Pakistan yesterday denied that its security forces were allowing men to cross its border with Afghanistan unchecked, even as its military wages its biggest assault yet against suspected al-Qaeda militants in a tribal region near the frontier.
An Associated Press reporter who visited the Afghan side of the border Saturday in southeastern Paktika province -- about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from a battle between Pakistani forces and militants -- saw men of fighting age stream back and forth across the frontier at a rate of about two a minute. None were asked for documents.
But Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, spokesman for Pakistan's Interior Ministry, said that Pakistani paramilitary rangers and troops were alert and guarding the border to prevent any "miscreants" from crossing illegally.
He said guards might allow local tribesmen they recognize to cross to visit relatives.
"There are many tribes near the Pakistan-Afghan border. People belonging to these tribes are usually not discouraged by the government from visiting relatives," he said.
"Our people, who are guarding the border, know these tribesmen very well," he said. "These are the people who might have been seen crossing the border."
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
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It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers on Monday said that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That is essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time. “As it stands, proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated,” the Finnish-led team wrote in a study appearing in Nature Astronomy. While good news for the Milky Way galaxy, the latest forecast might be moot
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