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A bomb blast targeting a police vehicle left at least five police personnel martyred and 24 others injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district on Monday, Geo News reported. Police said the personnel were deployed for the security of polio vaccination teams when the blast took place. They feared that more casualties could take place. They said bodies and injured were shifted to Khar hospital. An emergency had been declared in the hospital and blood donation was sought for treatment of the wounded personnel, police added. The police spokesperson said all the casualties were police personnel. Caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Syed Arshad Hussain Shah condemned the blast and expressed grief over the loss of lives. He also condoled with the victims’ families. Shah directed the district administration to immediately provide health facilities to the injured. “Such cowardly attacks will not dampen the police’s spirit. KP Police have given numerous sacrifices for the protection of people’s lives and properties,” he said adding that the martyrs’ heirs would not be left alone and they would be assisted through every possible means. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman also condemned the attack on the police officials deployed for the security of the anti-polio team in Bajaur. Taking to X, she said the PPP stands in solidarity with the families of the five personnel martyred in the explosion. “Terrorists have attacked not only the police but also the health of our children. An attack on the security of the anti-polio team should not be tolerated under any circumstances, it is directly related to the health of our children,” she said. Sherry said the miscreants did not want the complete eradication of polio from the country. The terrorists involved in the incident should be arrested immediately and punished severely, she demanded. On December 1 of last year, a policeman was killed when militants attacked a polio vaccination team, AFP had reported. The incident occurred in Malik Din Khel, part of the former tribal border region. “Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on policemen guarding a two-member polio vaccination team,” district police chief Saleem Khan Kulachi had told AFP. Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by militants. All preparations have been made for the seven-day nationwide anti-polio campaign starting Monday (today). Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Salim Rajput has directed polio workers to achieve a 100 per cent target in vaccinating children under five years of age with polio drops for at least the next five years. He stressed that unless every child receives these drops, the threat of the polio virus spread will persist. Efforts have also been made to persuade parents who refuse vaccination for their children. Comprehensive plans are being made, and lists of children and their parents, along with reports on barriers to vaccination, have been prepared. Those refusing vaccination have been identified, and field workers are actively involved to ensure no child is deprived of polio drops, said the commissioner. Meetings have been held with community mobilisers from over 450 areas in District East and District Central. They were reminded that achieving a 100 per cent target for vaccinating children against polio over the next five years across the country is crucial. The officials emphasised the necessity of parental cooperation to ensure no child misses out on polio drops. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1145830-five-cops-on-polio-duty-martyred-in-bajaur-explosion

Seventy-three Palestinians killed and 99 wounded in attacks by Israel in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry says. The whereabouts of 600 patients and health workers from Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is “unknown”, WHO says. Speaking from Qatar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he will raise with Israel the “need to do everything possible” to increase the flow of aid. At least 22,835 people have been killed – including 9,600 children – in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. About 1,139 people were killed in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. More details on Hezbollah commander killing The senior Hezbollah reportedly killed in an Israeli attack has been identified as Wissam al-Tawil, deputy head of a unit within the elite Radwan force. The security sources told news agencies he and another Hezbollah fighter were killed when their car was hit by an air strike on the Lebanese village of Majdal Selm. The killing comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Israel later on Monday in an attempt to calm burgeoning tensions and the threat of a wider Middle East war. Hezbollah’s secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel in two televised addresses last week not to launch a full-scale war on Lebanon. “Whoever thinks of war with us … will regret it.” Click here to share on social media Hezbollah will not discuss cross-border violence until Israel ends Gaza war: Official Sheikh Ali Damoush, deputy chairman of the executive council of Hezbollah, has said that the Lebanese armed group will not engage in discussion of any matter related to the cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel until the Israelis stop their “aggression against Gaza”. According to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), he spoke at a ceremony commemorating a killed Hezbollah fighter, Abdul Jalil Ali Hamza, in the town of Al-Khader in the Bekaa Valley. Damoush also said that “the Israeli predicament is deepening day after day as the war lasts, because the longer the aggression continues, the more and more exhausted the enemy becomes, whether on the Gaza front or on the Lebanon front”. “There is no choice but to stop the aggression,” he said. Click Israeli strike kills top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon: Reports Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in an air strike on southern Lebanon, news reports say. “This is a very painful strike,” one security source told Reuters news agency. The unidentified commander played “a leading role in managing Hezbollah’s operations in the south,” a security official told AFP news agency. He was “killed in an Israeli raid targeting his car in the south”. Hezbollah has lost more than 130 fighters in Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon since cross-border bombardment began on October 7. The killing further raised fears of the conflict in Gaza spilling over to Lebanon and elsewhere. The aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel [File: Hussein Malla/AP] Click Blinken tells UAE of US commitment to ‘independent Palestinian state’ US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he held a meeting with Emirati President Mohamed Bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi. The two discussed efforts to prevent Israel’s war on Gaza widening and addressed humanitarian needs in Gaza. “I underscored our continued commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” Blinken added. Click here to share on social media Situation at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital ‘catastrophic’ Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan from Doctors Without Borders spoke to Al Jazeera from Amman, Jordan, about the dire situation her colleagues face in Gaza. “Unfortunately, most of the NGOs evacuated al-Aqsa Hospital after flyers dropped warning them the ‘area was no longer safe’ and they needed to evacuate.” Al-Aqsa Hospital is the largest and only functioning hospital in central Gaza and treats about 100 wounded each day, she said. “The situation has been catastrophic over the last few weeks. Our colleagues who were there from multiple different organisations have been reporting horrific scenes. They weren’t expecting to have to evacuate. It was a sudden increase in risk,” said Haj-Hassan. “A colleague I know in the hospitals said each day there’s an imaginary line in this dystopian grid that determines who’s at risk of being imminently killed. He described them as war crimes disguised as a benevolent prior warning.” Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/8/israel-war-on-gaza-world-must-look-says-wael-dahdouh-as-son-killed

SUKKUR: Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch along with around 300 unknown campaigners for the recovery of missing Baloch citizens was booked in a sedition case at the Wada Machhiyoon police station of Khairpur district on Friday. SHO Sarfaraz Khoso lodged the FIR on behalf of the state under Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. The complainant alleged that Mahrang Baloch and her supporters had been inciting people to public revolt against the state and army during the recent protests in Islamabad under a foreign agenda. Source:https://www.dawn.com/news/1803549/another-sedition-case-lodged-against-mahrang-baloch-supporters

Hundreds of people are still missing after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Japan’s west coast on January 1. The death toll from Japan’s New Year’s Day earthquake has now exceeded 100, as rescuers and residents have been sifting through the rubble to recover bodies. Hopes have dimmed to find survivors following the country’s deadliest earthquake in nearly eight years. But the authorities said on Saturday that more than 200 people are still missing. end of list The magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck Japan’s west coast destroyed infrastructure, leaving 23,000 homes without power in the Hokuriku region. Sixteen further deaths were confirmed in Wajima city and Anamizu town by 1pm (04:00 GMT) on Saturday, bringing the total to 110, the Kyodo news agency reported, quoting the Ishikawa prefectural government and other sources. Wajima city has recorded the highest number of deaths with 59, followed by Suzu with 23. The disaster resulted in more than 500 injuries, at least 27 of them serious. Rescuers carry away the body of a victim who was retrieved from a landslide site in the Kawashima district in the city of Anamizu, Ishikawa prefecture, on January 6, 2024 [Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP] “I was relaxing on New Year’s Day when the quake happened. My relatives were all there and we were having fun,” Wajima resident Hiroyuki Hamatani, told the AFP news agency amid charred cars and fallen telegraph poles. “The house itself is standing but it’s far from livable now … I don’t have the space in my mind to think about the future,” the 53-year-old said. Four of the world’s tectonic plates meet in Japan making the country particularly prone to earthquakes. It experiences hundreds of tremors every year, but most cause little to no damage. The death toll from last week’s earthquake is the highest since 2016, when quakes in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, killed 276 people. In 2011, a magnitude 9 undersea earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that wiped out entire communities and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. At least 18,500 people were killed. Advertisement AD Relief operations ongoing Thousands of soldiers were flying and trucking in water, food and medicine to the more than 32,000 people who had evacuated to auditoriums, schools and other facilities. However, road disruptions and other problems have hindered the delivery of relief supplies. “We are doing our best to conduct rescue operations at the isolated villages … However, the reality is that the isolation has not been resolved to the extent that we would like,” Ishikawa governor Hiroshi Hase said on Friday. The Yomiuri newspaper reported more than 100 landslides in the area, some blocking essential roads. While power is gradually returning along the coastline, water supplies remain scarce, with damaged emergency water systems. In an unusual gesture from nearby North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/6/japan-earthquake-death-toll-crosses-100

At least 18 Palestinians killed after Israeli attacks targeted a house in Khan Younis overnight. Israeli forces raiding locations across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem with reports of fierce Palestinian resistance. UN humanitarian chief says Gaza has become a place of “death and despair” for Palestinians. Lebanon filed official complaint to the UN Security Council, saying that Israel fired six missiles in the attack that killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a Beirut suburb. At least 22,600 people killed and 57,910 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139. If you’re just joining us It’s just after 11:15am (09:15 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Here’s a recap of the latest developments: Israeli forces intensifying operations in Zawaida in central Gaza, moving in with tanks, armoured vehicles, and attack drones. Hezbollah fires 62 rockets at Israeli air base, in “preliminary response” to killing of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. Death toll mounts from overnight Israeli attacks on southern and central Gaza. At least 18, including many women and children, killed in Khan Younis’s al-Manara neighbourhood. Residents of the occupied West Bank reel from another night of violent raids, with fierce clashes reported in Nablus city and Shu’fat refugee camp. US Secretary of State is in Turkey for talks with Erdogan on the Gaza war. He next heads to Greece as part of his regional tour. UN humanitarian aid chief says Gaza has become “uninhabitable… a place of death and despair” three months into the war. Click List of key events on day 92 of the war Israeli air attack that targeted a house in Khan Younis overnight killed at least 18 Palestinians overnight. Three people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack on a house in Deir el-Balah city in the central area of Gaza. Fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians reported in the occupied West Bank’s Nablus city and Shu’fat refugee camp amid raids. Israel’s army says it hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Friday with air strikes, tank fire and artillery shelling. Hezbollah launched missiles at an Israeli air base with 62 missiles on Saturday. US Secretary of State is in Turkey, and will also visit several other Middle East nations before heading to Israel and the occupied West Bank next week. Read the list of key events here. Residents and civil defense teams have been carrying out search and rescue operation after Israeli attacks in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. [Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency] Click here to share on social media Why is Lebanon home to so many Palestinian refugees and leaders? Simon Speakman Cordall Successive waves of Palestinian refugees to Lebanon have led to a stateless population of up to about 270,000 people, who live in 12 camps across the country. It started with the Nakba of 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled during the creation of Israel, and has continued since, as resistance leaders and refugees alike sought shelter from Israeli attacks. Read our explainer to find out why so many Palestinian refugees and officials are in Lebanon. Click here to share on social media Hezbollah says this was only an initial strike to avenge al-Arouri’s killing Imran Khan Hezbollah put out a statement and said the 62 missiles it launched against an Israeli air base were part of its “initial” response to al-Arouri’s killing. We were expecting this to happen. Hassan Nasrallah promised a response to the killing. Things really depends on what the Israelis do next. They would have expected a response and would have been on high alert for these attacks. Hezbollah does have a political calculation and doesn’t want Lebanon to suffer from an all-out war, but it is talking tough and says if Israel wants to escalate, it will respond in kind. Israel is putting immense pressure on Hezbollah positions in the south with air strikes and drones. That’s interesting because the more pressure it puts on Hezbollah, there may be a misfire or a miscalculated strike from either side and that could escalate things. Israeli forces intensifying operations in az-Zawayda Hani Mahmoud Reporting from Rafah, Gaza We are getting news that the Israeli military is stepping up its military action and air strikes in az-Zawayda in an attempt to clear the way for its forces to invade the heart of central Gaza. Az-Zawayda is a strategic location because from there it is easy to get to all the entrances of central Gaza’s refugee camps. There are reports of attack drones hovering at low levels and tragically targeting people who are trying to flee the horror of the bombs. Injuries and deaths from these attacks have been reported at al-Aqsa Hospital. Click here to share on social media 1h ago  (08:25 GMT) Palestinian man mourns loss of wife, two children in overnight strikes “The Israeli government claims democracy and humanity, but they are inhumane,” says Abdel Razek Abu Sinjar, whose wife and two children were killed in overnight Israeli strikes in southern Gaza. “They killed women and children who have nothing to do with this [war].” Click here to share on social media Israeli forces shoot and injure two Palestinians in Qatanna The Palestinian men were shot in the foot during a military raid in the town, 12km (7.5 miles) northwest of occupied East Jerusalem, according to a report by the Palestinian Wafa news agency. Numerous Palestinian men were also arrested. At least 325 Palestinians have been killed and 3,800 injured in near-daily raids by Israeli forces throughout the occupied West Bank since October 7. Click Maghazi refugee camp shelled Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza has come under heavy artillery fire as fighting continues between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters in the area. The Maghazi camp has repeatedly been targeted during the war. On December 24, more than 100 Palestinians were killed by air strikes there in one of the war’s deadliest attacks. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/6/israel-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-forces-raid-occupied-west-bank-towns

More than 50 people have been reported missing, as Japanese rescuers battle the cold to reach communities that remain cut off three days after a devastating earthquake struck the country’s western coast. At least 78 people have been confirmed dead and 330 injured since the magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the Noto Peninsula on January 1, according to local authorities. end of list On Thursday, officials published a list of 51 people from three cities whose whereabouts could not be confirmed. More than a dozen communities have been cut off. Soldiers, firefighters and police officers from across Japan are searching through collapsed wooden houses and toppled commercial buildings for signs of life. Experts say the first three days are especially critical because the prospects for survival drop sharply after that. “This is a very difficult situation. But from the viewpoint of protecting lives, I ask that you make every effort to save and rescue as many lives as possible by this evening, when the critical 72 hours of the disaster will have passed,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a government meeting on Thursday. He announced that the number of troops dispatched to the area for rescue operations was being increased from about 1,000 to 4,600. The narrowness of the hard-hit Noto Peninsula has added to the challenges in reaching some communities. Water, power and mobile phone services were still down in some areas. Evacuees in Wajima queue for water [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters] There have been nearly 600 aftershocks since the main quake, raising fears of landslides with forecasts of rain adding to the risk. Naomi Gonno said she and her children got out of their house just as it came crashing down. Advertisement AD Her children were screaming for their grandmother, and Gonno saw that her mother was trapped under the smashed house, with only her hand visible. She was able to squeeze her way out through a tiny space, Gonno said. “I can’t believe we’re still alive,” she said. “We are living in fear.” No water, power In Wajima, where a massive fire ripped through parts of the port and the district surrounding it, people queued for water and food. The quake buckled and tore apart roads, making it even more difficult to access the hardest-hit areas. “Compared to other disasters, the road situation into Wajima is very bad. I feel it’s taking longer than usual for assistance to arrive,” Shunsaku Kohriki, a medical worker, told the Reuters news agency. “I think, realistically speaking, the evacuees will have to live in really tough conditions for a while yet.” The full extent of the damage and casualties remains unclear four days after the deadliest quake in Japan since at least 2016. The government said it would increase the number of soldiers helping in rescue efforts [Jiji Press via EPA] All the deaths have been reported near the epicentre of the quake in Ishikawa prefecture. More than 33,000 people have evacuated from their homes and about 100,000 houses have no water supply, according to officials in the area. Four of the world’s tectonic plates meet in Japan making the country particularly prone to earthquakes. It experiences hundreds of tremors every year, but most cause little to no damage. Earthquakes have hit the Noto region with intensifying strength and frequency over the past five years. In 2011, Japan’s northeast was hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that wiped out entire communities and triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. At least 18,500 people were killed. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/4/japanese-rescuers-race-to-find-survivors-as-quake-death-toll-rises-to-78

Security forces killed two terrorists including a commander during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday. According to the military’s media wing, the forces conducted the operation on the night of January 4-5 on the reported presence of terrorists in the area. “During the conduct of the operation, after an intense fire exchange, two terrorists, including HVT (high-value target) Gul Yousaf also known as Toor, were sent to hell,” said the ISPR. The statement added that terrorist Yousaf remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces including high-profile terrorist attacks in Tank and DI Khan districts as well as extortion and target killing of innocent civilians. “He was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies and the government had fixed head money of Rs2.5 million on him,” said the ISPR. The statement said that the local populace appreciated the efforts of the security forces in maintaining peace and stability in the area, adding that the security forces of Pakistan, in step with the nation, remain determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country. ‘2023 saw disturbing surge in suicide attacks’ Pakistan, in 2023, saw a disturbing surge in suicide attacks by terrorists, reaching the highest level since 2014. The data gathered by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) stated that security forces remained the primary targets of these terrorist attacks, with civilians constituting the second-largest victim category. At least 48% of deaths (157) and 58% of injuries (340) were inflicted upon security personnel, the data stated. The number of civilian casualties was closer to these statistics with 130 deaths and 242 injured. As per regional comparisons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bore the brunt of these attacks, reporting 23 instances that resulted in 254 fatalities and 512 injuries. Within KP, newly merged districts (NMD) experienced 13 suicide attacks, leading to 85 deaths and 206 injuries. Balochistan faced five attacks, causing 67 deaths and 52 injuries, while Sindh witnessed one suicide attack resulting in eight deaths and 18 injuries. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1144957-terrorist-commander-among-two-killed-in-kps-tank-ispr

Heavy bombardments are reported near Deir el-Balah, including at the Nuseirat, al-Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps as Israeli forces residents to evacuate south. At least 32 people killed in Khan Younis and five in Rafah as Israeli attacks continue across Gaza. Israeli Defence Minister says operations in southern Gaza, which have included the bombing of refugee camps and previously declared civilian ‘safe zones’, will continue. At least 22,600 people killed and 57,910 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139. Israeli forces withdraw from two neighbourhoods in Gaza City Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul says that after more than 10 days, Israeli forces have withdrawn from the neighbourhoods of Daraj and al-Tuffah in Gaza City. “The Israeli army left behind them a trail of destruction,” al-Ghoul said, speaking in front of al-Shifa Hospital. “They bulldozed cemeteries and uprooted recently the buried bodies.” People tried to use the so-called humanitarian corridor on al-Rashid Road to go south, but were shot at directly by Israeli soldiers, he added. Click Palestinian government spurns Israel’s post-war Gaza vision The Palestinian government has indicated it is not open to a post-war plan for Gaza outlined by Israel’s defence minister that would turn governance of Gaza over to unnamed “Palestinian bodies” while granting Israel security control. In a statement cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the presidency said it is committed to seeing an end to Israel’s occupation and to a future Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, under the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative. It “unequivocally [rejects] any plans that go beyond these parameters”, it said, according to the Wafa report. ‘Millions’ demonstrate in Yemen to support Palestinians Massive crowds are gathered right now in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other cities in a demonstration of solidarity with Palestinians. Al Masirah TV, the state television channel run by the Houthis, claimed that two million Yemenis participated in the “Blood of the Free People…on the Road to Victory” march. Live footage from the Al-Sabeen Square in Sanaa showed an endless sea of demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags. Houthi officials addressed the crowds. A rally statement said the Yemenis are ready to fight the US and commemorated their 10 fighters killed by the US last week, condemned al-Arouri’s assassination in Lebanon, and urged an Arab boycott of Israeli and US goods and products. The Yemenis participating in the rallies chanted for Palestinians and against the US and Israel [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] Click Qassam Brigades target Israeli soldiers east of Khan Younis The Qassam Brigades said its fighters detonated a minefield targeting Israeli soldiers in Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, that resulted in a number of casualties. Hamas’s armed wing also said it attacked an Israeli bulldozer in the same area. Earlier, a joint operation by the Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement, attacked three Israeli Merkava tanks in the Ma’an area in Khan Younis. Click ‘Humanitarian corridor’ attacked Hani Mahmoud Reporting from Rafah, Gaza In the past hour or so, a bridge that connects Gaza City with central Gaza has been bombed and destroyed. This is on the coastal road Israel ordered people to take to evacuate to southern Gaza. On the one hand, people are told to evacuate from areas under attack, but then the roads – the ‘humanitarian corridors’ – they are told to take are being attacked. Click here to share on social media Maersk says to avoid Red Sea for foreseeable future Shipping giant Maersk has said that it would divert all vessels around Africa instead of using the Red Sea and Suez Canal for the “foreseeable future” after Yemeni rebels attacked its merchant ships. The Danish company cited the highly volatile situation and noted that the security risk remains high. “We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future,” it said in a statement. Containers of Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk are seen in Copenhagen, Denmark. [File: Sergei Gapon/AFP]  Click Photos: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations take place in Jordan’s capital People pray during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] A Palestinian boy holds a placard during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza in Amman, Jordan [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] Click Gradual escalation on Israel-Lebanon border Zeina Khodr The cycle of violence continues along the Lebanon-Israel border. Israel is carrying out a series of air strikes, targeting what it says are Hezbollah military infrastructure, fighters and launch sites. Lately, it has been stepping up its attacks. It’s still confined largely along the 120km (75 miles) border, but Israel is trying to pressure Hezbollah to pull back because it believes it is the only way that the tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel. Hezbollah, however, is refusing to do that, and says it will not discuss anything along the border until Israel’s attacks on Gaza stop. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/5/israel-war-on-gaza-live-israel-attacks-bombard-khan-younis-rafah

In a scathing criticism of the approach to the issue of enforced disappearances, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa Wednesday called on the state to “change its mindset” on the prevalent issue. The CJP’s remarks came as he led the hearing conducted by a three-member Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat, in response to multiple petitions filed by Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and others on the issue of enforced disappearances. Noting that the country has been “fractured” by its people, the chief justice stressed that court verdicts alone were not enough to end the practice of enforced disappearance. During the hearing, the top judge asked the federal government to give in writing that there would be no more enforced disappearances in the country. “We do not want a statement from any section officer. The Government of Pakistan should give us in writing that no one will be illegally disappeared anymore,” the CJP said during a hearing of the case. Aitzaz had prayed the court to declare that enforced disappearances are violative of Articles 4, 9, 10, 14, 19, and 25 of the Constitution besides declaring that the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances does not adequately comply with legal and international standards. Similarly, he asked the apex court to set up an effective and purposeful commission. He prayed the apex court that the commission should be headed by a judge of the Supreme Court while members of the commission should be the Supreme Court Bar Association president, Pakistan Bar Council vice chairman, Lahore, Sindh, Peshawar, Quetta Bar Association heads, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairman, National Commission on Status of Women chairperson, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General, Intelligence Bureau (IB) additional director general and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president. At the outset of the hearing, Ahsan’s counsel Shoaib Shaheen cited the Supreme Court’s verdict on the 2017 Faziabad sit-in. The CJP inquired how the Faizabad sit-in verdict is related to enforced disappearances. Advocate Shaheen maintained that the court has mentioned the role of intelligence agencies in the verdict. At this, the CJP asked Shaheen to explain the part of the Faizabad sit-in decision that applied to the participants of the Baloch protesters protesting against enforced disappearances. The counsel replied that the Faizabad verdict stated that peaceful protest is the right of every citizen and called for action against those who resorted to violence. “I am surprised that you are referring to the Faizabad dharna verdict,” the CJP remarked. Advocate Shaheen said he had been always referring to the Faizabad verdict. “If the Faizabad sit-in decision had been followed so such circumstances would not have happened today,” he added. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1144415-cjp-calls-for-change-in-states-mindset-on-enforced-disappearances

Dozens of people were killed Wednesday in the Iranian city of Kerman after twin blasts near the burial site of slain military commander Qasem Soleimani, in what officials called a terror attack. The blasts, at least one of which was caused by a bomb, state TV said, came on the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death in a US airstrike, and threaten to accelerate tensions in the region that have spiked since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. At least 84 people were killed and 284 others injured, according to state-run news agency IRNA, citing Jafar Miadfar, head’s of Iran’s national emergency agency. The toll was revised down due to the miscounting of body parts. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi blamed Israel for the explosions, saying it will pay a “heavy price.” “I warn the Zionist regime, do not doubt that you will pay a heavy price for this crime and the crimes you have committed,” Raisi said in a televised speech from Tehran. Raisi, who is the head of the Iranian government, warned that Israel’s punishment will be “regrettable and severe.” The Israeli military told CNN it had “no comment” on the matter while the US State Department said it had no reason to believe Israel was involved. Analysts and a US official speculated that the blast had the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. “I think it’s just based on the MO it does look like a terrorist attack, the type of thing we’ve seen ISIS do in the past. And as far as we’re aware, that’s kind of I think our going assumption at the moment,” the official said. Iran has suffered major Islamist terror attacks before. In 2022, at least 15 people were killed and 40 others injured in the southern city of Shiraz. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack swiftly afterwards, saying it targeted groups of “Sunni infidels.” The two blasts took place around 20 minutes apart, Iran’s interior minister said. Mahdi Karbakhsh Ravari/AP The first explosion was 2,300 feet (700 meters) from Soleimani’s grave, and the second was 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) away as pilgrims visited the site, IRNA reported. IRINN, another state television channel, reported that the first explosion near the grave of Soleimani was caused by a bomb placed in a suitcase inside a Peugeot 405 car, and appeared to be detonated remotely. Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the first explosion happened at 3:00 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) during an interview with Iran’s state news channel IRIB. Vahidi said the second, more deadly blast took place 20 minutes later, when other pilgrims came to help the injured. Videos posted on Iranian state media showed large crowds running in the area after the explosion. Footage also showed bloodied bodies being transported from the scene, and ambulances leaving the site through large crowds. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Iran will have a “harsh response.” Addressing those behind the explosions, he wrote: “They should know that the bright soldiers of the path of Soleimani will not tolerate their wickedness and crimes.” Iran declared Thursday a day of mourning following the blasts and Raisi canceled his upcoming trip to Turkey. Formerly one of Iran’s most powerful men, Soleimani was head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, an elite unit that handles Iran’s overseas operations and was deemed to be a foreign terrorist organization by the US. Ambulances leave the site of the explosion. Iran Press via AFPTV The Pentagon says Soleimani and his troops were “responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.” Known as Iran’s “shadow commander,” Soleimani – who had led the Quds Force since 1998 – was the mastermind of Iranian military operations in Iraq and Syria. Gen. Ismail Qaani, Soleimani’s longtime lieutenant and his successor as the leader of the Quds Force, said the perpetrators were “desperate,” warning that “the Islamic Republic will not change the method of eradicating the Zionist regime.” Blast comes at tense moment in region The blast occurred amid heightened tensions in the region as Israel fights a three-month war against Hamas in Gaza prompted by the militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel. That war has left more than 23,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in the enclave, and has led to skirmishes beyond Israel and Gaza, often involving Iran-backed militias. On Tuesday, a senior Hamas leader was killed in a suburb of Beirut in a blast that a US official told CNN was carried out by Israel. Israel hasn’t confirmed or denied involvement but Hamas and the militant group Hezbollah, which controls the suburb, blamed Israel and have vowed revenge. Last week, Iran and several of its armed proxies accused Israel of assassinating a senior Iranian commander in Syria, vowing retaliation. Israel didn’t comment on the matter. In an address marking the anniversary of Soleimani’s death, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the killing of the Hamas official in Beirut “won’t go unpunished.” Israel accuses Tehran of funding and arming Hamas. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last month that his country is in a “multi-arena war,” being attacked from seven arenas, including Iran. “We have already responded and acted in six of these decrees” he said. On Wednesday, Russian President Putin condemned “terrorism in all its forms” in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi after the blasts. Putin, who is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, has been accused by Kyiv and international bodies of numerous acts of terror during his war in Ukraine. Both the European Union and the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres also condemned Wednesday’s blasts and called for the perpetrators to be held responsible. The US has also stepped up its military involvement in the Middle East recently. Last month, the military carried out airstrikes on Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah and “affiliated groups” in Iraq after an attack