Moscow has disbanded a law enforcement reserve unit stationed on its border with Belarus following talks between the presidents of the two countries. The force was formed last month at Minsk’s request and raised eyebrows abroad. Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko, met in Sochi on Monday. The decision to dismantle the formation was one of a variety of subsequent announcements, but flew somewhat under the radar. “An important outcome of the talks between both presidents in Sochi is the agreement on Russia dismantling the backup law enforcement and National Guard unit that was established near the […]
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Germany’s defense minister revealed on Wednesday that a unit of the Kommando Spezialkraefte (KSK), the country’s elite commando force, would be disbanded. The dissolution follows a report published in January revealing that hundreds of soldiers may embody far-right extremist ideologies. On Wednesday, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that the KSK, an anti-terrorism and hostage rescue unit with roughly 1,300 soldiers, had created “a wall of secrecy” around itself and that the force has a “toxic leadership culture” that “cannot continue to exist in its present form,” NPR reported. Kramp-Karrenbauer also confirmed that some of the 70 soldiers […]
Soldiers of the Command Special Forces (KSK) of the Bundeswehr are preparing to rappel from a helicopter during an exercise in 2004. Thomas Kienzle/AP hide caption toggle caption Thomas Kienzle/AP Soldiers of the Command Special Forces (KSK) of the Bundeswehr are preparing to rappel from a helicopter during an exercise in 2004. Thomas Kienzle/AP Germany’s defense minister on Wednesday disbanded a unit of the country’s elite commando force, known as the KSK, following an official report earlier this year that found far-right extremism within its ranks. In January, a report by Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service revealed that some 500 soldiers in […]
The New York Police Department has liquidated its anti-crime unit, reassigning some 600 plainclothes cops to neighborhood policing and detective work as protesters nationwide demand reforms in the wake of the George Floyd killing. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced the disbanding of the unit in a press conference on Monday, calling it “a seismic shift in the culture of how the NYPD polices this great city.” Heralding the move as “closing one of the last chapters of ‘Stop, Question and Frisk’” – the controversial policing tactic beloved by ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg and criticized by civil rights groups for its wildly disproportionate […]