NATO strike kills 11 kids in Afghanistan

April 8, 2013

NATO_strike

Afghanistan, Apr 8: A Nato air attack in eastern Afghanistan killed 11 children, officials said on Sunday, the latest case of civilian casualties which provoke great anger in the war-torn country.

The children were killed during a joint Afghan-Nato operation in the Shigal district of restive Kunar province bordering Pakistan late on Saturday.

The latest strike comes after at least five Americans, including a young woman diplomat, were killed in two Taliban attacks in the country's east and south.

An Afghan official involved in the operation said the force did not know there were women and children in the houses that were hit.

Civilian casualties caused by Nato forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 11-year campaign against Taliban insurgents, provoking harsh criticism from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and angry public protests.

“Eleven children and eight militants were killed in the strike, six women were wounded,” said Wasifullah Wasifi, the spokesman for Kunar province.

Shigal district governor Abdul Zahir confirmed the death toll. He said people had brought the children's bodies to the centre of the town and the wounded women were taken to Kunar's central hospital.

Diplomat killed

On Saturday, a suicide car bomber struck a Nato convoy in the southern province of Zabul, killing three US soldiers and two civilians, one of whom was a female US diplomat.

The Washington Post identified the diplomat as Anne Smedinghoff, 25, citing her parents. Smedinghoff was US?Secretary of State John Kerry Kerry's embassy guide and aide when he visited Afghanistan last month.

They were travelling with Afghan officials to distribute books to students.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Islamabad, Jun 6: Pakistan has reported a record 97 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,935, while the number of confirmed cases in the country approached 94,000 after over 4,700 infections were detected, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Punjab registered 35,308 COVID-19 cases, Sindh 34,889, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 12,459, Balochistan 5,776 Islamabad 4,323, Gilgit-Baltistan 897 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 331 cases, the Ministry of National Health Services said.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reached 93,983 after 4,734 new infections were detected across the country, it said.

With a record 97 fatalities in one day, the death toll in the country has reached 1,935, while 32,581 people have recovered from the disease.

The ministry said that the total number of active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan are 59,467, out of which 1,265 patients are in critical condition.

More than 100 labs in the country have so far conducted 660,508 tests, including 22,185 in the last 24 hours.

There are 747 hospitals across the country with COVID-19 treatment facilities where 5,060 patients are being treated. Others have been asked to self-isolate at home.

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News Network
January 8,2020

New Delhi, Jan 8: Iran will welcome any peace initiative by India for de-escalating its tensions with the US after the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian envoy here said on Wednesday.

His comments come hours after Iran launched missile strikes against two US military bases in Iraq in retaliation to the killing of its top commander General Qassem Soleimani.

"India usually plays a very good role in (maintaining) peace in the world. At the same time, India belongs to this region. We welcome all initiatives from all countries, especially India as a good friend for us, to not allow escalation (of tensions)," Iranian Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni told reporters after a condolence meeting for Solemani at the country's embassy here.

"We are not for war, we are looking for peace and prosperity for everybody in this region. We welcome any Indian initiative or any project that can help peace and prosperity in this world," he said.

On the Iranian attack on US targets in Iraq, Chegeni said his country retaliated under its right to defend.

Amid spiralling US-Iran tensions over the killing of Soleimani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday had a conversation with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, voicing India's concerns over the escalation of tensions.

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News Network
April 22,2020

London, Apr 22: The toll from coronavirus in the United Kingdom has jumped above 18,000 after 759 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the Department of Health and Social Care announced in a statistical bulletin on Wednesday.

In total, 18,100 people have died in the UK hospitals after contracting COVID-19 as of 16:00 GMT on Tuesday.

A further 4,451 new cases of the disease were reported over the preceding 24 hours up to 08:00 GMT on Wednesday, the ministry said. The total number of cases reported since the start of the outbreak now stands at 1,33,495.

On Tuesday, the Office of National Statistics published a report stating that the coronavirus disease death toll as of April 10, when accounting for deaths in care homes and private residences, was 41 per cent higher than the government's figures.

In parliament on Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock stated that the United Kingdom has reached the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, praising the social distancing measures enforced in the country.

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