������Ƶ

PESHAWAR: Seven policemen and six militants were killed in a late-night attack on a police training center in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police said on Saturday, amid a surge in militancy in the region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack came a day after reports of airstrikes in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that reportedly sought to target Noor Wali Mehsud, chief of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP initially claimed the assault on the police training center in DI Khan, saying a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate before others entered the facility, but later retracted the statement.

Yaqoob Khan, a DI Khan police spokesman, told Arab News the wall of the facility collapsed because of the impact of the blast and killed two policemen, followed by a fierce gunbattle both sides.

“A total of seven policemen were martyred and 13 others injured,” Khan said, adding all six militants were killed. “All 200 trainees and staff at the training center were safely evacuated.”

Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years, where militant groups, mainly the TTP, frequently target security forces and have been involved in killings and kidnappings of government officials. This week, at least 12 Pakistani soldiers, including three officers, were killed in separate militant attacks in the region.

Islamabad has frequently blamed the Afghan Taliban for harboring TTP militants, saying the group launches cross-border attacks against its security forces and civilians from the Afghan soil, though Kabul has denied the allegation.

The two countries traded sharp warnings on Friday after Kabul accused Islamabad of violating its airspace and bombing a border town while the Pakistani military vowed to do “whatever is necessary” to defend Pakistan’s territorial integrity.

MEXICO CITY: Flooding caused by heavy rains in central and southeastern Mexico has set off landslides, damaged homes and highways, and left at least 28 people dead, authorities said Friday.
Videos on social media from different parts of the affected areas showed streets turned into rivers carrying away vehicles and houses almost completely covered in water.
Mexico deployed 8,700 military personnel to assist the population.
One of the hardest hit areas was the central state of Hidalgo, where 16 deaths have been reported, according to state Interior Secretary Guillermo Olivares Reyna.
At least 1,000 homes, 59 hospitals and clinics, and 308 schools have suffered damage in the state because of landslides and rivers topping their banks. Some 17 of the states 84 municipalities were without electricity, he said.
In neighboring Puebla state, nine people died and 13 were missing, according to Gov. Alejandro Armenta. He requested help from the federal government to rescue 15 people, including some children, who were stranded on rooftops by floodwaters. He estimated some 80,000 people were affected by the heavy rains and said a gas pipeline was ruptured by a landslide.
In the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, two people died, including a police officer, Gov. Rocío Nahle said. Some 5,000 homes were damaged and the Navy evacuated nearly 900 people to shelters. The city of Poza Rica was one of the hardest hit by river flooding. Authorities cut electricity as a precaution.
Earlier, authorities in the central state of Queretaro confirmed that the child had died after being caught in a landslide.
The heavy rainfall also caused power outages affecting more than 320,000 users and damage to almost 1,000 kilometers of roads in six states, authorities said.