Tag: InternationalNews

{Fighters launch fierce assault in an effort to recapture the Castello Road route from government forces.}

Opposition fighters have launched a major assault on government-held districts of Syria’s long-divided Aleppo, after government forces severed their only remaining supply route into the battleground city.

Rebel groups launched the offensive at dawn on Monday to reopen the strategic Castello Road, their last lifeline into the city, according to the AFP news agency.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 19 regime forces were killed on Monday when rebels blew up a tunnel in the Old City.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that despite a heavy assault, rebels had been unable to advance because of the “heavy aerial bombardment the regime is carrying out on the areas where fighting is under way”.

Air raids on the rebel-held parts of Aleppo killed 13 civilians on Monday, the Observatory added, most of them in the Bab al-Maqam neighbourhood near the front line.

Rebels fired a barrage of at least 300 shells into western Aleppo, killing nine civilians, the Observatory said.

Ahmed, a resident of the government-controlled western area of the city who did not give his second name, said his home in the Syrian quarter was completely destroyed.

“The shells have rained down on the western neighbourhoods since 4:30am,” he said.

Mahmud Abu Malak, a spokesman for the Nuruddin al-Zanki rebel group, described fierce fighting.

“All kinds of heavy artillery and machine-guns are being used in the assault, which is intended to ease the pressure on the Mallah and Handarat fronts,” he said, referring to areas near the rebel supply route into Aleppo.

The Castello Road route was effectively severed on Thursday when government forces seized a hilltop within firing range.

The government advance leaves the opposition-held east of the city cut off from the surrounding countryside, and raises the prospect of total siege.

On Sunday, at least 29 opposition fighters were killed when rebels launched a fruitless assault to push government forces back from the road and reopen the route.

Nationwide truce

The violence comes despite a nationwide truce declared by the government last Wednesday to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

The ceasefire has produced little respite in fighting, but was extended for another 72 hours on Saturday.

In nearby Idlib province, 17 people including two children were killed in air strikes, the Observatory said.

The monitor said it was unclear if the strikes were carried out by regime or Russian war planes.

The severing of the Castello Road has already created shortages of food and fuel in the east of Aleppo, with local market stalls sparsely stocked.

“There are very few vegetables today because the Castello Road is closed,” said Abu Mohamed, a vendor in the Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood.

Residents also described searching in vain for fuel, whether for vehicles or home use.

The UN says nearly 600,000 Syrians live in besieged areas, most surrounded by government forces, although rebels are also besieging civilians.

{Arbitration court in The Hague will deliver ruling on dispute in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila.}

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is to rule in a dispute between the Philippines and China over maritime claims in the South China Sea – particularly who has the right to exploit resources in the strategic territory.

The ruling on Tuesday is expected to further increase tensions in the region, where China’s increased military assertiveness has spread concern among its smaller neighbours and is a point of confrontation with the United States.

China has boycotted the court, saying it does not have jurisdiction to decide on the matter and has campaigned for months to discredit the outcome.

In advance of the ruling, the China Daily newspaper, which is published by the government, topped its front page on Tuesday with a picture of Woody Island in the South China Sea emblazoned with the words: “Arbitration invalid”.

State-run news agency Xinhua included headlines such as: “South China Sea arbitration abuses international law: Chinese scholar”.

The Philippines embassy in China warned its citizens to be “careful” due to tension before the ruling and to avoid political debate. The embassy also urged its citizens to carry identification papers “at all times” and report any threat received to the embassy and Chinese police.

{{Key sea lane}}

China asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped each year, despite rival claims from the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.

The US says it wants the crucial sea lane to be treated as international waters.

Both Beijing and Washington have accused each other of provocations in the South China Sea.

Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said: “China’s leaders will simply shrug off the tribunal’s rulings.

“In recent weeks they’ve labelled the court illegal, irrelevant and said it had no jurisdiction. And they appear to care little about Washington’s renewed threats and warnings.”

Even if Beijing ignores the court’s decision, it is significant as it will be the first time that a legal challenge has been brought against China in the dispute.

{{China’s expanding presence }}

Including the Philippines, the dispute draws in a total of five countries with overlapping claims in the 3.5 million square kilometre sea, where China has been expanding its presence by building artificial islands and dispatching patrol boats that keep fishing vessels from other countries away.

The arbitration court ruling will not decide on matters of territorial sovereignty, but will apply the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in determining which countries can claim economic exploitation rights, based on geographic features.

The court has no power of enforcement, but a victory for the Philippines could spur Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, which also have overlapping claims, to file similar claims.

{Activists lament lack of condemnation from India and international powers for violence that killed at least 19 people.}

As the death toll rises to 19 in Indian-administered Kashmir following a bloody crackdown on mourners and protesters this weekend, Kashmiris are lamenting the lack of international condemnation for the violence meted out to them.

By Sunday evening, authorities recorded at least 19 deaths and 200 people injured after police and paramilitary troops opened fire on tens of thousands of Kashmiris who took to the streets to pay homage to the rebel leader Burhan Wani, who was killed on Friday. His death had prompted a mass funeral and demonstrations against Indian rule.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Imam of Srinagar’s Jamia mosque and leader of a faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, told Al Jazeera that the lack of condemnation from both India and international actors, proved that “Kashmiri lives did not matter”.

“No political party or institution has condemned the violence because they don’t feel the need … they are so disconnected from this place,” Farook said from his home in Srinagar, where he has been under house arrest since Friday.

Terrorists should not have the right to last rites.They should be burnt with garbage.It will act as a deterrent. https://t.co/zghHRrOQ49

— Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) July 9, 2016
It is a sentiment echoed by a series of observers and human rights activists, who allege that the killing of Burhan sent the Indian media into a jingoistic frenzy.

Mirza Waheed, a Kashmiri novelist based in London, said in some cases, “one could not tell the difference between the media and state apparatus”.

But Gautam Navlakha, from the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, described the silence from India’s civil society over the events of the past three days as particularly problematic.

“There seems to be a conflation between extremism and the Kashmiri right to self determination. People seem to reduce all dissent in Kashmir to radical Islam, but the situation in Kashmir is different,” Navlakha, a human rights activist based in Delhi, said.

“They don’t realise that hearts and minds of the people there are not with India, and this is a fact,” he said.

According to Kashmiri civil society, the death toll is likely to rise, with local media reporting the number of dead could be as high as 22.

They have also accused troops of disproportionate violence and for implementing a “shoot to kill” policy. One doctor at the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar confirmed to Al Jazeera that patients with bullet wounds had all been hit from the waist up.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the doctor said there were at least four patients in critical condition at the hospital.

“There are people still coming in with injuries, first they came from north and south Kashmir, now they are coming from Srinagar itself, suffering mostly from pellets wounds,” he said.

Deeply anguished at the loss of precious lives in incidents of violence in Jammu & Kashmir. Also pray for the speedy recovery of the injured

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 9, 2016
Responding to accusations of disproportionate violence, Naeem Akhtar, spokesman for the state of Jammu & Kashmir state government, suggested that security forces may have been justified in using force as method of self-defence.

“There have been attacks on barracks and camps […] if there are a mob of a 1,000 people attacking a group of 10 to 15, what do you expect them to do?” he told Al Jazeera, adding that there would be an investigation into the matter.

On Saturday, police said that angry crowds set fire to three police stations and two government buildings south of Srinagar, and blocked roads.

At least one police officer was killed. K Rajendra Kumar, the director general of Jammu and Kashmir Police, said about 100 members of the security forces had been wounded. Three officers were still missing.

But Waheed said security forces were able to act with such brutality because they knew that they would never be prosecuted for their actions.

“When it happened in 2010, no one was held accountable for the violence … and so they do it again, and again,” Waheed said, referring to the protests of summer 2010 when Kashmir plummeted into months of protests. More than 120 young people died that year.

According to Dilnaz Boga, an independent journalist based in Mumbai, no condemnation from the world’s powers is likely to be forthcoming – given India’s relationship with the United States, France, Israel and United Kingdom in the so-called war against terror.

The problem is rooted in a lack of understanding and censorship over the story of Kashmiri resistance, she said.

“If people knew how India has denied them their rights, people will realise that this is a political problem needing a political solution,” she told Al Jazeera.

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{Tens of thousands cross into Colombia after border opens briefly for the first time in nearly a year.}

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have poured across into neighbouring Colombia to buy basic goods amid shortages at home, during a brief opening of the border that has been closed for almost a year.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro closed the border in August 2015, citing smuggling and penetration by Colombian fighters. On Sunday, he authorised a 12-hour opening of the pedestrian bridge that connects Tachira, in Venezuela, and Cucuta, in Colombia, for the first time in 11 months.

Victor Bautista, the director of the Colombian border authority, said that an estimated 35,000 Venezuelans had arrived in Cucuta.

READ MORE: Lootings soar in Venezuela amid food scarcity

Some 25,000 people surged in within the first seven hours, William Villamizar, governor of the Norte de Santander department that includes Cucuta, said on Twitter.

“Thank you for this welcome, the people of Venezuela are experiencing a serious humanitarian situation,” Jose Gregorio Sanchez, a resident of the border town of Urena, told the AFP news agency.

Venezuela has been mired in a deepening economic crisis that has emptied shop shelves and created a shortage of medicine. The recent slump in oil prices devastated the OPEC nation’s economic model, leading to growing anger among the roughly 30 million residents.

Critics also blame grave mishandling of the state-led economy.

Maduro, elected in 2013 after the death of President Hugo Chavez, insists that he is the victim of an “economic war” led by businesses with the backing of the United States.

Protesters demanding food have clashed with authorities in several cities in recent weeks amid demonstrations and looting that have turned deadly.

Some 500 desperate Venezuelans illegally stormed the border earlier this week in search of basic goods.

“There’s no medicine for children; children are dying,” Tulia Somaza told AFP.

“People don’t even have soap to wash clothes”.

In a sign of Maduro’s concern at mounting social unrest, the president replaced the head of the National Guard on Thursday.

The Venezuelan opposition launched its efforts to remove the president, including a bid for a recall referendum, after winning control of the legislature in January.

But Maduro has challenged his rivals through the Supreme Court, which they accuse him of controlling.

Maduro ordered the border shut last year after former Colombian fighters attacked a Venezuelan military patrol and wounded three soldiers, causing a diplomatic row between the neighbouring countries.

{Warning comes after US and S Korea announce agreement to deploy advanced anti-missile defence system to counter threats.}

North Korea’s military has threatened to take “physical action” after the United States and South Korea announced that they would deploy a sophisticated missile defence system on the Korean peninsula.

Seoul and Washington said on Friday that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system would be used to counter Pyongyang’s growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

“There will be physical response measures from us as soon as the location and time that the invasionary tool for US world supremacy, THAAD, will be brought into South Korea are confirmed,” the North’s military said in a statement on Monday.

“We once again warn the enemies that it is the steadfast will of the KPA [Korean People’s Army] to make merciless retaliatory strikes to reduce South Korea to a sea in flames, debris once an order is issued.”

Pyongyang test fired what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile a day after the announcement by Seoul and Washington, sparking swift international condemnation.

The North frequently threatens to attack the South, as well as US interests in Asia and the Pacific.

‘Purely defensive’

The planned deployment of the powerful anti-missile system has also angered the South’s neighbours, including China, which said on Friday that the move would “seriously damage” regional security in northeast Asia.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, however, defended the move as a “purely defensive” action aimed at protecting the South.

“The international community will be aware that we have no intention to target or threaten another country … we are taking a purely defensive measure to protect our country and our people,” Park said in a meeting with advisors.

A South Korean defence ministry official told the Reuters news agency that the selection of a site for THAAD could come “within weeks”, and the allies were working to have it operational by the end of 2017.

It will be used “to protect alliance military forces,” Seoul and Washington said on Friday.

The US maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war.

{Government troops kill dozens of rebel fighters as they attempt to retake vital supply line, monitoring group says.}

Syrian regime forces have repelled a fierce assault by opposition fighters seeking to reopen their only supply route into Aleppo city, killing at least 29 rebels, a monitoring group said on Sunday.

The offensive sought to push government forces back from Castello Road, which leads into the opposition-held eastern half of Aleppo city – now effectively besieged by government troops.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 29 fighters from the Faylaq al-Sham rebel group and al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front were killed in fighting or by mines laid by government troops.

The UK-based observatory group said there were also deaths among government troops, but had no immediate toll.

“The attack has ended and the road remains completely closed,” the group’s chief, Rami Abdel Rahman, said.

The Castello Road was effectively cut-off by government forces on Thursday when they seized a hilltop within range of the key supply line. By Saturday, regime soldiers were within 500m of the road and firing on any vehicle trying to use it.

The observatory said that at least one car was targeted on the road early on Sunday, adding that it was unclear if it carried civilians or fighters.

The regime also shelled the road later on Sunday, it said. On Friday, a man and his two sons were killed by regime forces on the road, the monitor said.

A correspondent for the AFP news agency in eastern Aleppo said opposition factions were preventing civilians from using the route. Ongoing government artillery fire and barrel bomb attacks were reported in the east of the city early on Sunday.

READ MORE: Syria: Army cuts strategic Aleppo road despite truce

About 200,000 people remain in the eastern part of Aleppo, which has been divided between government and rebel control since shortly after fighting in the city erupted in mid-2012.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have been trying to cut the Castello Road for more than two years in an attempt to pressure rebel forces in the city.

Their advance on Thursday left residents of the east cut off, with supplies of basic items including food and fuel starting to run low and fears of a lengthy government siege.

Syria’s government has been accused of using sieges to pressure rebel forces, and the UN says nearly 600,000 Syrians live in besieged areas, most surrounded by government forces although rebels also use the tactic.

Following the government advance, rebel forces on Friday retaliated with waves of rocket fire into the regime-held west of Aleppo, killing 45 people, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.

{Killing comes as opposition accuses Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government of launching a fresh crackdown against them.}

A prominent Cambodian political analyst known for his criticism of the government has been shot dead at a cafe in the capital Phnom Penh, police said.

The killing of Kem Ley on Sunday comes at a time of heightened political tensions between Prime Minister Hun Sen and the opposition, who accuse him of pursuing a fresh crackdown against them.

Police said Kem Ley, a popular commentator and grassroots campaigner, was gunned down as he drank coffee at a shop attached to a petrol station.

“He was shot dead at a mart just before 9am,” Kirt Chantharith, national police spokesman, told the AFP news agency.

A suspect was arrested nearby and confessed to killing the analyst over an unpaid debt, Kirt Chantharith said.

“But we don’t believe him yet. We are working on this case,” he said.

Kem Ley was critical of both the government and opposition parties, advocating for a new era of clean politics in Cambodia, which is expected to hold a general election in 2018.

But the bulk of his criticism was aimed at Hun Sen’s ruling party.

As news of Kem Ley’s murder spread on social media, hundreds of Cambodians descended upon the Caltex station.

Ky Sour, a local businessman, said the crowd had gathered because they were “heartbroken” over Kem Ley’s death, but also because they did not “trust the police”.

“They suspect the police will do something to hide the evidence [if they don’t watch],” Ky Sour told Al Jazeera.

“This is the same pattern so everyone knows who is behind it. People who have no power cannot do like that. This is the face of dictatorship.”

A factory worker at the scene, who asked not to be named citing safety concerns, said “sometimes we cannot talk about what we think about the government.

“We close our mouths and discuss with our family or close friends only.”

Cambodia has a history of rights and labour advocates being murdered with killers rarely brought to justice.

Kem Ley’s murder will likely exacerbate tensions in the Southeast Asian nation, which has been dominated by Hun Sen for the past 31 years in a reign marked by accusations of corruption, electoral fraud and rights abuses.

Scores of government critics and rights workers have been arrested in recent months while others have been tied up in ongoing legal cases.

The prime minister, a former army commander who defected from the Khmer Rouge, has held power alongside a small but powerful group of political allies who have become enormously wealthy.

A report published by Global Witness last week detailed how Hun Sen’s family had amassed a multi-million-dollar business empire spanning the country’s most lucrative sectors during his rule.

{Military helicopter involved in anti-ISIL operation crashes near Palmyra after being hit by gunfire from the ground.}

Two Russian pilots have been killed in Syria after fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) shot down their helicopter near Palmyra, Russia’s defense ministry has said according to local media.

The two men had been attacking a group of ISIL fighters in the Homs region on Friday, when the military chopper they were in ran out of ammunition, the Interfax news agency said, quoting the defense ministry.

“The turning helicopter was hit by militants’ gunfire from the ground and crashed in the area controlled by the Syrian government army. The crew died,” Interfax said.

ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE monitoring group.

Footage published on Saturday by ISIL’s affiliated news agency Amaq showed a helicopter being shot and crashing to the ground.

Russian forces entered the Syrian conflict in late September last year, backing the forces of President Bashar al-Assad. At least 12 Russian soldiers have been killed since Moscow launched its military operation.

In November, Turkish fighter planes shot down a Russian bomber on the Syrian-Turkish border, triggering a crisis in relations between the two countries.

Russia is helping Assad forces against ISIL and other rebel groups, mainly supporting the Syrian army with air strikes.

Western countries have accused Russia of also targeting Syria’s moderate opposition and civilians – a claim denied by the Moscow.