January 18, 2025

Dawn raid on busy Shevchenkivskyi district also damaged water pipeline and forced closure of metro station. At least four people have been killed in a Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital. Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the attack at dawn on Saturday took place in the city’s centrally located Shevchenkivskyi district. “Stay in shelters,” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, in a post on Telegram on Saturday morning. He had warned of a “ballistic missile threat” against the capital hours earlier and said air defences were in operation around the city. Windows were shattered in Shevchenkivskyi district, including those at the entrance of the Lukianivska metro station, which was closed down, according to the mayor. Shevchenkivskyi area is a busy part of Kyiv with universities, bars and restaurants. Also on Saturday, Russian forces “attacked the centre” of Zaporizhzhia, injuring two people, according to local governor Ivan Fedorov. An administrative building of an industrial facility was partially damaged, he said. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull said explosions were heard at about 6am (04:00 GMT), “reverberating amid a volley of anti-aircraft fire, with air alerts suggesting both ballistic missile and drone threats”. He said that smoke was seen coming out of a residential building. Later that morning, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that it had destroyed 24 drones and two ballistic missiles that were launched as part of the same attack. Ukrainian counterattacks The rare strike on the heart of the Ukrainian capital comes in the middle of intensified Ukrainian aerial attacks on Russian energy and military facilities in recent months. Ukraine’s army has hit several Russian oil depots recently, including two major strikes on a facility near a military airfield in Russia’s Saratov region that triggered days-long blazes. Late on Friday, a Ukrainian drone attack on Lyudinovo in Russia’s Kaluga region sparked a fire at an industrial site, according to regional governor Vladislav Shapsha. Video posted on unofficial Russian social media sites showed firefighting vehicles speeding off in the direction of a large blaze at what they said was an oil storage depot in the city. No casualties were reported. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/18/russian-attacks-on-centre-of-kyiv-leave-four-dead

The body of seven-year-old Mohammed Sarim was found in the underground water tank of his apartment complex, according to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Central. Speaking to the media on Saturday, the top police officer said that the child’s body had been sent for postmortem; however, it seemed that Sarim had fallen in the tank accidentally. The unfortunate development comes as Sarim went missing 11 days ago on January 7 from North Karachi Sector 5 within the limits of the Bilal Colony police station. A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged under 364-A (kidnapping or abducting a person under the age of 14) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Meanwhile, the seven-year-old’s parents had previously claimed to have received a message from an international number demanding ransom from them. “For the past two days, my wife has been receiving messages stating that if we want the child back, we have to pay Rs500,000,” said Sarim’s father, The News reported. The number, as per the father’s statement on Tuesday, was from a Middle Eastern country. Speaking to the media, SSP Investigation Central Kunwar Asif said that a search was carried out of the building’s four water tanks previously. However, they were informed of a body in the tank by the wallman today, said the police officer, adding that he had not been arrested. Kunwar also said that the incident seemed accidental. Commenting on the seven-year-old’s parents’ claim of receiving a message from an international number demanding ransom, Asif said that the message concerned was a fake one which the parents had mistakenly interpreted. Contrasting to the police officials’ claim of the incident being an accident, a resident, while speaking to Geo News said that Sarim did not fall in the tank accidentally. The tank from where the body has been found, he added, was searched by him, rescue workers, and the flat’s union members previously. “It seems that the child’s body was ‘placed’ inside the tank. Whoever did this knew exactly about the 30-min electricity outage window,” he remarked. Sarim’s disappearance was followed by another kidnapping incident involving five-year-old Aliyan and six-year-old Ali Raza from the city’s Garden area. Incidents of children going missing raised alarm bells among the city’s residents with Sindh Inspector General Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi constituting a special unit for missing children. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also took notice of the incident directing the Karachi Police to immediately recover the children and submit a report. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1273544-7-year-old-boy-missing-for-days-found-dead-in-water-tank-police

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/1/18/live-israeli-cabinet-agrees-on-gaza-ceasefire-as-military-pounds-enclave