Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul kill 5, leave dozens injured

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Kabul, Oct 18 (IANS) At least five Afghans were killed and dozens of others were injured in recent Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul, local media reported on Saturday.

Several of the injured are reportedly undergoing treatment at Emergency Hospital in the Afghan capital, where doctors said nearly 40 wounded people were brought in following the airstrikes.

According to Zabiullah, one of the doctors at Emergency Hospital, some patients were in critical condition and receiving intensive care.

“We were sitting in the car when the plane came and attacked; after that, I don’t remember anything. I was half-conscious, and when I opened my eyes, I was already taken to the hospital, and one of my hands had been amputated,” Afghan media outlet TOLO news quoted one of the victims, 17-year-old Ahmad Wali, as saying.

Mawludin, another victim, describing the horrific attack, said, “When the explosion happened, glass fell on me from above. My friends pulled me out, but I wasn’t fully conscious. When I got outside, I saw the situation was terrifying; everything was dark, and there was dust everywhere. Everyone, old and young, was in a terrible condition.”

Following clashes between Afghan border forces and Pakistani troops, around 20,000 families have been displaced from Spin Boldak city in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, according to local officials

They added that these families were forced to flee due to Pakistan’s indiscriminate bombings and have taken shelter in deserts and other areas lacking basic living facilities.

“The Pakistani side carried out brutal bombings in densely populated areas of Spin Boldak. As a result, 20,000 families were displaced, and we are working to assist them,” TOLO news quoted Nematullah Olfat, deputy head of the Kandahar Department of Refugees and Repatriation, as saying.

Meanwhile, the Taliban and Pakistani representatives are set to hold talks in Doha, mediated by Qatar, after days of deadly cross-border clashes, Pakistani daily Dawn reported on Saturday.

The meeting follows after Pakistan carried out multiple airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on Friday, prompting Kabul to accuse Islamabad of violating the fragile ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

During the Pakistani airstrike in Paktika, three Afghan cricketers were killed, as confirmed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB).

The players had travelled from Urgun to Sharana, near the Pakistan border, to participate in a friendly cricket match.

The ACB identified the deceased players as Kabeer, Sibghatullah, and Haroon, adding that five other civilians also lost their lives in the strike.

–IANS

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Pakistan: Torrential rains claims another 60 lives, death toll rises to 124

Islamabad, July 17 (IANS) At least 60 more people have died and hundreds injured as torrential monsoon rains continued to unleash widespread destruction across Pakistan, bringing the nationwide death toll to over 124.

According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), till Wednesday, torrential monsoon rains and associated incidents have left at least 124 people dead and 264 others injured throughout Pakistan over the past three weeks.

In Punjab province, 44 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents on Wednesday due to collapsed roofs and electrocution while 16 fatalities were reported in Balochistan from similar rain-induced disasters.

The devastation is expected to persist amid authorities warning that the relentless monsoon system is likely to continue until late Thursday, local media reported.

The highest number of casualties in the Punjab province were recorded in Lahore, Okara, Faisalabad, and surrounding districts, where structural collapses and electrocution were cited as the leading causes, Pakistan’s ‘The Express Tribune’ reported.

In Lahore, heavy downpours claimed 16 lives and injured six others as three rooftops collapsed across the city.

Similarly, in Faisalabad, in 23 separate roof collapse incidents, at least seven people were killed and 36 injured while a 45-year-old woman and her 14-year-old son were trapped beneath the debris after the rooftop caved in.

Additionally, in Okara, at least seven people, including five children, lost their lives in incidents involving collapsing structures, electrocution, and a case of drowning.

According to the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), torrential rains were recorded in several districts, including 217mm in Sheikhupura, 170mm in Okara, 130mm in Chichawatni, 90mm in Hafizabad, and 85mm in Kasur. Other cities, including Faisalabad (60mm), Mandi Bahauddin (32mm), and Jhelum (29mm), also reportedly experienced substantial rainfall.

Further downpours are predicted in Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Multan, D G Khan, and Bahawalpur divisions, as the ongoing monsoon cycle spell is likely to continue until late Thursday.

Punjab’s major cities remain under threat of urban flooding as authorities expect moderate-to-high water flow in the Jhelum and Chenab rivers at key locations, including Mangla, Marala, Khanki, and Qadirabad.

Meanwhile, a low-level flood is anticipated at Tarbela (Indus River) and Marala (Chenab River), with heavy upstream rains to worsen the situation in upper catchments over the next 24 to 36 hours.

The provincial administration has placed the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners across the province on high alert.

Relief Commissioner Nabil Javed has instructed administrative officers to maintain a field presence and activate emergency disaster response teams, with fuel reserves and evacuation protocols.

Residents in riverbeds have been advised to relocate their livestock, while flood relief camps have been prepared with essential supplies, the NDMA stated.

–IANS

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Mamata Banerjee floating imaginary allegations of Bengali harassment in BJP-ruled states: Amit Malviya

Kolkata, July 28 (IANS) BJP’s Information Technology (IT) cell chief and party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya on Monday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of floating imaginary allegations of harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, without any evidence.

Malviya also accused Mamata Banerjee of stooping to the level of dragging innocent children into unrelated incidents just to score political points and weaponize language politics.

Malviya slapped these two accusations against the West Bengal Chief Minister, reacting to her social media post, shared a day ago, where she shared a video claiming that a child and his mother, who belong to a migrant family from West Bengal’s Malda district, were allegedly beaten up by the police in New Delhi.

“In her desperation to shield illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators, West Bengal’s Chief Minister is now weaponising language politics and dragging innocent children into unrelated incidents just to score political points. She has no evidence that Indian citizens, residents of West Bengal, are being harassed by the police administration,” Malviya said in a reaction to the video post by the Chief Minister.

Malviya, at the same time, had pointed out instances of how “Bengali women” were subjected to harassment, torture, and humiliation in West Bengal.

“But let’s not forget: the brave women of Sandeshkhali were Bengali too. So was the doctor at RG Kar and the student at Calcutta Law College. Her selective outrage is glaring,” read Malviya’s statement.

He also accused the Chief Minister and her administration of allowing the events where “Hindu Bengalis” were subjected to torture by “violent Islamist mobs” in different districts of West Bengal.

“From Malda to Murshidabad to Birbhum, she has allowed violent Islamist mobs to terrorise helpless Hindu Bengalis—while shedding crocodile tears for Bengali-speaking infiltrators. This dangerous game of appeasement and communal politics won’t go unchallenged,” Malviya added.

His observation comes on a day when Mamata Banerjee will be beginning her party’s prolonged weekend agitation against the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in the BJP-ruled states later in the day by leading a protest rally at Birbhum district of West Bengal.

The reason for choosing Birbhum as the starting venue of the protest, which Mamata Banerjee describes as another “Bhasha Andolan (Language Movement)”, is the district’s rich association with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and the Gurudev-founded Visva Bharati University at Bolpur-Santiniketan in the district.

Political observers feel that Mamata Banerjee has deliberately chosen the district as the starting venue to exploit Bengali nostalgia associated with Gurudev.

–IANS

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Right to vote being snatched, says Rabri Devi as SIR showdown intensifies in Bihar Assembly

New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) The political storm over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls continued to dominate proceedings on the last day of the Bihar Assembly, with opposition parties protesting against the procedure.

Former Chief Minister Rabri Devi echoed the opposition’s outrage, saying, “The names of 61 lakh people have been removed from the voter list. The BJP is snatching away people’s right to vote.”

CPI(ML) MLC Shashi Yadav called the move unconstitutional and unprecedented. “This is happening for the first time in the country. Until now, we have had the constitutional right to become voters upon turning 18. But now, the government wants you to prove whether your name will be included in the voter list or not. It is wrong, and we are opposing it,” she said.

Meanwhile, JD(U) leaders dismissed the allegations as political drama. Senior party leader K.C. Tyagi stated, “One month was given to register names in the voter list. 97 per cent of individuals have already been registered. Those whose names were left out or incorrectly entered still have time. I have no doubt about the impartiality of the Election Commission.”

JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha added, “This is not the first time an SIR is being conducted in Bihar. The same was done in 2003. It is the Election Commission’s job to revise the list before every election. Nothing is new or sinister about this.”

RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui questioned the government’s reluctance for open debate, saying, “Our stand has been clearly stated in the House. This issue deserves serious discussion, but the government is avoiding it. That means something is being hidden.”

In response to the opposition’s disruption, Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said, “There was a discussion on the SIR in the Vidhan Sabha at the opposition’s request. They said they would let the House function after that. But they are still protesting because their issue is not really with the SIR.”

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav escalated the issue nationally by writing letters to 35 prominent opposition leaders, expressing deep concern over what he termed a “deliberate cleansing drive.”

He even threatened to boycott the upcoming Assembly elections if the process continues unchecked.

–IANS

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