April 20, 2024

 As by-elections are set to take place across 21 constituencies in Pakistan tomorrow, Punjab Saturday requested the federal Interior Ministry to suspend mobile network and internet services in relevant districts and tehsils. The provincial home department has written a letter to the federal ministry in this regard, citing maintenance of law and order situation in Punjab and avoid any untoward incident. The home department, in the letter, requested the suspension as various districts and constituencies will witness the conduct of by-polls more than two months after the February 8 general elections across the country. According to the letter, the request for the suspension of mobile phone and internet service has been made for Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Sadiqabad, Kot Chutta, and Dera Ghazi Khan cities. Meanwhile, the tehsils where suspension is requested include Talagang, Chakwal, Kallar Kahar, Gujrat, Ali Pur Chatha, Zafarwal and Bhakkar city. A copy of the letter has also been sent to the Punjab chief secretary, inspector general, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman as well as other relevant officials. It is important to note that the mobile internet services were blocked on February 8 as well despite assurances by the government of undisrupted network connectivity during polls. Services were “temporarily” suspended on the day of vote even before the clock struck 8am — the start of voting time. By-elections on 22 NA, provincial seats By-elections will take place across 21 National and provincial assembly constituencies tomorrow. The by-polls will be conducted on at least five National Assembly seats, 12 in the Punjab Assembly, two each in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan legislatures will also witness a by-election. In Punjab, NA-132 (Kasur) and NA-119 (Lahore) — vacated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz — will see candidates up against each other in the by-polls. PM Shehbaz also gave up two of his provincial assembly seats in Lahore, PP-158 and PP-164, retaining his NA-123 seat in the National Assembly. In Sindh, NA-196 (Qamber Shadadkot) will also see a by-poll after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari vacated the seat. In KP, the NA-44 (Dera Ismail Khan) seat was left vacant after provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur retained his provincial assembly seat, PK-113, while by-polls will also be conducted in the NA-8 (Bajaur) constituency, which was left vacant after one of its candidates — Rehan Zeb Khan — was murdered ahead of the February 8 general elections. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1180419-by-polls-punjab-seeks-suspension-of-mobile-internet-services-in-lahore-sheikhupura-other-cities

At least one person has been killed and 20 injured after a blast at a military base in Iraq used by the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), according to security sources. The PMF said “the attack” late on Friday targeted the Kalsu military base, located some 50km (31 miles) south of the capital Baghdad in the province of Babil (Babylon). Videos and images from the scene showed a huge explosion, which also set fire to trees in the surrounding areas, spreading the blaze. Footage from inside the base on Saturday morning showed a large crater and damage to infrastructure and vehicles. In a statement, the PMF claimed “American aggression bombed the Kalso military base”, which is located near the town of Iskandariya. The Iraqi military said on Saturday that there were no drones or fighter jets detected in the airspace of the Babil area before or during the blast. One PMF member was killed and eight injured in the blast, an army statement said. The United States military denied reports that it was behind air strikes in Iraq. The Iraqi government said it was investigating the incident. Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is currently in the US. The bases also houses Iraqi federal police and Iraqi military forces. Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed said the PMF, which is a part of the official security forces of the state of Iraq, described an “indiscriminate” attack. “Injuries included individuals with the PMF, soldiers with the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, as well as civilians who were in the vicinity of the military site when it was attacked,” he said. Abdelwahed added that Camp Kalsu was under the control of US soldiers during the US-led invasion of Iraq, but it was handed over to the Defence Ministry in 2011. It has an ammunition depot and a warehouse for tanks and other weaponry. “All fingers are pointed towards Israel, accusing Israel of carrying out the attack,” he said. There was no comment from the Israeli military. Abu Fadak al-Muhammadawi, the chief of staff of the PMF, inspected the base on Saturday. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the umbrella group of Iraqi armed forces who are opposed to the US and Israel, said it launched a retaliatory strike in the early hours of Saturday. It released a video that showed a drone being launched at night and claimed it was aimed at a “vital target” in the Israeli port city of Eilat. The group has launched dozens of attacks on US and Israeli interests across the region after the current conflict in Gaza started in October. But it largely halted its assaults since February after three US soldiers were killed in a drone strike on a base near Syria’s border with Jordan. Palestinian armed group Hamas in a statement on Saturday “strongly condemned” what it called an attack on the base and said it “considers it a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”. Rich Outzen, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera that it would be unlikely for the US to have carried out an attack since it has been trying to contain regional tensions between Iran and Israel. “This attack would be more in line with what Israel has done below the threshold of direct attacks on Iran regionally,” he said. The blast comes a day after Iran said it shot down three quadcopters over its skies in the central city of Isfahan near a military base where a number of fighter jets and air defence batteries were situated, with no damage or casualties reported. Israel is believed to be behind the Isfahan operation but has not officially acknowledged it. On April 13, Iran launched hundreds of drones, along with cruise and ballistic missiles, at Israel, most of which were shot down by an air defence coalition of Israel, the US, the United Kingdom, France and Jordan. The Iranian attack was in retaliation for the levelling of Tehran’s consulate building in Syria earlier this month which killed members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two generals. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/20/one-killed-20-wounded-in-blast-at-iran-aligned-groups-base-in-iraq