Category World News

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An explosion has killed at least 12 people and injured several others outside a court building in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, police say.

“We are probing what kind of blast it was. It is not clear yet. We will be able to provide more details after we get a report from our forensic team,” a police spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The blast occurred near the entrance of Islamabad district court, which is typically crowded with a large number of litigants.

Local media showed gory pictures of the site, with bloodied individuals lying near a police van.

“As I parked my car and entered the complex… I heard a loud bang on the gate,” lawyer Rustam Malik said after the blast, which sent people fleeing and damaged vehicles in the area.

“It was complete chaos, lawyers and people were running inside the complex. I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire,” said Malik, one of the witnesses who spoke to AFP news agency.

Syria has signed up to join the international coalition led by the United States to combat the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.

The announcement, made by Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa and US officials, came shortly after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Washington and was welcomed at the White House by US President Donald Trump on Monday.

Al-Mustafa said a “political cooperation declaration” signed by Damascus with the international coalition confirms Syria’s role in “combating terrorism and supporting regional stability”.

“The agreement is political and until now contains no military components,” he wrote in a post on X.

The agreement makes Syria the 90th country to join the coalition, which aims to prevent foreign fighters from joining ISIL’s ranks and eliminating the remaining elements of the group from across the Middle East.

The announcement was expected. A spokesperson for Syria’s Ministry of Interior had announced on Saturday, as al-Sharaa was set to arrive in the US for his meeting with Trump, that nationwide preemptive operations were carried out targeting ISIL cells.

According to state-run Al-Ikhbariah TV, Syrian security forces carried out 61 raids, with 71 people arrested and explosives and weapons seized.

On Monday, the Reuters news agency quoted unnamed officials as saying that Syria had foiled two ISIL plots to assassinate al-Sharaa.

The senior Syrian security official and senior Middle Eastern official said the assassination plots were foiled over the past few months.

They asserted that the schemes underline the direct threat that al-Sharaa faces as he tries to consolidate power in a fragmented country that has been devastated by 14 years of civil war.

The Syrian leader was praised by Trump during their meeting at the White House as he secured a six-month suspension of US sanctions against his country.

The 43-year-old president toppled the former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December in a swift armed offensive.

Cambodia has denied laying new landmines along its border with Thailand after Bangkok suspended the implementation of an enhanced ceasefire signed last month over an explosion that wounded four Thai soldiers.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence expressed regret at the landmine explosion the previous day in Thailand’s Sisaket province near the countries’ shared border, saying the blast had taken place in an old minefield.

The ministry said such unexploded ordnance was “remnants of past conflicts” and urged Thai soldiers to avoid patrols in mine-contaminated zones.

Despite the dispute, “both military forces on the front lines had communicated with each other, and, as of now, the situation remains calm, with no tension having been reported,” the ministry added.

Thailand and Cambodia signed their enhanced truce in Malaysia last month after long-running territorial disputes between the Southeast Asian neighbours led to five days of combat in late July.

The conflict, which killed at least 48 people and temporarily displaced an estimated 300,000, marked their worst fighting in recent history.

The enhanced ceasefire, signed in the presence of United States President Donald Trump, sought to build on an earlier truce brokered in July and included the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons.

It also called for Bangkok’s release of 18 Cambodian prisoners of war.

The Thai government on Tuesday insisted the Cambodian explanation was insufficient and said it was halting the release of the Cambodian soldiers, which had been slated for Wednesday.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said his country’s decision would be explained to the US and Malaysia, the chair of the regional bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has facilitated the ceasefire process.

“What they [Cambodia] have said is not sufficient. We have to see what Cambodia’s stance is from now on,” he said.

The Thai military late on Monday said officials had inspected the landmine explosion site in Sisaket and found an explosion pit and three more antipersonnel mines.

Spokesperson Major General Winthai Suvaree said the explosion occurred in an area that Thai soldiers had previously secured. He said that since October 17, the soldiers had removed landmines and laid defensive barbed wire there.

But the wire was destroyed on Sunday, and the soldiers checking the site on Monday stepped on the mine, Winthai said.

“The evidence led to the conclusion that intruders secretly removed the barbed wire and laid the landmines in the Thai territory, targeting the personnel who conduct regular patrols there,” Winthai said, according to the Bangkok Post.

“The act shows Cambodia’s insincerity in reducing conflict and reflects hostility which violates the jointly signed declaration,” he added.

The military said a sergeant lost his right foot in the explosion and the other three suffered minor injuries from shrapnel or the impact of the blast.

There was no immediate comment from the US or Malaysia.

While the Thai-Cambodian truce has generally held since July 29, both countries have traded allegations of ceasefire breaches.

Polls have opened in Iraq for parliamentary elections that are marked by apathy and scepticism despite close geopolitical attention.

Polling started across the country at 7am (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday, in a vote that will be closely watched in Iran and the United States.

The sixth election since the US-led invasion toppled longtime ruler Saddam Hussein in 2003, voting takes place in a relatively stable country.

However, many Iraqis have lost hope that elections can bring meaningful change to their daily lives, feeling that the vote benefits only political elites and regional powers.

Nearly 21 million Iraqis are eligible to vote across 4,501 polling stations nationwide, reported the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

More than 7,750 candidates, nearly a third of them women, are running for 329 seats in parliament. Under the law, 25 percent of seats are reserved for women, while nine are allocated for religious minorities.

Under the electoral law that many believe favours larger parties, just 75 independent candidates are standing.

Observers fear that turnout might dip below the record low of 41 percent in 2021, reflecting voters’ apathy and scepticism in a country marked by entrenched leadership, allegations of mismanagement and endemic corruption.

The polls will close at 6pm (15:00 GMT), with preliminary results expected within 24 hours.

Familiar faces

By convention in post-invasion Iraq, a Shia Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister and a Sunni that of parliament speaker, while the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.

However, few new potential candidates have emerged recently, with the same veteran politicians at the forefront.

Current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, elected in 2022 with the backing of pro-Iran parties, is expected to secure a sizeable bloc in parliament as he seeks a second term.

Other frontrunners include influential Shia figures, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Muslim scholar Ammar al-Hakim.

Sunni parties are running separately, with the former parliament speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, expected to do well.

The ballot is marked by the absence of influential Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who has urged his followers to boycott the “flawed election”.

In 2021, al-Sadr secured the largest bloc before withdrawing from parliament following a dispute with Shia parties that refused to support his bid to form a government, and instead came together to form a larger alliance.

Balance

Throughout his time in office, al-Sudani has sought to balance Iraq’s relations with Tehran and Washington.

Even as its influence wanes, Iran hopes to preserve its power in Iraq – the only close ally that remained out of Israel’s crosshairs amid the war in Gaza.

By way of contrast, Lebanon and Yemen suffered heavy losses as Israel struck at armed groups that they host.

The US also holds significant sway in Iraq with forces deployed across the country.

Early last year, pro-Iran factions in Iraq, listed as terrorist groups by Washington, yielded to internal and US pressure and halted the targeting of these forces. Baghdad remains under pressure from the US to disarm the groups.