Ethnic group says Myanmar air attack kills 80 at celebration

Ethnic group says Myanmar air attack kills 80 at celebration
Debris are scattered around destroyed wooden structures near Aung Bar Lay Village, Hpakant township, Kachin state in Myanmar Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. (AP)
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Updated 25 October 2022

Ethnic group says Myanmar air attack kills 80 at celebration

Ethnic group says Myanmar air attack kills 80 at celebration
  • The reported attack comes three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers are to hold a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss widening violence in Myanmar

BANGKOK: Air strikes by Myanmar’s military killed as many as 80 people, including singers and musicians, attending an anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main political organization, members of the group and a rescue worker said Monday.
The reported attack comes three days before Southeast Asian foreign ministers are to hold a special meeting in Indonesia to discuss widening violence in Myanmar.
The number of casualties at Sunday night’s celebration, held by the Kachin Independence Organization in the northern state of Kachin, appeared to be the most in a single air attack since the military seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Initial reports put the death toll at around 60, but later tallies raised it to about 80.
It was impossible to independently confirm details of the incident, though media sympathetic to the Kachin posted videos showing what was said to be the attack’s aftermath, with splintered and flattened wooden structures.
The military government’s information office confirmed in a statement late Monday that there was an attack on what it described as the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army’s 9th Brigade, calling it a “necessary operation” in response to “terrorist” acts carried out by the Kachin group.
It called reports of a high death toll “rumors,” and denied the military had bombed a concert and that singers and audience members were among the dead.
The United Nations’ office in Myanmar said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned and saddened” by reports of the air strikes.
“What would appear to be excessive and disproportionate use of force by security forces against unarmed civilians is unacceptable and those responsible must be held to account,” it said.
Envoys representing Western embassies in Myanmar, including the United States, issued a joint statement saying the attack underscores the military regime’s “disregard for its obligation to protect civilians and respect the principles and rules of international humanitarian law.”
Myanmar has been wracked for decades by rebellions by ethnic minorities seeking autonomy, but anti-government resistance increased markedly nationwide with the formation of an armed pro-democracy movement opposing last year’s military takeover.
The Kachin are one of the stronger ethnic rebel groups and are capable of manufacturing some of their own armaments. They also have a loose alliance with the armed militias of the pro-democracy forces that were formed in 2021 in central Myanmar to fight army rule.
Sunday’s celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Kachin Independence Organization, which included a concert, was held at a base also used for military training by the Kachin Independence Army, the KIO’s armed wing. It is located near Aung Bar Lay village in Hpakant township, a remote mountainous area 950 kilometers (600 miles) north of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.
Hpakant is the center of the world’s biggest and most lucrative jade mining industry, from which both the government and the rebels derive revenue.
As many as 80 people were killed and about 100 were injured in Sunday’s attack on the first day of a three-day celebration of the KIO’s founding, a spokesperson for the Kachin Artists Association told The Associated Press by phone. He said he first heard there had been 60 deaths, but was later told by sources close to Kachin Independence Army officials that about 80 people had died.
He said military aircraft dropped four bombs on the celebration at about 8 p.m., according to members of his group who were there. Between 300 and 500 people were in attendance and a Kachin singer and keyboard player were among the dead, said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified because he feared punishment by the authorities.
Those killed also included Kachin officers and soldiers, musicians, jade mining business owners and other civilians, he said. They also included at least 10 Kachin military and business VIPs sitting in front of the stage, and cooks working backstage, he added.
The Kachin News Group, a media outlet sympathetic to the KIO, reported that an initial search found 58 bodies and that government security forces had blocked the wounded from being treated at hospitals in nearby towns. It reported later that more than 20 more bodies had been recovered, bringing the death toll to about 80.
Col. Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the Kachin Independence Army, said by phone that KIA soldiers, musicians, businesspeople and villagers were among the dead, but he could not confirm a casualty number due to communications problems. He said the deaths were a loss for all Kachin people, and its group would fly the Kachin flag at half-staff.
An emergency services rescue worker who was in Hpakant and also asked for anonymity said he saw three military aircraft making bombing runs over the celebration ground, just a few kilometers (miles) away. He said he was barred by the KIO from entering the area but heard that more than 60 people were killed, including a KIA brigade commander.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a non-governmental organization that tracks killings and arrests, said Friday that 2,377 civilians have died in crackdowns by the security forces since the army took power. Its figure, however, does not always include people killed in military actions in the countryside.
“We fear this attack is part of a pattern of unlawful aerial attacks by the military which has killed and injured civilians in areas controlled by armed groups,” Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, Hana Young, said in a statement.
“The military has shown ruthless disregard for civilian lives in its escalating campaign against opponents. It is difficult to believe the military did not know of a significant civilian presence at the site of this attack. The military must immediately grant access to medics and humanitarian assistance to those affected by these air strikes and other civilians in need,” Young said.
Cambodia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, said Sunday that the group’s foreign ministers will hold a special meeting in Indonesia this week to consider the peace process for Myanmar. Myanmar’s generals have all but shunned the group’s previous efforts.
“As officials and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations prepare to host high-level meetings in the coming weeks, this attack highlights the need to overhaul the approach to the crisis in Myanmar,” Amnesty International said. “ASEAN has to step up and formulate a more robust course of action so that military leaders end this escalating repression.”


Emmanuel Macron wants French pension plan implemented by end of year

Emmanuel Macron wants French pension plan implemented by end of year
Updated 15 sec ago

Emmanuel Macron wants French pension plan implemented by end of year

Emmanuel Macron wants French pension plan implemented by end of year
  • French president Emmanuel Macron says the bill that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 will ‘continue its democratic path’
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that the pension bill that he pushed through without a vote in parliament needs to be implemented by the “end of the year.”
Macron, who made the comments in an interview broadcast on national television, said the bill that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 will “continue its democratic path.”
The Constitutional Council needs to review the bill in the coming weeks, and it can only be turned into law after the body gives its approval.
It was the first time that Macron had spoken publicly since his government forced the pension bill through parliament last week, prompting scattered protests in Paris and across the country, some degenerating into violence. His government survived two no-confidence votes at the lower chamber of parliament on Monday.
The 45-year-old French president repeatedly said that he was convinced that the retirement system needed to be modified to keep it financed.
“That reform is not a luxury, it is not fun, it’s a necessity for the country,” he said.
Macron “condemned” violence after his decision last week prompted daily, scattered protests in cities around France, some degenerating into scuffles with police, including in Paris.
He insisted that he “respects” unions and protests organized by opponents to show that they disagree with the pension plan.
Dock workers in Marseille on Wednesday blocked access to the city’s commercial port — France’s biggest — preventing trucks and cars from entering amid a heavy police presence.
Garbage was still piling up on some Paris streets as sanitation workers entered their 17th day of the strike. Authorities issued an order in recent days requiring some garbage employees to ensure a “minimum service” for health reasons.
Oil shipments in the country were partially disrupted amid strikes at several refineries in western and southern France. Gas stations in the country’s southeast region are currently the most affected by shortages.
Unions have called for new nationwide protests and strikes on Thursday to demand that the government simply withdraw the retirement bill. High-speed and regional trains, Paris metro and other public transportation in major cities were expected to be disrupted.

North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off its east coast, South Korea says

North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off its east coast, South Korea says
Updated 22 March 2023

North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off its east coast, South Korea says

North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off its east coast, South Korea says
  • North Korea has been ramping up its military tests in recent weeks
  • Pyongyang held a nuclear counterattack simulation against the US and South Korea over the weekend

SEOUL: North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, the latest in a series of weapons tests as South Korean and the US forces conduct joint military exercises.

The missiles were fired at around 10:15 a.m. (0115 GMT) from the North’s South Hamgyong province, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

It was not immediately clear how many projectiles were fired and exactly which type they were.

The military was on high alert and South Korean and US intelligence authorities were analizing details of the missiles, the JCS said.

“We will successfully wrap up our Freedom Shield exercise as planned under firm combined defense posture,” the military said in a statement.

The allies are set to conclude 11 days of the exercises, called “Freedom Shield 23,” on Thursday.

Wednesday’s launches come just three days after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast.

The North has long bristled at exercises conducted by South Korean and US forces, saying they are preparation for an invasion of the North.

South Korea and the United States deny that, saying instead, they have to prepare to defend against North Korean aggression.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Wednesday’s launches could have involved the North’s strategic cruise missiles. “Strategic” is typically used to describe weapons that have a nuclear capability.

North Korea’s last known firing of its strategic cruise missiles was on March 12 when it said it fired two of them from a submarine.

North Korea has been ramping up its military tests in recent weeks, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile last week and conducting what it called a nuclear counterattack simulation against the US and South Korea over the weekend.


Afghan Taliban raid in Kabul kills 3 Daesh members

Afghan Taliban raid in Kabul kills 3 Daesh members
Updated 22 March 2023

Afghan Taliban raid in Kabul kills 3 Daesh members

Afghan Taliban raid in Kabul kills 3 Daesh members

ISLAMABAD: An overnight raid by Taliban forces in Afghanistan’s capital killed three members of the extremist Daesh group, a Taliban spokesman said on Wednesday.
The regional affiliate of the Daesh group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — has been the key rival of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. The militant group has increased its attacks, targeting both Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority.
According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesman, the operation on Tuesday targeted an Daesh hideout in Kabul and killed three prominent members of the militant group who were plotting attacks during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which starts at sundown on Wednesday.
“The [Daesh] members used the hideout to carry out attacks in Kabul city and planned to target religious places and civilians during the upcoming month of Ramadan,” Mujahid said. The Taliban swept across Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, seizing power as US and NATO forces were withdrawing from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
The international community has not recognized the Taliban government, wary of the harsh measures they have imposed since their takeover — including restricting rights and freedoms, especially for of women and minorities.


Philippine president Marcos Jr. defends US military presence, which China opposes

Philippine president Marcos Jr. defends US military presence, which China opposes
Updated 22 March 2023

Philippine president Marcos Jr. defends US military presence, which China opposes

Philippine president Marcos Jr. defends US military presence, which China opposes
  • US forces would be allowed to stay in western Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea
  • Philippine president: Moves were meant to boost the country’s coastal defense

MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday defended his decision to allow a larger United States military presence in the country as vital to territorial defense despite China’s fierce opposition and warning that it would “drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical strife.”
The Marcos administration announced in early February that it would allow rotating batches of American forces to indefinitely stay in four more Philippine military camps in addition to five local bases earlier designated under a 2014 defense pact of the longtime treaty allies.
Marcos said without elaborating that the four new sites would be announced soon and they include areas in the northern Philippines. That location has infuriated Chinese officials because it would provide US forces a staging ground close to southern China and Taiwan.
The Biden administration has been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan. America’s moves dovetail with Philippine efforts to shore up its territorial defense amid a long-seething dispute mainly with China in the South China Sea.
Aside from the northern and southern Philippines, Marcos told a news conference without elaborating that, under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, US forces would also be allowed to stay in western Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea. He underscored that the moves were meant to boost the country’s coastal defense and added in reply to a question that opposition to the US military presence by some local Filipino officials had been overcome.
“We explained to them why it was important that we have that and why it will actually be good for their province,” Marcos said, adding most of those who had objections had come around “to support the idea of an EDCA site in their province.”
Governor Manuel Mamba of northern Cagayan province, where American forces may be allowed to stay with their weapons in up to two Philippine military camps, said Marcos has the prerogative to make the decision but he remained opposed to it. He had earlier expressed fears that allowing the Americans to base in Cagayan, which lies across a sea border from Southern China, Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait, could turn his province into a key target of the Chinese military if a conflict involving the US military breaks out over Taiwan.
“It is the president’s call, not mine,” Mamba said. “But I maintain my stand against any foreign forces stationed in my province. Still, I am against EDCA sites in my province.”
US and Philippine officials have said that American-funded construction of barracks, warehouses and other structures to be used by US forces and contractors would generate much-needed local jobs and boost the economy. The US presence would help the Philippines respond to natural disasters, enhance combat-readiness and help deter Chinese aggression in Asia.
China, however, has repeatedly accused Washington of taking steps to contain it militarily and of driving a wedge between Beijing its Asian neighbors like the Philippines.
“Creating economic opportunities and jobs through military cooperation is tantamount to quenching thirst with poison and gouging flesh to heal wounds,” the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a recent statement. “Such cooperation will seriously endanger regional peace and stability and drag the Philippines into the abyss of geopolitical strife and damage its economic development at the end of the day.”
US forces have intensified and broadened joint training, focusing on combat readiness and disaster response with Filipino troops on the nation’s western coast, which faces the South China Sea, and in its northern Luzon region across the sea from the Taiwan Strait.
Next month, the allied forces are to hold one of their largest combat exercises, called Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — which will include live-fire drills. One planned maneuver involves US and Philippine forces firing rockets to sink a mock enemy ship in waters facing the South China Sea, the Philippine military said.
If the ship-sinking exercise proceeds as planned, it would likely draw an angry reaction from China, which claims the strategic waterway virtually in its entirety and has turned seven disputed reefs into missile-guided island bases to defend its territorial claims.


Muslims in Indonesia gear up for first day of Ramadan

Muslims in Indonesia gear up for first day of Ramadan
Updated 22 March 2023

Muslims in Indonesia gear up for first day of Ramadan

Muslims in Indonesia gear up for first day of Ramadan
  • Every region in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago seems to have its own way to mark the start of Ramadan

JAKARTA: Millions of Muslims in Indonesia are gearing up to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to start on Thursday, with traditions and ceremonies across the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country amid soaring food prices.
From colorful torchlight street parades to cleaning relatives’ graves and sharing meals with family and friends, every region in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago seems to have its own way to mark the start of Ramadan, highlighting the nation’s diverse cultural heritage.
The country’s religious affairs minister on Wednesday evening will try to sight the crescent moon to determine the first day of the holy month. If the moon is not visible, as expected, the first day of Ramadan will be a day later. Most Indonesians – Muslims comprise nearly 90 percent of the country’s 277 million people – are expected to follow the government’s official date.
Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic group, Muhammadiyah, which counts more than 60 million members, said that according to its astronomical calculations Ramadan will begin on Thursday.
During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse from sunrise until sunset. Even a tiny sip of water or a puff of smoke is enough to invalidate the fast. At night, family and friends gather and feast in a festive atmosphere.
The fasting is aimed at bringing the faithful closer to God and reminding them of the suffering of the poor. Muslims are expected to strictly observe daily prayers and engage in heightened religious contemplation. They are also urged to refrain from gossip, fighting or cursing during the holy month.
Although Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country in the world, its Ramadan traditions have been influenced by other religions. Nyadran is a Javanese ritual heavily influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism that involves visiting ancestors’ gravesites to pay respect.
Each year, thousands of villagers who live on the slopes of Mount Merapi in Central Java visit cemeteries to welcome Ramadan. In the ritual, people clean and decorate gravesites and make prayers and offerings. They bring various foods in bamboo containers that they eat together after praying.
In other regions on the main island of Java, including in the capital, Jakarta, Muslims also mark the holy month by cleaning their relatives’ graves, scattering flower petals on them and praying for the deceased.
After evening prayers, many boys and girls across Jakarta parade through the streets of the densely populated neighborhoods to welcome the holy month. They carry torches and play Islamic songs accompanied by the beat of the rebana, the Arabic handheld percussion instrument.
People in Indonesia’s deeply conservative Aceh province celebrate the beginning of Ramadan with Meugang festivities by slaughtering animals such as oxen or buffalo, as well as smaller animals like chicken and ducks. The meat is then cooked and shared with family, friends and even the poor and orphans in a communal feast that aims to bring the community together.
Hundreds of residents in Tangerang, a city just outside Jakarta, flock to the Cisadane River to bathe in a tradition that involves washing one’s hair with rice straw shampoo to welcome the holy fasting month with a symbolic spiritual cleansing.
Islam follows a lunar calendar, so Ramadan begins around a week and a half earlier each year. At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate the joyous Eid Al-Fitr holiday, when children often receive new clothes and gifts.
Indonesia’s Trade Ministry has said prices of imported staple foods including wheat, sugar, beef and soybeans have increased sharply this year as a result of rising global commodity prices and supply chain disruptions, particularly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But many people say the rise in prices not only impacts imported foods but also local commodities like rice, eggs, chili, palm oil and onions. Gas and electricity prices have also gone up. Many blame the government for this.
Some Muslims worry how they will cope financially during Ramadan this year.
“Prices are going up every week. How come the government cannot help with this? Anything to do with cooking is rising,” said Yulia Ningsih, a mother of two who lives in Jakarta. “I worry that rising food and energy costs will impact Ramadan celebrations.”