Iran: US Supreme Court ruling on Beirut blast a 'theft'

Iran has rejected a ruling by the US Supreme Court that clears the way for families of victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and other attacks to collect nearly $2bn in frozen Iranian funds.

The state IRNA news agency quoted the spokesman of Iran's foreign ministry, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, as saying on Thursday that "such a verdict is a theft of the assets and properties of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

From the United Nations, Ansari spoke to IRNA and said Wednesday's ruling is "tantamount to a ridicule of justice and law".

---

READ MORE: US Supreme Court: Iran funds for Beirut blast victims

---

The ruling directly affects relatives of victims, including families of the 241 US service members who died in the Beirut bombing.

The lawsuit was brought by more than 1,000 Americans who have waged a long legal battle seeking compensation for attacks they say Iran orchestrated.

The plaintiffs accused Iran of providing material support to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia political and military group responsible for the truck bomb attack at the Marine compound in Beirut.

Iran denies any links to the attack.

The plaintiffs also sought compensation related to other attacks including the 1996 Khobar Towers truck bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US service members.

After lobbying by the families, the Obama administration, the US Senate, and a legal group representing leaders of the House of Representatives all filed court papers backing the families.

In 2012 the US Congress passed a law stating that the frozen funds should go towards satisfying a $2.65bn judgment won by the families against Iran in US federal court in 2007.

Pakistan conducts sweeping raids after Lahore bombing

Pakistan rounded up more than 5,000 suspects, then released most of them, in the two days since a suicide bomber killed at least 72 people celebrating Easter, an official said on Tuesday.
Investigators kept 216 suspects in custody pending further investigation, said Rana Sanaullah, a state minister for Punjab province from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ruling party.

How will Pakistan deal with religious tension?

Details of the sweeping raids aimed at anyone suspected of armed violence came as the Taliban faction claiming responsibility for the Lahore attack issued a new threat, singling out the media.
Sanaullah said 5,221 people were detained and 5,005 released after verifying their identities.
Army spokesman General Asim Bajwa said the military and paramilitary Rangers were conducting raids across Punjab, Pakistan's richest and most populous province, in rapid response to the Easter bombing.
"Right now in Rawalpindi, Multan and elsewhere, operations are ongoing, intelligence agencies and Rangers and army troops are carrying out operations," he said.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, the Taliban faction that claimed responsibility for the blast, warned Pakistani media it could be the next target.
"Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media," Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the group, tweeted. "We are just waiting for the appropriate time."
As authorities pursued those responsible, hundreds of ultra-conservative Muslim protesters remained camped out in front of parliament on Tuesday in the capital, Islamabad, days after clashing with police.
Mobile phone networks in the capital were blocked for security purposes for a second day in a row.
While not directly connected, the two events both demonstrate "intolerance", said Moeed Yusuf, a South Asia analyst at the United States Institute of Peace.
"The ultimate solution does not lie in fighting guns and bullets. It lies in fighting mindsets," he told Al Jazeera. "The number of attacks has gone down but the mindset of intolerance remains."

---

READ MORE: The glaring hate of Pakistan's ignored 

---

The Easter bombing was Pakistan's deadliest attack since a 2014 school massacre claimed by the Taliban killed 134 students.
Sunday's attack, which included 29 children among the 72 dead, showed the fighters can still cause carnage despite military raids on their northwestern strongholds.
"Let Nawaz Sharif know that this war has now come to the threshold of his home," tweeted Ehsan. "The winners of this war will, God willing, be the righteous mujahideen."

Afghanistan: Taliban fight kills 15 security troops

A gun battle with the Taliban killed at least 15 members of the Afghan security forces in the volatile southern Uruzgan province, an official said on Wednesday.
The fighting took place late on Tuesday during an operation to reopen an important highway in the province, said Mohammad Nabi Niazo, the Dihrawud district police chief.
Taliban gunmen blocked the highway between Dihrawud and the provincial capital, Tarin Kot, for almost four days, he said.

Following the deadly firefight, Afghan forces retook control of the road, Niazo said. Eight members of the security forces were wounded during the operation.
However, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told The Associated Press that the battle for control of the highway is still going on.
Niazo had no information of any insurgent casualties during the battle.
The Taliban have in recent months stepped up their attacks in Uruzgan and neighbouring provinces in the south, including the Taliban heartland of Helmand.
In northern Balkh province, meanwhile, fighting on Wednesday killed two police officers and eight insurgents in Charhar Bolak district, said General Abdul Razaq Qaderi, Balkh's deputy police chief.
"Around 100 Taliban insurgents, including foreign fighters, attacked police check points," Qaderi said. "The Taliban were pushed back after reinforcements arrived and right now the battle is going on in neighbouring Jawzjan province."
The Taliban did not immediately comment on the Balkh battle.

Bangladesh: Arrest warrant issued for former PM

Lahore attack: Victims' families struggle with loss

Lahore attack: Victims' families struggle with loss

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and six-year-old Zainab Jamshed could not wait to spend the day at the park with her family. 

"She was making sure again and again that we were going to the park for real," her uncle, Ghulam Murtaza, recalled. "Zainab was very excited that we'd decided to spend the day there." 

The young girl - the only one in her family - had already arrived in Lahore's Gulshan-i-Iqbal park when a massive suicide bomb went off a few metres from a children's play area, killing her and at least 69 other people. Hundreds were also wounded, and most of the victims were women and children.

"Today when we held her coffin, my arms were shaking, I could not carry her coffin. She was too young to die. She was just six years old," Murtaza told Al Jazeera.

"If one person from the group tells me it was her fault and why she deserved to die, I will say this attack on innocent people was justifiable."

'Attack on humanity'

The attack, which was claimed by a breakaway Taliban faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, was aimed at killing members of Pakistan's Christian minority gathered at the park to celebrate Easter Sunday.

However, most of those killed were Muslims - like Zainab.

"What is their religion? It is not Islam. It cannot be any religion, because no religion teaches you to kill an innocent person," said Mudassir Butt, who lost his eight-year-old niece and a 55-year-old brother in the blast.

"The attack was not just on Christians, it was on humanity."

Lahore bombing: Pakistan mourns as death toll rises

One of the Christians killed in the attack was 17-year-old Sagir Masih.

Breaking down in tears, his father, Ashraf Masih, questioned the Pakistani government's efforts for the security of the country's Christian minority. 

"Just because our religion is Christianity, does that mean we deserve to die?" he said. 

"We want to know how we are protected as a minority in this country. The government is answerable."

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar vowed to continue such attacks and also took responsibility for the twin bombings of a Christian Church in Lahore last year.

'The nation is mourning'

Pakistan launched a special paramilitary crackdown in Punjab province in response to Sunday's attack, granting special permission to paramilitary rangers to conduct raids and interrogate suspects.

A number of suspects were arrested after several raids across major cities, army spokesman General Asim Bajwa said in a statement.

Lahore bombing leaves at least 70 dead and 300 injured

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif travelled to Lahore on Monday where he visited victims in the hospital.

In a speech addressing the nation, Sharif vowed to eliminate the perpetrators of Sunday's attack.

"I am here today to reiterate our national resolve to fight the menace of terrorism till it is rooted out from our society," he said.

"Terrorism has become a global threat and the whole world is affected by it."

The threat remains

Yet, the attack has left many people terrified as markets were shut and traffic was thin on the roads across the province on Monday.

"If places like schools and parks are attacked in this country, none of us is safe. We all are still under threat," Murtaza said.

"The government needs to completely eliminate these terrorists or else our children will keep dying in such attacks."

The bombing marked Pakistan's deadliest attack since the December 2014 massacre of more than 130 schoolchildren at the Army Public School in the city of Peshawar.

"Attacking children is a sign of their cowardice," Murtaza said.

Source: Al Jazeera

Iran launches ballistic missiles during military drill

Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has launched several medium-range and short-range ballistic missiles in recent days as part of a military exercise, according to the official IRNA news agency.

The missiles had a range of 300km to 2,000km, IRNA quoted General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC's aerospace division, as saying on Tuesday.

IRNA said the missiles, launched from silos in several locations across the country, demonstrated Iran's "deterrence power" and its readiness to confront threats.

---

READ MORE: Iran unveils missile to 'counter regional neighbours'

---

Iran claims to already have surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 2,000km, capable of striking Israel and US military bases in the Middle East.

State TV ran on Tuesday what it called video footage of the operation, showing missiles in underground silos and flashes of light from night-time launches. State media said the exercise was in its final phase on Tuesday.

Rohollah Faghihi, a Tehran-based journalist who covers politics and foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera the latest drill was aimed at sending a "message to Iran's main enemies in the region".

'Appropriate response'

Responding to the reports of the test, a US official told Reuters news agency his government will seek an "appropriate response" at the UN Security Council.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the reported ballistic missile tests would not be considered a violation of the international nuclear deal with Iran, but there were "strong indications" the test would be inconsistent with a Security Council resolution.

"This development underscores why we continue to work closely with partners around the world to slow and degrade Iran's missile programme," the official said.

Iran accused of violating UN missile ban

The latest tests were called The Power of Velayat, a reference to the religious doctrine of Iran's leadership, IRNA said.

The development comes less than two weeks after elections in Iran delivered gains to politicians aligned with Hassan Rouhani, the country's moderate president.

The IRGC reports to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not Rouhani, and its influence is considered to be far greater than those of the army and other armed forces.

In October, Iran successfully test-fired a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile.

It was the first such test since Iran and world powers reached a nuclear deal last summer.

In January, the US imposed new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the ballistic missile programme.

Iran says none of its missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons.

India: Banning women from owning mobile phones

Several villages in western India have banned girls and single women from owning mobile phones, saying the devices distract them from their studies.

Villages in the Mehsana and Banaskantha districts in Gujarat state imposed the ban, and more villages have joined the campaign, said Ranjit Singh Thakor, president of the Mehsana district council.

The ban applies to girls under the age of 18 and unmarried women, he said.


"The girls don't study properly if they have mobile phones, and they can get into all sorts of bad situations," Thakor told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone.

"Let them study, get married, then they can get their own phones. Until then, they can use their fathers' phones at home, if necessary."

It wasn't the first time Indian villages have taken this step.

Villages in eastern Bihar state imposed a similar ban a few years ago, saying mobile phones were "debasing the social atmosphere" by leading young women to elope.

India is the world's second-biggest market for mobile phones, with more than one billion users.

In Mehsana district, offenders will be fined about 2,100 rupees ($31) and informants will be rewarded, Thakor said.

While more villages appear to be embracing the phone ban, villages in Banaskantha district have an informal rule, said Gaurav Dahiya, the district development officer.

"It was imposed by elders in the villages, saying it's for the girls' safety," he said. "But not many people are following it."


India: Banning women from owning mobile phones

Iran's election campaigns

Wednesday marks the last day of campaigning for Iran's parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, with candidates trying to reach as many supporters as possible, whether in person through posters or social media.

In the capital Tehran, candidates rallied supporters while trying appeal to undecided young voters who could sway the outcome of the polls. About 60 percent of the population in Iran are 30 years old or younger.

In universities across the city, parliament candidates like Ali Motahari and Mohammad Reza Aref - who are known reformists - are attracting huge crowds.

As candidates were busy crisscrossing the city, campaign workers handed leaflets outside subway stations or plastered posters bearing photos and party logos of different sizes and colours.

Some posters include links to their address on Telegram, a popular messaging app in the country. Other candidates for the Assembly of Experts hang oversized banners on lamp posts on Tehran's busiest streets.

The parliament has 290 seats. Its role is to pass legislation, including approving the budget and international treaties. The Assembly of Experts is a body of 88 religion experts, tasked with picking the country's Supreme Leader when a vacancy arises.

Official campaigning only started last Thursday. Candidates only have seven full days to make their case. That means those who have name recognition and big party backing have an advantage.

Across the country there are 6229 candidates running for seats in parliament, while about 161, mostly elderly clerics, are vying for 88 Assembly of Experts seats nationwide.

There are 6,229 approved candidates running for the 290-seat parliament in Iran. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

In the capital Tehran, an estimated 1,000 candidates are vying for 30 parliament seats assigned to the city. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Members of the reformist candidates Ali Motahari and Mohammad Reza Aref gather at a campaign event in one of the universities in Tehran. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Only 586 of the candidates are women or 9.4 percent of the entire number of candidates, but 49 percent of the entire population are women. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

The Assembly of Experts have a fix term of eight years and they are responsible for picking the next Supreme Leader. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

Over 70 percent of the 81.8 million Iranians live in urban areas. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

In the 2013 presidential election, 72.77 percent of the voters cast their ballot. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

There are an estimated 50 million voters, and they have to be 18 years old or older to be able to cast their ballot. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

There are 250 registered political parties in the upcoming elections, but allegiances have been known to change once the parliament and Assembly of Experts members are seated. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

The economy is among the top issues in the campaign with a youth unemployment of 25 percent and inflation of 15.3 percent in 2015. [Mohammad ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2016/02/iran-election-campaign-160223064714559.html

Nepal PM seeks to strengthen India ties with visit

Kathmandu, Nepal - Nepal's prime minister has begun a six-day state visit to India after months of bitter relations between the two neighbours.
Experts say the visit from Friday - the first foreign trip by Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli as prime minister - indicates that relations between the two nations are getting back on track.
Relations deteriorated after India asked Nepal to amend the constitution adopted last September to address the grievances of historically marginalised groups such as Madhesis.
"This is a kind of goodwill visit. The distrust that was generated should be removed. That should be the objective of the prime minister's visit," Lokraj Baral, a former ambassador to India, told Al Jazeera.

"The prime minister has also said that he was for the restoration of the trust. That's most important ... I would say the greatest benefit would be the restoration of trust and mutual confidence."
The visit comes a week after a blockade of nearly five months on the India-Nepal border was lifted.
The trade stoppage resulted in a severe shortage of fuel and essential supplies.
The landlocked Himalayan nation almost entirely depends on India for fuel and other essential items such as medicines.

Lifting of blockade

Nepal accused India of interfering in its internal matters and imposing an unofficial blockade - a charge India has denied.
Anti-India and anti-Madhesi sentiment runs high in Nepal as India backed the demands of the Madhesi people, who say the new charter does not address their political and economic marginalisation.
The current coalition government, led by Oli's Communist Party of Nepal, passed amendments that they said would address the demands of the Madhesi, who share close cultural and familial bonds with people across the border in India.

Nepali PM makes first foreign trip to India

Oli, who earlier took strident positions against India, has said he would like to improve bilateral relations between the two neighbours.
He will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on February 20 but analysts say that no big ticket announcement is going to be made.
"He is not going to sign anything this time because this is not the correct time to do so. Agreements can only be reached on some positive things such as developmental things," Baral, the former diplomat, told Al Jazeera.
Ranjit Rae, the Indian ambassador to Nepal, said the trip would help normalise relations.
Prashant Jha, a senior journalist based in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera: "The anti-Indian rhetoric of the Nepali politicians is hypocritical."
He said "the two countries were taking steps to normalise relations in the past two months".
"What we have seen in the last two months is that steps were being taken to slowly restore the...relationship. Kathmandu took the first step - the foreign minister [Kamal Thapa] came twice to New Delhi with proposals to address the political problems," said Jha, who has covered Nepali politics for more than a decade.
"I think the PM's visit definitely indicates that bilateral relations are getting back on track."

Fragile relationship

Jha said the diplomatic rapprochement is still fragile as the political issues that led to the blockade have not yet been fully addressed.

India-Nepal border opens after months of unrest

The Nepal government has committed to creating a political mechanism to solve the political problems, and if it fails to do so in the next three months then we may expect more agitation in the southern Tarai plains, he said.
Oli plans to visit Mumbai, India's financial capital, to meet business leaders as his country is in desperate need of investment in infrastructure and the industrial sector.
However, Jha says the domestic situation is not conducive for investment in Nepal.
He said aid given by the Indian government earlier had yet to be utilised.
"There is already a $1bn line of credit announced by Modi in 2014 and another $1bn by India for quake reconstruction," he said.
"The Nepalese state has not used the assistance that has already been promised. Either it does not have the absorptive capacity or due to institutional dysfunction and instability, they have not been able to absorb."

Delhi water crisis may last 15 days after caste protest

Indian authorities have said severe water shortages in New Delhi will take up to two weeks to fix, after a crucial waterway was sabotaged by protesters to press demands for better treatment for their caste. It caused taps in the capital to run dry.
The Jat caste called off their days-long protest on Monday after they accepted a deal offered by the government in the northern state of Haryana, following days of riots, arson and looting that saw thousands of troops deployed to the state.

---

READ MORE: India caste protesters accept government offer

---

Senior water board official Neeraj Semwal said on Tuesday that only four of New Delhi's nine water treatment plants were currently operating, forcing rationing of supplies to many areas.
"We are hoping to restore partial services in the next two to three days and 100 percent supply within the next 15 days," Semwal told the AFP news agency.
New Delhi's water board is trying to restore full supplies to the city of 17 million people that relies heavily on a canal running through Haryana.
'Districts severely affected'
Water trucks fanned out on Tuesday across the teeming, landlocked city, where infrastructure struggles at the best of times, but it was not clear just how many people were still affected.

"North, west and south Delhi districts were severely affected by the water shortage, with thousands of households not getting regular water supplies," Semwal said.
Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra tweeted that the crisis was "not over yet" and urged residents to conserve water.
"More than 50 percent of Delhi’s water comes from this particular canal. Water is slowly coming back, but there is still a widespread water shortage," said Al Jazeera’s Divya Gopalan, reporting from New Delhi.
India sent troops to secure the canal after protesters demanding a quota for their Jat caste in public service jobs and higher education seized it on Saturday and diverted the water flow away from the capital.
Although schools and many businesses reopened on Tuesday as supplies were partially restored, many are still suffering after the water board said it had been forced to limit supplies.
"The situation has calmed down, but we still hear that some people are afraid to leave their homes as they think that riots can break out again," Gopalan said.
A political ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was shouted down on Tuesday by a crowd angered by rioting in Haryana.
The chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, was heckled by local people in the town of Rohtak, northwest of the capital, after they objected to his comments promising that they would receive compensation.

Prachanda: Nepal's era of change after 'People's War'

Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepal completed its democratic transition last September, when it passed its long delayed constitution.

The Himalayan nation has entered a new era of politics 20 years after Maoist fighters launched an armed rebellion that finally resulted in the removal of 240-year-old monarchy in 2008.

The South Asian nation of 28 million people has just come out of political and economic crisis after five months of anti-constitutional protests by Madhesi parties, who want more economic and political rights.

The Maoist party was credited with the biggest political change, but they have been accused of compromising their core ideologies after coming to power.

Al Jazeera sat with Maoist party chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal or "Prachanda" - the second most powerful politician after Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli - at his home in Kathmandu to hear his views on a range of issues facing Nepal.

Al Jazeera: You have said that the new constitution has empowered the minority and marginalised. But why are groups such as Tharus and Madhesis protesting against it?

Prachanda: The issue of the constitution is republicanism, federalism and secularism and inclusive representation of the marginalised people.

All these major issues have been addressed in the new constitution. The new constitution is progressive in terms of the empowerment of marginalised people.

However, the Tharu and Madhesi people are unhappy with the delineation of provinces. They agree on key issues of proportional inclusion, republicanism, secularism, and federalism.

I am hopeful that within a framework of this constitution the remaining issues can be solved through an amendment to the constitution. In fact, the process of amendment has already been initiated.

: The Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli-led government (of which you are a part) finally passed the amendments. Why did it take so long?

Prachanda: It is unfortunate that it took five months for the first amendments to be passed. It took so long because we tried our best to convince the Madhesi parties that they should own this amendment. Unfortunately, we could not succeed in convincing them.

Al Jazeera: Do you think the nationalist rhetoric espoused in recent months has made hill people suspect the Madhesis even more?

Prachanda: There is a huge communication gap between the two communities. We need to interact more with the Madhesi parties and community.

There is plenty of confusion among the masses of people in Madhes, and we are trying our best to communicate what exactly we have achieved through this new constitution and its shortcomings.

If everything is clearly explained, then the people will become convinced that the new constitution is more progressive than the previous one.

Al Jazeera: What's your take on the future of India-Nepal relations?

Prachanda: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visit is a goodwill visit. It will create a positive atmosphere for the normalcy of the relationship and to move forward.

The situation has already become better since there is no blockade in border areas, the Madhes agitation has been addressed to some extent, and [the] other issue of delineation is being looked into. The trust deficit is there but the visit will create an atmosphere of trust between the two governments. 

Al Jazeera: What will be Nepal's foreign policy vis-à-vis India and China?

Prachanda: We want to keep equidistance between them. Our religion, history, culture, geography clearly dictate us to have a unique relationship with India. With China we don't have an open border, and the religious and cultural ties aren't there.

Al Jazeera: What do you think the Maoist movement achieved and what remains to be achieved?

Prachanda: Many changes have been institutionalised in the new constitution. These are the achievements of the Maoist People's War and Maoist movement.

Without that we can clearly state that there could not have been any republicanism, federalism, secularism, and inclusive democracy.

Thirty-three percent women representation in parliament and all other special rights are clearly mentioned in the new constitution. But the People's War was initiated to establish a new democratic state and go directly into socialism. We could not achieve our goals.

The new democratic revolution was meant to smash feudalism and imperialism, but we could not completely smash feudalism. But we smashed a 240-year-old autocratic monarchy.

Al Jazeera: What led to splits in the Maoist party? There is talk of unity now. What is bringing them together?

Prachanda: The division among the Maoist party has created a difficult situation for the left movement in particular and the overall political changes taking place in Nepal in general.

Therefore, people have raised voices in favour of the unity among the Maoists. I am trying to lead the process of reunification and move forward in peaceful democratic elections, and through this process create an atmosphere for socialist revolution.

Al Jazeera: The sacrifices made by former PLA fighters made possible the change in Nepal's political landscape. But they seem to have been left out in the cold. Has the party failed to help them get on with life?

Prachanda: All cadres, either from the PLA or rank and file of the party, understand the power balance at the international, national, and regional level. They understand the compromise we made was forced by the situation.

If we had not compromised, signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and entered electoral politics, the communist movement could have been sabotaged, or it could have ended very badly.

Al Jazeera: But has the Maoist party taken initiative for the livelihood of former PLA fighters and the education of their children?

Prachanda: In our last Central Committee meeting we focused our attention to address them. In the new recruitment process, they will be given priority. Meanwhile, the party has also decided to start a fund for those who were injured during the People's War.

Al Jazeera: The Maoist party is in power with the extreme right-wing party - Rashtriya Prajatantra Party - which wants to bring back the monarchy. How do you reconcile with this?

Prachanda: The new government is mainly based on the idea of republicanism and the new constitution. It is on this basis that the current alliance has been created. It's not a question of rightist or leftist, it's unity in action for the time being.

Al Jazeera: Now that formalities of the democratic transition are over, when do we expect general elections?

Prachanda: According to the new constitution we should organise new elections in two years. And before the federal elections, there will be local elections.

Al Jazeera: Moving forward, what do you think is Nepal's biggest challenge?

Prachanda: Right now the biggest challenge is economic development. Without initiating a process of economic development, we cannot have sustainable peace. Right now, the implementation of the constitution and initiating the process of economic development are the two biggest challenges we face.

Al Jazeera: It's almost 10 months since the devastating quake hit Nepal, but many people we met in Kathmandu say they have yet to receive any help from the government. Victims say no officials visited them.

Prachanda: There may be some households who might not have got help from the government. But it's not true that nobody [politicians and bureaucrats] has gone there. I myself have visited many areas, including Bhaktapur.

A mechanism has been created for reconstruction. I am hopeful the situation will improve soon.

Blast hits near Pakistan consulate in Afghanistan

A deadly gun battle between Afghan security forces and rebel fighters near Pakistan's consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad has ended.

Afghan forces flushed out gunmen barricaded in a guest house near the consulate building in the border city, hours after a suicide bomber targeted a police patrol nearby, officials said on Wednesday.

At least 10 people were killed, including the three attackers, and 11 others were wounded in the attack.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) loyalists in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack. 

"The gun battle is now over. Three attackers have been killed, including the one who had detonated explosives on his body," Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governor's spokesman, told Al Jazeera. 

"The staff at the Pakistani consulate are safe and no one is hurt. Police are now clearing the incident vicinity."

---

READ MORE: Taliban kills scores in Kandahar airport attack

---

The Pakistani consulate is near the Indian consulate, a hospital and schools, and is usually busy during morning rush hour as people queue for visas.

It comes two days after Islamabad hosted a meeting of representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States to restart a peace process with the Taliban.

ISIL has emerged in a number of different areas of Afghanistan and has vowed to step up operations.

The group even recently launched a radio station in the country to recruit fighters and stir up anti-government sentiment.

The Taliban have been fighting the newly emerged ISIL group since January 2015 and the clashes have increased over the past few months with dozens of fighters from both sides killed, most notably in the Taliban stronghold of Nangarhar province.

Attacks on diplomatic missions

In recent years diplomatic missions have witnessed an increase in attacks by the Taliban, who have been waging an armed rebellion since 2001 when they were ousted from power by the US-led international forces.

---

READ MORE: Taliban attack overshadows Afghanistan peace talks 

---

In 2008, a car bomb at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 58 people and the embassy was again hit by a suicide strike in 2009.

Nine civilians, including seven children, were killed in August 2013 when suicide bombers targeted the Indian consulate in Jalalabad.

In May 2014, gunmen launched a pre-dawn attack on India's consulate in the western city of Herat.

This month, the Indian consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif was attacked.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has claimed responsibility for the coordinated bomb and gun attacks in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, a news agency linked to ISIL reported on Thursday.

At least seven people, including five attackers, were killed in the explosions and gun battle between police and the attackers in the central business district of the city.

Timeline of attacks

Sept 13, 2000: 10 killed in Jakarta blast Dec 24, 2000: 19 killed in church bombings across the country Oct 12, 2002: 202 killed in a nightclub bombing in Bali Aug 5, 2003: 12 killed in a Jakarta car bombing Oct 1, 2005: 23 killed in suicide attacks in Bali July 7, 2009: 7 killed in suicide attacks at two five star hotels

Tito Karnavian, the Jakarta police chief, said ISIL was "definitely" behind the attack.

Karnavian told Reuters news agency that Indonesian ISIL fighter Bahrun Naim, who is believed to be in Syria, was "planning this for a while. He is behind this attack."

Earlier, police told Al Jazeera that ISIL had made specific threats before Thursday's attacks.

Six blasts occurred about 50 metres apart in the central business district, which also houses a United Nations office.

At least 20 people were injured in the security operations at the Sarinah shopping complex on Thamrin Street. Police said the attack had ended and that security forces were in control of the area.

There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties as the police battled the fighters.

Earlier, tweets from the account of Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the UN office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, described a bomb and "serious" exchanges of gunfire on the street outside his office.

Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, said a police post was destroyed in a grenade blast and that sporadic gunfire was heard in the downtown area of the capital.

"Six gunmen on motorbikes entered the downtown area carrying long rifles, shooting into the crowd, with some carrying explosives," Vaessen said. "One of the gunman shot a police officer from close range."

Some gunmen on motorbikes reportedly escaped, police sources told Al Jazeera.

"Witnesses told Al Jazeera that they found nails on the streets near the affected area, indicating that the fragments came from the explosives used in the attacks," Vaessen said.  

The attacks caused panic and prompted a security lockdown and enhanced checks in several areas in the city of 10 million.

"The police are still investigating, so we don't know how and why the attack happened. There were at least six explosions, and so far it looks like the police was the target," our correspondent said. 

Police gathered outside a restaurant near the scene of an attack in central Jakarta [Beawiharta/Reuters]

Presidential statement

Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who was on a working visit in the West Java town of Cirebon, condemned the brazen attacks.

"This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," Jokowi said in statement on television.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has been a victim of several bombing attacks in the past, claimed by Islamic groups.

Thursday's attacks, however, were the first major incidents in Indonesia's capital since the 2009 bombings of two hotels that killed seven people and injured more than 50.

The attacks come two days after jailed Islamic leader Abu Bakar Bashir appealed to a court to have his conviction for funding a "terrorist training camp" overturned.

The 77-year-old leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah network filed a judicial review of his 2011 conviction, when he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for setting up the camp in Aceh province. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years.

Assault casts doubt on Afghan security preparedness

Civilians among dozens killed in attack on heavily fortified Kandahar airport, coinciding with peace talks in Islamabad.

10 Dec 2015 12:10 GMT | Afghanistan, War & Conflict, Asia

•  
• 26
•   
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

The Taliban attack on the Kandahar airbase that left dozens dead has cast new doubt on Afghan security forces' preparedness and also on the future of the country's relations with Pakistan.

Official details about the number of casualties and the nature of the attack, which began on Tuesday night, have been conflicting, with the defence ministry saying 38 civilians, 10 Afghan soldiers and two police officers were killed.

Kandahar police, however, told Al Jazeera that 52 civilians, seven security officers and all 14 attackers were killed.

"It is high time for Afghan security forces to revise their strategies to prevent such major attacks by the Taliban. The threat is not just from the Taliban but also from ISIL emerging in Afghanistan," Faizullah Zaland, a political analyst based in Kabul, told Al Jazeera, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.

Afghan forces have struggled to check attacks like the Kandahar raid since US and NATO formally ended their combat role last year [Reuters]

"The Taliban is trying to prove it is strong and, so far, it has been successful. If we look back at the Kunduz attack of September, it was very well planned. Same goes for the assault on the airbase.

"Such attacks are increasing and it seems like it will only get worse. Most of the areas in Badakhshan province are already under Taliban control."

The attackers targeted a residential compound and military bases at the airport, which is used by Afghan, US and NATO military forces.

There they held a number of hostages as they engaged in a tense firefight with security officials.

As the Kandahar assault was under way, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for the Heart of Asia regional conference that aimed to revive peace talks with the Taliban.

The conference ended with Afghanistan agreeing to restart dialogue with the Taliban with the help of Pakistan, the US and China.

Omar Satai, a Pashtun tribal leader in Kandahar, says the timing of the attack - on the eve of Ghani's visit to Pakistan - was meant to express the Taliban's "opposition to the visit and peace talks".

"The Taliban clearly don't want peace talks. And even if it does, it has conditions which have to be fulfilled before talks even start," he said.

"The conflict won't end any time soon. No area is safe and secure in Afghanistan."

Heart of Asia conference

As the battle raged in Kandahar, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister, promised to cooperate, saying he was committed to renewing the Afghan peace process at the Heart of Asia, a two-day conference held in Pakistan.

"The emergence of newer and more threatening terrorist groups like Daesh should also strengthen our resolve against terrorism," he said at the conference on Wednesday.

"We should envisage collective and coordinated measures on the regional security front to ensure that the gains and struggle against terrorism are durable and irreversible."

---

READ MORE: Afghans fear the rising influence of Taliban

---

The meeting, an annual gathering of Asian and other countries, comes months after the first, inconclusive talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Afghan forces have struggled to check Taliban advances since the US and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of last year.

Three months ago, the fighters briefly took over the northern city of Kunduz before it was driven out by Afghan forces backed by US air strikes.

The developments have dealt a major setback to the country's NATO-trained security forces and highlight the Taliban's potential to expand beyond its rural strongholds.