Category: Middle East

Suicide Bombing by Pakistani Taliban at Southwest Pakistan Checkpoint Kills 3

QUETTA, Pakistan—A suicide bomber detonated his explosives Sunday near a security checkpoint in restive southwestern Pakistan, killing at least three paramilitary troops and wounding 15 others, police said. Senior police officer Azhar Akram said the attacker had walked toward the checkpoint manned by the paramilitary Frontier Corps on Quetta-Mastung Road, some 25 kilometers (15 miles)…


2 Saudi Children Injured by Missile Intercepted Over Oil Region, Buildings Damaged

DUBAI—Two children were injured and buildings were damaged when a ballistic missile was intercepted over Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich eastern region on Saturday, the country’s ministry of defence said. The coalition blamed the attack on the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in Houthi-run media. The missile was intercepted over a suburb…


US General Says Most of Those Evacuated From Afghanistan to Qatar Are Now in Europe, US

DOHA—The United States has moved most of the more than 57,000 people it evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar out of the Gulf state, with some now in the United States while others are being processed in Europe, a U.S. general said on Saturday. Roughly 124,000 people were evacuated last month from Kabul in a massive…


Missile Attack on Saudi Oil Region Foiled: Saudi-Led Coalition

DUBAI—A ballistic missile attack aimed at Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich eastern region was intercepted on Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said in a statement carried by Saudi state media. The missile was intercepted over the city of Dammam, according to a source familiar with the matter who declined to be named…


Missing Ancient Mesopotamian Artifacts Seized in Norway

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Nearly 100 missing tablets and other archaeological objects from ancient Mesopotamia have been found in Norway and seized, police said Friday. Authorities said they would now be examined to determine their authenticity and establish their provenance if possible. The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime said they were…


Kabul Airport Reopens, Domestic Flights Operational Soon: Qatari Envoy

Qatar’s ambassador to Afghanistan announced on Saturday a technical team was able to reopen the airport in Kabul to receive aid and commercial airlines will also start operating again soon. The airport has been closed since the United States left the Middle Eastern nation at midnight local time on Aug. 31 after ending a large-scale…


American Woman Stranded in Afghanistan Says She’s Losing Hope: ‘Am I Going to End Up Dying Here?’

A pregnant 25-year-old California woman who remains trapped in Afghanistan described her ordeal in an interview with VOA, in which she wondered whether she would ever make it back home and that she fears for her life. Nasria, who spoke to VOA on condition that only her first name be used out of concerns for…


Second Afghan Boy Dies of Mushroom Poisoning in Poland

WARSAW, Poland—A second child of an Afghan family evacuated from Kabul to Poland died Friday after eating soup containing death cap mushrooms, which the family had unknowingly gathered in a Polish forest outside their quarantine center. The 6-year-old boy had received an emergency liver transplant but doctors were unable to save him. His 5-year-old brother…


Afghanistan a Wake-Up Call for Europe on Defense, Leadership: France

CERNOBBIO, Italy—The challenges to security emerging from the upheaval in Afghanistan should be a wake-up call for the European Union, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Saturday, urging the EU to be more ambitious on defense and on global leadership. “Europe has to become No. 3 superpower besides China and the United States….


Afghanistan Could Be Catalyst for Common EU Migration Policy: Commissioner

ZURICH—Events in Afghanistan could be a catalyst for the European Union to forge a common migration policy, European Commissioner Margaritis Schinas said in a newspaper interview. EU states are concerned that the Taliban takeover could trigger a replay of the crisis of 2015/16, when the arrival of more than a million migrants, predominantly from the…