This Week in the World sheds light on events and personalities around the globe that may not have made the headlines
Burkina-Faso
On 24 August, troops affiliated with Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel region, carried out a massacre in Barsalogho department in Burkina-Faso.
The massacre occurred as Burkina-Faso troops were using civilians from nearby towns to dig trenches to defend the city of Kaya. Kaya is the last line of defence before the capital city of Ouagadougou. Reporting suggests that the JNIM forces may have surprised the government forces and fired into the trenches as they were filled with civilian workers. Video released by Al-Qaeda shows burning military vehicles and large numbers of corpses. Government reinforcements arrived and managed to drive back JNIM forces after the attack.
Over 200 soldiers and civilians are thought to have been killed in the attack.
According to reporting by Aljazeera, JNIM controls around 50% of the territory of Burkina-Faso, and has been expanding its control in recent months. French troops had been in the country to help the government against JNIM but were ejected after a military coup in 2022.
The coup was thought to have partially been the result of anger at the government and its French ally’s inability to contain the JNIM insurgency. The new military government has aligned closely with Russia and brought in Wager Group troops to help fight the insurgents. So far it seems Russian forces have had little success in halting JNIM, which continues to advance.
Austrian elections
In a month, Austria will hold legislative elections. The last election in 2019 was won by the centre-right Austrian People’s Party (OVP), getting 37.5% of the vote, with the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) winning 21.2% of the vote. The right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) came third with 16.2% of the vote.
Opinion polling suggests the political landscape has dramatically shifted since 2019. The OVP has seen its support in polls drop from 45% in 2020 to around 25% today. The main winner seems to have been the FPO, which is now polling in first place with just under 30% of the vote. The SPO is now competing for second place with the OVP with between 20-25% of the vote in polls.
The FPO was founded by former Nazi ministers in the 1950s, before reforming significantly in a more liberal direction to become centre-right. However, in 1986 the party returned to a more hardline right-wing position and currently brands itself as primarily an anti-immigration party.
The party remains controversial in Austria and is a member of the Patriots for Europe group in the European parliament, along with the French National Rally led by Marine Le Pen, the Hungarian Fidesz, the party of Victor Orban, and the right-wing Czech party, ANO.
Ukraine-Russia
The Kyiv Independent, an English language newspaper in Ukraine, reported yesterday that Chinese banks were shutting down transactions with Russia “en masse”. This is believed to be in response to a new round of American sanctions against both Chinese and Russian companies, which were announced last week. According to the Kyiv Independent, “a number of major Chinese banks have begun blocking transactions for electronics out of fear of secondary sanctions”.
Since Western countries imposed sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has increasingly relied on trade with China to keep its economy afloat. Trade with China has doubled since 2021, and while China does not officially provide weapons to Russia, it supplies vital components needed in the manufacture of weapons systems.
China has since the invasion tried to walk a delicate tightrope of supporting Russia without being forced into a direct confrontation with the US, which remains China’s most important trade partner.
Ukraine’s air force suffered a blow on 26 August when experienced pilot Oleksii Mes was killed in what Kyiv claims was an accidental crash while performing anti-missile operations during a Russian drone and missile attack. Adding to the loss was that he crashed in an F-16 fighter jet which Ukraine has only recently received.
The Ukrainian government said it was launching an investigation into the cause of the crash.
Mes was one of the few Ukrainian pilots trained on the aircraft, which are in high demand in Ukraine. His loss will be deeply felt by the Ukraine Air Force, which is desperate for pilots trained on F-16s.
Middle East
The World Food Program (WFP), according to the New York Times, will be halting deliveries of food into Gaza after some of its aid workers were attacked while approaching an Israeli checkpoint on 27 August.
The WFP said that no one was hurt in the attack, but their car had been hit by at least 10 bullets. The WFP did not say who it believed had shot at the convoy but implied that it was Israeli forces. The Israeli army said the incident was “under review”.
[Image: BK Tekane]
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