Jihadis across border supporting SP, Congress: PM Modi
Deoria (UP), May 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday claimed that "jihadis" across the border are supporting the Samajwadi Party and the Congress who are appealing for "vote jihad" in the country.
Addressing an election rally here in support of BJP candidates in Bansgaon and Deoria Lok Sabha seats, he alleged that the INDIA bloc does not want to take the country forward, but back by several decades. "Their agenda is not the development of India," Modi said.
"In Pakistan, 'duas' (prayers) are being made for the INDI alliance of Samajwadi Party and Congress. Jihadis across the border are supporting them. The SP and the Congress are making an appeal for 'vote jihad' here," said the prime minister in an apparent reference to a remark by an INDIA bloc candidate.
He said, "This (INDIA bloc) group is saying that if they come to power, they will reimpose Article 370 in Kashmir. They will repeal the CAA (Citizenship (Amendment) Act) which gives citizenship again to the victims of Partition. Whose agenda is this... this is what these anti-India forces want?
Modi went on to allege, "Their agenda is not the development of India. They want to take back the country by several decades."
Hitting out at the bloc, Prime Minister Modi claimed the "INDI jamaat" has been abusing him for his opposition to reservation on the basis of religion.
"I want to remind you that in 2012, the SP in its manifesto had stated that Muslim should get reservation equal to that of Dalits. The INDI jamaat wants to change the Constitution for this. When I ask them (about reservation) they abuse Modi," he said, adding he is opposing reservation on the basis of religion.
He accused the SP of doing "dynastic politics".
"In the (tenure of the) SP government, mafias had built palaces on public land. But since Yogi Adityanath has come (as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh) the environment has changed. Now, the good days of mafias are over. Houses of the poor are being built in place of their palaces. This is the difference between the BJP and the INDI alliance," he said.
Modi also alleged that the Congress "created roadblocks for countries that wanted to purchase BrahMos missiles".
Accusing the Congress of always playing with the country's security, the prime minister said, "Our country makes BrahMos missiles and the day is not far when BrahMos missiles will be made in Uttar Pradesh."
"There has been a demand for this (missile) in many countries but the Congress does not like it. Many countries wanted to purchase the BrahMos but the Congress government created hurdles because the 'INDI' people do not want India to become self-reliant in the defence sector," Modi said.
He said the "INDI people want their arms deals to continue, their brokerage to continue, scams to continue." Modi added, "Today we are moving forward strongly towards a self-reliant India in the defence sector."
Purvanchal will launch an assault on the INDIA bloc in seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls, the prime minister said.
Referring to the day of counting of votes of the elections, Modi said June 4 is going to decide the future of India. "India will begin a new journey after June 4," he said.
The BJP has fielded Kamlesh Paswan from Bansgaon and Shashank Mani Tripathi from Deoria in the seventh and last phase of the polls on June 1.
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
