GUNMEN ATTACK SAVE THE CHILDREN OFFICE IN EAST AFGHANISTAN

JALALABAD, Afghanistan: Gunmen blasted their way into Save the Children’s office in Afghanistan’s restive east on Wednesday, witnesses and officials said, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others in the latest attack on a foreign aid group in the war-torn country. After blowing up a car outside the British charity’s compound in Jalalabad city, the attackers used a rocket-propelled grenade to storm the complex. Security forces swarmed the compound after the attackers launched the morning raid and brought the assault to an end after more than three hours, Nangarhar governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told Agence France-Presse. “The security forces are clearing the building now. Our initial information shows so far, one dead and 14 wounded have been brought to hospitals,” Khogyani said. He also said that the attackers were wearing military uniforms. Wednesday’s assault comes days after Taliban gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital, killing at least 22 people, mostly foreigners.

JAPAN SEEKS UPGRADED WHALING SHIP AS PM VOWS TO CONTINUE HUNTS

TOKYO: hunts despite international protests. The Fisheries Agency has requested 100 million yen ($910,000) in the national budget for a study into the future of commercial whaling, an agency official told Agence France-Presse, including the fate of the 30-year-old the lead vessel of Japan’s whaling flotilla. Takato Maki said that “the study will include discussions on what to do with the Nisshin Maru—if its life should be extended [by repairs], or should be replaced with a used ship or a new ship, among other ideas.” Japan is a signatory to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on hunting, but exploits a loophole that allows whales to be killed in the name of scientific research. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed his government’s commitment to an eventual resumption of commercial whaling.

34 DEAD IN TWIN BOMBINGS IN LIBYA’S BENGHAZI

BENGHAZI, Libya: Twin car bombs outside a mosque frequented by jihadist opponents in Libya’s second city Benghazi killed at least 34 people and wounded 87, hospital sources said on Wednesday. The bombers struck after evening prayers on Tuesday, blowing up two cars 30 minutes apart outside the mosque in the central neighbourhood of Al-Sleimani. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the mosque is known to be a base for Salafist groups which fought the jihadists alongside Haftar’s forces. The city’s Al-Jala hospital received 25 dead and 51 wounded, its spokeswoman Fadia al-Barghathi said. The Benghazi Medical Center received nine dead and 36 wounded, spokesman Khalil Gider said. Ahmad al-Fituri, a security official for Haftar’s forces, was among those killed, military spokesman Miloud al-Zwei said. The city has been relatively calm since military strongman Khalifa Haftar announced its “liberation” from jihadists in July last year after a three-year campaign, but sporadic violence has continued.