Terror attacks on election candidates continue

SHIKARPUR/QUETTA: At least two people were injured in a suicide attack which occurred near the Shikarpur toll plaza on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The blast took place near the convoy of National Peoples Party’s candidate Dr Ibrahim Jatoi in Shikarpur who remained unhurt.

In another incident, three people were reported injured when a bomb exploded in Balochistan’s Dera Murad Jamali region.

Three car bomb blasts kill 11 in Iraq Shia provinces

BAGHDAD: At least 11 people were killed and dozens wounded when three car bombs tore through public markets in Shia provinces in southern Iraq early on Monday, medics and police sources said.

Sectarian tensions are at their highest since US troops left Iraq more than a year ago and militant attacks have increased as the country's fragile intercommunal balance comes under growing strain from the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

More than 180 people have been killed since Tuesday, when security forces stormed a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces.

Afghan bus crash kills 30, Taliban blamed

KABUL: An official says a bus in southern Afghanistan has collided with the burning wreckage of a truck that was attacked by Taliban insurgents, killing 30 bus passengers.

Omar Zawak, the governor’s spokesman in Helmand province, said the truck was set on fire by Taliban attackers and left burning in the middle of a road, and the bus could not stop in time to avoid smashing into it.

The fiery crash happened about 55 kilometers outside the capital of Helmand province.

Zawak said Friday’s crash also left 11 passengers injured. He said the casualties included men, women and children.

45pc ‘home-grown’ UK Jihadis have visited Pakistan: seminar

LONDON: According to various academics and experts, 45% of those involved in terrorism or radicalism from the UK have travelled to Pakistan or Afghanistan for training in violent Jihadi camps.

Although, the threat of terrorism has reduced overall in the world, the overwhelming feeling is that it could still explode any time in a single event, experts on radicalisation and counter-terrorism stated at the Democracy Forum’s seminar on home-grown terrorism at the Commonwealth Club, London.

The seminar was inaugurated by Peter Luff, MP, and chaired by Dr William Crawley. Dr Paul Gill of the Department of Security and Crime Science at the University College London, Dr Lindsay Clutterbuck of RAND Europe, Vidhya Ramalingam from the Strategic Dialogue, and Scott Kleinmann of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) presented their arguments.

Ajit Sat-Bhambra, the Democracy Forum director, said the aim of the study is to find the causes of radicalisation and take steps to deal with threats as well to address the core issues that provide fodder to extremist groups and their masterminds who go on to radicalise the youth.

Blast at Jalozai camp; 12 killed

PESHAWAR: At least 12 people were killed and 25 others were injured in an explosion at the Jalozai camp in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.

The deceased included a women and a child.

At least 12 people died in the attack and 20 others were injured, according to DPO Mohammad Hussain who added that the bomb was planted in a car.