Days After Pakistani Airstrikes, Soldier Dies in Confrontations with Afghan Troops
Intermittent combat, featuring heavy artillery, erupted during the night among border forces situated at the junction of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan and Khost province in Afghanistan.
On Saturday, a security source reported that a Pakistani paramilitary soldier lost his life and seven more sustained injuries during exchanges of gunfire with forces from Afghanistan, as hundreds of Afghans rallied against the lethal airstrikes that ignited the confrontations.
According to officials from both nations, intermittent combat, inclusive of considerable weaponry, flared up overnight between border personnel along the frontier involving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan and Khost province in Afghanistan.
The gunfire exchanges followed accusations from Afghanistan's Taliban government, alleging that Pakistan had killed 46 individuals, primarily women and children, in air raids conducted near the border in the southeastern Paktika province earlier this week.
A top security official from Pakistan stated that the targets were "terrorist hideouts," although Islamabad has yet to officially verify the execution of the airstrikes.
According to a senior security official at the border, "one frontier corps (FC) soldier has been reported dead, and seven others have been injured," noting that the clashes occurred in at least two locations within Pakistan's border district of Kurram.
The Afghan defense ministry announced on platform X that "several locations" across the border with Pakistan "where the attacks in Afghanistan were orchestrated... were targeted in response."
A provincial authority from Khost informed AFP that the clashes compelled residents to evacuate border regions, though there were no indications of casualties among Afghan forces.
In Khost city, the provincial capital, hundreds of Afghans protested against Pakistan on Saturday, demanding accountability for the loss of civilian lives.
Protester Najibullah Zaland emphasized their demand for international economic pressure on Pakistan to avert such occurrences.
"We assembled here today to amplify our voices to the world," he remarked to AFP.
"A strategy for peace needs to be established, otherwise, the youth will not remain silent."
The protesters lauded the Afghan forces, with one demonstrator, Rashidullah Hamdard, asserting, "Our fighters provided a strong response, and we stand with our forces."
Hamdard added, "We urge the global community to hold the Pakistani military accountable for these brutal and reckless assaults."
'I’ve Always Liked H1-B': Trump Supports Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy In Visa Worker Controversy
Donald Trump's persistent demands for severe restrictions on immigration were pivotal to his electoral triumph in November against President Joe Biden. He has promised to curb legal immigration.
On Saturday, Donald Trump contributed to a contentious discussion that is splitting his conventional supporters from tech magnates like Elon Musk, asserting his endorsement for a distinct visa initiative that facilitates the entry of highly proficient workers into the nation.
“I’ve always favored the (H1-B) visas, I have continually supported the visas, that’s why we have them” at establishments owned by Trump, the president-elect conveyed to the New York Post during his initial public remarks on this issue since it intensified this week. A heated exchange, primarily between Silicon Valley's Musk and traditional anti-immigration supporters of Trump, has erupted passionately, with Musk even declaring his intention to "go to war" over the matter.
Trump's persistent demands for significant immigration reductions were crucial to his electoral success in November against President Joe Biden. He has pledged to remove all undocumented migrants and restrict lawful immigration.
However, tech innovators like Tesla's Musk — along with Vivek Ramaswamy, who will co-chair a governmental cost-reduction panel with Musk under Trump — argue that the United States is not producing sufficient highly skilled graduates, and they ardently advocate for the H1-B program.
85 Fatalities After Aircraft Carrying 181 Crashes on South Korean Runway
Of the 181 individuals aboard, 175 were passengers while six were part of the flight crew
An aircraft carrying 181 individuals went down at Muan airport in South Korea after it strayed off the runway during landing, resulting in the deaths of at least 85 individuals. According to the Yonhap news agency, the incident was reported in the South Jeolla province when Jeju Air flight 2216 was returning from Thailand.
Authorities managed to rescue two individuals, while efforts to evacuate passengers from the rear section of the Boeing 737-8AS continued.
Of the 181 people on board, there were 175 passengers and six flight crew members. Emergency response teams at the airport initiated their operations around 9 am following the aircraft crashing into a barrier after an unsuccessful belly landing attempt, which led to the plane erupting in flames. Images captured showed black smoke billowing above the site of the crash.
The incident is thought to have resulted from "contact with birds, leading to a malfunction of the landing gear.” Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the activation of all resources to aid the passengers. "All relevant agencies must deploy every available resource to assist the individuals involved," he directed officials in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jeju Air expressed its 'deepest regrets' concerning the plane crash. "We at Jeju Air will exert every effort in response to this tragic event. We truly regret the distress caused," the airline stated in a message shared across its social media platforms.
85 Fatalities After Aircraft Carrying 181 Crashes on South Korean Runway
Of the 181 individuals aboard, 175 were passengers while six were part of the flight crew
An aircraft carrying 181 individuals went down at Muan airport in South Korea after it strayed off the runway during landing, resulting in the deaths of at least 85 individuals. According to the Yonhap news agency, the incident was reported in the South Jeolla province when Jeju Air flight 2216 was returning from Thailand.
Authorities managed to rescue two individuals, while efforts to evacuate passengers from the rear section of the Boeing 737-8AS continued.
Of the 181 people on board, there were 175 passengers and six flight crew members. Emergency response teams at the airport initiated their operations around 9 am following the aircraft crashing into a barrier after an unsuccessful belly landing attempt, which led to the plane erupting in flames. Images captured showed black smoke billowing above the site of the crash.
The incident is thought to have resulted from "contact with birds, leading to a malfunction of the landing gear.” Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for the activation of all resources to aid the passengers. "All relevant agencies must deploy every available resource to assist the individuals involved," he directed officials in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jeju Air expressed its 'deepest regrets' concerning the plane crash. "We at Jeju Air will exert every effort in response to this tragic event. We truly regret the distress caused," the airline stated in a message shared across its social media platforms.
U.S. Army's Initial Deployment of THAAD Missile Defense System in Combat Recently Took Place in Israel
On Thursday, one of the United States’ esteemed Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) installations engaged in combat by launching an interceptor for the first time. Deployed forward in Israel, the system was utilized against a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) that was launched by the Iran-supported Houthi rebels based in Yemen, according to a report by a U.S. military representative to TWZ. The representative mentioned that as of Friday, it remained uncertain whether the U.S. interceptor or an Israeli one was responsible for neutralizing the missile. The initial successful interception by a THAAD battery from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) occurred in 2022, which can be further explored here.
Footage surfaced online purportedly displaying the launch of the U.S. THAAD interceptor in Israel earlier today. A voice was recorded claiming he had been “18 years waiting for this,” presumably alluding to the age of the system, considering the U.S. Army established its inaugural THAAD battery in 2008 after its development commenced in the early 1990s.
In October, the THAAD battery along with around 100 personnel was sent to Israel to reinforce the nation’s defenses in anticipation of a possible Israeli retaliation for Tehran’s significant missile assault that took place earlier that same month. Although a counterstrike from Iran did not materialize, the battery has remained in position.
For several months, Houthi rebels have intermittently launched missile attacks towards Israel, including during the early hours of December 19 when Israel was executing airstrikes against various targets in Yemen. On Friday, the Yemeni rebel faction announced it had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion Airport with a missile and also aimed at Tel Aviv with a drone strike, all in retribution for recent Israeli bombardments on Sanaa International Airport, according to the Guardian. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that the ballistic missile was intercepted prior to entry into Israeli airspace. Nevertheless, residents in central Israel were instructed to seek shelter due to concerns regarding falling debris, as the article indicated, mentioning that there were no reports of hostile drones operating over Tel Aviv.
The specific arrangement of the THAAD battery currently positioned in Israel is not definitively known; however, a unit of this type can consist of as many as nine transporter-erector-launchers, with each capable of carrying eight interceptors, a long-range AN/TPY-2 X-band radar, a mobile fire control and command and control center, alongside various support apparatus.
