Terror drones violate Pakistan’s sovereignty, official says

US assassination drone strikes are a violation of international law and infringe on Pakistan’s sovereignty, a senior Pakistani official says.

“Drone attacks are against the sovereignty of Pakistan, against international law, and against the UN Charter,” Pakistani Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani told members of parliament in Islamabad on Friday.

“Innocent people have been killed in these attacks,” Jilani said.

“We are having talks with the US to stop the drone attacks, and we hope for a positive outcome of the dialogue and hope that drone attacks will stop,” he added.

Earlier in the day, an airstrike carried out by US assassination drones killed nine people and injured several others in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area, which borders Afghanistan.

US drones fired two missiles into a compound in a village on the border of the North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal areas, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, local security officials said.

“Six drones were hovering in the sky at the time of the attack. One drone fired two missiles at a house,” a security official in Miranshah said.

“The compound was completely destroyed,” he added.

Between 2,627 and 3,457 people have been killed by US drones, which are operated by the CIA, in Pakistan since 2004, including between 475 and nearly 900 civilians, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism said in a report in January.

Washington claims its drone strikes target militants, although casualty figures show that Pakistani civilians are often the victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks.

The slaughter of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, in US drone strikes has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington, and Pakistani officials have complained to the US administration.

In September 2012, a report by the Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law gave an alarming account of the effect that assassination drone strikes have on ordinary people in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

“The number of ‘high-level’ targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low — estimated at just 2%,” the report noted.

36 killed, 100 injured in Iraq car bomb

At least 36 people have been killed and nearly 100 others injured in a series of car bombings in mainly Shia areas of Iraq.

According to Iraqi sources, a car bomb at a stand for taxi vans in the southern city of Karbala killed five people and injured 16 others on Friday, the deadliest day in Iraq in two months.

Fourteen people were also killed and 36 others injured after two car bombs exploded simultaneously at a vegetable market in Hillah Province, south of the Iraqi capital.

Furthermore, at least 17 people were killed and 45 were wounded in two explosions at an outdoor pet market in Baghdad’s northern Kazimyah neighborhood.

Security sources say the first bomb exploded at the main entrance to the market, and as panicked crowds tried to flee the area, the second device went off.

All the victims were civilians. The blasts also completely destroyed several nearby cars.

Over 100 people have been killed in violence across Iraq in the past week, and according to an AFP tally, January was Iraq’s deadliest month since September.

Bangladesh ferry capsizes with up to 100 on board

A passenger ferry has capsized after colliding with another ship on a river in central Bangladesh, putting as many as 100 people into the water, officials and witnesses say.

Police said there were no immediate reports of casualties after the ferry, MV Sarash, went down on the river Meghna in Munshiganj district, 20 miles south of Dhaka. There was confusion over the number of passengers on board at the time of the accident, but those at the scene said some people were missing.

Khokon Mollik said he had yet to locate neighbours who were on the ferry, including 17 members of a family who were travelling to a funeral.

“We have found none of them yet,” Mollik said.

A 12-year-old passenger, Omar Faruk, said he could not find his mother.

The television station Channel-I said local villagers rescued more than 40 people after the accident. Several others were able to swim to shore, the report said.

The station put the number of passengers at more than 100, although a local police official said it was about 80. The president of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport and Passenger Service, Badiuzzaman Badal, said the ferry was carrying just over 50 passengers.

Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh and it is often unclear how many people are on board the frequently overcrowded vessels.

The MV Sarash was on a local run from Narayanganj city to Matlab in the south when it capsized.

The local government administrator Mohammad Saiful Hasan said a salvage vessel had reached the scene and a rescue operation would start after the sunken ferry was located.

US-led foreign forces reject UN report on death of Afghan children

US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan have rejected a United Nations report that accuses American troops of killing hundreds of Afghan children over the last four years.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) issued the statement in Kabul on Friday, after the Geneva-based UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said this week the civilian casualties were “due notably to reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force.”

The UN body said in the report on Tuesday that it is “alarmed at reports of the death of hundreds of children as a result of attacks and air strikes by the US military forces in Afghanistan.”

The report also said “those responsible for the killings” have not been held accountable “even as the number of children killed doubled from 2010 to 2011.”

The UN has reviewed a range of US policies affecting Afghan children since 2008.

In the statement, the ISAF described the UN report as “categorically unfounded”.

The ISAF claimed that US-led foreign troops take special care to avoid civilian casualties.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the US to quickly implement the UN recommendations to improve the security of Afghan children.

“The US can and should do more to protect children affected by armed conflict,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at HRW. “The US should take decisive action on the child rights committee’s common-sense recommendations.”

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led soldiers.

US braces for ‘dangerous’ snow storm

Snow has begun to fall as a massive blizzard heads for the northeast United States, which the National Weather Service predicted to be “a major winter storm” that will hit most of the region’s coastline, including the New York area.

By late Friday, New York, one of the world’s busiest air travel hubs, was cut off from the skies as snow and wind led airlines to suspend all operations at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F Kennedy International airports.

“The five New York City airports are open, but airlines are operating on a greatly reduced schedule, with more than 2,300 flights cancelled as of mid-afternoon,” the office of Andrew Cuomo, New York governor, said.

“In the event that some travelers become stranded, airport personnel are preparing cots, blankets and other essentials to assist customers. All air travelers should check with their carriers regarding resumption of flights tomorrow.”

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York, said cancellations have already begun as part of a strategy to o keep planes, crews and passengers away from snowed in airports.

“Airlines began cancelling flights before the first flake of snow had fallen”, our correspondent said.

“Due to potential power outages and transportation difficulties, New Yorkers are advised to stock up on potential supplies, including medicine.”

- Michael Bloomberg, New York mayor

Three northeastern states have declared a state of emergency, while driving restrictions were in place in Boston, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

In addition to the road and air snarl-ups, the rail service Amtrak said trains from New York northbound and also to the capital Washington DC, were being suspended.

The storm was forecast to bring the heaviest snow so far this winter along the New England coast, threatening power and transport links for tens of millions of people.

Schools in Boston and other towns and cities in New England and upstate New York were also ordered to close.

Residents had also already begun to stock up on food and supplies ahead of the storm poised to dump up to a metre of snow from New York City to Boston and beyond.

“This one doesn’t come along every day. This is going to be a dangerous winter storm,” said Alan Dunham, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.

“Wherever you need to get to, get there by Friday afternoon and don’t plan on leaving.”

Biggest snow storm

Blizzard warnings were posted for parts of New Jersey and New York’s Long Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, including Hartford, New Haven, Connecticut, and Providence. The warnings extended into New Hampshire and Maine.

It was likely to be the biggest snow storm to hit the densely populated corridor so far this winter, and came a little over three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the same area of New York City and New Jersey, killing 132 people and causing damage worth some $71.4bn.

The National Weather Service warned that “in addition to the heavy snowfall, wind gusts of up to hurricane force are possible, especially near the coast.

Michael Bloomberg, New York mayor, who came under withering criticism for the city’s flat-footed response to a blizzard in 2010, said residents should prepare for the worst.

“Due to potential power outages and transportation difficulties, New Yorkers are advised to stock up on potential supplies, including medicine,” Bloomberg said.

Authorities in New York and neighbouring New Jersey summoned extra personnel and readying snow removal equipment.

East Makkah residents demand police stations

People living in Al-Rashdiya and Al-Maghmas districts, east Makkah, have called upon concerned authorities to build police stations in their districts following an increase in thefts and robberies.

The people attributed the cause of the growing number of thefts to the large number of rest houses where illegal workers take refuge from security officers. Some homes were burgled while they were vacationing abroad.

Although few security patrol officers frequent both districts during their rounds, they are not enough, according to the people who called for intensifying police presence in their districts.

Bandar Al-Zahrani has lived in the Al-Rashdiya neighborhood for two years. Thieves tried to break into his house twice but they failed to break open the locks; however, they managed to break into the annex and steal a TV and some other devices.

“Our neighborhood is full of expatriates who go around searching for jobs from one house to another. I don’t blame one particular person, but this neighborhood needs a police station. It’s full of rest houses and these places are full of illegal workers.”

Abdullah Al-Manaee, who owns a rest house, attributed the increase in theft rate to the fact that the neighborhood does not have streetlights in some areas. These areas are a haven for robbers because they can do as they please in the dark. Al-Manaee’s rest house has been robbed before.

He called upon authorities to provide Al-Rashdiya neighborhood with electricity and sewage services because there are many people living in the neighborhood now. More importantly, he said, there should a police station to protect the people from theft and robbery.

Kerry repeats allegations about Iran nuclear program

   

US Secretary of State John Kerry has repeated the unfounded allegations about Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program.

He told reporters at the State Department on Friday that Iran should either prove to the world that its nuclear program is peaceful or it would face consequences.

“Iran has a choice: they have to prove to the world that it is peaceful,” Reuters quoted Kerry as saying.

“The international community is ready to respond if Iran comes prepared to talk, real substance and to address concerns that could not be more clear about their nuclear program. If they don’t then they will choose to leave themselves more isolated,” he added.

Kerry’s comments come ahead of a meeting scheduled for February 26 between Iran and the six major powers of the P5+1 group (the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China, and Germany) in Kazakhstan.

“I want to underscore to Iran the window for diplomacy is still open and we have agreed to meet Iran again in two weeks in Kazakhstan. We’re made our position clear, the choice is really ultimately up to Iran,” Kerry stated.

The US, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that the Iranian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.