10 killed as stranded Pakistanis’ camp attacked in BD

 

DHAKA: At least 10 people were killed on Saturday in a clash at a stranded Pakistanis refugee camp over firecrackers exploding during a religious event in Bangladesh, police and witnesses said.
The dispute arose after morning prayers at a camp in Mirpur, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka. Using firecrackers during Shab-e-Barat, a Muslim festival, is prohibited in Bangladesh. “Nine people, including two children, were burnt to death after the houses were set on fire during the clashes,” local police official Imtiaz Ahmed told reporters. An angry mob also clashed with police and pelted stones, forcing the security personnel to fire bullets and teargas to disperse them, witnesses said. Another man, who was hit by bullets, died in a hospital and several others were injured, doctors said. An investigation into the clashes has been launched. Thousands of stranded Pakistanis have been living in refugee camps in Bangladesh since the 1971 independence war to break away from Pakistan. They want to go over to Pakistan but Islamabad has refused to take them.

Jang group vehicle attacked in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: Vehicles of the Jang group continue to be targeted across Pakistan. In the latest attack a vehicle carrying the group’s newspapers was first hijacked and later burnt in Rawalpindi.

The incident took place at 2:00 AM on Murree Road. The attackers hijacked the vehicle and the driver was assaulted. According to the driver Muhammad Razzaq he was delivering newspapers to Islamabad when his vehicle was stopped by four armed men. Razzaq said he was blindfolded and was told he would not be allowed to deliver the papers.

After being assaulted, Razzaq was left on the roadside. The driver reached the Jang building in Rawalpindi and the hijacked vehicle was recovered at 9:00 AM. The attackers had set the vehicle and newspapers on fire. The newspapers were reprinted and sent for delivery.

This is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Jang group newspaper delivery vehicles. On May 25 a vehicle was attacked in Lahore. Attacks have also taken place in Karachi and Rawalpindi.

Two killed as train attacked in Bolan

QUETTA: Two passengers of the Akbar Bugti Express were killed and 10 others were injured when unidentified armed men attacked the train in the Bolan district of Balochistan on Monday.

The Quetta-bound train, which was on its way from Lahore, was attacked in the Panir area of Bolan, some 95 kms from the provincial capital, by unidentified armed men with automatic weapons.

The attackers also fired two rockets which hit the bogies of the train, said officials of the Pakistan Railways. Reports suggested that the assailants had taken up positions in the Panir area near the Mach Tehsil, when they attacked the train at around 3:45pm. The attackers fired two rockets and used other modern weapons.

The Frontier Corps (FC) and Railways Police personnel retaliated. However, the attack was so sudden and intense that 12 passengers of the train sustained multiple injuries.

Railways officials told The News that two passengers, Muhammad Ali, a resident of Mach, and Muhammad Nadeem, who belongs to Bahawalpur, sustained multiple injuries when rockets hit the train and breathed their last on the spot.

The 10 injured were shifted to hospital in Mach for treatment where the condition of some of them is stated to be precarious. The officials said that on being informed, an additional force of FC and police reached the spot and cordoned off the area to trace out the attackers. Later, the train reached Quetta. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Agencies add: Unknown armed men also gunned down the driver of a container on the National Highway near the New Bus stop area in Naseerabad. The Afghanistan bound container from Karachi was on its way when two armed men on a motorbike opened fire on it. The container driver, Zar Bodin, died on the spot.Meanwhile, a boy was killed in an incident of firing in the Nawan Killi area by unknown persons. The deceased was identified as Manzoor.

Afghan election HQ attacked by militants: official

KABUL: Insurgents attacked the headquarters of the Afghan election commission in Kabul on Saturday, officials said, one week ahead of voting and after a series of bloody attacks in the city.

"I can confirm an attack at the IEC (Independent Election Commission) headquarters," Noor Mohammad Noor, the IEC spokesman, told AFP. "We heard two explosions inside the IEC compound, the sound of firing is still ongoing, but people are safe and are in (reinforced) safe rooms."

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said: "Initial information shows that three or four attackers have occupied a building and are firing on the IEC office.

"On Friday, Taliban militants attacked a Kabul guesthouse used by a US anti-landmine charity, killing two people. Friday´s assault was the fourth significant attack this year in Kabul targeting foreigners or places where foreigners congregate.

The Taliban have vowed a campaign of violence to disrupt the polls on April 5, urging their fighters to attack polling staff, voters and security forces in the run-up to election day.