1. 15 Cameroon soldiers killed in rebel attack.
Cameroonian troops have been killed in an ambush in the country’s western, anglophone region near the town of Bamessing. Cameroon’s defence ministry described the incident as using IED’s, anti-tank rocket launchers, followed up by small arms fire, killing 15 from one of Cameroon’s elite military units. The attack is a continuation of the five year anglophone insurgency in the West of Cameroon, driven by breakaway English speaking communities.
2. President Kagame visits Mozambique in light of huge Rwandan military success in the country.
Rwandan troops have helped drive jihadist insurgents from the northern Mozambican town of Mocimboa de Praia, and according to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, are willing and ready to stay for as long as they are welcome by the Mozambique government. Their new role will be to hold the ground seized from the jihadis, and to support efforts to rebuild the towns and communities in the region that have been devastated by the insurgency. Acknowledging that Rwandan troops will not remain forever, President Kagame also noted Rwanda’s work was not yet done, and his troops were ready to continue supporting efforts b the Mozambique Army.
The intervention by Rwanda in support of and at the request of the Mozambican government has been little short of transformational. Rwanda is now calling on further support from the international community.
3. Pakistani soldiers killed in Balochi terror attack.
The Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for an attack on Pakistani military personnel, killing four soldiers. The soldiers from Paksitan’s Frontier Corps were on patrol in the province when their vehicle was struck by an IED. Two further soldiers were injured.
Low level violence has been ongoing in Baluchistan for years with a variety of threats creating a complex security matrix in the region. Not only are the BLA active in the region, looking to secede from Islamabad, but so too drugs gangs using the region as a transit from the Afghan poppy fields, and also Pakistani Taliban.
4. Australia and UK form new military pact alongside US.
Australia and the UK have further formalised their longstanding defence cooperation through the formation of a new tripartite pact alongside the USA. The pact has been formed in the first instance to provide Australia with cutting edge nuclear submarine technology to ensure Canberra is capable of facing down emerging competition and a heightened threat landscape in the Indo-Pacific. The pact, known as AUKUS also promises a coordinated approach to threats to the wider region.
Considered to be one of the most significant geopolitical moves in decades, the pact has caused ripples across the globe, and amongst fellow Commonwealth nations. New Zealand, which is a member of the ‘five eyes’ intelligence sharing community alongside all three members of AUKUS and Canada, supported the development of the pact, but made clear its opposition to all nuclear technology and has forbidden the new submarines from sailing through New Zealand’s waters. Elsewhere Malaysia has raised concerns that the pact could threaten make the region more volatile, while Singapore has urged caution but expressed its ease with the new arrangements owing to their mature and friendly relations with each country.
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