Bombs against Kurds, other attacks in Iraq kill 33

BAGHDAD: A double bombing tore through Kurdish political party offices in northern Iraq in the deadliest of a series of attacks nationwide that killed at least 33 people, officials said.

It was the second such assault in as many days. Nobody claimed responsibility for Monday´s attack.

But an al-Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the previous double bombing Sunday against Kurdish offices in Jalula, northwest of Baghdad, killing 19 people.

Small bomb hits Buddhist temple in Indonesia; one injured

JAKARTA: Police and government officials on Monday condemned an attack on a Buddhist temple in Indonesia's capital after a small bomb detonated as devotees inside prayed, injuring one person. Two other devices failed to go off.

The explosion happened Sunday night at the Ekayana Grha Buddhist temple in West Jakarta.

The blast went off near the front door of the building, slightly damaging the structure, chief of National Police Detective Lt. Gen. Sutarman told reporters at the scene.

Attacks on Baghdad mosques kill nine

BAGHDAD: A Shia and a Sunni mosque in Baghdad were targeted in bombings that killed at least nine people, Iraqi officials said.

Police officials said a suicide bomber set off his explosives on Shia worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in the city's suburb of Hussainya late on Tuesday.

Seven people died and 11 were wounded in that attack.

Deadly wave of bombings and shootings claim 50 lives in Iraq

At least 50 people have been killed in bombings and shootings across Iraq. In the deadliest attack, a bomb in a parked car exploded in a busy market killing 14 people in central Muqdadiya, 80km (50 miles) northeast of the capital Baghdad ."I was sitting in my neighbour's shop when suddenly we heard a big explosion," said eyewitness Salim Aziz.

"I had no time to see anything, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself at the hospital and I was injured in my right hand and left leg, surrounded by dozens of wounded people," he added.A car bomb targeted a market in the centre of southern city of Basra killing at least three people, security sources told Al Jazeera.

No double standards, says Nawaz

FAISALABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said here on Monday that unlike the previous government, his government would not adopt double standards on the issue of drone attacks. The previous regime used to criticise drone attacks, but silently supported them, he said.

“We hope that drone attacks will end in the days to come,” Mr Sharif said in an address to industrialists, exporters, traders and media personnel.

Roadside bomb kills 17 villagers in Afghanistan

KABUL: A roadside bomb struck a motorcycle-drawn cart carrying women and children between two villages Tuesday in western Afghanistan, killing all 17 people on board, a grim reminder of the dangers facing Afghan civilians ahead of the 2014 withdrawal of foreign combat troops.

Terror strikes Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple, Buddha idol safe; NIA begins probe

Nine bomb blasts in a coordinated terror attack rocked Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya and its famed Mahabodhi temple complex in south central Bihar early on Sunday, injuring two monks.Buddhists from all over the world visit the temple, which has the Bodhi tree under which Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. “The holy Bodhi tree is safe and there is no damage to it,” said Bihar director general of police Abhayanand.

Protesters storm Muslim Brotherhood HQ in Cairo

CAIRO: The Cairo headquarters of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood was overrun by youths who ransacked the building after those inside had been evacuated on Monday following a night of violence.

Security sources said five people were killed in hours of fighting around the besieged building. Medical sources said over 100 were wounded. Reuters journalists saw youths hurl petrol bombs and rocks at the offices. Guards inside opened fire. By Monday morning, people inside were still firing on youths outside. Reuters journalists saw two men hit.

Bombing in southeast Pakistan kills 2

QUETTA: An alleged suicide bomber and a civilian were killed in a explosion near a mosque in Kuchlak area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province on Thursday.

A police officer who requested not to be named since he was not authorised to speak to media told Dawn.com that a suspected suicide bomber was carrying a suicide jacket, when killed in a mysterious blast.

"The suicide bomber was coming to Quetta to cause maximum damage, when his own suicide jacket went off", he said.

All seven militants dead at end of Kabul airport attack

KABUL: All seven militants who launched an attack Monday on Kabul airport died in the assault, Afghan police said, adding that no civilian and security force casualties had yet been reported.

"There were seven assailants -- two (suicide bombers) died detonating themselves and five others were killed in fighting," Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, chief of Kabul police, told reporters.

String of bombings kill 12 in Iraq market: officials

BAQUBA: Three near-simultaneous bombings -- two car bombs and a suicide attack -- killed at least a dozen people in a fruit and vegetable wholesale market north of Baghdad on Monday, officials said.

The blasts went off in the town of Judaida al-Shat, which lies just west of the restive city of Baquba and remains one of Iraq's most dangerous.

The bombings left another 48 people wounded, a police officer and a medic said.

Nine children killed in Afghan suicide attack: officials

KABUL: A suicide bomb attack targeting US and Afghan forces killed nine children heading home from school in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said.

One policeman was also killed and two coalition soldiers were among about 16 people wounded, Zalmai Uriakhail, the police chief of Paktia province, told AFP of the attack, which used an explosives-packed motorcycle.

Chennai Super Kings end Sunrisers' home run with emphatic victory

HYDERABAD: The Sunrisers Hyderabad's attack, which had bamboozled visiting sides on five previous occasions and had converted the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium into a fortress, came apart on Wednesday night as the batting might of the Chennai Super Kings was felt in full measure.
Mauled by the Mumbai Indians in their previous game, the Super Kings were in no mood to show any mercy to the Sunrisers bowlers, who for once, failed to rise to the challenge.

Bangladesh opposition calls strike over mass killing

DHAKA: Bangladeshi opposition parties have called a two-day nationwide shutdown from Wednesday to protest what they describe as the “mass killing” of Islamists in a crackdown by security forces.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies called the strike after saying that hundreds of people were killed on Sunday and early Monday, when police broke up a mass rally in central Dhaka.

According to an AFP tally compiled after talking to police and medical sources, 38 people are known to have been killed since Sunday afternoon when police first confronted Islamist activists who had blockaded the capital.

Bomb hits JUI-F meeting in Hangu; 10 dead

HANGU: At least 10 people were killed and several others wounded when a bomb went off near a JUI-F’s election gathering here on Tuesday.According to police, the blast took place at the main market in Doaba area of Hangu district. JUI-F candidate in PK-43 Mufti Saeed Janan is also among the injured.Rescue and police teams reached the scene and started the injured to hospitals.According to district administration, curfew was clamped in Hangu immediately after the terrorist attack.

PML-N's women wing leader held for attempted suicide

ISLAMABAD: A leader of the PML-N's women wing was arrested after she attempted self-immolation in Quetta city of southwest Pakistan after being denied a ticket for the May 11 general election, police officials said today.

Police arrested Sakina Mengal on the charge of trying to commit suicide during a news conference at the Quetta Press Club yesterday.

While addressing the conference, Mengal and other women leaders of the PML-N alleged that the party's leadership had ignored old workers who made many sacrifices and instead awarded tickets to persons who had joined the party only recently.

Militants storm Afghan court as Taliban stand trial; 7 dead

HERAT :Five militants stormed a court in Afghanistan on Wednesday where Taliban insurgents were standing trial, killing seven people and wounding 75, officials said.

At least one of the attackers blew himself up and a gun battle between Afghan security forces and an insurgent holed up inside the court was going on in the capital of the western province of Farah, near the Iranian border, said provincial deputy governor Mohammad Younis Rasouli.

"They stormed the court as a trial was being held to convict 10 Taliban fighters," he told Reuters, adding that four civilians and three members of the security forces were killed.

Anti-government strike hits Bangladesh

DHAKA: Opposition activists have detonated small homemade bombs and set fire to several vehicles in the latest anti-government protest to hit Bangladesh’s capital, police said.  

Bangladesh’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its 17 allies staged the protest to enforce a nationwide strike Tuesday to press for the release of more than 150 opposition members arrested during earlier anti-government protests.

Peshawar grid station attack: Bodies of 5 missing men found

PESHAWAR: The bodies of five persons who went missing after a grid station was attacked by rockets in Peshawar have been found from nearby fields Tuesday, Geo News reported.

At least two people were killed while several areas of Peshawar plunged into darkness when unidentified miscreants fired rockets at Budha Beer Shaikh Muhamamdi grid station late at night.

Police said a WAPDA and police personnel were injured in the attack on the grid station. The injured succumbed to their wounds on way to hospital.

Explosions outside Turkey's justice ministry

Two devices have exploded outside Turkey's justice ministry and offices of the ruling AK Party in the capital Ankara, days ahead of an expected ceasefire with Kurdish rebels.

Turkish television stations on Tuesday showed footage of police cordoning off streets and ambulances arriving. CNN Turk said at least two people were wounded.