Four Afghan forces killed as Taliban attack hotel compound
Herat(Afghanistan), Jul 13: Four Afghan security forces were killed Saturday when Taliban insurgents attacked a hotel, officials said, as violence continues across Afghanistan despite US-led efforts to end the war.
The assault took place in Qala-i-Naw, the capital of the western province of Badghis, when attackers struck a commercial area housing the hotel and several shops in the small city.
"We had intelligence reports that suicide bombers were planning to attack Qala-i-Naw," Badghis governor Abdul Ghafoor Malikzai told AFP.
"The attackers took over a building near the governor's office and police headquarters".
The defence ministry said three attackers were killed and two more arrested.
Four members of the Afghan security forces were killed and 20 people wounded, including civilians, the ministry said.
The incident comes less than a week after Taliban officials were sitting face-to-face with US negotiators in Doha in a bid to end Afghanistan's nearly 18-year-old war.
Both sides reported good progress in the talks, but daily carnage continues across Afghanistan and NATO on Saturday announced the death of a US service member who was killed in a Taliban-claimed attack.
The hotel assault started around 12:40 pm (08:10 GMT) when a group of men, some wearing suicide vests, stormed the area.
Aziz Bek, the head of the Badghis provincial council, told AFP that children had been evacuated from nearby schools, and that explosions could be heard in the city.
According to Abdul Latif Rostaee, the local director of public health, 18 were wounded, including six civilians.
Nasrat Rahimi, an interior ministry spokesman, earlier said a group of suicide bombers had entered a hotel and were shooting civilians.
The attackers first hit a police checkpoint and then entered the hotel, according to Haroon Amir, a witness.
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'Modi will never succeed in suppressing voice of Tamil people': Rahul on 'Jana Nayagan' row
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that the Centre's "attempt to block" Vijay-starrer "Jana Nayagan" is an attack on Tamil culture, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will never succeed in "suppressing the voice of the Tamil people".
Gandhi's remarks come on a day he is on a visit to poll-bound Tamil Nadu where the row over actor-turned-politician Vijay's Tamil film has snowballed into a major issue.
The producer of the film approached the Supreme Court, challenging a January 9 interim order of the Madras High Court that stayed a single-judge direction to grant the CBFC clearance to the movie.
The Madras High Court has left the fate of the film, which has drawn attention for its political overtones, in limbo.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "The I&B Ministry's attempt to block 'Jana Nayagan' is an attack on Tamil culture."
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"Mr Modi, you will never succeed in suppressing the voice of the Tamil people," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
KVN Productions LLP has filed an appeal against the order passed by a division bench of the high court.
Vijay recently launched his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). "Jana Nayagan", which is widely publicised as Vijay's final film before his full-fledged entry into politics, was slated for a Pongal release on January 9.
However, the film ran into last-minute hurdles after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) did not issue certification in time.
On January 9, the division bench's order came hours after Justice PT Asha directed the CBFC to give clearance to "Jana Nayagan", setting aside the film board's directive to refer the matter to a review committee.
The first bench, comprising Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and G Arul Murugan, on an appeal filed by the CBFC, granted an interim stay against the single judge's verdict.
Earlier, allowing the plea of KVN Productions seeking a direction to CBFC to issue a censor certificate, Justice Asha said once the board had decided to grant the certificate, the chairperson had no power to send the matter to the review committee.
The film board immediately preferred an appeal against the order.
Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared through video conferencing, outlined the grounds for the appeal before the division bench.
The January 6 letter of CBFC, which was communicated to the producer of the film, informing him that the matter was referred to the revising committee, was not at all under challenge. But the single judge set aside the letter and gave the above direction.
In its order, the division bench said the petition was filed on January 6, and the CBFC was not granted sufficient opportunity to file its reply.
There shall be a stay, the bench added and ordered notice to the producer of the movie and posted the matter to January 21.
