United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the opening ceremony of the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on September 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told African leaders on Thursday (September 5, 2024) that “injustices” against the continent must be corrected, calling for the region to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

“Mr. Guterres and more than 50 African leaders are attending this week’s China-Africa forum,” according to state media. Addressing the forum, Mr. Guterres told the leaders that it was time to correct “historic injustices” against the continent.

“It is outrageous… that the continent of Africa still has no permanent seat on the Security Council,” he said. “Many African countries are mired in debt and struggling to invest in sustainable development,” he said.

“Many have no access to effective debt relief, scarce resources, and clearly insufficient… funding,” he added. Mr. Guterres told the gathering that “China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise”. “It can be a catalyst for key transitions on food systems and digital connectivity,” he said.

“And as home to some of the world’s most dynamic economies, Africa can maximise the potential of China’s support in areas from trade to data management, finance and technology,” Mr. Guterres added.

New Delhi:

The United Nations Security Council needs urgent reforms and India should get its rightful place as a permanent member of the top UN body, says former Singapore diplomat professor Kishore Mahbubani.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV’s Sonia Singh, Mr Mahbubani talked about the much-needed reforms in the United Nations, saying that he believes the United Kingdom should give up its permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for India.

“There is absolutely no question that India is the third-most powerful country in the world today after the United States and China. And that Great Britain is no longer ‘great’,” he said.

Explaining why the UK should relinquish its seat, Mr Mahbubani mentioned that the UK has not used its veto power for decades, fearing backlash. “So, the logical thing for the UK to do is give up its seat to India,” he said.

Speaking on the UN reforms, he said the founders of the UN ensured that all great powers of the time had vested interests in the organisation in order to make it work.

“The lesson that (UN’s founders) learned from the collapse of the League of Nations early in the 20th century is that if a great power leaves, the organisation collapses,” the former diplomat said.

“But they also believed that you must have the great powers of today, not the great powers of yesterday. Unfortunately, they didn’t create a mechanism for changing the seats,” he said.

“Another reason for the UK to give up its seat is that it will free them up to act independently,” he said.

United Nations:

Calling for a reform of the UN Security Council, India has cautioned against its peacekeeping mandates as “not representative of current realities”.

Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka said: “We call for caution on any activity that is rooted in authorisation from a Security Council that is not representative of current realities.”

In his address at the UN Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS) here recently, he said that because it is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, “it is important that the Security Council is a reformed body with an expansion of membership in both the permanent and non-permanent categories”.

He pointed out the imbalance in the regional imbalance in its membership “given that more than half of the Security Council’s work is focused on Africa”.

India, he said, has been consistently calling for greater representation of Africa in line with the African Union’s two signature documents, the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, that demand increasing the continent’s membership of the Council in the elected category and giving it at least two permanent seats.

He said that the nature of armed conflicts where peacekeepers operate changed with the involvement of “non-State Armed Groups” – diplomatic speak that includes terrorists.

Their involvement has “increasingly exposed peacekeeping operations to regional and global dynamics that undermine their efforts to implement their mandate”, he said.

Deka criticised the current peacekeeping system where the mandates from the Council are not clear, the resources given to peacekeeping operations are inadequate, and there are no definitive exit strategies for ending missions, endangering the safety of peacekeepers.

“There are divergences in interpretation of mandates between various stakeholders, which results in inadequacy of mandate delivery as well as a threat to the safety of our peacekeepers,” he said.

Deka added that it is “extremely important that there is continuous and effective coordination between the UN leadership, host nation as well as Troop/Police Contributing countries” from the drafting of the Council mandates till ending missions with an exit strategy.

The peacekeeping operations should also be given adequate resources, he said.

There were 151 Indian police in UN peacekeeping operations, while 5,384 troops were deployed, according to UN statistics.

Historically, India has been the biggest contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations.

Deka, who was given a year’s extension in the top Intelligence Bureau position last month, criticised “the fallacy of solutions being imposed from outside” and said: “India has always stressed that there can be no substitute for national efforts in creating an environment where civilians are secure.”

“The eroding support of host nations to the presence of peacekeepers is a reflection of the failure to address the root causes of conflict,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The United Nations’ (UN) top official in Afghanistan defended the failure to include Afghan women in the upcoming first meeting between the Taliban and envoys from 22 countries, insisting that demands for women’s rights are certain to be raised.

UN special envoy Roza Otunbayeva was pummelled with questions on June 21 from journalists about criticism from human rights organisations at the omission of Afghan women from the meeting in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on June 30 and July 1.

The Taliban seized power in 2021 as United States and NATO forces withdrew following two decades of war. No country officially recognises them as Afghanistan’s government, and the UN has said that recognition is almost impossible while bans on female education and employment remain in place.

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Tirana Hassan said that, in the face of the Taliban’s tightening repression of women and girls, the UN plans to hold a meeting “without women’s rights on the agenda or Afghan women in the room are shocking.”

Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said, “The credibility of this meeting will be in tatters if it doesn’t adequately address the human rights crisis in Afghanistan and fails to involve women human rights defenders and other relevant stakeholders from Afghan civil society.”

Ms. Otunbayeva, a former president and Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan, insisted after briefing the United Nations Security Council that “nobody dictated” conditions to the United Nations about the Doha meeting, but she confirmed that no Afghan women will be present.

“UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo will chair the meeting,” Ms. Otunbayeva said. She will attend and a few of the 22 special envoys on Afghanistan who are women will also be there.

The meeting is the third UN-sponsored gathering on the Afghan crisis in Doha. The Taliban weren’t invited to the first and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said they set unacceptable conditions for attending the second in February, including demands that Afghan civil society members be excluded from the talks and that they be treated as the country’s legitimate rulers.

Undersecretary-General DiCarlo visited Afghanistan in May and invited the Taliban Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, to attend the upcoming meeting. The Taliban accepted and said they are sending a delegation.

“We do hope that delegation will be led by de facto Foreign Minister Muttaqi,” Ms. Otunbayeva said, but the Taliban may send another Minister.

“Just before the Doha gathering, there will be a hybrid meeting with Afghan civil society representatives from inside and outside the country,” Ms. Otunbayeva said. And on July 2, immediately after Doha, “we’ll be meeting all the civil society people.”

The Taliban have used their interpretation of Islamic law to bar girls from education beyond age 11, ban women from public spaces, exclude them from many jobs, and enforce dress codes and male guardianship requirements.

Ms. Otunbayeva said the upcoming gathering will be the first face-to-face meeting between the Taliban and the envoys and will focus on what she said were “the most important acute issues of today” — private business and banking, and counter-narcotics policy.

Both are about women, she said, and the envoys will tell the Taliban, “Look, it doesn’t work like this. We should have women around the table. We should provide them also access to businesses.” She added that “if there are, let’s say, five million addicted people in Afghanistan, more than 30% are women.”

Ms. Otunbayeva told the Security Council the UN hopes the envoys and the Taliban delegation will speak to each other, recognise the need to engage, and “agree on next steps to alleviate the uncertainties that face the Afghan people.”

The UN expects a continuation of the dialogue at a fourth Doha meeting later in the year focused on another key issue: the impact of climate change on the country.

Lisa Doughten, the UN humanitarian office’s finance director, told the council that “the particularly acute effects of climate change” are deepening Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, saying more than 50% of the population — some 23.7 million people — need humanitarian aid this year, the third-highest number in the world.

“Extreme weather events are more frequent and more intense,” she said. “Some areas in Afghanistan have warmed at twice the global average since 1950” with the country experiencing increasing droughts and deadly flash flooding.

Ms. Otunbayeva said another outcome from the Doha meeting that the UN would like to see is the creation of working groups to continue talks on how to help farmers replace poppies producing opium with other crops, how to provide pharmacies with medication to help addicted people, and how to address crime and improve banking and private businesses.

As for what the UN would like to see, she said, “we need badly that they will change their minds and let girls go to school.” Ms. Otunbayeva said Afghanistan is the only country in the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that doesn’t let girls go to school, which she called “a big puzzle.” “Afghanistan has been very male-dominated and “we want to change the minds” of young people from such a traditional society towards women,” Ms. Otunbayeva said.

The humanitarian office’s Doughten told the council “the ban on girls’ education is fueling an increase in child marriage and early childbearing, with dire physical, emotional and economic consequences.” She also cited reports that attempted suicides by women and girls are increasing.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining. 
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to vote on May 10 on a resolution that would grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favourably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent, and U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood made clear on Thursday that Joe Biden administration is opposed to the Assembly resolution.

Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be “peace-loving,” and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

“We’ve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that,” Mr. Wood said on Thursday. “We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the U.N. is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.”

But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

The draft resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership – dropping the original language that in the General Assembly’s judgment it is “a peace-loving state.” It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favourably.”

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the U.N. comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage. At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

“The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the U.S. but also by Russia and China,” the diplomats said.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and U.N. conferences “on equal footing with member states.” It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China which are strong supporters of Palestine’s U.N. membership were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be U.N. members — with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Under longstanding legislation by the U.S. Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state – which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor.

The final draft drops the language that would put Palestine “on equal footing with member states.” And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: “The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”

The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates and the right to be elected as officers in the assembly’s main committees. It would give the Palestinians the right to participate in U.N. and international conferences convened by the United Nations — but it drops their “right to vote” which was in the original draft.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn’t get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council’s 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, second left in front, and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, second right in front, examine a rocket assembly hangar during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, in Russia, on September 13, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

North Korea has likely supplied several types of missiles to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, along with its widely reported shipments of ammunition and shells, South Korea’s military said on November 2.

The assessment was released a day after South Korea’s spy service told law-makers that North Korea recently provided more than a million artillery shells to Russia amid deepening military cooperation between the two countries, both key U.S. adversaries.

In a background briefing for local journalists, South Korea’s military said that North Korea is suspected of sending an unspecified number of short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles to Russia, in addition to rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells. The contents of the briefing were shared with The Associated Press.

Last week, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan strongly condemned what they call North Korea’s supply of munitions and military equipment to Russia, saying that such weapons shipments sharply increase the human toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Any weapons trade with North Korea would be a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, which Russia, a permanent U.N. Security Council member, previously endorsed.

Both Russia and North Korea dismissed the weapons shipment accusations as baseless. Outside speculation about North Korean arms shipments flared after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia in September to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military facilities. The U.S. and its allies accuse North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to modernise its arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles in return for its shipments of conventional arms.

In a private briefing with lawmakers on Wednesday, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) — South Korea’s main spy agency — said that more than a million North Korean artillery shells have been sent to Russia since August via ships and transport planes. “The NIS said the shells roughly amounted to two months’ worth of supplies for the Russians,” according to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, who attended the NIS briefing.

The NIS assessed that North Korea has been operating its munitions factories at full capacity to meet Russian munition demands and has also been mobilising residents to increase production.

The NIS said North Korea, for its part, is likely receiving Russian technological assistance over its plan to launch its first military spy satellite into space. North Korea’s two recent attempts to launch a spy satellite ended in failure due to technical issues. The North failed to follow through with its vow to make a third launch attempt in October, without giving any reasons.

South Korea’s military said North Korea also seeks to receive nuclear-related technologies, fighter jets or related aircraft equipment and assistance on the establishment of anti-air defense networks from Russia.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan and Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya attend a meeting of the Security Council on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., October 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The UN Security Council on October 25 failed again to take action on the Israel-Hamas war, with Russia and China vetoing a U.S.-led draft resolution and a text led by Moscow drawing insufficient support.

The rival powers went ahead and put forward texts doomed to defeat despite what diplomats said was a last-ditch effort led by France to delay a vote and work toward consensus.

The United States, Israel’s historic backer which exercised its own veto last week, put forward a resolution that would support “humanitarian pauses” to let aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip and back the right of “all states” to self-defence within the confines of international law.

The U.S.-led draft did not call for a full ceasefire. Russia put forward its own proposal that sought “an immediate, durable and fully respected humanitarian ceasefire” and “condemns all violence and hostilities against civilians.”

Ten countries backed the U.S. resolution but Russia and China exercised their veto power. The United Arab Emirates, whose relations with Israel have warmed markedly since normalisation in 2020 but represents the Arab bloc, also voted in opposition, with the other two countries, Brazil and Mozambique, abstaining.

“It has become clear from that the U.S. simply doesn’t want UN Security Council decisions to have any kind of influence on a possible ground offensive by Israel in Gaza,” said the Russian representative, Vassily Nebenzia.

“This extremely politicised document clearly has one aim — not to save civilians but to shore up the U.S. political position in the region,” he said.

The U.S. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, insisted that the United States had incorporated feedback from the rest of the world since its veto.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, promoting the resolution during a high-level Security Council session on October 24, spoke of “humanitarian pauses” even while ruling out a formal ceasefire.

“The United States is deeply disappointed that Russia and China vetoed this resolution,” Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said. “We did listen to all of you.”

She accused Russia, often on the receiving end of criticism since its invasion of Ukraine, of “cynical and irresponsible behaviour” for putting forward its own text “with zero consultations” and “a number of problematic sections.”

Only Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates and Gabon voted for the draft resolution. The United States and Britain voted no, with the other nine countries including U.S. allies France and Japan abstaining.

The UAE ambassador, Lana Nusseibeh, said that the Security Council needed to respond “tangibly” to the dire situation in Gaza.

At the high-level session on October 24, “we heard dozens of statements imploring this council to assign the same value to Palestinian life as it does to Israeli life,” she said.

“We cannot allow any equivocation on this point. There is no hierarchy of civilian lives.”

With the Security Council deadlocked, the broader UN General Assembly is scheduled to debate the war on October 26 and 27.

Resolutions from this body representing all UN members, with no one holding veto power, are non-binding. Still, Arab countries are working on a resolution that could be voted on this week, diplomats said.

This draft seen by AFP urges an immediate ceasefire and unhindered access for humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

Israel has been bombarding since October 7 when Hamas gunmen poured across the border killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 222 others, officials say, in the worst attack in Israel’s history.

So far, more than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and there are fears the toll could further soar if Israel pushes ahead with a widely expected ground invasion in a bid to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages.

United Nations:

The UN Security Council on Monday rejected a Russian resolution condemning spiraling violence in the Middle East, with delegates refusing to back a motion that did not single out Hamas for its surprise attack on Israel that left at least 1,400 people dead.

The council huddled as Israel readied for an expected ground assault on the Gaza Strip, after air and artillery strikes that officials say have killed at least 2,750 people.

It also came as the White House said President Joe Biden would visit Israel on Wednesday, in a visit that is designed to balance support for a key ally with calls for restraint in its operations in Gaza.

Just four countries voted with Russia on its proposed  text. Four others — including the US — voted against, while six abstained.

A second text proposed by Brazil with unequivocal language condeming the Islamist group appeared to have broader support, and was expected to come to the vote on Tuesday evening, diplomats said.

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said despite the failure, the resolution had spurred the council to action.

“It has contributed to launching a substantive discussion in the Security Council on this topic. Without our encouragement, everything would probably have been limited to empty discussions,” he said. 

The United Kingdom, which joined the US in voting down the Russian proposal, criticized Moscow’s lack of consultation, and accused Russia of not making a serious attempt to find consensus.

“We cannot support a resolution which fails to condemn Hamas’ terror attacks,” Barbara Woodward told the council.

Israel’s Gilad Erdan said the Security Council, which has not adopted a resolution on the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories since 2016, stood at “one of its most pivotal crossroads” since its founding in the aftermath of World War II.

“Will the council support the fight for civilization? or will it incentivize the genocide of Jihadists who aim to murder all the infidels?” he said.

“For a body dedicated to security, this shouldn’t even be a question. 

“The first step this council must take before any calls for aid, calm or restraint is to designate Hamas as the murderous terror organization that it is.”

Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said the council had a moral duty to act in a bid to restrain an Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip he said was claiming 12 lives every hour.

“Don’t send the signal that the Palestinian lives don’t matter,” he said.

“Don’t dare say Israel is not responsible for the bombs it is dropping over their heads.

“What is happening in Gaza is not a military operation. It is a full scale assault against our people. It is massacres against innocent civilians.”

Israel has cut off supplies of water and power to the isolated Gaza strip, and warned more than a million people to leave the north of the densely populated enclave.

The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees has warned that the Gaza Strip faces an “unprecedented human catastrophe” if water and other vital supplies are not restored.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved 3,500 extra troops and police officers to beef up security in Haiti and ensure that desperately needed aid gets to earthquake victims. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.N. Security Council is scheduling a vote Monday on a resolution that would authorize a one-year deployment of an international force to help Haiti quell a surge in gang violence and restore security so the troubled Caribbean nation can hold long-delayed elections.

The U.S.-drafted resolution obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday welcomes Kenya’s offer to lead the multinational security force. It makes clear this would be a non-U.N. force funded by voluntary contributions.

The resolution would authorize the force for one year, with a review after nine months.

The force would be allowed to provide operational support to Haiti’s National Police, which is underfunded and under resourced, with only some 10,000 active officers for a country of more than 11 million people.

The resolution says the force would help built capacity of local police “through the planning and conduct of joint security support operations as it works to counter gangs and improve security conditions in Haiti.”

The force would also help secure “critical infrastructure sites and transit locations such as the airport, ports, and key intersections.” Powerful gangs have seized control of key roads leading from Haiti’s capital to the country’s northern and southern regions, disrupting the transportation of food and other goods.

Passage by the Security Council would authorize the force to “adopt urgent temporary measures on an exceptional basis” to prevent the loss of life and help police maintain public safety.

Leaders of the mission would be required to inform the council on the mission’s goals, rules of engagement, financial needs and other matters before a full deployment.

A spokesman for Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he wasn’t aware of the resolution or the upcoming vote and said the government did not immediately have comment.

The resolution condemns “the increasing violence, criminal activities, and human rights abuses and violations which undermine the peace, stability, and security of Haiti and the region, including kidnappings, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, homicides, extrajudicial killings, as well as arms smuggling.”

If adopted, it would mark the first time a force has been deployed to Haiti since the U.N. approved a stabilization mission in June 2004 that was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and the introduction of cholera. That mission ended in October 2017.

Concerns also have surrounded the proposed Kenyan-led mission, with critics noting that police in the East Africa country have long been accused of using torture, deadly force and other abuses.

The resolution stresses that all those participating in the proposed mission must take necessary action to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse as well as vet all personnel. It also demands swift investigations of any allegations of misconduct.

In addition, the resolution warns that those involved in the mission must adopt wastewater management and other environmental control to prevent the introduction and spread of water-borne diseases, such as cholera.

It wasn’t immediately clear how big the force would be if approved, although Kenya’s government has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. In addition, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda have pledged to send personnel.

Last month, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden promised to provide logistics and $100 million to support a Kenyan-led force.

The resolution notes that the Security Council intends to impose additional sanctions on Jimmy Chérizier, known as “Barbecue,” who heads Haiti’s biggest gang alliance. Chérizier, a former police officer, recently warned that he would fight any armed force suspected of abuses.

The proposed resolution comes nearly a year after Haiti’s prime minister and other top government officials requested the immediate deployment of a foreign armed force as the government struggles to fight violent gangs estimated to control up to 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince.

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and 902 injured, according to the most recent U.N. statistics. More than 200,000 others have been displaced by violence, with many crammed in makeshift shelters after gangs pillaged their communities.

___

Lederer reported from Los Angeles.

Azerbaijan regained control of its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in a deadly two-day military offensive and held initial talks with representatives of its ethnic Armenian population on reintegrating the area into the mainly Muslim country, Azerbaijan’s top diplomat told the UN Security Council on September 21.

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov reaffirmed Azerbaijan’s determination to guarantee Nagorno-Karabakh residents “all rights and freedoms” in line with the country’s constitution and international human rights obligations, including safeguards for ethnic minorities. He said the talks with Nagorno-Karabakh in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh will continue.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev declared victory in a televised address. Mr. Bayramov said there is now “a historic opportunity” to seek better relations with Armenia after 30 years of conflict.

Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the Azerbaijani region.

Azerbaijan regained control of the surrounding territory in a six-week war with Armenia in 2020. A Russia-brokered armistice ended the war, and a contingent of 2,000 Russian peacekeepers was sent to the region to monitor it.

The agreement left the region’s capital, Stepanakert, connected to Armenia only by the Lachin Corridor, along which Russian peacekeepers were supposed to ensure free movement. But a blockade by Azerbaijan deprived Nagorno-Karabakh of basic supplies for the last 10 months, until Monday, when the International Committee of the Red Cross was able to make a delivery through another route.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who called for the emergency meeting of the Security Council along with France, accused Azerbaijan of an “unprovoked and well-planned military attack,” launched to coincide with this week’s annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.

“Literally the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,” including Stepanakert and other cities and settlements, came under attack from intense and indiscriminate shelling, missiles, heavy artillery, banned cluster munitions, combat drones and other aircraft,” he said.

Mr. Mirzoyan said the offensive targeted critical infrastructure such as electricity stations, telephone cables and internet equipment, killed more than 200 people and wounded 400 others, including women and children. “More than 10,000 people fled their homes to escape the offensive,” he said.

“Electricity and phone services were knocked out, leaving people unable to contact each other, and “Azerbaijani troops control main roads in Nagorno-Karabakh, which makes it impossible to visit and get information on the ground,” he said.

“The Azerbaijani social media is full of calls to find the missing children and women, to rape them, dismember them and feed them to dogs,” Mr. Mirzoyan told the council.

He said the “barbarity” of Azerbaijan’s aggression and deliberate targeting of the civilian population “was the final act of this tragedy aimed at the forced exodus of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.” What Armenia has seen, Mr. Mirzoyan said, “is not an intent anymore but clear and irrefutable evidence of a policy of ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities.” Mr. Bayramov strongly denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing. He said representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh asked during Thursday’s talks for humanitarian aid, including food and fuel for schools, hospitals and other facilities that government agencies will provide soon.

Russia’s Deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told the council: “We need to develop a gradual roadmap to integrate the population of Nagorno-Karabakh into the constitutional order of Azerbaijan, with clear guarantees over their rights and security,” “Russia’s peacekeepers will support these efforts,” he said, adding that “the security and rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are of key importance.” The quick capitulation by Nagorno-Karabakh separatists reflected their weakness from the blockade.

“The local forces, they were never strong. The Azerbaijani Army is much better prepared, much better equipped. … So it was quite obvious, you know, that any military action that was to take place in that area, it would lead to the defeat of the local Armenian side,” Olesya Vartanyan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, told The Associated Press.

Mr. Bayramov said Armenia kept more than 10,000 “armed formations” and heavy military equipment in Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 agreement. “During the operation that started on Tuesday, more than 90 of their outposts were taken, along with substantial military equipment,” he said. He held up photos of equipment he claimed was seized.

Mr. Mirzoyan urged the Security Council to demand protection for civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh; to immediately deploy a UN mission to monitor the human rights, humanitarian and security situation; to seek return of prisoners of war; and to consider deploying a UN peacekeeping force to the region.

Azerbaijan’s move to reclaim control over Nagorno-Karabakh raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume. The 2020 war killed over 6,700 people.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about Azerbaijan’s military actions and was closely watching the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In a phone call on Thursday with Mr. Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin also urged that the rights and security of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh should be guaranteed, according to the Tass news agency.

“Mr. Aliyev apologised to Mr. Putin during the call for the deaths of Russian peacekeepers in the region on Wednesday,” the Kremlin said. Azerbaijan’s prosecutor-general’s office later said five Russian peacekeepers were shot and killed on Wednesday by Azerbaijani troops who mistook them amid fog and rain for Armenian forces. One other Russian was killed by Armenian fighters.

Meanwhile, protesters rallied in the Armenian capital of Yerevan for a third day on Thursday, demanding that authorities defend Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and calling for the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “At least 46 people were arrested in a large protest outside the main government building in the city centre,” police said.

The conflict has long drawn powerful regional players, including Russia and Turkiye. While Russia took on a mediating role, Turkiye threw its weight behind long-time ally Azerbaijan.

Russia has been Armenia’s main economic partner and ally since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and has a military base in the country.

Mr. Pashinyan, however, has been increasingly critical of Moscow’s role, emphasising its failure to protect Nagorno-Karabakh and arguing that Armenia needs to turn to the West to ensure its security. Moscow, in turn, has expressed dismay about Mr. Pashinyan’s pro-Western tilt.

While many in Armenia blamed Russia for the defeat of the separatists, Moscow pointed to Mr. Pashinyan’s own recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.

“Undoubtedly, Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s internal business,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Azerbaijan is acting on its own territory, which was recognised by the leadership of Armenia.” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive and said it is essential that the ceasefire announced on Wednesday is respected.

What is at stake, Ms. Colonna said, is whether the ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh can continue living there with their rights and culture respected by Azerbaijan. “Today, they have the responsibility for the fate of the population,” she said.

If Azerbaijan wants a peaceful and negotiated solution, Ms. Colonna said, “it must here and now provide tangible guarantees” and commit to discussions and to not using or threatening the use of force.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also condemned Azerbaijan’s military assault, which she said was launched despite the government’s assurances to refrain from the use of force.

She called for a complete cessation of violence and lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan that “can only be achieved at the negotiating table.” Ms. Baerbock urged both countries to return to European Union-mediated talks.