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| June 24, 2007 | Sunday | Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Thunderstorms, gales kill 228 in Karachi KARACHI, June 24, (AFP) - Torrential rain and thunderstorms have killed 228 people and injured about 200 others in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, provincial health minister Syed Sardar Ahmed said Sunday. He said 43 people were killed as rain and high winds lashed the city on Saturday, while “the bodies of 185 more victims were identified today (Sunday).”The death toll had now risen to 228, he said, adding some 200 other people were injured, mostly in the suburbs of the port city. The heavy wind and rain late Saturday wreaked havoc in Karachi, which received 17.2 millimetres of rain within one hour. Many people died in roof collapses and electrocutions before much of the city plunged into darkness after its power grid blacked out. The worst hit area was the impoverished Gadap neighbourhood, where roofs of shanty houses collapsed on families, officials said. (First Posted @ 14:05 PST Updated @ 18:34 PST)
Thousands greet suspended Pakistani judge MULTAN, Pakistan, June 24, (AFP) - Thousands of people gave Pakistan's suspended chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry a festive welcome when he arrived in Multan on his latest tour mustering support for his reinstatement. Firecrackers boomed to herald the arrival of Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and people danced to drum beats and showered rose petals on him. The judge, who left the eastern city of Lahore early Saturday to address a lawyers' convention in Multan, covered a 230-kilometre journey to the central city in more than 30 hours. The trip to the country's political heartland is the latest in a series of processions undertaken by the judge since President Pervez Musharraf suspended him on March 9. Local bar association leader Habibullah Shakir told AFP that the convention being held on the lawns of the local high court building would be attended by some 8,000 lawyers, while political parties made separate arrangements for their workers. The venue was bedecked with life-size portraits of Chaudhry and banners vowing that the “struggle will continue for an independent judiciary”. Multan, a politically volatile city, wore a festive look as both religious and secular parties had set up camps outside the venue, where activists attracted crowds by singing anti-Musharraf parodies of popular songs. (Posted @ 23:14 PST)
Judge milks anti-Musharraf support in central Pakistan CHICHAWATNI, Pakistan, June 24 (Reuters) - Pakistan's suspended chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry carried his fight for reinstatement and the independence of the judiciary deep into the south of Punjab province on Sunday, milking support from towns along the way. “Chaudhry's refusal, not bow to five generals who threatened him of dire consequences is the real lifeline of this movement,” Aitzaz Ahsan, the leader of the legal team fighting misconduct charges against the judge, told some 1,500 lawyers in Sahiwal in city's courthouse. Opposition party workers and ordinary people watched speeches by the judge and senior lawyers on a big screen set up outside. The final destination for the cavalcade of cars travelling with the judge is the city of Multan, normally less than a four hour drive from Lahore. But having set off on Saturday morning the trip had turned into a marathon, similar to others undertaken by Chaudhry in the past few months to whip up support. (Posted @ 09:38 PST)
Justice Iftikhar lauds role of Sahiwal Bar for independence of judiciary SAHIWAL, June 24 (APP): Chief Justice of Pakistan (non functional) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry Sunday lauded the role of Sahiwal Bar for rule of law and independence of judiciary. In a brief speech at Sahiwal Bar Association Justice Iftikhar expressed his sympathies with members of the bar on the May 4 incident in which 35 lawyers were injured. He said that cases of the incident were under litigation in the court of law and assured them that they would get justice. Justice Iftikhar said that provision of justice could be delayed but it would not be denied. He said that if the three pillars of the state - Judiciary, Executive and Legislature work in their domains then the system would run in a smooth way. He said that struggle of the lawyers would definitely succeed. Justice Iftikhar thanked the people and lawyers community of Sahiwal district for extending him such a rousing welcome. CJ Iftikhar’s Counsel Aitzaz Ahsan, former President and vice president of Supreme Court Bar Association, Hamid Khan and Ali Ahmed Kurd and President Supreme Court Bar Association, Munir A Mali also spoke on the occasion. Later in the morning, the caravan left for Multan where the Chief Justice would address Multan Bar Association. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Pakistan arrests five suspected Tajik militants QUETTA, Pakistan, June 24, (AFP) - Pakistani security forces Sunday arrested five suspected Tajik militants just after they crossed the border from Iran, officials said. The militants were caught after they crossed the border post into Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, a security official said. The militants, holding Tajik passports, were carrying fake Afghan identity cards and literature showing their links to a radical group in Tajikistan, the official said, requesting anonymity. (Posted @ 22:36 PST)
Four Spanish peacekeepers killed in Lebanon blast MARJAYOUN, Lebanon, June 24, (AFP) - Four Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed and four wounded when their vehicle hit a mine or roadside bomb in southern Lebanon on Sunday, a Lebanese military source said. A Spanish colonel who requested anonymity told AFP that “a vehicle hit a mine or booby-trap in the Marjayoun-Khiam valley,” but was unable to provide further details. (Posted @ 21:40 PST)
144 dead as India's monsoon sweeps westward HYDERABAD, India, June 24, (AFP) - Monsoon rains pummeled western India Sunday after easing in southern states where 144 people have died in three days of heavy downfalls and flash floods. The southern state of Andhra Pradesh was among the worst hit with 38 dead from rainfall which tapered off Sunday. Incessant downpours since Thursday night dumped almost 200 millimetres on low-lying areas in three districts of the coastal state, causing rivers and streams to flood. But with the rain easing slightly officials are hoping more than 100,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas to 95 relief camps can return home from Monday as water levels recede. (First Posted @ 11:56 PST Updated @ 21:08 PST)
Taliban seize 18 Afghan mine clearing experts KABUL, June 24, (REUTERS) - Taliban fighters have seized 18 Afghan mine clearing experts and threatened to kill them if investigations suggest they are working for U.S.-led forces in the country, officials and the insurgents said on Sunday. The group was seized along with four specialist mine-sniffing dogs, which can take years to train, on Saturday in the Andar district of Ghazni province, part of the eastern and southern “badlands” where the Taliban are at their strongest. (Posted @ 20:48 PST)
Taiwan bus crashes into ravine, killing eight TAIPEI, June 24, (REUTERS) - A Taiwanese tour bus crashed off a mountain road and rolled 100 metres into a ravine on Sunday, killing eight people and injuring dozens, a Taiwanese television station reported. The bus was carrying 39 people. (Posted @ 16:58 PST)
Iraq's 'Chemical Ali' to be executed for genocide BAGHDAD, June 24, 2007 (AFP) - An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced “Chemical Ali,” one of Saddam Hussein's notorious former henchmen, to death by hanging for genocide over the mass slaughter of Kurds in 1988. Two other defendants were also given the death penalty by the Iraqi High Tribunal over the campaign of bombings, mass deportation and chemical gas attacks known as Anfal in which 3,000 villages were wiped out and an estimated 182,000 Kurds killed. (Posted @ 14:42 PST)
Ten killed in clashes in Lebanon port city TRIPOLI, Lebanon, June 24, 2007 (AFP) - Ten people were killed in overnight clashes between the Lebanese army and militants of Fatah al-Islam in the northern port city of Tripoli, an army spokesman said on Sunday. Six Islamist fighters, one soldier, a policeman and two civilians died in a firefight which erupted after the army raided the apartment of a militant late Saturday, he said. (Posted @ 13:23 PST)
Two more US soldiers die in Iraq BAGHDAD, June 24 (AFP) - The US military announced the deaths of two more soldiers in Iraq on Sunday, bringing total US losses to 70 in the month of June. One soldier was killed by small arms fire when his patrol was attacked in south Baghdad on Saturday, while the other died the same day in a “non-combat related incident,” the military said in a statement. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
A dozen Taliban, coalition soldier killed in battle KABUL, June 24, (APP/AFP) - More than a dozen “enemy fighters” were killed in a day-long battle involving aerial bombing in Helmand province that also killed a coalition and an Afghan soldier, the US-led force said Sunday. “The battle continued throughout the day and additional enemy fighters reinforced enemy positions in the area,” a statement said. The forces on the ground directed attack helicopters and war planes to drop bombs on enemy positions. “Over one dozen enemy fighters have been estimated killed in the prolonged battle,” it said. Two coalition soldiers were wounded but there were no reports of civilian casualties. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
24 bodies found in Baghdad Baghdad, June 24 (Reuters) - Police said they had recovered 15 bodies from different areas of Baghdad in the past 24 hours. This is in addition to 11 bodies found on the streets of Baghdad on Friday, police said. Meanwhile, the US military said two security detainees at the U.S.-run detention facility Camp Bucca in southern Iraq died after suffering heart attacks. The first died on Thursday while being transferred from another camp. The second had been severely wounded in a mortar attack on Camp Bucca and died on Friday. Separately, a car bomb killed two people and wounded 18 in the city of Hilla, south of Baghdad, police said. Three police commandos and one gunman were also killed in clashes in Samarra, 100 km north of Baghdad, police said. (Posted @ 09:53 PST)
Two Estonian soldiers killed in Afghanistan rocket attack TALLINN, June 24 (AFP) - Two Estonian soldiers were killed and four others wounded Saturday in a rocket attack in southern Afghanistan, the military said. Estonia currently has 105 troops in Afghanistan, serving in the Helmand province as part of the ISAF. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Three soldiers killed in Lebanon siege camp blast NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, June 24 (AFP) - Three Lebanese soldiers were killed on Saturday when a booby trap set by Fatah al-Islam militants exploded in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, an army spokesman said. One soldier was killed outright and three more were seriously wounded, two of them fatally, he said on the 35th day of the siege north of Tripoli. “A fourth soldier badly wounded by the explosion is in critical condition.” The body of one militant had been retrieved from Nahr al-Bared, he added. Saturday's fatalities raised to at least 147 the number of people killed since May 20. (Posted @ 09:22 PST)
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