Military jet crashes in Myanmar, homes set ablaze
A Myanmar military jet crashed on Tuesday in Sagaing Region, an area that has seen intense fighting during Myanmar's civil war. The military blamed engine failure, while a rebel group claimed it shot down the plane.
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Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Pakistan says soldiers kill 33 fighters near Afghan border
Pakistani security forces have killed 33 fighters who tried to cross into the southwestern province of Balochistan from neighbouring Afghanistan, the military says, describing them as 'Indian-sponsored' separatists. Pakistan's military said in a statement on Friday that an overnight operation took place in the Zhob district of Balochistan province, where soldiers spotted 'Khwarij', a phrase the government uses for Pakistan Taliban fighters. The fighters were intercepted and engaged with 'precise' fire, the statement said, adding that weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for what he called a successful operation. 'Our brave soldiers risked their lives to foil this infiltration attempt and crushed the nefarious designs of the terrorists,' the prime minister was quoted by the Associated Press of Pakistan as saying. Separatist fighters demanding mineral-rich Balochistan receive a bigger share of profits from its resources have stepped up attacks in recent months, particularly on Pakistan's military, which has launched an intelligence-based offensive against them. Pakistan often accuses the Taliban government in Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to fighters operating near their shared frontier. Kabul denies the charge. The Pakistani military said on Friday that those killed had the backing of India although it offered no evidence to back up the allegation. Pakistan and India often accuse each other of backing armed groups. New Delhi denies supporting fighters in Pakistan and has not commented on the latest incident. The nuclear-armed neighbours with a history of conflict continue to engage in war rhetoric and have exchanged fire across the Line of Control, their de facto border in disputed Kashmir, after an attack in Pahalgam killed 26 civilians in India-administered Kashmir on April 22. Clashes with Pakistani Taliban On Friday, the government in Balochistan suspended mobile phone internet service until August 31 for security reasons before Thursday's Independence Day holiday, which celebrates Pakistan gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947. In recent years, separatist fighters in Balochistan have targeted people selling national flags before the holiday. Balochistan has for years been the scene of a rebellion by separatist groups along with attacks by the Pakistan Taliban and the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army. The separatists demand independence from Pakistan's central government in Islamabad. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in armed attacks, most claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and are allies of the Afghan Taliban. The TTP is a separate group and has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since then. Pakistan's security forces are also operating in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where soldiers in April killed 54 Pakistan Taliban in what authorities described as the deadliest single-day clash with fighters this year.
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Ukraine's conscription crisis: Alleged abuse leads to protests, emigration
Names marked with an asterisk* have been changed to protect identities. Kyiv, Ukraine – Artem* is determined to never join Ukraine's armed forces. 'If I ever fight, I won't fight for Ukraine,' the 29-year-old from the westernmost Zakarpattia region told Al Jazeera. A 'conscription patrol' of three police and two military officers rounded him up in late June as he was leaving the Sunday mass at a cathedral in Uzhhorod, the regional capital. Artem had paperwork proving that he was the only caretaker of his disabled, ailing 66-year-old mother and therefore could not be drafted. But the patrol detained and brought him to a conscription office, where two officers took Artem to a separate room. He claimed they beat him and tried to force him to 'volunteer' for military service. When he refused, he said they tied and blindfolded him and four more reluctant detainees and took them to a forest outside Uzhhorod. One of the officers ordered them at gunpoint to run to what turned out to be a fence on the Slovakian border, Artem claimed. Another officer videotaped the men's 'attempt to illegally cross the border', which is punishable by up to four years in jail, and said they could 'negotiate their release fee', Artem claimed. He said that his family paid $2,000 for his release and another $15,000 for a fake permit to leave Ukraine as men of fighting age, 25 to 60, are not allowed to travel abroad. Artem, who spoke via a messaging app from an Eastern European nation, asked to withhold his real name, personal details and the location of the conscription office he claims to have been beaten in. A deepening crisis Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify all of the details of Artem's story, but some of his allegations corroborate with other cases of conscription-related coercion and corruption in Ukraine amid a dire shortage of front-line troops in the fight against Russia. Between January and June, the Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman's office received more than 2,000 complaints about the use of force by conscription patrols that consist of military and police officers. In one case, patrol officers hit a bicyclist in the central Rivne region with their car in January after he refused to pull over. They beat and tear-gassed him to deliver him to the conscription office and 'illegally mobilise', investigators said. Ultimately, the patrolling officers volunteered to go to the front line to avoid assault charges, they said. On August 1, police in the central city of Vinnytsia used tear gas to disperse a crowd that tried to storm a conscription office and release some 100 men that they claimed had been detained illegally. Meanwhile, a privileged few abuse their position to dodge the draft. In October 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the prosecutor general after several public prosecutors obtained fake disability papers that also entitled them to sizeable 'pensions'. In January, Oleh Druz – the chief psychiatrist for Ukraine's armed forces, who could declare any conscript unfit for service – was arrested. He now faces up to 10 years in jail for 'illegal enrichment'. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Druz reportedly bought several luxurious apartments, two plots of land and several BMW cars – and kept $152,000 and 34,000 euros ($40,000) in cash at home. For more than two years, conscription patrols have been combing public places, subway stations, nightclubs and even crashing wedding parties in search of men of fighting age – 25 to 60, more than a dozen witnesses from all over Ukraine told Al Jazeera. They tour regions outside their official jurisdiction. 'Fake patrols' of burly uniformed men then blackmail those they catch. A release fee is $400 or more, but those who refuse to pay up are handed over to real conscription offices, the witnesses say. Several conscription officers are ex-servicemen who often suffer from PTSD, despise draft dodgers and have no qualms about humiliating, abusing and beating them, they say. Hundreds of thousands of men are understood to be in hiding, causing a dire shortage in the workforce. Across the country, there are far fewer male construction workers, farmhands, cooks and taxi drivers. Men whose military papers are in order prefer to move around with a witness who can, if needed, videotape an encounter with a conscription patrol. 'I drive around with my mom because there are too many checkpoints anywhere I go,' Ferentz, an ethnic Hungarian taxi driver in Uzhhorod, told Al Jazeera as his mother smiled from the front seat of his old Skoda. Meanwhile, a societal division is growing. Current or former Ukrainian servicemen and their families are increasingly indignant about how draft dodgers justify their reluctance to enlist. 'I broke up with many female friends who defend their husbands' or boyfriends' right not to fight,' Hanna Kovaleva, whose husband Albert volunteered in 2022, told Al Jazeera. 'This [mindset] is disgusting – 'let someone else die while I'm hiding behind my wife's skirt.'' Preemptive emigration Before he turns 17, Bogdan* is leaving Ukraine – but not in search of better living conditions. He lives in central Kyiv in a three-bedroom apartment with his parents, goes to a private school and spends weekends in a spacious country house. But his parents do not want him to be conscripted. Even though it could only happen only when Bogdan turns 25, they say they are not taking ay risks. 'With this chaos on the front line, you don't just want your kid to die because of his officer's mistake,' his father Dmitry* told Al Jazeera. On September 1, Bogdan will start school in Prague, where his aunt lives. Crushed and heartbroken – he just started dating a classmate – he says he has no choice. 'I know I sound very unpatriotic, but I don't want to end up rotting in a ditch,' he told Al Jazeera. In January, United States President Donald Trump's administration urged Kyiv to lower the draft age from 25 to 18 – reiterating the previous administration's request. As the average age of a Ukrainian serviceman has reached 45 from 42 three years ago, more and more Ukrainians with military backgrounds agree with the request. Alternatively, men aged 18 and older could serve in a 'labour army' that manufactures drones and other war-related items, according to Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, ex-deputy head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He said that mobilisation should involve all men of fighting age without exceptions – while Ukraine's economy should be 'reformatted' to primarily serve the army's needs. 'If unpopular strategic decisions at home are not implemented, the situation only gets worse. No foreigners will fight for us,' Romanenko told Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Fort Stewart shooting: What happened, who is suspect Quornelius Radford?
A United States Army sergeant opened fire at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia on Wednesday, injuring five fellow soldiers before being subdued and arrested by others on the base, military officials said. According to Brigadier-General John Lubas, the base commander, all five soldiers are in a stable condition and are expected to recover, but three of them underwent surgery. Here is what we know about the shooting: What happened in Georgia? Law enforcement responded to reports of a possible shooting in the area of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team at 10:56am local time (14:56 GMT). The base was placed on lockdown shortly after 11:04am (15:04 GMT), and the suspected gunman was apprehended 39 minutes after shots were fired, at 11:35am (15:35 GMT). The attack came to an end when other soldiers tackled and subdued the attacker. All five soldiers received initial treatment at the scene before being transported to Winn Army Community Hospital for treatment. Two of them were later transferred to Memorial Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, for further care. Where did it happen? The attack took place in Fort Stewart. The largest US Army base east of the Mississippi River, according to the US Defense Department, it is located on the southeastern coast of Georgia, in Hinesville, a town about 40 miles (64km) southwest of Savannah. According to a Fort Stewart–Hunter Army Airfield fact sheet, the installation hosts approximately 21,200 full-time soldiers, 4,350 civilian and contractor staff, and more than 19,000 military retirees. The 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the division consists of roughly 4,000 soldiers and is equipped with a range of heavy weaponry, including battle tanks. The brigade has suffered multiple fatal incidents this year. In January, two soldiers from the brigade died in a training accident near the base when their vehicle overturned into standing water. In late March, four more soldiers from the brigade were killed in Lithuania after their armoured recovery vehicle sank into a bog. Their remains were not recovered for nearly a week. What do we know about the suspect, Quornelius Radford? Lubas, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, identified the suspected gunman as Quornelius Radford, 28, a US Army sergeant assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Stewart. Officials said that Radford was never deployed to a combat zone. 'Sergeant Radford … is currently in pretrial confinement awaiting a charging decision by the Office of the Special Trial Counsel,' Lubas said. 'I can confirm it was not a military weapon, and we believe it was a personal handgun,' he added. Radford, born in Jacksonville, Florida, joined the army in 2018. His role involved handling supplies and warehouse operations. The suspect reportedly got into a disagreement with one of the victims the day before. According to reports, he arrived at the base that morning with a 9mm handgun purchased in Florida in May. CNN reported that he followed one victim to a maintenance area and shot them in the chest before opening fire on four others. The motive for the attack remains unclear. Lubas said that Radford had no known behavioural issues in his military record. But, he said that he had been arrested for driving under the influence in May – an incident his chain of command was unaware of before the shooting. Eddie Radford, 52, his father, said in an interview with The New York Times that he hadn't seen anything unusual about his son's behaviour recently. 'It's hard for me to process.' He said his son had been trying to get a transfer and had told his family about experiencing racism at Fort Stewart. General Lubas confirmed that the shooting involved his co-workers. 'What we know is the soldier, the shooting occurred at the soldier's place of work. It did involve his co-workers,' Lubas said. 'We're still not certain about the motivations.' What's the latest at the scene, and how does this compare with mass shootings in the US? The base was locked down at about 11am local time (15:00 GMT), but the restriction was lifted at 12:10pm (16:10 GMT). According to the nonprofit group Gun Violence Archive, there have been 262 mass shootings in the US so far this year. The group defines a 'mass shooting' as a shooting that has injured or killed four or more people, not including the attacker. This figure marks a decline compared with the trend at this point in previous years. In total, the group recorded: 689 mass shootings in 2021. 644 in 2022. 659 in 2023. 503 in 2024. There have been 262 American mass shootings in 42 different states (and Washington D.C.) in the 218 days of — The Gun Violence Archive (@GunDeaths) August 7, 2025
