Quetta: Pakistani forces hunted separatist militants Tuesday who killed dozens when they pulled passengers off buses, blew up a bridge and stormed a hotel a day earlier.
Militants in Balochistan took control of a highway and shot dead 23 people, mostly laborers from neighboring Punjab province, attacked the hotel and the railway bridge which connects Balochistan to the rest of Pakistan.
Security forces have been battling sectarian, ethnic and separatist violence for decades in impoverished Balochistan, but the coordinated attacks that took place in several districts throughout the province were one of the worst in the region’s history.
The sites hit were cordoned off Tuesday as the search for assailants went on.
“But no arrests have been made so far, and no additional militants have been killed,” provincial government spokesman Shahid Rind said.
Monday’s death toll includes 34 civilians and 15 members of the security forces, while the military said troops killed 21 militants.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the attacks were “deplorable.”
“In Balochistan, the doors for negotiation are always open to those who believe in Pakistan and accept its constitution and flag,” he said Tuesday as he addressed a cabinet meeting.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant separatist group in the province which has previously targeted Chinese interests in the region, said it was responsible for the attacks.
Sharif said their “sole aim is to halt Pakistan’s progress, sabotage the development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and create divisions between Pakistan and China.”
The BLA is waging a war of independence against the state, which it accuses of unfair exploitation of resources by outsiders in the mineral-rich region.
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistan’s poorest province, despite an abundance of untapped natural resources, and lags behind the rest of the country in education, employment and economic development.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen tens of billions of dollars funnelled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects.
But the safety of its citizens is becoming an increasing concern for Beijing.
Baloch separatists have intensified attacks on Pakistanis from neighboring provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms including deadly attacks on Chinese citizens.
Punjabis are the largest of the six main ethnic groups in Pakistan and are perceived as dominating the ranks of the military.
Eleven Punjabi laborers were killed when they were abducted from a bus in the city of Naushki in April, and six Punjabis working as barbers were shot in May.
Kiyya Baloch, an analyst and former journalist tracking violence in Balochistan, said authorities are solely using force to suppress the two-decade conflict instead of seeking political solutions.
“This approach has led to increased retaliation from the youth and has caused the insurgency to gain momentum rather than diminish,” he told AFP.
“Never before have so many coordinated attacks occurred simultaneously across multiple districts of Balochistan,” he said.
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Russia launches waves of drone attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s military says
- All the drones that Russia launched at Kyiv were either destroyed by defense systems or neutralized by electronic warfare
Reuters’ witnesses heard numerous blasts in the Ukrainian capital in what sounded like air defense systems in operation and saw objects being hit in the air.
All the drones that Russia launched at Kyiv were either destroyed by defense systems or neutralized by electronic warfare, Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.
According to preliminary information, there were no casualties and no damage reported, he added. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said drone debris fell by a residential building with emergency services working on site.
The Ukrainian air force said on Monday that it shot down 67 out of 73 drones and one of three missiles launched by Russia during the attack.
Governor Ruslan Kravchenko reported no damage to critical or residential infrastructure in the region surrounding the capital. He said that the attack caused fires in five districts of the region, but there were no casualties.
Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim said the attack caused a fire at a critical infrastructure facility in the southern region.
Russia has launched multiple air attacks on Kyiv and Ukraine throughout September, targeting Ukraine’s energy, military and transport infrastructure in attacks which have killed dozens of civilians.
Russia denies targeting civilians in the full-scale invasion it called a “special operation” when it was launched in February 2022.
Flooding deaths in Nepal reach 193 as recovery work is stepped up
Katmandu, Nepal: The number of people killed by flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall over the weekend in Nepal reached 193 while recovery and rescue work stepped up Monday.
Many of the deaths were in the capital, Katmandu, which got heavy rainfall, and much of southern part of the city was flooded. Police said in a statement that 31 people were still reported missing and 96 people were injured across the Himalayan nation.
A landslide killed three dozen people on a blocked highway about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Katmandu. The landslide buried at least three buses and other vehicles where people were sleeping because the highway was blocked.
Katmandu had remained cut off all weekend as the three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides. Workers were able to temporarily open up the key Prithvi highway, removing rocks, mud and trees that had been washed from the mountains.
The home minister announced temporary shelters would be built for people who lost their homes and monetary help would be available for the families of those killed and to the people who were injured by the flooding and landslides.
Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli was returning home Monday from attending the UN General Assembly meeting and has called an emergency meeting, his office said.
Improved weather has allowed rescue and recovery work to be stepped up.
Residents in the southern part of Katmandu, which was inundated on Saturday, were cleaning up houses as water levels began to recede. At least 34 people were killed in Katmandu, which was the hardest hit by flooding.
Police and soldiers were assisting with rescue efforts, while heavy equipment was used to clear the landslides from the roads. The government announced it was closing schools and colleges across Nepal for the next three days.
The monsoon season began in June and usually ends by mid-September.
Meanwhile, in northern Bangladesh, about 60,000 people were affected by flooding in low-lying areas because of rains and rising water from upstream India.
People have taken shelter on roads and flood protection embankments in Lalmonirhat and Kurigram districts, the English-language Daily Star reported.
The River Teesta that crosses the border was overflowing at some points and the Dharala and Dudhkumar rivers in the Rangpur region were rising but remained below danger levels, the Dhaka-based Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said Monday. Waters could start receding in a day or two, it said.
Bangladesh is a low-lying delta nation crisscrossed by about 230 rivers, including more than 50 that cross borders.
SpaceX docks at ISS to take stranded astronauts home next year
WASHINGTON: The SpaceX crew that will ferry back in February two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station docked with the orbiting laboratory on Sunday, a live stream of the mission showed.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off at 1:17 p.m. (1717 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday, with the Crew-9 mission aboard a Dragon spacecraft making contact with the ISS at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
After docking was completed, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov boarded the station just after 7:00 pm, embracing their floating colleagues.
“I just want to say welcome to our new compadres from Dragon Freedom,” said station commander Suni Williams, who is one of the two stranded astronauts.
“Alex, welcome to the International Space Station, and Nick, welcome back home,” she said.
When Hague and Gorbunov return from the space station in February, they will bring back space veterans Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose stay on the ISS was prolonged for months due to problems with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft.
The newly developed Starliner was making its first crewed flight when it delivered Wilmore and Williams to the ISS in June.
They were supposed to be there for only eight days, but after problems with the Starliner’s propulsion system emerged during the flight there, NASA was forced to weigh a radical change in plans.
After weeks of intensive tests on the Starliner’s reliability, the space agency finally decided to return it to Earth without its crew, and to bring the two stranded astronauts back home on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission.
SpaceX, the private company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has been flying regular missions every six months to allow the rotation of ISS crews.
But the launch of Crew-9 was postponed from mid-August to late September to give NASA experts more time to evaluate the reliability of the Starliner and decide how to proceed.
It was then delayed a few more days by the destructive passage of Hurricane Helene, a powerful storm that roared into the opposite side of Florida on Thursday.
In total, Hague and Gorbunov will spend some five months on the ISS. Wilmore and Williams will spend eight months there.
Crew-9 will conduct some 200 scientific experiments during their stay.
Putin says Russia will accomplish ‘all goals set’ in Ukraine
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday vowed that Moscow would accomplish all goals it has set for itself in Ukraine, in its third year of conflict.
“The truth is on our side. All goals set will be achieved,” Putin said in a video message released to mark the second anniversary of what Russia calls “Reunification Day,” when Moscow annexed four Ukrainian regions.
After it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia annexed the regions of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. It does not fully control all territory in these regions.
In his address, Putin repeated his justification for sending troops into Ukraine as protecting Russian speakers against a “neo-Nazi dictatorship” that aimed to “cut them off forever from Russia, their historic homeland.”
He also slammed “Western elites” who “turned Ukraine into their colony, a military base aimed at Russia” and who fanned “hate, radical nationalism... hostility to everything Russian.”
“Today we are fighting for a secure, prosperous future for our children and grandchildren,” he said.
Two killed fighting wildfire in Greece
- Anastasios Giolis, the deputy governor of Corinth, told public broadcaster ERT that two men were killed fighting the flames, calling it a “tragic accident”
ATHENS: A forest fire in central Greece has killed two men who were helping firefighters tackle the blaze, authorities said Monday.
The fire near Corinth, 140 kilometers (87 miles) west of Athens, has forced several villages to evacuate.
Anastasios Giolis, the deputy governor of Corinth, told public broadcaster ERT that two men were killed fighting the flames, calling it a “tragic accident.”
The men’s charred bodies were found near the village of Ellinikon, according to media reports.
Two firefighters were slightly injured, fire services told AFP.
The fire broke out on Sunday and spread rapidly due to strong winds, making it “difficult to control,” the fire services said.
Five localities near the fire were told to evacuate, including Pyrgos, Elliniko and Kallithea.
Fifteen vehicles, seven water bombers and three helicopters were deployed to fight the blaze on Sunday, according to the fire brigade.
Numerous regions of Greece were placed under an orange fire alert on Sunday and Monday due to winds reaching speeds of 50 to 75 kilometers an hour.
The summer wildfire season in Greece this year has seen daily blazes after the Mediterranean country recorded its warmest winter and the hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.
In August, a massive blaze near Marathon, 40 kilometers northeast of Athens, killed one person and forced thousands to flee their homes.