Tag: intervene

Good Samaritan in Illinois stabbing spree said ‘human nature’ led him to intervene



Keith Fahrney was driving home from class in Rockford, Illinois, when he saw a woman being attacked by Christian Soto, the man accused of killing four people and injuring seven others during a stabbing spree Wednesday.

Fahrney, 51, said that, without thinking, he hit his brakes and ran over to help the woman, getting attacked himself.

After a night in the hospital, Fahrney is now back home and trying to process what happened.

“It’s very scary. You never think this is going to happen to you,” he said in a phone call Friday. “My stepdaughter when she called from Florida, she said, ‘Well, luckily, you’re the kind of person that just won’t take out your phone and start recording. You were the one that went over there and scared this guy off to protect her.'”

Authorities said the rampage began shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday and involved “multiple scenes” in Rockford and an area of Winnebago County.

Soto, 22, was arrested after police said he stabbed three people to death and fatally beat a 15-year-old girl who was watching movies with her sister and friend. He faces numerous charges of murder, attempted murder and home invasion.

The victims killed were identified as Jacob Schupbach, 23; Ramona Schupbach, 63; Jay Larson, 49, a mailman; and Jenna Newcomb, 15.

Seven others, including Fahrney, were injured.

Fahrney, who is studying to be an engineer, said he was on his way home when he saw a wild scene: two women with blankets and towels running down the street screaming for help.

“I drove maybe another 1,000 feet or whatever and noticed that there was this lady sitting in the middle of her yard with somebody standing over the top of her,” he said. “She looked like she was in distress as I was starting to pass her. So, I slammed on my brakes. I got out of the vehicle.”

Fahrney, who lives in Rockford, said he approached the woman and asked if she was OK. Soto then moved away from her, he said.

When Fahrney realized that the woman was covered in blood, he went to his vehicle to grab his cellphone and came face-to-face with Soto, who had jumped in the driver’s seat of Fahrney’s car and was trying to flee.

“I opened up my door, grabbed him, threw him out,” he said. “We kind of wrestled around for a couple of seconds and then I noticed that he was trying to like tap me in the head. … And at that time, I noticed that this liquid was running down my chest and I put my hand up to my head and there was blood. I realized that he had stabbed me or did something to me.”

During the fight, police arrived and arrested Soto after a brief foot chase, according to authorities.

Fahrney said Soto had stabbed him in the neck and slashed the back of his head. He received eight staples for his head injury and three stitches underneath his chin.

He said Soto did not say anything during the attacks but “looked very estranged like something had taken over his body.”

Sheriff Gary Caruana said Thursday that the woman “could have easily been deceased” if it wasn’t for Fahrney.

“The good Samaritan stopped that situation,” Caruana said at a news conference. “He did a tremendous job in helping.”

A motive for the attacks remains unclear. Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said Soto admitted to the attacks and said he had taken marijuana that he believed was “laced with an unknown narcotic” before the rampage.

Soto appeared in court Thursday afternoon and was denied pretrial release until his next hearing.

Fahrney said he does not consider himself a hero and thinks “human nature” is what made him jump out and help.

“I’m just a guy that was trying to help somebody that needed help,” he said.

Fahrney said he hopes other people will do the same for someone who is in danger.

“In today’s world, people need to get off their phones. They need to stop recording,” he said. “People got to step in and start helping everybody else.”



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Ireland to intervene in ICJ case against Israel


The Republic of Ireland will intervene in the case against Israel under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ has been asked to consider whether Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel rejects the allegations as “baseless”. South Africa brought the case to the court – which is the top court of the United Nations (UN).

Ireland’s Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin announced on Wednesday that he had directed officials to commence work on a Declaration of Intervention under Article 63 of the statute of the ICJ.

Interventions by state parties under Article 63 do not take a specific side on whether genocide has been committed by Israel.

Ireland will not be asserting if genocide is being committed, but asserting its interpretation of the Genocide Convention.

This is the same approach taken by Ireland in the Ukraine v Russia case.

Work on the intervention is likely to take a number of months.

What is the ICJ?

Based in the Hague, in the Netherlands, it was established after World War Two, to settle disputes between states.

It also gives advisory opinions on legal matters, which is what it is being asked to do with Israel.

Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICJ cannot prosecute individuals for crimes of the utmost severity, such as genocide.

But its opinions carry weight with the UN and other international institutions.

UN ceasfire resolution

Ireland is to liaise closely with a number of international partners, who have also confirmed their intention to intervene.

Belgium, Nicaragua and France have all stated their intentions to formally do so.

The case itself is set to take a number of years.

“The situation could not be more stark; half the population of Gaza face imminent famine and 100% of the population face acute food insecurity,” Mr Martin said on Wednesday.

“Ireland will be intervening.

“It is for the court to determine whether genocide is being committed.

“But I want to be clear in reiterating what I have said many times in the last few months; what we saw on 7 October in Israel, and what we are seeing in Gaza now, represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale.

“It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough.”

South Africa alleges Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, following Hamas’s 7 October attack.

Hundreds of Hamas gunmen crossed from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages back to Gaza.

Since Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in response, more than 32,400 people, mainly women and children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the release of hostages.

Israel was directed by the ICJ in January to take all additional measures to ensure that civilian lives had been protected, however sources within the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Irish government did not believe this had been done to an acceptable standard.

This is based on evidence provided by UN partners.

Israel has said it has taken a raft of measures to avoid civil casualties.

Its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “It is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas.

“It would murder all of us if it could.

“In contrast, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is acting as morally as possible.”



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Niger’s junta isn’t backing down, and a regional force prepares to intervene. Here’s what to expect


ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Regional mediation efforts to reverse the coup in Niger and restore its democracy collapsed as soon as they started. Tensions have escalated as the Sunday deadline nears for possible military intervention by other West African countries.

As its meeting ended Friday in neighboring Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the region’s defense chiefs finalized a plan to use force against the Niger junta — needing approval by their political leaders — if Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated as Niger’s president. An Economic Community of West African States delegation to Niger, led by Nigeria’s former head of state Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, had tried unsuccessfully to meet with the coup leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who later declared that any aggression against Niger “will see an immediate response and without warning.”

What started as an overthrow of the president by his closest commanders in the Presidential Guard has received the support of some other soldiers, including the Nigerien army command.

Here’s what to expect:

ECOWAS INTERVENTION

This would be the first time in years that the regional bloc known as ECOWAS would try to forcefully put down a coup in West Africa, which has seen several successful coups since 2020.

“The events of the last two days make it more likely that this (military) intervention may actually happen,” said Nathaniel Powell, Africa analyst at the Oxford Analytica geopolitical intelligence firm. “And if they offer resistance to an ECOWAS intervention, this can turn out to be really catastrophic.”

ECOWAS would be doing so as a split family, with three other regimes — Mali and Burkina Faso, which border Niger, and Guinea — choosing to side with the junta.

Niger’s other neighbors include Chad, whose leader has tried to mediate between the coup plotters and ECOWAS, and Algeria and Libya, which are not members of the bloc. This leaves any military intervention through land largely restricted to Nigeria’s 1,600-km (1,000-mile) border with Niger.

MILITARY STRATEGY

It’s not yet clear what the strategy of military intervention in land-locked Niger would look like, but the country enjoys some territorial advantage. With Bazoum being held in the capital, Niamey, the focus will start there.

With a population of 25 million, Niger is West Africa’s second-largest country in terms of landmass, spanning over 1.26 million square kilometers (486,000 square miles) — a hundred times more than that of Gambia, where ECOWAS last intervened militarily in 2017.

On the frontline of efforts to reverse the coup in Niger is its longtime ally Nigeria, which currently holds the chairmanship of ECOWAS.

Nigeria has West Africa’s largest military strength of 223,000 personnel — 22 times that of Niger’s 10,000, according to World Bank Open Data, and four times that of Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Niger combined.

In Niger, some believe the military intervention might involve airstrikes. But with Bazoum still in detention, he could be both a bargaining tool and a shield for the junta.

An intervention force coming overland from Nigeria would have to cross a swath of mostly unoccupied land that hosts more than 200,000 refugees who have fled violence in northern Nigeria, further complicating any military deployment.

Niger’s international airport in Niamey is just 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the presidential palace where Bazoum is being held, which could make it more difficult to be overtaken. The country has two other international airports, including one in Agadez, where the U.S. military operates a drone base.

CONCERNS FOR THE WORLD

The latest military takeover amid a resurgence of coups in West Africa has been particularly concerning for the West, which saw Niger as its last remaining strategic partner in its counterterrorism fight in the Sahel. Niger also matters to the global market on various fronts, including its 5% share of the global supply of uranium.

Nnamdi Obasi, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group, warned that a military intervention “could also deteriorate into a conflict by proxy between forces outside Africa, between those supporting the restoration of democracy and those supporting the junta, which has taken a strong anti-Western stance.”

On one end is Niger’s longtime strategic allies the United States and France. On the other is Russia and its private military contractor, Wagner, which have been hailed as allies by the military regimes of Mali and Burkina Faso.

CONSEQUENCES IN NIGER

There are fears that any battle in the event of a military intervention by ECOWAS will not be limited to Niger’s capital, Niamey.

“I fear the junta would gladly use its own people as cannon fodder or human shields, and ECOWAS militaries don’t have a good record when it comes to avoiding collateral damage,” said James Barnett, a researcher specializing in West Africa at Hudson Institute.

Even the best-case scenario from such an intervention would leave ECOWAS troops stationed in the country as anti-coup forces for what could be a lengthy period. That doesn’t look good for democracy — both for the country and the region, said Powell with Oxford Analytica.

“That would make Bazoum look like he is only a president because of foreign armies, and that is going to destroy his legitimacy.”

CHALLENGES FOR NIGERIA

Nigeria leading the ECOWAS intervention in Niger could face challenges on the homefront, where its military has struggled with overstretched, outgunned and outnumbered personnel, fighting armed groups that have killed thousands in the past year across the northern and central regions.

“Nigerian military has internal problems in Nigeria,” said Bello Tangaza, a resident of Tangaza in northern Sokoto state. “They have bandits, they have Boko Haram — but they have failed to tackle these problems and they want to jump to Niger.”

A military intervention led by Nigeria could shift attention from the armed groups that sometimes enter the country through the porous border with Niger. Four people were abducted by gunmen on Wednesday in Tangaza district, and residents fear the situation won’t improve anytime soon if the military turns its attention to Niger.

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AP journalist Sam Mednick in Niamey, Niger, contributed.



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Lebanon warns Palestinian president that troops may intervene if clashes continue in refugee camp


SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — The caretaker Lebanese prime minister called the Palestinian president on Thursday to demand an end to the volatile situation in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, warning that the army may have to intervene to stop the dayslong fighting that has left dozens dead and wounded.

The deadly clashes between Palestinian factions in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon have been going on since Sunday, though a tentative calm returned to the camp and surrounding area on Thursday, after a night of renewed clashes.

In his telephone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the fighting a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty.” Mikati also said it was unacceptable for the warring Palestinian groups to “terrorize the Lebanese, especially the people of the south who have embraced the Palestinians for many years,” according to a statement released by his office.

The latest fighting in Ein el-Hilweh, which is home to about 50,000 people, has pitted Abbas’ Fatah party against Islamist groups Jund al Sham and Shabab al Muslim. Fatah has accused the Islamists of gunning down a Fatah military general, Abu Ashraf al Armoushi, in the camp on Sunday.

The fighting has so far killed more than a dozen people, wounded many more and displaced thousands.

In Sidon, outside the camp’s borders, around 100 camp residents who had fled the clashes were sheltering in a nearby mosque on Thursday. Sheikh Ahmad Nader said around 2,000 people had sheltered at the mosque since the beginning of the clashes.

“We are tired of all of this,” said Mohamed Sabakh, an Ein el-Hilweh resident staying in the mosque with his family. “We have children.”

Even outside the camp, Sabakh said, they feel trapped by the fighting. “Look around you, all the stores are closed. People are locked down in their houses. There is nowhere to get bread even, all the roads are closed.”

Dorothee Klaus, director of the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, in Lebanon said in a statement Thursday that 600 people displaced from the camp are staying in two of the agency’s schools, in Sidon and in Mieh Mieh, another nearby camp.

“We have not been able to enter the camp and deliver much-needed assistance,” she said, noting that some 360 of UNRWA’s staff live in the camp, where some were trapped and one was injured in the clashes.

Dr. Riad Abu al-Einein, head of Al Hamshari Hospital near the camp, told The Associated Press that the hospital had received the body of a person who was killed in clashes on Wednesday night, bringing the total number killed to 13.

If the situation continues, he said, “it will affect not only the families in the camp but all of the people in Sidon, especially as there were several rocket-propelled grenades and gunshots hit residential areas in the city.”

Maher Shabaita, head of Fatah in the Sidon region, confirmed that one of the group’s members was killed in Wednesday night’s clashes.

He said Fatah fighters had defended themselves after the Islamist groups attacked one of Fatah’s centers in the camp, breaking a cease-fire agreement reached Monday, in what he described as part of a “project to destroy the camp and transform the camp into a camp of militants, possibly a camp of terrorists.”

Palestinian factions in the camp have formed an investigative committee to determine who was responsible for Armoushi’s killing and hand them over to the Lebanese judiciary for trial, he said.

Lebanese soldiers generally do not enter the Palestinian camps, which are controlled by a network of Palestinian factions, and have stayed out of the latest conflict in Ein el-Hilweh. In 2007, the Lebanese army battled Islamist extremists in another Palestinian camp, Nahr al-Bared, in north Lebanon, razing most of the camp in the process.

Elias Farhat, a retired Lebanese army general who is now a researcher in military affairs, said it was unlikely that the army would intervene in Ein el-Hilweh because — unlike in Nahr al-Bared — the combatants have not directly targeted the army.

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Sewell reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.



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