Double suicide bombing kills eight in Baghdad: officials

BAGHDAD: A double suicide bombing killed eight people at an Iraqi defence ministry complex that three weeks ago was hit by a massive suicide attack which killed dozens, a health official said.

A suicide bomber blew up a minibus at the rear gate of the Rusafa Military Command headquarters in east Baghdad around 10:50 am (0750 GMT), said Major General Qassim Atta, a security forces spokesman in the capital.

A policeman told an AFP reporter at the blast site that a second suicide attacker, wearing an explosives-filled belt, then rushed on to the scene and blew himself up -- an account backed up by an interior ministry official.

A health official at Baghdad’s Medical City Hospital said she had counted eight bodies, mostly civilians but including some soldiers, and that 25 people had been wounded.

The blast caused extensive damage to nearby buildings and Dr Adil Saloom, director of the hospital’s emergency department, said 20 patients had suffered fractures and abdominal injuries, probably as a result of falling masonry.

He said he expected more casualties to arrive as clashes were continuing at the site of the explosion.

The largest blast sent plumes of smoke into the skies over the capital.

Security officials reported two almost simultaneous explosions and said the minibus bomber was assisted by two suicide attackers on foot.

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a red vehicle had managed to pass through a preliminary checkpoint but it exploded at a second checkpoint.

“It was a suicide attack,” he told AFP. “Then several gunmen tried to rush into the compound and fired at soldiers. Then a suicide bomber came to the checkpoint where the clashes were occurring and blew himself up.” Interior and defence ministry officials said the third suicide bomber had failed to fully detonate his explosives belt and that he was wounded but they feared approaching him because of the threat of secondary blasts.

An AFP reporter at the scene said witnesses reported armed clashes and soldiers near the blast site were refusing to allow people to pass by because of a persistent stream of single gunshots in the area.

A soldier at the scene said he saw a large number of troops among the casualties and that the gunshots may be being fired by a sniper.

The Rusafa military headquarters was being used as an army recruitment centre on August 17 when a suicide bomber detonated his payload, killing 59 people.

Sunday’s explosion was the biggest to hit Baghdad since the recruitment centre attack and it came four days after US forces officially changed their role in Iraq from a combat mission to “advise and assist” operations.

US Vice President Joe Biden launched the new mission when visiting Baghdad last week, opening up a fresh phase in a seven-year deployment that has cost the lives of more than 4,400 American troops.

He said in a speech on Wednesday that violence in Iraq was now at its lowest level since the war, but that same day official statistics said 426 people died in unrest last month, underscoring insurgents continuing ability to kill.

Earl sweeps through Maritime Canada, fizzles

HALIFAX: Hurricane Earl made landfall in Canada on Saturday and fizzled after a series of scares along the US East Coast, flooding roads, felling trees and cutting power to tens of thousands in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.

One man died in the Halifax region after he swam into rough waters to secure a boat that had come loose from its mooring.

He drowned while attempting to swim back to shore.

But the storm, downgraded successively from a fierce Category 4 hurricane, never packed the punch that had been feared earlier in the week, when experts warned of possible widespread damage in a region that includes some 1.1 million barrels per day of US oil refining capacity.

“We dodged a bullet here,” Scott MacLeod, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said of Earl’s charge past Massachusetts as a tropical storm. “Other than some minor road closures due to localized flooding, we’re not getting a lot of reports of major damage.”

The storm was again a hurricane, but barely, when it reached Canada. It quickly weakened again to a tropical storm, with wind speeds under 74 mph, half of the wind speed of a violent Category 4 hurricane.

The storm, with initial gusts of 80 mph, cut power to 200,000 homes and business across the province of some 940,000. The Nova Scotia power authority said it could be two days before full power is restored.

As a large Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, Earl had been the largest hurricane to threaten the densely populated US Atlantic shoreline since Hurricane Bob in 1991.

It delivered heavy rain and gusty winds to parts of the eastern United States en route to Canada, but the storm stayed mostly offshore and caused far less damage than feared on its path up the US coast from North Carolina. It hit land in Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic coast.

In the provincial capital Halifax, powerful winds churned up the harbor and tossed litter through downtown streets as blacked-out traffic lights swayed alarmingly. It was hard to stand against the swirling, gusting wind.

Earl deposited about an inch (2.5 cm) of rain per hour as it crossed Nova Scotia and moved into the neighboring maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Imperial Oil Ltd closed its 82,000 barrel a day Dartmouth refinery before the storm struck.

The refinery is one of three in Eastern Canada, and the closest one to the center of the storm.

EnCana Corp evacuated staff from its Deep Panuke prospect off the Nova Scotia coast after suspending drilling late on Monday. The company said it would know later on Saturday when they could return.

LIMITED LOSSES

The relatively light impact in the United States raised hopes that the Northeast will suffer only limited losses during the three-day Labor Day weekend, traditionally viewed as the final surge of summer tourist dollars for airlines and other businesses.

Storm-related outages from North Carolina to Connecticut knocked out power to about 3,300 customers, the US Energy Department said a small number that showed the mild impact of what had once shaped up to be a monster storm.

“I think right now the biggest thing we are dealing with in terms of aftermath are downed trees and power lines,” said Krista Higdon, a spokeswoman for the Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office.

By late afternoon, the US National Hurricane Center described Earl as a tropical storm with maximum wind speeds of 70 mph. It said Earl was located about 20 miles west-northwest of the Magdalen Islands, Quebec, and was moving north-northeast at a speed of 40 mph (65 kph). – Reuters

Suicide bomber kills five in southern Russia

MAKHACHKALA: At least five people were killed and 35 wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a military camp in Russia’s southern region of Dagestan, security officials said.

The bomber tried to drive a car containing about 50 kg of explosives onto a firing range where the 136th Motorcycle Brigade had set up camp outside the town of Buynaksk, about 50 km west of the local capital Makhachkala.

But soldiers blocked the bomber’s path with a military truck, preventing what investigators said would have been a much more deadly attack had the bomber reached tents where hundreds of soldiers were sleeping.

Russia is struggling to contain an upsurge of attacks in the mainly Muslim provinces along its southern flank by rebels who in March took their war to the Russian heartland with deadly bombings in the Moscow metro.

Local leaders say a potent mix of clan feuds, poverty, Islamic extremism and heavy-handed tactics by law enforcement agencies has driven youths into the hands of rebels who want to create a Sharia-based pan-Caucasus state.

There were conflicting reports of how many people were killed by the suicide bomber.

Two sources in law enforcement agencies in Dagestan said at least five people were killed but the Prosecutor-General’s office in Moscow said three people were killed and 34 wounded.

A spokesman for Russia’s defence ministry could not be reached for comment.

Russia’s Dagestan region has overtaken its neighbours as the epicenter of violence in theNorth Caucasus this year with a wave of bombings and shootings.

Bekmurza Bekmurzayev, a local minister in charge of national, religious and foreign affairs in Dagestan, was wounded on Saturday and his driver killed by a car bomb. – Reuters

England-Pakistan series opens with air of suspicion

CARDIFF: England play their first Twenty20 international on Sunday since claiming the World Cup in Barbados this year against a backdrop of suspicion and innuendo rather than celebration.

The first of seven limited overs internationals against Pakistan follows an extraordinary week in which cricket authorities have been confronted by their biggest crisis since the 2000 match-fixing scandal.

Pakistan, the 2009 Twenty20 world champions, will take the field in Cardiff without their test captain Salman Butt and pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif who each face possible life bans.

The trio were charged on Thursday under the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption codes after alleged spot-fixing in the fourth and final test against England.

The News of the World newspaper reported on Sunday that a fourth player was being investigated by the ICC over match-rigging allegations. The ICC declined to comment.

The British tabloid, which reported last Sunday that Butt, Amir and Asif had been involved in fixing incidents at Lord's, also quoted test opener Yasir Hameed as saying some of his team mates were fixing matches.

However, Hameed subsequently denied making the allegations as he said he had never spoken to the tabloid.

“There has been a lot going on, some of it very unsavoury. No one wants that sort of news on the front or back page,” said England team director Andy Flower.

“We have to see the outcome of these investigations first but obviously it's not a very healthy position we seem to find ourselves in right now. But the game will survive. It's a great, great game, people love playing it and people love watching it and that's why it will survive.”

The crisis has relegated a possible suspension for the man-of-the-tournament at this year's Twenty20 World Cup to the category of minor news.

Kevin Pietersen will face an England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary hearing for announcing his omission from both one-day squads with an intemperate outburst on Twitter. He will be replaced by Ravi Bopara.

Pakistan will be led by Shahid Afridi, whose all-round contributions were vital to his team's World Cup triumph last year, while flamboyant fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar also returns to international action.

Afridi apologised on behalf of his team on Saturday.

“I know they are not in this series, but on behalf of these boys I want to say sorry to all cricket lovers and all the cricketing nations,” he said. – Reuters

KESC extends loadshedding to eight hours

KARACHI: The people of Karachi were subjected to extended hours of outages as the Karachi Electric Supply Company on Saturday increased the duration of loadshedding to between five and eight hours in a day.

The KESC said that “a sudden curtailment in the supply of gas from the Sui Southern Gas Company, affecting the KESC power generation” was the reason of extending the duration of loadshedding.

From Saturday, some commercial and residential areas in the city which had been facing loadshedding three times a day would now experience it five times in 24 hours, said a spokesperson for the power utility.

Sources told Dawn that the KESC had failed to attend to many faults that were also causing prolonged outages across the city.

In some areas the duration of an outage would be one hour, whereas in some other areas it would be stretched up to one hour and 30 minutes each at a time.This schedule, the spokesperson said, would continue until the gas supply to KESC was normalised.

The KESC decision would badly hurt the business activities in the city with the Eid shopping season reaching its peak.

Market associations have come down hard on the KESC for not operating its generation plants on furnace oil to fulfil its contractual commitment when the gas was in short supply.They alleged that such acts of the KESC would be tantamount to crippling Karachi’s business and industrial activities and put the public in great discomfort.

The KESC claimed that the SSGC had stated that it had to close its Zamzama gasfield because of the floods, causing about 35-40 per cent reduction in supply of gas to the power utility.

The power generation from KESC plants running on gas had to be dropped accordingly while some plants, which could also run on oil, had been shifted onto oil, said the KESC spokesperson.

“However, due to the substantial drop in gas supply, the KESC has been forced to resort to enhanced loadshedding, starting before 9am and continuing after 1.30am from Saturday till further notice,” said the KESC spokesperson.

“This extraordinary schedule will continue till the SSGC gas supplies are normalised,” he added.The Sui Southern Gas Company spokesperson however claimed that despite the closure of the Zamzama gas field due to inundation of the field with the floodwater and shortfall of 136MMCFD in supplies from the gasfiled, it had curtailed only 60MMCFD supply to the KESC.

He said Johi in Dadu district had been hit by flood and the BHP’s Zamzama gas field’s Phases I and II, from which SSGC was drawing 240MMCFD had been closed. Due to this situation the gas utility was getting only 104MMCFD and was therefore compelled to curtail supplies to its bulk consumers, including the KESC, the SSGC spokesperson said.

The gasfiled was supplying 430MMCFD to SSGC (240MMCFD) and SNGPL (190MMCFD).

He said the SSGC supply of 200MMCFD to the KESC was progressively curtailed to 140MMCFD since Friday.

This affected supplies to Bin Qasim which was now getting 30MMCFD instead of 90MMCFD. But there was no curtailment of supplies to single fired power generation plants at Korangi, KTPS, Combined Cycle, Haroonabad and West Wharf. The supply of 112MMCFD to such plants was continuing, the spokesperson said.

Supplies to SNGPL have been brought down to 110MMCFD.

The gas company’s spokesperson said that because of this situation supplies to Jamshoro plant had been brought to zero from 60MMCFD. Kotri was being provided 20MMCFD but Pakistan Steel’s supply had to be brought down from 38 to 33 MMCFD.

Fauji Fertilizer was now getting 63 instead of 72 MMCFD and Engro was getting 14 instead of 18MMCFD.

The SSGC spokesperson said the gas company had moved its machines and equipment from Shikarpur, where it was engaged in flood relief work, to restore supplies from Zamzama. He said efforts were being made to repair it as soon as possible.

Floodwater finally falling in the Arabian Sea

THATTA: After devastating an area spread over 2,700 square kilometres and displacing 578,732 people from Sujawal area, floodwaters gushing out of Kot Almo breach since August 10, are now finally falling in the Arabian Sea through two major creeks.

According to the District Officer Revenue and focal person District Disaster Management Committee, Hadi Bux Kalhoro, water was falling into the ocean through Kalka Chani and Purano Dhoro Creeks respectively, located along settlement of Chach Jahan Khan” in UC Kothi and in south west of coastal town of Jati.

“I am standing just here and flood waters are streaming down” said Mr. Kalhoro on his cell phone, while giving details of his eyewitness account. He said the width of the flood water is about half a kilometre at an estimated average height of 12 ft.

Mr Kalhoro said that the raging water had inundated Jati-Baranabad- Khorwah road. Water is about to reach Khorwah, a town of about 40,000 souls in Golarchi taluka of Badin district, and the administration was giving various cuts in the said road to stem the mounting pressure of water in the area.

He said the coastal town Chuhar Jamali was still safe, however, the water has inundated the entire landscape from coastal town of Ladyoon to Kaiz Nali- a tributary of fresh water.

The water has submerged Kaang Tarro and Johu Tarr Lake. Many villages, including Mubarak Borio, Dolho Borio, Ghulam Hussain Borio, Gul Mohammad Mallah, Gul Thaheem, Ayub Thaheem, Ramzan Anghai, Haji Hassan Borio and 27 other villages had been inundated in this area.

When contacted, DCO Thatta Manzoor Ali Shaikh said that two teams had been dispatched to coastal taluka of Jati via Ahmed Rajo and Golarchi to help expedite the evacuation process.

He said that the main Thatta-Badin Highway via Sujawal, has partly been restored and traffic has started to move uptill Sujawal, adding that still the highway was under water from Nodo Baran to Budho Talpur. He said that within the next four to six days this portion of highway would also be cleared of water and communication from Karachi to Badin via Thatta and Sujawal would be restored. The general population would be able to reach Badin from Karachi easily, he added.

Meanwhile, the level of floodwater which had inundated the major town of Sujawal, has receded up to three feet and restoration of road access to the sub-division headquarter town has resulted in gradual return of some of the citizens to their abodes.

In another development electricity has been restored to Mirpur Bathoro and Daro towns. Power to these two towns had been cut since the Kot Almo breach. These towns remained safe during the devastating floods. Life also returned there with the restoration of power.

As per an official update, total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) from different parts of Thatta district, including kutcha area stood at 850,111 out of whom 201,299 are living in tents, 533,045 had gone to other places or to their relatives while 115,167 are living under open sky.

BADIN: The flood water may hit main Karo Ghunghro Drain, which is the defence line of Golarchi, Khor Wah and towns of Badin district near the border of Thatta.

Dewan Sugar Mill is at a distance of eight kilometres from Karo Ghunghro Drain.

DCO Badin Agha Wasif said that although major portion of flood water was heading towards the sea and the authorities of Badin and Thatta districts were busy in making a cut at Jati to Barn road to divert flood water towards sea.

He said that there was no threat to the Badin district adding that the administration was fully vigilant.

He brushed aside reports that Dewan city had been submerged. He, however, said that if the floodwater became rough, it would first stretch towards Rari forest and then create problems for people of Badin.

Meanwhile, landlords and owners of sugar and other mills have collected an amount of Rs10 million and were spending it to strengthen the banks of Karo Ghunghro Drain to save Golarchi and nearby towns and villages.

The work is being carried out under the supervision of Hasnain Mirza, son of Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.

PPP candidate sails through NA-184 bypolls

BAHAWALPUR: PPP candidate Khadeeja Aamir Warren has won the NA-184 by-polls after defeating PML-N candidate Mian Najeeb-ud-Din Owaisi by a margin of around 27,000 votes.

According to unofficial results, Khadeeja had secured around 75,000 votes and Owaisi 48,000 votes while results from a few polling stations were still to come.

The Hatheji village that has seen sectarian clashes in the past proved a troubled spot on Saturday too.

The police and Rangers had to launch a baton charge to disperse a protesting mob outside Polling Station No. 67 set up at the local high school after a scuffle erupted between the PPP and PML-N workers.

The minister of state for interior, Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi, said the trouble began when a former nazim, Saeed Ahmed, allegedly misbehaved with a woman voter at the polling booth. This irked the PPP workers who started chanting slogans against the PML-N and the ensuing scuffle led to the disruption of polling.

DCO Dr. Naeem Rauf and DPO Babar Bakht Qureshi rushed to the spot to restore the law and order. Though polling resumed after an hour or so, tension prevailed there till the end of the polling.

Qureshi told Dawn that the situation deteriorated due to “poor performance of the Punjab police”. He said the federal government did not want to interfere and he himself asked the DPO to handle the situation.

On the other hand, PML-N leader Syed Ali Gilani said the PPP wanted to hijack the by-elections.

Rao Javed Iqbal, a candidate, alleged that he was also attacked by two men of his rival candidate at the same polling station.

He said that he wanted examining a woman’s computerized national identity card on which Latif Ghalloo and Rafiq Ghalloo hurled bricks at him. Though Iqbal remained unhurt, his bodyguard Arshad was hit in the head. He was taken to a nearby health facility and a case was lodged with the Hatheji police station.

Overall polling process remained peaceful. However, skirmishes arising out of polling-related disputes were reported from Ismailpur, Kote Dadu Ghalloo, Patti Kuliar and Malkani Basti polling stations.