Al-Qaeda-linked fighters killed the defense minister, a top Moscow ally, and forced Russian mercenaries to retreat, highlighting the Mali-Russia partnership’s failure. Source link
Mali’s military leader on Tuesday made his first public appearance since unprecedented large-scale weekend attacks destabilised his ruling junta, visiting the wounded and meeting the ambassador of key ally Russia. Jihadists and Tuareg separatists are still positioned in the vast Sahelian country’s north, three days after launching a stunning wave of attacks, in what Moscow said remained a “difficult” situation. Source link
Mali’s army said Saturday that it was fighting “terrorist groups” that had attacked army barracks in the capital Bamako and other areas in the African nation. Witnesses reported gunfire in several cities in the military-ruled state and an army statement said: “Terrorist groups, not yet identified, early this morning targeted certain points and barracks in the capital and the interior.” FRANCE 24’s Wassim Nasr said it is still “too soon to tell” if the country’s military junta will fall. Keywords for this article Source link
BANGKOK, April 8 : A Swedish non-profit filed a class action lawsuit against Telenor on Tuesday on behalf of over 1,200 people whose phone data it says the Norwegian telecom’s Myanmar subsidiary shared with the country’s military junta following a 2021 coup. Telenor, which has since exited Myanmar, said it believed there was nothing in the lawsuit that the company had not already addressed and “in our view it is unlikely that such a claim will succeed”. The lawsuit, filed in Norway by the Justice and Accountability Initiative, alleges Telenor Myanmar shared the call logs and location data of suspected political opponents of the junta, exposing them to repression and leading to the execution of at least one prominent activist and the prosecution of another. The lawsuit claims Telenor is liable for 9,000 euros ($10,524) per customer whose data was shared. “If successful, this case would be the first ever to hold a telecoms company to account for not sufficiently protecting user data from access by an authoritarian regime,” said Beini Ye, legal counsel at the Open …
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was elected a vice-president by the lower house on Tuesday, parliament officials said, with the coup leader edging closer to becoming the country’s civilian leader. Myanmar’s former commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing has led Myanmar since 2021, when he ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered civil war. His election sets in motion a process for him to exchange his uniform for civilian clothes, as the country’s parliament selects three vice-presidents, one of whom is then chosen as president. On the lower house floor Tuesday morning, MPs queued up at a row of tables and dropped their ballots into one of three clear-sided boxes. “The lower house of elected MPs announces Senior General Min Aung Hlaing as a vice-president,” lower house speaker Khin Yi said after the vote. The junta chief received 247 of the 260 votes, a parliament official said, according to a live broadcast. The upper house elected Nan Ni Ni Aye, a regional MP from Karen state with the military-aligned Union …
“ What’s at stake in this election for the military is its credibility as the leader going forward,” Joe Freeman, Myanmar researcher for Amnesty International told the Battle Lines: Global Health Security podcast. The purpose of the election, he said, “is to create kind of an off-ramp from this five years of military rule and show the international community that it’s ready to lead as a responsible civilian government. Of course, that’s all a mirage.” The election, which concludes this week, is not just a veneer of democracy for Myanmar but also a bid by the Chinese to ensure one of its closest neighbours remains stable. Myanmar shares a 1,300 mile border with China, providing an important link for Beijing to the Indian Ocean. Many note the irony of China, a one party state, supporting a supposedly multi-party election. Beijing sent election monitors and provided technological assistance and funding so that the junta can compile voter lists. “ China will do what is in its interest at the end of the day. We seem to be returning …
Myanmar’s junta held the second phase of elections on Sunday that democracy watchdogs warn will let the military prolong its rule, opening polling in the constituency of deposed democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The armed forces have ruled Myanmar for most of its post-independence history, snatching back power in a 2021 coup after a decade-long democratic thaw, nullifying the previous poll, detaining Suu Kyi and plunging the country into civil war. With Suu Kyi sidelined and her massively popular party dissolved, democracy advocates say the vote has been rigged by a crackdown on dissent and a ballot stacked with military allies. Polls opened on Sunday morning in dozens of constituencies, including Suu Kyi’s former seat of Kawhmu south of commercial hub Yangon. Farmer Than Than Sint acknowledged Myanmar’s “many problems” but told AFP she voted in pursuit of peace. “We know it will not come right away. But we need to go step-by-step for our future generations,” the 54-year-old said after voting. The junta has pledged the three-phase election will return power to the …
Mr Horsey agreed: “Yet again, as it has for 80 years, the military has found a way to hang on and remain in the driver’s seat”. China has been “pushing the regime to proceed with the polls without further delay,” he added. After the first round of voting on December 28, the junta claimed a turnout of 50 per cent, compared to around 70 per cent in 2020. The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party – seen as a proxy for the junta – said it won 80 per cent of seats. Among those willing to speak to the Telegraph, there was a sense of fear and weariness. Those who took part said they did so because there were no other options. “Some people like me will vote because we are tired of fear and uncertainty,” said one 56-year-old man. “Even if we don’t trust the system fully, we hope voting might bring some stability, or at least stop things from getting worse. For me, voting is not about believing in the election, but about …
Myanmar’s junta said slightly more than half of eligible voters cast their ballot in the first phase of a three-stage national election over the weekend, a figure that was markedly lower than the previous two elections. The election is the first since a 2021 coup and is taking place during a civil war. Analysts expect the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by retired generals, to be returned to power. The United Nations, some Western countries and human rights groups have said the vote is not free, fair or credible, given that anti-junta political parties are out of the running and it is illegal to criticise the polls. Zaw Min Tun, a junta spokesperson, told state media that more than six million people, or 52.13 per cent of enrolled voters, had voted on Sunday (Dec 28) across 102 townships. “Even in developed democratic nations, there are situations where voter turnout does not exceed 50 per cent,” Zaw Min Tun said, saying the turnout was a “source of pride”. Turnout was about 70 per cent …
YANGON: Myanmar’s junta on Tuesday (Dec 30) accused rebels of “malicious and brutal” attacks on the day and eve of military-run elections, wounding at least five civilians with drones, rockets and bombs. The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup that triggered civil war, but on Sunday, opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledged would return power to the people. Campaigners, Western diplomats and the United Nations’ rights chief condemned the vote, citing a crackdown on dissent and a candidate list stacked with military allies likely to prolong the armed forces’ rule. Pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic minority armies opposing the military have pledged to block the election from the patchwork territories they have carved out in the war. Between Saturday and Sunday evening, they attacked in 11 townships out of the 102 where voting was staged in the election’s first phase, according to state media. The junta-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper listed rebel attacks ranging from “firing homemade heavy weapons and rockets from a distance” to “dropping bombs using drones”. …
