An explosion has ripped through a mosque inside an army base in Afghanistan’s volatile eastern Khost province, killing and wounding dozens of soldiers. The explosion targeted members of the 2nd regiment of the Afghan national army as they held their Friday prayers inside the base. Abdullah, an Afghan military spokesperson, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press news agency… Read more »
Security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir claim they have killed a senior fighter believed to be involved in the murder of a prominent Kashmiri journalist in June. Naveed Jatt, the fighter who was killed after a gun battle, was a member of the Pakistan-based armed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, police said on Wednesday, adding that he was part of the group of assailants who killed… Read more »
New Delhi/Mumbai – On Wednesday, thousands of farmers, labourers, and rural workers from across India boarded trains to the capital to participate in a two-day “Dilli Challo” (Let’s go to Delhi) march. They are gathering in central New Delhi on Thursday in preparation for their march to parliament on Friday and ask legislators to tackle the many challenges facing agrarian society…. Read more »
India is participating in a Russia-sponsored peace conference with Taliban in a significant reassessment of its position on talks with the armed group that has waged an armed rebellion since 2001. New Delhi has sent former Indian envoys to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Amar Sinha and TCA Raghavan respectively, to attend the conference at the “non-official level”. “India supports all efforts at peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan that will… Read more »
Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Tuesday to start returning Rohingya refugees in November, less than a week after UN investigators warned that a genocide against the Muslim minority was still ongoing. More than 720,000 Rohingya fled a brutal military crackdown in August last year, taking shelter in crowded camps in Bangladesh and bringing with them harrowing tales of rape, murder and arson blamed on… Read more »
The US-backed Afghan government has lost control of a number of districts to the Taliban, while casualties among security forces have reached record levels, a US watchdog agency has said. The latest quarterly report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) underlines the heavy pressure on the government in Kabul even as the United States has opened initial contacts with the… Read more »
Nepal is set to become the first country to double its tiger population as part of the World Wildlife Foundation’s (WWF) “Tx2” programme which aims to double the number of tigers all over the world. Nepal’s tiger population has risen to 235 from the baseline population of 121 counted in 2009, the WWF said in a statement released on Sunday… Read more »
Campaigners are calling on India to protect girls in state-run institutions who are at risk of sexual assault and violence after 34 girls were violently attacked by a mob for fighting off sexual harassers in Bihar state. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, a residential school for girls in Supaul district, witnessed chaotic scenes on Saturday after some girls objected to sexual advances and… Read more »
A suicide bomber has struck an election meeting in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, killing at least eight people, including a candidate for the upcoming parliamentary elections, a provincial official said. Saleh Mohammad Achekzai was holding a meeting in front of his house in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, when the suicide bomber detonated his explosives on Tuesday. The blast also killed several… Read more »
Kathmandu, Nepal – China has granted Nepalaccess to its land and seaports, top officials of the two countries announced earlier this month, ending the landlocked Himalayan nation’s dependence on India for trading routes. Nepal can use four seaports in Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang and three dry ports in Lanzhou, Lhasa and Xigatse in China, according to the protocol on transport… Read more »