CounterVortex

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: pilgrims slain in Kandahar attack

In the latest of mounting attacks across Afghanistan, an bomb blast near Kabul University left eight people dead and some 30 wounded. Days earlier, a roadside bomb killed at least 11 pilgrims riding a truck in the southern province of Kandahar, headed for the shrine that houses the tomb of Sufi Shah Agha, a companion and relative of the Prophet Mohammad. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Kandahar authorities blamed the Taliban, which often uses roadside bombs to target security forces in the province. Days before that, at least six people were killed and 14 wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a wedding celebration in Nangarhar province. Paradoxically, the escalating violence comes just after Afghan officials met face-to-face with Taliban leaders as well as US negotiators at the peace talks in Doha, Qatar. (Photo of Shah Agha shrine via Geoview)

Southeast Asia

Duterte defiant in ‘crimes against humanity’

Both UN human rights experts and Amnesty International are accusing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of “crimes against humanity” in his drug war. Calls for an international investigation were endorsed by a vote of the UN Human Rights Council. But Duterte remains intransigent and refuses to recognize the International Criminal Court. Amid growing international scruitny, his police killed a three-year-old girl in a drug raid. Duterte’s former police chief, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, now a political ally in the Senate, dismissed the incident with the comment “Shit happens,” fueling further outrage. (Photo via Rappler)

Syria

Waterworks, civil defense centers bombed in Idlib

Assad regime and Russian warplanes continue to target civilians and basic infrastructure in the aerial assault on opposition-controlled Idlib province in Syria’s north. At least 12 were killed in a regime air-strike on a market in Maar Shurin village. Russian air-strikes destroyed the main water plant in Maarat al-Numan, a town already swollen with displaced persons who have fled the regime offensive. First responders are also apparently being intentionally targeted. A new report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights finds that Russian and Assad forces have struck 31 civil defense centers and vehicles in opposition-controlled areas of Idlib and Hama provinces since the current offensive began in late April. At least seven first responders and medics from the White Helmets and Violet Organization civil defense groups have been killed. The overall civilian death toll in the air-strikes on Idlib and Hama is placed at 550, including 130 children. (Photo via EA Worldview)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: Against the Left-Fascist Convergence

In Episode 36 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg reads the full text of his presentation at the Left Forum, at the panel “Confronting the Resurgence of Authoritarianism, Right and ‘Left’,” held by the Marxist-Humanist Initiative. Weinberg argues the intentionally provocative but nonetheless entirely accurate thesis that the consensus position of the contemporary “left” is now pro-fascist. Sounds illogical? That’s because you haven’t thought it through. Listen before you judge. Some choice words for Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Sy Hersh, Stephen Cohen, Jill Stein, Tulsi Gabbard, ANSWER, etc. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon.

Iran

Iran bombs Iraqi Kurdistan

Following recent Turkish air-strikes on the border area of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, Iranian artillery and drones struck a village in Sidakan district of Erbil province, killing one civilian and wounding two more. The mayor of Sidakan said a young girl who was working in the fields outside the hamlet of Dere was killed in the attacks, and her two bothers wounded. Orchards and pastures were also set ablaze in the strikes. Sidakan has frequently come under attack by Turkish warplanes targeting presumed strongholds of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and the Iranian attack was apparently aimed at an allied Kurdish armed group that opposes Tehran, the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). (Photo via Al Monitor)

The Amazon

Ecuador: oil lease threatens ‘uncontacted’ peoples

Ecuador’s Environment Ministry approved plans to drill for oil in a sensitive area of Yasuni National Park, where isolated or “uncontacted” indigenous peoples are believed to be living. The Ishpingo site is the last field of the controversial Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) project within the borders of the park. Ishpingo is the most contested of the three ITT fields, as it overlaps with the reserve’s Intangible Zone, created to protect two “uncontacted” communities of the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples. (Photo via Mongabay)

Europe

Crimean Tatars arrested in Red Square protest

Seven Crimean Tatars were detained in Moscow while holding a peaceful picket calling for an end to ethnic and religious persecution in Russian-annexed Crimea. Around 20 activists—most in their 50s and 60s, veterans of the Crimean Tatar national movement—gathered in Red Square with placards reading: “Our children are not terrorists”; “The fight against terrorism in Crimea is a fight against dissidents” and “Stop persecution on ethnic and religious lines in Crimea.” The picket was held in advance of an appeal hearing for four Crimean Tatars facing “terrorism” charges for their membership in the civil organization Hizb ut-Tahrir. The detained protesters were charged with holding an unauthorized demonstration. One of those arrested is the father of one of the “terrorism” defendants. (Photo: Human Rights in Ukraine)

Africa

Darfur at issue in Sudan transition talks

A new agreement between Sudan’s opposition coalition, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), and the ruling Transitional Military Council provides for power to be shared through a joint Sovereign Council. Among the FFC’s constituent groups are two armed rebel factions active in the conflicted Darfur region. After the new transition deal was announced, these two groups both issued statements denying Sudanese media reports that they had dropped out of the FFC—claims that may originate in a regime stratagem to remove the Darfur question from the opposition agenda. Having long receded from world headlines, the situation in Darfur is again escalating. Last month, the joint African Union-UN Mission in Darfur suspended the handover of camps for displaced civilians to the Sudanese military, due to new attacks in the region. Amnesty International, citing satellite imagery, charges that a new “scorched earth” campaign is underway in Darfur. (Photo: UN News)

Oceania

West Papua independence forces unite

Rebel groups seeking independence for Indonesia’s West Papua announced formation of a new united army under a single command. Three major factions have come together as the West Papua Army, under the political leadership of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP). The ULMWP’s UK-exiled leader Benny Wenda appealed for international support: “We welcome any assistance in helping us achieve our liberation. The ULMWP is ready to form an independent West Papua. Politically and militarily we are united now. The international community can now see without a doubt that we are ready to take over our country. Indonesia cannot stigmatize us as separatists or criminals any more, we are a legitimate unified military and political state-in-waiting.” (Photo via Radio New Zealand)

The Amazon

Amazon destruction jumps under Bolsonaro

Deforestation in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon rainforest rose more than 88% in June compared with the same month a year ago—the second consecutive month of rising forest loss under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. According to data from the Brazilian Space Agency, deforestation totaled 920 square kilometers. An analysis by BBC finds: “An area of Amazon rainforest roughly the size of a football pitch [soccer field] is now being cleared every single minute.” This accelerated destruction is directly rooted in Bolsonaro administration policies, that have undermined the work of IBAMA, Brazil’s environmental agency, effectively gutting enforcement. Fines for illegal forest clearing and seizures of illegal timber have plummeted to record lows since he took office. (Photo via Mongabay)

North Africa

Libya: did Haftar bomb migrant detention center?

The UN is calling for an urgent investigation into the “outrageous” bombing of a migrant detention center at Tajoura, outside Libya’s capital Tripoli, which left at least 44 dead. Libya’s UN-recognized government issued a statement blaming the air-strike on warlord Khalifa Haftar, who has for months been besieging Tripoli. Already believed to be supported by France and Russia, he has now also apparently established contact with Washington. The White House admitted in April that President Trump had spoken by phone with Haftar and discussed “ongoing counter-terrorism efforts.” (Photo via Libya Observer)

Africa

Sudan protesters defy massacre, net silence

Sudan’s opposition coalition, the Forces for Freedom and Change, has renewed its call for the Transitional Military Council to hand power to a civilian-led authority, and announced a general strike to press this demand starting July 14. The call was issued a day after the “Millions March” demonstrations of June 30—which again saw security forces firing on protesters, leaving seven dead and more than 180 wounded. The TMC has formed an investigative commission into the June 3 attack on a pro-democracy sit-in outside the army headquarters, in which over a hundred were killed. Protesters continue to mobilize despite the TMC having cut off Internet access, returning to such methods as passing out leaflets at markets and transit stops. (Photo via Geeska Africa Online)