February 16, 2024

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced countrywide “peaceful” protests against the alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections, inviting different political parties having the stance of ‘engineering’ in polls results to join. Former PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, while speaking to journalists after a meeting with party founder Imran Khan at Adiala jail, invited the political parties — including Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and others, who believe that the recent elections were rigged — to join them in their protest on Saturday. The party also rebutted the reports of forming an alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the Centre and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians (PTI-P) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The announcement came after sources-based reports of PTI founder Imran Khan softening his stance against political rivals and consenting to hold talks with the PPP and the party’s breakaway faction led by Parvez Khattak. Party sources told Geo News that Khan, who remains incarcerated at Adiala jail, is “ready” to talk to the PPP, which has already announced supporting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s candidate for prime minister — Shehbaz Sharif. However, PTI leader Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif denied the reports of contacting PPP for government formation. Speaking to journalists, the lawyer said that the PTI founder had “strictly” advised against holding talks with PPP and PML-N. “Reports of [PTI] forming government with PPP are misleading. The PTI founder said to sit in opposition but not to forge alliance with PPP and PML-N,” he added. Later, while talking to journalists after meeting with Khan in Rawalpindi, Barrister Gohar and Sher Afzal Marwat also ruled out a coalition with the Bilawal-led party. “We informed Khan sahib about PPP’s messages. In response, Khan sahib flatly rejected the idea of power-sharing with either the PPP or the PML-N,” Marwat told journalists. Moreover, Gohar categorically rejected media reports claiming a proposed political alliance between PTI and PTI-P in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We will not be joining hands with the PTI-P.” ‘Enough numbers’: Omar Ayub candidate for PM’s slot In a recent development, the party also nominated its general secretary Omar Ayub as its candidate for the post of the country’s prime minister. Meanwhile, Khan also nominated Mian Aslam as the PTI’s nominee for Punjab chief minister and Salar Khan for Balochistan’s top office. Reiterating the claims of winning the most National Assembly seats in the 2024 polls, the Imran-founded party said it has secured 180 NA seats. “We have secured 180 seats,” former PTI chairman Gohar said, adding that his party would only accept the results complied in line with the Form 45s. In light of the leader’s revelation about asking the political parties to join PTI’s protests, sources said that Gohar would lead a delegation into a meeting with JUI-F supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman. ‘Imran Khan seeks US help against rigging’ PTI leader Barrister Saif, who was also present during the presser, said PTI founder wants the United States to keep an eye on election rigging and raise its voice against it. The US has patronised and supported dictators and corrupt people everywhere, Saif said, conveying Khan’s message, but Washington now has a chance to “rectify its mistakes”. He added that the US did not raise its voice on the elections in Pakistan, as it should have. Meanwhile, Barrister Saif also announced that the party will nominate Asad Qaiser’s brother Aqeebullah for the KP assembly’s speaker post. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1157944-pti-to-stage-peaceful-protests-on-feb-17-against-rigged-polls

A Ukrainian drone spots Russian soldiers hiding amid the remains of what was once someone’s home, in the middle of a lunar-like landscape of charred ground, craters and sapless trunks. Another drone carrying a small warhead moves in and detonates on impact. A second one follows. Then a third. Finally, the Russian unit is eliminated. “We are smoking the occupiers,” says the drones’ controller, a Ukrainian unit fighting to keep the key town of Avdiivka out of Moscow’s hands, which shared video footage of the attacks with CNN. For the drone operators, it is a victory, but such wins are becoming rare in this part of Ukraine, as Moscow throws everything it has at the small, battered and now largely deserted town. In an apparent nod to the importance of Avdiivka, which lies to the northwest of Donetsk city, Ukraine’s new army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov this week visited soldiers on the front lines there. “The operational situation is extremely complicated and tense,” Syrskyi acknowledged. “We are doing everything possible to prevent the enemy from advancing deeper into our territory and to hold our positions.” RELATED ARTICLERussia can sustain war effort ‘for another two or three years,’ say analysts Quelling rumors that Ukraine was considering a withdrawal from Avdiivka, Syrskyi has instead sent in reinforcements. He’s deployed one of Ukraine’s most battle-hardened units – the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade – which earned praise for its daring attacks on Russian forces around Bakhmut. “We made a number of important decisions aimed at strengthening the combat capabilities of our military units and preventing enemy actions,” Syrskyi explained during his visit to the front line. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised “maximum attention” for the eastern front and said the new army chief’s visit to the area would help address the issues facing units on the ground. “The existing problems are being solved – manning the units, reinforcement, command and control,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. “We will be reinforced with drones, electronic warfare, and command positions will also be strengthened.” But just a couple of days later, amid the ongoing Russian onslaught, even the reinforcements were describing “hellish” conditions. “Our brigade is carrying out combat missions in conditions that even we could hardly imagine,” Maksym Zhorin, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade’s deputy commander said in a battlefield report on Thursday. “The battles in Avdiivka are several times more hellish than the hottest battles of this phase of the war, which took place in Bakhmut.” Much as it did in Bakhmut this time last year, Russia is throwing everything it has at Avdiivka in pursuit of victory, pummeling the town with airstrikes and artillery, while launching wave after wave of ground assaults by armored vehicles and soldiers. It’s turned the town into what Ukrainian soldiers call a “meat grinder.” During the offensive Russia has suffered immense losses — so large it might make other militaries regroup and rethink — but Moscow appears to be calculating these losses are worth it, given its numerical advantage. “The enemy is huge, coming from all sides,” Zhorin added. ‘I’m not going anywhere’ Other video footage from Avdiivka shows a quite different side to the town’s plight. Scenes caught on the bodycams of two Ukrainian policemen, seen by CNN, shows the moment they approach a grey-haired elderly resident in an effort to convince him to evacuate the town. He shies away as the policeman approach, holding up a smartphone. The man’s adult daughter is on the other end, trying to convince him to leave. “I’m not going anywhere,” he tells her. “I’ll send you money and you will come to me, in Kherson,” his daughter pleads in desperation. “I’ll pay for travel and accommodation.” A resident of Avdiivka, Ukraine, near destroyed buildings on February 14. Kostiantyn Lieberov/Libkos/Getty Images But her cries fall on deaf ears. The officers who approached the man with the phone are part of a special Ukrainian police unit known as the “White Angels,” which has been tasked with helping vulnerable civilians flee the town, home to 30,000 people two years ago. Already this year they’ve evacuated more than 120 people, mostly elderly, but also some children. Many of these battle-worn citizens have been living through some level of conflict ever since Avdiivka – about 20km from the city of Donetsk – became the front line against Russian-backed fighters in 2015. Reluctant to leave, many resisted the first thrust of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, holding out until they could no longer bear it. Now, with Russian shelling intensifying since the end of last year, there’s little left to cling to. Other footage collected by Ukrainian units shows scenes of devastation, with high-rise buildings covered in holes from the constant Russian barrages. Some high-rises have been knocked over completely and most small buildings have been reduced to mounds of rubble. Pushing back The Russian assault on Avdiivka comes after an unconvincing Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer and as Western support for Kyiv falters. European shipments of ammunition and financial aid have been delayed by Brussels’ notorious red tape — and some resistance from Hungary — but it’s the delays in Washington that are most concerning to Kyiv. The United States has been Ukraine’s largest backer since day one, but its continued military support has become a divisive issue among lawmakers. The reluctance of Trump-supporting Republicans to back the White House is giving Putin and Russia an edge, according to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “We see the impact already of the fact that the US has not been able to make a decision,” Stoltenberg said in an interview Thursday. Ukrainian servicemen of the 47th Mechanized Brigade prepare for combat in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, near to Avdiivka, on February 11, 2024. Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images Seemingly outmanned and outgunned, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade admits the situation is “critical,” but insists it will continue to push back, and claims to have critically damaged two Russian brigades. CNN cannot independently verify the claim, though recent combat footage geolocated to the town suggests Russia continues to suffer heavy losses even while it makes territorial gains there. Still, even if the claim is true, the brigade is well aware that Russia has plenty

Israel’s incursion into Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital has led to the deaths of at least four patients after electricity was severed and oxygen supplies cut. Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel will “continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state” as it would be a “huge reward to unprecedented terrorism”. The US says an Israeli ground attack on Rafah with 1.4 million people would be a “disaster” without a plausible evacuation plan. Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed at least 28,775 Palestinians and wounded 68,552 since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas-led attacks stands at 1,139. ‘Enough is enough’: Time for world leaders to impose Palestinian statehood Gideon Levy, an Israeli columnist and political commentator, says there’s a great opportunity for the international community to step in and finally end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. “Israel refused for decades, even before Netanyahu, to go for a real settlement for the Palestinian problem. Therefore, it is time for the international community say, ‘enough is enough’,” Levy told Al Jazeera. Israel launches wars every few years and destroys Gaza, and then the international community must fund its rehabilitation, he noted. “It puts risk over the whole world as all kinds of other tensions rise because of the conflict in Gaza. The international community should say enough leaving it to Israel. It is time for the international community to impose a solution, otherwise it will go on like this forever.” Click here to share on social media Remembering Cousin Aamer, a nurse who loved crab, and was killed by Israel Aamer Saeed al-Ramlawi, 45, was the father of five children, two daughters and three sons. He was loved by many, not least by his cousin and best friend, Hassan Youssef al-Ramlawi, 33. Aamer also loved barbecuing and cooking, especially on the beach, which fit in with his obsession with seafood, especially crab. “Before October 7, we spent most of our time together; hanging out every Thursday evening, barbequing, playing cards, and talking every other day. It was lovely,” Hassan told Al Jazeera of life before the war on Gaza broke out. Read more about Hassan’s rememberance of his cousin Aamer here. Aamer al-Ramlawi, right, with his cousin Hassan [Courtesy of Hassan al-Ramlawi] Click Two doctors arrested in Gaza during Israeli raid released: PRCS Two doctors have been released by Israeli forces this morning, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on X. Doctors Jamal Ayad and Nafith Al-Qarm were arrested 7 days ago from Al-Amal Hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis during an Israeli raid, PRCS said. “12 others from our teams remain under arrest”, the relief agency also said, saying 7 of these people were also arrested at Al-Amal Hospital, WATCH: Is starvation of civilians being used as a weapon of war? Palestinians in Gaza are living in famine-like conditions because of the shortage of humanitarian aid. The UN has warned that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are on the brink of starvation. About two million Palestinians are facing acute levels of hunger after many of them lost their homes and livelihoods. Palestinian exodus into Egypt’s Sinai would mean ‘disaster’: UN A mass movement of refugees from Rafah into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula would be a disaster for Palestinians and prospects for peace in the Middle East, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees says. Filippo Grandi, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said Egyptian authorities have made it clear that displaced Palestinians must receive assistance. “It would be a disaster for the Palestinians, … a disaster for Egypt and a disaster for the future of peace,” Grandi said of Israeli’s planned Rafah ground invasion. Asked whether Egyptian authorities had contacted Grandi’s agency about contingency plans, he said: “The Egyptians said that people should be assisted inside Gaza, and we are working on that.” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi [File: Brian Inganga/AP] Click here to share on social media WHO demands access to Nasser Hospital to provide ‘life-saving services’ The World Health Organization (WHO) is trying to get access to Nasser Hospital as Israeli troops continue to raid the facility, where hundreds of civilians are trapped. “There are still critically injured and sick patients that are inside the hospital,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said. “There is an urgent need to deliver fuel to ensure the continuation of the provision of life-saving services. … We are trying to get access because people who are still in Nasser Medical Complex need assistance.” Israel’s military has called the raid on the hospital “precise and limited” and said it has detained dozens of “terrorists”. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/16/israels-war-on-gaza-live-17000-children-torn-from-parents-un-says