Kamis, 08 Agustus 2019
Analysis: Pakistan expels Indian ambassador over Kashmir move - Al Jazeera English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3b3zYwDryA
2019-08-08 06:39:16Z
52780345910875
Rabu, 07 Agustus 2019
Kashmir dispute: Pakistan downgrades ties with India - BBC News
Pakistan has announced plans to expel India's top diplomat and suspend trade with its neighbour, deepening a row between the countries over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Indian-administered Kashmir has been on lockdown since the Indian government decided on Monday to strip the region of its special constitutional status.
Phone networks and the internet have been cut off since Sunday evening.
Tens of thousands of troops have been patrolling the streets.
Instances of protest and stone-throwing have been reported, despite the communications blackout and a curfew.
Kashmiris in other parts of the country said that they were unable to get through to their families. Local leaders have also been detained.
India and Pakistan - both nuclear-armed states - have fought two wars over Kashmir, most recently clashing in a series of aerial attacks over the territory in February.
Why is Kashmir so contentious?
The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, but they each control only parts of it.
There is a long-running separatist insurgency on the Indian side, which has led to thousands of deaths over three decades. India accuses Pakistan of supporting insurgents but its neighbour denies this, saying it only gives moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris who want self-determination.
Media playback is unsupported on your device
Under Article 370 of the Indian constitution, the state of Jammu and Kashmir had special dispensation to make its own laws - the basis for its complex relationship with India for some 70 years.
However, the Indian government is now revoking most of Article 370.
What is Pakistan doing?
Pakistan is suspending all trade between the two countries.
It also recalling its high commissioner (the equivalent of an ambassador) from the Indian capital Delhi and expelling his Indian counterpart from Islamabad.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has "directed that all diplomatic channels be activated to expose [the] brutal Indian racist regime, design and human rights violations", a Pakistani government statement said.
He also directed the armed forces to remain vigilant.
In addition, Pakistan is asking the UN Security Council to consider the dispute.
Neighbouring China has also voiced opposition to the Indian move, describing it as "unacceptable".
How serious is this?
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Many people in Indian-administered Kashmir do not want it to be governed by India, preferring instead either independence or union with Pakistan.
The population of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir is more than 60% Muslim, making it the only state within India where Muslims are in the majority.
Many Kashmiris think revoking Article 370 is an attempt to change the territory's demographic character, by allowing non-Kashmiris to buy land there. Before now, Indians from outside the state could be barred from settling or buying property.
While the current insurgency began in 1989, violence surged again in 2016, with the death of a young militant leader, Burhan Wani. Last year, more than 500 people were killed - including civilians, security forces and militants - the highest such toll in a decade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have for a long time wanted to scrap Article 370 - a promise included in their manifesto for elections earlier this year.
They argued that Kashmir needed to be put on the same footing as the rest of India.
Once returned to power with an increased majority in May, the government lost no time in acting on its pledge.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49267912
2019-08-07 14:02:18Z
52780345910875
China Warns Hong Kong It Will Intervene if Situation Deteriorates - The Wall Street Journal
BEIJING—A senior Chinese official in charge of Hong Kong affairs warned that Beijing would intervene if the local government proved unable to contain the violent protests, the most explicit threat of intervention to date from the central government.
At a meeting with Hong Kong representatives in the nearby city of Shenzhen on Wednesday, the official, Zhang Xiaoming, issued a dire assessment of the situation in the territory after more than two months of protests. He called the situation the most severe since China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997.
“If the situation worsens further, and there is turmoil that the Hong Kong government is unable to control, the central government absolutely will not just watch without doing anything,” Mr. Zhang, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of China’s State Council, said in remarks carried by official state media.
Though Mr. Zhang didn’t lay out options for intervention, he said the central government had “enough methods and enough strength” to quickly quell the unrest.
Adam Ni, a China researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, said the meeting was likely held to discuss methods for resolving the crisis with Hong Kong’s elite, and to show that Beijing will back up Hong Kong’s government.
“The one big thing that I think Beijing fears is if the pro-establishment camp breaks down and really loses the will to confront the protesters,” he said. “It’s really about reinforcing the notion that the Party center is behind them, with military force if necessary.”
Beijing has in recent days expressed its concern that the protests were spiraling out of control and challenging China’s sovereignty over the territory, a former British colony that has limited autonomy under Chinese rule. The demonstrations started as protests against an extradition bill proposed by the local government, but have turned increasingly violent and pointedly critical of Chinese rule, with protesters targeting the national flag and state seal.
Mr. Zhang’s warning of intervention was more direct than in recent days when officials signaled that Beijing’s patience was wearing thin. A day earlier in Shenzhen, where Wednesday’s meeting was held, more than 10,000 mainland police officers ran through anti-riot drills, a video of which was circulated widely online as a show of force.
Still Beijing faces invidious options if it moves to intervene. Use of troops in a military garrison in Hong Kong or of riot police brought in from other parts of China would likely bring international opprobrium, damage confidence in the territory’s role as an international finance center and be seen by many in Hong Kong as undermining its rule of law.
Wednesday’s gathering included more than 500 representatives, including Hong Kong delegates to China’s legislature and leaders of pro-Beijing groups in the city, and others in attendance. A similar meeting had been held in 2014 when a swath of Hong Kong’s central area was occupied by protesters demanding full democratic elections.
Most of the discussions took place behind closed doors, with selected remarks released by Chinese state media.
Wang Zhimin, Beijing’s top official in Hong Kong, called it a “life and death war,” and said the situation had already been pressed to the point where there was no room left to retreat.
Mr. Zhang said the protests had the markings of a “color revolution.” The term refers to democratic movements that have unseated authoritarian governments in countries such as Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine.
The meeting followed a barrage of state media commentaries in recent days that have warned Beijing won’t allow the Hong Kong unrest to continue. A spokesman for Mr. Zhang’s office said at a press conference on Tuesday that those behind the protests wouldn’t escape punishment.
Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@wsj.com
Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-warns-hong-kong-it-will-intervene-if-situation-deteriorates-11565182342
2019-08-07 12:52:00Z
52780346194407
North Korea's Kim: Missile launches a warning | TheHill - The Hill
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong UnEsper: US won't 'overreact' to North Korean missile launches North Korea launches projectiles for the fourth time in two weeks Missile tests don't alter core US-North Korea dynamic MORE on Wednesday reportedly called his country's latest missile test a "warning" to the U.S. and South Korea over the countries' joint military exercises.
He said that Tuesday's missile test was “an occasion to send an adequate warning to the joint military drill now underway by the U.S. and South Korean authorities” Reuters reported, citing state news agency KCNA.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pyongyang said Wednesday that the “new-type tactical guided missiles” launched from the western part of North Korea, flew across its capital and “precisely hit the targeted islet” off the country's east coast, Reuters noted.
KCNA, meanwhile, reported that the event “clearly verified the reliability, security and actual war capacity” of the weapon, according to the news service.
The launch was North Korea's fourth in less than two weeks.
The U.S. and North Korea had been in denuclearization talks earlier this year, but those talks stalled after a failed February summit between Kim and President Trump
Donald John TrumpFormer White Supremacist calls on Trump to stop using fear to motivate people Walmart employee urges workers to strike until the company's stores stop selling guns Biden: Violent video games 'not healthy' but aren't 'in and of itself why we have this carnage' MORE in Vietnam.
South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min said on Wednesday that North Korea should halt its tests and work on confidence-building, according to Reuters.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/456485-north-koreas-kim-missile-launches-a-warning
2019-08-07 11:24:19Z
52780346294252
Deadly suicide attack targets Kabul police station - Aljazeera.com
At least 14 people have been killed and more than 140 wounded after a Taliban suicide attack outside a police station in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul.
The blast occurred about 9am (04:30 GMT) in western Kabul on Wednesday, interior ministry spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi said before adding that the bomb went off when a vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint outside the station.
"Fourteen were martyred, 145 injured in today's explosion," deputy interior minister General Khoshal Sadat told reporters, hours after a huge blast shook the Afghan capital.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
The explosion sent a massive plume of smoke over the Afghanistan capital.
"I heard a big bang and all the windows broke with glass flying everywhere," shopkeeper Ahmad Saleh told the AFP news agency.
"My head is spinning and I still don't know what has happened but the windows of about 20 shops around one kilometre from the blast site are broken," he added.
Afghan health workers transport a wounded man to a hospital after bomb explosion and gun fight [Jawad Jalali/EPA]
According to videos on social media and witnesses, small arms fire could be heard following the blast.
The attack came a day after the Taliban called for the boycott of a presidential election scheduled to take place on September 28 and threatened to attack election rallies.
The Taliban, who have been staging near-daily attacks across the country, usually target Afghan forces and government officials or those seen as loyal to the government.
On Tuesday, a bomb targeting a van carrying employees of the Interior Ministry's counter-narcotics division killed five people and wounded seven in Kabul.
US officials and the Taliban met in Qatar's capital Doha this week for the eighth round of talks aimed at striking a peace deal that would slash the American military presence in Afghanistan.
Despite negotiations, the fighting has not subsided, as the civilian casualty rates across Afghanistan jumped back to record levels last month.
According to the United Nations, more than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in the Afghan conflict in July alone, the highest monthly casualties so far this year and the worst single month since May 2017.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/dozens-wounded-large-explosion-rocks-kabul-190807060332103.html
2019-08-07 11:17:00Z
52780347112109
Pakistan Warns India's Move To End Kashmir's Special Status Could Lead To War - NPR
Supporters of the Pakistani religious party Jamaat-e-Islami demonstrate to protest India's policy on Kashmir, in Lahore, Pakistan, on Tuesday. K.M. Chaudary/AP hide caption
Pakistan's prime minister warned that a move by India to strip Kashmir of its special status could lead to war between the two countries and the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the restive Himalayan region.
Imran Khan accused India's Hindu-nationalist government of promoting a "racist ideology."
Referring to India's cross-border airstrike in February on the village of Pulwama in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, Khan said such provocations would be more frequent, possibly leading to war, after New Delhi's decision affecting Indian-administered Kashmir.
"This will be a war that no one will win and the implications will be global," Khan said, addressing a joint session of Pakistan's parliament.
He predicted India will intensify a crackdown on Kashmiris, adding, "I fear they may initiate ethnic cleansing in Kashmir to wipe out the local population."
Kashmir remained on lockdown following a decree from India's president on Monday rescinding the region's special status. On Tuesday, India's parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill formalizing the change, which is likely to be challenged in court on constitutional grounds.
The disputed Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan. They have fought two major wars over the region, which is a source of constant tension between the rival neighbors.
Indian-administered Kashmir, which also has sizeable Hindu and Buddhist minorities, enjoyed a semi-autonomous status since it acceded to India in 1947. But discontent there has fueled a protracted separatist movement that has claimed some 45,000 lives since the late 1980s.
Security personnel stand guard at a roadblock in the city of Jammu on Tuesday. Rakesh Bakshi/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party won an overwhelming victory in elections this spring, vowed in the campaign to revoke the constitutional clause dealing with Kashmir, known as Article 370.
Meanwhile, in Kashmir, where Internet and phone service was cut off ahead of Monday's decree, some 400 local politicians have been placed under arrest by Indian security forces, according to India Today.
The magazine reports that hotels, guest houses, government and private buildings have been turned into makeshift jails to house the detainees, which include separatist leaders and even politicians seen as working for an accommodation with India.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying Kashmir's summer capital, Srinagar, was "totally peaceful."
Although the communications blackout made it difficult to know the situation in Kashmir, there were reports of sporadic protests. There have also been numerous protests across Pakistan, proclaiming solidarity with India's Muslim Kashmiris.
A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Civil Rights, Rupert Colville, on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the situation in Kashmir. "We are seeing, again, blanket telecommunications restrictions, perhaps more blanket than we have ever seen before, the reported arbitrary detention of political leaders and restrictions on peaceful assembly," he told reporters in Geneva.
Long-simmering tensions between India and Pakistan erupted again in February when a Pakistan-based separatist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed responsibility for a massive car-bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian security forces troops and wounded half as many in Srinagar.
Islamabad denied any responsibility for the attack, which was followed by India's airstrike on Pulwama.
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/748957876/pakistan-warns-indias-move-to-end-kashmir-s-special-status-could-lead-to-war
2019-08-07 08:27:00Z
52780345910875
Dozens wounded in suicide attack outside Kabul police station - Aljazeera.com
At least 95 people have been wounded in a large explosion outside a police station in Kabul, officials said.
The blast occurred about 9am (04:30 GMT) in western Kabul, interior ministry spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi said before adding that the bomb went off when a vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint outside the station.
Health ministry spokesperson Wahidullah Mayar said at least 95 people, mostly civilians and including women and children, were taken to hospital. There was no immediate confirmation of any deaths in the attack.
The explosion sent a massive plume of smoke over the Afghanistan capital.
"I heard a big bang and all the windows broke with glass flying everywhere," shopkeeper Ahmad Saleh told the AFP news agency.
"My head is spinning and I still don't know what has happened but the windows of about 20 shops around one kilometre from the blast site are broken," he added.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to videos on social media and witnesses, small arms fire could be heard following the blast.
The attack came a day after the Taliban called for the boycott of a presidential election scheduled to take place on September 28 and threatened to attack election rallies.
The Taliban, who have been staging near-daily attacks across the country, usually target Afghan forces and government officials or those seen as loyal to the government.
On Tuesday, a bomb targeting a van carrying employees of the Interior Ministry's counter-narcotics division killed five people and wounded seven in Kabul.
Separately, security forces stormed two Islamic State hideouts in Kabul overnight on Tuesday, killing two of the group's fighters and seizing a large quantity of explosives, according to the National Directorate of Security.
Three members of the security forces were also killed, an agency spokesman was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
The US and the Taliban met in Doha this week for an eighth round of talks aimed at striking a peace deal that would slash the American military presence in Afghanistan.
Despite negotiations, the fighting has not subsided, as the civilian casualty rates across Afghanistan jumped back to record levels last month, according to the United Nations.
According to the United Nations, more than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in the Afghan conflict in July alone, the highest monthly casualties so far this year and the worst single month since May 2017.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/dozens-wounded-large-explosion-rocks-kabul-190807060332103.html
2019-08-07 10:01:00Z
52780347112109
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)