At several places, angry protestors confronted the police and other security agencies. The police finally used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Many are reported to be injured in the incident.
Manipur: There were clashes between the mob and the police outside the Sinjamei police station.
Violence spiked once again in parts of Manipur valley, including state capital Imphal, as protesters clashed with police in multiple areas. Batons and tear gas shells were used and many people were injured, reports said.
The situation has been escalating since the arrest of five men, who were caught in the uniform of security forces and carrying with sophisticated arms on September 16.
It led to widespread protests and demonstrations in the valley areas. Demanding the unconditional release of the detained men, a 48-hour lockdown was enforced in the Valley from Tuesday by the locals. Monday was the unofficial strike.
This afternoon, women demonstrators marched to police stations across five valley districts areas, demanding the unconditional release of the detainees. If not, they demanded that they also be arrested.
At several places, angry protestors confronted the police and other security agencies. The police finally used batons and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Many are reported to be injured in the incident.
Around 1am on Thursday, four men barged into houses of migrant labourers working at two fish farms on village outskirts, held them hostage at gunpoint before killing a woman and raping three others besides fleeing with ₹18,000, a mobile phone and ornaments
Panipat superintendent of police Ajit Singh Shekhawat said, “Two incidents were reported at two locations. At one spot, a man and his ailing wife were targeted and the woman died. While at another farm, three women were allegedly raped and ₹13,000 were robbed.” (iSTock)
The 45-year-old ailing wife of a migrant labourer was killed and three other women members of two families were raped when armed men targeted two fish farms on the outskirts of a village under Matlauda police station in Panipat district early on Thursday.
Police said the victims belonged to two families that worked at the fish farms of local farmers. The victims told the police that around 1am, four men carrying weapons barged into the first dera or farm house and targeted the couple.
They allegedly thrashed them, hit the woman on the chest and took away their mobile phone and ₹5,000.
“The accused were speaking Haryanvi and were carrying a pistol and a sword. They slapped me and hit my wife. She died few hours later”, alleged one of the victims.
The accused then allegedly hit another farm. According to the victims, they tied the hands of the male members and children and took the women into a room and raped them repeatedly, before robbing the house. They also thrashed a woman who resisted. The robbers locked the women in a room and fled with ₹13,000 and ornaments.
Protesters led by a pastor marched through a gang-controlled area near the capital. Rights groups reporting on the incident blamed the pastor for leading protesters into such a dangerous situation.
Some of the protesters marching against the gang carried machetesImage: Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo/picture alliance
A powerful gang in Haiti opened fire on a pastor-led march through an area controlled by the gang near the capital Port-au-Prince, killing several of the marching parishioners.
The gang, which controls the northern Canaan suburb, fired at the protesters with machine guns. Local rights group CARDH said at least seven people were killed, with the group’s director Gedeon Jean expecting the death toll to rise.
Jean said that several people were wounded, with some churchgoers even kidnapped.
What do we know about the march?
Videos shared on social media showed some 100 people marching in Canaan. Many of the protesters donned yellow shirts associated with Pastor Marco’s religious group, while some were seen carrying sticks and machetes.
Journalists at the scene filmed the attack on the march in real time, Marie Yolène Gilles, director of human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere, told The Associated Press.
Unverified videos on social media showed people who appear to be hostages saying they thought the march was peaceful and were unaware it addressed the gang.
At least three people were killed in fresh clashes that erupted in Manipur’s Bishnupur district late on Friday. Several houses in the area were also set on fire. Security forces are on the spot.
Protesters burn the effigies during their protest against the Mizoram CM Zoramthanga a day after his participation in a rally over ethnic violence in Manipur, at National Highway 37, in Imphal. (File photo: PTI)
At least three people died in fresh incidents of violence that were reported in Manipur’s Bishnupur district late on Friday. The deceased are reportedly from the Meitei community in the Kwakta area.
In the fresh incidents of violence, several houses of the Kuki community were also burnt down.
Subsequently, heavy firing took place in the Kwakta area of the Bishnupur district between the Kuki community and security forces. Manipur Police and Commandos were retaliating.
According to the Bishnupur Police, three people from the Meitei community were killed, while several houses of the Kuki community were set on fire.
A Manipur commando suffered a head injury in the firing. The situation is quite critical in Bishnupur after the fresh incidents of violence.
The commando was admitted to the Bishnupur hospital. Paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area.
Police sources said a few people came to Meitei areas crossing the buffer zone and fired on them.
The buffer zone guarded by central forces is made more than 2 km ahead of Kwakta area in Bishnupur district.
Police forces are on the spot.
This comes two days after 17 people were injured in clashes that erupted between armed forces and the Meitei community protesters in Manipur’s Bishnupur district on Thursday.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh hinted at a foreign hand behind the ethnic violence in the state in which over 100 people have been killed. He added that the violence seemed “pre-planned”.
Flames and smoke billows out after an old warehouse owned by a retired bureaucrat set ablaze amid violence in Manipur, at Palace Compound in Imphal East district, Friday, June 16, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday hinted at “a foreign hand” behind the violence that has gripped the state since May 3 following the organisation of a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ in the hill districts.
The chief minister said that external elements may have had a hand in the ethnic clashes, adding that it seemed “pre-planned”, reported news agency ANI.
“Manipur shares its borders with Myanmar. China is also nearby. As much as 398 km of our borders are porous and unguarded. There are security forces deployed on our frontiers, but even a robust and extensive security deployment can’t cover such a vast area. However, going by what’s happening, we can neither deny nor vehemently affirm…it seems pre-planned but the reason is not clear,” the Manipur chief minister said.
He said the Centre and the state government were making all efforts to restore peace to the state, adding that he spoke with his “Kuki brothers and sisters” over the telephone earlier in the day, saying, “Let’s forgive and forget”.
N Biren Singh also spoke about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Manipur. Questioning the timing of the Gandhi scion’s visit, adding that his visit to the state seemed like “political agenda”.
“We can’t stop anyone. But the timing – it has been 40 days. Why did he not come earlier? He is a Congress leader but in what capacity was he making the visit? I don’t think the timing was right. He seemed to have come with a political agenda. He came and then there was an incident in the market and BJP office was attacked. Did he come for the situation in the state or for political mileage? I don’t support the manner in which he came,” said Manipur chief minister Biren Singh.
Some 2,400 people have been arrested after a fifth night of violent protests throughout the country following the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on Tuesday.
Officers in Marseille fired tear gas at protesters as the escalating crisis in France continues after the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old boy.
Sky News footage shows crowds dispersing in the moments after the substance was deployed by officers.
Police in Paris cleared protesters from the Place de la Concorde and increased security at the city’s landmark Champs Elysees avenue after a call on social media to gather there.
Pic: AP
Officers later said they arrested 37 people in the French capital after officers confiscated weapons in the area.
Pic: Paris Police Prefecture
Some 2,400 people have been arrested after five nights of violent protests throughout the country following the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on Tuesday.
People have taken to the streets over consecutive nights to protest, setting cars alight, throwing stones and fireworks, and ransacking shops.
A funeral for the teenager was held in Nanterre on Saturday afternoon, with family and friends viewing an open coffin before it was taken to a mosque for a ceremony and later burial.
Dozens of people were seen outside the entrance to the cemetery paying their respects.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro attends a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 13, 2023. JADE GAO/Pool via REUTERS./File Photo
The Honduran government announced curfews on Sunday in two northern cities after more than 20 people were killed overnight in separate attacks amid escalating violence in the country.
Heavily armed men opened fire on Saturday night in a billiards hall in a neighborhood in the northern manufacturing city of Choloma, killing 13 people and seriously wounding another, police press person Edgardo Barahona told Reuters.
He added at least 11 other murders had taken place on Saturday in separate episodes across the northern Valle de Sula zone, including in the industrial city of San Pedro Sulay.
President Xiomara Castro announced a 15-day curfew in Choloma between 9 pm and 4 am, effective immediately, and another in San Pedro Sula, effective July 4.
“Multiple operations, raids, captures and checkpoints are initiated,” Castro said via Twitter.
There has been a partial state of emergency in parts of Honduras since December in a bid to confront violent gangs and turf wars.
Security Minister Gustavo Sanchez announced later on Sunday that the government would be sending a proposal to Congress to “classify members of a criminal structure, maras or gangs as terrorists” in the coming days.
The massacre happened in an area overrun by Islamist groups – but comes as the government investigates claims of human rights abuses by its own armed forces.
A woman looks at a mural in Ouagadougou, northern Burkina Faso, in March 2023. Pic: AP
At least 60 civilians have been killed by men wearing army uniforms in northern Burkina Faso, officials say.
The attack took place on Friday in a village in Barga, in Yatenga province, close to the border with Mali.
An investigation has been launched to establish who was responsible for the killings.
Burkina Faso‘s prosecutor Lamine Kabore did not provide details about Friday’s attack but said those injured were being treated in hospital.
“My office was alerted about the seriousness of some of the facts. I therefore gave instructions to the investigation unit to carry out investigations in order to illuminate the said facts and hear all the people who are involved,” he said.
The killings took place in an area overrun by Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
The groups have been blamed for multiple attacks which have left thousands dead and displaced an estimated two million people over six years.
Earlier this month, militants were accused of killing at least 44 people in the north-eastern province of Seno.
However, members of Burkina Faso’s military have also been accused of killing civilians in the country, where the government is said to control less than 50% of the nation’s territory.
News of the massacre comes amid growing concern about violence elsewhere in Africa, in Sudan.
Smoke rises in Omdurman, near Halfaya Bridge, during clashes between the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army as seen from Khartoum North, Sudan April 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Sudan’s military launched air strikes on a paramilitary force’s base near the capital in a bid to reassert control over the country on Sunday as clashes killed at least 25 people and threatened efforts to transition to civilian rule.
At the end of a day of heavy fighting, the army struck a base belonging to the government’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city of Omdurman, which adjoins the capital Khartoum, eyewitnesses said late on Saturday.
They could still hearing the sound of heavy artillery across Khartoum, Omdurman and nearby Bahri in the early hours of Sunday morning. Eyewitnesses also heard gunfire in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, where there had been no earlier reports of fighting.
The Sudanese Doctors’ Union earlier reported at least 25 people were killed and 183 wounded in battles that erupted on Saturday between the military and the RSF.
The group said it recorded deaths at Khartoum’s airport and Omdurman, as well as west of Khartoum in the cities of Nyala, El Obeid and El Fasher.
The RSF claimed to have seized the presidential palace, army chief’s residence, state television station and airports in Khartoum, the northern city of Merowe, El Fasher and West Darfur state. The army rejected those assertions.
The Sudanese air force told people to stay indoors while it conducted what it called an aerial survey of RSF activity, and a holiday was declared in Khartoum state for Sunday, closing schools, banks and government offices.
Gunfire and explosions could be heard across the capital, where TV footage showed smoke rising from several districts and social media videos captured military jets flying low over the city, at least one appearing to fire a missile.
A Reuters journalist saw cannon and armoured vehicles on the streets and heard heavy weapons fire near the headquarters of both the army and RSF.
Army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan told Al Jazeera TV the RSF should back down: “We think if they are wise they will turn back their troops that came into Khartoum. But if it continues we will have to deploy troops into Khartoum from other areas.”
The armed forces said it would not negotiate with the RSF unless the force dissolved. The army told soldiers seconded to the RSF to report to nearby army units, which could deplete RSF ranks if they obey.
The RSF leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, called Burhan a “criminal” and a “liar”. The military and RSF, which analysts say is 100,000 strong, have been competing for power as political factions negotiate forming a transitional government after a 2021 military coup.
“We know where you are hiding and we will get to you and hand you over to justice, or you die just like any other dog,” Hemedti said.
A prolonged confrontation could plunge Sudan into widespread conflict as it struggles with economic breakdown and tribal violence, derailing efforts to move towards elections.
POLITICAL AGREEMENT AT RISK
The clashes follow rising tensions over the RSF’s integration into the military. The disagreement has delayed the signing an internationally backed agreement with political parties on a transition to democracy.
A coalition of civilian groups that signed a draft of that agreement in December called on Saturday for an immediate halt to hostilities, to stop Sudan sliding towards “the precipice of total collapse”.
“This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country,” they said in a statement. “This is a war that no one will win, and that will destroy our country forever.”
The RSF accused the army of carrying out a plot by loyalists of former strongman President Omar Hassan al-Bashir – who was ousted in a coup in 2019 – and attempting a coup itself. The 2021 coup ousted the country’s civilian prime minister.
Eyewitnesses reported fighting in many areas outside the capital. Those included heavy exchanges of gunfire in Merowe, eyewitnesses told Reuters.
The RSF shared a video that it said showed Egyptian troops who “surrendered” to them in Merowe. Egypt said the troops were in Sudan for exercises with their Sudanese counterparts.
Hemedti told Sky News Arabia the Egyptians were safe and the RSF would cooperate with Cairo on their return.
