HELSINKI: The NATO military alliance said Tuesday it would launch a Baltic Sea monitoring mission following the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months.
Several telecom and power cables have been severed with experts and politicians accusing Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West as the two sides square off over Ukraine.
The “Baltic Sentry” mission would involve “frigates and maritime patrol aircraft” among other assets, NATO chief Mark Rutte said at a regional meeting in Finland’s capital Helsinki on Tuesday.
But he declined to give details on the number of vessels “because that might differ from one week to another” and he did not want to make “the enemy any wiser than he or she is already.”
NATO was also tight-lipped on the duration, saying in a statement the operation would continue “for an undisclosed amount of time.”
The suspected sabotage has been blamed on a “shadow fleet” of vessels — often aging and operating under opaque ownership — that carry Russian crude oil and petroleum products, embargoed since the invasion of Ukraine.
“Investigations of all of these cases are still ongoing, but there is reason for grave concern,” Rutte said.
He said protecting undersea infrastructure was of “utmost importance” not only for energy supplies but also for Internet traffic.
Leaders of NATO’s Baltic countries said in a statement after the Helsinki meeting that the shadow fleet “poses a particular threat to the maritime and environmental security in the Baltic Sea region and globally.”
They said the fleet “significantly supports funding of Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said foreign ministries from the Baltic Sea NATO states would set up a group of legal experts to assess what they could do without affecting freedom of navigation.
NATO said in late December it would increase its presence in the region but had not announced an operation.
Iro Sarkka, a researcher from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told AFP that NATO had been pushed into action by the Russian shadow fleet.
A comprehensive operation would serve as a “deterrent and a strategic signal” that NATO was prepared to act, according to Sarkka.
Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe in September 2022, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
Two telecom cables in Swedish waters were severed on November 17-18 last year.
And weeks later, on December 25, the Estlink 2 electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia were damaged.
Investigators suspect the cables were damaged by the anchor of the Eagle S, a Cook Island-flagged oil tanker believed to be part of the “shadow fleet.”
Finnish police seized the Eagle S on December 28 as part of a criminal investigation.
Finnish authorities last week deemed the ship unseaworthy, barred it from sailing and have banned eight crew members from leaving the country while police carry out a probe.
NATO launches Baltic Sea patrols after suspected cable sabotage
https://arab.news/54cyg
NATO launches Baltic Sea patrols after suspected cable sabotage
- Several telecom and power cables have been severed with experts and politicians accusing Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West
- The “Baltic Sentry” mission would involve “frigates and maritime patrol aircraft” among other assets, NATO chief Mark Rutte said
New deadly clashes break out on Afghanistan-Pakistan border despite truce
- At least 5 people were killed, 5 injured on the Afghan side, Taliban authorities say
- Latest clash comes amid reports of back-channel negotiations between the two countries
KABUL: Overnight border clashes have broken out between Afghan and Pakistani forces, authorities in Afghanistan said on Saturday, as tensions between the neighbors escalated following a fragile ceasefire.
The latest exchange of fire that spanned Spin Boldak and Chaman, a key crossing between southeastern Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and Pakistan’s Balochistan, marked violations of a ceasefire that has been in place since October.
The truce brokered by Qatar and Turkey has mostly held for the past two months, after dozens were killed on both sides in what was the deadliest confrontation in years between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
But heavy gunfire and shelling erupted again late on Friday, with each side blaming the other for sparking the deadly violence.
“Unfortunately, last night the Pakistani side once again attacked Spin Boldak in Kandahar. The forces of the Islamic Emirate had to respond,” Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson of Afghanistan’s Taliban government, told Arab News on Saturday.
He said five people on the Afghan side — including four civilians — were killed in the violence, while five others were injured.
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, said that the Taliban “resorted to unprovoked firing” along their shared border.
“An immediate, befitting & intense response has been given by our armed forces. Pakistan remains fully alert & committed to ensuring its territorial integrity & the safety of our citizens,” he wrote on X.
Local residents in Spin Boldak told Arab News that Friday’s clashes forced families to flee their homes.
“Mortars and bullets smashed into houses and public places,” Samiullah Malang said. “It was difficult … (to) watch women and children flee on motorbikes, tractors and on foot in the cold night.”
Although the fighting largely subsided around midnight, sporadic gunfire continued into the morning, he added.
The overnight violence also reached the Friendship Gate, an official crossing point between Spin Boldak and Chaman, which was closed by Pakistan authorities after the fighting.
Clashes at the border have led to repeated closures of the key border crossing, devastating commerce and disrupting the movement of thousands.
“Every time Pakistan shuts the gate, our fruits rot inside the trucks,” said Afghan businessman Haji Rahmatullah. “Hotels are filled with patients waiting to cross for treatment.”
After the ceasefire agreement in October, subsequent talks for a long-term truce have so far yielded little progress. The latest deadly exchange of fire comes amid reports of back-channel negotiations between Afghan and Pakistani officials, which neither governments have openly confirmed.
Both sides remain deeply divided on core security issues and repeated clashes highlight the absence of an effective de-escalation mechanism, according to Asad Waheedi, a political analyst based in Kabul.
“The talks are not bearing fruit because the demands are unrealistic,” he said. “Pakistan asks the Taliban to guarantee the security of their country. This is impossible. Even when America had all its troops here, it could not guarantee Afghanistan’s security. The Taliban have no presence there (in Pakistan). It is an impractical demand.”
Clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the Durand Line — their 2,640-km border — have occurred for decades but intensified after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, following the withdrawal of US-led troops.
Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering fighters from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and allowing them to stage cross-border attacks — a charge Afghanistan denies, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
The deadly violence in October was triggered by an unclaimed explosion in Kabul and another in the southeastern province of Paktika, for which the Afghan government blamed the Pakistani military.
“The facts show that the distance between them is huge,” Waheedi said. “Until the demands become practical, these talks will go nowhere, and the fighting will continue.”
