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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Thousands demand union rights and civic freedoms in large Tunisia protest

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TUNIS -Thousands of members and supporters of Tunisia’s powerful Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) protested in the capital over what they called a decline in union rights and civic freedoms.

It was one of the largest political demonstrations Tunisia has seen recently, and comes amid a deepening standoff between the UGTT and President Kais Saied.

Last month, a UGTT strike over wages and working conditions disrupted transport services across the country and piled pressure on Saied to deal with a deepening economic crisis. In response, hundreds of Saied’s supporters staged a rally outside the UGTT headquarters early this month to urge the president to suspend the union.

Thursday’s protest started in front of the UGTT headquarters in Tunis and passed through Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the site of mass protests that led to the downfall of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East.

Demonstrators chanted slogans including, “The right to struggle is a duty” and decried increasing poverty and hunger and called for the protection of workers’ rights.

UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi decried what he called “threats and smear campaigns” against the union and called on authorities to release political prisoners and provide fair trials.

“The union will not deviate from the path of struggle and will adhere to its social and national role to guarantee workers’ rights,” he said in a speech.

There was no immediate comment from authorities on the protest.

Saied assumed sweeping powers in 2021, shut down the elected parliament, started ruling by decree, suspended the Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in a move the opposition described as a coup.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/ZufTy5Y

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