ISLAMABAD: Angry and offended Pakistanis fired back Wednesday against Donald Trump’s accusations that their country harbors militants, highlighting the heavy toll they have paid fighting extremism and slamming his embrace of arch-rival India.
The US president unleashed blistering criticism of Pakistan this week as he unveiled his new Afghanistan policy which paves the way for the indefinite deployment of more troops to the war-weary country.
Trump lashed out at US ally Pakistan, accusing the country of playing a double game as it accepted American aid but gave safe haven to insurgents who kill Afghan and NATO troops.
“We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting,” Trump said.
Pakistan sees nuclear-armed India as an existential threat but cannot defeat its much larger neighbor on the battlefield, so has instead crafted a strategy of supporting militant proxies — including the Afghan Taliban.
Such groups tie down India in the contested Himalayan region of Kashmir and, in Afghanistan, help prevent the rise of an Indian-backed government.
Pakistani civilians have little power over regional strategy but have lost homes and loved ones to militant violence which has killed thousands in their own country since 2007. Trump’s remarks provoked hurt and outrage among many.
“We have been fighting YOUR war for a decade now, we have lost numerous lives of civilians, our jawans, even our schoolgoing children as well,” wrote Farhan Bashir on Facebook. “Today you are saying this to cover up your failures in Afghanistan?”
Some residents in the capital Islamabad said their country was being treated as a scapegoat after being dragged into the conflict following the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
“All the worst things that we are facing is only because (we are) supporting the US in Afghanistan,” said Ameer Hamza. “How could a country shelter terrorists which itself is under the grip of terrorism?“
In Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, which has borne the brunt of vicious militant violence over the years, bank employee Suhail Ahmad said Pakistani troops and police had done their job and cleared the area of militants.
“We Pakistanis were suffering from terrorism, but now the terrorists have either been killed or fled to Afghanistan,” the 24-year-old told AFP.
“The power is in the US hands in Afghanistan so why don’t they go against terrorists and kill them there?”
Others suggested ditching the US alliance altogether and embracing China, which has been pouring tens of billions into infrastructure investment in Pakistan in recent years.
“They have always pressured us for doing more and more. There may be some pro-US voices but I think we should go closer to China,” said Sakhawat Shah, a Peshawar college student.
Editorials in leading dailies urged Trump to be cautious after he called on Pakistan’s arch-rival India to deepen its engagement in Afghanistan, a scenario the Pakistani military establishment dreads.
Pakistan sees India as an existential threat, analysts say, and is unlikely to abandon its Afghan proxies — especially as the US tilts toward India, as Trump clearly indicated in his speech.
“Like the previous administrations, the Trump administration too believes in unquestioned cooperation, ignoring Islamabad’s interests completely,” wrote columnist Zahid Hussain in Dawn newspaper.
“Pakistani officials contend that the Trump administration has crossed the red line by making India a part of its Afghan strategy.”
Analyst Rahimullah Yousufzai told AFP: “On one side America is asking for Pakistan’s support and on the other side asking India.
“How it is possible for Pakistan to provide its support in a matter which will strengthen India’s grip in Afghanistan?“
In the bustling port city of Karachi, also long plagued by militant violence, shopowners brushed aside Trump’s criticism.
“We need to clean up our own mess, not to rely on any one,” said Rashid Mahmood, 40.
Others noted that Pakistanis have bigger problems than even Trump or militants.
“Our daily nightmare is street robbers ... we are least bothered by what America is saying,” said Momin Khan, a 42-year-old grocery shop owner, adding: “Trump is a liar and he is anti-Muslim.”
Angry Pakistanis lash out after US condemnation
Angry Pakistanis lash out after US condemnation
Russia returns six children to Ukraine: state media
- The children were reunited with their families at an event in the Qatari embassy in Moscow
Moscow: Russia has returned six children displaced by the conflict in Ukraine to their families in a deal brokered by Qatar, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported on Wednesday.
Ukraine believes Russia has illegally taken more than 19,000 of its children since the start of its 2022 offensive, of which fewer than 400 have been returned.
The children — a group of boys aged six to 17 that included two brothers — were reunited with their families at an event in the Qatari embassy in Moscow, the agency reported.
The event was attended by the Qatari ambassador as well as officials representing Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, TASS said.
Lvova-Belova is currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia, a charge the Kremlin denies.
Ukraine did not immediately comment.
Since July 2023, Qatar has helped bring back dozens of children taken to Russia and occupied territories during the two-year conflict, an issue that is highly sensitive in Ukraine.
Some of the children’s parents were killed, while others were separated from their carers by the fast-moving front lines at the start of Russia’s offensive.
Some were living in Ukrainian orphanages in areas Russia then occupied.
UAE president to visit South Korea
- The two leaders will discuss bilateral ties and explore opportunities for greater collaboration
ABU DHABI: UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan will make a two-day state visit to South Korea on May 28 at the invitation of President Yoon Suk Yeol, state news agency WAM reported on Wednesday.
The two leaders will discuss bilateral ties and explore opportunities for greater collaboration across various sectors including trade, investment, energy and technology.
They will also address regional and international developments of common interest.
“The meeting comes within the framework of strategic partnership between the UAE and South Korea in line with their vision to achieve a better and more prosperous future for the countries,” the WAM statement said.
Saudi Arabia welcomes move by Norway, Ireland and Spain to formally recognize Palestinian state
- Palestinian Authority and its rival group Hamas both welcomed the recognition
- Israel recalls envoys to Spain, Ireland and Norway for consultations
RIYADH/COPENHAGEN: Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it welcomed the “positive” decision taken by Norway, Spain, and Ireland to recognize a Palestinian state.
The Kingdom said it appreciated this decision “which confirms the international consensus on the inherent right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” in a foreign ministry statement.
The kingdom also called on more countries to swiftly take the same stance, “which would contribute to finding a reliable and irreversible path to achieve a just and lasting peace that fulfills the rights of the Palestinian people.”
Leaders of Norway, Spain and Ireland said on Wednesday they were formally going to recognize Palestine as a state.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said: “There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also announced that the country’s council of ministers would recognize an independent Palestinian state on Tuesday May 28.
“Next Tuesday, May 28, Spain’s cabinet will approve the recognition of the Palestinian state,” he said, adding that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was putting the two state solution in “danger” with his policy of “pain and destruction” in the Gaza Strip.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said it was a move coordinated with Spain and Norway, “an historic and important day for Ireland and for Palestine.”
The Palestinian Authority and its rival group Hamas both welcomed the recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank territory while Hamas runs Gaza.
Jordan hailed the coordinated move as an “important and essential step towards Palestinian statehood.”
“We value this decision and consider it an important and essential step towards a two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the July 1967 borders,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a press conference.
Several European Union countries have in the past weeks indicated that they plan to make the recognition, arguing a two-state solution is essential for lasting peace in the region.
Israel recalled envoys to Spain, Ireland and Norway over their moves to recognize a Palestinian state.
“Today, I am sending a sharp message to Ireland and Norway: Israel will not go over this in silence. I have just ordered the return of the Israeli ambassadors from Dublin and Oslo to Israel for further consultations in Jerusalem,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take their first steps toward Palestinian recognition, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.
The efforts come as a mounting death toll in Gaza from Israel’s offensive to rout Hamas prompts calls globally for a ceasefire and lasting solution for peace in the region.
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union but mirror its moves, has been an ardent supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The terror has been committed by Hamas and militant groups who are not supporters of a two-state solution and the state of Israel,” the Norwegian government leader said.
“Palestine has a fundamental right to an independent state,” Gahr Store told a press conference.
The move comes as Israeli forces have led assaults on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip in May, causing a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, and sharply restricted the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.
The Scandinavian country “will therefore regard Palestine as an independent state with all the rights and obligations that entails,” Gahr Store said.
Norway’s recognition of a Palestine state comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993.
Since then, “the Palestinians have taken important steps toward a two-state solution,” the Norwegian government said.
It said that the World Bank determined that Palestine had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.
“The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades,” the Norwegian government said.
China to continue to strengthen ties with Iran, state media says
- “Iran has lost outstanding leaders and China has lost good friends and partners, said Wang, according to Xinhua news
BEIJING: China will continue to strengthen strategic cooperation with Iran, safeguard common interests, and make endeavors for regional and world peace, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday, citing comments from Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang made the remarks in talks on Tuesday with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari, while attending a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
“Iran has lost outstanding leaders and China has lost good friends and partners, said Wang, according to Xinhua news. “In this difficult time, China firmly stands by Iranian friends,” he said, referring to the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday.
Singapore Air says 80 people from turbulence-hit flight still in Bangkok
- Flight SQ321 had 211 passengers and 18 crew on board when it encountered sudden turbulence
- A 73-year-old British passenger died of a suspected heart attack and at least 30 people were injured
SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines said 74 passengers and six crew members are still in Bangkok, including those receiving medical care and their family members, after a flight encountered severe turbulence on Tuesday.
The airline said in a statement that an additional five passengers who were on board the SQ321 flight will return to Singapore on Wednesday, and one crew member is set to return on Thursday.
The scheduled London-Singapore flight was diverted to Bangkok after the plane was buffeted by turbulence that flung passengers and crew around the cabin, slamming some into the ceiling. A 73-year-old British passenger died of a suspected heart attack.
“I saw people from across the aisle going completely horizontal, hitting the ceiling and landing back down in like really awkward positions. People, like, getting massive gashes in the head, concussions,” Dzafran Azmir, a 28-year-old student on board the flight said after arriving in Singapore.
Photographs from the interior of the plane showed gashes in the overhead cabin panels, oxygen masks and panels hanging from the ceiling and luggage strewn around. A passenger said some people’s heads had slammed into the lights above the seats and punctured the panels.
Singapore Airlines took 131 passengers and 12 crew on the relief flight from Bangkok that reached Singapore just before 5 a.m. (2100 GMT). There were 211 passengers including many Australians, British and Singaporeans, and 18 crew on board the original flight; injured fliers and their families remained in Bangkok.
“On behalf of Singapore Airlines, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased,” Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said in a video message.
Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB) is looking into the incident, and the US National Transportation Safety Board is also sending representatives for support.
The plane encountered sudden extreme turbulence, Goh said, and the pilot then declared a medical emergency and diverted to Bangkok.
Aircraft tracking provider FlightRadar 24 said at around 0749 GMT the flight encountered “a rapid change in vertical rate, consistent with a sudden turbulence event,” based on flight tracking data.
“There were thunderstorms, some severe, in the area at the time,” it said.
The sudden turbulence occurred over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar about 10 hours into the flight, the airline said. Turbulence has many causes, most obviously the unstable weather patterns that trigger storms, but this flight could have been affected by clear air turbulence, which is very difficult to detect.
Turbulence-related airline accidents are the most common type of accident, according to a 2021 NTSB study.
While the airline said 30 people were injured, Samitivej Hospital in Thailand said it was treating 71 passengers.
From 2009 through 2018, the US agency found that turbulence accounted for more than a third of reported airline accidents and most resulted in one or more serious injuries, but no aircraft damage.
Singapore Airlines, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading airlines and is a benchmark for much of the industry, has not had any major incidents in recent years.
Its last accident resulting in casualties was a flight from Singapore to Los Angeles via Taipei, where it crashed on Oct. 31, 2000 at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, killing 83 of the 179 people on board.
