ISTANBUL (AA) – Pakistani military aircraft struck homes in two provinces of Afghanistan in pre-dawn attacks on Monday, interim Afghan spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. Kabul said its forces retaliated against the airstrikes by hitting Pakistani military installations. Condemning the attacks, Mujahid said eight people, three children an...
Tashkent, Uzbekistan – AFP Saodat Shermatova “cried with joy” after Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, lifted a ban last month on women working as bus drivers. “I was waiting a long time,” said the 49-year-old, who used to work in public transport maintenance in the Muslim state’s capital, Tashkent. Sherm...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Afghanistan is one of several countries around the world in the grip of a food crisis, where a mix of politics, economics and nature’s ravages is taking a heavy toll on vast sections of a vulnerable population. In a country emerging from decades of war and turmoil, women and children are among […]
Malé, Maldives – AFP India has begun withdrawing military personnel operating surveillance aircraft in the Maldives after the new pro-China president ordered them to leave, local media reported Tuesday. The Mihaaru newspaper reported that 25 Indian troops deployed in the southernmost atoll of Addu had left the archipelago ahead of March ...
SKARDU, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan’s northern scenic Gilgit-Baltistan region is known for its snow-capped peaks, glistening lakes and glaciers, as well as plucky climbers. Located on the confluence of the world’s three greatest mountain ranges, Gilgit-Baltistan has long been one of the favorite destinations of international climbers and tr...
Islamabad, Pakistan – AFP Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Pakistan’s slain first female leader Benazir Bhutto, was voted in as president for a second time Saturday, after elections marred by rigging claims. Zardari was voted in with 411 votes to 181 for the opposition-backed candidate, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced...
Karachi, Pakistan – AFP A shadowy political party that ruled Karachi for more than three decades, overseeing the city’s descent into a swamp of organised crime, has risen from the ashes in Pakistan’s tainted elections. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) ran the city through a pervasive network of street enforcers and elected ...
NEW DELHI (AA) – An Indian national was killed by an anti-tank missile launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi has said. Southern Lebanon has been targeted by Israel several times over the past few weeks, leading to dozens of casualties. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, the Israeli [&he...
GENEVA (AA) – The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan has urged the international community to demand “progress” on the rights situation in the war-torn country still reeling from years of US-NATO occupation that ended with the Taliban taking power in August 2021. Responding to the question o...
Beijing, China – AFP China said on Friday it “strongly condemns” the killing of scores of Palestinians during an aid delivery in the northern Gaza Strip. “China is shocked by this incident and strongly condemns it,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “We express our grief for the victims and our sym...