Outrage after Trump claims NATO troops avoided Afghan front line
Britain said Donald Trump was “wrong to diminish” the role of NATO troops in Afghanistan, as a claim by the US president that they did not fight on the front line sparked outrage.In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers died during the conflict in the South Asian country following the September 11 attacks on the United States.”They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told the US outlet, referring to NATO allies.”And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added.Trump also repeated his suggestion that NATO would not come to the aid of the United States if asked to do so.In fact, following the 9/11 attacks, the UK and a number of other allies joined the US from 2001 in Afghanistan after it invoked NATO’s collective security clause.As well as British forces, troops from other NATO ally countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark and others also died.”Their sacrifice and that of other NATO forces was made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said.”We are incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he added. – ‘Heroes’ -Care Minister Stephen Kinnock earlier said he expected Starmer would bring the issue up with Trump.”I think he will, I’m sure, be raising this issue with the president… He’s incredibly proud of our armed forces, and he will make that clear to the president,” he told LBC Radio.”It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that Article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” he added in an interview with Sky News.Defence Minister John Healey said NATO’s Article 5 has only been triggered once.”The UK and NATO allies answered the US call. And more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan,” he said.The troops who died were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”, he added.Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 in Afghanistan, told The Mirror newspaper that Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting”.Emily Thornberry, chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced them as “so much more than a mistake”.”It’s an absolute insult. It’s an insult to 457 families who lost someone in Afghanistan. How dare he say we weren’t on the front line?” the Labour Party politician said on the BBC’s Question Time programme on Thursday evening.According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British casualties who died in Afghanistan were killed in hostile military action.The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.
Pluie, vent et fortes vagues en Bretagne avec le passage de la dépression Ingrid
La dépression Ingrid apporte vendredi pluies, vents et fortes vagues sur plusieurs départements bretons, où des villes restent les pieds dans l’eau et d’autres se préparent à la montée des eaux.Le Finistère est en vigilance orange vent depuis 10H00. Météo-France a par ailleurs a maintenu les vigilances orange pluie-inondation et vagues-submersion pour le Finistère et le Morbihan toute la journée. Des rafales entre 100 et 130 km/h ont déjà été relevées dans la nuit sur la côte et les cumuls de pluie atteignent “20 à 40 mm, localement 50 mm sur la totalité de l’épisode pluvieux”, selon son bulletin de 10H00.Selon le site Vigicrues, des tronçons sur trois cours d’eau sont en vigilance: la Laïta (dans le Finistère), le Blavet (dans le Morbihan) et l’Oust (Morbihan, Côtes-d’Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine). Des “débordements dommageables sont observés ou attendus” sur les trois rivières.Avec le passage de la dépression Ingrid et des pluies qui doivent s’intensifier dans la journée, “de nouvelles réactions modérées à importantes des cours d’eau sont attendues”, selon le bulletin de 10H00.A Quimperlé (Finistère), des quais du centre-ville étaient inondés vendredi matin, comme la veille. La rivière Laïta “fait du yoyo”, et “la décrue va être vraiment très lente, avec un bassin versant complètement saturé” et de nouvelles pluies attendues la semaine prochaine, a commenté le maire de la ville, Michaël Quernez, à l’AFP. Un quai en centre-ville, qui correspond à une route départementale et est inondé, reste par conséquent fermé et des barrières anti-crues sont en place. Quatorze riverains ont été évacués, a précisé l’élu.Dans le Morbihan, les liaisons maritimes entre Quiberon et les îles de Houat, Hoëdic et Belle-Île-en-Mer sont annulées pour vendredi. Des compétitions de football amateur sont annulées ce week-end.En Ille-et-Vilaine, département fortement touché par des inondations il y a un an, plusieurs villes prennent leurs dispositions pour éviter de nouveaux dégâts. Rennes a activé son plan communal de sauvegarde dès mercredi, même si les cours d’eau traversant la ville ne sont pas concernés par la vigilance orange crue.Au sud de Rennes, la mairie de Noyal-Chatillon-sur-Seiche a fermé ses parcs, le niveau de la rivière la Seiche étant “actuellement élevé” avec “des débordements”.En aval sur la Vilaine, la ville de Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon va renforcer les protections d’un quartier où plusieurs dizaines de logements et d’entreprises avaient été inondés en janvier 2025. Cette commune a été en partie construite sur des marais et certains quartiers sont régulièrement inondés.
Uganda army chief says 30 opposition supporters killed, 2,000 arrestedFri, 23 Jan 2026 12:14:13 GMT
Uganda’s army chief and son of newly re-elected President Yoweri Museveni said Friday that 30 opposition supporters had been killed and 2,000 detained in the wake of the vote. Opposition leader Bobi Wine remained in hiding on Friday after accusing security forces of raiding his home in the aftermath of the election on January 15. He has …
Volatile security blocks UN from Syria IS-linked camp
Poor security at a camp in Syria housing thousands of suspected relatives of Islamic State group jihadists has prevented UN agency staff from entering, days after Kurdish forces withdrew and the army deployed at the site.Two former employees at the Al-Hol desert camp told AFP on Friday that some of its residents had escaped during an hours-long security vacuum.Thousands of suspected jihadists and their families, including foreigners, have been held in prisons and camps in northeast Syria since 2019, when the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) defeated IS with the support of a US-led coalition.This year, the SDF had to relinquish to Syrian government control swathes of territory they had seized during their fight against IS, and on Tuesday withdrew from Al-Hol.In Raqa province, Kurdish forces who formerly controlled a prison housing IS detainees were bussed out on Friday under a deal with the government, as a four-day truce neared expiry.- Returning today -Celine Schmitt, the UN refugee agency’s spokesperson in Syria, told AFP that “UNHCR was able to reach Al-Hol for the past three days but has not yet been able to enter inside the camp due to the volatile security situation.””UNHCR is returning to Al-Hol today, with the hope of resuming the bread delivery that had stopped for the past three days,” she said.On Sunday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a deal with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi that included a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurds’ administration into the state, which will take responsibility for IS prisoners.A former employee of a local humanitarian organisation that operated in Al-Hol told AFP on condition of anonymity that most associations withdrew on Tuesday “due to the deteriorating security situation”.Some camp residents fled during the “security vacuum” between when the SDF withdrew and the army took control, they said, without providing a number.A former employee at another organisation working there said “escapes were reported, but the exact number is unknown”.”The camp is fenced, but without security, anyone can easily cross it and flee,” they said, also requesting anonymity.Both ex-employees said camp residents torched centres belonging to aid organisations operating in the camp, where humanitarian conditions are dire.Before the turmoil, the camp housed some 23,000 people — mostly Syrians but also including around 2,200 Iraqis and 6,200 other foreign women and children of various nationalities, the camp’s former administration told AFP.Roj, a smaller camp in the northeast still under Kurdish control, holds some 2,300 people, mostly foreigners.The Kurds and the United States have repeatedly urged countries to repatriate their citizens but foreign governments have generally allowed home only a trickle.- Al-Aqtan prison -The SDF has withdrawn to parts of Hasakeh province, its stronghold in northeast Syria.A fresh four-day ceasefire was announced on Tuesday, while the following day the United States said it had launched an operation that could see 7,000 IS jihadist detainees moved from Syria to Iraq, with 150 transferred so far.US envoy Tom Barrack, who has said the purpose of Washington’s alliance with SDF has now largely expired, held talks this week with Abdi and senior Kurdish official Elham Ahmad.On Friday, Syria transferred Kurdish fighters away from the Al-Aqtan prison on the outskirts of Raqa city.An AFP correspondent in Raqa saw buses and cars heading away from the Al-Aqtan prison, escorted by government vehicles.Syrian state television reported the transfer came “after five days of negotiations” and that the fighters would go to the Kurdish-held city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane, on the northern border with Turkey.The SDF later said that with coalition support, all the fighters had been transferred “to safe locations”, while the interior ministry said authorities had taken control of the facility.A government source told state television that around 800 SDF fighters were to leave, while IS detainees would be managed “according to Syrian law”.The army said the Al-Aqtan transfer was “the first step in implementing the January 18 agreement”.