WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was working with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to send a hospital boat to Greenland, a Danish territory that Trump has said he wants to acquire.
Trump announced the plan on social media moments before hosting a dinner for Republican governors at the White House, where he sat next to and chatted with Landry.
“Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!!!” Trump said.
Neither the White House nor Landry’s office responded to queries about the post, whether the ship had been requested by Denmark or Greenland and which sick people needed help. The Department of War had no immediate comment.
Danish King Frederik paid a second visit to Greenland in a year last week, an attempt to demonstrate unity with the territory in the face of Trump’s push to buy the island.
Greenland, Denmark and the US late last month held talks to resolve the situation following months of tensions within the NATO defense alliance.
Trump’s post came hours after Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command said it had evacuated a crew member who required urgent medical treatment from a US submarine in Greenland’s waters, seven nautical miles outside of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.
It was unclear what connection Landry had with the matter or if the post had any connection to the evacuation.
The US Navy has two hospital ships, the Mercy and the Comfort, but neither are stationed in Louisiana.
Trump says he is sending a hospital ship to Greenland
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Trump says he is sending a hospital ship to Greenland
- US president announced the plan on social media moments before hosting a dinner for Republican governors at the White House
- The US Navy has two hospital ships, the Mercy and the Comfort, but neither are stationed in Louisiana
Heavy shelling, explosions spark fear along Pakistan-Afghanistan border
- Residents fear for their safety amid border clashes
- 1,500 Afghan families displaced due to heavy shelling and explosions
- Pakistan denies targeting civilians, says its strikes focus on militants
LAL PUR, Afghanistan/PESHAWAR, Pakistan: People living along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan said they were considering fleeing their homes because of heavy shelling and explosions as fighting between troops from both sides entered a seventh day on Wednesday.
The South Asian allies-turned-foes have engaged in their worst fighting in years following Pakistani airstrikes on major Afghan cities last week, increasing volatility in a region also on edge over US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Taliban government, are aimed at ending Afghan support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.
SHELLING STARTS AS VILLAGERS ARE BREAKING RAMADAN FAST
Residents of towns and villages in Pakistan’s northwest said fighting between border forces starts in the evenings, placing their homes in the line of fire, often at sunset when families are breaking their fast in the holy month of Ramadan.
“There is complete silence in the day, but the moment we sit for iftar dinner, the two sides start shelling,” Farid Khan Shinwari from Landi Kotal, a town near the Torkham border crossing, told Reuters.
“We open our fast in extremely difficult situations, as you never know when a shell can hit your house.”
Residents in the town and nearby villages said there had been heavy shelling and some explosions heard in the past few days, prompting many to flee their homes.
On the other side of the border, Afghans shared similar stories of skirmishes and families fleeing their homes.
Hundreds had been displaced to an open dirt field under makeshift tents, while others had no shelter at all. Officials say around 1,500 families have fled their homes.
Fighting along the 2,600-km (1,615-mile) border has ebbed and flowed over the week-long conflict, with both sides saying they have inflicted heavy losses on the other country and gained ground in the fighting.
Reuters has been unable to verify these accounts.
TURKEY HAS OFFERED TO MEDIATE
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that Ankara would help reinstate a ceasefire, the Turkish Presidency said on Tuesday, as other countries that had offered to mediate have since been hit by the conflict in the Gulf.
On Wednesday, both countries reported exchanges of heavy fire, with Afghanistan’s defense ministry saying Taliban forces shot down a Pakistani drone and captured seven border posts.
A spokesperson for the ministry said 110 civilians, including 65 women and children, had been killed since the fighting began and another 123 were wounded. The United Nations mission for Afghanistan has listed 42 deaths so far.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar disputed both figures, saying: “Pakistan exercises great care in only targeting terrorists and support infrastructure. No civilian structures have been targeted.”
On Saturday, Pakistan struck “ammunition and critical equipment” at the Bagram air base north of Kabul, Tarar said, a key American command center through the 20-year Afghan war.
