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3 Pakistani Soldiers and 8 Militants Killed During a Raid on Insurgents' Hideout

Pakistani security official stands guard at a checkpoint in Karachi, Pakistan, 29 October 2024. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Pakistani security official stands guard at a checkpoint in Karachi, Pakistan, 29 October 2024. EPA/REHAN KHAN
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3 Pakistani Soldiers and 8 Militants Killed During a Raid on Insurgents' Hideout

Pakistani security official stands guard at a checkpoint in Karachi, Pakistan, 29 October 2024. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Pakistani security official stands guard at a checkpoint in Karachi, Pakistan, 29 October 2024. EPA/REHAN KHAN

Three soldiers and eight militants were killed after Pakistani security forces backed by military helicopters raided a hideout in a former stronghold of insurgents in a restive province bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday, police said.
A local militant commander was believed to be among those killed in the operation in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police official Zahid Ullah said.
The military said a major was among the soldiers “martyred” during the intelligence-based operation, adding that its forces were going after other militants in the area "to wipe out the menace of terrorism”, The Associated Press reported.
Authorities often carry out such operations against the Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The TTP — an ally of the Afghan Taliban despite being a separate group — has stepped up its assaults in the region since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Government forces have also intensified their operations against separatist groups based in the restive southwestern Balochistan province.

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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)

European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged crimes against humanity.

All EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

"It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfil," he told Reuters.

The United States rejected the ICC's decision and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic.

"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

"I have the right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israel says it has killed Masri.