Russia is trying to buy “anything, anywhere”—including from Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar to get weapons for its invasion of Ukraine—according to the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence Kyrylo Budanov.

In a recent interview with VOA, the top Ukrainian intelligence official said, “There are certain efforts to buy through third countries. Large-scale withdrawal of weapons. Now they are trying with Myanmar.”

The Myanmar junta has denied the accusation. A spokesperson for the Myanmar junta, Major General Zaw Min Tun, told VOA Burmese by phone on Wednesday, “Russia is a country that sells weapons to the world. That kind of accusation is impossible and illogical.” He declined to offer any further comment on the subject.

Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for the human rights advocacy group Justice for Myanmar — also known as JFM — said in a statement to VOA, “The Myanmar junta and the Russian regime are key allies, complicit in each other’s atrocity crimes. The junta supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has openly offered Myanmar as a base for Russian business to access Asian markets, which bypasses sanctions.”

JFM says it has been monitoring what it says is a close relationship between Russia and the Myanmar junta since the coup in February 2021. The group identified 19 Russian businesses that should be sanctioned for supplying arms and equipment to the Myanmar military in its report of March 2022. 

During a visit by the Myanmar junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to Russia last July, one of several trips he has made there since the 2021 coup in his country, Russia and Myanmar declared they were deepening their defense cooperation. A press statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry on July 12, 2022, read that “the meeting [between Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing and top Russian defense officials] … confirmed the mutual disposition to consistently build up multifaceted cooperation between the military departments of the two countries.”

VOA recently reported on the junta’s renewed nuclear energy ties with Russia raising concerns in the region and globally.

Russian munitions

In an assessment on Russia, the Pentagon stated that after more than a year of fighting in Ukraine and facing strong sanctions from the West, Russia would run out of serviceable ammunition sometime in 2023.

Testifying on Wednesday in Washington before the Senate Intelligence Committee, National Intelligence Director Avril Haines argued that Russia lacks the troops and ammunition to make major advances this year. “If Russia does not initiate a mandatory mobilization and identify substantial third-party ammunition supplies, it will be increasingly challenging for them to sustain the current level of offensive operations in the coming months.”

Haines also said at the Reagan National Defense Forum last December, “Russia doesn’t have enough ability to replace those weapons on its own.”

According to reporting this month by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a co-founder and owner of the mercenary group Wagner, also indicated problems with the ammunition supply. “I am worried about ammunition and the ammunition hunger not only as far as Wagner goes, but all the units of the Russian Army.”

As of last September, the Russian military was still capable of producing “a lot of ammunition,” said a top NATO military adviser, despite being hampered by Western sanctions. However, “some of the components they need for their weapon systems come from the Western industry,” said Rob Bauer, chair of NATO Military Committee.

There are reports that Russia continues to buy weapons and ammunition from countries such as Iran and North Korea; however, the Iranian government, a close ally of Russia, denied this, stating that Iran “has not and will not” provide weapons to be used in the invasion of Ukraine.

“For Russia, almost the only country that actually supplies more or less serious weapons is Iran,” Budanov told VOA. “There was information that something was coming from North Korea, but we have no confirmation of that.”

“Russia is just trying to buy anything, anywhere,” he said. “Because their problems are significant. Serbia, which everyone in Russia hoped for, refused to supply weapons. There are certain efforts to buy through third countries. Large-scale withdrawal of weapons. Now they are trying with Myanmar, we will see what will come of it in time.”

Myanmar opposition concerns

Myanmar’s shadow civilian government, the National Unity Government, also known as NUG, has expressed concern about a “possible collaboration between Russia and [the] Myanmar army on the war in Ukraine,” Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for the NUG president’s office, told VOA via zoom.

“We think that Russia might use the Myanmar army and its cronies as middlemen to buy weapons from other countries because the Myanmar military does not have [the] ability to support arms for the Russian army,” he said.

“Despite the Western countries targeting sanctions against the Burmese military regime,” Kyaw Zaw said, “they are weak and ineffective due to loopholes, which Russia and the Myanmar military might be trying to exploit through cooperation.”

Responding to a question about whether China or India may be working through Myanmar to send arms and ammunition to Russia, he said, “There is no good reason for our government, the NUG, to accept a situation where Myanmar is being used to compete with powerful countries.”

Regarding the potential for Myanmar to be implicated in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kyaw Zaw told VOA, “We are concerned about the news. We [are] worried the move may affect our country, as well as regional stability and global peace and security.”

Western countries, including the U.S., have raised concerns over the potential arming of Russia through its geostrategic partnership with China. However, “China had declared it won’t supply Russia with weapons for its war against Ukraine,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during his news conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in Berlin earlier this month. He suggested that Berlin has received bilateral assurances from Beijing on the issue.

JFM recently published a report about India’s exports of weapons to the Myanmar army.

The report states that the Indian state-owned arms company, “Yantra’s exports of 122mm barrels to Myanmar follows several other known exports of weapons and weapons components from Indian companies after the Myanmar military’s attempted coup, including exports of fuses and a remote-controlled weapon station.”

“Russia remains a major supplier of arms to the junta,” JFM’s Maung told VOA. “If Russia is exploring using the junta to help it resupply arms for its war in Ukraine, it shows yet again how the junta is a threat to the world that requires a global response.”
…

A bomb blast tore through a Shiite cultural center in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province Saturday, killing a security guard and wounding at least eight people.

A local police spokesman, Mohammad Asif Waziri, told VOA the blast had targeted a ceremony honoring the Afghan media in the provincial capital, Mazar-i-Sharif. He said that five journalists and three children were among those injured.  

Provincial officials and religious clerics were also among the guests at the event.  

Abdul Nafi Takor, the Taliban-led Interior Affairs Ministry  spokesman in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said a planted explosive device caused the blast.  

“I heard a big bang … then there was chaos as everyone was trying to find a way to escape,” Afghan journalist Atif Arian, wounded in the blast, told Agence France-Presse.

“Some journalists are seriously wounded,” Arian added.  

A mainstream Afghan TV channel, TOLOnews, reported one of its journalists was among the victims.  

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. It comes two days after a suicide bomber killed the Balkh governor, Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, at his office in Mazar-i-Sharif, along with two other people.

The Islamic State terror group’s Afghan branch, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, took responsibility for Thursday’s bombing and vowed to carry out more attacks against Taliban officials.  

Muzammil is the second-most senior official killed since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 as the United States and NATO troops departed the country after two decades of war.  

A car bombing in December killed the Taliban police chief of northeastern Badakhshan province in an attack claimed by IS-K.  

The Balkh governor’s assassination came a week after the Taliban announced the death of the IS-K intelligence and military chief in a counterterrorism raid in Kabul.

The Taliban takeover has almost ended years of war-related casualties in Afghanistan, but IS-K has stepped up its attacks in the country, posing the de facto authorities’ most significant security challenge.  

Muzammil had served as the governor of the eastern Nangarhar province and supervised operations against IS-K operatives there before moving to Balkh last year. IS-K launched its operations in Afghanistan in 2015 from bases in Nangarhar and has since expanded the violence to other provinces.

The head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said this week its ability to deliver humanitarian aid is also being affected by growing concerns over the looming threat posed by IS-K.  

“We are grateful for the security provided so far but are concerned that the de facto authorities do not have the capacity to fully address emerging threats,” Roza Otunbayeva told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.
…

Members of the Rohingya Muslim community in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, say they are living with an unprecedented level of fear and hopelessness after a massive fire Sunday raced through their refugee camp, and some people are saying the fire was started by “a Rohingya gang.”

About 2,000 shacks were burned to ashes and 12,000 people became homeless after the fire at the camp — home to more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar and have taken refuge in Bangladesh over the past several decades.

Several people in the refugee camp told VOA that Rohingya gangs have been fighting with one another and that Sunday’s fire was started by some members of the gangs.

“There was a gunfight between two Rohingya gangs that continued in the camp from Saturday night until two or three hours before the fire broke out on Sunday. As soon as one or two huts were set on fire by some people, some refugees brought water. But members of one gang did not allow the refugees to put out the fire — several witnesses reported to us,” Htway Lwin, a local Rohingya community leader and human rights defender, told VOA.

“Sunday’s fire incident was arson, committed by a Rohingya terrorist gang,” Lwin said.

Cox’s Bazar police said that several Rohingya reported they had witnessed ARSA men starting fires. ARSA, or Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, is a Rohingya rebel group claiming to fight for liberation of the Rohingya community from oppression in Myanmar.

“Several Rohingya sources have reported that they saw how the ARSA men set fire to the camp and how the group’s leaders engineered the arson,” said Mahfuzul Islam, police chief of Cox’s Bazar.

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, the refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told VOA on Friday that there was a possibility of a Rohingya group being involved in Sunday’s fire.

“We have set up an investigation committee consisting of several senior officials from different departments, including the police, to investigate the fire incident. We will be able to tell whether it was sabotage by any group after our investigation is over,” Rahman told VOA.

Fires a frequent problem

Since about 740,000 Rohingya crossed over to Bangladesh in 2017 following a violent military crackdown against the community in Myanmar, the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar has been overcrowded, with people living in extremely cramped conditions.

Fires have been a big problem in the Rohingya camp where the shacks, made of bamboo and plastic tarpaulin, catch fire easily. Most shacks stand close to one another, and fire spreads quickly across the camp.

On March 22, 2021, a fire ripped through the Balukhali area of the camp, destroying more than 17,000 shacks, killing at least 15 people and forcing about 48,000 people from their homes.

Since Sunday, at least seven incidents of fire — including one Friday — took place in different parts of the camp, many refugees reported. One Rohingya man was caught while he was setting fire to a shack and was handed over to the police, according to Lwin.

Last month a Bangladesh parliamentary defense committee report said that between January 2021 and December 2022, at least 222 fire incidents had taken place in the Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps. According to the report, 99 fires were caused by accident, 60 cases were found to be arson and no reason for fire was found in 63 other cases.

The report added that there were 10 terrorist groups active in the camp that fought violently with one another, and people had been killed. Lwin said that in the past three months at least eight Rohingya had been killed.

Although Bangladeshi government officials say that many fire incidents were arson, they did not link them to any terrorist groups.

However, several Rohingya told VOA that the terrorist gangs fighting over control of different areas of the camp are committing arson.

“Different areas of the large camp are controlled by different groups. One group is setting fire to an area controlled by a rival group. Members or supporters of ARSA set fire to some parts of the camp several times,” a 55-year-old Rohingya from Balukhali, who does not want to be identified fearing reprisal from ARSA, told VOA.

“Some Rohingya who tried to put out the fire with water were scared away by some ARSA leaders, armed with guns. We are dead sure, ARSA started Sunday’s fire,” said the man, whose house was destroyed by the fire Sunday.

Gang rivalry

Rohingya leader Lwin said that arson will continue as long as gang rivalry over the control of areas in the camp exists.

“The police should investigate all fire incidents including the one that took place Sunday and take strict actions against the culprits. The criminal gangs must be eliminated from the camps,” Lwin said.

“Otherwise, the poor Rohingya will have to keep paying the heavy price this way by losing everything to fire again and again.”
…

Georgia’s young protesters, having forced parliament into a U-turn on controversial new legislation, are determined to maintain the pressure on the government, which they believe is steering the country away from Europe.

Thousands of young and mainly peaceful protesters flooded the capital, Tbilisi, this week. Many of them, speaking to AFP, insisted they were not motivated by party allegiances in the fiercely partisan country.

The overarching reason they braved tear gas and water cannons, they said, was a firm belief that the ex-Soviet country should anchor itself to Europe.

The rallies erupted Tuesday when parliament began to introduce “foreign agent” laws reminiscent of Russian legislation used to suppress media and civil society.

Under pressure from the protesters, the ruling Georgian Dream party formally voted down the bill Friday to the cheers and whistles of protesters outside parliament, holding signs that read: “We are Europe.”

“We’re happy the law failed, that Georgians prevailed and that they will continue to fight for their European future,” said 20-year-old student Saba Meurmishvili.

Meurmishvili said police had arrested him at the rally while he was chanting anti-government slogans. He was held for two days, before a court released him with a $900 fine.

He went right back to demonstrating alongside other students, he said, to “protest this government, which is trying to bring us back to Russia.

“I want to build a European country. We are a generation born and raised in a democratic and free Georgia and we want to preserve our peace and our freedom.

We are Europe

For Meurmishvili, the protests that gripped Georgia — a former Soviet republic with a history of political turmoil — were linked to the country’s vibrant civil society, not a political party.

“We try to keep our distance from all political parties,” he said.

On Friday, the Kremlin accused foreign countries of orchestrating “an attempted coup.”

But Russian influence appears to be waning in Georgia, whose younger generations are strongly pro-European.

Also Friday, the country’s jailed ex-leader Mikheil Saakashvili praised the protesters for their role in stopping the proposed law.

“They were brilliantly resisting brutal force used against them,” Saakashvili wrote on Facebook.

EU and NATO membership is enshrined in the constitution and backed by some 80% of the population; polls suggest.

“We belong in Europe and step by step we are going to become part of the EU,” said Ketevan Kalandadze, a social worker.

The government bill had wanted to label any NGO or media outlet that received more than 20% of funding from abroad as a “foreign agent.”

“We see this in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and it has worked,” said Ketevan, one of the protesters outside parliament.

“They have no more opposition, no more civil society watchdog organizations, no more support for NGOs,” the 32-year-old told AFP.

Russia is prison

The protesters’ mood was reminiscent of Kyiv during the 2014 Maidan movement, which brought pro-Western leaders to power and sparked confrontation with Russia that culminated into an all-out war last year.

Georgia has its own history of invasion by its giant northern neighbor.

In 2008, after years of tensions over Tbilisi’s efforts to forge closer ties with the West, Moscow sent troops to Georgia, which was battling pro-Russian separatists in its South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.

After the war, Russia recognized the territories as independent and stationed military bases there, lending further urgency to Georgia’s bid for NATO membership.

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, Georgia — together with Ukraine and Moldova — applied for EU membership.

At the time, EU leaders put Kyiv and Chisinau on a formal membership path, but deferred Tbilisi’s candidacy, saying it should first implement several reforms.

Many protesters see EU membership as the ultimate rupture with Moscow and Georgia’s Soviet past, and a guarantee for ensuring individual freedoms and economic progress.

“Europe is freedom, Russia is a kind of prison,” said Alexander Zhikia, a 15-year-old student, wrapped in an EU flag.

One former diplomat at Georgia’s consulate in Munich Nina Matiashvili told AFP: “We will never accept anything Russian, and we don’t want to go back to the USSR. It’s as simple as that.”

The 34-year-old said it was the younger generation, those who grew up in independent Georgia, who had managed “to make their voices heard,” she added.

“We hope the EU will support us. We want to [obtain] candidate status immediately. As soon as possible.”
…

Australia and India made significant progress in consolidating defense and security ties during talks the leaders of the two countries held Friday in New Delhi.  

“Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and I discussed an increasingly uncertain global security environment and committed to strengthening the Australia-India defense and security partnership to address shared challenges,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters at a joint briefing with the Indian leader after the discussions.

He said they made “significant” and “ambitious” progress. 

The defense relationship between the two countries has been gaining momentum since 2020 as they step up joint military exercises and information exchanges. 

Both countries are members of the Quad grouping, along with the United States and Japan, that seeks to counter China’s efforts to dominate the Indo-Pacific region.

“Security cooperation is an important pillar of our comprehensive strategic ties,” Modi said after the talks with Albanese. Modi said the discussions included maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and ways to enhance mutual security. 

The meeting was the first of what the two countries have decided will be annual summits.

During his three-day visit, Albanese called India “a top-tier security partner,” saying the Indian Ocean is central to both countries’ security and prosperity.  

“We need to ensure that Australia’s defense assets are the best they can be, and that we build our capability. At the same time, we need to build relationships. I’ve been doing that here in India, we’re doing that throughout the Indo-Pacific,” he told a news conference before holding talks with Modi.    

The visit by Albanese, who was accompanied by a large business delegation, also focused on boosting economic ties. While China remains its top trading partner, Canberra has been trying to find new markets following a trade spat with Beijing that erupted when it imposed sanctions on a range of Australian exports in 2020. 

Albanese said the two countries hope to conclude a trade pact this year that is expected to be more comprehensive than a free trade agreement sealed last year.  

“This transformational deal will realize the full potential of the bilateral economic relationship, creating new employment opportunities and raising living standards for the people of both Australia and India,” Albanese said. 

The two countries also discussed closer cooperation in such areas as climate and green energy and building secure supply chains for critical minerals.  

Modi said he had raised the issue of some attacks on Hindu temples in Australia with Albanese and had been assured of the safety of Indians living there. The attacks were reportedly carried out by Sikh separatist groups. 

Albanese visited India’s indigenously built aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, becoming the first foreign leader to go aboard the carrier, commissioned last year. The visit is seen as a signal that India is significantly strengthening its security partnership with Australia.

Besides boosting bilateral ties, Albanese’ visit is seen as a sign of the growing convergence between Quad countries.  

Albanese invited Modi to attend a scheduled Quad country summit in Australia in May.

Earlier this month, the foreign ministers of the group held a meeting in New Delhi, where, in a veiled reference to China, they expressed concerns about the militarization of disputed territories in the South China and East China seas. 
…

After weeks of dispiriting debates over whether to suspend or downgrade humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, the United Nations on Thursday launched a $4.6 billion appeal to assist more than 23 million of the most vulnerable Afghans this year.

The humanitarian appeal was developed last year for release in early January, but a December 24 announcement by de facto Taliban authorities banning Afghan women from aid work led to a partial operational pause by the U.N.-led aid community. Several international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) completely suspended operations in protest.

While it’s unclear if or when the Taliban will lift the gender-based ban on aid work, the U.N. has launched the funding appeal, saying humanitarian programs will be on “operational trial” for the next six months.

“The ban on female participation in humanitarian response will have devastating and long-lasting consequences for all people in need, but especially women and girls —already the most vulnerable members of society,” the appeal says.

Because of the “deeply gendered” nature of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the U.N. says more than 11 million Afghan women and girls will be assisted with critical food, health and shelter assistance and educational services if funding needs outlined in the appeal are met.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have enforced a series of gender-based edicts that human rights groups describe as a campaign to erase women from the public sphere.

“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights,” the U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Reduction in aid

Blacklisted, under sanctions and isolated from the rest of the world, Taliban leaders appear to be pushing foreign donors away with their misogynistic policies.

Donors have already ceased supplying Afghanistan with development aid, which accounted for about 75% of the country’s public expenditures under the U.S.-backed government.

“Funding for Afghanistan is likely to drop if women [are] not allowed to work,” warned Otunbayeva.

U.S. officials have echoed similar concerns while warning of consequences for the Taliban.

“We also see needs elsewhere in the world,” Thomas West, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, told TOLOnews this week, explaining that emergencies in Ukraine, Syria and Turkey have created extraordinary needs.

“And, frankly, for fiscal-related reasons, we have fewer humanitarian dollars to go around and for all of these reasons, I am worried that there will be a lower contribution in the year ahead.”

Donor disengagement will be catastrophic for millions of needy Afghans, aid agencies warn.

“Afghan people are paying a high price in between de facto authorities who impose restrictions and donors who chose to disengage from the country,” Christian Jepsen, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told VOA.

Like several other NGOs, the NRC has not fully resumed operations in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s ban on its female employees.

“We cannot reach the most vulnerable female-led households without our female colleagues, particularly in rural and conservative areas where there are many vulnerable people,” Jepsen said.

Last year, the U.N. appealed for $4.4 billion in response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, of which donors funded 59%.
…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in India for a visit expected to consolidate ties as both geopolitics and commercial interests drive a closer partnership between the two countries.

Analysts say the relationship between New Delhi and Canberra, marked by indifference just a few years ago, has become the fastest growing in the Indo-Pacific region amid mutual concerns about China’s assertiveness.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has moved decisively away from China whereas earlier they were hesitant to challenge them on many issues,” according to Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs. “Now both India and Australia have a clear strategic outlook, that is to counterbalance China. This convergence is one factor bringing the two countries closer.”

On Thursday, a day before holding formal talks, the Australian and Indian prime ministers engaged in some cricket diplomacy as they watched the start of a cricket match between the two countries in the western city of Ahmedabad. Thousands of fans cheered as they went around the stadium before its start.

“An incredible welcome to Ahmedabad, India. The beginning of an important trip for Australia-India relations,” the Australian prime minister tweeted after his arrival.

Albanese is also scheduled to travel to Mumbai where he will become the first foreign leader to be taken on board India’s indigenously produced aircraft carrier INS Vikrant that was commissioned last September and will boost its naval capabilities.

The strategic partnership has been growing since 2020, when India overcame its hesitation of a closer strategic alliance with Australia and invited it to join the annual naval Malabar exercises that New Delhi conducts with the United States and Japan. Last December, the Indian and Australian armies also held their first joint drills in India.

Both countries are members of the Quad grouping that, along with the United States and Japan, seeks to counter China’s efforts to dominate the Indo-Pacific region.

Analysts say India’s increasingly warm relations with the United States have been integral in reshaping ties between New Delhi and Canberra.

“Now both India and Australia are aligned with the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. That is really the cement that is binding the ties,” according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at New Delhi’s Observer Research Foundation. “The U.S. is the linchpin driving the Indo-Pacific strategy.”

The Australian prime minister’s talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday will be the first of the annual summits that the two countries decided to hold last year.

Albanese has come to India accompanied by several ministers and a large business delegation as boosting commercial ties is also high on the agenda.

Last year, the two countries signed a free trade agreement — the first signed by India with a developed country in a decade. Both are also negotiating a more ambitious trade pact, but that has not made much headway so far.

Australia is seeking to diversify markets for its goods following a trade dispute with China that erupted in 2020 when Beijing imposed sanctions on a range of Australian exports after Canberra called for an investigation into the origins on the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For its part, India, which wants to expand its manufacturing sector, is looking at Australia as a major supplier of critical minerals essential to produce mobile phones, electric cars and solar panels.

Before departing for India, Albanese told reporters that India, which along with Indonesia would grow to be the world’s third and fourth largest economies, presented “an incredible opportunity” for Australia.

Speaking in Sydney at a business forum earlier this week, Albanese said that “Australia wanted greater diversity in who we trade with and greater variety in what we trade, meaning our economy is more resilient and more secure.”

Said Chaulia: “Both sides expect the trade volumes to double to $50 billion over the next five years. That is higher than what we are doing with Japan or any other regional country.”

However, China, Australia’s largest trading partner, remains economically critical for Canberra.

“India will not be able to replace China as a major market for Australia unless the Indian economy grows substantially in the coming years,” Joshi said. 
…

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Thursday a bomb blast had ripped through the office of a provincial governor, killing him and two others. 

The early morning attack in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of the northern Balkh province, wounded at least seven people, according to local hospital officials. 

Provincial police officials said that a man wearing a suicide vest blew himself up on the second floor of the building housing the office of the slain governor, Mohammad Dawood Muzamil.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the high-profile deadly bombing.

Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter confirmed the death of Muzamil, saying he was “martyred in an explosion by the enemies of Islam.” Mujahid said in his Pashto language tweet that an investigation into the incident was underway.

Muzamil is the second-most senior Taliban leader killed since the hardline group retook control of Afghanistan in 2021 as the United States and NATO troops left the country after two decades of war. 

Last December, a car bombing killed the Taliban police chief of northeastern Badakhshan province. That attack was claimed by the Islamic State terror group’s Afghan affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan.

The militant group, often referred to as Daesh or IS-K, has recently intensified attacks in Afghanistan. The violence has killed hundreds of people, including minority Shiite community members and Taliban officials as well as clerics. 

Muzamil had served as the governor of the eastern Nangarhar province and supervised operations against IS-K operatives there before moving to Balkh last year. 

ISIS-K launched its extremist activities in war-torn Afghanistan in 2015 from bases in Nangarhar and has since expanded the violence to other provinces.

The Taliban have stepped up counterterrorism operations against IS-K operatives in recent weeks, killing dozens of them. 

The United States sees IS-K as a “dangerous” affiliate of Islamic State and remains skeptical about the effectiveness of Taliban counterterrorism operations against the group.

The U.S. Intelligence Community, in its annual threat assessment has warned IS-K will maintain its campaign against the Taliban and religious minorities with deadly repercussions for Afghan civilians.

“ISIS-Khorasan almost certainly retains the intent to conduct operations in the West and will continue efforts to attack outside Afghanistan,” noted the assessment released on Wednesday, using an acronym for the Islamic State group’s Afghan branch.
…

Police in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, used tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades late Wednesday as they moved to break up the second straight day of protests against a “foreign agents” law that critics say signals an authoritarian shift.

Hundreds of police converged on streets around the parliament building in a bid to disperse the protesters. Unlike clashes Tuesday night, there were no signs of demonstrators throwing petrol bombs or stones, although at least one police car was overturned.

Tear gas billowed down Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue, where parliament is located, forcing at least some of the thousands of demonstrators to move away.

The Interior Ministry said 77 people had been detained after the Tuesday protests, which started when lawmakers approved a first reading of the law requiring any organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register as “foreign agents” or face substantial fines.

The ruling Georgian Dream party says it is modeled on U.S. legislation dating from the 1930s. Critics, including President Salome Zourabichvili, say it is reminiscent of a law Russia has used to crack down on dissent and could harm Georgia’s chances of European Union membership.

Zourabichvili, speaking to CNN, urged authorities to refrain from using force and portrayed Georgia as a victim of aggression by a Russia she said was determined to maintain influence in the Caucasus region.

“Clearly, Russia is not going to let go very easily, but Russia is losing its war in Ukraine,” she said. Both Georgia and Ukraine were once part of the Russian-dominated former Soviet Union.

The EU last year rebuffed Tbilisi’s attempts to become a candidate for membership, saying it needed to speed up changes in areas such as the rule of law.

Ruling party rift

Protests restarted Wednesday afternoon, with a march down Rustaveli Avenue to mark International Women’s Day, which is a public holiday.

“It’s very clear that more and more people realize that this is scary and they should fight for their future,” said journalist Mikheil Gvadzabia.

As evening set in, thousands gathered in front of parliament, blocking traffic, shouting “No to the Russian law,” and carrying Georgian, EU and Ukrainian flags.

“We cannot let our country become pro-Russian or a Russian state, or undemocratic,” said software engineer Vakhtang Berikashvili.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Georgians for waving his country’s flag, saying it showed respect.

“We want to be in the European Union, and we will be. We want Georgia to be in the European Union, and I am sure it will be,” he said in a video address.

Footage of smaller protests in the Black Sea resort city of Batumi, Georgia’s second largest, were also shared online.

The draft law has deepened a rift between Georgian Dream, which has a parliamentary majority, and Zourabichvili, a pro-European who has moved away from the party since being elected with its support in 2018.

She pledges to veto the bill if it reaches her desk, though parliament can override her.

Critics say Georgian Dream is too close to Russia and has taken the country in a more repressive direction. Georgian society is strongly anti-Moscow following years of conflict over the status of two Russian-backed breakaway regions that flared into war in 2008.

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said the law would help root out those working against the interests of the country and the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. He criticized Georgia’s “radical opposition” for stirring up protesters.
…

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives launched an investigation Wednesday into the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in August 2021. Immigration experts and U.S. military who assisted in the evacuation testified that the chaotic pullout was due to decades of bad decision-making. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports.
…

At United Nations meetings Wednesday to mark International Women’s Day, there was much talk but no discernible action on advancing and protecting women’s rights.

A meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Afghanistan offered verbal support to Afghan women, who are among the most oppressed in the world under Taliban rule. But no new measures were offered to pressure the Taliban to reverse more than 30 edicts banning women from public life since the group took power in August 2021.

“Outspoken international condemnation is critical, but it’s not enough,” Afghan women’s activist Zubaida Akbar of Freedom Now told council members.

She urged them to take meaningful action, including not granting exemptions from international travel bans to allow Taliban leaders to go abroad for meetings while Afghan women remain trapped in their homes or need a male chaperone to go out.

“If you do not defend women’s rights here, you have no credibility to do so anywhere else,” she warned.

‘Our religion has largely been hijacked’

In another room, Pakistan organized a conference on “Women in Islam: Understanding the Rights and Identity of Women in the Islamic World,” aimed at highlighting the achievements of Muslim women and dispelling some stereotypes.

“This caricature is painted on the perceptions based on ignorance of our history, ignorance of our cultural, historical norms and roles that women have played,” said Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. “And this caricature is a result that the perception of our religion has largely been hijacked after 9/11 by extremists who do not represent our faith.”

The conference offered solidarity and calls for doing more but no outcome.

VOA asked Zardari during a short news conference why there was no action.

“I understand the frustration obviously,” he said, “but the point is, that’s our job at this United Nations and at the OIC [Organization of the Islamic Cooperation] to hold meetings and to shine a light on the role of women, and particularly for us within the context of Islam.”

He added that the need for action is not just limited to the Muslim countries but everywhere.

‘Abused, threatened and violated’

In the General Assembly Hall, countries were participating at the Commission on the Status of Women. The CSW, as it is known, has drawn more than 4,000 government ministers, diplomats and civil society members to New York for the annual two-week conference to discuss how to empower women and improve the lives of women around the world.

When the session opened on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that at the current pace, gender equality is projected to be 300 years away.

“Progress won over decades is vanishing before our eyes,” he said, adding that women’s rights “are being abused, threatened and violated around the world.”

CSW members are working on an outcome document to be adopted at the end of the session. The theme of this year’s meeting is bridging the digital gender gap. That includes improving female access to the internet while protecting women and girls from online harassment and sexual violence.
…

Pakistani police Wednesday fired tear gas at demonstrators armed with sticks who are supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan in the eastern city of Lahore, resulting in the death of at least one protester in ensuing clashes.

Khan had planned to address an election rally of his opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party in the capital of the country’s most populous Punjab province, but authorities banned all kinds of public gatherings earlier in the day for unspecified “security threats.”

Police sealed off all roads leading to Khan’s residence in Lahore and subsequently unleashed a crackdown on PTI workers attempting to reach the venue. 

Television video showed police firing tear gas shells and detaining several people, with some of them bleeding. One detainee could be seen being severely beaten by baton-armed police officers.  He later died in custody, Khan said on Twitter. 

“Ali Bilal unarmed & our dedicated & passionate PTI worker murdered by Punjab police,” the former prime minister wrote. “Shameful, this brutality on unarmed PTI workers who were coming to attend the election rally. Pakistan is in the grip of murderous criminals.”

Provincial Information Minister Amir Mir defended the police crackdown, saying PTI workers started attacking police officers when ordered to disperse. “In retaliation, police used water cannons, tear gas, and batons to disperse them,” Mir told the Reuters news agency. He said at least seven police officials were injured.

A spokesman for the Lahore police, Syed Mubashir, speaking to the local Dawn news outlet on the death of the PTI worker, said, “This is an accident.” A police statement later said the clashes had left 11 members of the force injured. 

The violent clashes prompted Khan to call off his rally, saying the government was intentionally creating a law and order situation in a bid to postpone the Punjab provincial assembly election scheduled for April 30. The PTI-dominated legislature was recently dissolved by Khan in an attempt to force early national elections in Pakistan.

Wednesday’s ban on protests and rallies disrupted a women’s march in Lahore, called “Aurat March,” in connection with International Women’s Day.

“Today was a downright dreadful day for democracy in Pakistan,” tweeted Michael Kugelman, the South Asia Institute director at Washington’s Wilson Center.

Harindrini Corea, the regional researcher on the right to protest at Amnesty International, denounced the blanket ban as a breach of Pakistan’s international commitment to protect civil and political rights.

“The use of a draconian colonial-era law to crush dissent hours before several protests, including the Aurat March, was scheduled to be held in the city is a stark failure of the Pakistani authorities to respect and uphold the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” said Corea.

“The ban must be lifted immediately, and all the people arrested solely for exercising their right to protest peacefully should be immediately and unconditionally released,” Corea added. 

Khan, 70, has been pressing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s beleaguered coalition government to announce early general elections since a parliamentary no-confidence vote removed Khan from office last April. 

Sharif, who succeeded the deposed prime minister, has rejected the snap vote demand, saying it will be held once the national parliament completes its mandatory five-year term later this year.

On Sunday, the government also banned all satellite television channels from broadcasting Khan’s speeches and news conferences, a move domestic and international rights watchdogs condemned as an attack on freedom of speech in Pakistan. 

The ousted prime minister has been living in Lahore since November, when he was shot and wounded during a protest rally. Khan accuses Sharif and an unnamed military officer of the country’s spy agency of plotting to kill him, charges government officials have rejected. 

The cricket hero-turned-PTI chief has been embroiled in more than 70 court cases since his ouster and is wanted in court on March 13 to defend against charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts, misusing his authority as the prime minister from 2018 to 2022. 

Khan accuses the Sharif government of instituting what he dismisses as fake lawsuits, fearing his PTI’s growing popularity in the wake of recent regional and by-elections.
…

The United Nations said Wednesday that Taliban restrictions on the rights of women and girls had “effectively trapped” most of them in their homes, turning Afghanistan into the “most repressive” country in the world for women.

The U.N. statement marking International Women’s Day comes as female activists gathered in the street of the Afghan capital, Kabul, for a second day to protest the ruling Taliban’s ban on girls’ access to education and work.

“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights and it has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. mission in Kabul.

“Confining half of the country’s population to their homes in one of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm,” she added, renewing her call on the Taliban to halt and reverse the “harsh restrictions.”

Otunbayeva warned that the crackdown on women’s rights would damage Afghanistan’s prospects of recovering from decades of war and condemn all its citizens to poverty for generations. “It will further isolate Afghanistan from its citizens and the rest of the world,” the U.N. envoy said.

The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from the country after two decades of war.

The hardline de facto leaders have since implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, barring most Afghan women from workplaces and banning female education beyond grade six in the impoverished South Asian nation of about 40 million people.

“The time has come for the United Nations to take a decisive and serious decision concerning the fate of the [Afghan] people,” one of the protesters at the Kabul rally read from a statement, according to AFP.

The U.N. says Afghan women’s right to travel or work outside their homes and to access public spaces is largely restricted. They have also been excluded from all levels of public decision making.

The international community has not recognized the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. It calls on the hardline leadership to uphold human rights and cut ties with terrorist groups before it is willing to engage in diplomatic relations.

On Wednesday, Rina Amiri, the U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights, voiced her solidarity with women in Afghanistan, saying she will continue to advocate for them with “every tool” at her disposal.

“The road ahead will be undeniably challenging, but you are not alone. We will continue working with you to remind the world that we cannot allow the normalization of policies that have made half of the population prisoners in their homes,” Amiri wrote in an open letter to Afghan women.

Taliban leaders did not immediately respond to the renewed international criticism of their governance. The male-only Taliban administration has said its policies align with Afghan culture and Islamic law. Afghans and scholars in other Muslim-majority countries reject the claims, saying neither local culture nor Islam bans women’s access to education and public life.

On Tuesday, Taliban Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim, while addressing a gathering in Kabul, insisted they had not banned female education but suspended it temporarily. He asserted the Taliban are being “uselessly” and “unfairly” accused of being enemies of women.

“[But] we cannot act based on anyone’s recommendations. The individuals should not make such demands on us that our tradition, customs, and Islamic religion do not allow,” Nadim said, without naming anyone.
…

Forced into exile, Afghan journalist Azita Nazimi is frustrated at not being able to report on issues affecting women still inside Afghanistan. Muska Safi and Lisa Bryant have the story for VOA, narrated by Shaista Sadat Lami.
…

When entrepreneur Sana Bhatt decided to set up a studio, she hardly knew if people would appreciate her efforts to revive traditional music on the Indian side of Kashmir.

Prior to the launch of the studio, the 24-year-old approached many local artists to sing songs on a set that that appeared similar to that of the Pakistan-based musical show, “Coke Studio.”

“Kehwa Beats” is the name of the show streamed live on Bhatt’s YouTube channel, Kashmir Originals. It went on to become a big hit with just six tracks. Eight artists, including two women, set the stage on fire, singing songs written by local poets from the disputed Himalayan territory.

“I felt there was a need to bring out domestically produced songs so that people can consume our music,” Bhatt told VOA.

“Kashmir has a rich culture and has an outstanding heritage of producing wonderful music,” she said, adding that music helps people living in different parts of the world understand different cultures.

The task of setting up an appealing studio, according to Bhatt, was challenging in the face of what she says is a social mindset that places restrictions on women.

“I had expected a good response but had no idea that people from outside Kashmir, too, would fall in love with our music,” Bhatt told VOA. “One of our female artists was trolled because of her clothing during her performance, otherwise everything went smoothly.”

Shift to local music

For more than two decades, residents of Kashmir used to listen to music sung by well-known artists from India and Pakistan. Musicians such as Aatif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Bohemia, Honey Singh, Neha Kakkar and Shreya Ghoshal used to reverberate in every household.

However, artists such as Mohammad Muneem and Noor Mohammad Shah, and a duo of Irfan and Bilal brought the attention of the local population back to domestically produced songs.

The revival of traditional Kashmiri music remained confined to men for several years until female singers such as Aabha Hanjura, Memet Syed, Vibha Saraf and others released their own tracks.

“There are many people who say ‘Why (do) females produce or sing songs?’ but at the same time appreciate men for doing the same,” Bhatt said. “People often relate women’s singing to religion. I ask them if it is related to the religion then both men as well as women should be targeted as religious restrictions are meant for both the genders.”

Difficult success

Nargis Khatoon, a young Kashmir-born New Delhi-based singer, believes women musicians don’t find good opportunities in the valley, unlike in other parts of India. As a result, it becomes difficult for singers like her to thrive in Kashmir.

“I live in New Delhi and find number of opportunities here, but if we speak about Kashmir we don’t have [a] commercial market to perform due to a large number of youth [who] hesitate in choosing music as a career,” Khatoon said.

Khatoon sees hope in people such as Bhatt coming forward and setting up a platform that allows musicians to present their talent in front of the world without any gender bias. But she said some broad-minded parents allow their daughters to choose their career in music only to have fears of an unstable future sometimes cause them to change their minds.

“I believe this is one of the reasons parents don’t allow girls to become singers, as they are worried about their future,” said Khatoon. “If more opportunities are provided in Kashmir, we might witness more and more female artists coming forward and joining the industry.”

‘More artists are welcome’

The Kashmir valley historically has produced many female singers who created a lasting impact on people of the region with their unique vocalization.

Years ago, the local population would be glued in front of radio and televisions for hours so that they could listen to their favorite female artists — household names such as Raj Begum, Naseema Akhther and Shameem Dev Azad.

Ishfaq Kawa, one of the popular singers in the valley, said that like men, women should work to promote traditional music because of their love for the Kashmiri language and culture.

“They [women] too love and do their bit to protect and promote our cultural music,” Kawa told VOA. “More and more artists are welcome to join this field, and everyone should respect them.”

However, Kawa disagrees with a popular notion that women singers are the only victims of abuse on social media.

“The thing is, an individual has to carry on without caring and thinking about such people,” said Kawa. “If we pay heed to what people say then we have to stop doing what we believe is good for our mother tongue.”

The show must go on

Bhatt, the entrepreneur, meanwhile is working on Season 2 of her show. Many popular as well as new faces will join Kashmir’s own “Coke Studio.”

“I and my team this year will focus folk songs of Kashmir,” Bhatt said. “Season 1 of ‘Kehwa Beats’ was the fusion of folk and hip-hop. In Season 2 we will try to give our folk music a contemporary touch which I believe would be popular among the masses, especially youth.”

Kashmir Originals, she said, not only provides a platform for singers but also for the instrumentalists, who she says add beauty to music.

“Both men and women instrumentalists are part of Kashmir Originals and ‘Kehwa Beats,'” Bhatt said. “Instrumentalists are as important as singers because they put life in the songs.”
…

The U.S. Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights says the international community continues to be united around the necessity of Afghan women’s rights.

In an interview with VOA’s Afghan Service late Monday, Rina Amiri said that the international community has “made it clear to the Taliban that … if they do not restore the rights of women and girls … there’s going to be no progress in terms of further normalization on any of the issues with which the Taliban seeks to make progress.”

An experienced diplomat who served in various posts at the United Nations, Amiri also served as an adviser to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke under the Obama administration.

Amiri spoke to VOA via Skype. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

VOA: It has been more than 500 days since the Taliban banned girls from attending school. No international pressure has worked on the Taliban. Do the U.S. and the international community have any plans to force the Taliban change their policies toward girls’ education?

Rina Amiri: The international community, the U.S. and many of the interlocutors that I spoke to have made it clear to the Taliban that if they do not take the right course in terms of respecting the rights of the Afghan population, if they do not restore the rights of women and girls, particularly the right to education and work, there’s going to be no progress in terms of further normalization on any of the issues with which the Taliban seeks to make progress.

But what we see is that the Taliban continues to prioritize its internal politics over the fate of the Afghan population. And that is one really important factor that has hindered progress on the situation of women and girls.

VOA: Thousands of women lost jobs as a result of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and its subsequent anti-women policies. In what ways is the U.S. helping these women? Is the U.S. still engaged with issues that Afghan women are facing?

Amiri: The situation of women and girls continues to be a significant priority for the United States. The U.S. is the only government thus far that has established an office specifically dedicated to the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. I think that that in itself should signify how important this issue is to the [U.S.] government in terms of what is being done. The Taliban’s recent decree in December, which banned women from working for NGOs, it not only had a devastating impact on women but on the country as a whole. It affected both women’s and men’s jobs. And it has had a very devastating impact on being able to reach the most vulnerable Afghans, those that are in dire need of food assistance.

To address this, the U.S. has been working very closely with the U.N. You saw that the U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, along with Martin Griffiths, the head of the United Nations humanitarian and emergency relief coordination, came out and met with the Taliban. So those types of efforts continue to be underway to make sure that assistance continues to be provided to the Afghan population and that the devastating policies do not further harm the Afghan population.

In addition, the U.S. and the international community have stressed that assistance will be provided where women are able to work. In addition, last June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and I launched the Afghan Women’s Economic Resilience Alliance, which is a public-private partnership specifically dedicated to supporting Afghan women and girls on everything from mentoring and capacity-building to women’s organizations and entrepreneurs. It also assists those seeking virtual education and other means of getting education to girls, even as we continue to put pressure on the Taliban.

We know that there’s not a day to waste in terms of Afghan women and girls being stripped of education. So we are trying to find entry points and identify ways to support women and girls both ourselves and by mobilizing the international community.

VOA: The Afghan Taliban seem to be on good terms with regional Muslim countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. What role have those countries played in pushing the Taliban to change their policies toward women?

Amiri: I’ve spoken to many leaders in the region as well as Muslim-majority countries. They continue to be extremely concerned about the situation of women and girls. And one of the key issues in which the international community remains united — that is, Muslim-majority nations in the region and nations in the West — is specifically the right of women and girls to education and work. Saudi Arabia issued a very strong statement condemning the Taliban’s actions that have taken away women’s right to work and girls’ right to education. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has put out very strong statements, as have Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and countries in the region.

The one point that the region bears in mind is that they do not want to walk away from the Afghan population. They remember the 1990s in which the world walked away and the Afghan people suffered. And the challenge right now is how do we collectively work to put pressure on the Taliban while not inflicting further harm on the Afghan population?

VOA: You have also said you are seeking a partnership to mobilize support to help Afghan women gain a stronger voice. How successful have your efforts been?

Amiri: I think there’s been a great deal of traction. Quite honestly, circumstances faced by Afghan women and girls is the one issue that continues to unite people more than anything else, whether I’m talking to citizens in the private sector, academics, to think tanks or governments. The sense of injustice, the sense that this is something that is setting Afghanistan back and that is going to create greater impoverishment and instability is of huge concern.

And in December, the Indonesian government, in partnership with Qatar, put together a conference in which 40 countries were brought together to identify how greater support could be provided to women and girls. They committed to over five hundred scholarships. And a few weeks ago, I was in Qatar and the Qatari government also was looking for ways to bring direct support to women and girls.

This is an area in which I expect growing enthusiasm. The question is how to do it in a way that’s targeted, that meets the needs of the Afghan population, and that gets support directly to Afghan women and girls in a way that is effective. I think that’s what we’re looking for.
…

Sri Lanka looks set to get a sign-off on a long-awaited $2.9 billion four-year bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on March 20 after the crisis-hit country secured new financing support from China.

The IMF and the island nation confirmed on Tuesday that Sri Lanka had received assurances from all its major bilateral creditors, a key step to deploy financing and an important moment for the country engulfed in its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament there were signs the economy was improving, but there was still insufficient foreign currency for all imports, making the IMF deal crucial so other creditors could also start releasing funds.

“Sri Lanka has completed all prior actions that were required by the IMF,” Wickremesinghe said, and that he and the central bank governor had sent a letter of intent to the IMF.

“I welcome the progress made by Sri Lankan authorities in taking decisive policy actions & obtaining financing assurances from all their major creditors, incl. China, India & the Paris Club,” IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Twitter, adding that she looked forward to presenting the IMF-supported program to the executive board on March 20.

Approval is expected since the board generally will not add items to its agenda unless its members are ready to act.

The country’s international debt and currency soared higher on the news, with bonds adding around 3 cents in the dollar, while the Sri Lankan rupee jumped as much as 7.8% to a 10-month high. Stocks closed more than 2% higher.

A new letter by the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) sent on Monday to Sri Lanka resolved the stalemate. Sources close to the talks said EXIM provided “specific and credible” financing assurances for a debt restructuring, with a specific link to the IMF program and clear language on debt sustainability.

The first tranche of funding was expected to be released shortly after the board meeting, the sources added.

In a letter in January, EXIM had offered Sri Lanka a two-year debt moratorium, but sources said this was not enough to meet IMF conditions.

“This is a positive development: it might be the first time that China provides textbook financing assurances to the IMF outside of a Common Framework process,” said Theo Maret, senior research analyst at Global Sovereign Advisory, in Paris.

By end-2020, Sri Lanka owed EXIM $2.83 billion, or 3.5% of its external debt, according to IMF data. In total, Sri Lanka owed Chinese lenders $7.4 billion, or nearly a fifth of public external debt, by end-2022, calculations by the China Africa Research Initiative showed.

IMF financing provides an anchor for countries to unlock other funding sources. Sri Lanka was in negotiations with India, its second biggest creditor, to extend a $1 billon credit line due to expire by March 17, two sources said.

Sri Lanka needs to repay about $6 billion on average each year until 2029 and will have to keep engaging with the IMF, Wickremesinghe said.

Countries in debt distress such as Zambia and Sri Lanka have faced unprecedented delays in securing IMF bailouts as China and Western economies have clashed over how to provide debt relief.

Sri Lanka has been waiting for about 187 days to finalize a bailout after reaching a preliminary deal. This compares to a median of 55 days it took low- and middle-income countries over the past decade to go from preliminary deal to board sign-off, according to data compiled by Reuters.

“Debt restructurings both within and outside the Common Framework have been taking longer than usual due to issues with creditor coordination and foot-dragging by China,” said Patrick Curran at Tellimer. “The restructurings in Sri Lanka and Zambia are likely to set important precedents for future restructurings.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday that Beijing would continue to participate in the settlement of international debt problems in a constructive manner.

Responding to a question on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting, Qin also said China should be the last to be accused of causing debt traps and called on other parties to share the burden.
…

An explosion in a seven-story commercial building in Bangladesh’s capital on Tuesday killed at least 14 people and injured dozens, officials said. 

The explosion occurred in Gulistan, a busy commercial area of Dhaka, fire department official Rashed bin Khaled said by phone. 

The building contained several stores selling plumbing products and household items, and its first two floors were badly damaged, according to fire officials. 

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion. 

Khaled said at least 11 fire department teams were working at the scene of the explosion. 

Bacchu Mia, a police official at the state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said more than 50 people were taken there for treatment, and at least 14 of them were dead. 

Bangladesh has a history of fires and industrial disasters, including factories catching fire with workers trapped inside. Monitoring groups have blamed corruption and lax enforcement. 

A massive fire on Sunday at a crammed refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims in southern Bangladesh left thousands homeless. No casualties were reported at Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar district. 

In 2012, about 117 workers died when they were trapped behind locked exits in a garment factory in Dhaka. 

The country’s worst industrial disaster occurred the following year, when the Rana Plaza garment factory outside Dhaka collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people. 

In 2019, a blaze ripped through a 400-year-old area cramped with apartments, shops and warehouses in the oldest part of Dhaka and killed at least 67 people. Another fire in Old Dhaka in a house illegally storing chemicals killed at least 123 people in 2010. 

In 2021, a fire at a food and beverage factory outside Dhaka killed at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door. 

Last year, a fire at a shipping container storage depot near the country’s main Chittagong Seaport killed at least 41 people, including nine firefighters, and injured more than 100 others. 
…

A report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council Monday accuses Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers of pursuing a policy “tantamount to gender apartheid.”

Richard Bennett, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, told the council that “the Taliban’s intentional and calculated policy is to repudiate the human rights of women and girls and to erase them from public life.”

“It may amount to the crime of gender persecution, for which the authorities can be held accountable.”

The Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S.-led Western forces left the country after nearly 20 years of war. 

Bennett said conditions in Afghanistan have continued to deteriorate since he submitted his initial report to the council back in September and noted, “Afghans are trapped in a human rights crisis that the world seemed powerless to address.”

Based on subsequent visits to the country in October and December, Bennett said he observed a harsher crackdown on any form of dissent and increasing attacks on the rights of women and girls, as well as ethnic and religious minorities.

Not only are women and girls barred from visiting parks, gyms, and public baths, but new edicts issued by the Taliban have prevented women from attending universities and banning them from working with non-governmental organizations.

“The abysmal treatment of women and girls is intolerable and unjustifiable on any ground, including religion,” he said.

“No country can function with half its adult population effectively imprisoned at home,” he added, saying the ban imposed on female NGO workers was adding to nationwide economic, social and cultural distress.

The United Nations reports that since the Taliban takeover of the country in 2021, the poverty rate has doubled with 28 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than six million Afghans on the brink of famine.

Bennett accuses the Taliban of interfering in the delivery of aid instead of intensifying its efforts to remedy the situation.

“I urge them to immediately cease actions that disrupt equitable and speedy access to humanitarian aid to those most in need, particularly women and children,” he said. “The role of women employees is critical in aid delivery. I urge the de facto authorities to immediately lift the ban on women working for NGOs.”

Bennett reported on widespread human rights violations, on the flogging in public of hundreds of women, children and men for alleged crimes including theft and so-called illegitimate relationships. He said he had received credible reports of multiple extrajudicial killings of fighters by the Taliban, of arbitrary arrests, torture, and ill treatment.

“There must be consequences for those responsible for serious human rights violations,” he said. “Longstanding impunity needs to be challenged for past as well as present crimes.”

The United Nations does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, so the previous government continues to represent the Afghan people at this international body.

Nasir Ahmad Andisha, ambassador and permanent representative of Afghanistan at the United Nations in Geneva, took the floor before the council, validating the litany of severe abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law described by the special rapporteur.

Andisha said the arbitrary arrests and forceful detentions of peaceful human rights defenders, university professors and activists “should be investigated as gender persecution — a crime against humanity.”

He called for the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism that could collect, analyze, and preserve evidence of human rights violations of Afghans, “especially those of women, children, and vulnerable groups.”

His words were echoed by the human rights organization Amnesty International, which is calling for the creation of a fact-finding mission like those already in place in countries such as Ethiopia, Iran, and Myanmar.

“The human rights situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly, and the Taliban’s relentless abuses continue every single day,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general.

Callamard said an investigative mechanism is required to meet the enormous challenge of documenting and recording human rights abuses in Afghanistan.

“The creation of a fact-finding mission is essential, with a focus on the collection and preservation of evidence to ensure justice is delivered,” she said, adding that all those found guilty of violations are held accountable in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts or international criminal courts.

Callamard warned that “the current accountability gap is allowing grave violations and abuses in Afghanistan to continue unabated, and it must be urgently closed.”

Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
…

Pakistan has imposed a complete ban on the broadcasting of speeches and news conferences by populist former prime minister Imran Khan, and swiftly suspended a mainstream satellite television channel for defying the order.

The curbs, slapped on late Sunday, were swiftly condemned by critics as an assault on the country’s freedom of speech and independent media, demanding the government remove them.

The state-run Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority ordered all satellite television channels to stop showing Khan’s “live and recorded” speeches and media talks immediately, warning that violators will have their licenses canceled.

The ban came hours after Khan, 70, addressed supporters of his opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) part, outside his residence in the eastern city of Lahore and alleged corruption against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

In Sunday’s live televised speech, the cricket-star-turned politician again accused Pakistan’s powerful military and its recently retired chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, of protecting incumbent rulers in alleged corruption cases. He also accused an unnamed officer of the country’s spy agency of unleashing a crackdown on PTI leaders and social media activists.

The media regulator claimed in its directive that Khan was “leveling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers.”

The authority hours later suspended the license of the ARY News channel for airing clips of Khan’s speech in a “willful defiance” of the prohibition order.

PEMRA had previously banned satellite television channels from broadcasting Khan’s live speeches, but a high court outlawed those restrictions as a violation of freedom of speech.

The country’s independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a statement Sunday it “deplores” the latest decision to ban the PTI chief speeches.

“We have always opposed measures to curb voices…and continue to stand by our commitment to freedom of speech, irrespective of the person’s political opinion. The ban must be lifted immediately,” the watchdog stressed.

Arrest warrants

Khan’s speech Sunday came hours after police tried to serve arrest warrants on him to ensure his appearance in an anti-graft court on charges he had unlawfully sold state gifts received from foreign dignitaries while serving as prime minister. He is required to appear in court Tuesday.

A police statement later said they could not directly serve the arrest warrants on Khan because his aides told them he was not at home.

Pakistan’s election commission had recently found Khan guilty of selling the gifts, prompting the Federal Investigation Agency to file charges against him and issue arrest warrants for avoiding appearing in court.

The opposition politician, popular among Pakistani youth and urban voters, rejects the charges as politically motivated and part of the Sharif administration’s alleged drive to victimize the opposition.

Khan has been demanding the government announce early elections since a parliamentary no-confidence vote toppled his nearly four-year-old government last April. Sharif, the then-opposition leader, succeeded Khan and cobbled together a coalition government of about a dozen political parties.

Sharif has rejected calls for a snap vote, saying it will be held later this year when Parliament completes its mandatory five-year term.

The deposed prime minister has led massive countrywide protest rallies to push for his demands. Khan was shot at and wounded while leading a rally last November. He accused Sharif and his administration of plotting to kill him, charges the government rejected.

On Sunday, Khan defended his absence from court, saying authorities did not provide adequate security during his multiple court appearances in the capital, Islamabad, last week. He again denied any wrongdoing and dismissed as fake dozens of lawsuits the government has launched against him since his ouster.

Until now, most Pakistani satellite channels would mute parts of Khan’s speeches where he would criticize Bajwa and other military officers for their role in removing him from office and for their continued involvement in national politics.

Just days before he stepped down from office after an extended six-year term last November, Gen. Bajwa acknowledged the military had been meddling in national politics for decades but decided in 2021 to end the “unconstitutional” practice. It was a rare admission, but Bajwa’s claims of ending the interference have been met with deep suspicions and skepticism by Khan’s party as well as independent critics of the military.

Pakistan’s military has staged several coups against elected governments, ruling the country for nearly half of its 75 years of existence. The institution is deeply involved in commercial and business activities but those who question the activity often face pressures and are dubbed traitors by pro-military media outlets.
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Authorities in southwestern Pakistan said Monday a suicide bombing of a truck transporting police personnel had killed at least nine and wounded 13 others.

The early morning deadly attack occurred in Sibi, a central district in the province of Baluchistan.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the violence in the natural resources-rich Pakistani province, where insurgents routinely target security forces.

Mehmood Notenzai, the district police chief, told reporters the truck was heading to Quetta, the provincial capital when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck it.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals where officials described the condition of several of them as “critical” and feared the death toll could rise.

Baluchistan has long been in the grip of a low-level insurgency led by ethnic Baluch separatist groups demanding the province’s independence from Pakistan.

Militants linked to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban group are also active in the province, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran.

Monday’s attack came as Pakistan is hosting a meeting with the United States to discuss cooperation in countering what officials said was the “common threat of terrorism” facing the two countries.

The Pakistani foreign ministry said that Christopher Landberg, the U.S. State Department’s acting coordinator for counterterrorism, is leading the U.S. interagency delegation in the talks in the capital, Islamabad.

“The two-day dialogue will provide an opportunity for both sides to exchange views and share their experiences and best practices in the domain of counterterrorism,” the statement added.

The talks come against the backdrop of the resurgence in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
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India’s Supreme Court has dismissed a Hindu nationalist leader’s petition to rename all cities and historical places of the country, which he said had been named after those he called “barbaric foreign invaders” several centuries ago.    

In his petition, Ashwini Upadhyay, a lawyer and the leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sought permission from the court to appoint a “renaming commission” to prepare a list of “ancient (Hindu) historical-cultural religious places” named after the Muslim rulers during their rule and offer Hindu names.    

In dismissing Upadhyay’s petition, the two-judge bench said the proposal went against the principle of secularism enshrined in the Constitution.    

“We are secular and supposed to protect the Constitution. You are concerned about the past and dig it up to place its burden on the present generation. Each thing you do in this manner will create more disharmony,” the bench said.    

Beginning in the 12th century, a succession of Muslim empires — most notably the Delhi sultanate and the Mughal empire — dominated the Indian subcontinent for almost seven centuries. During Muslim rule, the growth of trade and commerce was accompanied by the brisk growth of towns and cities across the country.    

The Muslim rulers established many towns, naming them after themselves or their ancestors.    

Historian Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, a professor of medieval history at India’s Aligarh Muslim University, agrees.    

“This way, we find names of places linked to (named after) Muslim as well as Hindu builders or their progenitors. Religion was certainly not the basis for naming places [in] those days,” Rezavi told VOA.  

Some places already renamed 

In the last few years, several places with Muslim-sounding names have been renamed by BJP governments. In 2018, the north Indian city of Allahabad, founded by Mughal emperor Akbar, was changed to Prayagraj. Mughalsarai, a nearby historic railway junction, was renamed Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction. Pandit Upadhyaya was a 20th century Hindu nationalist leader.

A week ago, Aurangabad — a city named by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in western India — was renamed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. Chhatrapati Sambhaji was the son of Hindu warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji.   

With the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Hindutva — nationalist groups — have increased demands for renaming many Muslim-sounding locations.    

In his petition, BJP leader Upadhyay claimed that historical locations found in ancient Hindu religious texts are known by the names of so-called “foreign looters.”    

“Successive governments have not taken steps to correct the barbaric act of invaders and the injury is continuing,” Upadhyay’s petition stated.    

Justice K.M. Joseph remarked that Upadhyay’s petition was looking at the past selectively, targeting Muslims — India’s largest religious minority — specifically.  

“India is today a secular country. Your fingers being pointed at a particular community, termed barbaric. Do you want to keep the country on the boil?” he asked.    

Alok Vats, a senior BJP leader, defended Upadhyay’s petition.    

Vats told VOA, “The tyrannical Muslim rulers who demolished Hindu temples and forcibly converted Hindus to Islam are in no way to be revered and remembered hence the name change is justified. The same applies to the colonial rulers. Now, under the present BJP leadership, the Hindu sentiment is at its peak. The Sanatanis (Hindus) are out to undo all the nefarious and anti-Hindu doings of the past.” 

Muslim-sounding names at risk   

Muslim leaders and activists in India, though relieved by the Supreme Court’s rejection of Upadhyay’s petition, are worried about the rise of Hindutva evident in the country since BJP came into power.   

Zafarul-Islam Khan, former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission, told VOA that the Supreme Court’s refusal to accept a petition to order the setting up of a renaming commission is reassuring.    

“At least it clearly defines that it is wrong to change [the] names of historical places, but I do not think that the present dispensation will be deterred,” he said. 

Khan said, sooner or later, Hindutva forces would try to obliterate all Muslim-sounding names of cities, towns, villages and roads, in a bid to make Islam and Muslims in India invisible.    

“This goes hand in hand with deleting passages and chapters from Indian textbooks and fabricating a new history. Future generations will think that Muslims did nothing while ruling India for [seven] centuries,” Khan added. 

Historian Rezavi said, unlike today, religion was not a criterion for naming places founded in the medieval period by the elite — for either Muslims or Hindus.    

“Even old ‘Hindu’ names were continued (by Muslim rulers) without giving a thought that [they] were not Muslim. (In the 16th century,) Mughal emperor Akbar established a city and named it Ilahbās, meaning ‘Abode of Hindu goddess Ila.’ Akbar was Muslim. But he named the city after a Hindu goddess,” Rezavi said. The British rulers converted the name of the city from Ilahbās to Allahabad, meaning ‘city of Allah.'”   

Audrey Truschke, historian and associate professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University in New Jersey, told VOA that the renaming of historical places with Hindu-sounding names is part of a larger “genocidal project.”    

“The BJP seems to be accelerating their loathsome calls for a Muslim-free India, in both the past and the present. … They scream of barbarians in the past that are so far removed from historical figures that they are better described as figments of the Hindu nationalist imagination. Such demonization bodes ill for Indian religious minorities,” she said.  
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Pakistani police on Sunday served arrest warrants to former prime minister Imran Khan to ensure his appearance in court on charges of misusing his office to sell state gifts, authorities said, after Khan’s supporters tried to prevent police entry into his home.

The election commission of Pakistan had in October found the 70-year-old cricket-hero-turned politician guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries.

The Federal Investigation Agency then filed charges against him in an anti-graft court, which last week issued the arrest warrants after Khan failed to appear in court despite repeated summons.

Khan has been demanding a snap election since his ouster from office in a parliamentary vote early last year, a demand that was rejected by his successor Shehbaz Sharif, who has said the vote would be held as scheduled later this year.

He led countrywide protest campaigns to press for an early vote last year and was shot at and wounded at one of the rallies.

Referring to his absence from court and the shooting incident, Khan said on Sunday: “They [the police] know there is a threat against my life,” adding that the courts did not provide adequate security.

Khan’s aide Fawad Chaudhry said he couldn’t be arrested because he had secured a protective bail from a high court.

Chaudhry said the government wanted to sow political chaos and avoid an early election by arresting the former premier, who was still popular among the country’s youth and urban voters.

Islamabad police said in a statement that when Khan wasn’t found at his residence in Lahore, they served the arrest warrants.

Khan is required to appear in court on March 7. If he fails to do so, police will be required to arrest him and present him to court, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
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“Italy here we come!” cheered the young men, in Urdu and Pashto, as they filmed themselves standing on a boat sailing in bright blue waters.

They were among around 180 migrants — Afghans, Pakistanis, Syrians, Iranians, Palestinians, Somalis and others — who left Turkey hoping for a better, or simply safer, life in Europe.

Days later, dozens of them were dead. So far, 70 bodies have been recovered from the Feb. 26 shipwreck near the small beach town of Steccato di Cutro, but only 80 survivors have been found, indicating that the death toll was higher. On Sunday, firefighter divers spotted another body in the Ionian Sea and were working to bring it ashore, state TV said.

The tragedy has highlighted the lesser-known migration route from Turkey to Italy. It also brought into focus hardening Italian and European migration policies, which have since 2015 shifted away from search and rescue, prioritizing instead border surveillance. Questions are also being asked of the Italian government about why the coast guard wasn’t deployed until it was too late.

Based on court documents, testimony from survivors and relatives and statements by authorities, the AP has reconstructed what is known of the events that led to the shipwreck and the questions left unanswered.

The fateful journey

In the early hours of Wednesday, Feb. 22, the migrants — including dozens of families with small children — boarded a leisure boat on a beach near Izmir following a truck journey from Istanbul and a forest crossing by foot.

They set out from the shore. But just three hours into their voyage, the vessel suffered an engine failure. Still in high seas, an old wooden gulet — a traditional Turkish style boat — arrived as a replacement.

The smugglers and their assistants told the migrants to hide below deck as they continued their journey west. Without life vests or seats, they crammed on the floor, going out for air, or to relieve themselves, only briefly. Survivors said the second boat also had engine problems, stopping several times along the way.

Three days later, Feb. 25, at 10:26 p.m. a European Union Border and Coast Guard plane patrolling the Ionian Sea spotted a boat heading toward the Italian coast. The agency, known as Frontex, said the vessel “showed no signs of distress” and was navigating at 6 knots, with “good” buoyancy.

Frontex sent an email to Italian authorities at 11:03 p.m. reporting one person on the upper deck and possibly more people below, detected by thermal cameras. No life jackets could be seen. The email mentioned that a satellite phone call had been made from the boat to Turkey.

In response to the Frontex sighting, the case was classified as an “activity of the maritime police.” Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, or financial police, which also has a border and customs role, dispatched two patrols to “intercept the vessel.”

As the Turkish boat approached Italy’s Calabrian coast Saturday evening, some of the migrants on the boat were allowed to message family, to inform them of their imminent arrival and release the 8,000-euro ($8520) fee that had been agreed upon with the smugglers.

The men navigating the boat told the anxious passengers they needed to wait a few more hours for disembarkation, to avoid getting caught, according to survivors’ testimony to investigators.

At 3:48 a.m., Feb. 26, the financial police vessels returned to base, without having reached the boat due to bad weather. The police contacted the coast guard to ask if they had any vessels out at sea “in case there was a critical situation” according to communication obtained by the Italian ANSA agency and confirmed by AP. The coast guard replied they did not. “OK, it was just to inform you,” a police officer said before hanging up.

Just minutes later, at around 4 a.m., local fishermen on Italy’s southern coast spotted lights in the darkness. People were waving their cell phone flashlights desperately from atop a boat stuck on a sand bank.

The suspected smugglers grabbed black tubes, possibly life jackets, and jumped into the water to save themselves, according to survivors. Waves continued smashing into the vessel until it suddenly ripped apart. The sound was like that of an explosion, survivors said. People fell into the frigid water. Many could not swim.

Italian police arrived on the scene at 4:30 a.m., the same time that the coast guard says it received the first emergency calls. It took the coast guard another hour to get there. By then, bodies were already being pulled out of the water with people screaming for help while others attempted to resuscitate the victims.

The young victims

There were dozens of young children on board the boat. Almost none survived. The body of a 3-year-old was recovered Saturday.

Among those who lived was a Syrian father and his eldest child, but his wife and three other children did not. The body of his youngest, age 5, was still missing four days later.

One Afghan man drove down from Germany, searching for his 15-year-old nephew who had contacted family saying he was in Italy. But the boy also died before setting foot on land.

The uncle asked that his name, and that of his nephew, not be published as he had yet to inform the boy’s father. The boy’s mother died two years ago.

The aftermath

Prosecutors have launched two investigations — one into the suspected smugglers and another looking at whether there were delays by Italian authorities in responding to the migrant boat.

A Turkish man and two Pakistani men, among the 80 survivors, have been detained, suspected of being smugglers or their accomplices. A fourth suspect, a Turkish national, is on the run.

A day after the shipwreck, Frontex told the AP it had spotted a “heavily overcrowded” boat and reported it to Italian authorities. In a second statement, though, Frontex clarified that only one person had been visible on deck but that its thermal cameras indicated there could be more people below.

In an interview with the AP, retired Coast Guard Admiral Vittorio Alessandro said the coast guard’s boats are made to withstand rough seas and that they should have gone out.

Alessandro added that the photos released by Frontex showed the water level was high, suggesting the boat was heavy.

The coast guard said Frontex alerted Italian authorities in charge of “law enforcement,” copying the Italian Coast Guard “for their awareness” only. Frontex said it is up to national authorities to classify events as search and rescue.

“The issue is simple in its tragic nature: No emergency communication from Frontex reached our authorities. We were not warned that this boat was in danger of sinking,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said Saturday.

Alessandro, however, lamented how over the years the coast guard’s activities — which previously occurred even far out in international waters — have been progressively curtailed by successive governments.

“Rescue operations at sea should not be replaced by police operations. Rescue must prevail,” he said.
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