Pakistani forces killed a top tribal warrior and four comrades in overnight raids on a mud compound in a remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said yesterday.
Nek Mohammad, who protected al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal belt, was killed near the region's main town of Wana, 400km southwest of Islamabad, an intelligence official said requesting anonymity.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said the military attacked Mohammad's hideout overnight after receiving reports that he had taken refuge there.
"He has been killed with four other terrorists," Sultan said in Islamabad. "It is a big success in the war against terror," he added, refusing to give further details of the operation.
Pakistan has been battling al-Qaeda-linked militants and tribesmen sheltering them for months in a campaign to rid the country of Islamic radicals.
Up to 600 foreign militants, including Uzbeks, Arabs and Che-chens who joined the US-funded insurgency against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, are believed to be living in tribal areas, although dozens have been killed in recent clashes.
Thousands of mourners gathered for Mohammad's funeral in the village of Kalosha, near Wana. People wept and many at first refused to believe the turbaned and black-bearded 27-year-old had been killed. His body lay on a low cot wrapped in a white sheet, his face showing scars and bruises, witnesses said.
Mohammad Noor, a local tribesman who saw the warrior die in hospital, said he had lost a leg in overnight fighting and one arm was badly wounded.
"He was a brave man," said Noor. "His last words were `Allahu Akbar' [God is Greatest]."
The death of Mohammad raises fresh fears of a violent backlash by militants in Pakistani cities, senior officials said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of