14 killed in Kabul blast; Vice President survives attack
Kabul, July 23: Fourteen people have been killed in a blast which rocked Kabul airport shortly after Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum returned from self-imposed exile, according to police.
Dostum was unhurt in the attack on Sunday on a square he had just passed through, BBC reported.
He left for Turkey more than a year ago, after he was accused of ordering his men to kidnap and rape a political rival -- accusations he denies. Militant group Islamic State has said it carried out the attack.
Hashmat Estankzai, of Kabul police, said nine security forces members and traffic officers were among the 14 who had died, while another 60 people had been injured.
Estankzai earlier told the BBC a suicide attacker on foot had set off his explosives outside the gate of the airport. Some reports said Gen Dostum's convoy was departing as the blast was heard. He was in an armoured vehicle.
The ethnic Uzbek and former warlord had been cheered by supporters on arrival. Television footage showed Dostum greeting supporters at his office not long after the explosion.
Dostum's reappearance was preceded by unrest in his powerbase in northern Afghanistan, as supporters demanded his return and the release of a militia leader.
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Death toll from Israeli strikes in northeast Lebanon rises from 8 to 24, Lebanese news agency says
Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.
It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.
Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.
Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.
