Latest news with #northwest
LBCI
3 days ago
- LBCI
Pakistani Islamist militants use drones to target security forces, officials say
Islamist militants in Pakistan have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in the country's northwest, police said, a potentially dangerous development in the volatile region. The use of such drones, which are powered by four rotors allowing for vertical take-off and landing, is worrying the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against militant attacks, officials said. Two quadcopters sent by the militants targeted a police station earlier this month, killing a woman and injuring three children in a nearby house in Bannu district, said police officer Muhammad Anwar. A drone spotted over another police station on Saturday was shot down with assault rifles, he said. It was armed with a mortar shell, he said. At least eight such drone attacks have targeted police and security forces in Bannu and adjacent areas in the last two and a half months, he said. Reuters
France 24
3 days ago
- General
- France 24
Anguish at Bangladesh hospital after jet hits school
In Bangladesh's deadliest aviation accident in decades, a training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into a school campus in the northwestern part of its bustling capital Dhaka. Grief hung heavy over the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, where many of the more than 150 injured were rushed for treatment. Tofazzal Hossain, 30, broke down in tears on learning that his young cousin had been killed. "We frantically searched for my cousin in different hospitals," Hossain told AFP. "He was an eighth grader. Finally, we found his body." The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft crashed moments after students were let out of class at 1:00 pm (0700 GMT) at the Milestone School and College. The well-known private school offers education to kindergarten children as well as senior secondary students. "We have two playgrounds, one for the senior students and one for the juniors," said Shafiur Rahman Shafi, 18, who is enrolled at the school. "We were on the playground for the seniors. There were two fighter planes... Suddenly one of the two planes crashed here (in the junior playground)," he told AFP. "It created a boom, and it felt like a quake. Then it caught fire, and the army reached the spot later." 'Helping the children' The Dhaka hospital's joint director, Mohammad Maruf Islam, said most of the injured were aged between eight and 14. Of the 51 brought to the facility, at least 20 were critically hurt, he said. Monsur Helal, 46, waited grimly as his wife Mahrin -- a coordinator in the school -- lay unconscious on life support. "Mahrin was helping the children out of the classroom when the plane suddenly crashed near her," he said. "She was able to speak with me briefly, but now she is unresponsive." Outside the hospital's intensive care unit, grieving and tearful mothers comforted one another, sharing harrowing stories of how they found their children. Dozens of volunteers lined up at the hospital, ready to donate blood. The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday. The crash was the worst aviation accident in the country in several decades. The deadliest ever disaster happened in 1984 when a plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Eight Pakistan paramilitary troops, four militants killed in northwest
PESHAWAR: At least eight Pakistani paramilitary troops and four militants were killed in a clash in the country's northwest, senior local officials said Monday, in the latest violence to hit the restive region. 'Armed terrorists attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) convoy with heavy weapons... The fighting continued for several hours,' a senior local security official told AFP. 'Eight FC personnel were killed, and 11 were injured,' he said. Three injured soldiers are in critical condition, while the clash also killed four militants, he added. A senior administration official in the area confirmed the details to AFP. The clash, which lasted for several hours, took place in Daburi, Orakzai district, near the Afghan border. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad accuses its western neighbor of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban denies. More than 320 people, mostly security personnel, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistani Islamist militants use drones to target security forces, officials say
ISLAMABAD: Islamist militants in Pakistan have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in the country's northwest, police said, a potentially dangerous development in the volatile region. The use of such drones, which are powered by four rotors allowing for vertical take-off and landing, is worrying the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against militant attacks, officials said. Two quadcopters sent by the militants targeted a police station earlier this month, killing a woman and injuring three children in a nearby house in Bannu district, said police officer Muhammad Anwar. A drone spotted over another police station on Saturday was shot down with assault rifles, he said. It was armed with a mortar shell, he said. At least eight such drone attacks have targeted police and security forces in Bannu and adjacent areas in the last two and a half months, he said. Regional police chief Sajjad Khan said militants were still trying to master the use of the drones. 'The militants have acquired these modern tools, but they are in the process of experimentation and that's why they can't hit their targets accurately,' he added. The militants are using the quadcopters to drop improvised explosive devices or mortar shells on their targets, five security officials said. They said these explosive devices were packed with ball bearings or pieces of iron. Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said the police lacked resources to meet the new challenge. 'We do not have equipment to counter the drones,' he told the local Geo News channel on Sunday. 'The militants are better equipped than we are,' he said. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the drone strikes. The main militant group operating in the northwest is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. But they denied using the drones. 'We are trying to acquire this technology,' a TTP spokesman told Reuters. In 2024, Islamist militants carried out 335 countrywide attacks, killing 520 people, according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an independent organization. In recent weeks, thousands of residents from the border region have staged protests, aimed against both the attacks by militants and what they fear is an offensive planned by the army, according to a statement issued by the demonstrators. They said they feared that a military operation against the militants would displace them from their homes. A sweeping operation against militants in 2014 was preceded by a forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents. They spent months, and in many cases years, away from their homes. Pakistan's army did not respond to a request for comment on whether an operation was planned.
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Pakistani militants use drones to drop bombs on security forces, officials say
Militants in Pakistan have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in the country's northwest, police said, a potentially dangerous development in the volatile region. The use of such drones, which are powered by four rotors allowing for vertical take-off and landing, is worrying the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against militant attacks, officials said. Two quadcopters sent by the militants targeted a police station earlier this month, killing a woman and injuring three children in a nearby house in Bannu district, said police officer Muhammad Anwar. A drone spotted over another police station on Saturday was shot down with assault rifles, he said. It was armed with a mortar shell, he said. At least eight such drone attacks have targeted police and security forces in Bannu and adjacent areas in the last two and a half months, he said. Regional police chief Sajjad Khan said militants were still trying to master the use of the drones. "The militants have acquired these modern tools, but they are in the process of experimentation and that's why they can't hit their targets accurately," he added. The militants are using the quadcopters to drop improvised explosive devices or mortar shells on their targets, five security officials said. They said these explosive devices were packed with ball bearings or pieces of iron. Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said the police lacked resources to meet the new challenge. "We do not have equipment to counter the drones," he told the local Geo News channel on Sunday. "The militants are better equipped than we are," he said. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the drone strikes. The main militant group operating in the northwest is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. But they denied using the drones. "We are trying to acquire this technology," a TTP spokesman told Reuters. In 2024, Islamist militants carried out 335 countrywide attacks, killing 520 people, according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an independent organisation. In recent weeks, thousands of residents from the border region have staged protests, aimed against both the attacks by militants and what they fear is an offensive planned by the army, according to a statement issued by the demonstrators. They said they feared that a military operation against the militants would displace them from their homes. A sweeping operation against militants in 2014 was preceded by a forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents. They spent months, and in many cases years, away from their homes. Pakistan's army did not respond to a request for comment on whether an operation was planned.
