Police officer killed, six injured in Quetta

QUETTA: Unknown gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a police van in Killi Almo area of Quetta killing station house officer (SHO) of City police station and injuring six others on Thursday.

SHO Mohibullah, along with four of his children and two other policemen, had left his residence in a police van when it came under fire from unknown motorcycle-riding gunmen in Killi Almo area of Balochistan's capital city.

Fourteen including three security officers, killed in Mach

BOLAN: Rebel separatists Tuesday killed 14 people, including three security officers, after stopping vehicles at a fake checkpoint in Balochistan.

The attack happened in the Mach area of Bolan district, 70 kilometres (44 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Quetta. It appears to have targeted mostly people from the central province of Punjab ahead of Eidul-Fitr.

Pro-Assad militia kills Syrian reconciliation team in Homs village

At least six mediators have been killed by pro-government militiamen in the Syrian province of Homs, reports say.

The men were reportedly trying to broker talks between Sunni Muslims and members of the minority Alawite sect in the area when they were shot dead.

Kuldip Singh Brar's attack in London was premeditated

London: Lieutenant General (retired) Kuldip Singh Brar was followed before his throat was slashed with a knife in a premeditated revenge attack in London, a UK court was told on Tuesday.

78-year-old Mr Brar, who commanded the Operation Blue Star in 1984, was on a private visit to London with his wife Meena when the suspected Khalistan sympathisers attacked the couple.

He sustained serious injuries while his wife escaped unharmed and was instrumental in raising an alarm to call the police.

Militant commander killed in Mastung

QUETTA: A militant commander of a defunct sectarian organisation was killed in an operation conducted by security forces in Mastung district of Balochistan on Wednesday.

An intelligence official told Dawn.com on the condition of anonymity that security forces conducted an operation, which lasted for more than an hour, in Dasht area of Mastung district.

He added that two militants of the banned organisation were picked up during the operation and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was also recovered.

Saudi arms will arrive soon: Syria rebel chief

The new head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition said he expected advanced weapons supplied by Saudi Arabia to reach rebel fighters soon and that the Geneva peace conference “is not possible” for now due to their currently weak military position.

Ahmad al-Jarba, who has close links to Saudi Arabia, told Reuters in his first interview since being elected president of the coalition on July 6 that the opposition would not go to a proposed peace conference in Geneva sponsored by the United States and Russia unless its military fortunes improve.

Turkish PM urges ‘so-called’ new rulers of Egypt to release Morsi

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again slammed the military overthrow of elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, calling for his “immediate” release.

“Any attitude that can drag [Egypt] into confrontation should be avoided. We expect that all politicians, Morsi and the prime minister [Hisham Qandil] in the first instance, will be immediately released,” Erdogan said today during the opening of a new metro line in Istanbul.Erdogan also raised his rhetoric against the countries that have shied away from describing the takeover as a “coup.”

Chief justice Adly Mansour sworn in as interim president

CAIRO: The chief justice of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court was sworn in on Thursday as the nation's interim president, taking over hours after the military ousted the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Adly Mansour took the oath of office at the Nile-side Constitutional Court in a ceremony broadcast live on state television. According to military decree, Mansour will serve as Egypt's interim leader until a new president is elected. A date for that vote has yet to be set.

SC disposes of Musharraf treason petitions, directs govt to continue course

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday disposed of the petitions calling for the registration of a treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and directed the government to continue approaching the matter in light of its official statement presented to the court.

The government had in its statement said that it would proceed in accordance with the law and prosecute Musharraf for treason — after taking the political forces into confidence.