September 6, 2023

ISLAMABAD: A militant having blood on his hands of more than 40 members of the Hazara community, including the Mach attack he masterminded killing a dozen coal miners of the same ethnicity, has finally been apprehended by a civilian agency, the Intelligence Bureau, when he entered Pakistan from Afghanistan. Son of a baildar, a low-rank government employee, Abdul Bari, had been on the watchlist of all security agencies since January 2021 when he together with affiliates slaughtered 11 coal miners of the Hazara community in a ruthless attack, which was claimed by Daesh. The incident led to the Hazara community protesting for consecutive six days with dead bodies at the Western Bypass in Quetta, asserting that they would not bury them unless the-then prime minister Imran Khan visited them. The burial took place only after the PM visited them. The massacre had taken place near Mach, which is close to the border with Afghanistan, when armed militants kidnapped the miners from their residence and took them to nearby mountains. A horrific video from the scene showed victims’ bodies scattered across the floor of a small hut with their hands bound together. All agencies had since looked out for the terrorist responsible. The IB has been keeping an eye on him right in Afghanistan waiting for him to return to Pakistan. As he planned to visit his family in Mastung unaware that his movements were being tracked, Abdul Bari was taken into custody on his way to Quetta from Spin Boldak (Afghanistan). He carried out his activities from the lawless bordering region of Afghanistan. Abdul Bari’s exploits into terrorism and sectarian-based violence began in his early years when he remained a student of various seminaries in Karachi and Rahim Yar Khan. He has been associated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan for more than 10 years. During his studies in Karachi, some of the Baloch students from Turbat, affiliated with Taliban, were involved in brainwashing the students to join them. Some of the students, including Abdul Bari, were persuaded to move to Afghanistan where they were offered 40 days training. In 2015, Abdul Bari again went to Afghanistan and participated in many of the Taliban operations against the US and NATO forces. Meanwhile, he also remained associated with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and carried out sectarian attacks in Pakistan. Later, he joined Daesh. In 2020, when Abdul Bari graduated from a madrassa in Rahim Yar Khan, he was informed by one Qari Ubaid Ullah in Afghanistan about the plan of a Daesh associate regarding the attack on Hazaras in Mach. Abdul Bari agreed to the plan and execution of attack. Subsequently, Bari, along with Qari Ubaid Ullah and two Afghans, met five Daesh associates to devise a plan to attack the coal miners of Hazara ethnicity in Mach. Besides the Mach attack, Abdul Bari was also an architect of a number of terrorist attacks spanning over more than a decade. In October 2011, he along with his associates intercepted a bus which carried about 30 passengers, including about 25 Hazaras. They entered the bus and opened fire at the passengers, killing 14 of them. They allowed the non-Hazaras to leave before shooting the others to death. Abdul Bari also orchestrated Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar attack in October 2010, killing 10 and leaving dozens of people injured. They also surveilled the target Imambargah in Saddar, Karachi. However, seeing the better security there, they cancelled the plan of attack and decided to target the Abdullah Shah Ghazi Mazar, where they conducted twin suicide blasts. Later, in April 2013, he along with three associates, ambushed a shoe-making store on the main intersection located on Prince and Masjid Road, Quetta, and killed six Hazaras besides injuring three others. After joining Daesh in 2016, Abdul Bari would collect chanda/charity from drug traffickers and other well-off people, using the name of Taliban in Helmand (Afghanistan) and Chagai (Balochistan). He would hand over the money to his Daesh associates, which would later on be used in Daesh activities both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In December 2017, Daesh had attacked a Methodist Church in Quetta, killing nine and injuring 56 others. The finances for the attack inter alia had also come from Abdul Bari’s chanda collection. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1107220-militant-wanted-in-attacks-on-hazara-community-arrested

At least 21 people were reported to have died in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil after a cyclone brought torrential rains and powerful winds, according to the officials, who issued further warnings about floods. Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that it was the deadliest ever in the history of the state, in a string of weather disasters to hit the country. He said: “We were deeply saddened to get the news that as the water recedes… 15 more bodies were found in the town of Mucum, bringing the death toll to 21.” Close to 6,000 people were forced from their homes by the storms, which started Monday, dumping hail and more than 300 millimetres (nearly 12 inches) of rain on the state in less than 24 hours and triggering floods and landslides, according to officials. In Mucum, a small town of 5,000 people, hundreds had to be rescued from their rooftops as the Taquari River flooded more than 85% of the city, according to local news site GZH. “There are still people missing. The death toll might climb higher,” Mayor Mateus Trojan told Radio Gaucha, adding that “the town of Mucum as we knew it no longer exists.” Aerial view of the area affected by an extratropical cyclone in Muçum, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, taken on September 5, 2023. — AFP President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent a message of solidarity with those affected, saying the federal government is “ready to help.” Over 50,000 affected The victims included a man killed by an electrical shock in the town of Passo Fundo and a couple whose car was swept away by a river as they tried to cross a bridge in the town of Ibiraiaras. The storms hit 67 municipalities in all, affecting more than 52,000 people, authorities said. The neighbouring state of Santa Catarina also recorded one death, according to news site G1. Hundreds of firefighters as well as military police and civil defense personnel were dispatched as part of rescue operations, with helicopters sent to reach areas cut off by flooding. “There are many isolated families, many people still at risk,” said Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta, who is planning to travel to the region with a government delegation Wednesday. With more rain forecast from Thursday, authorities warn more flooding is possible. It is the latest in a string of deadly weather events to hit Brazil, which experts say are likely being made worse by climate change. Unchecked urbanisation and irregular housing built on hillsides are also making such disasters deadlier, officials say. An estimated 9.5 million of Brazil’s 203 million people live in areas at high risk of flooding or landslides. In June, another cyclone left 13 dead in Rio Grande do Sul and forced thousands of people from their homes. In February, 65 people died in landslides caused by record flooding in the southeastern resort town of Sao Sebastiao, on the coast of Sao Paulo state. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1107282-21-dead-as-powerful-cyclone-ransacks-villages-town-in-southern-brazil

PARIS-The French education minister has said that nearly 300 pupils arrived at school on Tuesday wearing the abaya, the long Muslim robe which was banned in schools last week. Most of the girls agreed to change into other clothes. According to official figures, 298 girls, mainly aged 15 or more turned up at school in the banned garment. Under instructions laid down by the ministry, there followed in each case a period of dialogue with school staff. Most girls then agreed to dress differently and were able to start classes. However, 67 girls refused to comply and were sent home. A further period of dialogue with their families will now ensue. If that fails, they will be excluded. Set against the 12 million school boys and girls who started term on Monday, the government believes the figures show that its ban has been broadly accepted. However, a legal challenge by a group representing some Muslims goes before the courts later today. At the end of August, the education minister announced that pupils would be banned from wearing the loose-fitting full-length robes worn by some Muslim women in France’s state-run schools at the start of the new school year on 4 September. France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws. Wearing a headscarf has been banned since 2004 in state-run schools. The move comes after months of debate over the wearing of abayas in French schools. The garment is being increasingly worn in schools, leading to a political divide over them, with right-wing parties pushing for a ban while those on the left have voiced concerns for the rights of Muslim women and girls. In 2010, France banned the wearing of full-face veils in public, provoking anger in France’s five million-strong Muslim community. France has enforced a strict ban on religious signs at schools since the 19th Century, including Christian symbols such as large crosses, in an effort to curb any Catholic influence on public education. Reflecting its changing population, it has updated the law over the years to include the Muslim headscarf and Jewish kippa, but abayas have not been banned outright until now. Source:https://www.nation.com.pk/06-Sep-2023/french-state-schools-turn-away-dozens-of-girls-wearing-muslim-abaya-dress