UNITED NATIONS: The United States, Britain and France demanded Friday that the United Nations urgently investigate Russia’s reported use of hundreds of Iranian-provided drones in the war in Ukraine, which would violate UN sanctions. But it’s unclear whether the UN will do so in the face of strong opposition from Russia.
Russia denies using the Iranian drones, despite widespread evidence that they have been used to attack Ukrainian cities.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted that the US this month released further information documenting Iran’s provision of hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, known as UAVs or drones, as well as equipment that can be used in their production. Ukraine and the UK also submitted evidence to the United Nations of Iranian drones recovered by the Ukrainian military, she said.
“This is a matter of life or death for the Ukrainian people,” the US ambassador told the UN Security Council after delivering the statement calling for an investigation, which also was signed by Albania and Ukraine.
The five countries accused Russia of violating the Security Council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers, not only by procuring hundreds of MoHajjer and Shahed drones by also by working with Iran to produce drones inside Russia.
The 2015 resolution prohibits all countries from transferring such weapons from Iran without advance Security Council approval, which was not given, the statement said.
“Russia has been using these UAVs in recent weeks to strike Kyiv, destroy Ukrainian infrastructure, and kill and terrorize Ukrainian civilians,” the US and its allies said. “The United Nations must respond to growing calls from the international community to investigate these violations.”
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN Secretariat, which is headed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is still analyzing information it received regarding “the alleged transfer of un-crewed aerial vehicles by Iran in a manner inconsistent” with the 2015 resolution.
He said a report expected soon from Guterres will be discussed this month by experts on the committee monitoring implementation of the resolution, and by the 15-member Security Council in July. Russia is one of five permanent members with veto power.
Thomas-Greenfield told reporters the resolution gives the secretary-general a mandate to open an investigation. Haq gave no indication of whether Guterres would do so.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that Ukraine has not given Russia or Iran an “iota of credible evidence” about the use of Iranian drones.
“We hope that the secretary-general has sufficient wisdom not to be misled by our former Western partners,” Nebenzia said.
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US, UK, France demand UN investigate Russia’s sanctions-busting use of Iranian drones in Ukraine
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US, UK, France demand UN investigate Russia’s sanctions-busting use of Iranian drones in Ukraine
- It’s unclear whether the UN will do so in the face of strong opposition from Russia
- Russia denies using the Iranian drones, despite widespread evidence that they have been used to attack Ukrainian cities
Nigerian villagers are rattled by US airstrikes that made their homes shake and the sky glow red
JABO: Sanusi Madabo, a 40-year-old farmer in the Nigerian village of Jabo, was preparing for bed on Thursday night when he heard a loud noise that sounded like a plane crashing. He rushed outside his mud house with his wife to see the sky glowing a bright red.
The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.”
He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a USattack on an alleged camp of the militant Daesh group.
US President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Daesh militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the US government in its strike.
A panicked village
Nigerian government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPS-guided precision” missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Idris said the strikes targeted areas used as “staging grounds by foreign” Daesh fighters who had sneaked into Nigeria from the Sahel, the southern fringe of Africa’s vast Sahara Desert. The government did not release any casualty figures among the militants.
Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, spoke to The Associated Press on Friday about panic and confusion among the villagers following the strikes, which they said hit not far from Jabo’s outskirts. There were no casualties among the villagers.
They said that Jabo has never been attacked as part of the violence the US says is widespread — though such attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages.
Abubakar Sani, who lives on the edge of the village, recalled the “intense heat” as the strikes hit.
“Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP.
“The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens,” he added. “We have never experienced anything like this before.”
It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’
The strikes are the outcome of a months long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US
The Trump administration has said Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected.
However, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow.
“For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years.
Bulama Bukarti, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa, said the residents’ fear is compounded by a lack of information.
Nigerian security forces have since cordoned off the area of the strikes and access was not allowed.
Bukarti said transparency would go a long way to calm the local residents. “The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions.”
Foreign fighters operate in Nigeria
Analysts say the strikes might have been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis.
The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel.
However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and Daesh are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province — a Daesh affiliate in Nigeria — has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organization, Boko Haram.
“What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Bukarti said.
Still, some local people feel vulnerable.
Aliyu Garba, a Jabo village leader, told the AP that debris left after the strikes was scattered, and that residents had rushed to the scene. Some picked up pieces of the debris, hoping for valuable metal to trade, and Garba said he fears they could get hurt.
The strikes rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu, who has been preparing for her upcoming marriage.
“I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.”
The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.”
He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a USattack on an alleged camp of the militant Daesh group.
US President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Daesh militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the US government in its strike.
A panicked village
Nigerian government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPS-guided precision” missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Idris said the strikes targeted areas used as “staging grounds by foreign” Daesh fighters who had sneaked into Nigeria from the Sahel, the southern fringe of Africa’s vast Sahara Desert. The government did not release any casualty figures among the militants.
Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, spoke to The Associated Press on Friday about panic and confusion among the villagers following the strikes, which they said hit not far from Jabo’s outskirts. There were no casualties among the villagers.
They said that Jabo has never been attacked as part of the violence the US says is widespread — though such attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages.
Abubakar Sani, who lives on the edge of the village, recalled the “intense heat” as the strikes hit.
“Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP.
“The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens,” he added. “We have never experienced anything like this before.”
It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’
The strikes are the outcome of a months long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US
The Trump administration has said Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected.
However, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow.
“For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years.
Bulama Bukarti, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa, said the residents’ fear is compounded by a lack of information.
Nigerian security forces have since cordoned off the area of the strikes and access was not allowed.
Bukarti said transparency would go a long way to calm the local residents. “The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions.”
Foreign fighters operate in Nigeria
Analysts say the strikes might have been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis.
The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel.
However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and Daesh are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province — a Daesh affiliate in Nigeria — has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organization, Boko Haram.
“What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Bukarti said.
Still, some local people feel vulnerable.
Aliyu Garba, a Jabo village leader, told the AP that debris left after the strikes was scattered, and that residents had rushed to the scene. Some picked up pieces of the debris, hoping for valuable metal to trade, and Garba said he fears they could get hurt.
The strikes rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu, who has been preparing for her upcoming marriage.
“I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.”
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