Month: August 2021

Niger’s army said on Monday it has intensified its search for six missing soldiers following the July 31 attack in which 18 soldiers were killed in the country’s southwest.

“Search operations have been intensified in the framework of the G5 Sahel and bilateral cooperation. The Niger army is conducting joint operations with its counterpart in Burkina Faso,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

“The objective is to tighten the noose on terrorist groups that are rampant in the area and are trying to carry out attacks in the face of pressure from the allied forces.”

The army had said that it lost the special forces personnel in an ambush in Torodi, a small town in the Tillabery region, near the border with Burkina Faso.

A landlocked country in West Africa, Niger has in recent years witnessed devastating attacks in its western part, orchestrated by terrorist organizations linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi), Ansar Dine and other militant groups based in North Mali.

Hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed in those attacks, according to official figures.

The G5 Sahel group, comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, maintains a contingent of 1,200 Chadian soldiers in border regions.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A further 17 people linked to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics contracted the coronavirus, raising the total to 276, organizers said Monday.

Tokyo 2020 contractors, Games-concerned personnel, a media member, and a volunteer were among Monday’s positive cases.

There were no athlete catching the coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

The infected people were put into quarantine.

​​​​​​​Meanwhile, Tokyo – the host city of the Olympics – reported 2,195 daily coronavirus cases on Monday, according to local health authorities.

The capital is witnessing surge in infections amid the ongoing games, which will run through Aug. 8.

Tokyo reported over 3,000 virus cases for five consecutive days until Sunday.

The 2020 Olympics had hoped to welcome spectators after being postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but ended up holding competitions in empty venues because of the newly resurgent virus.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Continuing with armed provocations, Armenian forces on Monday fired upon Azerbaijani army positions in two different locations on Monday, the latter’s Defense Ministry said.

Armenian military positions in Vedi city opened fire on Azerbaijani positions in Nakhchivan’s Heydarabad village in Sadarak city, and Kalbajar’s Yukhari Ayrim village during afternoon hours, a statement said.

The Azerbaijani army, which responded with retaliatory fire, reported no casualties, it added.

Relations between the former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted last September and ended on Nov. 10 with a Russia-brokered cease-fire.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from Armenia’s nearly three-decade occupation.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Turkey has been battling forest fires for the past five days both by air and land.

Fire crews are working in Marmaris and Koycegiz districts of Mugla on the southern Aegean coast of Turkey on Monday to extinguish the wildfires.

The blazes first erupted in a forest in the Sirinyer neighborhood of Marmaris and spread to Icmeler, Turunc, Osmaniye, Bayir, Ciftlik, Turgut, Hisaronu, and Orhaniye neighborhoods as winds fanned them.

Firefighters worked overnight on the ground to brought the fires under control. Planes joined the efforts in the early morning to resume operations in both districts.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli continued their investigations in the fire-battered areas.

Blazes broke out in at least 35 provinces, including several on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast last week, killing at least eight people so far.

As many as 271 other people have been affected, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

Turkish authorities are working tirelessly to put out the fires with operations ongoing both by air and land. Firefighters, including a group of 100 Azerbaijani firemen, have also been working along with locals to fight the blazes.

Source: Anadolu Agency

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told local media on Monday that Iran “should face up to the consequences” of its actions after an attack on an oil tanker led to the death of a British national.

Yesterday, the UK and Israel accused Iran of carrying out a deadly drone attack last week in the Indian Ocean on an oil tanker owned by an Israeli magnate’s company.

Johnson said: “I think that Iran should face up to the consequences of what they’ve done, accept the attribution that the foreign secretary has made.

“This was clearly an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping. A UK national died.

“It is absolutely vital that Iran and every other country respects the freedoms of navigation around the world, and the UK will continue to insist on that.”

Johnson made his comments after Iran’s ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office this morning for a meeting with James Cleverly, foreign office minister of state for the Middle East and North Africa.

A spokesperson said: “Minister Cleverly reiterated that Iran must immediately cease actions that risk international peace and security, and reinforced that vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law.”

Two crew members of the oil tanker Mercer Street, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, were killed in the attack in the Indian Ocean while the vessel was en route from Tanzania to the United Arab Emirates, the company said Friday. One of the crew members was a British national.

The attack blasted a hole through the top of the tanker’s bridge, where the captain and crew were located.

The US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher escorted the Mercer Street to a nearby port.

UK, Israel blame Iran for deadly ship attack

“The UK condemns the unlawful and callous attack committed on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman, which killed a British and a Romanian national. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of those killed in the incident,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement yesterday.

“We believe this attack was deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law by Iran,” he said, urging Tehran to end such attacks.

“The UK is working with our international partners on a concerted response to this unacceptable attack,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran of being responsible for the attack at a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. He claimed to have evidence of Tehran’s involvement, warning that his country could “send a message” in retaliation.

“The intelligence evidence for this exists, and we expect the international community will make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a serious mistake,” Bennett said.

In recent months, many attacks on commercial vessels have been reported and linked to ongoing heightened tensions between Israel and Iran.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Armenia’s President Armen Sarkissian on Monday appointed Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister following his party’s win in June elections.

Pashinyan, leader of the Civil Contract Party, was nominated for the post thanks to the parliamentary majority he gained in the June 20 snap elections.

Sarkissian signed a decree shortly after for it to take effect, said a statement by the presidency.

According to Armenian Constitution, a new government must be formed within 15 days after the prime minister is appointed.

Pashinyan won the early parliamentary polls with 53.91% of the votes, while former president and Armenian Alliance party head Robert Kocharyan came second with 21.09% of the votes. I Have Honor Alliance received 5.22% of votes.

Pashinyan secured 71 seats, while Kocharyan gained 29 seats in parliament.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Six people were killed and 40 others injured in a road accident near the Zambian border with Tanzania on Monday.

In a statement, an official at the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) said the accident involved a Nakonde-bound bus and a Tanzanian registered truck.

The injured passengers were taken to a local hospital. A main commercial and political hub, Nakonde is a town in the Muchinga Province of Zambia.

“DMMU National Coordinator Chanda Kabwe has announced that the government will provide coffins and other logistical support to the funeral houses to ease the burden on the victims’ families,” said Mathews Musukwa, a senior communications official.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Olympic gold medalist gymnast Simone Biles will compete in the balance beam final on Tuesday at Tokyo Olympics, US Gymnastics announced.

“We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow – Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!,” it said on Twitter Monday.

The 24-year-old athlete previously announced her withdrawal from the some events during the 2020 Games over mental health issues.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Tunisia’s Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi is in good health after being discharged from hospital, his political adviser said on Monday.

“Ghannouchi is in his home and his health condition is stable,” Riyad al-Suaybi told Anadolu Agency.

Ghannouchi, who is also the leader of the Ennahda Movement, was re-admitted to hospital on Sunday one day after being discharged.

His press secretary Wassim Khadraoui said Ghannouchi experienced some health problems resulting from his COVID-19 infection. “Ghannouchi’s condition has now stabilized and the doctors confirmed that he can be discharged,” he added.

Maher Medhioub, another adviser to Ghannouchi, had earlier refuted claims that the parliament speaker intended to receive treatment abroad and assured that he does not plan to leave the country.

Last month, Ghannouchi was hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Last week, Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed the government of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, froze the parliament, and assumed executive authority with the assistance of a new prime minister.

The Tunisian president insists that his exceptional measures are meant to “save” the country while his critics accuse him of orchestrating a coup.

Tunisia is seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among a group of Arab countries that witnessed popular revolutions that toppled their ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.

Source: Anadolu Agency