Three dead, four injured after shooting at Kurdish center in Paris

Three dead, four injured after shooting at Kurdish center in Paris
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French riot police run to disperse protesters during a clash after three people were killed in a shooting in Paris on Dec. 23, 2022, (AFP)
Three dead, four injured after shooting at Kurdish center in Paris
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News of the shooting set nerves jangling in a city that has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist terror groups since 2015. (Reuters)
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Updated 24 December 2022
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Three dead, four injured after shooting at Kurdish center in Paris

Three dead, four injured after shooting at Kurdish center in Paris
  • The motives of the gunman were unclear
  • French riot police clashed with protestors following the attack

PARIS: A 69-year-old gunman opened fire at a Kurdish cultural center and a hairdressing salon in Paris on Friday, killing three people and injuring three others, witnesses and prosecutors said.
The shots shortly before midday (1100 GMT) caused panic in rue d’Enghien in the trendy 10th district of the French capital, a bustling area of shops and restaurants that is home to a large Kurdish population.
The shooting shook the Kurdish community in Paris and sparked skirmishes between angry Kurds and police. It also rattled merchants in the bustling neighborhood in central Paris on the eve of Christmas weekend and put officers on alert for more violence.
Witnesses told AFP that the gunman, a white Frenchman with a history of racist violence, initially targeted the Kurdish cultural center before entering a hairdressing salon where he was arrested.
Of the three wounded people, one was being given intensive care in hospital and two were treated for serious injuries, officials said.

The Kurdish community center, called Center Ahmet Kaya, is used by a charity that organizes concerts and exhibitions, and helps the Kurdish diaspora in the Paris region.
Within hours of the attack, Kurdish protesters clashed with police, who used teargas in an attempt to disperse them as they tried to break through a police cordon deployed to protect Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin who had arrived at the scene.
Darmanin said the suspect was clearly targeting foreigners and had acted alone and was not affiliated with any extreme-right or other radical movements.
Demonstrators threw objects at police while voicing fury over an attack they saw as deliberate and which they said French security services had done too little to prevent.
Several cars parked in the area as well as police vehicles had their windows smashed as protesters threw bricks.
A gathering outside the cultural center was ongoing on Friday evening after order was restored.
The alleged shooter, named as William M. in the French media, is a gun enthusiast with a history of weapons offenses who had been released on bail earlier this month.
The retired train driver was convicted for armed violence in 2016 by a court in the multicultural Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, but appealed.
A year later he was convicted for illegally possessing a firearm.
Last year, he was charged with racist violence after allegedly stabbing migrants and slashing their tents with a sword in a park in eastern Paris.
“He is crazy, he’s an idiot,” his father was quoted as saying by the M6 television channel.
He had been held in provisional detention in that case until Dec. 12, when he was released under judicial supervision, ordered to get psychiatric care and banned from carrying weapons.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that “the Kurds in France have been the target of an odious attack in the heart of Paris.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sent his condolences, saying “a terrible act has shaken Paris and France today.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his “deepest sympathies” for the victims, writing on Twitter that his thoughts were with the Kurdish community and people of France on this “sad day.”
French authorities are likely to face questions in the coming days over why the gunman had been recently released on bail given his criminal record and previous weapons offenses.
He suffered facial injuries on Friday and had been taken to hospital for treatment.
Darmanin told reporters at the scene that while the attacker “was clearly targeting foreigners,” it was “not certain” that the man was aiming to kill “Kurds in particular.”
“We yet don’t know his exact motives,” he said, while adding that he was not a known member of a far-right political group.
The Kurdish Democratic Council of France (CDK-F), an umbrella group for Kurds in France which uses the cultural center as its headquarters, said in a statement it considered the shooting to be a “terror attack.”
Abdulkarim Omar, the representative of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria to Europe, also condemned the attack as a “cowardly terrorist act.”
Some members of the Kurdish center could be seen weeping and hugging each other for comfort after the shooting which revived traumatic memories of the murders of three Kurdish activities in January 2013.
“It’s starting again. You aren’t protecting us. We’re being killed!” one person could be heard shouting at police at the scene.
The 2013 murders were widely believed to be the work of a Turkish intelligence agent, but the Turkish man arrested and charged with the killings died in 2016 shortly before his trial.
Often described as the world’s largest people without a state, the Kurds are a Muslim ethnic group spread across Syria, Turkiye, Iraq and Iran.
The CDK-F said the attack occurred “following multiples threats from Turkiye, an ally of Daesh.”
There is no indication of Turkish involvement in Friday’s violence.
Ankara launches regular military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — a designated terrorist group by the European Union and the United States — and Kurdish groups it accuses of being allies in Syria and Iraq.
The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, at first seeking a Kurdish homeland and latterly in pursuit of greater political autonomy for Kurds.
(With AFP and Reuters)


UK launches safeguarding review into death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif

UK launches safeguarding review into death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif
Updated 25 sec ago
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UK launches safeguarding review into death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif

UK launches safeguarding review into death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif
  • SSCP will investigate the work of all agencies involved with the girl’s family, including, police, health, social care and education

LONDON: The UK is launching a safeguarding review into the death of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, who was found at her home in Woking on Aug. 10, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Her father, stepmother and uncle are all charged with murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. 

The Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership will investigate the work of all agencies involved with the girl’s family, including, police, health, social care and education.

The purpose of a local safeguarding child practice review, which is a statutory process, is for public agencies to learn ways to improve how they work to protect and promote the welfare of children.

Derek Benson, chair of the SSCP, said: “This process is likely to take some time.

“Findings may not be shared by the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership until the partnership is assured that doing so will not prejudice any future legal proceedings,” he said.

A post-mortem examination found that Sara had suffered “multiple and extensive injuries,” but the cause of her death has yet to be determined, the BBC reported.

Urfan Sharif, 41, Beinash Batool, 29, and Faisal Malik, 28, are scheduled to appear for a plea hearing on Dec. 1 and will face trial in September 2024.

New photos of Sara were released by Surrey Police in September as part of the ongoing investigation. 

“The photos present Sara in the way we believe she may have dressed in the months prior to her death,” police said.

“We are hoping that these images will prompt more people to come forward with information about her and her family,” they added.


At least 23 Indian soldiers missing in flash flood

At least 23 Indian soldiers missing in flash flood
Updated 04 October 2023
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At least 23 Indian soldiers missing in flash flood

At least 23 Indian soldiers missing in flash flood
  • Intense rainfall triggers flash flood through valley in India’s mountainous northeast Sikkim state 
  • Flash floods are common during the monsoon season, which begins in June and ends in September

Guwahati, India: The Indian army said Wednesday that 23 soldiers were missing after a flash flood caused by intense rainfall tore through a valley in the mountainous northeast Sikkim state.

A video released by an Indian army spokesman showed a thick torrent of raging brown water sweeping down a thickly forested valley, with roads washed away and power lines ripped down.

“Due to sudden cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim, a flash flood occurred in the Teesta River... 23 personnel have been reported missing and some vehicles are reported submerged under the slush,” the army said in a statement. “Search operations are underway.”

Lhonak Lake sits at the base of a glacier in the peaks that surround Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain.

The army said water released upstream from the Chungthang dam meant the river was already more than 4.5 meters (15 feet) higher than usual.

Local media reported that three civilians had died after water smashed into homes overnight, with their bodies recovered from the town of Singtam on Wednesday.

Sikkim is close to India’s border with Nepal and China and boasts a sizeable military presence.

India has been wary of its northern neighbor’s growing military assertiveness and their 3,500-kilometer (2,200-mile) shared frontier has been a perennial source of tension, with parts of Sikkim claimed by Beijing.

Clashes in January 2021 left injuries on both sides in Naku La pass, which connects Sikkim with Tibet on the Chinese side.

China and India, who fought a border war in 1962, have posted tens of thousands of troops into border zones.

Flash floods are common during the monsoon season, which begins in June and normally withdraws from the Indian subcontinent by the end of September. By October, the heaviest of the monsoon rains are usually over.

Experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.

Other photographs shared by the army showed water submerging the first floor of buildings, and flowing down a street in a town with only the tip of a small construction crane visible.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said emergency services were working to support those impacted by the ferocious floods and urged people to “remain vigilant.”

Six bridges were washed away and the national highway that connects Sikkim with the rest of the country was badly damaged, state disaster management chief Prabhakar Rai said.

The monsoon occurs when summer heat warms the landmass of the subcontinent, causing the air to rise and suck in cooler Indian Ocean winds, which then produce enormous volumes of rain.

It brings destruction every year in the form of landslides and floods.

Melting glaciers add to the volume of water while unregulated construction in flood-prone areas exacerbates the damage.

Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than ever due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters.

Glaciers disappeared 65 percent faster from 2011 to 2020 compared with the previous decade, a report in June by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development warned.

Based on current emissions trajectories, the glaciers could lose up to 80 percent of their current volume by the end of the century, it said.


Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon

Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon
Updated 04 October 2023
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Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon

Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon
  • Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from May to November but last month’s Typhoon Haikui was the first to slam into it in four years

TAITUNG, Taiwan: Taiwan canceled flights and closed schools in parts of its southern region on Wednesday ahead of Typhoon Koinu’s expected landfall, the second major storm to make a direct hit on the island in a month.
Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from May to November but last month’s Typhoon Haikui was the first to slam into it in four years – unleashing torrential rains, high winds and forcing nearly 8,000 people to evacuate from their homes.
Experts say climate change has made the paths of tropical storms harder to forecast while increasing their intensity, which leads to more rains and flash floods.
Ahead of Thursday’s expected typhoon, more than 100 international and domestic flights have been canceled, while ferry services to Taiwan’s outlying islands have also been halted.
More than 200 people were evacuated for fear of landslides in the south of the island, and waves lashing the coast could reach up to seven meters (22 feet) high, authorities said.
Fishing boats were crammed into a fishing harbor in Pingtung county on Wednesday to shelter ahead of the typhoon, while primary schools in the agricultural region of Taitung allowed children to go home early.
“It’s barely a month, and we have another typhoon,” 65-year-old Yang Pi-cheng lamented said, as she waited to pick up her grandchildren from Dawang Primary School.
A major highway along the coast has also been closed as a precaution.
Koinu – which has been charting a jagged course for Taiwan’s southern tip – is currently just 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the island, moving toward it at 10 kilometers per hour.
The typhoon has already brought heavy rains to the mountainous northeast regions of Yilan and New Taipei City.
“We forecast that its center will pass through the Hengchun Peninsula at the southern tip of Taiwan tomorrow morning,” said Lu Kuo-chen, head of Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
After making landfall in Taiwan, Typhoon Koinu is forecast to move toward the eastern coast of China’s Guangdong province, said the weather observatory in nearby Hong Kong.
The Chinese territory – which last month was skirted by another typhoon before being flooded by the heaviest rainfall in 140 years days later – will issue its lowest typhoon signal on Wednesday evening.


Putin’s Kyrgyzstan visit to be first abroad since ICC warrant

Putin’s Kyrgyzstan visit to be first abroad since ICC warrant
Updated 04 October 2023
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Putin’s Kyrgyzstan visit to be first abroad since ICC warrant

Putin’s Kyrgyzstan visit to be first abroad since ICC warrant
  • The long-time leader has rarely left Russia since launching a full-scale military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Kyrgyzstan next week, authorities in the Central Asian country said Wednesday, in his first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him.
Putin has not left Russia since The Hague-based court issued the warrant in March over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
“By the invitation of the president of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov on October 12 the president of the Russian Federation will pay an official visit to our country,” the Kyrgyz news agency Kabar reported, citing an official from the presidential office.
Putin is due to visit a Russian air base in the city of Kant, east of the capital Bishkek, for the 20th anniversary of its opening, Russian media reported.
The long-time leader has rarely left Russia since launching a full-scale military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
He last traveled abroad in December last year, when he visited both Kyrgyzstan and Moscow’s neighbor Belarus.
Kyrgyzstan has not ratified the Rome Statute, a treaty obliging members to adhere to the International Criminal Court’s decisions.
Since March, ICC members are expected to make the arrest if the Russian leader sets foot on their territory.
Putin did not attend the BRICS summit hosted by South Africa — a member of the ICC — in July.
On Tuesday, lawmakers in Armenia approved a key step toward joining the ICC, angering Moscow.


Taliban brands Pakistan expulsion threat to Afghan immigrants ‘unacceptable’

Taliban brands Pakistan expulsion threat to Afghan immigrants ‘unacceptable’
Updated 04 October 2023
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Taliban brands Pakistan expulsion threat to Afghan immigrants ‘unacceptable’

Taliban brands Pakistan expulsion threat to Afghan immigrants ‘unacceptable’
  • About 1.73 million Afghan immigrants are living in Pakistan without any legal status
  • Interior minister alleges that Afghan nationals had carried out 14 out of 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s threat to forcibly expel illegal Afghan immigrants is “unacceptable,” a spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul said on Wednesday, adding that Afghans were not to blame for Pakistan’s security problems.
Estimating that there were 1.73 million Afghan immigrants living in Pakistan without any legal status, Pakistan’s caretaker government on Tuesday set a Nov.1 deadline for them to leave or face forcible expulsion.
“The behavior of Pakistan toward Afghan refugees is unacceptable,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul, said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
To help justify the crackdown, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti alleged that Afghan nationals had carried out 14 out of 24 suicide bombings in Pakistan this year.
The Taliban spokesman rejected that claim.
“The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan. Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them,” Mujahid said.
Pakistan’s ultimatum to the immigrants, most of whom have been living in the country for years, came after a meeting of civil and military leaders to review the law and order situation following two suicide bombings on Friday that killed at least 57 people. Bugti said one of the suicide bombers was an Afghan national, and he also accused India’s intelligence agency of involvement.
Relations between the Taliban and the Pakistan government have deteriorated markedly, with border clashes temporarily closing the main trade route between the neighbors last month.
Islamabad alleges that the militants use Afghan soil to train fighters and plan attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban denies those accusations, saying Pakistan’s security problems are home-grown.
A caretaker government was installed in August to guide the Pakistan through to elections expected sometime in the coming months, and the military has been able to exert more influence as a result of the uncertainty and instability in the country.