Turkish soldiers watch over the Syrian town of Kobani as they take position near Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the Turkish town of Suruc in southeastern Sanliurfa province October 4, 2014. Reuters.
TURKEY – Kobani: Isis flags raised near Turkish-Syrian border
Islamic State (ISIS) fighters are close to taking a town just a few miles from the Turkish border, a fight which would be a symbolic victory over the Kurds who declared self-rule there from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2012.
Locals and analysts have warned that the radical jihadists will stage a massacre in the town of Kobani which has all but been abandoned by civilians. The fighters have now reached the southwestern outskirts of the city, according to the BBC.
Reports have also suggested that one Kurdish female fighter was captured by IS militants, blowing herself up to avoid capture. Al-Arabiya reported the woman was 19-year-old Ceylan Ozalp, who was interviewed by the BBC about women’s role in the Peshmerga Kurdish forces, but several on Twitter said Ozalp was still alive and fighting elsewhere.
Others on social media have questioned why the coalition airstrikes, led by the United States have not protected the town for the last 24 hours.
The leader of the Kurdish political party PYD, Salih Muslim, said there were no effective airstrikes taking place. “That is why the IS thinks it is safer to deploy most of its forces near Kobani in order to protect them from air strikes.”
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey will do what it can to prevent Kobani falling into the hands of Islamic State, but in practice the Turkish government is reticent both to help the Kurds it has spent so long quashing within its own border, or to be the first country to commit ground troops to Syria.
On Friday, Syria’s Foreign Ministry warned Turkey that deploying troops inside its borders would be seen as an act of aggression, and said that international leaders should act to “put limits to the adventures” of Turkey, which has been a key backer of Syrian opposition groups.
Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s leading Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said of Davutoglu: “How does he want to prevent the fall of Kobani and until now Turkey has done nothing.” Khalil said Kurdish fighters in the town “will fight until the last gunman and last gunwoman.”
A mortar shell fired from within Syria hit a house on the Turkish side of the border, injuring five people and leaving one with significant facial injuries, it was reported on Sunday.
The Office of the Governor of Şanlıurfa ordered the evacuation of two border villages, Küçükkendirli and Büyükkendirli because of the risk to Turks living there.
CHAD – Chad set to become 37th African state to ban homosexuality
N’DJAMENA, Chad — Government ministers of the West African nation of Chad voted on September 22 to make same-sex relations a crime, the 37th African nation to enact such a law.
Homosexuality is not currently illegal in Chad, but a section of a new penal code makes it punishable by 15 to 20 years imprisonment and a fine. The cabinet claims the intent of the law is to “protect the family and to comply with Chadian society.” It will go before Parliament members and then to President Idriss Deby for his signature; no dispute or objection is expected.
Although the draft of the new penal code abolished the death penalty in Chad, international human rights groups condemned Section 361, the section concerned with anti-homosexuality.
“This is very good news (the cessation of the death penalty), which is unfortunately marred by the criminalization of homosexuality,” Florent Geel, Africa director of the International Federation of Human Rights, said on the Gay Star News website. “Criminalizing homosexuality seems discriminatory, demagogic and counter-productive, as it may turn groups against each other.”
Geel added that the reform of the penal code had been in preparation for 10 years but the question of homosexuality, while considered immoral, had never been an issue in Chad.
The development is part of a wave of opposition to homosexuality sweeping across Africa. Same-sex relations are illegal in 36 of the continent’s 54 countries, according to Amnesty International, and punishable by death in some.
Last month the Gambia passed a bill imposing life imprisonment for “aggravated homosexuality” relating to repeat offenders and people living with HIV/Aids. The Gambia’s Muslim president, Yahya Jammeh, has previously told gay men and lesbians to leave the country or risk beheading.
Uganda recently attempted to impose penalties for the “promotion of homosexuality,” including life sentences for certain homosexual acts. The law was struck down by judges on a technicality but is expected to be reintroduced by MPs.
In January, the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed into law a bill criminalizing same-sex “amorous relationships” and membership of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights groups. Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, regularly attacks gay people in speeches and recently said he resented western aid because it depended on conditions such as accepting homosexuality.
PAKISTAN – Polio outbreak hits record high
Pakistan has recorded its highest number of polio cases for 15 years, with health officials blaming the rise on attacks on immunization teams.
The number of new cases in 2014 so far is 202, exceeding the 199 cases in 2001 but short of the 558 cases in 1999.
Children receiving Polio vaccines in Pakistan
Most of the infections are in the north-western tribal region where militants have targeted health teams.
Militants there accuse doctors of being spies and say the vaccinations are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslims.
Suspicions over the programs worsened after the U.S. was accused of using a fake vaccination program during its tracking of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.
Since December 2012, about 60 people, including health workers and police providing security to medical teams, have been killed by Taliban militants targeting polio teams.
The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil in Islamabad says the rise in cases is hugely embarrassing to Pakistan.
The country has failed to curb the disease despite massive investment on immunization programs by the international community, she adds.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization imposed travel restrictions on the country meaning all Pakistanis must now carry proof of vaccination before travelling abroad.
Pakistan is one of three countries where polio is endemic (growing; widespread) – the other two being Afghanistan and Nigeria.
(The news briefs above are from wire reports and staff reports posted at The Washington Post on Oct. 3, The Guardian & UPI on Sept. 22 and BBC News on Oct. 4.)
TURKEY
WHO ARE THE KURDS?
A largely Sunni Muslim people with their own language and culture, most Kurds live in the generally contiguous areas of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Syria – a mountainous region of southwest Asia generally known as Kurdistan ("Land of the Kurds"). Read more at: washingtonpost.com.
CHAD:
Although Chad is a secular state, religion is a divisive force. Muslims, who make up slightly more than half of the population, hold a disproportionately large number of senior government posts, and some policies favor Islam in practice. At the same time, the authorities have banned Muslim groups that are seen as promoting violence. (from freedom house.org)
From the BBC:
Countries that punish homosexuality with the death penalty - Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen - as well as in parts of Nigeria and Somalia.
From the Washington Post: