ANTANANARIVO: A Madagascar army contingent near the capital on Saturday called on soldiers and security units to “join forces” and “refuse orders to shoot” at protesters, while several thousand marched in the capital.
The United Nations on Friday called on the Madagascar authorities to avoid unnecessary force against protesters, after several were injured in clashes with police the day before.
“Let us join forces, military, gendarmes and police, and refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers and our sisters,” soldiers of a large military base in Soanierana district, on the outskirts of Antananarivo, said in a video released Saturday morning.
They called on soldiers in other camps to “refuse orders to shoot your friends.”
“Close the gates and await our instructions,” they said. “Do not obey orders from your superiors. Point your weapons at those who order you to fire on your comrades-in-arms, because they will not take care of our families if we die.”
It was unclear how many soldiers had joined the call on Saturday.
In 2009, the military base in Soanierana led a mutiny in a popular uprising that brought the current president, Andry Rajoelina, to power.
The newly appointed minister of the armed forces called on troops to “remain calm” in a press conference Saturday.
“We call on our brothers who disagree with us to prioritize dialogue,” Minister General Deramasinjaka Manantsoa Rakotoarivelo said.
“The Malagasy army remains a mediator and constitutes the nation’s last line of defense,” he said.
Madagascar army contingent calls on security forces to ‘refuse orders’
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Madagascar army contingent calls on security forces to ‘refuse orders’
- “Let us join forces, military, gendarmes and police, and refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers and our sisters,” soldiers said in a video
- They called on soldiers in other camps to “refuse orders to shoot your friends“
Changes to US security strategy ‘largely consistent’ with Russia’s vision: Kremlin
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones”
MOSCOW: Russia has welcomed changes in the US National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington’s previous policy were “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling it over-regulated, lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
The document stated that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
Commenting on the new US strategy, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones.”
“The adjustments we’re seeing, I would say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Peskov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday.
“President Trump is currently strong in terms of domestic political positions. And this gives him the opportunity to adjust the concept to suit his vision,” Peskov added.
The publication of the updated security strategy came as officials from Kyiv held talks in Florida with Trump’s envoys on the US-drafted plan to end the near four-year war in Ukraine.
Three days of talks produced no apparent breakthrough.
President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to further negotiations toward “real peace,” as Russia in the early hours of Saturday launched another series of drone and missile strikes at Ukraine.
Zelensky is due to meet with European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — in London on Monday to take stock of the negotiations.
