Militaries face new enemy in outbreak

To wage war or fight virus

Spurred by concern over the pandemic, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen declared a temporary cease-fire after five years of war. The Houthis have dismissed the offer as a ploy and clashes continue, casting doubt over a future peace agreement.

The United Nations had called for an end to escalating fighting so authorities can confront the coronavirus. Yemen confirmed its first case this week, while foreign backers Iran and Saudi Arabia have struggled to stem massive outbreaks. An outbreak in Yemen, where the conflict has devastated the healthcare system, could be catastrophic.

The past month has brought more human suffering across the country. Ground fighting in the north caused 270 deaths in 10 days. The Houthis fired missiles at the Saudi capital, Riyadh, triggering retaliatory strikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa. A rebel attack on the city of Taiz, in western Yemen, killed at least six female prisoners and wounded two dozen women and children.

Even modest hopes for peace talks in Yemen stand in contrast to Libya, where rival forces have ignored humanitarian pleas for a cease-fire, seeking to exploit the diplomatic void left by the pandemic.

Eastern-based forces are escalating a yearlong siege of the capital, Tripoli, which they want to wrest from the UN-backed government.

Artillery shells crashed through living rooms, cars, a sea port and three hospitals over the last month, killing at least 16 civilians and wounding more than 30. Grad rockets struck one of the country's few coronavirus treatment facilities, sending shrapnel into a doctor's leg during surgery and forcing seriously ill patients to evacuate as the bombs fell. Militias allied with the Tripoli government have expanded their use of Turkish drones, at one point attacking an aircraft thought to be carrying medical supplies and protective gear.

Balancing threats

In South Korea, which has managed to slow the outbreak, the military is key to containment. More than 450 military medical staff and 2,700 troops have been deployed to help with treatment at hospitals, screening travelers, enforcing quarantine, producing face masks and helping trace the contacts of virus carriers, according to the defense ministry.

The country has postponed its annual military exercises with the United States and prohibited most enlisted soldiers from leaving their bases.

Experts say the cutback in training is inevitable. An outbreak among troops would be devastating for combat readiness.

Waging war games

For the 30 member states of the NATO military alliance, which is not fighting any wars, the virus poses a challenge to its routine training exercises.

Last month, the US Army announced that it was cutting down the number of troops taking part in massive war games, the Defender-Europe 2020 exercises, that have been planned across Europe over the next six months.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance remains ready to act.

'Unseen disaster'

India has ordered its 1.3 billion people into lockdown, but tensions remain on its militarized frontier with Pakistan. In March, soldiers exchanged gunfire and mortar shells along the frontier at least two dozen times, according to the Indian army.

The military has stopped recruitment and halted movement across military stations except for essential services. It canceled training exercises, like the Indian Navy's 41-nation drill, which was set to begin on March 18.

Lieutenant-General Vinod Bhatia, who heads India's Defense Ministry-run think tank, the Center for Joint Warfare Studies, said that "all militaries build scenarios, but there has not been a scenario around this kind of disaster".

Agencies Via Xinhua