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Taliban Say Bomb Kills 8 People in Kabul

A general view of the city of Kabul, Afghanistan August 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A general view of the city of Kabul, Afghanistan August 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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Taliban Say Bomb Kills 8 People in Kabul

A general view of the city of Kabul, Afghanistan August 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A general view of the city of Kabul, Afghanistan August 5, 2022. (Reuters)

A bomb hidden in a cart went off on Friday near a mosque in a minority Shiite neighborhood of the Afghan capital, killing at least eight people and wounding 18, a Taliban official said.

Also Friday, hundreds of Afghans — apparently organized by the Taliban — rallied in several provinces, denouncing the US drone strike last Sunday that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a Kabul safe house.

According to Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, the cart bombing happened in western Kabul, in the Sar-e Karez area. Initial reports said two people were killed but the casualty toll swiftly rose as the wounded were taken to local hospitals.

"Once again, the enemy carried out an attack on (holy days) and killed innocent civilians," said Zadran. He added that the police has launched an investigation.

The ISIS group claimed responsibility. The extremists have targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiites in large-scale attacks in the past.

The regional affiliate of ISIS in Khorasan Province has increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country since the Taliban seized power last August.

ISIS, which has been operating in Afghanistan since 2014, s seen as the greatest security challenge facing the country’s Taliban rulers. Following their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban have launched a sweeping crackdown against the ISIS headquarters in the country's east.

On Wednesday, in a gunbattle between the Taliban and ISIS gunmen killed five, including two Taliban fighters. The fighting erupted near the Sakhi shrine in the Karti Sakhi neighborhood.

In the anti-US rallies following Friday prayers, religious scholars and protesters condemned the strike that killed Zawahiri, calling the attack a violation of international principles and in particular, the agreement that the US administration signed with the Taliban on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

The protesters carried banners with “Death to America” slogans on them and chanted against President Joe Biden.

The Taliban have not said Zawahiri was killed in the drone strike. In a statement on Thursday, they insisted they had “no knowledge of the arrival and residence” of the al-Qaeda leader in Kabul.

However, despite the Taliban denial of knowledge of Zawahiri's presence, US officials have said he was staying at a Kabul safe house linked to the deputy leader of the Taliban. The strike killed Zawahiri when he stepped out onto the safe house’s balcony.

The strike further strained relations between the Taliban and the West, particularly as Afghanistan’s rulers seek an urgent infusion of cash to handle the catastrophic collapse of the economy that came after the US withdrawal a year ago.

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World

South Sudanese Migrant Jailed in UK for Piloting Record Channel Boat Crossing

FILE PHOTO: Life jackets abandoned by migrants are seen in the Slack dunes, the day after migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, in Wimereux, near Calais, France, November 25, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Life jackets abandoned by migrants are seen in the Slack dunes, the day after migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, in Wimereux, near Calais, France, November 25, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
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South Sudanese Migrant Jailed in UK for Piloting Record Channel Boat Crossing

FILE PHOTO: Life jackets abandoned by migrants are seen in the Slack dunes, the day after migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, in Wimereux, near Calais, France, November 25, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Life jackets abandoned by migrants are seen in the Slack dunes, the day after migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, in Wimereux, near Calais, France, November 25, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

A South Sudanese man was jailed for two years and three months in an English court on Friday after he admitted piloting a small boat across the Channel from France, which carried a then-record 165 people.

Chan Mathok Atak, 19, previously pleaded guilty to endangering another during a July crossing to Britain in an inflatable dinghy.

The record for most migrants travelling to Britain across the Channel by small boat was broken again last month, when 230 people made the journey.

Atak's sentencing comes as the numbers of those arriving in Britain across the Channel have fallen, but the crossings remain a prominent political issue which ⁠successive British governments have ⁠struggled to tackle.

Earlier this month, hundreds of black-clad protesters gathered twice in two days on Britain's south coast, blocking streets in response to arrivals of small boats, which a government minister described as "thuggish".

Right-wing opposition parties and anti-migration activists have called for more action, but greater cooperation with French authorities and even repeated deaths have not ⁠deterred many people from seeking to make the perilous journey.

Atak was sentenced to 27 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court. Prosecutor James Harrison said Atak piloted the dinghy for at least 90 minutes while it carried 164 other people, including 31 children aged 14 to 17.

He said there was no navigational or first aid equipment on the boat, which had only one of its two engines working and was slowly deflating and taking on sea water before it was intercepted by Britain's Border ⁠Force.

Atak's lawyer ⁠Audrey Cherryl Mogan said Atak was a young asylum seeker from South Sudan who did not have anything to do with the number of people or the conditions on board.

Judge Sarah Counsell accepted there was no evidence Atak organized the journey, but said that "those who chose to steer such vessels assume responsibility for the safety of those on board".

"This undermines public confidence in the immigration system and places considerable strain on already stretched public resources," she added.

The National Crime Agency's senior investigating officer John Turner said in a statement: "Chan Atak was unimaginably reckless and his actions could have easily resulted in many deaths had this boat not been intercepted."

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At Least 16 Killed in Suicide Attack on Police Facility in Northwest Pakistan

File photo: Firefighters work to extinguish the burning cars at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
File photo: Firefighters work to extinguish the burning cars at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
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At Least 16 Killed in Suicide Attack on Police Facility in Northwest Pakistan

File photo: Firefighters work to extinguish the burning cars at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
File photo: Firefighters work to extinguish the burning cars at the site of bomb explosion, in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

At least 16 people, including five police personnel, were killed in northwest Pakistan on Friday after a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a police facility as people were praying at a mosque inside, police said. 

The incident occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Kohat city, with the ‌vehicle ramming ‌into an outer wall ‌of ⁠the police facility and ⁠gunmen who accompanied it opening fire, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said. 

It was a suicide attack, he added. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, according to Reuters. 

The blast occurred close ⁠to a mosque where the ‌police personnel, their ‌family members, and other civilians were offering ‌Friday prayers, a police statement said. 

A ‌gun battle was still raging between police and the attackers, and one assailant wearing an explosives-laden vest had been killed, ‌the statement said. 

The interior ministry said the "cowardly actions" of ⁠the attackers ⁠could not weaken the "nation's firm resolve". 

Militancy in Pakistan's border areas has risen sharply in recent months, targeting mainly the military and police. 

Islamabad says the militants use safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan's Taliban government has denied the charge and said militancy is Pakistan's domestic problem. 

 

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Spanish Police Launch Operation to Clear Ceuta Migrants off Beach

The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan
The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan
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Spanish Police Launch Operation to Clear Ceuta Migrants off Beach

The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan
The Spanish National Police transfer hundreds of migrants who had been sleeping on the street to a new location consisting of several tents, aiming to prevent them from continuing to sleep outdoors, in Ceuta, Spain, 13 September 2026. EPA/Reduan

Spanish riot police fired rubber ‌bullets into the air and struck people with batons on Friday as they began an operation to clear thousands of migrants off beaches in the North African enclave of Ceuta and move some of them into temporary housing. 

Spain estimates 10,000 migrants remain in the tiny territory. More than 72,000 crossed into the enclave from Morocco at the end of July in an unprecedented border rush, although most later left, Reuters said. 

The authorities have built new temporary housing inside the enclave's port to hold 1,700 people. ‌NGOs say ‌thousands remain unhoused and have been sleeping rough ‌in ⁠camps. 

Friday's operation to ⁠clear the beaches began shortly before 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and involved both riot police and the Spanish military. 

Migrants who had spent the night waiting on the beach in hope of a place in temporary shelter initially applauded as the march got under way, but tussles later broke out as ⁠they competed for the limited number of places ‌available. 

Footage from state broadcaster TVE ‌showed crowding and jostling as people struggled to enter the designated route. Police ‌fired rubber bullets into the air and struck several migrants ‌with batons before the situation calmed down and the operation resumed. 

Later footage showed mostly adult men carrying belongings, walking in small groups under police escort along a route of just over 1 km (0.6 miles) ‌from the El Trampolin beach to the port. 

The vast majority of the migrants are men ⁠and boys. ⁠The temporary housing is built only for adult men, so minors are being separated and housed separately. 

Three NGO leaders told Reuters that authorities had been too slow to provide migrants with minimum shelter required under the European migration pact, and that reception centers opened so far could not accommodate those still sleeping on the streets. 

One NGO estimated that about 4,000 migrants remained outdoors on Ceuta's beaches and pavements, meaning the new center would not be sufficient to clear makeshift camps in public areas. Two NGO leaders said officials probably expect most migrants to return voluntarily to Morocco.