2 killed including a 16-year-old in Russian artillery strikes in Ukraine

Ukrainian servicemen from air defense unit of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade fire an anti aircraft cannon at a frontline near the town of Bakhmut on Mar. 6, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 09 March 2024
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2 killed including a 16-year-old in Russian artillery strikes in Ukraine

  • The attacks came as Russia is gaining momentum on battlefield and Ukraine is running low on ammunition
  • Ukraine’s allies in the West are delicately raising the prospect of sending troops

KYIV: Ukrainian authorities said two people including a teenage boy were killed Saturday in Russian artillery attacks and Russia reported it had shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet and destroyed a wave of drones over several regions.
The attacks came as Russia is gaining momentum on battlefield and Ukraine is running low on ammunition.
Ukraine’s allies in the West are delicately raising the prospect of sending troops. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said Friday that deploying NATO troops to Ukraine “is not unthinkable.” French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that the idea should not be ruled out.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, said a 16-year-old boy was killed and a 22-year-old man injured in a morning artillery attack that hit the town of Chervonohryhorivka. The town is on the opposite bank of the river from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest, and the area is subject to almost-daily Russian attacks.
In the town of Chasiv Yar, one person was killed in artillery fire, according to authorities in the Donetsk region, much of which is under Russian control and where fighting has been heavy throughout the war that is now in its third year.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 41 drones that were launched over the Rostov region, which borders Ukraine and is home to Russia’s southern military command, along with two drones over the Kursk region and three over Volgograd. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The ministry also said the air force had shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet over Pokrovsk, a city and important railway junction in the Donetsk region that is a prime Russian target following Ukrainian forces’ February withdrawal from Avdiivka, a significant setback for Ukraine’s struggling war effort.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, reported that Ukrainian drones attacked two villages near the border Saturday, but that no one was injured. The governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, did not specify damage from the attacks.
Despite its military setbacks, Ukraine resists suggestions of peace negotiations with Russia. During a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country was willing to host a peace summit of Russia and Ukraine.
But Zelensky remains firm on not engaging directly with Russia on peace talks and has said multiple times the initiative in peace negotiations must belong to the country which has been invaded.


Death toll in Karachi shopping plaza fire rises to 10 as search continues for dozens missing

Updated 57 min 39 sec ago
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Death toll in Karachi shopping plaza fire rises to 10 as search continues for dozens missing

  • Mayor Murtaza Wahab said on Monday that four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10
  • The fire broke out late Saturday. According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, families reported about 60 people missing

KARACHI: The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, rose to at least 10 after rescuers recovered four more bodies from the badly damaged building during an overnight search for dozens of people reported missing, officials said Monday.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory Gul Plaza late Sunday nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building to rescue those trapped there. Mayor Murtaza Wahab said four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10.
Local media reported that at least 14 people died in the blaze.
The fire broke out late Saturday and spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, the city’s chief rescue officer.
On Sunday night, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said families had reported about 60 people missing, prompting authorities to launch the search operation. Relatives of the missing gathered outside the heavily damaged building Monday, many in tears, witnesses said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garments factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.