April 25,2024: Burkina Faso’s military forces “summarily executed” 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in two villages in February, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a new report.
The mass killings took place on February 25 in the northern villages of Nondin and Soro, according to the report published on Thursday.
The international rights group said the massacre appeared to be part of a widespread military campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with armed groups.
Soldiers killed at least 44 people, including 20 children, in Nondin, and 179 people, including 36 children, in nearby Soro.
HRW said it interviewed dozens of witnesses between February and March and analysed videos and photographs shared by survivors. It also reportedly obtained lists of the victims’ names compiled by survivors, and geolocated eight mass graves based on satellite imagery from March 15.
On February 24 and 25, armed groups carried out attacks across the country on military targets, including barracks and bases, and on civilian infrastructure, such as religious sites, killing scores of civilians, soldiers and militia members.
While Defence Minister Mahamoudou Sana denounced what he described as “simultaneous and coordinated” attacks, he did not mention the mass killings of civilians in Nondin and Soro.
Civilians have been caught in the middle of and displaced by the fighting between armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), and security forces.
About half of the country is outside government control. The violence has killed almost 20,000 people and displaced more than two million.
The West African country is run by a military government led by captain Ibrahim Traore who seized power in a coup in September 2022, eight months after an earlier military coup had overthrown the democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabore.
Beirut, April 25,2024: Hezbollah has launched 1,650 military operations against Israeli targets since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, leaving more than 2,000 Israeli personnel dead or wounded, according to data released by the Shiite military party on Wednesday.
Hezbollah said that the operations used different types of weapons including 352 artillery shelling, 727 ground-to-ground missiles, 50 air defense, 55 air attacks, 77 sniper rifles, 546 guided missiles, 136 direct weapons, and 17 engineering weapons.
Israel incurred losses including 344 raids and fortifications, 328 pieces of technical equipment, 92 military vehicles, 67 command centers, 722 settlement units, 33 artillery positions, five Iron Dome platforms, and five drones, it said.
On Wednesday, exchanges of fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border saw an unprecedented escalation, with intense Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling confronted with a series of Hezbollah rocket shells and drones.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah towards Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery towards southeastern Lebanon.
April 24,2024: A Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counteroffensive by soldiers of the ruling junta from whom the rebels had this month wrested the key trading post, an official said on Wednesday.
The Karen National Union (KNU) made a “temporary retreat” from the town of Myawaddy, a spokesperson said, after the return of junta soldiers to the vital strategic area that is a conduit for annual foreign trade of more than $1 billion.
“KNLA troops will … destroy the junta troops and their back-up troops who marched to Myawaddy,” Saw Taw Nee said, referring to the group’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, one of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic fighting forces.
He did not say what its next move would be.
Fighting had flared as recently as Saturday in Myawaddy, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee in a single day as rebels fought to flush out stranded Myanmar government troops holed up at a border bridge crossing.
New Delhi, April 19,2024: The first of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls on Friday remained largely peaceful with voter turnout exceeding 60% at 7 in the evening.
With this, the fate of as many as 1,625 candidates across 21 states and union territories (UTs) have been locked in EVMs (electronic voting machines).
After the polling began today, sporadic incidents of violence were reported from West Bengal and strife-torn Manipur.
In Tripura, where voting took place for one seat, the vote percentage was the highest at 79.90%. This was followed by West Bengal (three seats), where voter turnout was recorded at 77.57%.
At 47.49%, voter turnout was the lowest in Bihar where four seats were up for grabs.
“The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 PM in many constituencies. Also, voters reaching the polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote,” Election Commission of India (ECI) said in a press note.
The poll body noted that final figures of voter turnout will be known by Saturday after scrutiny of form 17A.
In phase-I of the general election, polling has been completed for 10 states/UTs to elect 18th Lok Sabha along with polling for state legislative assemblies of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the northeastern part of the country.
As many as 102 parliamentary constituencies went to polls today. States including Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep completed their voting process.
States which saw voting on a few parliamentary constituencies included West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Voting on the remaining seats would be held in subsequent phases.
Remaining six phases of polls will continue till 1st of June with around 97 crore voters lined up to vote. Counting of votes is scheduled on June 4, 2024.
The counting of votes for the Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be on June 2.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP is seeking a third straight term and forming the government at the Centre, opposition parties under the banner of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) are seeking to upstage the ruling party.
Ramallah, Apr 18,2024: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa stressed on Wednesday the key challenges facing the Gaza Strip amid ongoing conflict.
In a meeting with Muhannad Hadi, the UN coordinator for humanitarian affairs in Palestine, Mustafa said the challenges include ensuring the quality and suitability of emergency aid, refining the mechanisms for aid delivery and distribution to meet the urgent needs across the Gaza Strip, as well as restoring essential services disrupted by the conflict.
According to a statement from his office, the prime minister emphasized the importance of fully opening all crossings with the enclave, especially in the north of the Strip, and coordinating relief efforts fully between international partners, civil society, and relief institutions with relevant ministries.
For his part, the UN coordinator affirmed full coordination with the government and relevant ministries to benefit from all available resources fully to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of citizens, according to the statement.
On the same day, Mustafa also discussed the humanitarian aid for Gaza with visiting British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, calling for international intervention to stop aggressions in the West Bank and settlement expansion.
The prime minister also addressed the financial strains caused by Israeli deductions from Palestinian clearance funds, urging Britain and the global community to pressure Israel to release the withheld funds. He reaffirmed Palestine’s efforts towards full UN membership and international recognition.
Washington, Apr 17,2024: The White House on Tuesday announced the decision to impose new sanctions on Iran with measures including punishing the Islamic Republic’s missile and drone program.
“In the coming days, the United States will impose new sanctions targeting Iran, including its missile and drone program as well as new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defense Ministry,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
The announcement came after Iran carried out a massive military operation against Israel on Saturday, in which hundreds of missiles and drones were launched. Tehran said the attack was a response to the Israeli strike on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital city of Damascus on April 1, which killed seven Iranians, including two veteran commanders.
Sullivan’s announcement followed a similar one made earlier in the day by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, who didn’t elaborate much on the detail at a press conference ahead of the unveiling of this year’s Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Despite the Washington’s harsh condemnation of Iran’s attack against Israel, local media reports suggest that the U.S. government only resorts to diplomatic and economic tools in response, out of fear that any use of force might lead to the conflict in the Middle East escalating to a degree where it becomes uncontrollable.
DUBAI: April 16,2024: Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in Oman on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, killing at least 17 people as rescuers searched for survivors, authorities said Monday. In one incident, a group of school children and a driver died when their vehicle was overtaken, authorities said.
Heavy rains also were expected over Dubai in the neighboring United Arab Emirates and other regions of the Arabian Peninsula.
Civil defense officials gave the death toll for the rains, which saw Oman’s North Al Sharqiyah province hardest hit. The Royal Oman Police and the Omani military deployed to the province to transport citizens out of flooded areas, Oman News Agency reported.
Gaza, April 11,2024: The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Wednesday that the Palestinian death toll has risen to 33,482 as a result of ongoing Israeli attacks.
During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 122 Palestinians and wounded 56 others, bringing the total death toll to 33,482 and injuries to 76,049 since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the ministry said in a statement.
Some victims are still under the rubble and on the roads as the Israeli army prevents ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them, according to the statement.
Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.