WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden expressed skepticism on Thursday about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comment that he had no intention of using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
Putin, in a speech earlier in the day, played down a nuclear standoff with the West, insisting Russia had not threatened to use nuclear weapons and had only responded to nuclear “blackmail” from Western leaders.
“If he has no intention, why does he keep talking about it? Why is he talking about the ability to use a tactical nuclear weapon?” Biden said in an interview with NewsNation.
“He’s been very dangerous in how he’s approached this,” Biden said.
Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly said in recent weeks that Russia could use nuclear weapons to protect its territorial integrity, remarks interpreted in the West as implicit threats to use them to defend parts of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed.
In an interview earlier on CNN, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said it was possible Russia was considering the use of a so-called dirty bomb and was setting up a pretext to blame Ukraine. But he said the United States still had not seen any signs that was necessarily the case.
“They often blame others for that which they are doing themselves or about to do. So that’s why we have to take that seriously,” Kirby said of Putin’s allegations.
“I’ll also tell you that we’re not seeing any signs, even today, that the Russians are planning to use a dirty bomb or to even make preparations for that.”
Biden: Putin’s talk of possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine is ‘dangerous’
https://arab.news/j7xgj
Biden: Putin’s talk of possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine is ‘dangerous’
Scores killed in militant attacks in northwest Nigeria
- The attacks came days after the state hosted the UNESCO-listed Argungu fishing festival
- The Lakurawa group has been blamed for many of the attacks on communities
LAGOS: Militant fighters have killed scores of people and destroyed seven villages in raids in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi state, the police said Thursday.
Members of the Lakurawa group attacked villages in the Bui district of Arewa northern region at around 1:15 p.m. (1215 GMT) Wednesday, said Kebbi state police spokesman Bashir Usman.
A security report seen by AFP said the militants had killed “more than 30 villagers.”
Usman said: “Scores of people were killed as residents from Mamunu, Awasaka, Tungan Tsoho, Makangara, Kanzo, Gorun Naidal, and Dan Mai Ago mobilized to resist the attackers.”
The attackers had also rustled “some cattle” in the raids, he added. Police, soldiers and local militia were immediately sent to the area.
The attacks came days after the state hosted the UNESCO-listed Argungu fishing festival, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) from the Arewa region, where the attacks took place.
The Lakurawa group has been blamed for many of the attacks on communities in the northern part of the state and in neighboring Sokoto state.
Its members stage deadly attacks from their forest base, rustling livestock and imposing “taxes” on locals.
The Nigerian government said the Christmas day air strikes by the US military in Sokoto had targeted members of the group and “bandit” gangs.
Some researchers have linked the group to the Islamic State Sahel Province, which is active mainly in neighboring Niger and Mali, though others remain doubtful.
The activities of the group have compounded Nigeria’s insecurity.
The West African nation is grappling with a more than 16-year militant insurgency in the northeast, as well as a farmer-herder conflict in the north central region.
They also have to contend with a violent secessionist agitation in the southeast, and kidnappings for ransom plague the northwest.
Nigeria is now looking to the United States for technical and training support for its troops fighting the militants after a resurgence of violence strained relationships between the two countries.
The US Africa Command said 200 troops were expected to join the deployment overall.
US President Donald Trump has said the violence there amounts to the “persecution” of Christians — a framing long used by the US religious and political right wing.
Nigeria’s government and many independent experts say Christians and Muslims alike are the victims of the country’s security crises.
