February 2, 2024

ISLAMABAD: At least 93 militant attacks across the country took place in the last one month (January 2024), killing 90 persons and causing 135 injuries. Also 15 individuals were abducted. The alarming statistics have been released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based think tank here on Thursday. As Pakistan gears up for the impending general elections, the first month of the year has witnessed a disconcerting surge in militant activities, with a staggering 102 percent increase compared to the last month of 2023. The statistics indicated that despite the rise in attacks, the impact on human losses was somewhat mitigated. A 15 percent increase in resultant deaths and a 19 percent rise in injuries were reported. Among those killed, the victims included 41 civilians, 37 security forces personnel and 12 militants. The injured comprised 81 civilians and 54 security forces personnel. The PICSS says the province of Balochistan bore the brunt of the onslaught, with 33 reported attacks leading to 31 deaths and 50 injuries. Mainland Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) experienced 30 attacks, resulting in 17 fatalities and 21 injuries. Former Fata (the newly-merged districts of KP) witnessed 24 attacks, claiming 36 lives and injuries to 57. Sindh faced four militant attacks, causing five deaths and six injuries. Punjab and Islamabad each reported a solitary attack with no significant casualties. As the electoral landscape heats up, attacks against election-related activities, including the targeting of candidates, have surged. The PICSS recorded 21 such attacks in January, claiming 10 lives and injuries to 25. Notably, two candidates lost their lives – Rehan Zeb Khan, a prominent youth leader and a local leader from Bajaur, and an independent candidate from Mir Ali in North Waziristan. Several candidates narrowly escaped harm in these attacks. In a countermeasure, Pakistani security forces successfully thwarted numerous attacks, eliminating at least 32 suspected militants while apprehending nine others. The report didn’t cater to the exact number of attacks foiled by the forces. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1153836-90-killed-135-hurt-in-93-militant-attacks-during-jan-2024

A truck loaded with gas exploded and set off a massive fireball that burned homes and warehouses in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, killing at least three people and injuring more than 200. The fire broke out on Thursday night in the Embakasi neighbourhood, government spokesperson Isaac Maigua Mwaura said on X, with many residents inside by the time the blaze reached their homes. end of list “One Lorry [truck] of an unknown registration number that was loaded with gas exploded, igniting a huge ball of fire that spread widely,” he posted on Friday, adding that vehicles, businesses and residential homes were engulfed by the flames. “A good number of residents [were] still inside as it was late at night,” he said. Some 222 people were rushed to various hospitals in the capital, according to Mwaura. The fire was eventually contained by Friday morning, but firefighters, rescue teams and police were looking for people trapped in the area. The initial cause of the explosion was unknown. At the scene after daybreak, several houses and shops were charred. The roof of a four-storey residential building about 200m from the site of the explosion was broken by a flying gas cylinder, and electric wires lay on the ground. Earlier, the Kenyan Red Cross said it had taken 271 people to health facilities around the capital and 27 were treated on site. Mwaura said the area had “been secured, and a command centre is now in place to help coordinate rescue operations and other intervention efforts”. “Kenyans are hereby advised to keep off the cordoned area in order to allow the rescue mission to be carried out with minimal disruptions,” he added. Caroline Karanja said fellow residents in the neighbourhood had to run away after the explosion and as police cordoned off the entire area. “Police were turning away everyone and so it was difficult to access my house and I had to seek a place to sleep until this morning,” Karanja told The Associated Press news agency. She said the smell and smoke were still choking and that she would have to stay away for a while because she had young children. “The whole building was shaken by a huge tremor, it felt like it was going to collapse. At first, we didn’t even know what was happening, it was like an earthquake,” James Ngoge, who lives across the street from where the fire broke out, told the AFP news agency. Ngoge said that his business, which was on the same street as the fire, was now “completely destroyed”. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/2/at-least-two-dead-hundreds-injured-in-kenya-gas-explosion

About 1.9 million displaced Palestinians fear a new Israeli military onslaught after the defence minister pledged to attack an area once described as a “safe zone”. Israeli officials dismiss concerns over settler violence against Palestinians in occupied West Bank after US sanctions four Israeli settlers for their role in undermining “peace, security, and stability”. Qatar says Hamas responded positively to receiving a proposal to halt the war in Gaza, but a final deal is “weeks” away. At least 27,019 people have been killed and 66,139 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139. Syrian military says Israel targeted southern Damascus: State media The Syrian military has said that it downed a number of Israeli missiles launched from the Golan Heights, according to state news agency Sana citing a military source. The missiles were targeting a southern area in the capital Damascus, the report said. US approves plan for strikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq, Syria: Report The United States reportedly approved a plan to attack Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the killing of three soldiers. US broadcaster CBS News reports the White House approved the targeting of Iranian personnel and facilities inside the two countries in response to the drone attack on Sunday at the Tower 22 base near the border between Syria and Jordan. Read the full story here. Click here to share on social media Footage shows destruction of at-Twam district in northern Gaza Palestinian journalists and activists shared footage on social media depicting the destruction of the at-Twam area in northern Gaza from Israeli shelling. The videos showed the impact of the attacks on neighbourhoods and residential squares. Palestinian residents returned to inspect their homes after they were targeted by Israeli forces. Palestinian activist Karam Naji, a resident, said in a video clip on his Instagram account he returned to the neighbourhood to check on his home following a brief cessation of fighting there. Jordan arrests 4 Israelis for illegally crossing the border The Jordanian army arrested four Israelis, soldiers among them, for illegally crossing the border, Israeli television station Channel 14 reports. The Israelis, who were detained near the city of Aqaba in Jordan, were released after several hours with the help of “political intervention”. They “accidentally entered the Aqaba area on Thursday during an ATV [all-terrain vehicle] trip”, the news report said. “Because of Jordan’s desire not to inflame the situation, the four young men were released at 1am after it was discovered they crossed by mistake.” Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/2/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-downplays-settler-violence-in-west-bank