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Soldier Arif ur Rehman embraced martyrdom during exchange of fire with militants, says ISPRAt least 15 militants were wiped out by the armed forces during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Zhob district, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday.  According to the military’s media wing, the IBO was conducted on December 10 in the general area Sambaza during which own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location. “A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed Khawarij,” said the statement. However, it added, Sep Arif ur Rehman (age 32 years; resident of Mansehra District) embraced martyrdom after fighting gallantly during the intense exchange of fire. “Sanitisation operation is being conducted to neutralize any other Kharji present in the area,” said the ISPR. It said that the security forces of Pakistan, in step with the nation, remain determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and sacrifices of the brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve. It is pertinent to mention here that the third quarter (July-September) of 2024 saw a sharp increase in fatalities of terrorist violence and counter-terrorism campaigns, with a 90% surge in violence, according to a report issued by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). A total of 722 people were killed, including civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, while 615 others were wounded in as many as 328 incidents recorded during the period under review. Nearly 97% of these fatalities occurred in KP and Balochistan – marking the highest percentage in a decade, and over 92% of these incidents of terror attacks and security forces’ operations were recorded in the same provinces. The total fatalities from three quarters of this year have now surpassed the total fatalities recorded for the entire 2023; the number of fatalities rose to at least 1534 in the first three quarters compared to 1523 in 2023. Meanwhile, terrorist groups continue to reorganise and beef up their ranks. Most of the terror attacks remained unclaimed by terrorist or insurgent groups, likely for tactical reasons, as per the report. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1260210-security-forces-eliminate-15-militants-in-balochistans-zhob-ibo

Israeli attacks on the north and centre of the besieged Gaza Strip have killed dozens of people, medical sources say. The Israeli army in the early hours of Wednesday bombed a residential building in Beit Lahiya, near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, which has been under an even tighter siege for more than two months. The attack killed at least 20 people, including women and children, but there were fears the death toll could rise. Local media reports said at least 30 displaced people were living in the multistorey home of the Abu Tarabish family before it was struck. Footage seen by Al Jazeera showed people using their bare hands trying to remove large pieces of concrete from the ruins of the bombed structure. One child’s body was removed from the rubble. “This residential building has been turned into ruin. The smoke is still rising,” said journalist Moath Kahlout, reporting from the site. “Due to a shortage of rescue teams, the neighbours are trying to pull the dead bodies from under the rubble.” Later in the day, another attack on a residential home in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least seven people, all members of the same family. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said another two people were killed by an Israeli air raid on a house in Gaza City. ‘No letup’ in Israeli attacks amid truce efforts Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the latest deadly attacks come amid “a deepening humanitarian crisis”. “There are no basic supplies available, markets are depleted and the crisis keeps continuing to evolve in a devastating way,” he added, all the while there is “no letup” in the Israeli bombardment. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, whose attacks on Gaza over the past 14 months have killed at least 44,805 people and wounded 106,257. Israel launched its ferocious military campaign after an estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during attacks led by the Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive. The renewed attacks are taking place as efforts to reach a ceasefire are under way in Egypt. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is heading to Israel this week for talks on on a truce deal in Gaza, among others. Sullivan will meet Israeli officials to discuss “efforts to reach a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza, the latest developments in Syria, and for discussions about Lebanon and Iran,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/11/israeli-attacks-on-gaza-residential-areas-kill-dozens

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Pakistan embassy in Syria open for support and advice, says FO spokespersonForeign Office on Sunday confirmed that all Pakistani nationals were safe in Syria and were advised to exercise caution as the country grapples with worsening turmoil following the lightning offensive by rebels that resulted in the ouster of President Bashar-al Assad. Almost 250 Pakistani pilgrims have been stranded in turmoil-hit country as flights to Lahore and other cities have been cancelled by the airlines. In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “We are closely monitoring the evolving situation in Syria.” She said that the Pakistan embassy in Syria was open for support and advice. “As of now Damascus Airport is closed. Our embassy remains in contact with stranded Pakistani nationals including Zaireen. It will facilitate their return once the airport opens.” She further said that Pakistan had always supported unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, and there was no change in its principled position. Dar, Turkey’s FM hold telephonic conversation In addition to this, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held telephonic conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the unfolding situation in Syria. During the telephonic conversation, the deputy PM shared the details of the efforts made by the Pakistan’s government for the safety and security of its nationals in Syria. They also discussed possible cooperation between the two countries for the safety of the Pakistan nationals. On the other hand, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia and have been granted asylum by the Russian authorities, Russian news agencies reported, citing a Kremlin source. The Interfax news agency quoted the unnamed source as saying: “President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds.” In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “We urge all parties involved to refrain from the use of violence and to resolve all issues of governance through political means,” the statement said. “In that regard, the Russian Federation is in contact with all groups of the Syrian opposition.” It said Russia’s military bases in Syria had been put on a state of high alert, but that there was no serious threat to them at the current time. It said it was also doing all it could to ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Syria, whom the embassy on Friday advised to leave the country. The Russian Embassy in Damascus told the state TASS news agency on Sunday that its staff were “fine”. Meanwhile, Syrian rebels announced a curfew in Damascus starting 4pm local time until 5am. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1259567-all-pakistani-nationals-stranded-in-syria-safe-says-foreign-office

Israeli air attacks in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 16 Palestinians in separate attacks in the central part of the enclave. Five members of one family, including children, were killed in an attack on a camp for displaced people in Deir el-Balah in the early hours of Sunday as they slept. “We woke up to a loud explosion in the middle of the night,” said Mahmoud Fayad, an eyewitness. “We ran to the loud screams and found many civilians killed; and entire family, man, wife and their children.” Dozens of others were injured in the attack, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud. “Many people in the vicinity of the tent site were reported with various injuries,” said Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah. “The overnight attack highlights the vulnerability of displaced civilians inside these tents.” Then, later on Sunday, at least 11 people were killed in an Israeli air attack on a residential house in al-Bureij camp. Abu Azzoum said that he “personally saw bodies… shredded to pieces” as they arrived at Deir el-Balah’s al-Aqsa Hospital, adding that they had been gathered in bags used for flour because of a lack of coffins. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that more than 44,708 Palestinians have been killed and 106,050 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October of last year. Several people were injured overnight in “drone attacks on residential areas” to the east of Gaza City, Mahmoud reported. Meanwhile, Israel’s siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza is continuing, with Palestinian health officials reporting on Sunday that Israeli forces had shelled the hospital, damaging electricity and oxygen pumps and disrupting urgent surgeries. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital, which is one of only three barely operational in the north of the enclave, said the facility was hit by around 100 tank shells and bombs, wounding several of the medical staff and patients. “The situation is extremely dangerous. We have patients in the intensive care unit and others awaiting surgeries. Access to the operating rooms is only possible after restoring electricity and oxygen supply,” Abu Safia said in a statement. The hospital is treating 112 wounded people, including six in the intensive care unit, he said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about Abu Safia’s account. “Israeli forces are about 500 metres [1,650 feet] away from the gate of the hospital and set up a sniper position that keeps targeting people and any moving objects inside the hospital,” Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud reported, adding that there was a heavy presence of drones and quadcopters in the skies above the facility. On Friday, Israeli forces killed about 30 people when they stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital under cover of heavy artillery fire and air attacks, according to Eid Sabbah, the hospital’s director of nursing. To justify its actions, Israel claims Hamas fighters are using civilian buildings, including hospitals and schools, for operational cover throughout the 14-month Gaza war. Hamas, the Palestinian group that runs the Gaza Strip, has denied this and accuses Israel of indiscriminate bombings and assaults. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/8/israeli-attack-on-gaza-camp-kills-five-displaced-family-members

At least 15 people have died and 113 others are still missing after landslides buried homes in six villages in eastern Uganda, police said. Another 15 injured people have been rescued and admitted to Buluganya Health Center. The Uganda Red Cross Society said Thursday that 13 bodies had been recovered after landslides buried 40 homes and the rescue effort was continuing. Local media reported that authorities expect the death toll could rise to 30. The landslides happened after heavy rains on Wednesday night in the mountainous district of Bulambuli, where landslides are common. The district is about 280 kilometers (173miles) east of the capital, Kampala. More than a hundred people were missing on Thursday, after the landslides buried homes across six villages. Jean Watala/AP A journalist in the area told The Associated Press that local officials said an excavator would be brought to assist in the rescue efforts, but the roads were covered in mud and the rain was still falling. The affected area is about 50 acres (20ha) with homesteads and farmlands spread downhill. Photos and videos of people digging through mud in search of victims were shared on social media platforms. Some of the houses were completed covered by mud while others only had a roof showing above the ground. The Daily Monitor newspaper reported that most of the bodies recovered so far were those of children. The prime minister’s office issued a disaster alert on Wednesday stating that heavy rains across the country had cut off major roads. Two rescue boats capsized on Wednesday during a rescue mission on River Nile where Pakwach bridge was submerged. Source :https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/28/africa/eastern-uganda-landslides-intl/index.html

Amid rising tensions between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the government, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday rejected PTI’s allegations about “straight firing” at civilians during its “do-or-die” protest in Islamabad, which was abruptly put off after crackdown.   Briefing members of the diplomatic corps on recent situation after PTI protest, Dar — who is also the deputy prime minister — said that the government had shown restraint as law enforcement agencies (LEAs) were only equipped with water cannons and tear gas, not live ammunition. The former ruling party’s much-hyped protest in Islamabad, aimed at securing PTI founder Imran Khan’s release who has been behind bars for more than a year, culminated in PTI’s hasty retreat after the government’s midnight crackdown on the protesters. The Imran Khan-founded party has since claimed that at least 12 of its workers were killed and 1,000 were arrested. However, the government has categorically denied using live ammunition against the protesters and said that four law enforcers including three Rangers personnel and policeman were martyred during the protest. Briefing the foreign diplomats, Dar said that the police and Rangers were deployed in the first two tiers, with the army as the third line of defence to protect the Diplomatic Enclave, Parliament House and other important buildings. He further said that the government had enacted a new law “Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, 2024” that barred the protest demonstrations in the Red Zone and required permission from a magistrate for any public gatherings. Explaining why the government resorted to certain actions against the protestors, he said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had barred the PTI from holding any protest gathering in the Red Zone area of the federal capital. In pursuance of the court ruling, the government had tasked Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to engage with the party but to no avail.  He said the federal government always prioritised the Red Zone’s security which housed Parliament House, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, federal institutions and the diplomatic corps. Dar informed the diplomats that PTI had chosen to hold a protest on November 24, which coincided with the planned visit of the Belarusian president. He added that this was consistent with the party’s past “malafide practice” of scheduling protests on significant dates, such as the SCO summit earlier this year and in 2014, when their protest led to the postponement of the Chinese president’s visit. He recalled that the Supreme Court had dismissed PTI’s claims of rigging in 35 National Assembly seats — the primary reason behind the 2014 sit-in — yet the party never apologised, despite having committed to do so in a written agreement with the government. Dar explained that PTI stubbornly attempted to march into the Red Zone, despite the government’s offer of an alternative protest site in Sangjani. He emphasised that human rights should not be exercised in ways that cause lawlessness and endanger the lives and property of both Pakistanis and the diplomatic corps. The foreign minister highlighted that the government had shown restraint, as LEAs were only equipped with water cannons and tear gas, not live ammunition. Dar also questioned the legality of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government using public resources to stage a march on the federal capital, asserting that no federating unit had the right to do so. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1258111-dar-rejects-pti-s-straight-live-firing-claims-as-baseless-in-talk-with-envoys

More than 100 patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital at risk of dyingThe director of hospitals at the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip has given our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic an update: More than 100 patients inside the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of the enclave are at risk of death.The Israeli occupation is targeting Kamal Adwan Hospital to force people inside to flee.Israeli forces are preventing access to Al-Awda Hospital.Stopping the oxygen supplies of the hospitals would mean stopping entire health services. Blinken says ‘ceasefire is holding’ in LebanonUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the ceasefire in Lebanon was “holding” despite a series of accusations by Hezbollah that Israel had violated the terms of the deal.“The ceasefire is holding, and we’re using the mechanism that was established when any concerns have arisen about any alleged or purported violations,” Blinken told journalists on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/4/live-surge-in-israeli-attacks-on-gaza-city-casualties-overwhelm-hospital

At least 27 people died when a boat capsized on the Niger River in central Nigeria, say authorities. The boat was carrying about 200 passengers from the state of Kogi to a food market in the neighbouring state of Niger when it capsized late on Thursday, with more than half reportedly missing, according to Ibrahim Audu, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency. By Friday evening, rescuers had managed to pull 27 bodies from the river while local divers were still searching for the missing passengers, according to Sandra Musa, spokeswoman for the Kogi State emergency services. “It’s not clear what caused the accident,” Musa said. Among possible causes, she listed turbulence on the waterway and the age of the boat, attributing the death toll to the absence of life jackets. None of the bodies recovered had life jackets on, she said. Rescuers had trouble finding the location of the accident for hours, according to Justin Uwazuruonye, who is in charge of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency operations in the state. Advertisement Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo said in a statement that most of the victims were women, traders and artisans “involved in legitimate business activities to earn a living and contribute to the economy of the state”. Villagers and volunteers downstream of the accident were urged to be on the lookout for bodies. Mass drownings The accident was the latest in a series of mass drownings on the country’s busy waterways, as authorities struggle to enforce safety measures and regulations for water transportation. Last month, some 100 people were feared dead after a boat carrying 300 passengers, many of them women and children, to a Muslim festival in Niger State flipped over in the river. In September, an overloaded boat sank while carrying more than 50 farmers across the Gummi River in Zamfara State, killing more than 40. In June 2023, more than 100 people died when a riverboat carrying about 250 passengers capsized in the north-central state of Kwara. Most of the accidents have been attributed to overcrowding and a lack of maintenance of the boats, often built locally to carry as many passengers as possible in defiance of safety measures. Also, authorities have not been able to enforce the use of life jackets on such trips, often because of lack of availability or cost. Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/30/several-dead-after-boat-capsizes-in-nigeria

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad granted bail to senior journalist Matiullah Jan on Saturday in a case involving terrorism and narcotics charges. ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra, who presided over the hearing, approved the bail against a bond worth Rs10,000. The development comes two days after the journalist was arrested by the Islamabad Police at the E-9 checkpoint for allegedly assaulting the police, forcibly snatching their weaponry, and issuing threats along with being under the influence of drugs with the substance “ice” reportedly recovered from his vehicle as well. The FIR registered against him includes CrPC’s Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 382 (theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to the committing of the theft), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 506 (criminal intimidation) along with 7ATA (terrorism-related section) and a narcotics-related section. An ATC then approved a two-day physical remand of the journalist. However, on Friday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended Jan’s physical remand granted to police by the trial court. The journalist’s arrest had not only warranted condemnations from media and human rights organisations but also from within the incumbent government as well. Speaking on Geo News’ programme “Capital Talk” on Thursday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah termed the case “fabricated”. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) veteran and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani urged the government to release Jan, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui said: “I do not support what happened to [Matiullah] Jan at all”. “What happened to Jan is very sad regardless at whose behest it was done,” remarked the lawmaker. Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1256651-matiullah-jans-bail-in-terrorism-case-approved