VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Pakistan's security forces killed 25 of 35 Islamist militants holed up in a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern city of Bannu, while one hostage and two commandos died in the operation to retake the compound, the army said.

Militants being held at the centre took control of the compound on Sunday after overpowering their interrogators and taking their weapons, leading to a two day siege and ultimately army commandoes storming the compound on Tuesday.

"Resurgence in terrorism poses a renewed threat to our national security," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a tweet, adding, "Our valiant security forces are fully capable of dealing with this threat."

Army spokesman Major General Ahmed Sharif speaking to local TV channel Geo News late on Tuesday said seven of the 35 holed up militants surrendered, and another three who tried to escape were arrested. One hostage, a security official, died during the raid, he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said all of the militants had been killed and all hostages rescued, but later clarified that the army would provide the final figures and details of the operation.

The army spokesman's comments provided the first detailed official account of the standoff, in which two security personnel were killed when the militants first took over the compound, and two commandoes killed in the ensuing raid.

He said one militant was able to first overpower his interrogator with a brick and seize his weapon. Later other militants at the centre broke into a storeroom where confiscated weapons had been stored.

"We tried very hard to get them (militants) to surrender unconditionally. They weren't ready," Sharif said, adding that they wanted safe passage to Afghanistan, which was rejected by authorities.

STANDOFF

After talks failed to resolve a two-day standoff, army commandos stormed the centre on Tuesday. Ten soldiers, including three officers, were also wounded.

Sharif described the raid being a fierce firefight. Earlier, residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the centre on Tuesday as helicopters hovered overhead.

The militants mostly belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of Sunni Islamist and sectarian groups that associates itself with the Afghan Taliban.

The TTP emerged to fight the Pakistani state and enforce its own harsh brand of Islam in the years after U.S.-led allied forces intervened in neighbouring Afghanistan to oust its ruling Taliban in 2001 and drive them over the border into Pakistan.

The TTP has ramped up attacks in recent weeks since announcing the end of an Afghan Taliban-brokered ceasefire with the Islamabad last month.

The TTP initially confirmed the militants' demand to be given passage to Afghanistan, but later said Pakistan's former tribal regions were also safe for the militants to flee to. (Reuters)

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati affirmed that priority programmes of Indonesia's G20 Presidency would be continued by India as the new G20 presidency holder from December this year.

"Priority programmes of Indonesia's G20 Presidency will be continued by India as the next (holder of the) presidency," Indrawati stated after the G20 Presidency Appreciation Night here, Tuesday (December 20).

Some of the priority programmes are the pandemic fund that will be used to bolster prevention, mitigation, and response to possible pandemics in future as well as programmes relevant to climate change, she noted.

Other priority programmes enacted by Indonesia's G20 Presidency are digital transformation, food and energy crises handling, and central bank digital currency (CDBC) and global taxation, the minister remarked.

CDBC is a centralized digital currency intended as a legal tender and digital representation of national currencies, while global taxation is the imposition of income tax from all sources that disregards the characteristics, sources, and types of incomes obtained by taxpayers.

Indrawati said that her side and state electricity company PT PLN would follow up and monitor various agreements on the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) finalized during the G20 Summit in Bali last November, such as the US$20-billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

"We will monitor some ETM deals, including the US$20-billion JETP, with PT PLN. Realising ETM programmes would ensure the fund received (by Indonesia)," the minister remarked.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto urged all parties to follow up and monitor various investment commitments obtained by Indonesia during the G20 Summit last November.

"We ask for support from ministries and institutions in the sherpa track or finance track to follow up (investment) commitment agreements," Hartarto remarked.

Some investment commitments obtained by Indonesia during the summit include grants for sustainable development and funding for green energy and public transportation developments. (Antaranews)

The Indonesian government is wary of a number of situations that threaten the world today after the Covid-19 pandemic has begun to be handled. Deputy for Diversification of Consumption and Food Safety at the National Food Agency, Andriko Noto Susanto, said that among the situations currently receiving attention are the global political situation, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change, disasters, including the food crisis.

"We want to ensure that in the future we can handle everything properly, we don't get caught in a food crisis, but instead we can become food support for other countries that need it," he said during a visit to RRI Voice of Indonesia, Wednesday (21/12 ) in Jakarta.

Andriko said that to anticipate the challenges of the global food crisis, the National Food Agency is taking a number of steps to be implemented in 2023. The first is strengthening food reserves and the second is stabilizing food supply and prices.

"The key is stable food. Producers are prosperous, traders are profitable and the people are smiling," he said.

The third is strengthening the logistics system. Related to this, according to Andriko, the government plans to build a strong logistics system infrastructure starting from the regions to the central level.

"Including how to build our archipelagic infrastructure, how to make warehousing and other things. We encourage every province, district, to do that, including the central government," he said.

The fourth step that the government will take to anticipate the global food crisis is to eliminate the food insecurity status that still exists in a number of regions.

"So there are around 1,400 sub-districts that are still in the red zone. We will make them green later by synergizing and collaborating across sectors because indeed food is not only the concern of the National Food Agency but cross-sectoral," he said.

Another thing that will be carried out by the National Food Agency is diversification of food consumption. Andriko Noto Susanto said the government encourages people to start consuming diverse, nutritious and balanced foods.

"We will carry out an education promotion campaign for the B2S Diversity with Balanced Nutrition. We will continue to carry it out with 514 urban districts throughout Indonesia," he said.

The sixth step that the government will take to anticipate the threat of a global food crisis is quality assurance and food safety monitoring. According to Andriko, the government encourages safe food distribution to the community so that food safety can be guaranteed.

"Those with middle to upper income levels are more concerned about health, from eating full to eating healthy, so it must be ensured that the food from upstream to downstream, both before being distributed and when it has been distributed, is in a safe situation," he said.

Furthermore, Andriko Noto Susanto said that food safety measures should start from the individual community. According to him, if an individual in society has achieved food security, the Indonesian nation can easily achieve food security status and be better prepared to face the challenges of the global food crisis. (VOI/Andy)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Retno Marsudi conveyed three main focuses that are needed to overcome the current human rights challenges. According to her, the world is in turmoil with an ongoing crisis that exacerbates human rights challenges, including in the Asia-Pacific region.
"In facing a difficult global situation, we must always defend human rights," she said at the opening of the Regional Conversation on Human Rights (RCHR), which was attended virtually, Tuesday (20/12) from Jakarta.
The first thing that was conveyed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno was strengthening human rights institutions. According to her, human rights institutions are the first line of defense to protect human rights.
"National human rights institutions must ensure the effective implementation of international human rights standards at home and build a society based on respect for human rights," she said.
Second, the handling of the most urgent human rights issues. According to Retno Marsudi, this does not mean that one right is more important than another.
"But we have to focus our efforts on making sure it has an impact," she said.
In addition, the issue of food is also one of the human rights focuses at this time. According to her, the issue of food requires world attention, especially in facing the threat of food crisis.
The third thing that becomes Minister Retno's attention is the improvement of human rights cooperation. She said that at the national level, the government and civil society must be at the forefront of human rights protection. Meanwhile at the international level, the politicization of human rights, double standards and embarrassing labels must be avoided.
"Human rights function to protect human dignity not to intensify geopolitical competition," she said.
The RHCR Forum was held in commemoration of World Human Rights Day as well as ending Indonesia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council for the 2020-2022 period. (VOI)