Afghan vice president survives bomb blast, at least 10 killed
By Ed Adamczyk
The car carrying Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh was destroyed in a bomb blast on Wednesday in Kabul
that killed at least 10 people. Saleh survived with minor burns. Photo by Jawad Jalali/EPA-EFE
Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A bomb in Kabul killed at least 10 people on Wednesday but its target, Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, survived with minimal injuries.
It was the second assassination attempt against Saleh, a staunch opponent of the Taliban, this year.
Although the Taliban denied responsibility, the Afghan Interior Ministry said the explosives were identical to those used in previous attacks by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani group.
Saleh, formerly Afghanistan's intelligence chief, sustained burns to his hands and face in the attack on his convoy as it traveled through Kabul, and later said that the blast was so powerful that the windows melted in the car in which he was a passenger.
He added that his son Ebadullah, who was in the vehicle with him, sustained burns. A number of security guards were among at least 15 people injured.
The incident occurred early Wednesday when explosives hidden in a cart by the side of the road detonated as Saleh's convoy passed. The blast destroyed several businesses and homes, and left a large crater in the street.
In July 2019, after Saleh announced his candidacy for vice presidency, he survived an attack in which a car bomb exploded before suicide bombers fought their way to his fourth-floor office in Kabul.
That attack killed 20 of his closest aides, including several family members. Saleh escaped by climbing a ladder to the roof of an adjoining building.
Wednesday's attack came as the first official talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban are under preparation in Doha, Qatar.
The talks are part of a peace deal signed by the United States and Taliban in February, in which the Afghan government did not participate. The agreement called in part for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan with the understanding that the Taliban would halt bombings in urban centers.
Attacks have continued, without Taliban acknowledgement of responsibility.
The talks have been postponed since February because of disagreement over a prisoner swap, now nearly complete, involving 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 members of Afghan security forces.-
“They cut off his hand with a chain saw seeing 786 tattooed on it,”
brother of Ikhlaq recounts horrific beating
September 10, 2020
Ikhlaq lying on bed at his home in Saharanpur. Courtesy: Special arrangement
By Musheera Ashraf, TwoCircles.net
Panipat, India: On 23 August, unable to find adequate work at his hometown, twenty-eight-year-old Akhlaq, a barber by profession, left his home in Nanauta, 23 kilometres from Saharanpur for Panipat, Haryana.
“We are left with no work due to the lockdown. Our financial condition is worse,” Ikram, brother of Akhlaq told TwoCircles.net.
According to Ikram, as Akhlaq reached Panipat, he sat down to rest for a few minutes in the Kishanpura area. “Two men came and asked his name. As soon as they heard his name they started beating him. After which Akhlaq was left on the road in the injured condition,” Ikram said.
As per Ikram, Akhlaq was feeling thirsty and he knocked on the nearest door to him and asked for water. “But to his surprise, the men in the house dragged him inside and started beating him with wooden sticks. He realized they were the same men who were beating him minutes earlier,” Ikram added.
“There were four men and 2 women in the house,” Akhlaq told his brother Ikram.
“As they saw 786 written on Akhlaq’s hand, they told him we won’t let this be written on your hand and they cut off his right hand with a chainsaw (a machine used to cut heavy logs of wood),” says Ikram.
“He was beaten so badly that he has injuries on every part of his body,” he added.
Ikram said his brother got the numbers 786 tattooed when he was just 15 years old. “We believe in 786. We believe in Allah,” he added.
786 represents the first word in the Quran, meaning, 'In the Name of God'.
Around 5 am, Akhlaq returned to his senses when he found himself lying at a railway station.
Ikram said that he came to know about the incident when an unknown person called him from Panipat. “Akhlaq was taken to the railway station and was thrown on the railway track to portray as if he got injuries in a train accident,” he told.
He was then taken to Panipat Hospital. By the time Ikram arrived at the hospital, S.I Balvaan of GRP Police station was already present. Ikram said that SI told him it’s an accident case. “But seeing his injuries, I waited for him to become stable and asked him about it,” Ikram said.
“The police seem to have already decided to dismiss the case by calling it an accident,” says Ikram.
Akhlaq told his brother about the locality where he was beaten and described the house. Intending to know about the people who had severely beaten his brother, Ikram went to the place and enquired and he came to know that the assailants are from Saini community.
Sainis are a caste in northern India who claim to be descendants of a king, Shurasena, as well as of Krishna and Porus. The Saini community is given representation in government jobs and educational institutes under Other Backward Class (OBC) category in several states. They tend to be either Hindu or Sikh.
According to Ikram, S.I Balvaan called them to the police station but let them go. An FIR has been lodged at Thana Chandni Bagh in Panipat.
“This is a case of kattarpanthi, they cut off his hand because 786 was written on his hand,” Ikram says in anger.
Kattarpanthi can mean either 'orthodox' or 'fanatic'. Obviously, the latter is the case here.
Akhlaq was later referred to Rohtak hospital, where he says they were asked to leave. Ikram is now getting treatment at Nanauta.
Ikram wants justice for his brother and is worried because no one has been arrested till date.
When contacted for comment, S.I Balvaan told TwoCircles.net that the case has been transferred to Chandi Bagh police station and they will investigate it further.
200 police called in after Kurdish protesters abuse female conductor
& force train stoppage in Germany
11 Sep, 2020
Around 80 Kurdish demonstrators who were returning from rallies caused a train to be stopped near Hamburg on Thursday. A massive police force was deployed to restore order, with clashes erupting and arrests made.
The trouble on the train started as soon as the people, described as “activists” by the German media, boarded in the town of Luneburg, Lower Saxony. They were all members of a Kurdish youth movement returning from rallies that took place in Hanover, Celle, Uelzen, Lüneburg and Harburg earlier in the day.
The men, who were reportedly traveling without tickets, became aggressive and abused a female train conductor during a check.
Their behavior prompted the driver to stop the train shortly afterwards not far from the town of Bardowick. The police were called in, with a whopping 200 officers arriving at the scene to calm things down.
But despite their large presence in full riot gear, “many people continued to be uncooperative,” police said. Clashes broke out, in which the Kurds kicked and hit the officers, delivering minor injuries to several of them.
A number of arrests were made. Several of the most aggressive activists now face charges of assault and resisting police.
When the rest of the protesters had their papers checked, it turned out that a dozen of them didn’t have permission to live in Germany, including three minors.
Germany has a large Kurdish population, estimated at around a million people.
Pakistan: Sargodha man kills sister after she marries
for the sixth time as part of 'honour' killing
The victim's sixth husband filed a complaint in August stating that his wife was kidnapped
Falah Gulzar, Social Media Reporter
Gulf News
Police in Pakistan arrested a 22-year-old man on September 11 for allegedly murdering his sister after she married for the sixth time, as part of an ‘honour’ killing, in the province of Punjab.
Police in the city of Sargodha had launched an investigation into the alleged murder of 30-year-old Nighat Parveen after her sixth husband, Waseem Amjad, filed a complaint on August 17 with police stating that his wife had been kidnapped, local media reported.
Authorities were able to trace the location from the last call made from Parveen’s mobile phone to her parents' house. After police interrogated the victim's parents, they claimed that she had gone to Islamabad with her friends, as per local media reports.
Later, the police started questioning Parveen’s 22-year-old brother Abdullah Hashim who allegedly confessed to murdering his sister.
Hashim allegedly told police that his sister had become “a source of disgrace” for the family for the past eight years. He added that people in the village had also started questioning the family's “honour” due to Parveen's “character”, Pakistani news outlets reported.
Police say Hashim confessed that when Parveen returned to her parents' home after getting married for the sixth time, he locked her in a room and shot her to death.
According to the police, the brother has been arrested and the weapon used to commit the crime has also been recovered. Police added that a case will be registered against the suspect and he will be presented in court soon, news outlets reported.
Sharing about the incident and the recent cases of abuse against women in Pakistan, tweep @muhammadwajeeh posted: “A brother in Sargodha killed his sister for marrying the sixth time. Violence against women continues and then we ask why Aurat March (Women’s March) takes place in this country.”
Father tortures daughter and keeps her captive for 9 months in Saudi Arabia
Young woman was freed by Saudi authorities and transferred to a shelter home
Published: September 13, 2020
Khitam Al Amir, Senior Staff Writer
Gulf News
The young woman was transferred to a shelter home where she is under rehabilitation to regain her
physical and mental health under the close follow-up and monitoring of concerned authorities.
Picture used for illustrative purposes only. Image Credit: Shutterstock
Dubai: A young Saudi woman was freed after being held captive by her father for 9 months, thanks to the intervention of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), local media has said.
The young woman was transferred to a shelter home where she is under rehabilitation to regain her physical and mental health under the close follow-up and monitoring of concerned authorities.
Special teams from HRC followed up on the case of the young woman who had been subjected to physical and psychological persecution by her father who confined her in a room of their house. The HRC’s intervention came after the plight of the young woman came to light through social media platforms.
The HRC teams, in coordination with the social protection agencies and security agencies, have immediately taken action to end the suffering of the woman after verifying information shared on social media.
It was found that the woman had been subjected to physical and psychological torture by her father, who had her locked up in a room for almost nine months. It was also revealed that the woman was subjected to inhumane treatment.
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