TIG Post

Tag: civilian

  • Israel moves Jews from conflict zone in Ethiopia

    Israel moves Jews from conflict zone in Ethiopia

    Israel has initiated an evacuation effort, using a dedicated flight, to bring more than 200 of its citizens and Ethiopian Jews from two cities within the Amhara region, which has been affected by recent violent incidents. These evacuees have been relocated to the country’s capital, Addis Ababa.

    It’s important to note that Amhara is home to a significant population of the Jewish community.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a statement outlining his decision to move the evacuees away from areas of conflict, with their ultimate destination being Israel.

    Presently, major cities in the Amhara region have reported a relative state of calm following recent intense clashes between the army and local militias. While the military claims to have regained control in key regions, residents in smaller towns and rural areas have reported that local militias still maintain authority.

    In another development, the United States and the United Kingdom have collaborated with three other nations – Japan, Australia, and New Zealand – to express collective concerns over the deteriorating security situation in Ethiopia.

    A joint statement released on Friday says recent violence in the country’s Amhara and Oromia regions “have resulted in civilian deaths and instability”.

    The UN’s Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia earlier said it was “deeply concerned” by the recent insecurity and called on the government to adhere to “the principles of necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination” in implementing a state of emergency declared in connection with the violence.

  • Citizens of Sudan continue to suffer as bombing persists

    Citizens of Sudan continue to suffer as bombing persists

    The suffering of civilians in war-torn Sudan remains relentless.

    Recent reports indicate that homes and civilian neighborhoods in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state and Sudan’s second-largest city, have been incessantly bombed for days, forcing many residents to flee.

    Displaced individuals in camps disclosed that they are now exposed to the elements during the rainy season, and they have received no assistance from any organizations. They fear that the ongoing fighting will eventually reach them.

    In the southern region of the capital, Khartoum, residents have reported that paramilitary RSF forces have ordered hundreds of people to evacuate their homes, declaring the Jabra neighborhood a military zone where civilians are not allowed to stay.

  • Groups in Sudan postpone agreement on civilian control after coup

    Groups in Sudan postpone agreement on civilian control after coup

    An official has reported that due to ongoing disputes between military factions, Sudanese authorities have postponed the signature of an agreement intended to restart a short-lived democratic transition that was scheduled for Saturday.

    Spokesman for the negotiation process Khalid Omar Yousif said on Twitter on Saturday that military and civilian parties have unanimously agreed to “redouble efforts to overcome the remaining obstacle within a few days and pave the way for the signing of the final political agreement on April 6”.

    The signing of the accord was delayed due to a lack of “consensus on some outstanding issues”, Yousif said earlier in the day.

    A coup in October 2021 led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had derailed the process that began following the 2019 removal of General Omar al-Bashir.

    Representatives have been negotiating an agreement for weeks, the final part in a two-phase political process launched in December to set out the terms for reviving the transition to civilian-led rule and democratic elections.

    Reform of the security forces is a key point of contention in the talks, which envisage an exit of generals from politics once a civilian government is installed.

    The December deal, decried by critics as “vague”, was agreed by Burhan with multiple factions after near-weekly protests since the 2021 coup.

    The proposed reforms include the integration into the regular army of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Burhan’s deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

    Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Popular Defence Forces, sometimes called “Janjaweed”, that al-Bashir unleashed a decade earlier in the western region of Darfur against non-Arab rebels. The militia has since been accused by rights groups of having committed war crimes.

    While experts have pointed to worrying rivalries between Burhan and Daglo, the two men appeared side by side last week, speaking in the capital Khartoum to plead for successful integration.

    But talks have stalled since, according to observers, with persistent disputes over a timetable for the RSF’s integration.

    Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum said “the army wants the group to be integrated into it by the end of the two-year transitional period.

    “They also want an assessment of the officers and the ranks of the officers of the RSF saying that needs to be reassessed because they have not joined the military academy and they have been promoted in standards that were not compatible with the standards of the army.

    “When it comes to the issue of integrating the RSF, which has been repeatedly saying that it is part of the military, that comes down to the military and the RSF amongst themselves. A technical committee is working to try to reach an agreement in the next five days so that a final deal is signed by April 6,” Morgan said.

  • Ukraine war: Putin endorses evacuations from occupied Kherson

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly approved the evacuation of civilians from parts of Russian-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine.

    Kyiv’s forces have been steadily advancing on the strategic port city.

    Mr Putin said people living in dangerous areas should leave as “the civilian population should not suffer”.

    At least 70,000 people are reported to have been moved already from Kherson – the only major city gained by Moscow since its troops invaded in February.

    Civilians at risk from shelling and attacks should be “removed”, Mr Putin said, during the Unity Day holiday in Moscow’s Red Square.

    Kyiv accuses Russia of forcibly deporting Ukrainian civilians – which is considered a war crime – although Moscow denies this.

    Russia’s intensive missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine have caused heavy casualties and damage, and forced Kyiv to impose frequent electricity blackouts.

    Mr Putin’s comments followed reports on Thursday that Russian soldiers, too, had been leaving Kherson – in what would mark a major withdrawal.

    A Kremlin-installed official in the region, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian media that Moscow was “likely” to pull its troops from the area.

    Ukrainian officials remained cautious, warning that the reported move could be a trap to lure their soldiers into dangerous areas.

    Kherson was captured soon after Russia attacked its neighbour on 24 February, but recently Ukrainian forces have steadily recaptured territory on the city’s outskirts.

    Civilians were first urged to leave Kherson in the middle of last month, as the Russian army switched the city to defensive mode.

    Military commanders later said they had completed an operation to evacuate the city’s residents, ahead of an expected battle there.

    Russia claims the Kherson region and three other Ukrainian regions as its own territory, though it does not fully control any of them. It hastily arranged local “referendums” to justify the claim – a move condemned internationally.

    Russia also annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.

    During Friday’s speech in Red Square, Mr Putin also said some 318,000 military recruits had signed up for duty during a mobilisation, now complete – exceeding his target of 300,000.

    Of these, Mr Putin said 49,000 were already involved in active fighting – a figure not independently verified by the BBC.

    Meanwhile, a Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, has opened its first official headquarters, in St Petersburg.

    Its fighters are reported to be active in the Russian campaign in Ukraine, and it has recruited prisoners to fight there, in exchange for their sentences being commuted in Russia.

    The Wagner headquarters in St PetersburgReuters
    The new Wagner headquarters in St Petersburg

    Wagner soldiers have repeatedly been accused of human rights violations, including in Syria, Libya and other conflicts.

    Mr Putin has now amended the Russian law on calling up reservists to include men convicted of serious crimes who recently left prison.

    The change means that convicted murderers and drug dealers who have recently been released could be conscripted to fight in Ukraine.

    Former prisoners convicted of sex crimes against children or terrorism are still excluded from serving.

    In his latest comments on the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attacked the “absolutely insane stubbornness of the owners of today’s Russia”.

    He said his enemy was uninterested in peace talks, but was instead sending “people to the meat grinder” – both mobilised troops and mercenary fighters.

    Referring to the week’s “fiercest fighting”, Mr Zelensky singled out the eastern towns of Bakhmut and Soledar.

    A map showing Ukrainian and Russian positions

     

    Source: BBC

  • RE: Soldier nabbed for snatching gh₵23,000 from a civilian

    The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) would want to refute a false story that claimed a soldier, Private Asare Boateng, had been detained for stealing GH23,000 from a civilian.

    GAF wishes to state categorically that the suspect is an imposter. He is not a Soldier neither is he a Bandsman at the Signal Regiment or a Civilian Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces.

    In furtherance to this, GAF wishes to place on record that on Friday 16 September 2022, the Military Police in Takoradi arrested Asare Boateng dressed in camouflage uniform, for posing as a Soldier and extorting monies from unsuspecting civilians at Elmina in the Central Region.

    During interrogation, Asare Boateng confessed to engaging in impersonation and extortion.

    The Military Police subsequently handed him over to the Kwasimintim Police Station at Takoradi for further action as required by law.

    GAF therefore wishes to emphasise that the suspect (Asare Boateng) is not a Soldier and not affiliated to any Unit of the Ghana Armed Forces contrary to the reports in the media and therefore should not be regarded as such.

    In the same view, GAF wishes to entreat the media to take advantage of its open door policy and to seek clarifications on such matters in order to avoid the publication of misleading reports that drags GAF into disrepute.

    GAF also wishes to assure the general public that it will continuously work with all stakeholders to weed out criminal elements in the society, including any uniformed personnel who engages in illegal activity so that the nation can have a secured environment for socio-economic development.