Minority MPA shot dead by bodyguard in Quetta

 

QUETTA: Minority MPA Handery Masieh, who belonged to the ruling National Party (NP) in Balochistan, was shot dead by his bodyguard here in the Nawan Killi area on Saturday.
Official sources said MPA Handery Masieh along with his nephew Owais Masieh was heading towards his vehicle that was parked near his home in Nawan Killi, when they were attacked. The attacker sprayed bullets from his automatic weapon injuring the MPA and his nephew. Later, the MPA succumbed to his injuries on his way to hospital.

Reports suggested that the incident happened at around 1:15pm. The attacker fled the scene after the incident.

Official sources said the MPA was hit by two bullets, one each in the head and neck.

Police and FC officials rushed to the spot and started the probe into the matter.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch expressed deep grief over the cold-blooded murder of his party’s senior activist. He said he had directed top police officials to apprehend the murderer.

The body of the MPA was later shifted to Civil Hospital for autopsy.

Moving scenes were witnessed in Civil Hospital where people belonging to the Christian community strongly protested the killing of their leader. They blocked Jinnah Road for several hours and chanted slogans against the cold-blooded murder of the MPA. They demanded of the government to apprehend those involved in the killing.

The murder created tension in the provincial capital and the law enforcement agencies were deployed in the Nawan Killi area to prevent any violent reaction to the assassination. The law enforcement agencies also set up checkposts to apprehend the culprit.

Agencies add: Handery Masieh belonged to Balochistan’s Mastung district and was an active leader of the ruling NP.

“The same guard was serving with Handery Masieh for the past 15 years,” Rehmat Baloch, provincial health minister, said.

Abdul Razzaq Cheema, the city’s police chief, said: “The bodyguard had some personal dispute with Handery Masieh’s nephew and both had a brawl outside the residence of the lawmaker. “The bodyguard opened fire on the nephew as Handery came out of his home to stop him. He was hit in the neck and died on the way to hospital.”

Cheema added that the bodyguard was “loyal” and bore Handery no personal enmity.

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former president Asif Ali Zardari, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi and MQM chief Altaf Hussain strongly condemned the assassination of Handery Masieh.

In their separate messages, they expressed sympathies with the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul.

Banda singer 'Tito Torbellino' shot dead in Mexico

MEXICO CITY: A US-born singer of northern Mexican "banda" music has been shot to death at a restaurant in the border state of Sonora.

State police in Sonora said Tomas Tovar Rascon was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and was shot several times at the restaurant in Ciudad Obregon.

Tovar Rascon, 33, was better known by his stage name, "Tito Torbellino."

His Facebook page said he was scheduled to perform at a concert in Ciudad Obregon on Friday. A US booking agent listed for Torbellino confirmed his death.

Police said two gunmen entered the restaurant Thursday and shot Tovar Rascon at close range. He died on the way to a local hospital.

Members of other musical groups have been murdered in Mexico in recent years, usually groups that perform "narcocorridos" that celebrate the exploits of drug traffickers.

But while some guns appear in Torbellino's music videos, his songs mainly focused on unrequited love, not drug gangs.

Experts say drug capos sometimes target musicians because of their ties to rival groups, or sentimental involvements.

In 2013, South Texas singer Jesus "Chuy" Quintanilla was found shot in the head near Mission, Texas. Quintanilla was well known for his ballads, including some about the exploits of Mexican drug cartels.

Elijah Wald, author of the book, "Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns and Guerrillas," noted previous victims have included singers of a number of genres, not only narcocorridos. Getting entangled with the girlfriend of a criminal, for example, could be dangerous.

"In that world, it's probably more dangerous to be singing romantic songs than narcocorridos because it increases the chances that somebody's girlfriend will suddenly decide that you're the cutest thing ever," he said.

Wald said he didn't have any information on the motive in the Torbellino's killing, but noted that the singer appears only recently to have become successful.

"It's often just a matter of somebody sponsoring someone who isn't paying them back or isn't being properly respectful once they make it," Wald.

"You're in a world where's it's very, very easy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or have the wrong friends or look sideway at the wrong girl. The list of things you can do wrong once you're in that world gets very large."

Mayor of eastern Ukraine city shot

The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city was shot in the back on Monday and pro-Russia insurgents seized yet another government building as tensions rose in eastern Ukraine ahead of a new round of U.S. sanctions.

In a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama has promised to levy new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged provocations in eastern Ukraine.

Officials have not commented on the circumstances of the shooting and it was not clear who was behind it. Kernes was a staunch opponent of the pro-West Maidan movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Kharkiv is in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian gunmen have seized government buildings, set up roadblocks or staged protests to demand greater autonomy or outright annexation by Russia.

On Monday, masked militants with automatic weapons seized another city hall building in eastern Ukraine, this time in Kostyantynivka, 160 kilometres from the Russian border.

After the seizure, about 15 armed men guarded the building. Some posed for pictures with residents while others distributed St. George’s ribbons, the symbol of the pro-Russia movement.

Kostyantynivka is just 35 kilometres south of Slovyansk, a major city in eastern Ukraine that has been in insurgents’ hands for more than three weeks now.

Mayor of eastern Ukraine city shot

The mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city was shot in the back on Monday and pro-Russia insurgents seized yet another government building as tensions rose in eastern Ukraine ahead of a new round of U.S. sanctions.

In a bid to ratchet up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama has promised to levy new sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged provocations in eastern Ukraine.

Officials have not commented on the circumstances of the shooting and it was not clear who was behind it. Kernes was a staunch opponent of the pro-West Maidan movement that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Kharkiv is in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian gunmen have seized government buildings, set up roadblocks or staged protests to demand greater autonomy or outright annexation by Russia.

On Monday, masked militants with automatic weapons seized another city hall building in eastern Ukraine, this time in Kostyantynivka, 160 kilometres from the Russian border.

After the seizure, about 15 armed men guarded the building. Some posed for pictures with residents while others distributed St. George’s ribbons, the symbol of the pro-Russia movement.

Kostyantynivka is just 35 kilometres south of Slovyansk, a major city in eastern Ukraine that has been in insurgents’ hands for more than three weeks now.

5 including sister shot dead by brother over marriage of choice

SWABI: A brother gunned down five persons including his sister, brother-in-law and nephew over marriage of choice at Qab Ghani on Monday here, Geo News reported.

Police said that the sister of the accused, who had married by choice some eight years ago and had left the area, returned to her native place a few days ago. The accused on information of her arrival went to his sister’s in-laws home and opened indiscriminate firing, killing five persons including his sister, brother-in-law and nephew, while another nephew of the accused and a woman sustained injuries.

The bodies and the injured were shifted to the District Headquarter Hospital.

Police hunting for the accused, who immediately after firing successfully escaped from the scene of incident.

Four of a family shot dead in Kashmore

KASHMORE: At least four people of a family were shot dead in Bhitayi Colony area of the city, Geo News reported Monday.

According to reports, gunmen barged into a house and opened indiscriminate firing, killing a couple and their daughter and son.

Police said that the assailants managed to flee after the killings. Identities and ages of the deceased were yet to be known.

Afghan Taliban shot at downed US helicopter 'head-on'

WASHINGTON: Taliban fighters shot at a US helicopter head-on from nearly point-blank range, US lawmakers heard Thursday, in what was the single deadliest incident for US and Nato forces in the Afghan war.
Lawmakers were grilling US military officials over the August 6, 2011 attack on the Chinook that killed 30 Americans as it transported Navy SEAL commandos, along with other American and Afghan troops, to flush out a Taliban commander in Wardak province.
Families of some of the victims have alleged the military has not revealed all the facts of the incident, failed to punish commanders in charge of the operation and mishandled some of the remains of the dead.
They have also suspected Afghan soldiers involved in the operation could have passed word to the Taliban of the chopper's route.
But officials sought to counter allegations that have circulated online, saying officers at the time employed the right helicopter and the right tactics and that the remains of the dead were handled with respect.
Taliban fighters atop a building near the designated landing zone fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at the chopper from nearly head-on, at a distance of less than 250 yards (meters), said Garry Reid, the Pentagon's principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.
The close range left “the pilot no chance to perform evasive maneuvers,” Reid said.
The attack occurred when the American CH-47D Chinook with the call sign “Extortion 17” flew low into the Tangi Valley.
US Army Ranger forces had staged an operation earlier targeting the Taliban figure and the Navy SEALs were flown in to try to cut off the escape route of the fleeing commander.
Reid dismissed the possibility that Taliban militants learned about the helicopter's route beforehand, saying only the Navy SEALs and air crew knew the flight route and landing zone.
A C-130 aircraft, a Predator drone and two Apache helicopters had flown over the designated landing area minutes earlier and failed to detect the Taliban fighters nearby, he said.
The harsh reality is that helicopters remain vulnerable to RPGs and other shoulder-launched weapons, he added, saying the Chinook is the standard helicopter used by troops at high elevations in Afghanistan due to its longer range and that flying a modified model designed for special forces would not have made a difference.
Chinooks have been shot down by RPGs previously in Afghanistan in 2005 and in 2002, he said before the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security.
He told lawmakers “the fact remains we will always have to balance the tactical requirement to move troops quickly across the battlefield with the dangers of incurring lethal enemy fire and flying in extreme terrain.”
Even the hearing itself was the subject of controversy, as some relatives reportedly complained that no commanders involved with the operation testified and the families were not invited to speak before the panel.
But not all the families wanted the hearing to take place and do not support the allegations made by some relatives, said John Tierney, a Democrat on the panel.
“They've asked for privacy and they seek closure.”

Afghan official shot dead in Chaman

QUETTA: An Afghan government official and two other people were gunned down in separate incidents in Balochistan on Thursday.
Police sources said two unidentified men on a motorcycle opened fire on Sardar Mohammad, a customs officer in Afghanistan, in Roghani road area of Chaman. He received multiple bullets injuries and was rushed to a hospital, but died before getting any medical treatment. His body was handed over to Afghan officials after an autopsy.
According to sources, Sardar Mohammad was an important official and was considered a close associate of Afghan commander Abdul Raziq Khan, the in charge of Spin Buldak district, the first Afghan district after zero point at the Pak-Afghan border. At least 12 Afghan officials and Afghan Taliban commanders have been killed in Quetta and the border town of Chaman over the past one and a half years.
Pakistani official say that Afghan intelligence officials are usually involved in the killing of Afghan Taliban leaders in border areas and Quetta.
Meanwhile, armed men barged into the house one Kahir Mohammad in Quetta’s Etihad Colony and killed his son Abdul Zahir.
In Mastung, unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle killed a man, who was identified as Ghulam Nabi.