MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that it wanted the United States to clarify recent remarks by US President Donald Trump about the possible resumption of nuclear testing, given that such a step would trigger serious responses from other countries.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the comments at a news briefing in Moscow.
Trump last week ordered the US military to immediately restart the process for testing nuclear weapons after a halt of 33 years. But it was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.
Given the lack of clarity around US plans, President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday instructed top officials to prepare proposals for Russia to carry out its own potential nuclear test in response to any US test.
Moscow has not carried out a nuclear test since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and the US possess the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.
Russia says it wants the US to clarify its nuclear testing intentions after Trump remarks
https://arab.news/vm7u5
Russia says it wants the US to clarify its nuclear testing intentions after Trump remarks
- Trump last week ordered the US military to immediately restart the process for testing nuclear weapons after a halt of 33 years
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.
