by journalists on the ground in Gaza, who have proven that
nothing significant was struck. This could be for one of two reasons, either
Israel does not know where to strike or it held back from certain key positions
because they were afraid of an escalation with the resistance.
On at least five
occasions within the 19 days of bombardments, the resistance factions fired rockets
in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad threatening
to escalate into full military confrontation. Israel backed down and resorted
to even more insignificant bombings. The bombardments mostly affected farmers
and worked to psychologically take a toll on the civilian population of Gaza,
we can also see this to be the case as the strikes almost exclusively would
take place in the early hours of the morning or at night.
After rocket
fire, in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, over 10 Israeli injuries had been
reported from less than a total of 10 rockets fired. The injuries resulted from
one rocket which had managed to by-pass Israeli air defenses and also another
which was hit by Israel’s Iron Dome Anti-Air Systems and fell onto a settler
house in Sderot.
Usually Israeli
airstrikes would intensify immensely following rocket fire and result in
excessive amounts of civilian casualties in Gaza, but this time Israel was
hesitant. Following these exchanges, Israel had focused its efforts on opening
fire on Palestinian fisherman and dangerously harassing Palestinian boats.
In response, the
Al-Qassam Brigades (armed wing of Hamas) had filmed one such harassment of
fishermen who defied Israel’s lockdown of the seas, threatening to strike
Israeli vessels if such an event occurred again. In response to this, Israel
backed down and decided to ease off on its confrontations of Palestinian
fishermen.
COVID-19 spread
in Gaza and Israel’s humiliation
Following the
announcement of the first four cases of COVID-19 last week in Gaza, Israel had
continued to prevent Palestinians from having access to fuel and most goods,
intended to enter Gaza via the Kerem Salem crossing. The blackouts had caused a
great crisis for Gaza’s hospitals, only carrying a total of just under 70
ventilators.
Gaza’s
government continued negotiations with Qatar and talks with the Egyptians, yet
for days Israel would not budge. Then finally a deal was struck with Qatar on
the 31st of August, which put an end to the possibility - for now - of a
military escalation. With Qatari aid money, international aid and COVID-19 aid,
being allowed to enter Gaza. This coming in exchange for the Hamas government
in Gaza stopping young people from flying the balloons across the separation
fence.
According to
polls taken across Israeli media, just under 70% of Israelis were not satisfied
with the way the regime had dealt with the balloons. Israel also failed to
install new rules of engagement. On top of this the resistance was able to
secure more aid for its people and embarrassed the Israeli regime's military as
some of its equipment was shown to be faulty. The resistance ultimately proved
to have deterred the Israeli navy and also achieved being able to instill
enough fear in the Israeli regime, of the resistance’s capabilities, that it
did not wish to at this time engage with the resistance.
Robert Inlakesh
is a journalist, writer and political analyst, who has lived in and reported
from the occupied Palestinian West Bank. He has written for publications such
as Mint Press, Mondoweiss, MEMO, and various other outlets. He specializes in
analysis of the Middle East, in particular Palestine-Israel. He also works for
Press TV as a European correspondent.
(The views
expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/04/633299/Palestinian-Hamas-Israel-conflic
--------
Iran allows UN
nuclear watchdog to inspect one of two sites after pressure
04 September
2020
Iran has let the
UN nuclear watchdog inspect one of the two sites it agreed last week to grant
access to after a protracted standoff, while Tehran’s stockpile of enriched
uranium has risen further, quarterly reports by the agency said on Friday.
The
International Atomic Energy Agency inspected one of the sites and took
environmental samples there, one of the two reports obtained by Reuters said,
referring to samples aimed at detecting traces of nuclear material that may
have been present.
For all the
latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The agency’s
inspectors will visit the other site “later in September 2020 on a date already
agreed with Iran, to take environmental samples”, the report said.
The other report
said that Iran’s stock of low-enriched uranium (LEU) rose by 534 kg in the most
recent quarter, roughly the same amount as in the previous three months, to
2,105.4 kg.
That is more
than 10 times the 202.8 kg limit set by Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with big
powers, which Iran has been breaching in response to Washington’s withdrawal
from the deal in 2018 and reimposition of sanctions against Tehran.
The stockpile,
however, remains far below the many tonnes of enriched uranium Iran had
accumulated before the 2015 deal.
Tehran is enriching
up to a fissile purity of 4.5 percent, which while above the deal’s 3.67
percent limit is still far short of the 20 percent level it achieved before the
deal. Roughly 90 percent purity is considered weapons-grade, suitable for an
atomic bomb.
Iran agreed on
Aug. 26, during the first visit to Tehran by IAEA Director General Rafael
Grossi, to allow access for UN inspectors to two sites suspected of once
hosting covert uranium conversion and nuclear testing activities.
While the IAEA
says it has the right to examine such sites without permission, Iran objected
because at least some of the information about them came from a trove of
documents on its past activities that Tehran’s main Middle East adversary,
Israel, says it seized inside Iran.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/09/04/Iran-allows-UN-nuclear-watchdog-to-inspect-one-of-two-sites-after-pressure
--------
Al-Qaeda joining
Saudi-led forces in Ma'rib province: Yemeni govt.
04 September
2020
The deputy
foreign minister of Yemen's National Salvation Government based in Sana'a has
warned that al-Qaeda forces are joining Saudi-led mercenaries in the strategic
central Ma'rib province.
“The
redeployment of al-Qaeda forces in Ma’rib is a major mistake that will serve no
one and will cause a catastrophe that no side can avoid,” Hussein al-Ezzi
warned in a tweet on Friday.
“[Former
president Abd Rabbuh Mansur] Hadi and the [affiliated] Islah Party have to
abandon such coward policies and malicious type of thinking,” he added.
According to Yemeni
media reports, a large number of al-Qaeda affiliated forces have joined
Saudi-led and pro-Hadi forces in Ma’rib from various provinces as the Saudi
coalition braces for a looming Yemeni operation that seeks to liberate the
strategic region.
Hadi resigned
and fled the country to Riyadh in 2015 amid a political crisis. Saudi Arabia,
along with certain allied states such as the United Arab Emirates, invaded
Yemen in an attempt to restore him and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah
movement.
The Saudi war,
however, failed to achieve its “objectives”, leaving tens of thousands of
Yemenis dead and pushing the entire Arab country close to the brink of outright
famine.
With the Saudi
campaign mired by a quagmire, tensions have also erupted between Saudi-backed militants
and UAE-backed separatists in southern Yemen, leading to violent clashes
between them.
UAE-affiliated
drones strike Hadi forces
The Saudi-led
coalition’s push to recruit al-Qaeda forces against Yemeni troops in Ma’rib
comes as infighting between UAE and Saudi-affiliated forces has increased in
recent days.
According to
local media, drones affiliated to the UAE-backed and separatist Southern
Transitional Council (STC) targeted troops loyal to the Saudi-backed Hadi near
Zinjibar, the capital of the southern Abyan province late on Thursday.
The strikes
resulted in a number of injuries among the pro-Hadi troops.
Infighting among
the Saudi coalition has also led to some major defections among Saudi-led
figures and mercenaries, with many previous pro-Hadi officials slamming the
Saudi Arabia for seeking to partition Yemen.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/09/04/633302/Al-Qaeda-Saudi-Ma-rib-Yemen
--------
Palestine:
Serbia moving embassy to Jerusalem illegal
Mustafa Talha
Öztürk
05.09.2020
BELGRADE, Serbia
The announcement
by Serbia to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is contrary to
international law and UN resolutions, Palestine's ambassador to Belgrade said
Friday.
Mohammed
Nabhan's remarks came after Washington announced Serbia is committed to moving
its embassy.
"That is,
as far as it happens, contrary to international law and to
UN resolutions
relating to the Palestinian question and to Jerusalem as an occupied city and
that it harms the rights of the Palestinian People to exercise its state in all
the territories that Israel occupied in 1967 including Jerusalem," said a
statement from the embassy.
Harmful to
Serbia-Palestine friendship
Nabhan said the
decision would strain relations between the two countries.
"There is
no doubt that this would harm the traditional friendship between Palestine and
Serbia and would not serve this development," said Nabhan, adding that he
is considered a friend to Serbia and the Serbian people and he is hoping
friendly Serbia would distance itself from statements form Washington.
Serbian and
Kosovar leaders met in a US-sponsored two-day dialogue in Washington where they
reached an historic milestone -- agreeing to normalize economic ties.
Serbia and Kosovo
signed separate agreements with the US in which Serbia agreed to move its
embassy to Jerusalem. Kosovo and Israel agreed to normalize relations and
establish diplomatic ties.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/palestine-serbia-moving-embassy-to-jerusalem-illegal/1963692
--------
Africa
Boko Haram
Terrorists Kill 20 Nigerian Soldiers In Borno Attacks
SEP 03, 2020
At least 20
Nigerian soldiers have been killed and several others remain missing after two
separate attacks by Boko Haram’s Islamic State-backed faction, military sources
have told SaharaReporters.
Sources said the
fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province in trucks fitted with
machine guns overran a military position in Magumeri late on Tuesday, killing
about 10 soldiers.
“We lost 10
soldiers in the ambush, five were wounded and several are missing, their fate
still unknown,” a military officer told SaharaReporters.
The officer said
the terrorists burnt three vehicles at the base including an armoured tank and
an excavator.
At Garin Giwa
Village in Kukawa Local Government Area of the state, sources said a notorious
jihadist known as Umar Lene on Wednesday led two other Boko Haram commanders to
attack Nigerian troops stationed in the town, killing about 10 of them.
Two guntrucks
were reportedly taken from the troops, who were on a routine patrol when their
convoy came under attack.
In the past months,
soldiers have been targeted by the insurgents, who lay ambush on their path.
The Boko Haram
insurgency in Northern Nigeria has caused over 30,000 deaths and displaced
millions of individuals mainly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
http://saharareporters.com/2020/09/03/boko-haram-terrorists-kill-20-nigerian-soldiers-borno-attacks
--------
5 killed in
suspected Boko Haram raids in Cameroon’s Far North region
September 1,
2020
Suspected
members of terror group Boko Haram killed five civilians and injured several
others on Monday night in raids on the remote localities of Kouyape and
Talakachi of Cameroon’s Far North region, according to local authorities.
In Talakachi,
one person was killed and three others injured after the militants attacked the
house of a respected community figure, officials said.
In Kouyape, the
militants raided a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) who were asleep,
killing four people and wounding several others, according to several security
sources, who said the attackers probably used an improvised explosive device on
the IDPs.
The attack on
the IDPs was the second of its kind in about a month in the volatile region.
In early August,
at least 18 IDPs were killed when assailants threw an explosive device, thought
to be a grenade, on a site hosting about 800 IDPs near the village of
Nguetchewe, in the region, according to Cameroon army.
https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/09/01/5-killed-in-suspected-boko-haram-raids-in-cameroons-far-north-region/
--------
Somalia says two
senior Al-Shabaab leaders killed in joint operation
September 4,
2020
The Somali
National Army (SNA), backed by international partners, killed two Al-Shabaab
commanders and injured three others in an operation Thursday (3 September) in
the southern region of Middle Juba, a military officer confirmed on Friday.
“Two senior
Al-Shabab commanders in charge of security of the Middle Juba region were
killed and three others injured in an airstrike conducted by the partners. Our
forces are now pursuing the remnants who fled to the forest,” said Isma’il Abdi
Malik Ma’alin, commander of the SNA’s 16th Unit.
He said the army
will maintain operations targeting militant hideouts in the region, where
extremists have been hiding in the rural areas and conducting ambushes and
planting landmines.
https://www.somaliaffairs.com/news/somalia-says-two-senior-al-shabaab-leaders-killed-in-joint-operation/
--------
Sudan
transitional government, rebel group to resume peace talks
04 September
2020
Sudan’s
transitional government and a powerful rebel group that controls large swaths
of the country’s restive south said Friday they have agreed to resume peace
talks, a development that boosts hopes of ending the country’s decades-long
civil wars.
The commitment
comes days after the government reached a deal with other rebel groups to quell
conflicts stemming from the rule of ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
For all the
latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The Sudan
Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu, and Sudanese Prime
Minister Abdalla Hamdok signed a joint letter of intention late on Thursday in
the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, stressing the “necessity” of finding “a
comprehensive and just political solution” to the conflicts. It did not specify
when the talks would restart.
Negotiating an
end to the rebellions in Sudan’s far-flung provinces has been a crucial goal
for the transitional government, which took power after the military overthrew
al-Bashir in April last year, following months of pro-democracy protests.
Cash-strapped authorities are keen to slash military spending, which takes up
80% of the national budget.
Al-Hilu’s
faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement-North, also known as SLPM-North, is Sudan’s
single largest rebel group. It engaged in previous rounds of peace talks but
remained skeptical of the country’s ruling Sovereign Council, comprised of both
civilian leaders and military generals, including some from al-Bashir’s tenure.
Along with another
major rebel group, the faction skipped the signing of the agreement earlier
this week in South Sudan between the government and a rebel alliance known as
the Sudan Revolutionary Front, dimming prospects for meaningful change on the
ground.
UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres welcomed Thursday’s signing, calling the agreement “a positive
step,” especially in light of the initialing of a peace agreement earlier this
week, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The UN chief
urged another rebel group, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Abdul Wahid Al-Nur,
“to join the peace process so that a comprehensive solution can be found” and
reiterated his commitment to support all efforts to achieve sustainable peace
in Sudan, Dujarric said.
The SLPM-North
has also threatened to call for self-determination in the vast areas it
controls if its demands are not met. Just days ago, al-Hilu accused the
transitional government of adopting the “evasive” tactics of al-Bashir’s
administration throughout tortuous peace negotiations that have dragged on for
nearly a year.
To lay the
groundwork for a future deal, al-Hilu and Hamdok agreed in principle on a range
of political issues that have frustrated efforts to reach a deal in the past.
Sudan’s
constitution “should be based on the principle of separation of religion and
state,” the statement said, acknowledging a long-held demand of the ardently
secularist SLPM-North. The sides also agreed to let the rebel group retain its
weapons until they ink an accord calling for new security arrangements.
Al-Hilu’s
movement controls large chunks of territory in the war-scarred Blue Nile and
South Kordofan provinces, home to a significant Christian minority that long
complained of discrimination under al-Bashir.
During
al-Bashir’s 30 years in power, the Khartoum government extended Islamic rule in
Sudan and fanned tensions between the Muslim majority north and mainly
Christian and animist south, precipitating brutal wars and ultimately, the
secession of South Sudan in 2011.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/north-africa/2020/09/04/Sudan-transitional-government-rebel-group-to-resume-peace-talks
--------
North America
Donald Trump
urges Iran not to execute wrestler Navid Afkari
Joyce Karam
September 4,
2020
US President
Donald Trump on Thursday urged Iran not to execute wrestling star Navid Afkari.
Mr Trump made
the request to the Iranian government on Twitter.
“Hearing that
Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old
Navid Afkari, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the
streets," he wrote.
"To the
leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man’s
life and not execute him."
Iran last week
sentenced the wrestling champion to two death sentences and 74 lashes for his
role in the 2018 protests, Iran Human Rights said.
“The sentences
were upheld by the Supreme Court and as their request for a retrial has been
denied, Navid Afkari is in danger of execution,” the rights group said on Wednesday.
Mr Trump’s
request to Iran follows an indirect diplomatic movement between Washington and
Tehran.
On Wednesday,
the State Department said US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called Swiss
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis to discuss Iran and US hostages in the country.
“Secretary
Pompeo thanked Foreign Minister Cassis for Switzerland’s continued and
constructive role as our protecting power in Iran and for its assistance in
caring for and repatriating US citizens wrongly imprisoned by the Iranian regime,”
the department said.
Mr Cassis is due
to arrive in Tehran on Saturday and hold talks with its leaders.
Mr Trump’s tone
was softer than usual in addressing the Iranian government, with whom he has
clashed repeatedly.
He has pursued a
strategy of maximum pressure against Tehran, taking the US out of a landmark
2015 nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Mr Trump also
ordered the killing of prominent Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in January,
sparking weeks of sky-high tension in the region.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/the-americas/donald-trump-urges-iran-not-to-execute-wrestler-navid-afkari-1.1072658
--------
Turkey's Syrian
mercenaries in Libya 'degrade security', US report says
September 3,
2020
A US report said
thousands of Syrian mercenaries sent by Turkey to Libya to fight on the side of
the Tripoli government were likely to degrade security and cause a backlash
from the Libyan public.
The US Defence
Department’s inspector general also said in a new report that he was concerned
about the growing presence of Russian mercenaries fighting for the rivals of
the Tripoli-based government in the Libyan war.
The report,
which was released on Tuesday, said Turkey sent to Libya at least 5,000 Syrian
mercenaries who had worked closely with Ankara in Syria’s civil war.
They were sent
to help government militias fight the forces of eastern-based Field Marshal
Khalifa Haftar.
Turkey also sent
hundreds of regular troops to Libya, including operators and technicians for
Turkish air defence systems in western Libya, the report said.
While the Syrian
mercenaries bolstered the government’s position, “their continued presence will
continue to negatively affect the overall security situation in Libya",
said the report, which covers the second quarter of 2020.
Libya was
plunged into chaos when a Nato-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime
dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was later killed.
The country has
since split between rival administrations in the east and west.
Fighting has
died down in recent weeks, but both sides are preparing for a possible battle
over the strategic city of Sirte, the gateway to Libya’s major oilfields and
export terminals controlled by Field Marshal Haftar's forces.
The chaos has
worsened in recent months as foreign backers increasingly intervene, despite
pledges to the contrary at a high-profile peace summit in Berlin this year.
Thousands of
mercenaries are fighting on both sides of the conflict.
The US Africa
Command, or Africom, described the Syrian mercenaries fighting with the
Tripoli-based government as “inexperienced, uneducated, and motivated by
promises of considerable salary”.
It said Turkish
private military company Sadat has overseen supervision and payment to the
mercenaries.
Increasing reports
of theft, sexual assault and misconduct by Syrian mercenaries in western areas
are likely to further degrade the security situation and cause backlash from
the Libyan public, Africom said.
The report says
extremists with militant links have been involved in the fighting, although “it
is possible they were fighting for financial and personal reasons, rather than
ideological reasons”.
Protests took
place over deteriorating economic conditions last month in the capital and
elsewhere in western Libya, which is controlled by forces loyal to the Tripoli
government.
Militias opened
fire on demonstrators with rifles and lorry-mounted guns and abducted some
protesters.
https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/turkey-s-syrian-mercenaries-in-libya-degrade-security-us-report-says-1.1072419
--------
What is the US
aiming for by lifting the Cyprus arms embargo?
September 05,
2020
ANKARA: A new
element has been introduced to ongoing disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean,
with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announcing on Tuesday that a 1987 arms
embargo on Cyprus was being partially lifted.
Experts are
divided about Washington’s motive and whether this decision is connected to
Ankara’s maneuvers in contested waters where it is drilling for gas.
The US decision,
which was strongly criticized by Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on
Wednesday, gives the green light for non-lethal weapons sales to Cyprus for a
year. Turkey made it clear that it would take unilateral action if Washington
did not reconsider its decision.
Ankara said that
the US move might discourage Greek leaders from engaging in long-standing
reunification talks with the Turkish side of Cyprus.
But for Aaron
Stein, who is director of the Middle East program at the Foreign Policy
Research Institute, the US decision was about Russia rather than Turkey.
“There is a
strain of American thinking that is pushing for a US effort to begin to push
back against Russian influence on the island,” he told Arab News.
Under the 2019
Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act, Washington has
boosted ties with Greece and Cyprus and provided them with security assistance
in a bid to stop Russian military vessels from docking and refueling at Cyprus’
Limassol Port.
According to
Stein, Turkey is so unpopular that it has no support in US Congress to stop
these efforts. “So, the US State Department folks that were pushing this line
were able to get it through,” he added.
In the meantime,
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced late Thursday that Greece and
Turkey had agreed to enter into technical talks under NATO auspices to
“establish deconfliction mechanisms and reduce the risk of incidents and
accidents” in the eastern Mediterranean.
Joe Macaron, a
Middle East foreign policy analyst at the Arab Center, thought there were
growing voices inside the US administration that were pressuring President
Donald Trump to push back against Turkish policy in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“And this
pressure will only increase now that Turkey has signed a contract to deliver
the second batch of Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems,” he told Arab
News.
In late August
Ankara and Moscow reportedly signed a contract to deliver a second consignment
of air defense systems to Turkey, making it the first NATO member to buy such a
system from Russia.
Macaron said
that the pressure was evident in the recent US condemnation of President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with Hamas, and now this partial lifting of the arms
embargo on Cyprus. Both were issued by the US State Department not the White
House, which meant Trump wanted to keep the lines open with Erdogan.
“The US is
taking some distance from Turkey without necessarily siding with France in the
Eastern Mediterranean tensions, as this decision is valid for 1 year only and
is restricted to nonlethal military equipment,” Macaron said.
Greece and
Turkey, which are both conducting extensive research for energy in the eastern
part of the Mediterranean, have conflicting understandings of maritime
boundaries together with the long-standing quarrel between Turkey and Cyprus
over offshore gas reserves around the divided island since 1974.
Ozgur
Unluhisarcikli, Ankara office director of the German Marshall Fund of the
United States, agreed that the US decision was part of an effort to distance
Cyprus from Russia.
“The timing may
be related to the upcoming US elections as there are around 1.4 million
Americans with Greek descent as opposed to around 350,000 Americans with
Turkish descent,” he told Arab News.
Nevertheless,
Unluhisarcikli added, while this move would not change the military balance on
the island in any way, the timing was unfortunate as it may be perceived by
Greek Cypriots as an endorsement of their current policy and disincentivize the
start of dialogue with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the
exploitation of the island’s energy resources.
In the meantime,
Brussels is expected to discuss a list of possible sanctions against Turkey
during a leaders’ meeting later this month.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1729736/middle-east
--------
South Asia
11 dead after 6
air conditioners explode in Bangladesh mosque
Sahidul Hasan
Khokon
September 5,
2020
At least 11
people were reported dead on Saturday after six air-conditioners exploded at a
mosque in Narayanganj's Fatullah in Bangladesh.
At least 50
Muslim worshippers sustained burn injuries in the explosions on around 9 pm on
Friday, Dhaka Tribune reported.
"None of
the hospitalised after the incident is out of danger yet," Samanta Lal
Sen, coordinator of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) burns unit, told
reporters on Saturday.
An official said
that a pipeline of Titas Gas passes beneath the mosque. He suspected: "Gas
had leaked from the pipeline and accumulated inside as the windows were
closed."
The official
said that the explosion was probably triggered due to sparks when someone tried
to switch on or off the ACs or fan
The explosion
took place when the Muslim worshippers were about to end their Isha prayers.
"Most of
the victims have burns covering 60 to 70 per cent of their bodies," Dhaka
Tribune quote Fatullah police station OC Aslam Hossain as saying.
https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/dead-gas-leak-air-conditioners-explode-bangladesh-mosque-1718850-2020-09-05
--------
Officer Dies
after Afghan Border Clashes
By Mohammad Arif
Sheva
04 Sep 2020
NANGARHAR,
Afghanistan – At least one Afghan Border Force killed and further three wounded
in a shootouts with Pakistani forces in Durand Line in eastern province of
Nangarhar, local authorities confirmed.
Attaullah
Khogyani, spokesman to the Nangarhar Governor, said among the victims are three
civilians who bore injuring during the one-hour clashes.
The clashes
begin as Pakistani forces started to violate the international border,
according to Khogyani.
In May, at least
four Afghan border forces were killed in a similar shootouts in Spin Boldak
district in southern province of Kandahar, leaving 23 injured.
According to the
Afghan Defense Ministry, on July 31 at least nine civilians were killed and 50
others were wounded in Pakistani forces artillery attacks on “residential
areas” in Spin Boldak district.
The clash came
hours after a telephonic conversation between Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad
Haneef Atmar and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who stressed
his country’s support to the Afghan peace process, according to a statement by
Foreign Affairs Ministry as reported by local media.
https://www.khaama.com/border-clashes-claim-1-abf-member-hurts-3-34534/
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/indo-islamic-cultural-foundation-jnu/d/122796
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism