For VOA, Muhammad Saqib now on the difficult life of many migrants and refugees who ended up in Pakistan. Bezhan Hamdard narrates his story.
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Unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan killed a senior journalist in eastern Ghazni province Monday evening.A local police spokesman told VOA that Rahmatullah Nikzad, head of the journalists’ union in the area, was attacked just outside his home in the provincial capital, also named Ghazni.The slain reporter was associated with several foreign media outlets.Faisal Naveed, a local journalist, told VOA Nikzad was shot three times in the chest and rushed to a local hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.No one immediately took responsibly for the death of Nikzad, the fifth journalist to have been killed in Afghanistan in the last two months, and seventh this year.The Taliban quickly distanced itself from the incident and denounced it, saying, “As a solid journalist, Nikzad maintained good relations” with the insurgent group.Global media watchdogs describe Afghanistan as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. They have repeatedly urged the government to take effective measures to protect the media and to investigate and prosecute those behind violent crimes against journalists.”Journalists are not safe in Afghanistan. Murky circles continue to gun down journalists in order to crush the right to inform,” tweeted Torke Farhadi, a former Afghan government adviser and political commentator.More than 30 journalists have been killed directly for their work in Afghanistan over the past 10 years, according to the press freedom organization, Committee to Protect Journalists. 
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At a recently opened café in New Delhi’s biggest park, older visitors pick up a coffee and walk to an isolated spot, while younger ones dine on site, optimistic that the outdoor location makes it safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.    “It’s been a long time and me and my wife decided that it’s time to venture out once in a while,” said Ranjan Khanna, 62, who owns an advertising company in the Indian capital, as he sips his coffee. “Nice sunny day, and it’s been a very nice experience.”    Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A sporting goods store in the Indian capital sees fewer customers than in pre-pandemic days. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)“The good thing is people are still playing carrom. People are still playing badminton. Gymming surged to an extent which we had not imagined, people were buying 100 kgs of dumbbells and setting up their gyms,” says Bhavana Gupta, co-owner of the Gupta Sports House. “But since the grounds are not open, so equipment for football, cricket all these team sports took a hit.”    News that a vaccine may be rolled out early next year is also ushering in hope.  “I personally feel may be in January at any stage or any week, we can be in a position to give the first COVID vaccine shot to the people of India,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said Sunday.    People in one of Delhi’s major markets give rise to hope that business will improve in India’s recession-hit economy. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)In the city of 20 million, some residents are optimistic that the pandemic may be waning.  “When you hear of vaccine coming and numbers dipping, you think it is going to happen, maybe in six months or so,” says Sonam Ashok Kumar, a Delhi resident.    But with the city once again on the move, there are fresh warnings from virologists to maintain “COVID behavior,” such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, especially amid growing concerns over a new strain of the coronavirus reported to have spread rapidly in Britain.    While the pandemic continues to cast a shadow, people are clinging to a measure of hope.  “The scare is very much there, but life has to go on,” says Khanna, as he takes a walk in the park on a crisp winter morning.   
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A free trade agreement reached this month would help Vietnam revamp its massive manufacturing sector after the coronavirus pandemic and solidify the global outreach of its deal partner, the United Kingdom, after its looming departure from the European Union, experts believe.The two countries finished negotiations December 11 on a two-way free trade deal that would eliminate nearly all customs duties.The agreement, which still requires formal signatures to take effect, would keep Vietnam on track to sign multiple free trade deals around the world, to help domestic manufacturers avoid import tariffs, analysts say. Vietnam could ultimately save $151 million in tariffs on goods shipped to the U.K., the British Embassy in Hanoi forecasts.Vietnam joined the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership two years ago. And as part of a Southeast Asian negotiating bloc last month, it entered the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal, which has China as the heavyweight. Vietnam and the European Union also finalized a free trade pact earlier this year.“They’re totally embracing globalization and free trade,” said Jack Nguyen, a partner at the business advisory firm Mazars in Ho Chi Minh City.“They want to get more high-end, high-tech investments into Vietnam. They want to get their products out to the market. They want to attract manufacturers to set up in Vietnam to export to other countries. So any agreement that will lower tariffs, lower trade barriers, they’ll want to sign,” Nguyen said.Vietnam-U.K. trade tripled from 2010 to 2019, when it reached about $7.6 billion.Tariff savings would help to ease the Southeast Asian country out of a slump in global demand that is hobbling manufactured exports. Vietnam reports relatively few cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but anti-pandemic shutdowns in much of the West have curtailed orders for classic made-in-Vietnam exports, such as garments, shoes, electronics and automotive gear.About half of all businesses in Vietnam have downsized because of COVID-19, according to a survey by the Private Economic Development Research Board, as cited by domestic news website VnExpress International in September. Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of the country’s GDP.Both free trade agreement signatories are “keen to close this deal as soon as possible” to boost post-COVID-19 economic recoveries, Vu Minh Khuong, an associate professor at National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, wrote in an online publication recently.Vietnam will get more access to the U.K.’s “distinctive strengths” of R&D and management consulting services, Vu wrote in a November commentary for the East Asia Forum.But the two countries lack a trade relationship that’s wide enough to lift Vietnam out of the post-pandemic slump next year, said Ralf Matthaes, founder of the Infocus Mekong Research consultancy in Ho Chi Minh City.“The U.K. and Vietnam do not have strong ties,” Matthaes said. Zooming in on Vietnam’s exports, he said, “How many people are buying new mobile phones right now or new TVs? It’s very limited.”The free trade deal, considered easy to complete because it borrows from contents of the Vietnam-EU pact, comes just as the U.K. expects to finish its Brexit implementation period next week.Tariff savings to the United Kingdom would come to just $36 million, less than Vietnam’s gains, the British Embassy predicts. But the agreement shows that the U.K. government can form its own trade relations after leaving the European Union following the Brexit referendum that British voters approved in 2016.“It’s the U.K. scrambling to stay in place, is the phrase I use,” said Frederick Burke, Ho Chi Minh City-based partner with the law firm Baker McKenzie.“For the U.K., if they can get enough of these trade agreements, they can almost keep up with when they were part of the EU, but it won’t have the same advantages, because it’s just a bilateral trade agreement, it’s not a full EU trade agreement,” Burke said. 
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Pakistan’s military was on high alert in Kashmir on Monday as its prime minister warned India against carrying out any “false flag” operations in the disputed region after a U.N. vehicle in the Pakistan-held part came under attack.Pakistan blamed Friday’s attack on India, implying it was aimed at embarrassing Islamabad and harming relations with the international community. The two U.N. observers in the vehicle escaped unharmed.”I am making absolutely clear to the (international) community that if India was to be reckless enough to conduct a false flag operation against Pakistan, it would confront a strong national Pakistani resolve & be given a befitting response at all levels of the threat. Make no mistake,” Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted Sunday.Pakistan says the attack on the U.N. vehicle was deliberate, as such vehicles are clearly marked and “recognizable even from long distances.”The U.N. confirmed the attack and said it was being investigated.India has not commented on the attack or responded to Khan’s tweets. The two nuclear-armed nations are bitter rivals which have fought three wars since gaining independence from British rule in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The territory is split between Indian and Pakistani control, and both claim it in its entirety.The two sides often exchange fire across the heavily guarded Line of Control in Kashmir. Each accuses the other of routinely violating a 2003 cease-fire. 
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Officials in Afghanistan say a car bomb went off in Kabul on Sunday, killing at least nine people and injuring 20 others.A member of the national parliament, Khan Mohammad Wardak, was apparently the target of the bombing in the Afghan capital, but he survived the attack.Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi told reporters after visiting the scene that an investigation is underway to determine the motives and whether it was the work of a suicide bomber.Neither the Taliban insurgency nor any other armed group claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing.Andarabi, however, pointed the finger at the Taliban, saying, “we know who the enemy is, and we know their plans.”Wardak, a prominent Kabul businessman, is the second lawmaker to have been attacked in a week.On Dec. 13, a bomb attached to a vehicle carrying lawmaker Tofeq Wahdat killed his driver and a security guard. Wahdat survived the attempt that also wounded his brother. No one took credit for that incident.A string of targeted attacks, largely unclaimed, in the Afghan capital has killed at least a dozen prominent individuals, including senior government officials, during the past week.Afghanistan has experienced a spike in violence even as the Taliban and Kabul representatives hold peace talks brokered by the United States.Continued clashes between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents across the country have killed scores of combatants on both sides as well as civilians.The so-called intra-Afghan negotiations are aimed at hammering out a power-sharing deal that would end the country’s long conflict, but the process has made little progress since it was launched in September.The rival negotiating teams have taken a break from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 for internal deliberations. The dialogue is the outcome of a landmark accord the U.S. sealed with the Taliban in February to close the 19-year Afghan war.On Saturday, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad condemned in a series of tweets the “ongoing high level of violence” in the country.“We call for all sides to reduce violence and move quickly to a ceasefire,” said Khalilzad, who negotiated and signed the February deal with the Taliban. “The Islamic Republic [of Afghanistan] and the Taliban must respect the demands of their people and reach a political agreement as soon as possible. The United States stands with the people of Afghanistan,” the envoy stressed.The U.S.-Taliban agreement requires all American and coalition forces to leave the country by May. In return, the insurgents have promised to cut ties with terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, and prevent Afghan soil for being used for international terrorism.The Taliban has also pledged to seek an end to four decades of hostilities through current peace talks with the Afghan government.
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Nepal’s Cabinet recommended dissolving parliament in an emergency meeting on Sunday, with an aide to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli saying he wants to seek a fresh mandate in a general election after losing support from his own party.Oli, who led an alliance with former Maoist rebels to a landslide victory in 2017, has faced criticism for sidelining his Nepal Communist Party and working through a small coterie of supporters.“The prime minister has lost the majority in the parliamentary party, central committee and the secretariat of the party,” said Bishnu Rijal, a member of the party’s central committee.“Instead of seeking a compromise within the party he chose to dissolve parliament.”Oli aide Rajan Bhattarai said the prime minister had made the move due to the backlash against him from his party, which had also asked him to consider quitting as its president.“So he decided to face the people in an election,” Bhattarai told Reuters. “This is the best way in a democracy.”The next general election had been due in 2022. It was not immediately clear when a snap election would be called if, as expected, Nepal’s president accepts the cabinet request.Opposition lawmaker Gagan Thapa of the Nepali Congress said on Twitter the cabinet decision was “unconstitutional and undemocratic.” He did not explain.After his 2017 win, Oli had vowed to fight corruption and poverty but made little progress, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered the poor Himalayan country’s tourism-dependent economy.Infections of the virus that causes the disease have reached 253,184 with 1,777 COVID-19 deaths in the country of 30 million people.Sandwiched between China and India, Nepal is also influenced by the priorities of the giant neighbors keen on expanding their say in the strategically placed country.
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Even as new infections slip to the lowest levels in three months, on Saturday, India crossed the 10 million mark of total infections since the pandemic began, second behind the U.S. mark of 17 million, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.India’s falling infections, down from its record of about 100,000 new cases daily to about 25,000 cases reported Saturday, give health experts some reason to hope. India has suffered more than 145,000 deaths, Johns Hopkins says.”If we can sustain our declining trend for the next two to three months, we should be able to start the vaccination program and start moving away from the pandemic,” Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert, told The Associated Press.Some of the world’s biggest vaccine makers are located in India, and there are five vaccines in clinical trials. Two vaccines, by Oxford University-AstraZeneca and India’s Bharat Biotech, are nearing authorization for emergency use. The South Asian nation with a population of 1.3 billion people hopes to vaccinate 250 million people by July.As India’s cases are waning, Canada was approaching 500,000 cases Saturday, an increase of 25% since two weeks ago, when the North American country surpassed 400,000 cases.”COVID-19 is spreading among people of all ages, with high infection rates across all age groups,” Canada’s chief medical officer Theresa Tam said.Cases surging in CanadaCanada is to receive 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. And about 168,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine should arrive soon. It is expected to receive emergency-use approval by Canadian health officials soon.However, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said there will not be enough shots for every Canadian who wants one until September.Santa ‘good to go’One person who won’t have to wait for his shot is Santa Claus, thanks to Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert.”I took care of that for you because I was worried that you’d all be upset,” he said Saturday during a CNN and “Sesame Street” coronavirus town hall for families, after worried youngsters asked whether Santa could safely enter homes on Dec. 25.”I took a trip up there to the North Pole; I went there, and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go,” Fauci said.”He can come down the chimney, he can leave the presents … you have nothing to worry about,” he said.US general apologizesGen. Gustave Perna, the U.S. Army general in charge of distributing COVID-19 vaccine across the U.S., apologized Saturday to the governors of more than a dozen states that will be getting fewer doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine than they expected.”I want to take personal responsibility for the miscommunication,” he told reporters during a telephone briefing. “I know that’s not done much these days. But I am responsible. … This is a Herculean effort, and we are not perfect.”Perna said he mistakenly cited the number of doses he believed would be ready, not understanding the difference between manufactured doses and those ready to be released.Between the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna Inc. vaccine, Perna said the government is expecting to deliver 20 million doses to the states by the first week of January.Moderna and its partners have started distributing its vaccine, the second approved for emergency use in the country. Trucks will begin shipping the vaccine to more than 3,700 U.S. locations on Sunday, Perna said Saturday during the virtual news conference.Perna said the Moderna vaccine will reach health care workers as early as Monday, but that the delivery of some of the first 20 million doses of vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer Inc. could be delayed until the first week of January.Nearly 76 million people around the world contracted the coronavirus as of midday Saturday, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. tops the list as the country with the most cases, with 17.6 million; India is second, with more than 10 million, followed by Brazil, with 7.1 million, according to Johns Hopkins.Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission, said Saturday the country would focus on vaccinating high-risk groups over the next several months before beginning to vaccinate the general public.”During the winter and spring seasons, carrying out novel coronavirus vaccination work among some key population groups is of great significance to epidemic prevention,” Zeng, who also is director of State Council’s vaccine R&D working group, said.The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has gained access to 2 billion doses of several coronavirus vaccines.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said access to the vaccines ensures that some 190 countries will be able to inoculate their populations “during the first half of next year.”
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UNICEF has struck a rare agreement with the Taliban in war-ravaged Afghanistan to establish thousands of informal schools in areas controlled by the Islamist insurgent group.The program will reach up to 140,000 Afghan boys and girls, said Sam Mort, the agency’s chief of communications, advocacy and civic engagement in the South Asian nation, where an estimated 3.7 million children are out of school.“Through this agreement, UNICEF will support the establishment of 4,000 community-based education classes across Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Faryab,” Mort told VOA, naming the four Afghan provinces where the Taliban controls or influences swaths of territory.The UNICEF official said that currently there are 680 such informal classes already taking place across these provinces. The agreement will scale those up to 4,000, she added.Mort said that each class could accommodate up to 35 students, and classes are expected to start in March, when the new school year begins in Afghanistan.She said the plan aims to ensure that every child, especially girls, in remote areas, can go to school safely and securely.“Currently, 60% of the children that are out of school are girls and that increases to 80% in some hard-to-reach areas,” Mort said.She said the program is the result of about two years of conversations with local Taliban leaders and those based in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the insurgent group runs its political office.Mort said that ongoing U.N.-led polio vaccination drives had prompted the discussions about what other services the Taliban and their community wanted. UNICEF is “excited” to work with the Taliban and all parties to give every child the best start in life, she added.“The fact that the Taliban asked UNICEF to support them with other services, beyond polio drops, to help their children survive and thrive, is a breakthrough moment,” she said.Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the insurgent group’s agreement with UNICEF.“We believe it is a good step and we will prepare the ground for the establishment of these schools in areas under our control,” Mujahid told VOA.Mort said UNICEF informed the Afghan Education Ministry that it would be expanding into hard-to-reach areas. She said the recruitment tests for new teachers will be the same as tests used by the ministry and will be carried out by UNICEF’s implementing partners.Helmand Sangin WorkplanCommunity-based education, which establishes classes in remote or insecure areas, scattered villages and other underserved areas, is an alternative education approach in Afghanistan and has proved to be successful to reach children not in school, especially girls.The UNICEF-Taliban agreement, known as the Helmand Sangin Workplan, is valid until the end of December 2021, renewable based on mutual understanding of both parties.The cost of operating the informal schools is to be shared among several groups, including the Global Partnership for Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.The Islamist Taliban is currently in slow-moving peace negotiations with the Afghan government to agree on a power-sharing deal and nationwide cease-fire.The United States has pushed the rivals to the negotiating table to pave the way for a complete drawdown of American forces from what has become the longest war in U.S. history.However, domestic and International rights groups remain skeptical about the Taliban’s participation in the future Afghan governance system.The skepticism stems from the five-year Taliban rule in Afghanistan, starting in 1996, when girls were banned from education and women were barred from outdoor work.Torek Farhadi, a former Afghan government adviser and political commentator, has hailed the UNICEF-Taliban agreement as great news for his country.“Education is a universal right, and it was clear to the international community that Kabul is unable to deliver services to areas controlled by the Taliban,” Farhadi said.“All and all, it is much better for our kids to have schools and study than not at all,” he said.
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Armenia on Saturday began three days of mourning for the victims of clashes with Azerbaijan as the opposition kept up pressure on the country’s leader to resign over the handling of the conflict.More than 5,000 people including civilians were killed in Armenia and Azerbaijan when clashes erupted between the ex-Soviet enemies in late September over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.The war ended in November with a Moscow-brokered peace agreement that saw the Armenians cede swathes of territory to Azerbaijan, which has been backed by close ally Turkey.The deal sparked fury in Armenia, with the opposition urging Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign.On the first day of the national mourning on Saturday, Pashinyan was expected to lead a procession to a memorial complex in the capital Yerevan where victims of the conflict are buried.The opposition planned to hold a separate march later in the day. Pashinyan’s critics have called on supporters to stage a national strike, starting Tuesday.”The entire nation has been through and is going through a nightmare,” Pashinyan said in a video address ahead of the memorial march.”Sometimes it seems that all of our dreams have been dashed and our optimism destroyed,” he added.The 45-year-old former newspaper editor was propelled to power in 2018 after he channeled widespread desire for change into a broad protest movement against corrupt post-Soviet elites.But after six weeks of clashes with Azerbaijan, many have called Pashinyan a “traitor” for agreeing to what they say is a humiliating deal with Azerbaijan. He has so far refused to step down.As part of the peace deal Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeeping troops to Karabakh.Moscow said on Friday that a Russian mine clearer was killed by a blast in Karabakh when an explosive went off earlier this week.
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Pakistan charged Friday that its archrival India was plotting to stage a cross-border military assault against the Islamic nation, warning such an attempt would destabilize the region with “catastrophic consequences.”Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi cited “credible intelligence information” Islamabad had “picked up,” saying it had been shared with “important world capitals.” He did not name any country, nor did he offer any evidence to support the claim.“I want to tell India very clearly that Pakistan is fully prepared to respond and to defeat their designs. We will do it effectively,” Qureshi told a news conference in the United Arab Emirates at the end of his two-day official bilateral visit.Qureshi alleged the Indian government was orchestrating the attack to divert attention from domestic troubles facing India and urged the international community to intervene to prevent New Delhi from destabilizing the region.India has not immediately responded to the charges.Islamabad has repeatedly put out such warnings since New Delhi revoked the semiautonomous status of disputed Kashmir in August 2019, escalating military tensions between the two countries.The nuclear-armed neighboring countries both claim the Himalayan region in its entirety and have fought several wars as well as limited conflicts over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.FILE – India Border Security Force soldiers salute as they pay respect to their colleague killed during a recent clash with Pakistani soldiers in Kashmir, Nov. 15, 2020.UN vehicle hitPakistan’s military on Friday also accused Indian border forces of “deliberately” targeting a U.N. vehicle transporting the world body’s military observers in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.The vehicle was damaged, but the two U.N. military officers escaped unharmed and were evacuated to safety by Pakistani troops.“The U.N. vehicles are clearly recognizable even from long distances due to their distinct make and type and clearly visible markings,” the statement said. Indian media quoted unnamed military officials as denying the allegations, saying reports emerging from the Pakistani side of Kashmir regarding the attack on U.N. vehicles were “completely false and factually incorrect.” FILE – Pakistani Kashmiris attend a funeral prayer for a man, reportedly killed by shelling from Indian troops, at the Line of Control in Pakistani Kashmir, Nov. 14, 2020.Afghan peace process threatened Qureshi also warned Friday that any military conflict between Pakistan and India could derail the peace prospects in neighboring Afghanistan.“If they undertake this misadventure, it will seriously undermine the Afghan peace process which has moved forward, and if things go wrong India will be held responsible for this,” the Pakistani foreign minister cautioned.The United States has been pressing the Afghan Taliban and the government in Afghanistan to reduce violence and move quickly to negotiate a political settlement to their country’s long war. U.S. and allied forces are withdrawing from the 19-year Afghan war, the longest in U.S. history.Pakistan is credited with helping Washington initiate the two-year-old Afghan peace process.Top Taliban leaders this week arrived in Islamabad from Doha, Qatar, where the insurgent group maintains its political office, for official meetings with Pakistani leaders.The delegation met with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday.  A post-meeting statement quoted Khan as underscoring Pakistan’s “consistent” support for efforts aimed at ending war in Afghanistan.“The prime minister expressed concern over the high level of violence and called on all sides for reduction in violence leading to cease-fire,” it said. 
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Officials in Afghanistan say a bomb explosion Friday killed at least 15 civilians, most of them children, in eastern Ghazni province.Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said that explosives were packed in a three-wheel rickshaw, parked near a ceremony in Gilan district, where the Muslim holy book Quran was being recited at the time.The powerful blast also wounded at least 20 people, he added. Most of the victims of Friday’s blast were said to be under 18 years old.It was not immediately known who placed the rickshaw near the event. But the Taliban, which controls large parts of Ghazni, asserted that the blast was caused by “unexploded ordnance” and 12 children were among those killed. The insurgent group said in a statement the victims were “selling unexploded shells” when the incident occurred. It advised area residents to stay clear of such activities. Afghanistan remains in the grip of deadly violence that has claimed scores of lives in recent days, including Afghan government forces, Taliban fighters and civilians. Peace talksThe bloodshed comes even as the Afghan government and the Taliban have been engaged in peace talks since September to negotiate a political power-sharing deal and a nationwide cease-fire to end the country’s grinding 19-year war. The two negotiating teams have taken a break from December 14 to January 5 for internal deliberations.FILE – Members of the Taliban delegation attend the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the Qatari capital Doha, Sept. 12, 2020.The so-called intra-Afghan dialogue stems from a troop withdrawal pact the United States sealed with the Taliban in February, requiring all American and allied troops to leave the country by May 2021.The agreement has reduced the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan to 4,500 and another 2,000 of them are expected to return home by mid-January.In return, the Taliban pledged to break ties with al-Qaida and prevent transnational terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to launch international attacks. It has also promised to seek a political settlement to the country’s long conflict through ongoing intra-Afghan negotiations.The Trump administration has been pressing the Afghan rivals to move quickly toward a political settlement to end the country’s long war. Milley meetingsU.S. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Tuesday held a rare meeting with leaders of the Taliban in Qatar where the insurgent group maintains its political office. FILE – Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, left, talks with Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, at Miller’s military headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2020.Milley traveled to Kabul on Wednesday and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.“The most important part of the discussions I had with both the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan was the need for a reduction in violence,” Milley told reporters traveling with him. “Everything else hinges on that.” 
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The top U.S. military commander met this week with leaders of the Afghan Taliban insurgency and Afghanistan’s government to urge a reduction in violence across the war-torn South Asian country.
 
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Qatar on Tuesday for talks with Taliban leaders based in Doha, the capital, of the gulf nation. He flew to Kabul on Wednesday and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
 
“The most important part of the discussions I had with both the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan was the need for a reduction in violence,” Milley told reporters traveling with him. “Everything else hinges on that.” VOA National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report 
 
The general declined to discuss details of either talks.
 
Milley’s interaction with insurgent leaders reportedly lasted more than two hours. This was the second time he has met with the Taliban. His first encounter with the group in June was kept from media, and it was the first time a chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff had met the Taliban.
 
The Taliban, which maintains its political office in Doha, has not immediately commented on the meeting.
 
A Pentagon announcement Thursday said the talks between Milley and Ghani focused on the current security environment in Afghanistan. But it did not mention anything about Tuesday’s meeting with the Taliban in Doha.
 
“The United States remains fully committed to helping Afghans create a secure and stable Afghanistan by supporting inclusive efforts to achieve peace,” the readout concluded.
 
A presidential statement in Kabul said Milley reaffirmed the U.S. support for the country’s national defense and security forces. He also expressed concerns over the rise in violence in Afghanistan and emphasized the need for a “significant” reduction in it, according to the statement.Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, left, talks with Gen. Scott Miller, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2020, in Kabul, Afghanistan, before holding a meeting with Taliban peace negotiators.The top U.S. general’s visits to Doha and Kabul come as the Trump administration is reducing the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from about 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-next month, in line with a troop withdrawal deal Washington signed with the Taliban in February.
 
However, Afghan violence has continued to flare, posing a serious challenge to nascent peace talks between the Taliban and representatives of Kabul.
 
The so-called intra-Afghan negotiations, a crucial outcome of the February 29 U.S.-Taliban deal, started in September in Doha, and have since made some progress. The two negotiating teams have taken a break from Dec 14 to Jan 5 for internal deliberations.
 
U.S. leaders have been pressing the Afghan rivals to move quickly toward a political power-sharing settlement and a comprehensive nationwide ceasefire.
 
The Taliban has halted attacks on U.S. and coalition forces since signing the February deal, but it has continued to stage deadly attacks against Afghan government forces, prompting strong retaliation from in the form of Afghan ground and airstrikes.
 
The fighting has killed hundreds of combatants on both sides and civilians, with both Taliban and Afghan officials blaming each other for the escalation.
 
The U.S.-Taliban deal requires all foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan by May 2021. In return, the insurgents pledged to break ties with al-Qaida and prevent transnational terrorist groups from using Afghan soil to launch international attacks.
 
The Taliban also has pledged to find a negotiated settlement to the country’s long conflict through the ongoing intra-Afghan dialogue. The insurgents, however, have turned down calls for a ceasefire, saying it is one of the issues on the agenda of the intra-Afghan negotiations.
 
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India’s Supreme Court on Thursday suggested that the government consider delaying implementation of new agricultural reform laws to restore a dialogue with tens of thousands of protesting farmers who say the legislation will drive down crop prices and devastate their earnings. Chief Justice S.A. Bobde also deferred a proposal by the court to set up a mediation panel until justices receive the government’s response and hear arguments from lawyers representing the protesting farmers, possibly next week. Infuriated by New Regulations, Indian Farmers Hit the StreetsFarmers fear that dismantling government controls will remove safeguards that protect them from free market forcesAttorney-General K.K. Venugopal said he will get back to the court after discussing the matter with the government. The farmers have been blocking half a dozen major highways on the outskirts of New Delhi for three weeks and say they won’t leave until the government repeals what they call the “black laws” passed by Parliament in September. In addition to blocking the movement of people, the massive protest has dealt a blow to manufacturing and business in northern India. On Wednesday, justices on the court offered to set up a mediation panel after five rounds of talks between the government and farmers failed to end the impasse. Protest leaders have rejected the government’s offer to amend some contentious provisions of the laws. The protesting farmers say the laws will lead to the cartelization and commercialization of agriculture and make farmers vulnerable to corporate greed. They fear the government will stop buying grain at minimum guaranteed prices and corporations will then push prices down. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has said it is willing to pledge that guaranteed prices continue. Nearly 60% of the Indian population depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The government insists the reforms will benefit farmers and says they will enable farmers to market their produce and boost production through private investment. On Friday, a farmers’ group filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking the repeal of the three laws. The Bharatiya Kisan Union, or Indian Farmers’ Union, argued that the laws were arbitrary because they were enacted without proper consultations with stakeholders. A group of New Delhi lawyers has also filed a petition with the court seeking an order to the farmers to vacate the highways connecting northern states to the Indian capital.
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A Taliban delegation led by deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has met with Pakistani officials in Islamabad to discuss the next round of intra-Afghan peace talks. The Afghan government welcomed the visit. VOA’s Rahim Gul Sarwan reports from Kabul. 
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Pakistan says it is “deeply concerned” by the imposition of “unilateral” sanctions against Turkey by the United States and is stressing the need for resolving all issues through dialogue.The Trump administration on Monday announced it was slapping sanctions on Ankara for its decision to purchase the S-400 air defense missile system from Russia.The sanctions could undermine Islamabad’s defense purchases from Turkey under ongoing deals between the two countries.“Pakistan remains opposed to imposition of unilateral coercive measures against any country in principle,” said a Foreign Ministry statement issued Wednesday.Patrol craft, fleet tankerTurkish companies are said to be working to supply patrol craft and a fleet tanker for the Pakistan navy and upgrade the South Asian nation’s French-designed submarines.Turkey Slams US Sanctions Over Russian Missile System PurchaseAnkara confined to rhetoric over US sanctions as Turkish president looks to Biden presidencyAnkara also sealed a deal in 2018 to sell a batch of 30 T-129 attack helicopters to Pakistan, but there has been little progress to execute it because the U.S. has not granted export licenses to Turkey.Later that year, a Turkish shipbuilder announced it had signed a contract to supply four MILGEM stealth corvettes, which are small multi-role warships, to the Pakistani navy.Project underwayConstruction of the MILGEM warships has already started and Pakistani officials were expecting to get the first ship by the end of 2021.“The contract entails construction of two corvettes at Turkey while two at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works,” the Pakistan navy said in a recent statement.The MILGEM and the T-129 helicopter both use U.S. components.Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system in 2017 triggered U.S sanctions, as it violated the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.“The people and the government of Pakistan reiterate their strong support for the government and the people of Turkey in their quest for national security, peace and prosperity, and as always, will continue to stand by them towards the achievement of these shared goals,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
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A political delegation of the Afghan Taliban visited Pakistan Wednesday to discuss the Afghan peace process.A statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the visit was “part of Pakistan’s policy to reach out to key Afghan parties in the Afghan peace process with a view to facilitating the Intra-Afghan Negotiations.”The Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a statement the visit had taken place in consultation with the Afghan government to facilitate the peace process and that Kabul “appreciates these efforts.”The delegation, led by the head of Taliban’s political wing Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday and is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan during the visit.Qureshi, who was meeting the Afghan delegation for the third time, said they had a comprehensive discussion on the Afghan peace negotiations, including the need for reduction in violence leading to a ceasefire.He added, however, that the “Taliban cannot be held single-handedly responsible for it.  All sides had a role to play.”He also said Pakistan has told Taliban that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was not possible without a “comprehensive and inclusive settlement.”The Taliban, he said, had expressed their desire to end the decades of conflict that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives in Afghanistan.Afghan security personnel investigate at the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Dec. 15, 2020. A bombing and a shooting attack in the capital killed several people, including Kabul’s deputy governor.While welcoming the visit, the Afghan government also expected it to yield results.“Kabul hopes that the Taliban delegation’s visit to Islamabad proves useful as a practical and constructive measure towards achieving the expected results,” the Afghan statement said. Its list of expectations included an immediate reduction in violence, a comprehensive ceasefire, and constructive peace negotiations.The visit came on a day when Taliban militants attacked and killed at least 13 security personnel in Baghlan in northern Afghanistan, according to Ayenudin Sayadi head of the Baghlan provincial hospital.Javed Basharat, a spokesman for Baghlan police, said security forces near provincial capital Pul-e-Khumri came under attack from multiple sides.Violence has surged in Afghanistan, reaching a ten-year high, since the Afghan insurgent group signed a deal in February with the United States that included a timeline for foreign forces to withdraw from the country. In return, Taliban promised to break ties with Al-Qaida and provide counter terrorism guarantees in areas under their control.The Afghan government as well as other international stakeholders, including the United States, the United Nations, NATO, and human rights groups have all called for a ceasefire.The Taliban have so far resisted those demands. Analysts say violence is the most potent card the group holds during negotiations and it would be loath to let it go so early in the process.Negotiations between Taliban and the Afghan government officially started in Doha, Qatar on September 12, 2020, and have since made some progress. The two teams have taken a break from Dec 14 to Jan 5 for internal deliberations.FILE – Abdullah Abdullah, center, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, attends the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Sept. 12, 2020.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called for the next round of negotiations to be held in Afghanistan.The Taliban, which does not acknowledge Ghani’s administration as a legitimate government, has rejected the idea.Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told VOA “spoilers of the peace process” were making such demands. “They are opposed to the process and creating roadblocks because their personal power and interests are in danger.”Separately, the Afghan negotiation team met Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, in Kabul Wednesday. A statement from Abdullah’s office said the location of the second round of peace talks will be selected soon.Earlier in the day, Abdullah said while holding negotiations in Afghanistan was preferable, selection of a venue should not become a stumbling block in the process. (VOA’s Ayaz Gul contributed to this story.)
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The deputy governor of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul was killed in a targeted attack Tuesday morning when someone stuck a magnetic mine, also called a sticky bomb, to his car.
   
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the attack on Mahbubullah Muhibbi also killed his secretary and wounded two of his guards.
 
A second magnetic bomb attack Tuesday in Ghor province killed the deputy head of the provincial council, Abdur Rehman, and wounded another council member.
 
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for either attack.
 
Sticky bombs have become commonly used in target killings in Afghanistan. Last month, a journalist was targeted using the same method.
 
Meanwhile, police officials say one policeman was shot dead and two others wounded in the Bagrami district of Kabul province.
 
Violence has continued unabated in the country despite the start of peace negotiations between the Taliban and the government.
 
“Unfortunately another attack today, people are tired of terrorist attacks every day. Taliban has to agree on cease-fire to stop the killing and more bloodshed,” tweeted the state human rights minister, Sima Samar.Unfortunately another attack today, people are tired of terrorist attacks every day. Taliban has to agree on ceasefire to stop the killing and more bloodshed. More blood will cause more hatred among the people .— Dr.Sima Samar (@DrSimasamar) December 15, 2020The two negotiating teams of Taliban and the Afghan government have taken a break from negotiations in Doha and are expected to return to talk on January 5. The teams have agreed on the principles and code of conduct of negotiations and are now in the process of hashing out an agenda for the talks.
 
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Pakistan’s president Tuesday signed a new anti-rape measure into law that would allow speedy convictions and toughen sentences for rapists. 
 
The presidential decree or ordinance requires the government to establish fast-track courts across the country to hear cases of sexual assaults against women and children.  
The tribunals will have to conclude the trials of suspects and deliver a verdict within four months, President Arif Alvi’s office said.  
 
Local media reported the ordinance calls for strict sentences, including the chemical castration of those found guilty of committing the offence repeatedly. It also outlaws disclosing the identity of victims.  
 
The decree will create special “anti-rape crisis cells” across Pakistan for the protection of both victims and witnesses. The crisis cells will be responsible for conducting investigations and medical examinations of victims within six hours of the crime, the statement said.  
 
A nationwide register of sex offenders will also be maintained with the help of the National Database and Registration Authority. 
 
A presidential ordinance remains in force in Pakistan for 120 days and the government is required to seek a mandatory parliamentary approval for it to become a permanent law. 
 
Until now, a convicted rapist would face a sentence of up to 25 years in prison or the death penalty, while a gang-rape is punishable by death or life imprisonment.  
 
Legal experts say, however, such cases in Pakistan take years to prosecute and rapists often escape punishment because political influence leads to faulty police investigations. Moreover, rampant corruption in the lower judiciary can also help rapists in seeking favorable verdicts. 
 
The circumstances, critics say, discourages women from seeking justice for fear of being shamed or persecuted by police or even their own relatives in the largely conservative Pakistani society. 
 
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Cabinet approved the new law late last month to stem growing incidents of rape against women and children in recent years.  Supporters of religious and political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) carry signs against a gang rape that occured along a highway, and to condemn the violence against women and girls, during a demonstration in Karachi, Pakistan, Sept. 11, 2020. 
The latest such crime occurred in September when two men gang-raped a woman in front of her terrified children after her car ran out of fuel on a deserted highway near the eastern city of Lahore. A police manhunt led to the arrest of the assailants.  
 
But the ensuing public outcry over the incident prompted Khan to resolve in a television interview that his government would soon enact “stringent and holistic anti-rape ordinance closing all loopholes.” The prime minister also called for public execution of rapists and their chemical castration. 
 
Local media, however, has quoted Pakistani Law Minister Farogh Nasim as saying “the concept of chemical castration has been introduced as a form of rehabilitation, and subject to consent of the convict” in line with international laws. He elaborated that if the convict would not agree to castration, he would be dealt with in accordance with the laws and could face death sentence, life imprisonment or a 25-year jail term. 
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Along a highway on the outskirts of New Delhi where thousands of protesting farmers have been camping for three weeks, scores of volunteers roll out Indian bread called “rotis,”  stir vegetables in gigantic pots, brew tea and fry savories.      All through the day, makeshift kitchens that have sprung up on the roadside dish out hot meals to farmers who are demanding the roll back of new laws that liberalize rules for sale of farm produce to private companies.     “We have come fully equipped to prepare mass meals. The supplies come from our villages daily and we run the kitchen round the clock,” says Gurinder Singh, a Sikh farmer who has helped organize a community kitchen at one of the protest sites.     The staggering scale of cooking underway to sustain India’s biggest farm protest in decades is no surprise. Many of the farmers come from the northern Punjab state, where serving free, hot meals on a mass scale is an intrinsic tradition of the Sikh faith. Called “langar,” and regularly served in their religious shrines, it is based on the principle of nourishing anyone in need, whether it is the homeless, victims of a natural disaster or protestors far away from home.    A religious minority in India, the food assistance provided by Sikhs is famous — most recently, they distributed hundreds of thousands of free meals to poor people who lost their livelihoods during the pandemic even during a strict lockdown.    Women also help at the community kitchens that are a tradition in the Sikh faith. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)Having grown up with the concept of “langar,” the volunteers say that rolling out hundreds of “rotis” and chopping and cooking heaps of vegetables is something that comes easily to them — it is customary for ordinary men and women to volunteer their services to prepare the community meals.      “In my village I go and assist in the “langar” every Sunday,” says Kala Singh, a farmer who has travelled from Punjab not just to support the protest, but also to ensure that the farmers don’t go hungry.     Another farmer, Jai Veer Singh, from Haryana says he began assisting his mother when he was 10 years old to prepare community meals that are organized after every harvest in his village, at festivals or in time of need. “This spirit of service is something we learnt from our home and our society. We have been taught to help where ever we go,” says Singh.    While men are at the forefront of the community kitchens, women have also been coming from villages to lend a hand.    The hot meals being handed out at the protest site are not restricted to the farmers — many poor people from the area also join the line.    The meals are served to anyone irrespective of faith. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA)Known as a symbol of equal treatment, the Sikh kitchens offer a plate to anyone who comes.        “Our inspiration is serving humanity, whether it is Hindus, Sikh, Muslim or Christian. We never see anybody’s religion,” says Gurinder Singh.    Supplies to sustain the impromptu, open air kitchens at the farmers protest are overflowing — tractors and trucks with sacks of vegetables and flour as well as cans of oil and milk arrive daily from villages and towns where pooling resources for community meals is a way of life.     Supporters of the farm protest often bring gifts such as almonds, apples, Indian sweets, or even packaged water. A Sikh shrine has sent a machine that rolls out hundreds of “rotis” every hour.     “My village has told me — continue the kitchens as long as needed. We will keep sending money and rations for four to five hundred people,” according to Jai Veer Singh.      That means a hot meal — usually lentils and a seasonal vegetable — is always at hand for the protestors. To wash it down, there are glasses of buttermilk or tea.    While camping on the roadside in the cold Delhi winter and spending nights curled up in tractor trailers poses a challenge, food presents no problem. “I have been here for two weeks. Just walk down the road and you will find a meal being served,” says farmer Ramesh Kumar as he strolls down the road.     The volunteers say these pots will sizzle as long as necessary for farmers to win their battle with the government. With no compromise in sight as the farm leaders turn down the concessions offered so far and insist that the new laws be scrapped, the kitchen fires on the highway are likely to be lit for some time. 
 
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The president of an alliance of opposition parties in Pakistan warned of a confrontation between the public and the military if the military decided to stop them from reaching the capital, Islamabad, to bring down the current government.“Get out of the way of the people,” he said, adding that he foresaw anarchy if the status quo continued.Maulana Fazlur Rehman was in Lahore on Sunday, addressing a rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of 11 opposition parties seeking to bring down the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The PDM announced it would march on the capital if Khan did not resign by end of January.Rehman, the leader of an Islamist political party called Jamiat e Ulema e Islam, has been a critic of the current government since it was elected in 2018. His efforts to build an opposition alliance faced roadblocks until the formation of the PDM this past September.Tens of thousands gathered for the rally from across the country in Pakistan’s second-largest city, which is considered a trendsetter in Pakistani politics.The idea of creating Pakistan out of British India was first presented in Lahore in 1940. In 1967, one of the country’s largest political parties, the Pakistan People’s Party, was formed in the same city. The current ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf, emerged as a mainstream national party after a successful rally in Lahore in 2011.Opposition leaders, from right, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Owais Noorani, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maryam Nawaz of Pakistan Democratic Movement joint hands as they attend a rally in Lahore on Dec. 13, 2020.The opposition accuses leadership at the top of Pakistan’s powerful military and one of the intelligence agencies, Inter Services Intelligence, of having rigged the last elections to install Khan. They say the military and intelligence leadership, therefore, share responsibility for the country’s economic woes including rising inflation, lack of economic opportunities, and the poor growth rate of the economy.“Is Imran Khan the only one responsible? Or those who stole your vote and brought him to power?” said Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister who was ousted. His party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, the largest opposition party, is also part of the alliance.The military denies its involvement in politics. Khan alleges the opposition is a group of looters and plunderers who stole the country’s wealth when they were in power and are now complaining because they are being held accountable.The opposition claimed the rally was successful in building up momentum for the upcoming march. Khan claimed otherwise.“Pathetic. PDM spent so much money, time, effort & displayed utter callousness by endangering ppl’s lives during COVID19 spike – showing the scant regard they have for citizens’ safety & well-being,” he tweeted after Sunday’s rally.Pathetic. PDM spent so much money, time, effort & displayed utter callousness by endangering ppl’s lives during COVID19 spike – showing the scant regard they have for citizens’ safety & well-being. All this just to blackmail me into giving them an NRO to save their looted wealth.— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 13, 2020Meanwhile local officials from Khan’s party said the opposition failed to gather a large crowd. They also accused the PDM leadership of putting people’s lives at risk during a pandemic.“If corona cases rise in Lahore after today, the opposition leadership will be fully responsible,” said Raja Basharat, the law minister of Punjab province.Another member of the alliance, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the scion of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who took over the reins of her Pakistan People’s Party after her death, warned Khan that the time to have a dialogue with the opposition was over.“I promise you this puppet, selected government is going home soon,” he told the people in the rally.Last week, Khan said that after a similar opposition rally in Multan, the hospital beds for COVID-19 patients were now 64% full. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.“I appeal to everyone, I appeal to these political parties, your rallies will not damage the government, but you are putting people’s lives at risk,” he said, asking them to postpone their rallies for a couple of months.The opposition said the government was only using the coronavirus as an excuse to break its momentum. Meanwhile, opposition leaders said all the other activity in the country, such as mass transit, shopping plazas, weddings, and even the government’s own gatherings of hundreds, continued.
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The United Nations is calling for increased support for Afghanistan in response to increasing humanitarian needs due to COVID-19, conflict and climate change.Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N.’s humanitarian affairs office, says the U.N. will need $1.3 billion to provide life-saving assistance for 16 million Afghans in the coming year.“That is double the number of people compared to one year ago. And that drastic increase is almost entirely due to COVID-19…however, for the time being, we only have half the money that we need to provide winter support. Winter is coming and we need an additional $71 million for this year,” Laerke said.Afghanistan has suffered 40 years of brutal war that has killed millions and displaced millions more within the country and as refugees. Afghans have told U.N. officials they desperately hope that ongoing Afghanistan peace negotiations succeed.For peace to be credible, however, they say it must be inclusive of everyone in Afghanistan, especially women and girls.Besides the ravages inflicted by this war, Laerke says people in Afghanistan also have to contend with a worsening climate crisis and other natural disasters. He says life for most Afghans has been a matter of survival over the past four decades.“Their situation now has been further battered by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Household income and savings have disappeared, and needs have increased dramatically. Almost half of children under five are now facing acute malnutrition and require treatment to save their lives,” he said.Laerke added that food and health care are primary needs. He noted aid agencies are staying and delivering relief to those in need despite the many risks to their safety. So far this year, he said aid workers have provided humanitarian assistance to nearly eight million people.
 
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A roadside bomb exploded near a police station in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi on Sunday, wounding at least 23 people, police said. Initially police said a hand grenade was thrown near a water filtration plant across the road from the police station, but a senior Rawalpindi police officer Ahsan Younas later confirmed the blast was from a device planted on the side of the road. Police said three of the casualties received deep wounds, while others were given medical care and discharged from the hospital.  No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion.  The Pakistani military’s headquarters and the offices of the country’s spy agencies are located in Rawalpindi, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the capital, Islamabad.  A similar roadside bombing struck Rawalpindi earlier this month, killing one person and wounding seven others near a busy bus terminal. In June, a roadside bomb went off in a crowded bazaar in the city, killing one and wounding 15. Pakistan has witnessed scores of militant attacks on security forces and other targets in recent years. In October, a powerful bomb blast killed at least eight students and wounded 136 others at an Islamic seminary on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar.  
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Azerbaijani defense officials say four soldiers have been killed since a cease-fire last month ended large-scale clashes with ethnic Armenian forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Defense Ministry statement on December 13 gave few details as to when or where the deaths took place, saying only they occurred in an area that Azerbaijani forces took control of in the fighting that formally ended on November 10. A day earlier, both Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations over heavy new fighting and new violations of the Russian-brokered cease-fire, which occurred in the southern Hadrut district. It was unclear if the deaths announced on December 13 by Azerbaijan occurred in the Hadrut region. FILE – A view shows a burnt tank near Hadrut town, which recently came under the control of Azerbaijan’s troops following a military conflict against ethnic Armenian forces, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Nov. 25, 2020.Armenia’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, accused Azerbaijan of “gross violations” of the cease-fire but gave no further details. And a day earlier, Armenia’s Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijani forces of attacking positions held by ethnic Armenian forces near Hadrut. The Karabakh Defense Army, the fighting force of the ethnic Armenian administration that controlled Nagorno-Karabakh until last month’s cease-fire, said earlier that three of its fighters were wounded in clashes on December 11. Nagorno-Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan, but the territory and some surrounding areas have been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces since the early 1990s. The two sides have skirmished regularly over the years, but in September, Azerbaijan launched a military offensive that resulted in Baku regaining control of the surrounding districts, and much of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. The sides agreed to a Russian-brokered cease-fire in early November, resulting in in the deployment of 2,000 Russian peacekeeping forces to the conflict zone. Russian peacekeepers acknowledged violations in Hadrut on both December 11 and 12, but did not assign blame. Overall, Azerbaijan has reported 2,783 of its soldiers killed in the latest bout of fighting. Armenia has not released a final death toll for its military, but Nagorno-Karabakh military officials have said at least 2,317 soldiers had been killed.  
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