W O R L D

40 killed, 80 injured in Peshawar bomb blast
Peshawar, September 29
At least 40 persons, including nine from one family, were killed and 80 others injured when a massive car bomb exploded in the historic Qissa Khwani market here in northwest Pakistan today, third such attacks in the restive city in a week claiming nearly 150 lives.

Pakistani rescue workers remove the body of a blast victim in Peshawar on Sunday. — AFP

50 students shot dead in Nigerian college
Paul Ohia Abuja, September 29
At least 50 students were killed in their sleep by suspected Boko Haram militants as they opened fire in a college dormitory in northeast Nigeria, in the latest violence blamed on the dreaded Islamist group. Gunmen attacked the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe state, in the early hours and shot students when they were asleep, sources said.

40 killed, 80 injured in Peshawar bomb blast

220 Kg Explosives used A car carrying 220 kg of explosives detonated in the Qissa Khawani market, damaging at least 50 shops and setting afire many vehicles. The Pakistani Taliban were generally blamed for such attacks. However, the banned militant group denied its involvement in Sunday’s blast. This is the third blast in the city since last Sunday when over 80 persons were killed as twin suicide bombers struck a church. Islamist violence has been on the rise in Pakistan in recent months, undermining PM Nawaz Sharif's efforts to tame the insurgency by launching peace talks with the Taliban.

Peshawar, September 29
At least 40 persons, including nine from one family, were killed and 80 others injured when a massive car bomb exploded in the historic Qissa Khwani market here in northwest Pakistan today, third such attacks in the restive city in a week claiming nearly 150 lives.

The police said a car carrying 220 kg of explosives detonated in Qissa Khawani market, damaging at least 50 shops and setting afire many vehicles. The blast occurred when the police official on duty asked a driver of a car to remove it from the site.

The police said 13 members of the family had come to the city from the adjacent Charsadda district to take part in a marriage function. The blast killed nine of them, they said.

The blast killed at least 40 persons and injured over 80 others, Commissioner Peshawar Sahebzada Muhammad Anis said.

AIG bomb disposal squad Shafqat Malik said it was a remote control blast and the explosive was dumped in a vehicle.

The dead also included six women and four children, hospital authorities said. At least 12 are in critical condition, said doctors at Lady Reading Hospital, where an emergency was declared following the blast.

The Pakistani Taliban were generally blamed for such attacks. However, the banned militant group denied its involvement in today’s blast that took place in Peshawar, the capital of troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The explosion occurred at a time when the shops were just opening. Meanwhile, the trading community of Qissa Khawani Bazaar has announced three-day mourning to express solidarity with the bereaved families.

This is the third blast in the city since last Sunday when over 80 persons were killed as twin suicide bombers struck a historic church. On Friday, 19 persons were killed when a blast took place inside a bus carrying government employees.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, strongly condemned the blast. “Those involved in the killing of innocent people are devoid of humanity and all religions,” he said in a statement. — PTI

50 students shot dead in Nigerian college

Paul Ohia Abuja, September 29
At least 50 students were killed in their sleep by suspected Boko Haram militants as they opened fire in a college dormitory in northeast Nigeria, in the latest violence blamed on the dreaded Islamist group. Gunmen attacked the College of Agriculture in Gujba, Yobe state, in the early hours and shot students when they were asleep, sources said.

College provost Molima Idi Mato confirmed the casualty figure at 50, but added the death toll could be higher as more bodies were being recovered. The bodies were taken to the mortuary of a hospital in the state capital, Damaturu. A hospital worker said two vanloads of bodies had been brought to the hospital.

More than a thousand students have fled the institution, which was also set on fire by the attackers, said state military spokesman Lazarus Eli.

Schools and universities in Yobe state have been the target of attacks, all blamed on the Boko Haram, which has vowed to install an Islamic government in the country and killed hundreds in its four-year insurgency.

At least 143 persons had been killed this month in the northeastern state of Borno by suspected Boko Haram militants who came disguised as soldiers, set up checkpoints and fired on motorists and bystanders.

Yobe was among the three states where President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in May and ordered an operation against the Islamist sect.

Many militants fled their bases in the northeast, the insurgents' traditional stronghold, and violence initially fell, but revenge attacks quickly followed.

In June, the Boko Haram carried out two attacks on schools in the region. A month later, Islamists threw explosives and sprayed gunfire into dormitories in the town of Mamudo in Yobe, killing 41 students. — PTI

Pupils flee

• More than a thousand students have fled the institution, which was also set on fire by gunmen.
• The Boko Haram regards schools as a symbol of Western culture and carried out two attacks on schools in June.

Jains, silent heroes of Nairobi mall attack

Nairobi, September 29
As a jihadist commando sowed death and horror inside Westgate mall last week, Nairobi’s Jains became the silent heroes of the days-long emergency effort. The Jain community, whose small Indian religion upholds non-violence as a sacred principle, opened their doors at the onset of the attack on September 21 claimed by Somalia’s Al-Qaida-linked Shabab group. As the crackle of gunshots filled the air, the Oshwal religious centre just 100m away was a haven where survivors, relatives, security forces and journalists were sheltered, treated, counselled and fed.

“We have a lot of space and numerous parking places,” said Bhupendra Shah, a senior member of the Visa Oshwal community. On the Saturday the raid was launched, “I made a round, I saw soldiers and policemen standing, who where hungry and thirsty. We sent emails to request help, and donations started to arrive on Sunday morning,” said Shah. Within hours, the Jains mobilised like an army and tapped into their formidable economic power. — AFP

One more arrested

Nairobi: Kenya's interior minister says that another arrest has been made in connection with the deadly Westgate mall attack, which left 67 persons dead in a four-day siege. Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said the arrest was made on Sunday, but he refused to give any further details. — AP

Syria chemical clean-up to be the biggest ever

United Nations, September 29
International chemical weapon troubleshooters will enter war-torn Syria on Tuesday to start one of the biggest and most dangerous disarmament operations ever staged. With more than 1,000 tonnes of sarin, mustard gas and other banned horror chemicals stocked across the country, the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog have launched an urgent appeal for scarce experts to join the mission.

Applicants must be ready to face mortal risks and an impossible deadline.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon called the operation “daunting” after the UN Security Council voted on Friday to eliminate President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical arms.

The mission by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which polices the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, will run in parallel to a UN investigation into a huge sarin gas attack in Damascus in August and other suspected attacks. — AFP

BRIEFLY

Pak celebrates Bhagat Singh’s 107th birth anniversary
ISLAMABAD: Members of civil society celebrated the 107th birth anniversary of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh on Saturday at Lahore’s Shadman Chowk where he was hanged by the British in 1931. They cut a cake and held a vigil in his memory chanting “We want freedom!” and “Freedom is our right”. They also reiterated their demand to name the place after the freedom fighter and regretted that a local court had put on hold the decision by the government in this regard after opposition by an extremist group. — TNS

Suicide bomber kills 27 in Iraq
HILLA (IRAQ): A suicide bomber targeted mourners at a Shiite mosque south of Baghdad on Sunday, killing 27 persons, the police and a doctor said, the latest in a series of attacks on funerals. The blast, which collapsed the roof of Al-Hussein Mosque in the Musayyib area, also wounded 35 persons. “The collapse of the mosque roof killed many of those who were present,” said Hamza Habib, who went to the scene after the blast. — AFP

Award for Indian-American poet
HOUSTON: An Indian-American poet has become the first non-Irish person to have won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award-2013 for the collection of his debut poems. Rafiq Kathwari’s collection of 20 unpublished poems “In Another Country”, was selected for the coveted award amidst 112 contestants from across the world. — PTI

Brain for robots developed
WASHINGTON: Robot brain! An Indian-origin scientist in the US has developed a new feedback system that allows robots to operate with minimal supervision and could eventually lead to autonomous machines. The system may lead to robots that think for themselves, learn, adapt and use active critique to work unsupervised. — PTI

Boat capsizes in Indonesia, 29 dead
JAKARTA: The death toll in the sinking of a boat carrying asylum seekers off Indonesia’s coast has risen to 29, while dozens more are still missing. The boat, believed to be carrying about 100 persons, capsized on Friday off West Java after being hit by high waves. A local police chief, Capt Warsono, says rescuers found eight bodies on Sunday. — AP

Protesters carry placards at a ‘Welcome Refugees’ rally in Sydney on Sunday. — AFP

Israel announces arrest of Iranian ‘spy’
JERUSALEM: Israel's Shin Bet security service on Sunday announced the arrest on September 11 of an Iranian "spy" carrying photographs of the US embassy in Tel Aviv. The suspect, holding a Belgian passport, was sent to Israel by Iran's elite Republican Guards and arrested at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport, Shin Bet charged in a statement. — AFP

51-ft dragon, Fanny, largest walking robot
WASHINGTON: A mighty four-legged fire-breathing dragon has entered the Guinness World Records for being the world’s largest walking robot. Measuring 51 feet 6 inches in length, 40 feet 5 inches in width and 26 feet 10 inches in height, the world's biggest walking robot — Fanny— was unleashed by electronics maker Zollner Elektronik AG in Zandt, Germany, in September last year. — PTI