KABUL: At least nine police officers were killed Saturday in separate attacks by Taliban insurgents on police checkpoints in eastern Ghazni province, a provincial official said, and the US military said a service member died from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash in the east.
Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, said two police checkpoints came under attack by Taliban fighters in the early hours leaving nine police dead and two police wounded. He said six insurgents were killed and nine others were wounded in the battle, which lasted almost an hour.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. He said 14 police were killed, including both commanders of the checkpoints.
Afghan forces have struggled to combat a resurgent Taliban since US and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a counterterrorism and support role.
In eastern Logar province, a US service member died from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash late Friday, a statement from the US military said. Six other US crew members were injured in the crash and were receiving medical treatment, it said.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our comrade,” said US Gen. John Nicholson, commander of Resolute Support in Afghanistan. “On behalf of all of Resolute Support, our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of our fallen comrade and those injured in this unfortunate event.”
The statement said the crash was not the result of enemy action. “We have full accountability of all personnel and the crash site has been secured,” it said.
Earlier, Salim Saleh, spokesman for the provincial governor in Logar, told The Associated Press that a military helicopter made an emergency landing as it was taking off and hit a tree.
He said the helicopter was supporting an operation to eliminate insurgents from Karwar district.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed their fighters shot down the helicopter in Karwar district.
Official: Taliban kill 9 police in eastern Afghanistan
Official: Taliban kill 9 police in eastern Afghanistan
Al Shabab gunmen attack hotel in central Somalia, seven dead
- Hours after the initial attack, government forces were trying to flush out Al Shabab fighters, some of whom had been killed in nearby alleys, said Dahir Amin Jesow, a federal lawmaker from the town, the capital of Hiraan region
MOGADISHU: Al Shabab gunmen killed at least seven people in an attack on Tuesday at a hotel in a central Somali town where local elders and government officials were meeting to discuss how to act against the Islamist militant group, an elder said.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for the attack in Beledweyne and said it had killed over 10 people. The attackers forced their way in by setting off explosives at the entrance, said a witness, shopkeeper Ali Suleiman.
Al Shabab frequently launches bombings and gun attacks in the fragile Horn of Africa nation as it tries to topple the government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
“So far seven people, including clan elders and their guards, all of them my relatives, died in the hotel. Parts of the hotel are ablaze now and it is not clear if the operation is concluded or not,” clan elder Abdullahi Fidow told Reuters.
“Some say the fighters are still fighting in nearby buildings. The death toll may rise because of the blasts and shooting by the fighters,” he said.
Hours after the initial attack, government forces were trying to flush out Al Shabab fighters, some of whom had been killed in nearby alleys, said Dahir Amin Jesow, a federal lawmaker from the town, the capital of Hiraan region.
In a separate incident, at least 10 people, including eight Al Shabab fighters, were killed in fighting in a village in the Middle Shabelle region in southern Somalia, Ali Farah, a military officer in the village, told Reuters.
State-owned Somali National News Agency reported that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was at the airport in Mogadishu to receive the soldiers wounded in the fighting.
Trump administration still plans to eliminate consumer finance bureau, witness says
- Trump has accused the agency of politicized enforcement and the CFPB has been reviled by conservatives and the financial services industry, which have accused it of overreach and overzealous enforcement actions
President Donald Trump’s administration still plans to fire all workers at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, effectively neutralizing it, according to witness testimony delivered Tuesday.
The testimony runs counter to CFPB court filings, according to which the agency would continue to exist only in a “streamlined” form, as a judge has temporarily blocked it from continuing with mass dismissals.
However a witness, an agency official who testified Tuesday in a Washington courtroom under a pseudonym for fear of retaliation, said she was privy to conversations with the Office of Personnel Management this month at which officials were still discussing firing all agency workers.
“On the 4th, it was mostly about a cost estimate for the final phase” for firing any remaining workers after as many as 1,200 workers are dismissed, said the witness.
“This was last Tuesday?” asked Deepak Gupta, a lawyer representing an employee union, consumer advocates and others challenging the administration’s moves against the CFPB.
“Yes,” the witness answered, adding that she was unaware of any change in plans to wind down the CFPB entirely.
She appeared under the pseudonym “Alex Doe” and explained that she feared retaliation for providing her testimony.
Representatives for the CFPB and OPM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Unlike the government position taken in court papers, Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk have said the consumer financial watchdog should be eliminated. Trump has accused the agency of politicized enforcement and the CFPB has been reviled by conservatives and the financial services industry, which have accused it of overreach and overzealous enforcement actions.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs have said scrapping the agency in this manner defies the powers of Congress, which created the agency in 2010 and would be the sole authority able to abolish it.
Justice Department lawyers argue that Trump officials have acted within their authority and are working to comply with relevant laws.
The witness also said officials with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had pressured CFPB officials in mid-February to proceed more quickly in processing bulk notices of employee firings as a court hearing approached at which a judge could order a halt to the firings.
Lawyers representing the National Treasury Employees Union and others are seeking a court order directing the Trump administration to undo the actions it has taken so far in dismissing about 200 workers, placing remaining staff on leave and canceling service contracts, among other measures. A judge has yet to rule on the matter after two days of testimony.
What to know about Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia protester arrested by ICE and facing deportation
- Khalil was one of the most visible activists in the protests last spring at Columbia, which also happened on other college campuses around the world
- A federal judge in Manhattan ordered the government to not deport Khalil until the court has a chance to review the case
NEW YORK: A Palestinian activist who helped lead student protests at Columbia University faces deportation after being arrested over the weekend by federal immigration officials.
Trump has warned that the apprehension of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, represents the “first arrest of many” as his administration cracks down on campus opposition to the war in Gaza. But a federal judge temporarily blocked the 30-year old’s expulsion from the country.
Here’s what you need to know:
What happened?
Khalil was detained Saturday night as he and his wife were returning to their Columbia University-owned apartment in upper Manhattan by officials from the US Department of Homeland Security.
The agents told the couple that Khalil was being detained because his student visa had been revoked.
When his wife provided documents proving he was a green card holder, the agents said that was also being revoked and took him away in handcuffs, according to a lawsuit Khalil’s attorneys filed challenging his detention.
Why is he facing deportation?
The Department of Homeland Security, confirming his arrest Saturday, accused Khalil of leading “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
The White House, elaborating more on its position Tuesday, claimed Khalil organized protests where pro-Hamas propaganda was distributed.
“This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary.
Khalil’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to the White House’s latest claims.
Who is Mahmoud Khalil?
Khalil was one of the most visible activists in the protests last spring at Columbia, which also happened on other college campuses around the world.
He served as a student negotiator — a role that had him speaking frequently with university officials and the press.
More recently, he was among the pro-Palestinian activists investigated by a new disciplinary body at Columbia University focused on harassment and discrimination complaints.
Khalil completed his master’s degree in public administration at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December.
What’s his legal status?
Khalil was born and raised in Syria after his Palestinian grandparents were removed from their homeland, according to his lawsuit.
He came to the US on a student visa in 2022 to pursue his graduate studies at Columbia.
Khalil and his wife, who is a US citizen, then married in 2023. He became a legal permanent resident — also known as a green card holder — last year.
Can the government deport green card holders?
Short answer: yes. Green card holders can be deported, but the government has the burden to prove the person is deportable.
Grounds for deportation can range from being convicted of a range of crimes, from murder, assault and burglary to tax evasion, domestic violence and illegal firearms possession, according to Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law expert and retired Cornell Law School professor.
But a legal permanent resident can also be expelled for providing material support to a terrorist group, in which case the government doesn’t need a criminal conviction to bring deportation charges, he said.
“Material support for immigration purposes is much broader than the criminal definition of the term,” Yale-Loehr explained. “For example, people have been deported for simply providing a cup of water or bowl of rice to guerrilla groups, even under duress.”
Where is Khalil?
Khalil is being held at a federal immigration detention facility in a central Louisiana town roughly 170 miles (274 kilometers) northwest of New Orleans.
The Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, which is a low-slung complex ringed by barbed wire fences, can hold about 1,160 detainees.
Louisiana became a hub for immigrant detention during the first Trump administration and has nine centers, most of them run by private contractors.
Critics say the isolated complexes cut prisoners off from easy access to attorneys and family.
“The intent is to kind of break the morale, the spirits, of those that are held at these facilities,” Yasmine Taeb, the legislative and political director for the Muslim activist group MPower Change, told reporters Tuesday.
What’s next?
Khalil is expected to make an initial appearance before an immigration court but is unclear when — it could happen anywhere from 10 days to a month, experts told the AP .
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Manhattan ordered the government to not deport Khalil until the court has a chance to review the case. A hearing was tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.
Khalil’s lawyers contend that he has a right to due process as a legal permanent resident and that the government is “engaging in blatant efforts to target and chill” Khalil’s free speech and to “discriminate against particular viewpoints,” in violation of the First Amendment.
They’ve also petitioned the court to have him returned to New York, as his wife is eight months pregnant.
“For everyone reading this, I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby,” his wife, who has not been named, wrote in a statement provided by his lawyers. “I need your help to bring Mahmoud home, so he is here beside me, holding my hand in the delivery room as we welcome our first child into this world.”
Macron urges allies to plan ‘credible security guarantees’ for Ukraine
- Macron has teamed up with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to lead efforts to form a “coalition of the willing” to enforce an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called on military chiefs from across Europe and beyond to draw up a plan “to define credible security guarantees” for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, the presidency said.
His appeal, in a closed-door Paris meeting of top brass from more than 30 allied states, came as Ukraine endorsed an American proposal for a month-long ceasefire and agreed to immediate negotiations with Russia, in pivotal talks in Saudi Arabia.
Macron has sought to rally a European response to Washington’s shock policy shift in US-Russia relations.
The Paris meeting gathered representatives from 34 countries — most of them from Europe and NATO, but also from Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
There was no representative from the United States, which is the leading member of NATO.
“This is the moment when Europe must throw its full weight behind Ukraine, and itself,” Macron told the meeting, according to the Elysee.
“In view of the acceleration of peace negotiations,” it was necessary to start planning to “define credible security guarantees” to make a lasting peace in Ukraine a reality, the French presidency reported Macron as saying.
Macron has teamed up with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to lead efforts to form a “coalition of the willing” to enforce an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to the Elysee, the military chiefs of staff from European and NATO nations — including Britain and Turkiye — agreed that the security guarantees “should not be separated from NATO and its capabilities.”
Such guarantees should be “credible and long-term, and should be accompanied by unfailing support for the Ukrainian army,” according to the Elysee.
More than three years since Russia invaded its neighbor, Europe is scrambling to boost its defenses and break free from dependence on the United States.
It has been unsettled by Trump renewing contacts with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, raising fears that the US president may try to force Ukraine to accept a settlement favoring Russia.
Trump suspended military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, though his administration late on Tuesday indicated it would lift the freeze after Ukraine endorsed then American proposal.
Macron later posted on X that “the ball is now clearly in Russia’s court,” and hailed the “progress” made in peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
Ahead of the Paris defense meeting, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said: “We will reject any form of demilitarization of Ukraine.”
“It is simply a question of looking ahead and thinking about what the Ukrainian army should be in the future,” Lecornu added.
On Friday, the French president, who has pushed his country’s defense industry to switch to “war economy mode,” is set to meet with defense manufacturers, according to a member of his team.
Defense ministers from Europe’s five main military powers — France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Poland — are to meet in the French capital on Wednesday. EU and NATO representatives and the Ukrainian defense minister will also take part.
Those talks will center on the “necessary rearmament of Europe” and military support to Ukraine, one of Lecornu’s aides said.
Starmer will, in turn, host virtual talks on Saturday with leaders of the nations willing to help support the ceasefire.
Macron has said any European troops in Ukraine would be deployed only “once a peace deal is signed, to guarantee it is fully respected.”
He has also said he would be ready to discuss extending France’s nuclear deterrent to European partners.
Last week, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a plan to mobilize around 800 billion euros ($843 billion) for Europe’s defense and help provide “immediate” military support for Ukraine.
France also plans to raise defense spending, with Lecornu referring to a target of around 100 billion euros ($109 bn) a year, compared to 50.5 billion euros in 2025.
EU’s top diplomat pledges unified support for Ukraine and global humanitarian aid in dig at US
- EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas never mentioned the US in her speech to the UN Security Council
- Her points were clearly aimed at President Donald Trump ‘s dismissive language about Europe
UNITED NATIONS: The European Union has a message for the Trump administration: It will continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion, step up humanitarian aid when others pull back, and boost global teamwork to address the world’s challenges.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas never mentioned the United States in her speech to the UN Security Council on Tuesday. But her points were clearly aimed at President Donald Trump ‘s dismissive language about Europe, his massive cutbacks in aid to poor and conflict-torn countries, and his administration’s reluctance to acknowledge that Russia invaded Ukraine.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Trump administration said it was lifting its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signaled that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia. The US-Ukraine deal is now pending Moscow’s agreement.
Looking at the world 80 years after the UN was founded on the ashes of World War II, Kallas said its foundations are facing “unprecedented pressure.” She cited blatant violations of the UN Charter, “attempts to replace the rule of law by the rule of force,” and universal principles promoting peace, human rights and development “under heavy fire.”
At a news conference afterward, she said, “The world is more dangerous now than it has ever been since the Cold War.”
Kallas told the council, “The EU will remain the UN’s reliable partner of choice” and will defend the UN Charter, which says every country must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
That’s why it has supported Ukraine’s right to self-defense and stands with Kyiv “for a just and lasting peace in line with the Charter,” she said, stressing that Russia must lose its “colonial war.”
The EU will always support rising humanitarian needs, with almost 2 billion euros this year, she said, a dig at the Trump administration, which dismantled the US aid agency and is eliminating 83 percent of its programs.
Kallas also stressed the need to boost multilateralism and engage with partners, which “is the only way forward in solving issues.”
She was asked afterward about a Trump comment that the EU was created to destroy the US when it comes to trade and was asked whether the 27-nation bloc could overcome that antagonism.
Surrounded by diplomats from all EU member nations, Kallas replied that the EU is “a peace project” created to ensure there would be no more wars among its members.
Right now, “our relations with third parties around the world show that everybody is looking at us because we are the reliable, predictable partner,” she said. “So, I really see the possibility to grow Europe’s geopolitical presence.”
The EU came under attack from Russia during the Security Council meeting.
After Kallas pledged to continue EU support to Ukraine, Russia’s UN ambassador blasted the European bloc for what it called a long history of anti-Russian sentiment.
“This sensible club aimed at integration, which used to promote cooperation with Russia, has today definitively turned into a fossilized, aggressive Russophobia bloc, which has staked its energy, economic, social and financial wellbeing on a pointless confrontation with its eastern neighbor,” Vassily Nebenzia said.
“Today, more than ever, it’s clear that the EU is seriously losing in this confrontation,” he said.
Kallas retorted that Nebenzia’s comments were a good example of rewriting history and how “misinformation and disinformation” and “lies” must be fought.
She said countries are afraid of Russia because of the countries it has attacked, “and these fears are not ungrounded.”
