Israeli air strike kills three Palestinians in Gaza

A witness confirmed Israeli tanks and bulldozers had tried to enter the area.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - An Israeli air strike killed three Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the territory s Hamas-run health ministry said.
"Three martyrs have died in a Zionist (Israeli) strike," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.
The three were members of the Al-Quds Brigades, a statement from the group said.
It said they had been killed after firing mortars in a bid to try and prevent "an Israeli incursion east of Khan Yunis."
A witness confirmed Israeli tanks and bulldozers had tried to enter the area.
The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out an air strike, targeting Islamic Jihad militants who had fired at troops.

"Moments ago, terrorists affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the southern Gaza Strip fired a mortar shell at IDF (army) forces. An IAF aircraft responded immediately in order to prevent further attacks on Israeli civilians and targeted the terrorist squad," it said.
"Direct hits were confirmed."
The air strike came just hours after an unmanned aircraft of the sort Israel uses for surveillance and missile strikes crashed in the same area, just east of Khan Yunis.
It was unclear if the two incidents were related.
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source ;dunya news
  

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13,700 Afghan security personnel killed in 10 years

KABUL: At least 13,700 members of the Afghan security forces have died in fighting over the last 10 years – nearly four every day – according to new figures on government compensation paid to victims’ families.
The grim death toll in the fight against Taliban-led insurgents was revealed by the Office of Administrative Affairs (OAA), the secretarial department that collates information for President Hamid Karzai and the cabinet.
The OAA said that 13,729 families of security force personnel had been awarded financial support after suffering a fatality, while another 16,511 families were compensated after a relative was wounded.
“Every family that has received assistance represents a martyr,” Sayed Jawad Jawed, director of public affairs at the OAA, told AFP on Monday.
“We can’t say that this is the total number of casualties as we don’t have those figures,” he added.
“These figures represent the number of families of the martyrs assisted by the government, and the same with those wounded.”
The death toll among Afghan security forces has rapidly increased in recent years as they take over responsibility for fighting insurgents from US-led NATO troops, but exact casualty rates have been hotly disputed.
US officials said that at the height of last year’s “fighting season” more than 400 army and police were being killed in action every month.
The Afghan government does not normally release figures to avoid damaging public morale.
The OAA said that 12,336 families had also received compensation for losing a civilian relative in the war over the last 10 years, but the total number of civilian casualties is likely to be much higher.
According to a UN report released last month, the conflict has claimed the lives of 14,064 civilians in the last five years alone.
The UN attributes the vast majority of civilian deaths and injuries to “anti-government elements” led by the Taliban.
All 55,000 US-led combat troops still in Afghanistan will leave by December, but a small force may be deployed from 2015 on a training and counter-terrorism operation.
In the latest major attack on Afghan forces, 21 soldiers died in an assault in the eastern province of Kunar one week ago.
“Afghanistan supports the families of the martyrs and wounded, military and civilians, as a religious, national and official duty of the government,” the OAA said in a statement.
Posted By :: Muhammd Usman
Source:: Express tribune

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Govt reciprocates Taliban's ceasefire

Interior minister Ch Nisar said all aerial military activities will be suspended.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Following Taliban’s ceasefire move, government of Pakistan has decided to reciprocate by halting aerial military activities against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Dunya News reported.
According to a statement issued by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, government has suspended all military activities against the outlawed outfit after announcing the ceasefire.
Formally announcing the ceasefire, Ch Nisar said government regards Taliban’s ceasefire as a positive development.
It is pertinent to mention here that TTP announced a ceasefire on Saturday for a month.
According to reports, Taliban commanded all subgroups to ‘respect’ the ceasefire.
Shahidullah Shahid claimed that government has responded positively to TTP’s recommendations and have assured implementation.
Talking to Dunya News, Taliban committee member Yousaf Shah confirmed the reports saying breaking of the ice is a positive development.
Reportedly, Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has telephoned Taliban committee patron Samiul Haq who is in Madina to perform religious rituals. According to the reports, Taliban and government committees will meet in next two days.
Government’s committee member Irfan Siddiqui while speaking to Dunya News said they have not received official reports of the development yet and that their source for now is the media. Commending the move, Siddiqui said that government committee welcomes the move and that this is a positive development. He termed the move as step in the right direction.
Government committee and other political figures have been urging Taliban to announce unconditional ceasefire to farther the peace talks.
Talks with Taliban were halted last month following their claiming responsibility of killing 23 rangers.

Posted By::: Muhammad usman

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Two bombs kill 13 of polio team escort

 

Posted by :: Muhammad Usman

KHYBER AGENCY -  Thirteen soldiers and a child were killed and eight others injured when two roadside bombs followed by gunfire targeted a polio vaccination team in tehsil Jamrud of restive Khyber Agency on Saturday, in the latest attack on efforts to combat the crippling disease.
Jamrud Assistant Political Agent (APA) Jahangir Azam Wazir said a group of paramilitary Khasadar and Levies soldiers assigned to escort anti-polio teams in Walomena rural area of Lashora were targeted with remote-controlled roadside bombs.
He said the troops were protecting a convoy of health workers who were on their way to administer anti-polio drops to children as part of a three-day campaign against polio that started Friday. The militants, who had taken positions on the nearby hills, also started firing at the soldiers after the bomb explosions, local tribesmen said.
“A convoy of three vehicles was taking polio workers to administer the drops and the bombs exploded after the first vehicle that was carrying polio workers crossed the spot,” Khan said. A second bomb was blasted when another vehicle of the forces came for the rescue. Thirteen soldiers and a child were killed on the spot, the APA said. Eight Khasadar troops were also wounded in the attack, Khan said. Two vehicles of force were also destroyed by the bombs, he said.
Soon after the incident, heavy contingents of security forces and the administration officials reached at the site. The area was cordoned off and wounded and dead were taken to Jamrud and Peshawar hospitals, sources said. The deceased included officers Akhtar Munir, Said Karim, hawaldar Taufeeq, Said Kamal, Saddam, Noor Wali, Mohammad Ullah, Qadeer, Ferhad, Riaz, Amjad and a small boy, Razaq.
Khyber Agency Political Agent Shahab Ali while talking to the media persons on his visit to the area said, the moral of Khasadar force and Levies is high and they will never hesitate to render sacrifice for the noble cause. He vowed that soon the culprits will be netted and brought to justice. Nobody had claimed responsibility for the attack till the filing of this report.
Due to security reasons the anti-polio drive could not be completed in the previously fixed time that ended on Friday; therefore, it was extended for a week to cover the whole 38 areas of tehsil Jamrud, health sources said. Rehman Khan, a senior health official in Khyber tribal district, said the polio campaign has been temporarily suspended in the Jamroud area. “We will resume administering of polio drops when the security situation is better,” he said.
Militant strikes and threats of violence have badly hampered campaigns to stamp out polio in Pakistan, one of only three countries where the disease remains endemic. Militant groups see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage, and there are also long-running rumours about polio drops causing infertility.
More than 40 people, including health workers and police guarding the teams which administer polio drops to children, have been killed in Pakistan since December 2012. Last week gunmen kidnapped a six-member polio vaccination team in southwest Pakistan. They were released two days later after the intervention of local tribal elders. Masked gunmen kidnapped another six-member polio vaccination team southwest of Peshawar earlier last month. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. Pakistan’s failure to defeat polio stands in stark contrast to its neighbour and great rival India, which recently celebrated the eradication of polio three years after its last case. The WHO has warned that Peshawar, the main city of the northwest, is the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio. Afghanistan and Nigeria are the other countries where the disease persists. Victims are left dead, paralysed or with withered limbs.

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Iranian drug smugglers held, foreign hostages freed

QUETTA: The Frontier Corps recovered three foreigners kidnapped by a gang of drug traffickers and arrested eight Iranians who were holding them, after a raid on a house in Turbat on Saturday.
“Two Tanzanians and a Yemeni national had been detained by the Iranian nationals in the house in Overseas Colony,” an FC official said. An FC spokesman said the eight persons arrested by FC troops were Iranian nationals and initial investigation had revealed that they belonged to a gang involved in drug trafficking.
The spokesman also clarified that the border security guards from the neighbouring country who had been kidnapped on Feb 6 were not among the Iranians arrested in Kech district.

Posted By ::: Muhammad Usman

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Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills 13

 



KABUL: Officials say a car packed with explosives blew up and killed 13 people including nine insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.
Dind Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the governor of Logar Province, said it was probably a case of militants killed by their own weapon.
He said it appeared the car was being prepared for a terror attack but that investigations are ongoing.
He said Sunday that those killed in the blast included nine insurgents, plus two women and two children who were nearby.
Darwesh had no further details. The area is a Taliban stronghold, and dangerous for journalists to independently verify claims.

Posted By ::: Muhammad Usman

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Taliban announce ceasefire for a month

ISLAMABAD/SHABQADAR: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced a ceasefire asking all its affiliates to put a halt to all sorts of ‘Jihadi’ activities for a period of one month.
This was conveyed in a short statement by the group’s spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid, sent to the media.
Shahid, citing the positive developments in peace talks, said that the government has given a nod to the demands put forward by the mediation committee representing the Taliban and it was ensured that the demands will be met.
“The TTP is a responsible organisation which works through the consensus of a higher council and an Amir for decision making,” says the statement, adding that “the decision has been taken in view of the appeal made by the ulema, in honour of the representative committee and for the betterment of Islam and the country.”
Shahid announced this while asking all groups affiliated with the TTP to halt activities for a month’s time.
However, the concluding paragraph of the statement stresses that the government should take the negotiations process seriously and keep the talks away from mundane politics.
Rustam Shah Mohmand, one of the members of the TTP mediation committee, told The Express Tribune that he hoped that the period of a month’s ceasefire will be extended as well.
He warned that there might be some groups who are not in favour of peace talks, adding that “we must ignore them and continue with the peace process.”

                 Posted By :::Muhammad Usman

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