MOGADISHU, 24 March 2022, (TON): A diplomatic memo said “at least five people, including two of the attackers, were killed during a raid by armed militants on an army base near the Somali capital’s international airport.”

Security forces were dealing with a terrorist incident at the gates to the camp. A witness said “gunmen had forced their way in and started shooting.”

State radio reported later that the two attackers had been stopped at the base gates.

State TV said “security Forces have shot dead two armed terrorists who attempted to force their way into the army base near Mogadishu’s Adan Abdulle International Airport on Wednesday and police will give details shortly.”

An internal diplomatic security memo seen by Reuters said two security guards, thought to be Kenyan nationals, and a Somali policeman were also killed in the incident, while four others were wounded.

DAMASCUS, 24 March 2022, (TON): The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, discussed the war in Ukraine and other developments during a meeting in Damascus.

Syria’s top diplomat said Moscow is defending its people.

Faisal Mekdad spoke to reporters in Damascus after his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, held talks with President Bashar Assad, Mekdad and top security official Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk.

Amir-Abdollahian welcomed the reconciliation approach by the United Arab Emirates toward Syria.

He added that Tehran is close to reaching an agreement on its nuclear program with world powers.

Iran is a strong ally of Assad and has sent thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the region to bolster Syrian government forces against opponents in the 11-year Syrian conflict.

KABUL, 24 March 2022, (TON): Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan said “several embassies of Afghanistan have officially been submitted to them and obey the rules and principles of the new Afghan government.”

The Ministry said “this type of diplomatic relations is called quiet recognition and can be taken back anytime.”

After Islamabad and Tehran, the interim government of the IEA now controls activities of the Afghan embassies in the Turkish capital Ankara and Turkmen capital Ashgabat.

Meanwhile, 15 countries along with the EU have their embassies and diplomatic offices open in Kabul and their diplomats and representatives conduct official and unofficial meetings with de facto authorities.

KABUL, 24 March 2022, (TON): The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has announced that girls’ high schools will be closed, hours after they reopened for the first time in nearly seven months.

The backtracking by the Taliban means female students above the sixth grade will not be able to attend school.

A Ministry of Education notice said “schools for girls would be closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.

The notice said “we inform all girls high schools and those schools that are having female students above class six that they are off until the next order.”

“Yes, it’s true,” Taliban spokesman Inamullah Samangani told media when asked to confirm reports that girls had been ordered home.”

NEW DELHI, 24 March 2022, (TON): The Rajya Sabha was told “as many as 1,630 Bangladeshi nationals are among the 3,467 foreign undertrial prisoners lodged in different Indian jails.”

The highest number of the foreign prisoners are from Bangladesh, reports our New Delhi correspondent quoting India's Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra.

He said “of the other foreign prisoners, 615 are from Nigeria, 463 from Nepal, 152 from Myanmar 114 from Africa (other than Nigeria) and 107 from Pakistan.”

The minister said “the highest number of foreign prisoners are lodged in West Bengal (1,295), followed by Delhi (400), Maharashtra (380), Uttar Pradesh (290), Karnataka (155) and Himachal Pradesh (119), among others.”

NEW DELHI, 24 March 2022, (TON): An Indian government source said “Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will fly to New Delhi to meet his Indian counterpart and other senior officials, in the highest such visit by a Chinese official since deadly border disputes flared between the countries in 2020.”

The source said “it was not immediately clear whether he would meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, declining to be named ahead of an official announcement by India's foreign ministry.

Bangladesh: Nordic ambassadors meet PM Hasina marking 50 years of bilateal relations

DHAKA, 24 March 2022, (TON): Ambassadors of the Embassy of Denmark, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, and the Embassy of Sweden met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to commemorate 50 years of bilateral relations.

The meeting, held at Ganabhaban, highlighted both the history and friendship between the countries, as well as the partnership going forward.

A press release “the envoys of Denmark, Norway and Sweden also met with Speaker of Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Wednesday, when “Nordic Day” is celebrated globally.”

During the meetings, the ambassadors emphasized the importance the Nordic countries attach to sustainability, gender equality, and human rights.

DHAKA, 24 March 2022, (TON): President M Abdul Hamid received credentials of nine envoys separately at the Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban.

President's Press Secretary Joynal Abedin told media “all these envoys to Bangladesh are non-residents.”

They are high commissioner of Nigeria and eight ambassadors of Estonia, Ireland, Rwanda, Romania, Mauritania, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Dominican Republic.

Abedin said “welcoming the new envoys, the President said Bangladesh always maintain a very excellent relations with the countries.”

Mentioning the Bangladesh's foreign policy, 'Friendship towards all, malice to none', President Hamid said “Bangladesh attaches importance to developing relations with all countries of the world.”

The head of the state President Hamid hoped “the envoys would work for the development of their respective countries' relations with Bangladesh during their tenure.”

WASHINGTON, 23 March 2022, (TON): Russia has failed to achieve its goals in Ukraine, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said, warning that despite the apparent Russian setbacks, the war will not end easily or rapidly.

Speaking from the White House, Sullivan said “Russia had set three objectives for itself when it started its unprovoked invasion: subjugating Ukraine, enhancing Moscow’s power and prestige, and dividing the West.”

Sullivan said “Russia has thus far manifestly failed to accomplish all three objectives. In fact, it has thus far achieved the opposite.”

He added that brave Ukrainians have refused to submit to Russian forces.

SOFIA, 23 March 2022, (TON): Poland and Bulgaria have agreed on technical support for MiG-29 aircraft of the Bulgarian Air Force.

Bulgarian Pres-ident Rumen Radev annou-nced this in a statement following talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Radev said “I thank Duda for being ready to immediately send experts to assist Bulgaria in supporting the MiG-29 with the capabilities of the Polish industry and the Air Force.”

He said “the situation with fighter aircraft is especially critical for us, the engine life of some aircraft of which is running out by the end of this year, and the operational readiness of the new F-16 aircraft can only be expected by 2030.”

The head of Poland shared plans to modernize his armed forces, announcing an increase in funding for this area to 4% of GDP and an increase in the number of armed forces to 500,000 people.