RPG attack: Opposition parties in Punjab attack AAP govt, demand CM Mann's resignation
Chandigarh (PTI): Following a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a police station in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, Opposition parties on Saturday demanded Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's resignation and said it was the "direct result" of the AAP government's "apathy" in maintaining law and order.
On Friday night, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at a police station in the border district and it hit the Saanjh Kendra adjoining the Sarhali police station on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway.
This is the second such incident in the state in seven months. In May, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at the Punjab Police's Intelligence headquarters located in Mohali.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said the RPG attack was a direct result of the Aam Aadmi Party government's "apathy" in maintaining law and order.
He asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to realise the gravity of the situation and take some concrete measures.
"This is 2nd time in 6 months police building attacked with rocket launcher in Punjab. It's direct result of AAP govt's apathy in maintaining law & order & allowing narco-terrorism to raise its head again. @BhagwantMann should realise gravity of situation & take concrete measures," Badal tweeted.
SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema sought Mann's resignation for "failing" to maintain law and order.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh alleged that the AAP government had completely failed in maintaining law and order.
Referring to the RPG attack and also the recent murder of a cloth merchant in Jalandhar, Chugh said Mann should seek an apology from the people of the state for "failing" in discharging his responsibilities.
Chugh asked Mann to resign if he was unable to maintain law and order in the border state.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring dubbed the incident "quite serious".
"Ominous signals. This is quite serious. Enemies of peace have the audacity to attack police stations. It does not portend well for Punjab. We have to fight against it together. Govt at the Centre and state have to take the lead. Can't take such threats lightly," he tweeted.
The AAP government has already been under fire over the murder of a cloth merchant by unidentified assailants in Jalandhar on December 7 and other crimes.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
