Afghan insurgents kill 10-yr-old who joined militia

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
Kabul: A 10-year-old Afghan boy who was declared a hero after fighting the Taliban has been shot dead by insurgents while on his way to school, officials said on Wednesday. The deputy police chief of Uruzgan province, Rahimullah Khan, said the boy, Wasil Ahmad, was killed in Tirin Kot, the capital of the southern province. The boy had fought the Taliban alongside his uncle on many occasions, Khan said, adding that unknown gunmen he referred to only as insurgents had killed the boy near his home. AP
Missing reporter tells wife he’s back in China
Beijing: A Chinese journalist who disappeared while seeking asylum abroad turned up on Wednesday, telling his wife on phone he voluntarily returned to China for an investigation, in the latest case of Beijing's increasingly strong reach beyond the mainland for wanted people. He Fangmei said she spoke with her journalist husband, Li Xin, when she was summoned to a police station to receive his call. She believes he was forcibly brought back and spoke against his own will. AP
Obama to make first visit to US mosque as Prez
Washington: Amid growing anti-Muslim rhetoric in the US poll campaign, President Barack Obama's visit to a US mosque for the first time during his presidency is aimed at assuring the large Muslim-American community of their religious freedom, according to a top White House official. "I think the President is quite interested in making sure that we're affirming the important role that Muslims play in our diverse American society, and certainly affirming their right to worship God in a way that's consistent with their heritage," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. PTI
Main facilitator of Bacha Khan varsity attack held
Peshawar: Pakistani authorities have arrested the main facilitator of the gruesome attack on Bacha Khan University that killed 21 people, mostly students, while he was trying to slip across the border to Afghanistan, a media report said. Waheed Ali alias Arshad, categorised as 'Terrorist A', was arrested in Nowshera last week by intelligence agencies, the Dawn reported, citing "credible" sources. "He had shaved his beard and had packed up. His taxi was intercepted and he was picked up after positive identification," a source said. PTI
Statue to commemorate 1st Indians in South Africa
Durban: A commemorative statue to honour the memory of first Indian indentured labourers' arrival to South Africa in 1860 will be erected at a popular beachfront point here soon. The Durban City Council has budgeted almost five million rands ($308,380) to build the heritage monument in memory of those who arrived on the steamship Truro after an arduous journey from India. PTI
Saudi poetic justice: Spared death, not lashes
Dubai: A Saudi court has commuted the death sentence against a Palestinian poet convicted of apostasy, to eight-year jail and 800 lashes, his lawyer said. Ashraf Fayadh was detained by the religious police in 2013. His conviction was based on evidence from a prosecution witness who claimed to have heard him cursing God, Islam's Prophet Mohammad and Saudi Arabia. He was also prosecuted for the contents of a poetry book he had written years ago. Rights campaigners say he was targeted for speaking out on political and social matters. In the Wahhabi interpretation of sharia, religious crimes incur death penalty. Reuters
 
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