KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued an ultimatum to the Taliban Tuesday, warning them to embrace peace or “face consequences” after announcing that the death toll from last week’s devastating truck bombing had passed 150.
Ghani has come under mounting criticism over the bombing, the deadliest in Kabul since 2001, with protests and deadly street clashes roiling the Afghan capital as people incensed by spiralling insecurity call for his government’s resignation.
The president made a strong plea for peace at an international conference on Afghanistan attended by around two dozen countries, which was held under tight security as armored vehicles patrolled the streets and fighter jets roared over the capital.
“We are offering a chance for peace but this is not an open-ended offer,” Ghani said.
“Time is running out... this is the last chance: take it or face consequences.”
The conference, labelled the “Kabul Process,” aims to build international support for ways to restore security in Afghanistan.
Ghani offered the Taliban the opportunity to open a representative office, adding that he was flexible about the location of future talks.
The insurgents responded to the conference by firing a rocket at what they claimed was NATO’s headquarters. It landed inside the Indian ambassador’s residence and no one was hurt.
Kabul has been on edge since the massive truck bomb last Wednesday ripped through the city’s highly fortified diplomatic quarter, home to the presidential palace and a host of foreign embassies.
The death toll has jumped to more than 150 people, while over 300 wounded were brought to hospitals, many with burns and amputations, Ghani told the conference.
“We are a nation of survivors. Terrorists can shed our blood but they cannot break our will,” he said.
Previously officials had put the number of dead at 90. Ghani did not explain the dramatic jump but Afghan authorities are well known for initially playing down casualty figures.
Four more people were killed Friday when hundreds of protesters incensed by the bombing clashed with police, prompting officials to force them back with live rounds fired in the air, tear gas and water cannon.
The protesters, holding a sit-in for a fifth day Tuesday near the bombing site, have demanded the resignation of security chiefs including national security adviser Hanif Atmar.
The attacks have worsened tensions between rival ethnic groups and raised the prospect of a political crisis.
Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, who heads the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat political group, also called for Atmar’s dismissal on Monday. But Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun, firmly rejected the demand.
Rabbani survived an attack at the funeral of one of the protesters on Saturday, when a suicide bomb tore through a row of mourners and killed seven more people.
He blamed “terrorists within the system” for the funeral blasts, suggesting they were an inside job.
The government has accused the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network of carrying out Wednesday’s attack, and said the funeral was targeted by bombers trained at a religious seminary in Pakistan.
Previous international efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table have failed, but diplomats in Kabul hailed Tuesday’s conference as a stepping stone to peace.
“The launch of the Kabul Process tomorrow is an important marker for each and every country in the region to show its true support for Afghanistan’s aspirations for peace,” said British ambassador Dominic Jermey on Monday.
Afghan leader issues ultimatum to Taliban as bombing toll tops 150
Afghan leader issues ultimatum to Taliban as bombing toll tops 150
Bangladesh, Qatar sign 10 cooperation deals during emir’s first Dhaka trip
- Agreements cover investment, maritime transport and establishment of joint business council
- Bangladeshi president invited Qatar’s emir to invest in the country’s special economic zones
DHAKA: Bangladesh and Qatar signed 10 cooperation agreements on Tuesday as the Gulf state’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani made his first official visit to Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Tamim witnessed the signing ceremony, which covered deals on investment, maritime transport, taxation, legal affairs and the establishment of a Bangladesh-Qatar joint business council.
The two countries also signed several memoranda of understanding, including on diplomatic training, education, labor, youth and sports, as well as port management cooperation.
Sheikh Tamim then held a meeting with President Mohammed Shahabuddin as part of his visit to Bangladesh, which is the second stop in the emir’s Asia tour that began in the Philippines on Sunday.
During their talks, Shahabuddin invited Qatar to invest in Bangladesh’s special economic zones.
“Bangladesh will welcome investments in various sectors including in state-led food supply chains from production to consumption such as agro-production and processing, food packaging, smart agriculture and fertilizer production,” Shahabuddin’s press secretary Joynal Abedin told reporters after the meeting.
“Qatar investors can get massive incentives and support in sectors like petrochemicals, energy, machineries, information technology, electronics, ceramics, agri-business, and food processing in Bangladesh.”
Shahabuddin also urged Sheikh Tamim to recruit more skilled workers from Bangladesh during their talks, Abedin said.
Qatar is currently the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to Bangladesh. Earlier this year, the emirate signed a 15-year agreement with the US-based Excelerate Energy to supply 1 million metric tons per year of LNG to Bangladesh starting from January 2026.
The Gulf state is also home to about 400,000 Bangladeshis who live and work there, as it is one of the preferred destinations for migrant workers from the South Asian country.
India’s Modi calls rivals pro-Muslim as election campaign changes tack
- Modi has accused Congress of having an election plan to redistribute wealth of Hindus among Muslims
- Modi’s government has repeatedly been accused of discrimination against India’s estimated 200 million Muslims
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party have begun attacking opposition rivals, saying they favor minority Muslims, in what analysts see as a bid to invigorate their hard-line base after general elections began last week.
India began voting on Friday in a seven-phase election at which Modi seeks a rare third consecutive term, with campaigning that had so far largely focused on his record of growth and welfare as well as his personal popularity.
But in a speech on Sunday, Modi referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” who have “more children,” linking the comment to what he called an election plan of the main opposition Congress party to redistribute the wealth of Hindus among Muslims.
The Congress denied making any such promise and petitioned the Election Commission to act against Modi, who surveys suggest will win a comfortable majority, though analysts say his party wants to avert possible voter fatigue and overconfidence.
The controversial remarks were an unusual “deviation” from Modi’s usual practice as he rarely targets Muslims directly, said Hilal Ahmed, a political analyst at Delhi’s Center for the Study of Developing Societies.
They followed low voter turnout in areas where the BJP had done well in 2019, he added.
“The low turnout simply means that the committed BJP voter has not yet come out,” Ahmed said. “They obviously want the committed voter to come out. That is the reason for this deviation.”
The comment on redistribution of wealth to Muslims was supported and amplified on Monday by BJP members, including Modi’s powerful cabinet colleague, Home Minister Amit Shah, who mentioned it in a campaign speech.
Modi aired the claim again on Tuesday, a day after speaking about the gains Muslims have made during his 10-year rule.
In the southern state of Karnataka, half of which votes on Friday in the second phase of elections, BJP members have staged protests against last week’s murder of a Hindu woman by a Muslim man.
They say the incident is an instance of “love jihad,” a term Hindu groups use to accuse Muslim men of waging a campaign that lures Hindu women to convert to Islam with promises of marriage.
EXPOSING OPPOSITION, BJP SAYS
Modi’s government has repeatedly been accused of targeting and discrimination against India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, who form the world’s third-largest Muslim population.
The government has denied all accusations, and Modi has said he works for the betterment of all.
“Stating facts and exposing the flawed strategy of the opposition is our job,” BJP president J.P. Nadda told Reuters, when asked about Modi’s weekend comments.
But he said the BJP remained committed to its slogan of betterment, underlining reforms pushed by Modi’s government to help Muslim women and the poor among the community.
Another senior BJP leader and member of the party’s central election panel said Modi’s Sunday comments should not be seen as “polarizing,” as he had only reminded voters about the “Muslim-first strategy” of Congress and its allies.
He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
In January, Modi inaugurated a grand temple to the Hindu god-king Lord Ram on a once-disputed site believed to be his birthplace, fulfilling a longstanding promise projected by the BJP as a symbol of Hindu rejuvenation.
In campaign speeches Modi refers to the temple, but he has focused more on his development and welfare record and national pride to counter the opposition focus on joblessness, price rise and rural distress in the world’s fastest growing major economy.
“When the campaign started, the focus was entirely on development, welfare, reaching out to marginalized people and Hindutva came last,” said analyst Ahmed, referring to the Hindu nationalism espoused by the BJP.
“After the first phase, they realized they need to go back to their own voters ... back to the basics.”
16 dead, 28 missing in migrant boat capsize off Djibouti: UN
- The accident occurred about two weeks after another boat carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants sank off the Djibouti coas
NAIROBI: At least 16 people are dead and 28 missing in a new migrant boat disaster off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday.
The accident occurred about two weeks after another boat carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants sank off the Djibouti coast, claiming several dozen lives.
“Tragedy as boat capsizes off Djibouti coast with 77 migrants on board including children,” the IOM said in a post on X, without specifying when the latest incident occurred.
“At least 28 missing. 16 dead,” it said, adding that the local IOM branch was “supporting local authorities with search and rescue effort.”
It was the latest deadly accident on the so-called Eastern Migration Route.
Another boat carrying more than 60 people sank off the coast of Godoria in the northeast of Djibouti on April 8, according to the IOM and the Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti.
The IOM said at the time the bodies of 38 migrants, including children, were recovered, while another six people were missing.
The embassy in Djibouti said the boat was carrying Ethiopian migrants from Djibouti to war-torn Yemen.
Each year, many tens of thousands of African migrants brave the perilous “Eastern Route” across the Red Sea and through war-scarred Yemen, escaping conflict or natural disaster, or seeking better economic opportunities.
Indian court extends pre-trial detention of opposition leader Kejriwal
- Kejriwal, chief minister of national capital territory of Delhi, was arrested last month in connection with graft allegations
- Kejriwal’s detention has united the 27-party opposition alliance called INDIA, which includes AAP and the Congress party
A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the pre-trial detention of Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal until May 7 in a corruption case, the legal news website Live Law reported.
Kejriwal, the chief minister of the national capital territory of Delhi, was arrested last month in connection with graft allegations relating to the city’s liquor policy, weeks before general elections.
The Enforcement Directorate, India’s federal financial crime-fighting agency, is investigating allegations that a liquor policy implemented by the Delhi government in 2022 gave undue advantages to private retailers.\
The policy was subsequently withdrawn. Kejriwal, who rose to power as an anti-corruption crusader and is a critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has denied wrongdoing.
His arrest on March 21 sparked protests in Delhi and in the northern state of Punjab governed by his decade-old Aam Aadmi Party, and also drew the attention of the United States and Germany.
His detention has united the 27-party opposition alliance called INDIA, which includes AAP and the Congress party.
However opinion polls suggest that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has a strong lead in elections that are underway and is likely to win a historic third term.
Opposition parties have alleged that the action against Kejriwal is politically motivated but Modi and his party deny the accusations and say law enforcement agencies operate independently.
A seven-phase general election is underway in India, with the second phase of voting scheduled to take place on Friday.
EU urges donors to fund UN agency for Palestinians after review
BRUSSELS: The EU’s humanitarian chief on Tuesday urged international donors to fund the UN agency for Palestinians after a review said Israel had not yet provided evidence that hundreds of staff were members of terrorist groups.
European commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic welcomed the report for “underlining the agency’s significant number of compliance systems in place as well as recommendations for their further upgrade.”
“I call on the donors to support UNRWA — the Palestinian refugees’ lifeline,” he wrote on X.
An independent review group on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said it had found some “neutrality-related issues” in its much-anticipated report released Monday.
But the review led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna noted “Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence” for its claim that UNRWA employs more than 400 “terrorists.”
The review group was created following allegations made by Israel in January that some UNRWA staff may have participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. In the weeks that followed, numerous donor states suspended or paused some $450 million in funding.
Many have since resumed funding, including Sweden, Canada, Japan, the EU and France — while others, including the United States and Britain — have not.
The US Congress passed a bill signed into law by President Joe Biden last month that blocks funding from Washington until March 2025.
The freezes to the main aid agency in Gaza come as months of Israeli military operations have turned the territory into a “humanitarian hellscape,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guteres said recently, with its 2.3 million people in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medicine.
Colonna’s team was tasked with assessing whether UNRWA was “doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality,” while Guterres activated a second investigation to probe Israel’s allegations.
Despite a robust framework for ensuring it upheld the humanitarian principle of neutrality, the review found that “neutrality-related issues persist,” including instances of staff sharing biased political posts on social media and the use of a small number of textbooks with “problematic content” in some UNRWA schools.
But it added “Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence” for its claim that UNRWA employs more than 400 “terrorists.”
UNRWA began operations in 1950 and provides services to nearly six million people across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
