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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ED may soon book Siddaramaiah in MUDA-linked money-laundering case
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is soon expected to book Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and some others in a money-laundering case linked to the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), taking cognisance of a recent state Lokayukta FIR, official sources said on Monday.
Siddaramaiah, his wife B M Parvathi, brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Mysuru-located Lokayukta police establishment on September 27.
The FIR was lodged after a special court in Bengaluru last week ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah in the case.
The order of the special court judge came a day after the high court upheld the sanction granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against the senior Congress leader on allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.
The ED is expected to press sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to book Siddaramaiah in its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). Sources said the federal agency is studying the Lokayukta Police FIR.
According to procedure, the ED is empowered to summon the accused for questioning and even attach their assets during investigation.
Siddaramaiah (76) had last week said he was being targeted in the MUDA issue as the opposition is "scared" of him and noted that it is the first such "political case" against him.
He also reiterated that he will not resign following the court ordering a probe against him in the case as he has done no wrong and asserted that he would fight the case legally.
In the MUDA site-allotment case, it is alleged that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land that was "acquired" by MUDA.
The Lokayukta FIR has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) like 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166 (public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 340 (wrongful confinement) and 351 (assault).
