Page 6 - aruba-today-20220124

A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 24 January 2022
Mutinous soldiers take over Burkina Faso military barracks

By SAM MEDNICK they were seeking bet-
Associated Press ter working conditions for
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Burkina Faso's military amid
Faso (AP) — Mutinous sol- the escalating fight against
diers seized control of a mil- Islamic militants. Among
itary base in Burkina Faso's their demands are in-
capital Sunday, raising creased manpower in the
fears of a coup attempt in battle against extremists
the West African nation as and better care for those
gunfire rang out for hours wounded and the families
amid growing frustration of the dead. The mutinous
with the government's han- soldiers also want the mili-
dling of the Islamic insur- tary and intelligence hier-
gency. archy replaced, he said.
The apparent mutiny came There were signs Sunday
one day after the latest that their demands were
public demonstration call- supported by many in Burki-
ing for President Roch Marc na Faso who are increas-
Christian Kabore's resigna- ingly distressed by the at-
tion. On Sunday, security tacks blamed on al-Qaida
forces used tear gas to dis- and Islamic State-linked
perse crowds seeking to groups. Thousands have
publicly support the muti- died in recent years from
neers. Crowds also vandal- A mutinous soldier fires into the air at the Bobo interchange, near the Lamizana camp in Burkina those attacks and around
ized a building occupied Faso's capital Ouagadougou Sunday Jan. 23, 2022. 1.5 million people have
by the president's political Associated Press been displaced.
party and set it on fire. "We want the military
Defense Minister Aime Bar- whereabouts remained un- state broadcaster de- Sunday, directing their an- to take power," said Sa-
thelemy Simpore told state known. scribed the gunfire as "acts ger over army casualties at lif Sawadogo as he tried
broadcaster RTB that a few "Well, it's a few barracks. of discontent by soldiers." the president. About 100 to avoid tear gas on the
barracks had been affect- There are not too many," "Contrary to some informa- motorcycles later left the streets of Ouagadougou.
ed by unrest not only in the Simpore said. "In some of tion, no institution of the re- base, chanting in support "Our democracy is not sta-
capital of Ouagadougou these barracks, the calm public has been targeted," of the mutineers, but were ble." Kabore first took office
but in other cities too. He has already returned. So the headline continued. stopped when security in 2015, winning the elec-
denied, however, that the that's it for the moment. As I At the Lamizana Sangoule forces deployed tear gas. tion held after longtime
president had been de- said, we are monitoring the military barracks in the The soldiers put a man on President Blaise Compaore
tained by the mutineers, situation." capital, however, angry the phone with The Asso- was ousted in a popular
even though Kabore's A news headline on the soldiers shot into the air ciated Press who said that uprising. q

U.S. detains smuggling ship, UK seizes drugs in Mideast waters

and ongoing drug traffick- go and Yemeni crew to Ye- province of Saada, hitting
ing in the region. men's coast guard earlier a prison and killing over 80
The U.S. Navy's Mideast- this week. detainees.
based 5th Fleet said its Yemen is awash with small Officials also revealed Sun-
guided-missile destroyer arms that have been day that a British royal navy
USS Cole and patrol ships smuggled into the coun- vessel had seized a large
halted and searched the try's poorly controlled ports quantity of illegal drugs
sailboat, a stateless fishing over years of conflict. valued at some $26 million
dhow, that was sailing from Since 2015, Iranian-backed from a boat sailing through
Iran on a well-worn mari- Houthi rebels have been the Gulf of Oman on Jan.
time arms smuggling route battling a Saudi-led military 15.
to war-ravaged Yemen last coalition for control of the The HMS Montrose confis-
Tuesday. U.S. forces found nation. Iran says it politically cated 663 kilograms (1,461
40 tons of urea fertilizer, supports the rebels but de- pounds) of heroin, 87 ki-
known to be a key ingredi- nies arming them, despite lograms (191 pounds) of
ent in homemade impro- evidence to the contrary. methamphetamine and
This photo released by the U.S. Navy, shows U.S. service mem-
bers conduct a boarding on a stateless fishing vessel transiting vised explosive devices, The smuggled weapons 291 kilograms (641 pounds)
international waters in the Gulf of Oman, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. hidden on board. have helped the Houthis of hashish and marijuana,
Associated Press Authorities said the vessel gain an edge against the the joint maritime task force
had been previously seized Saudi-led coalition in the said in a statement.
By ISABEL DEBRE said it confiscated 1,041 off the coast of Somalia seven-year war. Violence The task force did not elab-
Associated Press kilograms (2,295 pounds) and found last year to be has drastically escalated orate on where the drugs
DUBAI, United Arab Emir- of illegal drugs in the same loaded with thousands of over the past week amid came from, who manufac-
ates (AP) — The U.S. Navy waters. assault rifles and rocket stalled international at- tured them or their ultimate
announced Sunday it The interdictions were just launchers, among other tempts at brokering peace. destination. But Iran over
seized a boat in the Gulf the latest in the volatile weapons. U.N. experts say Following a deadly drone the last decade has seen
of Oman carrying fertilizer waters of the Persian Gulf weapons with such tech- attack claimed by the an explosion in the use of
used to make explosives as American and British nical characteristics likely rebels on Abu Dhabi, in methamphetamine, known
that was caught last year authorities step up seizures come from Iran to support the United Arab Emirates, locally as "shisheh" or "glass"
smuggling weapons to Ye- of contraband during the the Houthi rebels. The Navy Saudi warplanes pounded in Farsi, which has bled into
men. The British royal navy grinding conflict in Yemen turned over the vessel, car- the northern rebel-held neighboring countries.q