Suicide bomber, gunmen attack security post in northwest Pakistan, killing 15 security personnel

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By Associated Press | Posted by TOE A  suicide bomber backed by gunmen attacked  a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, killing 15 members of the security forces, the military said Friday. In a statement, the military said troops repelled the overnight assault in Tank, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and killed 12 militants. The military blamed the attack on the  Pakistani Taliban , known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The group is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing sanctuary to TTP militants, an allegation Kabul denies. There was no immediate comment from the group. According to the military, the attackers attempted to storm the checkpoint but were pushed back by security forces before ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall, triggering a powerful blast that severely damaged the checkpoint. The military said those ...
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Chile power outage plunges capital into darkness, hits major copper mines

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By Fabian Cambero and Alexander Villegas Reuters

A massive power outage across Chile plunged the country’s capital Santiago into darkness on Tuesday and knocked out electricity to major copper mines in the country’s north, buffeting global metal markets.

Hours after the outage began and as darkness fell, Chile’s government announced a state of emergency and established a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. (0100 to 0900 GMT) from the northern region of Arica to the southern region of Los Lagos.

The widespread blackout was caused by a transmission line failure in the country’s north, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said, ruling out a cyber attack as a cause.

Chile’s largest power cut in years saw streetlights in the capital go dark, while sirens from emergency vehicles blared across the city, according to Reuters witnesses. The Santiago metro, which transports millions of passengers, was closed and passengers were evacuated from stalled trains.

“There’s nothing. There’s no cash. No money. Nothing,” said Jose Luis Orlandini, who was eating in downtown Santiago when the outage hit.

The interior ministry said it was deploying the armed forces across the country to help maintain order.

As of 10 p.m. about a quarter of the electrical grid’s demand was back on line, and power could be fully restored by morning, said Juan Carlos Olmedo, the board president of Chile’s National Electricity Coordinator (CEN).

In a late night television address to the nation, Chilean President Gabriel Boric said 8 million homes had been affected but power had been restored to about half of them.

“What happened today is outrageous because it’s not tolerable that one or several companies impact the everyday life of millions of Chileans, and that’s why it’s the state’s duty to hold them responsible,” Boric said.

CEN said it was still investigating the cause of the outage. “We’ve activated several power stations, mainly hydroelectric stations,” said CEN executive director Ernesto Huber.

COPPER MINES HIT

The outage hit areas from the mining-intensive north to the central and southern regions home to most of the Andean country’s population, and operations at key copper mines were affected. Chile is the world’s top copper producer.

Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, was without electricity, a source close to the matter told Reuters, while state-owned copper miner Codelco said all its mines had been affected.

The Chuquicamata, Andina, Salvador and El Teniente mines were without power and its other mines were using backup power generation to operate on a partial basis, Codelco said.

Antofagasta (ANTO.L), opens new tab and Anglo American (AAL.L), opens new tab both said that their mines were operating with generators.

The power outage affected the country from the northern Arica and Parinacota region to the southern Los Lagos region, according to Chile’s national disaster prevention and response service SENAPRED. No emergency situations have been reported.

Chile’s DGAC Civil Aviation Authority said that Santiago’s Arturo Merino International Airport was operating normally but LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN), opens new tab said some flights could be affected by the outage



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/rjb4J8F

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