A blast apparently caused by explosives stored in a house in Karachi yesterday killed at least seven people, some of whom may have been militants, police said.
The explosion occurred in Baldia, a mostly ethnic Pashtun neighborhood that is a suspected Taliban hide-out, police Chief Wasim Ahmad told reporters.
Its exact cause was unclear.
TV footage showed police seizing guns, suicide vests and grenades from the site.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said some people from Swat Valley, a region where the army has waged an offensive against the Taliban, were believed to have been staying at the house along with some guests, but he stressed the investigation was ongoing.
Noor Mohammed, a local resident, said he rushed to the scene just after the explosion and saw some of the dead men were wearing camouflage jackets. He said the men moved into the house about three months ago.
On Dec. 28, a bomb attack on a minority Shiite Muslim religious procession in the city killed 43 people and wounded dozens. Riots broke out after the attack, with people setting fire to the country’s largest wholesale market. The blaze burned for more than two days and destroyed thousands of shops.
Malik said authorities plan to crack down on “illegal immigrants” in Karachi — a possible reference to Afghans, many of them Pashtun, who reside in vast settlements on the city’s outskirts.
He said such illegal immigrants had 15 days to leave the city.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS