NAYPYITAW, 30 October 2021, (TON): The military launched airstrikes in western Kyunhla Township in Sagaing Region in what locals said “was an attempt to destroy People’s Defence Force (PDF) bases they believed to be located there.”

Soldiers reportedly arrived by air in four helicopters and two jets starting at around 9am, with heavy weapons fired until the afternoon.

A Kyunhla resident told media “they opened fire on the area from four helicopters. Some soldiers came out of those helicopters and started firing shells as well.”

He added that they were aiming their fire toward the forests in western Kyunhla.

He said “the local PDF did not retaliate.”

The air raids follow rumours that the military council would be escalating their attacks on northwestern Myanmar under an offensive known as “Operation Anawrahta.”

Locals from Kyunhla and neighbouring Taze Township speculated that the aircraft involved may have flown from Monywa, also in Sagaing, where the Northwestern Military Command headquarters are located.

DHAKA, 30 October 2021, (TON): At least 20 people have been injured in separate clashes during Union Parishad election campaigning in Jashore's Jhikargachha upazila last night.

Independent candidate from Shimulia union, Jahurul Huq claimed that he and his men were attacked by supporters of rival candidate Motiyar Rahman during campaigning in Missionpara area.

Jahurul said “at least six including Jahurul himself were injured in the incident. Locals rescued and admitted them to Jashore General Hospital.

In another incident, a crude bomb was hurled during a campaign rally of Panisara union's independent chairman candidate Pikul Hasan in front of rival candidate Nowsher Ali's election office.

Supporters of the two candidates engaged in clashes as a result and around 15 people were injured.

DHAKA, 30 October 2021, (TON): Bangladesh and India have expressed optimism that the utilisation rate of Lines of Credit (LoCs) extended to Bangladesh by India is set to increase significantly soon.

With the award of more than $990.85m worth of contracts under the LoCs during the past three years, and another $325.58m being finalised within the next few months, the two sides hope it will create new opportunities for shared development of the region and mutual benefits.

Bangladesh and India have noted considerable improvement in the speed of projects reaching the execution or ending stage under the LoCs.

It has been made possible with the active cooperation of the project-implementing agencies of both sides and the extensive coordination efforts between the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the High Commission.

The 19th Bangladesh-India LoC review meeting was held in Dhaka on October 27-28 to review the progress of 43 projects being taken up for implementation under GoI Lines of Credit (LoCs).

Sridharan Madhusudhanan, joint secretary (DPA-I), Ministry of External Affairs, government of India, led the Indian delegation and the Bangladesh delegation was led by Shahriar Kader Siddiky, additional secretary, ERD, Ministry of Finance, government of Bangladesh.

Representatives of Indian companies executing the LoC projects in Bangladesh also participated in the meeting.

NAYPYITAW, 29 October 2021, (TON): Nearly two months after declaring a “resistance war” against Myanmar’s coup regime, the underground National Unity Government (NUG) has formed a central committee to coordinate military operations across the country.

According to NUG defence secretary Naing Htoo Aung “the newly formed Central Command and Coordination Committee aims to carry out coordinated attacks against the military junta under one chain of command.”

He said, speaking to media “the committee includes individuals from the NUG tasked with defence and military affairs, as well as leaders from some ethnic armed groups.”

When asked for more details about the composition of the committee and who would lead it, he declined to reveal which ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) were involved and said that it would operate under “a collective leadership.”

He added, however, that negotiations were still ongoing with a number of EAOs regarding their possible inclusion in the committee.

He said that the committee will coordinate the operations of five commands north, south, east, west, and central as well as battalions operating directly under the NUG’s defence ministry.

WASHINGTON, 29 October 2021, (TON): At a summit organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, several former members of the US Congress endorsed calls for the prosecution of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for “crimes against humanity and genocide,” over his role in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners.

Raisi was sworn-in as president of Iran in August and has packed his cabinet with senior figures from of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, many of whom have been accused of human rights violations and war crimes. NCRI officials said that of 19 cabinet members, about two-thirds are veterans of the IRGC, which has been declared a terrorist organization by the US.

Former US Vice President Mike Pence joined former senators Joseph Lieberman and Robert Torricelli, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey and retired Gen. James Conway in demanding that Raisi be prosecuted.

Pence told the crowd “the recent selection of Ebrahim Raisi to serve as Iran’s president is a sign of the regime’s growing weakness and desperation.”

MOSCOW, 29 October 2021, (TON): The Kremlin warned that the use of Turkish-made drones could further aggravate the conflict in Ukraine, after Kiev released footage of its military employing the weapons against pro-Russian separatists for the first time.

Ukraine has been fighting a trench conflict in the east of the ex-Soviet country against fighters backed by Russia since 2014, when Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula, sparking sanctions from the West.

Ukraine’s defence ministry late Tuesday published video of what it said was its first use of the Turkish-made TB2 Bayraktar drone in the conflict, targeting artillery.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters “we really have special and good relations with Turkey but this case, unfortunately, confirms our concerns that the deliveries of such armaments to the Ukrainian military may potentially destabilize the situation at the engagement line.”

ADDIS ABABA, 29 October 2021, (TON): Ethiopia’s military carried out an air strike on the capital of the war-torn Tigray region that a hospital official said killed 10 people.

The government said the strike, the latest in a campaign of air bombardments, hit a factory in Mekele used by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Government spokeswoman Selamawit Kassa said “the air force destroyed the second part of Mesfin Industrial Engineering. The facility was used by TPLF terrorist group for maintaining its military equipments.”

Dr Hayelom Kebede, research director at Mekele’s Ayder Referral Hospital, said a residential area was hit and casualties were inflicted.

“The death toll reaches 10,” he said, up from his earlier count that put the number of dead at six and listed 21 people as injured.

The Tigrai Communications Affairs Bureau, a TPLF-linked information channel, also reported casualties and said the strike had hit a residential area.

BRUSSELS, 29 October 2021, (TON): A group of 12 European countries on Thursday urged Israel to scrap plans for the construction of more than 3,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

A day after the US criticised the plan, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden said in a joint statement that Israel should cancel its decision to build the settlements.

The foreign ministries of the 12 said “we urge the Government of Israel to reverse its decision to advance plans for the construction of around 3,000 settlement units in the West Bank.”

They said “we reiterate our strong opposition to its policy of settlement expansion across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which violates international law and undermines efforts for the two-state solution.”

Israel made fresh moves towards building the settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a move also condemned by the Palestinians.

WASHINGTON, 29 October 2021, (TON): Congresswoman Betty McCollum, chair of the US House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, introduced a resolution condemning Israeli authorities for labeling six human rights organizations as “terrorist groups.”

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who is in a power-sharing agreement to take over as Prime Minister from incumbent Naftali Bennett in two years, announced the designation of the groups last week.

It gives authorities the power to close offices, seize assets and arrest and imprison staff without trial or formal public proceedings.

McCollum said in a prepared statement released with the resolution “when a government uses the label of ‘terrorist’ as a weapon to silence the work of human rights organizations and advocates who courageously represent vulnerable people living in under military occupation, it is a sign of incredible weakness more aligned with an authoritarian regime than a healthy democracy.”

“Israel’s decision to brand these prominent Palestinian civil-society groups as terrorist organizations exposes the truth that Israel’s occupation is violent, immoral and unjust, and that peaceful efforts to defend the rights of Palestinian children, women, farmers or prisoners must be declared illegal.”

RIYADH, 29 October 2021, (TON): The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government said “it had killed 95 Huthi rebels in air strikes near the strategic city of Marib, as fighting pushes more people into displacement.”

That would bring to around 2,000 the number of Huthis the coalition says it has killed around Marib in strikes it has reported almost daily since October 11.

The Iran-backed rebels rarely comment on losses, and AFP could not independently verify the toll.

A statement said the coalition carried out 22 operations targeting rebels in two districts near Marib that "killed 95 terrorists and damaged 11 military vehicles".

The latest bombing was carried out in Al-Jawba, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Marib, and Al-Kassara, 30 kilometres to the northwest.

Marib, capital of the oil-rich province of the same name, is the internationally recognised government's last bastion in northern Yemen.

The Huthis have claimed to be tightening their grip around Marib city.