TEHRAN: Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency is reporting the country’s civil aviation agency has banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan because of the dramatic surge in coronavirus cases in the two nations.
IRNA says the decision was made by Iran’s Health Ministry and it takes effect Saturday at midnight.
Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization noted there are no routine flights between Iran and India and “flights are operated occasionally.”
Several other countries in the region, including the sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait, also have banned flights to and from India over the rise in coronavirus cases there.
Zibakhsh said flights to and from 41 countries already were prohibited in Iran, while those who want to fly to other countries listed as high risk are required to have a coronavirus test in Iran. Travelers over 8 years old need to submit a negative PCR test within 96 hours of departure and do another test on arrival.
Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 18,230 new confirmed cases over 24 hours, bringing Iran's total on Saturday to more than 2,377,000.
Iran bans flights from India and Pakistan
https://arab.news/vrn8r
Iran bans flights from India and Pakistan
- State news agency IRNA says the decision was made by Iran’s Health Ministry and it takes effect Saturday at midnight
- Spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization says flights to and from 41 countries already prohibited in Iran
Pakistan police detain teen girl radicalized online in suspected suicide bombing plot
- The girl was targeted online by the Baloch Liberation Army, which was designated as a terrorist group by the US this year
- In 2022, a female suicide bomber affiliated with the BLA killed three Chinese teachers near a university campus in Karachi
KARACHI: Police in Pakistan detained a teenage girl who was radicalized and recruited online by an outlawed separatist group to carry out a “major suicide attack,” authorities said Monday.
No criminal charges will be filed and she will be placed under state protection as “a victim rather than a suspect,” Sindh provincial Home Minister Ziaul Hassan said at a news conference.
The girl was detained during a routine police check on buses as she traveled to Karachi, the Sindh province capital, from southwestern Balochistan province to meet a handler, Hassan said.
The girl was targeted online by the Baloch Liberation Army, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States earlier this year. The group convinced the girl that carrying out an attack would bring her honor and recognition within the Baloch community, similar to other women who have carried out suicide bombings against security forces, Hassan said.
“The girl appeared confused when police officers asked her routine questions,” said Hassan, who added that she was taken to a police facility and disclosed months of contact with militants through social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
The girl appeared with her mother at a news conference but her face was covered and her name and age were withheld. Police showed a video statement she made with details about her contacts with BLA and how she agreed to carry out a suicide attack.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar condemned BLA and other separatist groups for luring people toward violence and said detaining the girl prevented a potential large loss of life.
Baloch separatists have waged an insurgency since the early 2000s seeking greater autonomy and in some cases independence from Pakistan while demanding a larger share of natural resources.
Authorities said the group has attempted to increase its use of female attackers in recent years. A female suicide bomber affiliated with BLA killed three Chinese teachers in 2022 near a university campus in Karachi.
