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In Switzerland, police intervened in a hostage situation on a train near Yverdon, resulting in the fatal shooting of a man who had taken 15 passengers captive. The perpetrator, reported to be a 32-year-old asylum seeker from Iran, armed himself with an axe and a knife before coercing the train driver to stop and enter the carriage with the passengers.

Despite attempts by authorities to negotiate with the hostage-taker, who spoke both English and Farsi, their efforts proved unsuccessful. As negotiations faltered, police, including a special unit from Geneva, surrounded the train and initiated communication with the perpetrator. However, after several hours, the situation escalated when the hostage-taker moved away from the passengers, prompting law enforcement to take decisive action.

When the hostage-taker attacked the police during the intervention, officers responded by using firearms to protect both the hostages and themselves. Regrettably, the confrontation resulted in the fatal shooting of the perpetrator. The motives behind the hostage-taking remain unclear, although witnesses reported that the perpetrator appeared visibly distressed during the ordeal.

Following the resolution of the hostage situation, authorities are providing support to the hostages and their families through the Swiss health service’s psychological department. The man responsible for the incident was originally from Iran and had been residing in an asylum seeker center in Neuchatel. While hostage incidents are rare in Switzerland, past occurrences have been recorded in various settings, including banks and businesses, underscoring the importance of effective law enforcement responses to such crises.

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Russia has been recruiting foreign migrants detained at its border with Finland for military service in Ukraine, as evidenced by several cases reported by the BBC. This practice involves coercing individuals in pre-deportation detention centers to sign contracts for army service. While this tactic is not new, the numbers increased significantly as foreign migrants arrived at Russia’s border with Finland. Finland temporarily closed its Russian border crossings, accusing Moscow of using migrants as part of a destabilization campaign after Finland joined NATO.

In the past three weeks, 236 people in Karelia, one of the three Russian regions bordering Finland, were arrested for staying in Russia without valid visas. The pattern was similar in the other two border regions of Leningrad and Murmansk. Migrants, including a Somali man identified as Awad, detained for immigration violations, were approached by military representatives and offered a job in the Russian army, promising good pay, medical care, and permission to stay in Russia upon completing a one-year army contract.

The influx of migrants at Finland’s border led to accusations that Russia encouraged the surge, bypassing visa checks and organizing the distribution of bicycles for migrants. Awad, who had arrived in Russia in mid-July and attempted to enter Poland via Belarus, hired a taxi in November to reach the Finnish border. After being detained, he and others were pressured to sign army contracts to avoid deportation.

The report mentions an Iraqi man facing deportation who claimed he was also pressured to sign an army contract due to the danger he faced in Iraq. According to a representative from the Somali community in Belarus, at least 60 Somali nationals in Russian detention centers were approached by military recruiters, with some reportedly agreeing to sign contracts with the Russian army.

Awad and his group realized they were being sent to fight in Ukraine when they reached a military camp at the border. Despite threats of long prison sentences, the detainees demanded the annulment of their contracts. Some received letters confirming the cancellation, but they remain in the military camp. Awad insists he was deceived and did not fully understand the contract, emphasizing that he is an asylum seeker, not a soldier. The BBC has sought comment from the Russian interior ministry regarding the allegations.

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