RIO DE JANEIRO: Ten members of Brazil’s military were under arrest Monday after soldiers fired 80 shots at a car carrying a family, killing a 46-year-old man and stirring outrage in the country.
Evaldo dos Santos Rosa was driving Sunday to a baby shower with his 7-year-old son, his wife, her stepfather and another woman when soldiers started shooting at them, according to relatives. The stepfather and a passerby who was trying to help were injured but the rest of the family was unharmed.
The military initially said in a statement that the soldiers had responded to gunfire from attackers. But police said no arms were found in the car and the military eventually changed its statement.
“All evidence point to a homicide,” police investigator Leonardo Salgado told TV news Globo after inspecting the site.
On Monday, the military said soldiers patrolling the area mistook Dos Santos Rosa’s car for that of criminals.
“Due to inconsistencies between the facts initially reported and other information later received by the eastern military command, we determined the immediate removal of the military (members) involved,” the armed forces said in statement. Ten of the 12 men questioned by investigators were under arrest.
Luciana Dos Santos, the victim’s wife, went to the morgue Monday to identify her husband’s body. In tears, shock, Dos Santos told reporters her 7-year-old thought his father was still alive.
“My God, why did the (soldiers) do this?” Dos Santos said, almost struggling to breathe.
“Murderers, that’s what they are,” said Dos Santos’ sister Deborah outside the forensic institute. “It’s like the governor said: Kill first and then see. And that’s what they did: First they killed and then they went to see that it was a father, that there was a family inside, that there was a kid inside.”
“This can’t keep happening. We want justice,” the victim’s 29-year-old son, Daniel, told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
Brazil has the largest number of annual homicides in the world and new President Jair Bolsonaro has vowed to unleash security forces to battle rampant violence. But the armed forces have long been criticized for extra-judicial killings, especially in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, the police killed 1,534 people in the state, according to government data.
Brazil army arrests 10 soldiers after family car shooting
Brazil army arrests 10 soldiers after family car shooting
- Brazil has the largest number of annual homicides in the world and new President Jair Bolsonaro has vowed to unleash security forces to battle rampant violence
Pakistani fighter jet crashes in Jalalabad, pilot captured: Afghan military, police
- Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday
- Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar
JALALABAD: A Pakistani jet has crashed in Jalalabad city and the pilot captured alive, the Afghan military and police said Saturday, with residents telling AFP the man parachuted from the plane before being detained.
"A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive," police spokesman Tayeb Hammad said.
Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed the Pakistani jet was downed by Afghan forces "and the pilot was captured alive".
The AFP journalist heard a jet overhead before blasts from the direction of the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which sits on the road between Kabul and the Pakistani border.
Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday, following overnight clashes as the international community expressed increasing concern about the conflict and called for urgent talks.
Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar, in one of the deepest Pakistani incursions into its western neighbor in years, officials said.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, who it claims are waging an insurgency inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies.
Pakistan described its actions as a response to cross-border assaults, while Kabul denounced them as a breach of its sovereignty, saying it remained open to dialogue but warned any wider conflict would result in serious consequences.
The fighting has raised the risk of a protracted conflict along the rugged 2,600-kilometer frontier.
Diplomatic efforts gathered pace late on Friday as Afghanistan said its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan about reducing tensions and keeping diplomatic channels open.
The European Union called for both sides to de-escalate and engage in dialogue, while the United Nations urged an immediate end to hostilities.
Russia urged both sides to halt the clashes and return to talks, while China said it was deeply concerned and ready to help ease tensions.
The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks by the Taliban, a State Department spokesperson said.
Border fighting continues
Exchanges of fire continued along the border overnight.
Pakistani security sources said an operation dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq” was ongoing and that Pakistani forces had destroyed multiple Taliban posts and camps in several sectors. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Both sides have reported heavy losses with conflicting tolls that Reuters could not verify. Pakistan said 12 of its soldiers and 274 Taliban were killed while the Taliban said 13 of its fighters and 55 Pakistani soldiers died.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said 19 civilians were killed and 26 wounded in Khost and Paktika. Reuters could not verify the claim.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said “our cup of patience has overflowed” and described the fighting as “open war,” warning that Pakistan would respond to further attacks.
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a speech in Khost province that the conflict “will be very costly,” and that Afghan forces had not deployed broadly beyond those already engaged.
He said the Taliban had defeated “the world, not through technology, but through unity and solidarity,” and through “great patience and perseverance,” rather than superior military power.
Pakistan’s military capabilities far exceed those of Afghanistan, with a standing army of hundreds of thousands and a modern air force.
In stark contrast, the Taliban lacks a conventional air force and relies largely on light weaponry and ground forces.
However, the Islamist group is battle-hardened after two decades of insurgency against US-led forces before returning to power in 2021.
