World
Nigeria police working to secure release of 20 kidnapped medical students
![Nigeria police working to secure release of 20 kidnapped medical students Nigeria police working to secure release of 20 kidnapped medical students](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NIGERIA-BENUE-1000x562-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C675)
Nigerian Medical Association says students from universities of Jos and Maiduguri were taken while travelling in Benue State.
Nigerian police and security agencies are working to secure the release of 20 medical students who were kidnapped in the eastern part of the country, officials say.
The medical students were on their way to an annual convention when they were abducted in Benue State on Thursday evening, police and university sources said on Saturday.
The Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students said in a statement that the students were travelling to the convention in the city of Enugu when they were taken.
Fortune Olaye, the secretary-general of the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association, said 20 medical students from two universities, as well as one doctor travelling with them, had been kidnapped.
It added that there had been a ransom demand in return for their release.
In a Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) letter to the inspector general of police, posted on the social media platform X, NMA secretary-general Benjamin Egbo said 12 of the abducted students were from the University of Jos and eight were from the University of Maiduguri.
One of the students managed to share their location, indicating that they were in the Oglewu Ehaje area in Benue State, the letter said.
“The Nigerian Medical Association is deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of these future medical professionals,” it added, saying that swift and decisive action to secure their return was “crucial”.
We will not rest until our dear students have been rescued, alive.@Fmohnigeria @NigEducation @PoliceNG @OfficialDSSNG @NGRPresident
#FreeThe20MedStudents pic.twitter.com/iYvWtdVneC
— Nigerian Medical Association (@nationalnma) August 17, 2024
The kidnapping was also confirmed by Catherine Anene, public relations officer for police in Benue State.
Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue State, said in a statement that he had “directed security agencies in the state to intensify efforts and ensure the safe release” of the students.
The national police said in a statement that it had ordered the deployment of “advanced helicopters and drones, as well as the use of specialized tactical vehicles to facilitate the search and secure the safe return of the victims”.
The kidnapped students were reportedly travelling from the northern part of the country in a convoy of two buses when the incident occurred, Nigeria’s This Day newspaper reported.
The students were abducted on the road near the town of Otukpo, less than 150km (93 miles) from Enugu, which often witnesses attacks and kidnappings.
Cases of kidnapping have increased significantly in Nigeria due to a severe economic crisis which is pushing more people towards crime. However, official figures are unreliable as many cases are not reported.
In 2022, a law was passed banning payments to kidnappers – but many families say they feel they have no choice but to cough up the ransoms demanded.
Nigerian consultancy firm SBM Intelligence said it had recorded 4,777 cases between May 2023, when Bola Tinubu assumed charge as president, and January 2024.
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World
Extreme heat at Colorado airshow sickens about 100 people with 10 hospitalized, officials say
![Extreme heat at Colorado airshow sickens about 100 people with 10 hospitalized, officials say Extreme heat at Colorado airshow sickens about 100 people with 10 hospitalized, officials say](https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/dcac1a4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/700x394+0+28/resize/1440x810!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F90%2F29%2F4e3c1cc7446089a9101a7bdff4c8%2Fdefaultshareimage-copy.png)
Extreme heat at a Colorado airshow caused about 100 people to seek emergency treatment and sent 10 people to area hospitals on Saturday, officials said.
The majority of patients were treated by emergency personnel onsite at the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow, the Colorado Springs Fire Department said in a statement posted on social media.
Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal said the “quick actions” of organizers and emergency officials prevented serious injuries at the event held at the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, about 81 miles (130 kilometers) south of Denver.
The airshow’s website indicated tickets were sold out for both days of the event on Saturday and Sunday, featuring performances by the famed U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight exhibition team and displays of various types of modern and vintage aircraft.
A post on the Pikes Peak Regional Airshow Instagram account advised attendees, “PLEASE remember to stay hydrated during this hot weather. There is a FREE water station at the center of the grounds near the medical station.”
The National Weather Service in Pueblo, Colorado, had issued a heat advisory warning of anticipated temperatures between 93 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit (33.8 and 37.7 Celsius) for the area on Saturday afternoon.
The advisory remained in effect for El Paso County and Pueblo County for Sunday between noon and 7 p.m., the weather service said.
The fire department warned attendees of the airshow’s second day to prepare with water bottles, hats, sunscreen and umbrellas.
“Tomorrow will be hot again and we ask everyone to please stay hydrated, be prepared for hot temperatures, and please stay safe,” Royal said.
World
US failure in Taliban intel has opened Afghanistan up to China, Russia
![US failure in Taliban intel has opened Afghanistan up to China, Russia US failure in Taliban intel has opened Afghanistan up to China, Russia](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/tal-3.jpg)
The massive intelligence failure in the lead up to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan not only led to a chaotic evacuation, the death of 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, as well as the complete Taliban takeover – it created a security vacuum that U.S. adversaries are taking advantage of.
The U.S. and its allies have seen a rise in anti-Western sentiment that has been largely spearheaded by China and Russia, who have bolstered ties in the wake of Washington’s opposition to Moscow’s war in Ukraine and Beijing’s aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
However, as the U.S. looks to distance itself from its decadeslong War on Terror, adversaries like China and Russia have increasingly expanded their influence in South Asia and the Middle East.
Afghanistan’s acting First Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, left, and China’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu attend a press conference to announce an oil extraction contract with a Chinese company in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 5, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
TALIBAN PARADES AMERICAN WEAPONS 3 YEARS AFTER CHAOTIC WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN
“We don’t understand that when we turn our back to Afghanistan, and we just want to close the door and move on…we are leaving a vacuum there,” Michael Rubin, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and expert on security issues in the Middle East and South Asia, told Fox News Digital. “Someone else is going to fill it.”
While no nation has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, some nations, including the U.S.’s top adversaries, have moved forward with establishing diplomatic relations with the extremist group.
Last year, Beijing said the Taliban should not be “excluded from the international community,” and reports earlier this year suggested Moscow was considering removing the Taliban from its terrorist list – a further indication that both China and Russia are looking to use the region for their strategic aims.
Not only does the Taliban’s opposition to Western ideology play into Russian hands in spreading anti-American sentiment, Moscow is looking to expand trade with Afghanistan and other nations in the region to further alleviate economic pressure caused by Western sanctions.
Though sanctions are not the only motivating factor in expanding trade across South Asia.
![UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly during a military parade to mark the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/tal-2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly during a military parade to mark the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan at Bagram Air Base in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
The Taliban last year announced its intent to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and reports have suggested that Beijing is supplying the Taliban with drones, which could hamper the U.S.’s “over-the-horizon” strategy when it comes to Afghanistan.
AFTER 3 YEARS OF TALIBAN RULE, LIFE CONTINUES TO GET WORSE IN AFGHANISTAN
The U.S.’s inability to foresee the Taliban takeover was not just an intelligence failure, it was indicative of a greater lapse in understanding of adversarial threats, explained Rubin. “The other issue, which I wouldn’t call an intelligence failure, I would call it a diplomatic failure – was the refusal to address Pakistan realistically,” Rubin said.
Rubin pointed to findings one decade into the war in Afghanistan that showed 90% of the ammonium nitrate being used in Taliban roadside bombs were coming from two fertilizer factories in neighboring Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities claimed to be working with Washington in 2011 to stop smuggling efforts at a time when the U.S. was scrambling to stop al Qaeda and Taliban attacks, just months after the U.S. saw its deadliest year in Afghanistan, with the death of nearly 500 American soldiers and more than 700 coalition forces.
Though the additional discovery and subsequent assassination of al Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind Usama Bin Laden in May 2011, left many questioning the reliability of the Washington-Islamabad relationship – a question that remains to this day.
![War on Terror](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/09/1200/675/GettyImages-88786891.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
U.S. Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade walk towards helicopter transport as part of Operation Khanjar at Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province in Afghanistan on July 2, 2009. (Manpreet Romana/AFP via Getty Images)
Pakistan has engaged in a shadow war with insurgent groups on its border with Afghanistan, but Islamabad is also suspected of having aided the Taliban through covert operations.
Despite its ambiguous security position, the U.S. continues to keep close ties with Pakistan, remaining its largest export market and a leading investor in the nation – a relationship that has not gone unnoticed by China and Russia.
Beijing has also looked to Islamabad to expand bilateral economic partnerships through its Belt and Road Initiative, particularly the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, in which Beijing has invested some $62 billion.
Additionally, despite international pressure to walk a fine line when it comes to Russia, Pakistan has signaled it may be willing to aid Moscow in sidestepping the Western sanctions aimed at crippling its war effort through a “barter” trading system – potentially expanding an alliance that could further burden the U.S. in a region where it needs to maintain positive relations.
“It’s wrong, simply, to look at Afghanistan in isolation,” Rubin said, nodding to the root of the U.S.’s failure to assess the region’s overall state of security. “We have a tendency not to see the forest through the trees.”
A yearslong probe released in 2023 showed that the collapse in U.S. intelligence spanning across the Trump and Biden administrations was rooted in Washington’s failure to correctly interpret the Afghan government’s ability to function without U.S. support.
BLINKEN PRESSURED TO FREEZE AFGHANISTAN AID AFTER REVELATION NEARLY $300M COULD HAVE GONE TO TALIBAN
![Taliban](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/tal.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Taliban fighters celebrate the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
HOW THE US USED AI TO TAKE ON THE TALIBAN AMID DRAWDOWN
“The Taliban were running roughshod over us, and our intelligence wasn’t picking up a thing,” Rubin said. “We were looking at Afghanistan through the lens of idealism and ideology. Here we were building a democracy. From an Afghan point of view, they were looking at it through the lens of survival.”
The expert explained that Kabul fell as quickly as it did because the Taliban had been making inroads across the nation with local governors and district chiefs for one to two years ahead of the withdrawal – meaning the fall of Afghanistan came down to momentum and defections.
“You actually had lots of families that would send one son to the Afghan National Security Forces – the army we were training – and the other son to the Taliban,” Rubin explained. “The idea wasn’t that they were favoring one power over the other, but this way if one of their family members were kidnapped at a checkpoint, they would always have someone they could call to try to get them sprung free.”
Ultimately, the U.S.’s inability to understand Afghans, who lived under the constant threat of war for half a century following a coup in 1973, the Soviet-Afghan war throughout the 1980s, Taliban rule in the1990s and then the 20-year-long U.S. War on Terror, meant they did not recognize that the everyday Afghan would not fully trust that they could rely on the Afghan government without U.S. backing.
“It’s what Usama Bin Laden said,” Rubin continued, “when you have a choice between a strong horse and a weak pony…it’s natural to tie yourself to the strong horse. That’s what Afghans do.”
![Taliban soldiers](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/08/1200/675/GettyImages-1601158581.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Taliban supporters parade through the streets of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2023 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Two years ago, the Taliban completed their return to power in Afghanistan after the fall of the Western-backed government and rapid evacuations of foreign militaries, organizations and many Afghans who worked with them. In the time since, no country has formally recognized Taliban rule. (Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images)
Open source intelligence also showed that the Taliban had been making gains across Afghanistan in the year leading up to the withdrawal and questions have since mounted over why neither the Trump nor the Biden administration adjusted withdrawal plans accordingly.
“Unfortunately, ego always trumps good judgment when it comes to Washington policymaking,” Rubin said. “The second issue was just exhaustion, and this notion that it was a two-decade war, the longest war in American history, and that by supporting the resistance, we would be restarting.”
“It was a persuasive argument,” he added.
World
Hurricane Ernesto weakens, but still dangerous, as it closes in on Bermuda
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