WASHINGTON: The United States has seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, further escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas.
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large — the largest one ever seized, actually,” Trump said at the start of a roundtable with business leaders at the White House.
“And other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people.”
Trump did not immediately give further details on the incident.
His announcement came a day before Venezuelan Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was set to address the world from Oslo after coming out of hiding.
Trump’s administration has piled pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, deploying a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
The United States has also carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 alleged drug boats in the region, killing at least 87 people.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Trump told Politico on Monday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to rule out a US ground invasion against Venezuela.
Maduro says the US is bent on regime change and wants to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves.
The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday after Maduro called for stepped-up military recruitment.
Trump says US seized ‘very large’ tanker near Venezuela
https://arab.news/68y3r
Trump says US seized ‘very large’ tanker near Venezuela
- Donald Trump: ‘We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large — the largest one ever seized, actually’
- Trump: ‘And other things are happening, so you’ll be seeing that later and you’ll be talking about that later with some other people’
Will Afghanistan’s pledge against cross-border attacks ease tensions with Pakistan?
- Afghan clerics’ decree banned use of Afghan soil for cross-border attacks on Wednesday
- Latest heavy firing between Afghanistan, Pakistan killed at least 5 people
KABUL: As tensions flare up again between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Afghan leadership has moved to reaffirm its commitment against cross-border militancy this week in what is seen as Kabul’s attempt to move the needle on peace negotiations, after multiple rounds of talks failed to produce a lasting truce.
The neighboring countries have struggled to maintain a fragile ceasefire after border clashes killed dozens in October, the worst fighting since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
While subsequent talks toward a permanent ceasefire yielded little progress, the temporary truce brokered by Qatar and Turkiye collapsed last Friday, with heavy firing along the Spin Boldak-Chaman border that killed at least five people.
Over the years Pakistan has put much of the blame for the border clashes on the government in Kabul allowing Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — an outlawed armed group, which is separate from the Afghan Taliban — to use Afghan territory for cross-border attacks — a claim that Afghanistan has repeatedly denied.
Afghanistan again pledged to prevent its territory from being used to harm other countries on Thursday, with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi highlighting it as a religious duty, as endorsed just a day earlier by around 1,000 Afghan clerics in a fatwa, or religious decree.
“The fatwa was more political than religious,” Kabul University lecturer Abdullah Awwab told Arab News on Friday.
“I think it was a smooth way out of the pressure put on them by Pakistan and mediators, who were asking for a fatwa against the TTP. The emirate couldn’t issue that, so instead they had scholars issue a fatwa for ordinary Afghans, banning them from jihad abroad.
“The fatwa shows Pakistan that the Taliban can use a fatwa to stop Afghans from joining the war. It demonstrates Kabul’s power and control over its own soil and people — and, at the same time, it shows Pakistan’s weakness in needing to ask Kabul for a religious fatwa.”
Addressing new graduates at a ceremony in Kabul, Muttaqi said the Taliban had not “permitted anyone to carry out military activities in other countries” and that the government had the right to take action against anyone who violated the directive.
“The leaders and elders of this Islamic emirate have pledged that Afghan soil will not be used to harm anyone. All the scholars and religious leaders affirmed that obeying this commitment is necessary for all Muslims,” he said.
“Just as this nation has historically acted upon the fatwas and advice of its scholars, so too will (it) act upon them now. This is our shared duty.”
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special envoy to Afghanistan, said the decree was a “very significant” development.
“Hopefully, the TTP, which owes allegiance to the Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, will now submit to the collective wisdom of the Afghan Taliban ulema and surrender arms,” he wrote on X.
Though the decree answers one of Pakistan’s demands, Afghan political analyst Wasi Baheer said it had “no direct impact” in the conflict.
“Pakistan’s harsh words and threats to Kabul don’t mean much, because the real issue is inside Pakistan,” he told Arab News.
“They cannot simply force changes in Kabul. The main reason talks collapsed in Qatar, Istanbul, and Saudi Arabia is that Pakistan demanded the Taliban act harshly against the TTP — which makes no sense, because it is an internal Pakistani problem. Using force here in Afghanistan will not bring any relief to Pakistan’s security.”
