Sanaa, Yemen – It was August 2023, and Enaya Dastor was reading a school textbook while also keeping an eye on her goats as they grazed near her village, Jabal Habashy, in central Yemen’s Taiz governorate.
Whenever the livestock moved away, the then-13-year-old would walk or run to bring them back to the pasture near her house.
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That afternoon, she was following them as usual when an explosion rang out.
A landmine had detonated beneath her.
“People gathered around me after the blast, and I was taken to the hospital immediately. It was a horrible moment, ” Dastor told Al Jazeera. Surgeons were forced to amputate her left leg, leaving her with a lifelong disability.
The incident took place more than a year after fighting between Yemen’s government and Houthi forces largely stopped, following a ceasefire in April 2022.
But landmines left behind on former battlefields and front lines continue to kill and injure Yemenis.
The hidden risks have turned fields, roads, and villages into areas of ongoing danger. Landmines and other explosives have killed at least 339 children and injured 843 since the 2022 truce, according to Save the Children. The organisation found that nearly half of child casualties related to the conflict were due to landmines and explosive remnants of war.
‘Sleeping killers’
The parties to Yemen’s conflict planted thousands of mines during the civil war, which began in 2014.
Two months before Dastor’s incident, a boy in a nearby village had stepped on a landmine. One of the boy’s legs was amputated in the explosion, she told Al Jazeera.
“Landmines are sleeping killers, waiting for the innocents to step on them or move them without caution. That is how they wake up to shed blood and take human souls,” said Dastor.
“I used to go with other girls to the pasture. We grazed the cattle and play for hours. We were not aware of the danger, and we did not know when these deadly objects were planted,” she added.
After the landmine explosion took her leg, her family and others fled the village, which had previously been on a front line.
To date, Dastor’s family has not returned. They now live in the city of Taiz.
“I do not want to see another child harmed or hear another landmine explosion. I loathe walking on the soil under which mines were planted,” she said.
In the first half of 2025 alone, 107 civilians were killed or injured, most of them children, according to Save the Children. Included in that number are five children who were killed while playing football on a dirt field in Taiz.
Lost hope
From 2015 through 2021, ground fighting was brutal, and warplanes continuously bombed across Yemen, killing and injuring thousands of civilians.
The landmines have added a lasting layer of danger. A study carried out in 2022 by Yemeni human rights groups found that 534 children and 177 women were killed by mines between April 2014 and March 2022.
In addition, 854 children, 255 women, and 147 elderly people were injured during the same period in 17 Yemeni provinces, with the heavily fought-over Taiz recording the highest number.
In 2018, Mohammed Mustafa lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in Taiz’s Maqbna district. He was only 20 years old. Eight years on, he can still recall the details of that moment.
“I stepped on a landmine when I was walking in a mountainous area at sunset time. After the blast, I looked towards my feet, and I found my left leg was gone,” he told Al Jazeera.
Mustafa was in a rural area with no hospitals nearby. He had to travel five hours by ambulance to the city of Taiz, and the distance he covered to reach a healthcare centre added to his pain.
“I fainted repeatedly on the way to Taiz city. The next day, I woke up in the hospital, and saw my leg amputated up to the knee,” he said.
With support from family, relatives and friends, he recovered. Mustafa is now a member of the Yemeni Amputee Football Federation, a father, and a small business owner.
“My family and friends stood by me, lifted my morale, and accompanied me on outings in the city to help me forget my pain and worry. I realised I was not alone,” he said.
De-mining challenges
Efforts to remove landmines from many areas in Yemen continue. But totally ridding the country of the problem remains complex, particularly as no final deal has been agreed upon to end the war.
Project Masam, a de-mining team funded and initiated by Saudi Arabia, said in a statement in March that, since the project’s launch in July 2018, a total of 549,452 mines, unexploded ordnance, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been removed by March 20, 2026.
During the same period, the project’s teams cleared explosives from 7,799 hectares (19,272 acres) in Yemen. Similarly, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) said early this month it has cleared more than 23,302 square metres (250,820sq ft) of Yemeni land from mines and explosive remnants of war.
Adel Dashela, a Yemeni researcher and non-resident fellow at the MESA Global Academy, focusing on conflict and peace building studies, said that many factors make the de-mining process challenging.
“The mines have been planted indiscriminately in different areas, and some of the territories are under the control of different armed groups, which makes them inaccessible to de-miners,” Dashela told Al Jazeera.
“Other challenges facing the de-mining process in Yemen include the lack of clear maps and the lack of qualified local personnel to handle these mines effectively. There is also a shortage of government’s modern equipment for detecting these devices and explosives,” he added.
Dashela noted that flash floods, such as those Yemen experienced in August 2025, sweep away explosives from one area to another, complicating the clearance process and exposing more people to further risks.
This means many more Yemenis will likely suffer.
The loss of a limb might bring lasting sorrow to landmine survivors, but some, like Dastor, are determined not to dwell on the past. She is focusing on the future.
“Today, I am in tenth grade, and I will finish high school in two years,” she said. “After that, I will enrol in law college and will graduate as a lawyer. I want to defend those who face injustice.”
“The injury has changed how I move or walk, and separated my family from our home,” she said. “But it cannot disable my mind or stop my dreams.”
A day after President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to destroy Iranian ships laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday said efforts to prevent mining are already underway.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) “has a variety of smaller Boston Whaler-size boats,” Air Force Gen. Dan Caine told reporters, including from The War Zone, during a Friday morning media briefing. “We have forces up there deterring and preventing them from continuing to [lay mines], and will continue to do so pursuant to the orders of the Secretary and the President.”
You can hear Caine’s comments on Iranian mining at the 23-minute mark in the following video.
Caine did not offer specifics about what assets are involved, when they arrived or what actions they have taken. The Pentagon and CENTCOM have declined to comment. A U.S. official, however, did provide us with some additional information.
“Iran likely placed some mines in or near the Strait at some point during the conflict,” the official told us, speaking anonymously to discuss operational details. “We’re not talking about a high volume. In fact, more than 95% of Iran’s naval mines were destroyed during Operation Epic Fury.”
U.S. forces “are actively addressing the matter using a combination of manned and unmanned capabilities to ensure passage through the Strait is safe.” The official declined to say if the U.S. is actively searching for mines already laid or provide further details. In our story yesterday, we spelled out what assets the Navy has for its surface fleet to conduct demining operations, though it remains unclear how many are in the region. You can read more about that here.
As we noted, the Independence class littoral combat ship USS Canberra is the only confirmed mine sweeper currently in CENTCOM, according to a post on the Pentagon’s image sharing site that shows the ship patrolling in the Arabian Sea.
The Independence class littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) patrols the Arabian Sea during a maritime blockade against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, April 17, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo) NAVCENT Public Affairs
War Secretary Pete Hegseth, also speaking at the briefing, said “reckless mining like that is a violation of the cease fire.” He declined to say how long it will take to clear the Strait of mines.
“We would not speculate on a timeline,” he proffered in response to a question about a Washington Post story claiming Congress was informed it could take up to six months to do so. “We feel confident in our ability, in the correct period of time, to clear any mines that we identify, and we encourage other countries to be a part of such an effort as well. But we’re tracking that very closely.”
It isn’t clear why these efforts to keep small boats from mining the Strait have not been persistent and ongoing from early in the conflict, but especially now that Iran professes control over the strategic waterway. However, Hegseth derided the IRGC as a fighting force.
“Iran’s battered military, the IRGC, specifically, has been reduced to a gang of pirates with a flag,” the secretary scowled.
Sec. Of War Pete Hegseth: “The IRGC specifically has been reduced to a gang of pirates with a flag… They know that we, the United States of America, control the flow of global shipping — and we know that they know. Their real navy is at the bottom of the Arabian Gulf.” pic.twitter.com/94HNDITkMn
Caine offered some new details about the three Iranian-linked ships the U.S. interdicted this week. Those efforts started Sunday with the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska, which was fired upon and later boarded.
At about 9 a.m. EDT on Sunday, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Spruance “disabled the Touska‘s engine by firing nine inert rounds from the destroyer’s Mk-45 5-inch gun precisely into the engine room and engine space on board the Touska,” he explained. Seven hours later, CENTCOM gave the command for Marines to fast-rope in from helicopters and “seize the shot,” Caine added.
.@thejointstaff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine: As of this morning, 34 ships have met the U.S. blockade and made the wise choice to turn around. One ship did not. Over several hours this past Sunday, the U.S. conducted maritime interdiction operations against the Touska, whose crew… pic.twitter.com/GG5UxxDACa
China on Friday pushed back against Trump’s claim that the Touska contained a “gift from China perhaps.” The president made that claim earlier this week on CNBC. .
“China rejects any assertion and speculation that lack factual evidence,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded. “Normal trade between countries should not be disrupted.”
MFA Spokesperson’s response to President Trump’s remarks that the Iranian cargo ship intercepted by the U.S. might have carried a “gift” from China:
China rejects any assertion and speculation that lack factual evidence. Normal trade between countries should not be disrupted. pic.twitter.com/0aGAa7174N
— CHINA MFA Spokesperson 中国外交部发言人 (@MFA_China) April 24, 2026
The Touska was carrying “vital dialysis supplies and medical equipment,” Al Jazeera reported on X, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society. The War Zone cannot independently verify that claim.
Caine also addressed the fate of two other Iranian-linked ships – the Tifani and the Majestic X – that were stopped in the Indian Ocean this week. The vessels and their crews “remain in U.S. custody, and we will continue to conduct similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans against Iranian ships and vessels of the Dark Fleet,” Caine noted.
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the Tifani and Majestic X each contained 1.9 million barrels of oil.
Overnight, pursuant to a seizure warrant submitted by my office and signed by a federal magistrate, U.S. forces interdicted the dark fleet vessel, M/T Majestic (formerly known as the M/T Phonix), while carrying approximately 1.9 million barrels of Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.…
German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd told us that one of its ships has recently transited the Strait of Hormuz.
“For security reasons, we will not comment on the timing or provide further details regarding this passage or on individual ships still in the Persian Gulf,” the company explained. “What we can tell you is that of the original six ships, we currently have four remaining in the Persian Gulf with approximately 100 seafarers.”
“The safety of our crews remains our highest priority,” Hapag-Lloyd’s spokesperson added. “We are in close contact with the vessels, local authorities and naval forces, and continue to monitor the situation closely. At this moment, it is not possible to predict any change of this situation.”
Overall, global trade intelligence firm Kpler’s Risk & Compliance tracker showed that transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue to be reduced.
Between April 22 and 23, “traffic remained low at 17 crossings of both commercial and non-commercial vessels, well below pre-crisis levels,” Kpler stated. “Ongoing monitoring provides critical insight into supply flows and potential disruption risks.”
Strait of Hormuz | Daily Vessel Crossings:
Kpler’s Risk & Compliance tracker provides daily monitoring of vessel activity through one of the world’s most strategic maritime routes. Across 22–23 April, traffic remained low at 17 crossings of both commercial and non-commercial… pic.twitter.com/8J0pE4XjO7
Oil output from Persian Gulf nations has been running 14.5 million barrels a day below pre-war levels this month, Bloomberg News reported, citing Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which estimated any resumption would take months.
The region-wide total is 57% lower than before the outbreak of the Iran war, analysts including Daan Struyven said in an April 23 note. A possible restoration would likely take “a few months,” a scenario based on a full-and-safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and no renewed strikes, according to Goldman Sachs.
Goldman: Oil output from Persian Gulf nations has been running 14.5 million barrels a day below pre-war levels this month. The region-wide total is 57% lower than before the outbreak of the Iran war. A possible restoration would likely take “a few months,” a scenario based on a…
Saudi Arabia has “achieved a huge boost in crude exports through its Red Sea terminals, but has yet to stabilize flows at its target level for the route,” Bloomberg also noted.
Shipments of crude to overseas destinations from Yanbu “have averaged about 4 million barrels a day in the first three weeks of April,” data compiled by the outlet show. “That’s about five times as much as Saudi Arabia exported on the route before the conflict in Iran started, but still only about 80% of Riyadh’s target.”
Saudi Arabia has achieved a huge boost in crude exports through its Red Sea terminals, but has yet to stabilize flows at its target level for the route. https://t.co/uzIybMCFqk
Joining the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R Ford, it marks the first time since 2003 that there were three carriers in the area of responsibility since 2003. Combined, the three carrier strike groups have 200 aircraft, nine Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, and 15,000 sailors and Marines.
For the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East at the same time. Accompanied by their carrier air wings, the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) include over 200 aircraft and 15,000… pic.twitter.com/fbMdz1IYn8
There may be some movement toward new talks to end the war. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the U.S. is sending a negotiating team to Pakistan where Iran’s foreign minister is already headed. The swiftly moving situation follows on the heels of previous diplomatic efforts that failed to end the 55-day-old conflict.
“I can confirm that Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks, direct talks – intermediated by the Pakistanis who have been incredible friends and mediators throughout this entire process – with representatives of the Iranian delegation.”
“The Iranians want to talk,” Leavitt told reporters. “They want to talk in person. And so the president is, as I’ve said many, many times, to all of you, always willing to give diplomacy a chance. So Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out. We hope progress will be made, and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting, and we will see that the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, will be waiting here in the United States for updates.”
Vice President JD Vance, she added,”is on standby and will be willing to dispatch to Pakistan if we feel it’s a necessary use of his time.”
CNN reported that Witkoff and Kushner will “participate in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.”
Scoop: Trump is sending his special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to participate in talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, two administration officials tell CNN.
VP JD Vance is not currently planning to attend given Iran’s Speaker of the…
The move to send a U.S. team to Pakistan follows Araghchi’s announcement earlier on Friday that he will head to Pakistan Friday night and then to Oman and Russia to “closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments.”
Embarking on timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow.
Purpose of my visits is to closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments.
At the time of Araghchi’s announcement, it was believed that the Iranian delegation was not expected to speak with US representatives, CNN reported, citing a U.S. source and Iranian state media. However, “the Pakistanis anticipate the meeting will lead to a second round of talks between the US and Iran,” the cable network suggested.
All this follows a second round of peace talks that failed to materialize this week after Iran declined to send negotiators to Islamabad. However, Trump extended the ceasefire to what has been reported to be sometime over this weekend. As we discussed yesterday, a large reason for Iran’s reluctance to talk may be a schism between hardliners in the IRGC and more moderate elements of the government like Araghchi. While Trump is pushing that narrative, Iranian officials are pushing back, claiming no such divide exists.
In response to Trump’s claim that there are divisions among Iranian officials, the country’s authorities released a joint statement, whose translation was also shared in a tweet by President Pezeshkian 👇 https://t.co/DnhWk9l9KDpic.twitter.com/miTVh211a4
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) April 24, 2026
Another factor that may be contributing to Iran’s lack of a concrete response to U.S. demands may be the condition of its putative leader. A reporter from The New York Times said that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was so badly injured on the first day of Epic Fury that his face and lips are burned to the point where he has trouble speaking and that one of his legs may have been amputated.
NYT reporter says Supreme Leader Khamenei’s face is severely burned, he has trouble speaking and may need a prosthetic leg. She also says he uses a long chain of human couriers to send hand-written messages from hiding. pic.twitter.com/f9dyjuDBIK
Pakistan says Araghchi called its Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar today.
“Both sides exchanged views on regional developments, the ceasefire, and ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of US-Iran engagement,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry stated on X. Dar “underscored the importance of sustained dialogue and engagement to address outstanding issues, in order to advance regional peace and stability at the earliest. Araghchi appreciated Pakistan’s consistent and constructive facilitation role in this regard, and both leaders agreed to remain in close contact.”
DPM/FM Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 received a call today from Foreign Minister of Iran H.E. Abbas Araghchi @Araghchi.
Both sides exchanged views on regional developments, the ceasefire, and ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of… pic.twitter.com/eJ1fuVTVKE
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) April 24, 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned to Saudi Arabia today, where he said he had a “very productive meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.”
“We appreciate our constructive cooperation,” Zelensky stated on X. “There is a strategic security arrangement that we are actively developing across three key areas. The first is the export of Ukrainian security expertise and capabilities in air defense. The second is energy cooperation, which makes Ukraine more resilient in this difficult time. The third is the area of food security. We are working together to strengthen our peoples and our partners. We have set tasks for our teams, and I expect their prompt and full implementation.”
A very productive meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. We appreciate our constructive cooperation. There is a strategic security arrangement that we are actively developing across three key areas.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 24, 2026
After suffering through intense Iranian missile and drone barrages, UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said it will take a long time to reconcile with Tehran.
“You can’t be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones then talk to me about trust,” he stated. “That will take ages and ages.”
UAE President MbZ’s Advisor Anwar Gargash on Iran:
You can’t be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones then talk to me about trust. That will take ages and ages. pic.twitter.com/ComhPnA7fz
An internal Pentagon email “outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the U.S. position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands,” Reuters reported. It based the information on what it was told by a U.S. official.
“The policy options are detailed in a note expressing frustration at some allies’ perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, basing and overflight rights – known as ABO – for the Iran war,” the news outlet added, citing the anonymous official.
However, an alliance official told us that “NATO’s Founding Treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership, or expulsion.”
While Trump and CENTCOM say Iran’s ability to produce weapons has been destroyed during Epic Fury, Tehran says otherwise.
Iran’s Defense Ministry says “the Islamic Republic will continue producing military equipment and that it is fully prepared to meet the armed forces’ needs in all scenarios, including war and peacetime conditions,” Iran’s official Press TV news outlet claimed on X.
Iran’s Defense Ministry says the Islamic Republic will continue producing military equipment and that it is fully prepared to meet the armed forces’ needs in all scenarios, including war and peacetime conditions.
Kuwait’s Defense Ministry (MoD) said two northern border centers were struck by fiber-optic guided drones launched from Iraq.
The attack caused material damage, but no casualties, said MoD spokesman Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi.F
بيان رقم (60) صادر عن المتحدث الرسمي لوزارة الدفاع العقيد الركن سعود عبدالعزيز العطوان
استهدف صباح اليوم موقعان من المراكز الحدودية البرية الشمالية لدولة الكويت، لهجوم عدواني آثم بواسطة عدد (2) طائرة درون مفخخة، موجّهة بسلك الألياف الضوئية، قادمة من جمهورية العراق، ما أسفر عن… pic.twitter.com/UwRQCxGqgv
— KUWAIT ARMY – الجيش الكويتي (@KuwaitArmyGHQ) April 24, 2026
Turkish president meets NATO chief as Kyiv asks Ankara to host a leaders’ level meeting with Russia.
Published On 22 Apr 202622 Apr 2026
Turkiye is making efforts to revive negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and bring together the leaders of the warring sides, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Ankara has maintained good ties with both sides since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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Erdogan and Rutte met in the Turkish capital Ankara, the Turkish presidency said on Wednesday.
“Erdogan said we were engaged, as Turkiye, for the Ukraine-Russia war to end with peace, and that we are working to revive negotiations and start talks at leaders’ level,” the presidency said in a readout of the meeting.
The Turkish president also told Rutte that maintaining transatlantic ties was “indispensable”, but that Ankara expected European NATO allies to take more responsibility for transatlantic security, the presidency said.
Separately, Erdogan had a phone call with German Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday, informing him of Ankara’s efforts to achieve a lasting peace through talks in Ukraine, the presidency said.
Erdogan told the German leader that the US-Iran war was “starting to weaken Europe” and that the damage from the conflict would increase if world powers failed to intervene with “peace-oriented approaches”.
“Erdogan said Turkiye was working to end the Ukraine-Russia war through negotiations and reach lasting peace, just as it is trying with regards to Iran,” the presidency said in a statement after the phone call.
Ukraine’s request
Earlier on Wednesday, Kyiv said it had asked Turkiye, a NATO member, to host a leaders’ level meeting with Russia.
“We asked the Turks about it, we asked some other capitals,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in comments to reporters on Tuesday that were cleared for release on Wednesday.
He added that Ukraine would be ready to consider any place other than Belarus or Russia for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long sought to try to hasten a resolution of the more than four-year war.
Meanwhile, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Putin would be ready to meet his counterpart only for the purpose of finalising agreements on the conflict.
“The main thing is the goal of this meeting. Why should they meet? Putin has said he is ready for a meeting in Moscow at any moment,” the TASS news agency quoted Peskov as telling Russian state television.
“The main thing is that there should be a reason to meet, and the main thing is that the meeting should be productive. And it can only be for the purpose of finalising agreements.”
Kang Chang-il, new senior vice chairman of the presidential Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, speaks during a ceremony marking his inauguration at the council’s secretariat in Seoul, South Korea, 17 April 2026. The council, chaired by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, advises the president on unification policy. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
April 17 (Asia Today) — Kang Chang-il, the new senior vice chairman of South Korea’s Peaceful Unification Advisory Council, called Thursday for joint efforts to improve inter-Korean relations and said he would work to revitalize the council’s public role.
Speaking at his inauguration ceremony in Seoul, Kang said many South Koreans are familiar with the Unification Ministry but know little about the advisory council itself. He said he would work to make the body more visible and active in promoting peaceful unification.
Kang said the council has strengths in gathering public opinion and building consensus on peaceful unification, and that it should use that role to recommend policy to the president and broaden public awareness.
He said inter-Korean relations remain difficult amid debate over a “two-state” framework and described the current moment as serious. Kang also referred to messages from Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who is serving in that post as of April, and said recent remarks by President Lee Jae-myung had been positively received by North Korea.
“I hope we can all join forces to gradually resolve issues in inter-Korean relations,” Kang said.
PUSAN, South Korea — After President Bush lauded South Korea’s troop contribution to Iraq’s reconstruction as a “gesture of friendship,” White House officials sought to downplay reports today about that country’s intention to draw down its forces.
Published reports quoted South Korean government sources as saying the country intended to reduce its contingent of about 3,600 troops by one-third. But a U.S. spokesman said Bush administration officials were “unaware of any such formal announcement.”
The reports could prove particularly embarrassing for the U.S. president because they surfaced while he was in the country to take part in an annual gathering of Pacific Rim leaders at which cooperation on Iraq promised to be a major discussion point.
Bush stood beside South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday and thanked him for his country’s participation in the reconstruction, but there was no mention of a possible South Korean troop reduction.
“We’re bound by our love of freedom,” Bush said. “And those commitments by your government indicate how close we are in terms of promoting the values of freedom and democracy.”
A White House spokesman, Frederick Jones, said today that the topic of a South Korean troop reduction had not come up during the leaders’ private discussions.
“President Roh was very proud of the accomplishments of Korean forces,” Jones said.
White House counselor Dan Bartlett later said the administration had received “guidance” that the South Korean government’s official stance had not yet changed, and that the debate was continuing in the parliament.
“I think it’s premature to say this is any indication of what’s going one way or the other,” Bartlett said.
There was no official comment from South Korea’s Defense Ministry. But Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung told ruling party legislators in a closed session of the National Assembly that changed conditions in Iraq made the reduction of troops possible, the semiofficial Yonhap news agency said.
Members of the ruling Uri Party have in recent months called for a troop reduction, citing reports of similar moves by Britain, Australia and Japan.
The war in Iraq has been extremely unpopular in South Korea, and even advocates of the troop deployment here have maintained it was done only out of an obligation to a long military alliance with the United States.
Oh Young Shik, a spokesman for the ruling party, said that those South Korean troops brought home first would be doctors, nurses and construction workers.
Losing about 1,000 South Korean troops, which focus primarily on peacekeeping, would not be a setback from a military standpoint. But South Korea’s contingent is the third-largest in the coalition, behind the United States and Britain.
And coming as Japan is also set to consider its own drawdown of troops and with Congress growing increasingly wary of U.S. policy in Iraq, the announcement was the latest in a series of setbacks for the Bush administration’s effort to maintain support for the war.
This week, the Republican-led Senate rejected calls for a timetable of troop reductions but voted to require the administration to provide more detailed reports on Iraq.
The White House has stepped up its defense of Iraq policy, firing off a scathing statement Thursday accusing U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) of espousing views held by the “extreme liberal wing” of the Democratic Party because he called for U.S. troops to be withdrawn.
Bush kicked off his participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit by sitting down for the fifth time this year with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, another Iraq war critic.
The two were expected to discuss a proposed law in Russia that would force numerous nongovernmental organizations, including international heavyweights such as Human Rights Watch and the Ford Foundation, to face government examinations of their operations. Russian officials would ensure that the groups are not pursuing political activities funded by other countries.
Groups have warned that the law could force them to close their doors in Moscow, and the law underscores broader concerns on the part of the White House and human rights groups that Putin is rolling back post-Soviet democratic reforms.
The two leaders were also expected to discuss nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran. Russia is building a nuclear reactor in Iran, despite U.S. objections, and Putin has resisted calls by Bush to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council.
However, Moscow does support efforts to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear arms programs and prevent Iran from acquiring atomic weapons.
Unlike at some of their past meetings, the two leaders did not take questions or offer details of their conversation.
“You going to say something to the press?” Bush asked as the two settled into their meeting in a hotel suite. Putin shook his head, and Bush said, “OK, me neither.”
Wallsten reported from Pusan and Demick from Seoul.
A man climbs a staircase next to a portrait of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in Havana on Friday). The United States have prevented oil shipments to Cuba for months, except for one Russian tanker, Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
April 13 (UPI) — Cuba’s fuel shortages are disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid managed by the Catholic Church and international organizations as the island’s basic services continue to deteriorate.
The crisis has particularly affected Caritas Cuba, one of the country’s main social assistance channels, which relies heavily on local transportation networks to deliver food and hygiene supplies to vulnerable communities, according to CiberCuba.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski told USA Today in an interview Sunday that aid shipments are being distributed through improvised means with almost no motorized transport because of gasoline shortages.
Wenski, who has coordinated aid shipments from South Florida for three decades, said Cubans have told him the island is approaching “ground zero” of humanitarian collapse.
Organizations linked to Caritas say more people are turning to soup kitchens for food, underscoring worsening food insecurity among vulnerable populations, digital outlet CubitaNow reported.
Cuba has faced increasingly frequent blackouts, chronic shortages of food and medicine and a transportation system largely paralyzed by fuel scarcity in recent years.
The arrest of Nicolás Maduro by the United States interrupted Venezuelan oil shipments of between 25,000 and 35,000 barrels per day that had supplied most of Cuba’s fuel needs, worsening the energy crisis. Mexico also suspended shipments following sanctions imposed by Trump administration.
According to United Nations reports, about 170 containers of essential goods valued at $6.3 million remain stranded at ports because of the fuel shortage.
Francisco Pichón, the U.N. resident coordinator in Cuba, warned that the country’s humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate as the energy crisis compounds damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.
Despite limited fuel deliveries, including a recent Russian oil shipment, Pichón said “humanitarian needs in the country remain very urgent and persistent.”
He said more than 96,000 surgeries have been postponed, including 11,000 involving children. Another 32,000 pregnant women face heightened risk because of unstable prenatal care access, while 3,000 children are experiencing vaccination delays.
Nearly 500,000 children and teenagers are attending shortened school days.
About 1 million people have been affected by water shortages because they depend on trucked water deliveries.
Pichón noted that Cuba has the oldest population in Latin America, increasing the vulnerability of elderly residents amid the crisis.
The United Nations system and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have proposed a $94.1 million plan to import fuel specifically for humanitarian use and sustain essential services that include healthcare and water access.
Months after awarding the “FIFA Peace Prize” to Donald Trump, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said his organisation “can certainly not solve geopolitical conflicts.”
Several European nations and Japan have issued a joint statement saying they would take steps to stabilise energy markets, a day after several strikes on energy facilities in the Gulf region sent oil and gas prices soaring amid the United States-Israel war on Iran.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan issued a joint statement on Thursday expressing their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the [Hormuz] Strait.”
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They did not specify what those efforts may entail but urged for “an immediate comprehensive moratorium on attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations”.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) last week authorised a coordinated release of its members’ strategic petroleum reserves, the largest in its history, in an attempt to counter rising global energy prices. “We will take other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output,” the statement said.
Markets have been hammered since the start of the war on February 28, with Tehran hitting sites across the Gulf and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flows.
European leaders have rejected demands by United States President Donald Trump to help ensure freedom of navigation in the Gulf’s key oil chokepoint by deploying warships as part of a naval coalition.
Thursday’s joint statement came ahead of a long-scheduled White House meeting between Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, aimed at burnishing the decades-old security and economic partnership between Washington and its closest East Asian ally.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said before the meeting on Thursday that he would expect that Japan, which gets 95 percent of its crude oil supplies from the Gulf, would want to ensure its supplies are safe.
Takaichi has sought to move Japan away from a pacifist constitution imposed by Washington after World War II, but with the Iran war unpopular at home, she has so far not offered to assist in clearing the Strait of Hormuz.
The Japanese prime minister told parliament on Monday that Tokyo had received no official request from the US, but was checking the scope of possible action within the limits of its constitution.
Soaring energy prices
Major economies have been scrambling to cushion the impact of soaring energy prices after the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.
QatarEnergy reported “extensive damage” from Iranian missiles in Ras Laffan, which produces about 20 percent of the world’s LNG supply and plays a major role in balancing Asian and European markets’ demand for the fuel.
The company’s CEO, Saad al-Kaabi, said Iran’s attacks damaged facilities that produce 17 percent of QatarEnergy’s LNG exports and that it would take three to five years to repair.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Iran’s claims that it is targeting US bases are “unacceptable and unjustified”, as the attack on Ras Laffan shows that it is targeting energy infrastructure that is vital for Qatar and the entire world.
Energy prices have soared and stocks sunk amid the region’s protracted instability, reigniting fears over global supplies and inflation as well as the likely damage to economic growth.
European gas prices were up 25 percent and Brent crude oil futures nearly 6 percent at $113 at 13:00 GMT on Thursday after briefly surging about 10 percent. European gas prices have leapt by over 60 percent since the war began on February 28.
James Meadway, co-director of the Verdant economic policy think tank, said this would not be “a temporary blip” in the prices of oil and gas.
“In addition to the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, we now have a severe disruption to the basic production of oil and gas,” Meadway told Al Jazeera.
“At this point, this looks like it will be a significant rise in those prices stretching off into the distance.”
