DUBAI: French President Emmanuel Macron said Turkey might attempt to interfere with the upcoming French elections, according to a report by Bloomberg.
“The threats aren’t veiled, so I think that we must be very lucid,” Macron said on Tuesday in an interview with France 5 television.
But the French leader did not specify if he meant the presidential vote in 2022 or the regional elections and departmental elections in June, or both.
He said Turkey would be “playing on public opinion,” in what is likely a reference to the influence it has on the Turkish diaspora via schools, mosques and other organizations.
The French leader followed his comments by saying that dialogue with Turkey remains necessary because it is a NATO member and on the issue of illegal migration.
Macron says Turkey ‘could interfere’ in French elections
https://arab.news/9447j
Macron says Turkey ‘could interfere’ in French elections
Two killed in suicide attack targeting security forces in Pakistan’s northwest
ISLAMABAD: Two security personnel, including an officer, were killed, while multiple others sustained injuries when a suicide blast targeted their vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said.
The suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden motorbike into an armored vehicle of security forces in Sara Darga area of KP’s Bannu district, according to a local police official who requested anonymity.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have carried out similar assaults in the region in past.
“The attack had damaged the armored vehicle, causing deaths and injuries,” he told Arab News, adding that they suspected the Pakistani Taliban to be behind the attack.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP, which borders Afghanistan, in recent years, with militant groups, particularly the TTP, frequently targeting security forces, law enforcers and government officials in the region.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Taliban militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint jointly manned by security forces and law enforcement agencies in KP’s Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel among 12 people, the Pakistani military’s media wing said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
