Displaying items by tag: military base

The US government has blocked a British court hearing on the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), citing security concerns. The hearing was to address the alleged unlawful detention of migrants on Diego Garcia, a highly secretive UK-US military base. Dozens of migrants had landed on the island in 2021, claiming that they were fleeing persecution and seeking asylum in Canada, but their boat had run into difficulties: they have been detained since then. On 9 July, the day before the hearing was due to start, the USA withdrew consent for lawyers and the BBC to access the island and refused to provide transport and accommodation, claiming that their visit posed ‘risks to the security and effective operation’ of the base. The cancellation is a severe setback for the migrants, who sought to demonstrate their detention conditions.

Recently three huge blasts and a series of smaller explosions from a military base damaged or destroyed almost all homes and buildings in Bata, a city of over 250,000 people. The first explosion was so big that people were shouting ‘This is a bomb, this is a bomb!’ UN satellite images suggest at least 243 structures were completely destroyed and nearby buildings severely damaged, with scorched vegetation. Pray for the residents of Bata trying to come to grips with the full scale of a disaster that killed at least 105 people and injured over 600. 482 people have been discharged from hospitals but many remain untreated. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Pray for aid to be released to the homeless who once lived in the destroyed blocks of housing. The devastation was caused by poorly-managed stores of explosives. But no matter the cause, the road to recovery will be long and daunting.

Iran intends to build a military base in the Indian Ocean to protect fishing and commercial vessels from piracy and ‘foreign ships’ (referring to the US-led multinational naval task force currently protecting Gulf shipping from Iranian interference). A new agreement will give China access to Iranian ports. China is reportedly planning to build a new military base near Iran’s Chabahar port to enable the Chinese navy to monitor the activities of the US navy, which protects shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important economic waterways. Any expansion in Iranian and Chinese military activity in the region would impact on the jointly-administered US / UK base on the island of Diego Garcia, one of the most important US military assets in the region. Tehran also plans to sign a $400 billion trade deal with China, which includes closer military cooperation between them to counter ‘Washington's dominance’.

IS has taken credit for an attack on 8 April on the largest US military base in Afghanistan - Bagram airfield, near Kabul. The attack came as 100 Taliban prisoners were released, as a prerequisite for peace talks. More prisoners should be released near the Bagram base. The government is required to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, with the Taliban releasing 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces. There is disagreement over the procedure, as to whether senior Taliban commanders would be covered by the deal.