BRUSSELS: The European Union condemned the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.
“The EU condemns the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in an (Israeli military) airstrike outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, including the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif,” she said after EU foreign ministers discussed the war in virtual talks.
An Israeli military statement accused Sharif of heading a Hamas “terrorist cell” and being “responsible for advancing rocket attacks” against Israelis.
The EU took note of Israel’s allegation, Kallas said, “but there is a need in these cases to provide clear evidence, in the respect of rule of law, to avoid targeting of journalists.”
The 27-country bloc has struggled to take action over the conflict in Gaza as it is divided between staunch supporters of Israel and those who defend the Palestinians.
The EU struck a deal last month to increase aid access to Gaza, but senior officials have said the agreement has been only partially implemented.
Kallas called on Israel to allow more aid into the territory.
“Whereas there is more aid coming in, the needs are still much greater. We urge Israel to allow more trucks and a better distribution of aid,” she said.
EU condemns Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza
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EU condemns Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza
- EU foreign policy chief also called on Israel to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip
Pakistani Taliban kill six soldiers in checkpoint attack
- Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern border area with Afghanistan, killing six soldiers and wounding four others, a government official said Tuesday.
Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021.
It accuses Afghanistan of harboring the insurgents, a claim the Taliban government denies.
Late Monday, more than a dozen armed men attacked the checkpoint, leading to a heavy exchange of fire in Kurram, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Six security personnel were martyred and four were injured, while two militants were also killed in the fighting,” the government official posted in Kurram, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
The Pakistani Taliban group, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has long been active in the region, and claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of sheltering TTP militants and allowing them to launch cross-border attacks from there — a charge Kabul denies.
The border between the two countries has been closed since the clashes in October, though Pakistan said last week it would allow UN aid supplies to pass to Afghanistan soon.
The attack comes days after an exchange of gunfire and shelling between Afghan and Pakistani forces at a major border crossing that killed four civilians and one soldier, according to Afghanistan.
Each side accused the other of starting the fighting.
