The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Ukraine minister under fire for swearing about Russia’s Putin
Kiev/Moscow, June 15
A Ukrainian firefighter pours foam onto smashed cars near the Russian Embassy during a rally in Kiev on Saturday. Senior Russian parliamentarians urged Ukraine on Sunday to sack its foreign minister for calling President Vladimir Putin a “dickhead” during a violent protest outside Russia’s embassy in Kiev. Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia tried to persuade protesters not to use violence at the rally on Saturday evening, during which the Russian flag was ripped up, vehicles overturned and stones and eggs thrown at the embassy.

A Ukrainian firefighter pours foam onto smashed cars near the Russian Embassy during a rally in Kiev on Saturday. AP/PTI

praying for loved ones: Family members of passengers aboard the missing MH370 flight pray at Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing. Sunday marks the 100th day that the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared with 239 passengers and crew on board. Reuters

Taliban cut off fingers of 11 for voting in Prez poll
Kabul, June 15
Taliban militants have cut off the ink-stained fingers of 11 Afghan men as a punishment for disobeying their diktat in the crucial presidential run-off poll that saw a higher than expected turnout of 52 per cent. “AFG The insurgents who were defeated today cut off inked fingers of 11 voters in #Herat. The injured ppl transported to the hospital,” Afghanistan’s Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi tweeted. The gruesome incident took place yesterday in Herat Province after the 11 men, mostly elders, who returned after casting their ballot in the run-off to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has been in office since 2001.

Top Chinese diplomat to visit Vietnam amid tensions
Beijing, June 15
A top Chinese diplomat will visit Hanoi for talks with Vietnamese leaders amid raging tensions over China’s move to place an oil rig in the South China Sea, even as Beijing began building a school on one of the disputed islands.

Iraq insurgents advance towards Syrian border

Iraqi security forces fire artillery during clashes with militants belonging to ISIL in Jurf al-Sakhar. Reuters

Baghdad, June 15
The insurgent offensive that has threatened to dismember Iraq spread to the northwest of the country on Sunday, when Sunni militants launched a dawn raid on a town close to the Syrian border, clashing with police and government forces.

As the rapid advance south by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) towards Baghdad appeared to slow over the weekend, fierce fighting erupted in the town of Tal Afar 60 km west of Mosul near the Syrian border, security sources and a local official said.

ISIL fighters and other Sunni Muslim armed groups have stormed several towns on the road to Baghdad after seizing Mosul nearly a week ago, an offensive which only stalled as it approached the mainly Shi'ite capital.

The advance alarmed both Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite supporters in Iran and officials in the United States, which helped bring him to power after its 2003 invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

US President Barack Obama said on Friday he was reviewing military options, short of sending troops, to combat the insurgency, and Iran held out the prospect of working with its longtime US arch-enemy to help restore security in Iraq.

Maliki's security forces and allied militias regained some territory on Saturday, easing part of the pressure on his Shi'ite-led government, and officials said they were regaining the initiative.

But Sunday's fighting in Tal Afar, a majority Turkomen town which is home to both Shi'ites and Sunnis, showed how volatile the deepening sectarian divisions have become. Residents in Sunni districts accused Shi'ite police and army forces of launching mortar fire at their neighbourhoods, prompting ISIL forces stationed outside the town to move in.

In Baghdad on Sunday, a suicide attacker detonated explosives in a vest he was wearing, killing at least nine persons and wounding 20 in a crowded street. — Reuters

Avoid travel to Iraq: India

New Delhi: The government on Sunday advised Indian nationals to avoid all travel to Iraq in view of the deteriorating security situation prevailing in the Arab nation. In a travel advisory, the government also asked Indian nationals in Iraq to consider leaving the country by commercial means if it was safe to do so. The government advised those nationals who do not have travel documents or need other consular services to seek assistance from the Indian Embassy in Baghdad. The Indian Embassy in Baghdad has set up a 24-hour helpline which can be accessed for information or assistance.

Militants post images of mass killing

The Islamic militant group that seized much of northern Iraq has posted photos that appear to show its fighters shooting dead dozens of captured Iraqi soldiers.

The pictures on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the ISIL loading the captives onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs.

The final images appear to show the bodies of the captives soaked in blood after being shot. Captions say the killings were to avenge the death of an Islamic state commander.

105 militants killed in Pak air assault
Uzbek commander responsible for Karachi attack among dead
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Pakistani fighter jets pounded suspected Taliban hideouts in the tribal North Waziristan region and killed nearly 105 militants on Sunday, the Army said, in response to an audacious attack on the country’s busiest airport a week ago.

The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) claimed that ethnic Uzbeks accounted for most of those killed in the latest air assault in a region which borders Afghanistan and is home to some of Pakistan's most feared militants and Al-Qaida commanders.

An important Uzbek commander, Abdul Rehman, has been killed in the air strike," the Army said, adding that Rehman was directly involved in masterminding the Karachi airport attack.

Military sources said a number of ethnic Uighur militants, who operate alongside Uzbeks and share a similar Turkic language with them, have also been killed. The official account could not be independently verified and there was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

The Uzbeks belonging to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan had intruded into North Waziristan and had owned the audacious attack on Karachi airport. The Pakistan Air Force jets bombed hideouts of suspected militants in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan early on Sunday. In the second wave, the air force carried out shelling in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan.

An ISPR press release confirmed that terrorists linked to planning the attack on Karachi airport were present in the hideouts that were bombed.

(With Agency inputs)

Op Zarb-e-Azb

Pakistan on Sunday launched the much-awaited military operation against foreign and local militants hiding in sanctuaries near the Afghan border. Military spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa said on the directions of the government, Armed forces of Pakistan have launched the ‘comprehensive operation’ against terrorists hiding in sanctuaries in the country's restive North Wazirastan Agency. ‘The operation has been named Zarb-e-Azb," he said.

Ukraine minister under fire for swearing about Russia’s Putin
Irate mob smashes Russian Embassy’s windows in Kiev

Kiev/Moscow, June 15
Senior Russian parliamentarians urged Ukraine on Sunday to sack its foreign minister for calling President Vladimir Putin a “dickhead” during a violent protest outside Russia’s embassy in Kiev.

Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia tried to persuade protesters not to use violence at the rally on Saturday evening, during which the Russian flag was ripped up, vehicles overturned and stones and eggs thrown at the embassy. “We must fulfil our international obligations, including defending the right of Russia to have an embassy in Ukraine,” he told the protesters, angered by pro-Russian separatists shooting down a military cargo plane in east Ukraine, killing 49 people.

But challenged by the protesters, he added: “Did I say that I am against you protesting? I am for you protesting. I am ready to be here with you and say ‘Russia, get out of Ukraine’.” “Yes, Putin is a dickhead, yes,” he went on to say and the protesters responded by chanting the phrase.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a telephone call with his French counterpart on Sunday, “expressed outrage over the inaction of the Kiev authorities who allowed the rioting outside the Russian embassy,” the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov has protested to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe about the violent rally at the embassy and the United States and the European Union have condemned it. Alexei Pushkov, head of the Russian lower house of parliament’s international affairs committee, said Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko should dismiss Deshchytsia.

“Poroshenko should change his foreign minister. He doesn’t control himself very well,” Pushkov said on Twitter. — Reuters

Taliban cut off fingers of 11 for voting in Prez poll

Afghan men show their bandaged hands after their fingers were cut by Taliban, in Herat province on Sunday. Reuters

Kabul, June 15
Taliban militants have cut off the ink-stained fingers of 11 Afghan men as a punishment for disobeying their diktat in the crucial presidential run-off poll that saw a higher than expected turnout of 52 per cent.

“AFG The insurgents who were defeated today cut off inked fingers of 11 voters in #Herat. The injured ppl transported to the hospital,” Afghanistan’s Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi tweeted.

The gruesome incident took place yesterday in Herat Province after the 11 men, mostly elders, who returned after casting their ballot in the run-off to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has been in office since 2001. The injured men were taken to a hospital, Salangi said.

The election will decide whether former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah or ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani leads the war-torn country. This election will be the first time that power in Afghanistan has been democratically transferred.

Officials said over seven million people voted, a higher than expected turnout of 52 per cent based on an estimated electorate of 13.5 million voters. — PTI

Top Chinese diplomat to visit Vietnam amid tensions

Beijing, June 15
A top Chinese diplomat will visit Hanoi for talks with Vietnamese leaders amid raging tensions over China’s move to place an oil rig in the South China Sea, even as Beijing began building a school on one of the disputed islands.

Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi will be in Hanoi this week for an annual dialogue on bilateral cooperation amid maritime tensions between the neighbours, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post today said quoting Vietnam officials.

Yang will arrive in Hanoi for the latest round of meetings of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation and is expected to hold talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. — PTI