Clashes with PAT workers leave 73 policemen injured

ISLAMABAD: At least 73 policeman were injured in clashes with Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) supporters in the twin cities of Islamabad early Monday morning. The clashes occurred ahead of Tahir ul Qadri's return to Pakistan to lead what he has called an anti-government "revolution".

Dr Tahirul Qadri, who drew tens of thousands of supporters to a sit-in protest in Islamabad in January last year, was due to arrive a week after ten people were killed in a previous clash with the police in Lahore.

Several security men belonging to Islamabad, Punjab and Azad Kashmir Police sustained injuries in the encounters with PAT supporters that broke out late on Sunday night in the adjoining areas of Islamabad airport.

The PAT workers also attacked the Koral police station and injured many policemen. Many others sustained injuries when the enraged activists of PAT pelted them with stones and used batons.

Many policemen suffered fractures and serious head injuries who were later shifted to different hospitals. Hospital sources told that 40 injured security personnel were brought to Poly Clinic, 11 to PIMS and 27 to DHQ Hospital, Rawalpindi.

More than 20 policemen were discharged after providing them the first aid, however, the remaining injured personnel are currently being treated at the emergency unit of the mentioned hospitals.

Blast kills four Afghan policemen: officials

GHAZNI: An explosion killed four Afghan police including a district chief on Thursday as they attempted to defuse a roadside bomb in the restive south, officials said.

Afghanistan has seen a flare-up in violence ahead of the second-round presidential election on June 14, with Taliban insurgents threatening to disrupt the polls.

Thursday´s blast occurred as Mohammad Qasim and his team attempted to defuse one of two roadside bombs found in Waghiz district of Ghazni province.

"They defused the first bomb and while they were trying to defuse the second one nearby, it detonated and killed them," provincial spokesman Shafiq Nang told AFP.

One policeman was wounded in the attack and taken to a nearby hospital, deputy police chief of Ghazni, Assadullah Safi, said while confirming the incident.

The incident comes after 16 policemen were killed in a series of attacks in the space of 24 hours last month, as security forces gear up to guard the election.

Providing security for the vote is a key test for Afghan police and soldiers, with the bulk of 51,000 NATO combat troops due to pull out of the country by December after more than a decade fighting the Taliban.

No one has claimed responsibility for Thursday´s attack, but roadside bombs are the Taliban´s weapon of choice in their war against the foreign and Afghan forces. (AFP)

3 policemen killed in western Afghanistan bomb blast

KABUL: An Afghan official says a roadside bombing has killed three policemen and wounded two in the country´s western Herat province.

District police chief Shir Agha Alokozay says the attack took place in the province´s Obe district on Tuesday morning, when the police vehicle the officers were riding in hit the roadside bomb.

Alokozay says the bomb was set off by a remote control device and that the police have caught a suspect with the remote control.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Afghan security forces are frequently targeted by insurgents and violence has intensified in the country as most international troops prepare to withdraw at the end of the year.

Militant attack in Afghanistan kills 4 policemen

KABUL: Officials say a militant attack on a security post in eastern Afghanistan has killed four policemen.

The Khost provincial government says in a statement Thursday that two members of the national police and two border police died in the attack the previous night in Ali Shir district.

It says three militants were killed in the battle and one was captured.

The deputy police chief for Khost, Yaquob Khan, says the battle for the post lasted two hours. He says the attackers were from the Haqqani network. (AFP)