4 killed in blast targeted at ex-CM of Pakistan
Islamabad, July 13 : At least four people were killed and 32 injured in a bomb blast that was targeted at the convoy of former Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani on Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The ex-CM, who was returning from an election rally near North Waziristan, was unaffected by the remote controlled blast in Bannu city, Dawn online quoted a senior police official as saying. The injured were taken to District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital in Bannu for treatment.
Caretaker Chief Minister Dost Mohammad Khan condemned the incident and summoned an emergency meeting to discuss the security situation.
Durrani is contesting the July 25 general election on NA-35 (Bannu) against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) ticket.
This is the third major attack in the province during election campaigning, Dawn reported. On Monday, Awami National Party (ANP) candidate from Peshawar Haroon Bilour and 19 others were killed in a suicide blast.
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) owned up the blast. It had also claimed responsibility for a 2012 attack that killed Haroon's father, Bashir Bilour.
Earlier this month, an attack on PTI candidate's office in North Waziristan's Razmak tehsil had injured 10.
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India-bound LPG tanker clears Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 tonnes of LPG and staffed by 20 crew, including 18 Indians, cleared the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said.
The cargo -- enough to meet half a days requirement of the country -- will partly tide over supply constraints being faced since the start of the West Asia conflict more than two months back.
Ship-tracking data showed its position in Oman Gulf on Sunday evening.
The very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since a weeks-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to almost zero.
There are as many as 14 Indian flagged or India-owned vessels still stranded on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
India has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal with no congestion reported, the statement added.
