United News of Bangladesh

Afghan media outlet TOLOnews has reported that Taliban forces carried out drone strikes on Pakistani military installations in Miranshah and Spinwam, both located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Citing unnamed security sources, TOLOnews said the attack triggered a fire at the Spinwam military base, reports Al Jazeera . According to the report, the strikes were launched in response to air attacks carried out by the Pakistan Air Force on Thursday night.

Jordan has voiced support for diplomatic initiatives to halt the ongoing violence, saying it is closely monitoring the recent border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan that have left several people dead and wounded. In a statement, the Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it backs all diplomatic efforts aimed at settling conflicts and disputes through peaceful means, according to ministry spokesperson Fuad al-Majali, reports Al Jazeera . Jordan also underlined the importance of restraint, dialogue, respect for state sovereignty, and adherence to the principles of good neighbourliness, the spokesperson added.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday said the country is in “open war” with Afghanistan after Islamabad carried out airstrikes on Afghan territory following attacks on Pakistani military posts near the border. “Our patience has now run out,” Asif said, referring to Thursday night’s offensive by the Afghan Taliban on Pakistani positions. The latest escalation comes amid months of cross-border clashes despite a fragile ceasefire agreed in October. Previous negotiations failed to reach a comprehensive deal, with both sides blaming each other for lack of sincerity, reports BBC. The Taliban said it had launched a “retaliatory operation” on Thursday evening, claiming to capture 19 Pakistani military posts and two bases, and asserting that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Pakistan denied the claims, saying the Taliban had “miscalculated” by opening unprovoked fire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, prompting an “immediate and effective response” by its forces. Early Friday, Pakistan launched airstrikes on Kabul, Kandahar, and Paktika, targeting Taliban positions. Military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said 22 Afghan targets were hit, claiming over 200 Taliban fighters were killed, with 12 Pakistani soldiers dead. The Taliban, however, said 13 fighters were killed, 22 injured, and 13 civilians wounded. Independent verification of the casualties is not available. The Taliban also claimed to have carried out airstrikes using drones against Pakistani military positions in Kandahar and Helmand, while Pakistan said it thwarted drone attacks on Swabi, Nowshera, and Abbottabad. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed that the country had “full capability to crush any aggressive ambitions” and insisted there would be “no compromise” in defending its homeland. Diplomatic efforts are underway to ease tensions. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held talks with his Turkish and Saudi counterparts to discuss peace and stability. Iran offered to facilitate dialogue between the two countries, while UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urged immediate steps toward de-escalation and protection of civilians. Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban government of supporting “anti-Pakistan terrorists” responsible for recent attacks, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad.

A Delhi court on Friday discharged all 23 accused in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) excise policy case, also known as the alleged Delhi liquor scam, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, both senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party. The order was passed by Special Judge Jitendra Singh, who said the court found no material on record to support the prosecution’s case against any of the accused. The court also refused to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet filed in connection with the excise policy-linked corruption allegations. Soon after the verdict, the Central Bureau of Investigation said it would immediately challenge the trial court’s decision in the high court, claiming that several aspects of its investigation were either ignored or not adequately considered. Reacting to the ruling, Kejriwal told reporters that the court had declared both him and Sisodia honest. Visibly emotional, he described the excise case as the biggest political conspiracy in the history of independent India and said the verdict vindicated the Aam Aadmi Party’s claim of integrity. He later said the order proved that he and his party were “Kattar Imaandar” (absolutely honest). Kejriwal and Sisodia were among those arrested by the CBI during its probe into alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy of the erstwhile AAP government in Delhi. Both were taken into custody while serving as chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively. Earlier, in January, a Delhi court had acquitted Kejriwal in two cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate over allegations of evading summonses related to the same excise policy investigation. The CBI had filed its first chargesheet in the case in 2022, followed by several supplementary chargesheets. The agency alleged that ₹100 crore was paid by a so-called “south lobby” to influence the excise policy in its favour. Apart from Kejriwal and Sisodia, the chargesheet named several others, including K Kavitha, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, according to a report by ANI. #From Hindustan Times

Pakistan has carried out air strikes on Afghanistan’s capital Kabul and two other provinces, sharply escalating months of border tensions, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country’s forces are fully prepared to crush any aggressive ambitions by the Afghan Taliban. According to Pakistani officials, the strikes on Friday targeted locations in Kabul as well as Kandahar and Paktika provinces. The attacks followed an announcement by the Afghan Taliban late Thursday of a major offensive against Pakistani military posts near the border. Pakistan’s Defence Minister described the situation as an “open war” with the Afghan Taliban, while several cabinet members publicly praised the armed forces. Islamabad accuses the Taliban-led government in Kabul of backing militants linked to repeated attacks inside Pakistan, a claim consistently denied by Afghan authorities. A spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban said on social media that their forces had responded with renewed attacks against Pakistani troops, though the post was later deleted. Taliban officials also claimed retaliatory strikes on Pakistani border posts, with both sides making conflicting assertions about casualties that could not be independently verified. Afghan state television reported that three civilians, including a woman and two schoolchildren, were killed in Paktika province during Pakistani air strikes, with several others injured. Pakistan has said its operations were precision strikes carried out in response to what it called unprovoked aggression. The escalation has drawn international concern. The United Nations, China, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have all urged restraint. China called on both sides to resolve differences through dialogue and said it was ready to play a constructive role in de-escalation, while Iran offered to mediate between the neighbours. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai condemned the strikes, saying Afghans would defend their homeland and urging Pakistan to pursue good neighbourly relations instead of military action. Analysts told the BBC that while the latest air strikes mark a serious escalation, they are part of a long-running pattern of tit-for-tat violence. Experts noted that, despite its experience in guerrilla warfare, the Taliban is unlikely to engage Pakistan in a full-scale conventional conflict given Pakistan’s far superior military capabilities. Fighting has also disrupted areas near key border crossings, including Torkham, one of the main routes for people and goods between the two countries. The border has largely remained closed since clashes last year, worsening conditions for Afghan returnees and refugees. With official briefings expected from both Islamabad and Kabul, the situation remains fluid, raising fears of further instability in an already volatile region.   With inputs from BBC

Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces early Friday, Afghanistan's government spokesperson said, hours after Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan in the latest escalation of violence between the neighboring countries that made a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky. At least three explosions were heard in Kabul, but there was no immediate information on the exact location of the strikes in the Afghan capital, or of any potential casualties. Government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan also carried out airstrikes in Kandahar to the south and in the southeastern province of Paktia. Two senior Pakistani security officials told The Associated Press that Pakistan’s military carried out airstrikes targeting what they described as Afghan military facilities in Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia provinces, allegedly destroying two brigade bases, but they didn’t mention any potential casualties. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media on the record. Afghanistan said its military launched its attack across the border into Pakistan late Thursday in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas Sunday, and claimed to have captured more than a dozen Pakistani army posts. Pakistan’s government, which had described last Sunday’s airstrikes as an attack on militants harbored in the area, described Thursday’s Afghan attack as unprovoked, and dismissed claims that army posts had been captured. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media on the record. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urges both sides to protect civilians as required under international law and “to continue to seek to resolve any differences through diplomacy,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. Afghan strikes were retaliatory “In response to the repeated rebellions and insurrections of the Pakistani military, large-scale offensive operations were launched against Pakistani military bases and military installations along the Durand Line,” Mujahid said in a post on X Thursday night. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said the retaliatory attacks occurred along the border in six provinces. The two countries’ 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) long border is known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan has not formally recognized. Differing casualty figures The two sides reported widely differing casualty figures. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said 55 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, including some whose bodies had been taken into Afghanistan, while “several others were captured alive.” It put its own casualties at eight killed and another 11 wounded. The ministry said it had destroyed 19 Pakistani army posts and two bases, and that the fighting had ended at midnight, about four hours after the start of the attack. Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, however, said the number of Pakistani soldiers killed stood at two, with three others wounded. He said 36 Afghan fighters had been reported killed. In a post on X, he said Pakistan was giving a “strong and effective response” to what he called unprovoked firing from Afghanistan. Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, spokesperson for Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denied that any Pakistani soldiers had been captured. Later, in a post on X, he added that at least 133 Afghan fighters were killed and more than 200 wounded, saying that 27 Afghani posts were also destroyed and nine fighters were captured. He didn't specify where the victims died, and just added that there would be “many more casualties estimated in strikes in Kabul, Paktia and Kandahar military targets.” Refugee camp hit Both sides also reported exchanges of fire in the Torkham border area. Afghan authorities were evacuating a refugee camp near the Torkham border crossing after several refugees were wounded, said Qureshi Badlon, head of Torkham's Information and Public Awareness Board. The Defense Ministry said 13 civilians were wounded in a missile strike on the camp, including women and children. On the Pakistani side of the border, police said residents were also evacuating to safer areas, while some Afghan refugees who had been waiting to cross back into Afghanistan were also moved to secure locations. Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown on migrants in October 2023 and has expelled hundreds of thousands of people. Pakistani police said mortars fired from Afghanistan had landed in nearby villages, but there were no reports of civilian casualties. “Pakistan will take all necessary measures to ensure its territorial integrity and the safety and security of its citizens,” Pakistan's Information Ministry said in a post on X. Afghanistan's military released video footage of military vehicles moving at night, and the sound of heavy gunfire. The video could not be independently verified. Months of tension Tension has been high between the two neighbors for months, with deadly border clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. The violence followed explosions in Kabul that Afghan officials blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad, at the time, conducted strikes deep inside Afghanistan to target militant hideouts. A Qatari-mediated ceasefire between the two countries has largely held, but the two sides have still occasionally traded fire across the border. Several rounds of peace talks in November failed to produce a formal agreement. On Sunday, Pakistan’s military carried out strikes along the border with Afghanistan, saying it had killed at least 70 militants. Afghanistan rejected the claim, saying dozens of civilians had been killed, including women and children. The Defense Ministry said “various civilian areas” in eastern Afghanistan had been hit, including a religious madrassa and several homes. The ministry said the strikes were a violation of Afghanistan's airspace and sovereignty. Militant violence has surged in Pakistan in recent years, much of which Pakistan blames on the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and outlawed Baloch separatist groups. The TTP is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban. Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating from inside Afghanistan, a charge both the group and Kabul deny.

About 25,000 children in Kunar province are still living in makeshift tents six months after a devastating earthquake struck the region, international aid group Save the Children said on Thursday. According to its report, families are using traditional wood- or coal-burning heaters inside tarpaulin shelters to stay warm, which increases the risk of fire. It added that reconstruction work in the mountainous area has hardly started, and the destruction in some villages is so severe that they are unlikely to be rebuilt. At least 61 dead as heavy snowfall, rain lash Afghanistan  The quake also badly damaged the education system. More than half of nearly 1,300 classrooms assessed were either completely or partially destroyed. Even before the disaster, around 50,000 primary school-aged children in Kunar — the worst-hit province — were already out of school, the report noted. A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan on August 31 last year, causing widespread devastation mainly in Kunar and becoming one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s recent history.

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Islamabad and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan on Wednesday. The tremors were felt in Peshawar, Chitral, Swat, Swabi, Bajaur, Mardan, Charsadda and Mansehra, DawnNewsTV reported, adding that they were also felt in Islamabad. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the quake struck at 4:12pm at a depth of 114 kilometres. It said the earthquake’s epicentre was in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region. The department also said the quake was felt in Islamabad, Swat, Peshawar and Chitral. Pakistan lies on three major tectonic plates — the Arabian, Eurasian and Indian — which create five seismic zones beneath the country. The intersection of multiple fault lines means tectonic activity remains frequent in the region. Last week, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with tremors felt in Shangla, Swat, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera.

Six members of a family were killed and three others injured when unidentified armed men attacked a house in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday, police said. The attack occurred in Buleda tehsil of Kech district, where the assailants opened indiscriminate fire and also fired a mortar round at the house, police sources said. The victims included women and children. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, and some of them were reported to be in critical condition. Pakistan launches border strikes inside Afghanistan; Red Crescent says 18 killed Provincial Planning and Development Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi condemned the incident and blamed the banned militant group Balochistan Liberation Army for carrying out the assault. He described the incident as an attack on innocent civilians and said law enforcement agencies had been mobilised to arrest those responsible and bring them to justice.

Thai authorities said Tuesday that 72 tigers in two tourist animal parks in northern Thailand died from canine distemper virus (CDV), not bird flu, reassuring the public that the outbreak poses no human health threat. The tigers, located in Mae Taeng and Mae Rim districts of Chiang Mai province, became ill and died over a ten-day period from Feb. 8 to 18. Autopsies detected genetic material of CDV and some bacterial infection, but no avian influenza virus. Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat confirmed that no human infections have been reported, though officials are monitoring anyone who recently came into contact with the animals. CDV, which affects dogs and felines, can be particularly severe in tigers, especially in confined environments with stress or inbreeding. The carcasses were necropsied, disinfected, cremated, and buried to prevent further risk, according to Livestock Development Department Director-General Somchuan Rattanamangklanan. Veterinarian Visit Arsaithamkul, involved in the necropsies, said the exact source of the infection remains unclear, suggesting that shared food sources might be a factor given the parks’ proximity. Both Tiger Kingdom parks remain closed. Authorities also reminded the public to exercise caution with poultry, amid ongoing concerns about bird flu in the region, citing previous outbreaks in Thailand and neighboring countries.