Taleban kill 14 troops:
organization Tehreek-e-Taleban had planned to attack intelligence agency offices in the city of Bahawalpur. Tahir said teams of counter-terrorism police raided the men’s hideout. He said suicide jackets, hand grenades, lethal weapons, ammunition and money to finance their operations were seized. (AP)
The Taleban staged a coordinated attack overnight on two Afghan army outposts in western Herat province, killing 14 Afghan soldiers and taking another 21 captive, a provincial official said Friday, the latest in a series of daily attacks by insurgents on the country’s beleaguered national security forces.
Herat provincial council member Najibullah Mohebi said the assault began late on Thursday in Shindand district. Fighting lasted for six hours before reinforcements arrived and repulsed the insurgents – but not before they captured 21 troops. (AFP)
13 killed as bus falls in Kashmir:
Thirteen people were killed Saturday when a passenger bus fell 70 metres (230 feet) down a gorge in southern Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.
The accident occurred as the bus carrying 26 passengers was negotiating a sharp turn on a narrow road in the mountains of Poonch, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) south of Srinagar, senior superintendent of police Rajiv Pandey said.
Deputy for Policy and Strategic Affairs, Hosna Jalil listens during a ceremony at the interior ministry, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Dec 5. Afghanistan has appointed its first woman to a senior post at the Interior Ministry, naming Hosna Jalil as deputy for policy
and strategic affairs. (AP)
“Thirteen died in the accident and the rest were injured,” Pandey told AFP, adding three critically injured passengers were evacuated by air to a hospital in the city of Jammu.
Careless driving and bad, narrow and winding roads in the mountainous territory cause frequent accidents with passenger vehicles often slipping into deep gorges. (AFP)
SC against Sirisena’s move:
Sri Lanka’s highest court Friday banned President Maithripala Sirisena from sacking the legislature until it decides on the legality of his move last month to call snap elections.
The Supreme Court concluded hearing 10 petitions against Sirisena’s move as part of a bitter power struggle with his erstwhile prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but reserved judgement for an unspecified date.
The courts reopen on Monday. (AFP)