Explosions reported at Syrian military airport
Damascus, Sep 2 : A series of explosions was reported at a large Syrian military airport near Damascus, state media reports said on Sunday.
The private, pro-regime news outlet al-Mayadeen originally reported that Israeli airstrikes hit the airbase in al-Mazzeh on Saturday night area with multiple missiles, reports CNN.
However, Syrian state media later cited an unnamed military source denying the base was hit by Israel.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) and Syria state television reported a "military source denies the exposure of the Mazzeh Airport to any Israeli aggression and the sounds of explosions that were heard resulted from explosion of an ammunition depot near the airport because of electrical failure".
About four explosions were heard coming from the direction of the military airport Saturday, a Damascus resident told CNN.
Some clips of the explosions and the aftermath -- seemingly filmed by phones at a distance -- emerged on various forums including Facebook and WhatsApp.
Video showed bright flashes of light in the night sky in some kind of explosion, but did not reveal precisely what caused the blasts.
Besides the military airport, the al-Mazzeh area is home to embassies, security buildings and the homes of some members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
