Pakistan said its military posts along the border came under attack by Afghan Taliban forces on Tuesday, sparking renewed clashes that killed 67 Afghan troops and one Pakistani soldier. Afghanistan rejected that account as 'baseless.' The Taliban government in Kabul instead said its forces had successfully repelled attacks from Pakistan and killed four Pakistani soldiers.
The Shia cleric especially admires Victor Hugo. He has called Les Miserables the best novel ever written: a miracle; a book of history, criticism, love, and feeling. Its protagonist, Jean Valjean, returns to the righteous path thanks to the forgiveness and compassion of a religious figure: Bishop Myriel. Les Miserables is a tale of piety and redemption.
Once again, blatant lies and exaggerated claims are being propagated to justify the attack. Duplicitous American diplomacy became a fig leaf for premeditated aggression. The cautionary advice of allies was spurned. The UN, international law and public opinion were ignored. Democratic consent is lacking.
Pakistan's military carried out the air raids early on Sunday, targeting what it called camps and hideouts belonging to armed groups behind a spate of recent attacks, including a deadly suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in the capital, Islamabad. The country's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar wrote on X that the military conducted intelligence-based, selective operations against seven camps belonging to the Pakistan Taliban group, known by the acronym TTP, and its affiliates.
The spokesperson of the Taliban regime in Kabul, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a statement on social media platform X that the attacks "killed and wounded dozens, including women and children." He called Pakistan's claim of killing 70 militants "inaccurate." Islamabad did not say precisely which areas it targeted or provide additional details. The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement that "various civilian areas" in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in eastern Afghanistan were hit, including a religious madrassa and multiple civilian homes.
Pakistan says it has launched strikes on armed groups in Afghanistan after blaming recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it says are operating from its neighbour's territory. Kabul has repeatedly denied allowing armed groups to use Afghan territory to stage attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence on Sunday said dozens of innocent civilians, including women and children, were martyred and wounded when strikes hit a school and homes in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika.
Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on seven militant sites inside Afghanistan in a "retributive response" to recent suicide attacks claimed by Afghan-backed extremists, as tensions escalated between the two South Asian neighbors. Pakistan "has carried out intelligence-based selective targeting of seven terrorist camps and hideouts," the Information Ministry said early on February 22. Islamabad said it had "conclusive evidence" that recent attacks inside Pakistan were carried out by Afghan-based Pakistani Taliban extremists who were allegedly acting on instructions from "their Afghanistan-based leadership and handlers."
A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region killed four people, including a 17-year-old boy, while another attack on the southeastern Zaporizhia region killed a 77-year-old man, according to Ukrainian authorities. Russian attacks on Ukraine's Odesa region wounded two people and caused damage to homes, cars and an energy facility, officials said. Another Russian attack on the Dnipropetrovsk region wounded a 77-year-old man.
The Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office said the strike completely destroyed the house, trapping the family beneath the rubble. It said three children were killed twin boys aged two and their one-year-old sister along with their father, 34. The children's mother, who is 35 weeks pregnant, was pulled alive from the rubble by rescue teams, suffering from blast injuries, a traumatic brain injury, burns and hearing loss, prosecutors said.
Juliana Conceicao startled awake as the first shots of an infamous day were fired in the Complexo da Penha, the labyrinthine Rio favela where she was born and raised. It was 4.30am on 28 October. Thousands of police had surrounded the community's barricaded entrances and were preparing to swarm up its streets on foot and in black armoured personnel carriers with firing ports and bullet-cracked ballistic windows.
Ukrainian officials said at least three people were killed in overnight Russian strikes that targeted residential buildings in the eastern city of Kramatorsk. The February 8 attacks included heavy "glide" bombs, officials said, weapons that Russia has used to devastate both Ukrainian frontline positions as well as residential areas. Nearly 20 people were injured in the early morning attacks, the National Police said. In total, Russia fired more than 400 drones and missile at locations across the country, President Volodymy Zelenskyy said.
