PESHAWAR: The death toll in a suicide bombing at an election rally in northwestern Pakistan rose to 20 Wednesday as Taliban militants claimed responsibility, officials said, in the first major attack ahead of July 25 polls.
A local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), Haroon Bilour, was among those killed in the attack in the city of Peshawar late Tuesday, officials have confirmed.
The party has been targeted by Islamist militants in the past over its vocal opposition to extremist groups like the Taliban.
The bombing came hours after the Pakistan military spokesman said there were security threats ahead of national elections.
“The death toll has risen to 20 and 63 others were wounded, out of whom 35 are still admitted in two Peshawar hospitals,” Peshawar police chief Qazi Jameel told AFP.
Peshawar hospital official Zulfiqar Babakhel confirmed the updated death toll.
Bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik told AFP that the suicide bomber — who he said was around 16 years old — had eight kilogrammes of explosives and three kilogrammes of pellets, ball bearings and other shrapnel on his body.
Peshawar lawyers went on strike on Wednesday to protest and mourn the death of Haroon, who was also a barrister. Local traders also announced a strike and mourners thronged to Bilour’s residence to offer condolences.
Bilour was one of the ANP’s election candidates and belonged to an influential political family in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
His father Bashir Bilour, one of the ANP’s top leaders, was also killed by a suicide bomber in 2012.
Police said the bomber struck when Bilour was about to address some 200 supporters.
Mohammad Khorasani, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group, claimed the responsibility for the attack.
“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s mujahid (holy fighter) Abdul Karim last night carried out a suicide attack on important ANP leader Haroon Bilour in which he has been killed,” Khorasani said in a statement.
He said the militants “have already declared a war” on the ANP and called on the public to keep away from them, “or you will be responsible for your own loss.”
Peshawar city is considered a gateway to Pakistan’s troubled semi-autonomous tribal regions, where many militant groups — including Al-Qaeda — operated until the government launched operations to oust them.
Militants have targeted politicians, religious gatherings, security forces and even schools in Peshawar.
But security across Pakistan, including in Peshawar, has dramatically improved since government and military operations in recent years.
Analysts warn however that Pakistan has yet to tackle the root causes of extremism.
Pakistan election rally suicide bomb toll climbs to 20
Pakistan election rally suicide bomb toll climbs to 20
- A local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), Haroon Bilour, was among those killed in the attack in the city of Peshawar
- The party has been targeted by Islamist militants in the past over its vocal opposition to extremist groups like the Taliban
China urges Philippines to return to ‘peaceful development’
- The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year
The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said the Typhon’s deployment for joint exercises was “legitimate, legal and beyond reproach.” Army chief Roy Galido said on Monday that the Philippines was also planning to acquire its own mid-range missile system.
Rivalry between China and the Philippines has grown in recent years over their competing claims in the South China Sea. Longtime treaty allies Manila and Washington have also deepened military ties, further ratcheting up tensions.
“By cooperating with the United States in the introduction of Typhon, the Philippine side has surrendered its own security and national defense to others and introduced the risk of geopolitical confrontation and an arms race in the region, posing a substantial threat to regional peace and security,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry.
“We once again advise the Philippine side that the only correct choice for safeguarding its security is to adhere to strategic autonomy, good neighborliness and peaceful development,” Mao told reporters at a regular press conference.
China will never sit idly by if its security interests were threatened, she added.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which is also claimed by several Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines.
Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs
On Dec. 17, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service killed Lt. Gen. Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, in Moscow outside his apartment building by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit. Russia said the killing was a terrorist attack by Ukraine, with which it has been at war since February 2022, and vowed revenge.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has prevented a series of assassination attempts on high-ranking military personnel of the Defense Ministry,” the FSB said.
“Four Russian citizens involved in the preparation of these attacks have been detained,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine’s SBU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services.
One of the men retrieved a bomb disguised as a portable charger in Moscow that was to be attached with magnets to the car of one of the Defense Ministry’s top officials, the FSB said.
Another Russian man was tasked with reconnaissance of senior Russian defense officials, it said, with one plot involving the delivery of a bomb disguised as a document folder.
“An explosive device disguised as a portable charger (power bank), with magnets attached, had to be placed under the official car of one of the senior leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry,” it said.
The exact date of the planned attacks was unclear though one of the suspects said he had retrieved a bomb on Dec. 23, according to the FSB.
Russian state TV showed what it said was footage of some of the suspects who admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence for bombings against Russian defense ministry officials.
Moscow holds Ukraine responsible for a string of high-profile assassinations on its soil designed to weaken morale — and says the West is supporting a “terrorist regime” in Kyiv.
Ukraine, which says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state, has made clear it regards such targeted killings as a legitimate tool.
Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, was killed in August 2022 near Moscow. The New York Times reported that
US intelligence agencies
believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the killing.
US officials later admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the Times said. Ukraine denied it killed Dugina.
Rural communities urged to flee east Australia bushfire
- About 600 firefighters battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park 240 kilometers west of Melbourne
- State emergency services warned residents to leave home immediately in more than two dozen mostly small rural communities
MELBOURNE: Australian authorities urged people in dozens of rural communities to leave home “immediately” Thursday to escape an out-of-control bushfire tearing through a national park.
About 600 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Grampians National Park 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of Melbourne, a Victoria state emergency services spokesperson said.
The blaze has persisted for more than a week in hot, windy conditions, scorching 55,000 hectares (136,000 acres) — about one-third of the park — so far without causing deaths or destroying homes.
State emergency services warned residents to leave home immediately in more than two dozen mostly small rural communities, with populations ranging from as few as six to as many as several hundred.
People in several other communities were told to take shelter indoors because it was unsafe to leave.
Firefighters expected shifting winds to complicate their task during the day, said Victoria state control center spokesman Luke Hegarty.
“We are reaching a critical part of the day when we see the wind change moving through the western part of the state,” he said in an afternoon update.
“We’re expecting strong winds and variable winds to be a concern for us over the next few hours.”
A total fire ban was declared across the whole of Victoria, barring any fires in the open air.
Tears, prayers as Asia mourns tsunami dead 20 years on
- A 9.1-magnitude earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004 pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia
- A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia: Tearful mourners prayed on Thursday as ceremonies were held across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who were killed two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s worst natural disasters.
A 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s western tip on December 26, 2004, generated a series of waves as high as 30 meters (98 feet) that pummeled the coastline of 14 countries from Indonesia to Somalia.
In Indonesia’s Aceh Province, where more than 100,000 people were killed, a siren rang out at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to kick off a series of memorials around the region, including in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, which the tsunami hit hours later.
People recounted harrowing tales of horror and miraculous survival as giant waves swept in without warning, carrying debris including cars and destroying buildings in its wake.
“I thought it was doomsday,” said Hasnawati, a 54-year-old teacher who goes by one name, at the Indonesian mosque that was damaged by the tsunami.
“On a Sunday morning where our family were all laughing together, suddenly a disaster struck and everything’s gone. I can’t describe it with words.”
At Aceh’s Siron mass grave, where around 46,000 people were buried, emotional relatives recited Islamic prayers in the shade of trees that have since grown there.
Khyanisa, a 59-year-old Indonesian housewife, lost her mother and daughter, searching in vain for them in the hope they were still alive.
“I kept chanting God’s name. I looked for them everywhere,” she said.
“There was a moment where I realized they were gone. I felt my chest was in pain, I screamed.”
The victims included many foreign tourists celebrating Christmas on the region’s sun-kissed beaches, bringing the tragedy into homes around the globe.
The seabed being ripped open pushed waves at double the speed of a bullet train, crossing the Indian Ocean within hours.
In Thailand, where half of the more than 5,000 dead were foreign tourists, commemorations began early in Ban Nam Khem, its worst-hit village.
Tearful relatives laid flowers and wreaths at a curved wall in the shape of a tsunami wave with plaques bearing victims’ names.
Napaporn Pakawan, 55, lost her older sister and a niece in the tragedy.
“I feel dismay. I come here every year,” she said.
“Times flies but time is slow in our mind.”
After an interfaith ceremony, Italian survivor Francesca Ermini, 55, thanked volunteers for saving her life.
“I think all of us (survivors), when we think about you, it makes us feel so hopeful,” she said.
Unofficial beachside vigils were also expected to accompany a Thai government memorial ceremony.
A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database.
There was no warning of the impending tsunami, giving little time for evacuation, despite the hours-long gaps between the waves striking different continents.
But today a sophisticated network of monitoring stations has cut down warning times.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people perished, survivors and relatives gathered to remember around 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.
The mourners boarded the restored Ocean Queen Express and headed to Peraliya — the exact spot where it was ripped from the tracks, around 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Colombo.
A brief religious ceremony was held with relatives of the dead there while Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim ceremonies were also organized to commemorate victims across the South Asian island nation.
Nearly 300 people were killed as far away as Somalia, as well as more than 100 in the Maldives and dozens in Malaysia and Myanmar.
Dorothy Wilkinson, a 56-year-old British woman who lost her partner and his parents to the tsunami in Thailand, said the commemorations were a time to remember the best of those who died.
“It makes me happy to come... a bit sad,” she said.
“It’s celebrating their life.”
South Korea opposition says it will vote to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo
- Democratic Party had threatened to impeach Han if he does not immediately appoint three justices to fill the vacancies at the Constitutional Court
- The court is trying the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law
SEOUL: South Korea’s main opposition party said it will introduce a bill to impeach acting President Han Duck-soo on Thursday and hold a vote on Friday, a move that could deepen the country’s constitutional crisis triggered by a short-lived martial law.
The opposition Democratic Party had threatened to impeach Han if he does not immediately appoint three justices to fill the vacancies at the Constitutional Court. Parliament voted in favor of three nominees on Thursday, but they have yet to be formally appointed by Han.
The court is trying the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.
“It has become clear that Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo does not have the qualification or the will to safeguard the Constitution,” Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
If Han is impeached, the finance minister will assume the acting presidency. The Democratic Party has majority control of parliament, but there is disagreement between the parties and some constitutional scholars over whether a simple majority or a two-thirds vote is needed to impeach the acting president.
Han said earlier on Thursday that he will not appoint the justices until political parties reach agreement on the appointments, because for him to do so without political consensus will harm constitutional order.
Two of the proposed appointees for the Constitutional Court up for the vote on Thursday were nominated by the Democratic Party and one by Han’s ruling People Power Party. The ruling party objected to the breakdown, saying it had not agreed to it.
Han has been under pressure to make the appointments, but political parties have disagreed on whether he has the authority to do so as acting president.
The court is set to hold its first hearing on Friday in the trial to decide whether to remove Yoon or reinstate him.
Under the constitution, six justices must agree to remove an impeached president, meaning the current justices must vote unanimously to remove Yoon. The court has said it can deliberate without the full bench.
Yoon, who was impeached by parliament on Dec. 14 in a vote joined by some members of his center-right party, has not submitted legal papers as requested by the court as of Thursday, court spokesperson Lee Jean told a media briefing.
On Wednesday, he did not respond to the latest summons for questioning in a separate criminal investigation.
Yoon’s repeated defiance has sparked criticism and calls from the opposition for his arrest.
