04 Wednesday, July 28, 2021 World Afghanistan and China top agenda as US’s Blinken begins India visit dpa India-US global partnership, try said. The evolving situation regional bulwark against Bei- New Delhi India’s Foreign Ministry said. Both sides will discuss the in the Indo-Pacific region jing’s growing assertiveness in Blinken is scheduled to deteriorating security situ- against the backdrop of Chi- the Indo-Pacific region. US Secretary of State Antony have talks with External Af- ation in Afghanistan, where na’s military posturing also Besides cooperation in Blinken began a two-day visit fairs Minister Subrahmanyam the Islamist Taliban is rapidly features prominently on the dealing with the Covid-19 to India on Tuesday, during Jaishankar and will also call expanding the territory it con- talks agenda, Indian analysts pandemic, Blinken is also which he will conduct talks on on Prime Minister Narendra trols in the wake of a US troop said. expected to raise India’s hu- a range of issues, including the Modi on Wednesday. withdrawal. The Delhi talks are expect- man rights record as well as a security situation in Afghani- “Discussions will focus on Despite the Taliban’s stat- ed to lay the groundwork for recent religion-based citizen- stan and the strengthening of regional and global issues of ed aim of overthrowing the a summit of the Quadrilateral ship law widely seen as dis- Indo-Pacific engagement with mutual interest - including Afghan government, US Presi- Security Dialogue - compris- criminatory towards Muslims. an eye to China. recovery from the Covid-19 dent Joe Biden has announced ing Australia, India, Japan After wrapping up his Blinken’s first visit to In- pandemic, the Indo-Pacific that the US will end its Afghan- and the US - later this year, meetings in Delhi, Blinken dia as secretary of state was region, Afghanistan and coop- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards an aircraft as he departs istan mission on August 31 - af- domestic media reported. will travel to late on an opportunity to bolster the eration at the UN,” the minis- Washington at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday. (AFP) ter almost 20 years. The grouping is seen as a Wednesday.

POLITICAL DRAMA US combat troops to leave by end of the year

dpa to the White House there are ’s key party calls Washington currently some 2,500 US sol- diers deployed in Iraq. The fu- The United States plans to ture figure will depend on the officially end its combat mis- demands of the changed mis- sion in Iraq and focus solely sion, it said. for dialogue to end crisis on training and advising secu- Experts do not anticipate a rity forces in the country in the major troop withdrawal. future. The US is leading an in- Ennahda considers the exceptional measures taken by President Kais is ‘unconstitutional and represent a coup’ The combat troops still in ternational coalition fighting Iraq will leave by the end of the Islamic State group in the dpa the year, according to a joint region. The US deployment is statement from both govern- controversial in the country. ments circulated by the US Iraqi parties and mili- Tunisia’s largest political State Department. tias closely linked to Iran are party, the Ennahda move- The role of international among those calling for a ment, on Tuesday urged the soldiers in Iraq is to support withdrawal, while other forc- president to retract his deci- the government in its fight es such as Sunni parties and sion to suspend parliament against Islamic State mili- Kurds want US troops to stay. and called for a national dia- tants, the statement said. Under Biden’s predeces- logue to end the crisis and US President Joe Biden sor Donald Trump, the US re- find solutions for pressing said ahead of a meeting with duced the number of troops in social and economic prob- Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Iraq. lems. al-Kadhimi at the White House Iraq is unstable, with mass Ennahda considers that that the role of US troops will protests against the country’s the exceptional measures be “just to be available, to leadership happening regular- taken by President continue to train, to assist, to ly since late 2019. Protesters “unconstitutional and repre- help, and to deal with ISIS as accuse the government of mis- sent a coup against the con- it - as it arrives.” According management and corruption. stitution and institutions,” the group said in a statement. Saied sacked Prime Min- ister and suspended parliament on Thousands rally in Pak Sunday, in sweeping meas- ures that have been met with border area for peace both protests and celebra- tions in the streets. Military forces have de- in Afghanistan ployed around the parlia- ment and Cabinet buildings dpa Armed groups linked to al- and banned anyone from Islamabad Qaeda and affiliated with the getting inside, including En- Taliban have been driven out of nahda leader and Parliamen- Thousands of people rallied Pakistan’s tribal regions in a se- tary Speaker Rached Ghan- in Pakistan’s north-western ries of military operations since nouchi. border region to demand peace 2014. Ennahda urged military Tunisian police barricade a road leading to the parliament in Tunis on Tuesday. (AFP) in neighbouring Afghanistan, However, an increase in and security institutions to where the security situation is attacks on security forces and stay away from political dis- ings. Protesters had legiti- 2011 revolution, called on ties to whoever is chosen by ed to a Cabinet reshuffle by deteriorating ahead of the com- civilians in recent months have putes. mate social, economic and Tuesday for the blockade on the president “to preserve Mechichi that the parliament plete withdrawal of internation- caused alarm that that Taliban It also called on Saied to political demands, Ennahda parliament’s activities to be the safety of all Tunisians.” “I approved. al troops. are regrouping and once again retract his decisions and to said. These issues are “an ab- lifted. can never be a disruptive ele- Tunisia’s political devel- Pashtun Tahafuz Move- pose a serious threat the the adhere to the “democratic solute priority” and a nation- “We will continue to watch ment or part of the problem opments come amid deepen- ment (PTM), the body which border region. choice” of the people and al- al dialogue is needed to help the evolution of the situation that complicates the situa- ing health and economic cri- defends the rights of ethnic The US and Afghanistan low the elected parliament to find solutions, it added. attentively, considering the tion,” Mechichi added. ses in the country. Pashtuns, organized the rally in accuse Islamabad of backing resume work. The group’s statement is substantial support for Tuni- Mechichi took office in Saied ordered the suspen- South Wazirstan region. Taliban factions, a charge Pa- Ennahda also acknowl- a shift from its earlier one sia from the EU and its mem- September and has been sup- sion of work in public insti- Former senator and Pash- kistan denies. It is rare for local edged recent anti-govern- urging to its supporters to ber states,” EU foreign affairs ported by the largest two par- tutions for two days starting tun leader Afrasiab Khattak voices like the PTM to speak ment protests, where some protest outside parliament chief Josep Borrell said in a ties in parliament, Ennahda on Tuesday. He also imposed described the even in the city out against Pakistan’s powerful have demanded the govern- “to protect the revolution written statement issued on and Qalb Tounes, who have a night-time curfew until Au- of Makeen as “demonstration army. ment resign and the parlia- and people’s will.” Calm pre- behalf of the bloc. also been at odds with the gust 27. of solidarity” with people of Af- Tuesday’s rally did not get ment be dissolved. vailed around parliament on Since Sunday, President president. Tunisia has imposed sev- ghanistan. coverage in local media. The row among the poli- Tuesday, a day after scuffles Saied insisted that he is ad- Tension heightened be- eral curfews and movement The area was once a strong- The militant Islamist ticians, along with economic erupted between Saied’s sup- hering to the constitution, tween Mechichi and Saied restrictions measures in re- hold of al-Qaeda and the Tali- Taliban have launched sev- turmoil and Covid-19, has porters and Ennahda follow- dismissing accusations that earlier in the year when cent months in a bid to limit ban, with many families suf- eral offensives and extended fuelled growing unrest in the ers. he staged a coup. Mechichi dismissed an inte- the spread of the coronavirus, fering violent attacks. The their control over further ar- country often hailed as the The European Union, Ousted prime minister, rior minister who was seen as which left more than 18,800 community has accused the Pa- eas in Afghanistan as US and lone bright spot to emerge which has channelled billions Mechichi, said he will hand close to Saied. dead during the course of the kistani government of not doing NATO troops began pulling out from the Arab Spring upris- of euros into Tunisia since its over the office’s responsibili- The president also object- pandemic. enough to protect them. of the country in recent months.

Son finds Pak climber, others’ Rain-triggered landslide kills five US Defence Sec in first South-East bodies months after Asia trip as China tensions grow deaths on K2 Rohingya in Bangladesh camp dpa dpa dpa Islamabad Dhaka Bangkok

The son of a Pakistani climb- At least five Rohingya Mus- The US does not expect er who died during a winter at- lims have been killed in a South-East Asia “to choose” tempt to scale K2, the world’s landslide caused by heavy rain between it and chief rival Chi- second highest peak, has at a refugee camp in the south- na, Defence Secretary Lloyd found his father’s and fellow eastern Bangladesh, officials Austin said in Singapore on mountaineers’ bodies months said on Tuesday. Tuesday at the start of his first after they perished in the snow Local government official official trip to the region. and ice, officials said. Nizam Uddin Ahmed said the However Austin is expect- Pakistan’s Mohamed Ali rescuers found the bodies of ed to push back against Bei- Sadpara, John Snorri of Iceland five people, including two chil- jing’s growing influence dur- and Mohr Prieto from Chile dren, buried under the chunks ing a visit meant “to deepen died in February while attempt- of mud that fell on their Onlookers stand as Rohingya refugees work amid the debris of America’s bonds” with the ed to summit the treacherous thatched houses at a Rohingya houses in Balukhali camp on Tuesday. (AFP) “Indo-Pacific.” Austin will US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks (left) speaks with Singa- mountain. Sajid Ali, Sadpara’s camp in Cox’s Bazar. later this week visit the Phil- pore’s Minister of Defence Ng Eng Heng in Singapore on Tuesday. (AFP) son and one of the survivors of The site is more than 300 at the Bangladesh’s Refugee neighbouring Myanmar. ippines, a US ally, and Viet- the deadly attempt, led an expe- kilometres south-east of the Relief and Repatriation Com- Nearly 750,000 of them nam, a former foe, both of The Global Times, a to choose between the US and dition this month to recover his capital Dhaka. mission. crossed the border after My- which have been at logger- Chinese state mouthpiece, China, said he had “a good father’s and the other climbers’ All them were residents of He said many camps and anmar launched brutal mili- heads with China for at least claimed on Sunday that Aus- discussion” with Austin “on bodies, said Asghar Ali Porik, Balukhali’s camp number 10 their adjoining areas have tary crackdown in 2017. a decade over the disputed tin’s trip was about hyping regional and international de- chief of Pakistan Association of that lies in the foothills of a been submerged because of Local meteorologist Abdur South China Sea. “the China threat,” scoff- velopments, as well as defence Tour Operators (PATO). small mountain, Ahmed said, the monsoon-triggered rain Rahman said Cox’s Bazar re- Beijing’s claim to most of ing that the US “has a relative cooperation.” Austin’s trip is The team led by Ali had adding two other Rohingya for the last two days in the corded 109 millimetres of rain the sea “has no basis in in- shortage of capabilities and the first by a Biden Cabinet found and identified the bod- men sustained injuries and Cox’s Bazar district. in the last 24 hours ended on ternational law” Austin said, tools to influence South-East minister to South-East Asia ies of all three climbers around were rushed to a local hospital. More than 1 million Ro- Tuesday morning. speaking at an event hosted Asia.” Singapore Prime Minis- but his second to the wider a steep patch called the Bottle- The accident occurred at hingya refugees are living in Many areas outside the by the London-based Inter- ter Lee Hsien Loong, who has region, after he visited Ja- neck, at around 8,000 metres about noontime, said Sham- sprawling camps in the district camps have also been inundat- national Institute for Strategic raised concerns about South- pan, South Korea and India in heigh, Porik said. sud Douza, a senior official after they fled persecution in ed because of the rain, he said. Studies (IISS). East Asia potentially having March.