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Climate change, women’s rights, displacement, poverty: Afghanistan remains a priority as it faces overlapping crises, the UN’s relief chief Tom Fletcher told AFP on Wednesday, deploring “brutal” aid budget cuts. “We’ve identified 17 crises across the world where our engagement is most urgent, most vital. Afghanistan is high on that list,” said the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in an interview with AFP during a visit to northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province. Fletcher’s visit comes after US President Donald Trump’s decision to slash foreign aid sent shock waves across the globe. Washington had been the top donor to Afghanistan, having spent $3.71 billion in humanitarian and development aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and imposed a severe interpretation of Islamic law. “We’re in a period when we’re having to massively prioritise, take brutal choices… literally life and death choices, about where to operate and which lives to save,” Fletcher said. “You can look at Sudan for the scale of the crisis, you can look at Gaza for the intensity, the ferocity of the killing there,” he added. “Afghanistan is a different kind of challenge but it’s a huge challenge nonetheless.” Climate change is hitting the Central Asian country “particularly hard” and it “will drive the needs even more than conflict will in the period ahead”, he said. “You’ve got that combined with the existing levels of poverty and these decades of instability and conflict.” – ‘Dialogue’ on women’s rights -The situation of women’s rights in the country adds to the layers of a “building up of crisis upon crisis”, Fletcher added. The Taliban authorities have imposed restrictions on women that the UN has denounced as “gender apartheid”. Women and girls have been banned from education beyond primary school as well as many sectors of work and public spaces.  “I think this particular dynamic around women and girls is something that can surely cut through to even the most hard-hearted and cynical transactional politician right now,” Fletcher said. After meetings with Taliban officials this week in the capital Kabul and the Taliban heartland of southern Kandahar, Fletcher noted the need for “dialogue in order to try and change the mindset” on women’s rights. “It’s encouraging to me that people were willing to have the conversation and not have it in a purely defensive way,” he said. Afghan women are particularly affected by humanitarian aid cuts, especially in the health care sector, which has been heavily dependent on foreign support. In Afghanistan, maternal mortality rates of 620 per 100,000 births and infant mortality rates of 55 children under five per 1,000 births are among the highest in the world, according to UNICEF. “I challenge anyone who celebrates aid cuts to sit with a woman who has lost her child because she had to cycle for three hours while in labour to get the care that she needed,” said Fletcher, after having met Afghan women at a mobile health centre. – ‘Humanitarian reset’ -When Amina, a 28-year-old housewife, fell ill, she walked for an hour and a half to reach the centre in the rural countryside.”There are no clinics, no doctors who come here, nothing nearby. We don’t even have electricity,” she told AFP. The small facility, supported by the local non-governmental organisation JACK and UN agencies, is under strain. Already overwhelmed, it now has to accommodate patients from US-funded clinics that had to close, as well as Afghans who have been expelled from neighbouring Pakistan since early April. “The reality with the cuts was that we didn’t see the impact straight away,” Fletcher said.”It’s now that we’re really coming to understand how brutal these cuts are going to be.” Under these conditions, he said, “we’re in the process now of a massive humanitarian reset”.”We’ve got to rediscover that sense of coexistence and care for the most vulnerable people on the planet. I don’t think that’s gone away just because of a few election results,” he said. “I don’t think you can put tariffs on humanitarian action,” he added, referring to the trade war recently launched by Trump.

Bangladesh won the second and final Test against Zimbabwe by an innings and 106 runs on Wednesday, a decisive victory in less than three days to level the series. Zimbabwe scored 227 in their first innings after winning the toss, with Bangladesh scoring a formidable 444 in response.  The visitors then collapsed for 111 in the second session of the third day in Chattogram.Mehidy Hasan Miraz starred with both bat and ball, scoring a century and then bagging 5-32 with the ball to hand Zimbabwe a crushing defeat.  It was the all-rounder’s third five-wicket haul of the series after five in each innings of the Sylhet Test.His spin-bowling partner Taijul Islam bagged 3-42 for nine wickets in the match. Ben Curran was the only batsman to offer some resistance, scoring 46 off 103 balls in an innings laced with five boundaries.Craig Ervine (25) and Wellington Masakadza (10) were the only other Zimbabweans to reach double digits in the second innings.  Shadman Islam earlier top-scored for Bangladesh with 120 to power the hosts to an imposing total.  Leg-spinner Vincent Masekesa was the most successful among the Zimbabwe bowlers with 5-115, in the process becoming Zimbabwe’s third cricketer to take five wickets on debut after Andy Blignaut and John Nyumbu. However, his efforts could not stop Bangladesh running away with the match.  Bangladesh added 153 more to their overnight total of 291, with Mehidy assisted by tailenders Taijul (20 off 45) and Tanzim Hasan Sakib (41 off 80). It was Zimbabwe’s second successive defeat at the spin-friendly venue and the second time that Bangladesh have defeated Zimbabwe by an innings.The margin of their first defeat of that magnitude, in Dhaka in 2020, was identical: an innings and 106 runs.Brief score: Zimbabwe: 227 (Sean Williams 67, Nick Welch 54; Taijul Islam 6-60) and 111 (Ben Curran 46; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-32)Bangladesh: 444 (Shadman Islam 120, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 104; Vincent Masekesa 5-115)Toss: ZimbabweResult: Bangladesh won by an innings and 106 runs. 

Slain Kashmiri Muslim horseman Syed Adil Shah’s grieving family say they are proud of his “sacrifice” after he wrestled with a gunman as he tried to save tourists in last week’s attack.Shah, 30, had taken visitors on his pony up to the meadows near Pahalgam, a lush green field nestled beneath snow-capped Himalayan peaks on April 22 when gunmen emerged from the treelines.Holidaymakers were enjoying the tranquil meadows when at least three gunmen, still at large despite a massive manhunt, raked the crowds with automatic gunfire, killing 26 men including Shah.”He showed his humanity and that allows us to live on,” his inconsolable father Syed Haidar Shah said from their modest home nestled on wooded slopes.”He sacrificed his own life while trying to save innocent visitors.”Shah was the only Kashmiri killed in the attack. All of the dead were Indians, except for one tourist from neighbouring Nepal, and most were Hindus.It was the worst attack on civilians for a quarter of a century in Muslim-majority Kashmir, for decades a touchstone for conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan who both claim the region.Survivors said the gunmen separated the men, asked several about their religion, and shot them at close range.They also reported that the gunmen ordered some of the men to recite the Muslim declaration of faith.Those who could not were shot.”He left home that morning after three days of rain to take tourists around on his pony as usual,” Syed Haidar Shah said. “Who knew that this was the last time?”- ‘I am proud of my son’ -Indian police say the gunmen are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, and two are Pakistani citizens.Pakistan has denied any role in the Pahalgam attack and responded to India’s punitive diplomatic sanctions — including withdrawing visas and closing the main border — with tit-for-tat restrictions.Bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls from several nations for restraint.Indians from Kashmir have reported harassment and intimidation in the wake of the attack.However, commentators such as Shashi Tharoor, writing in the Indian Express, pointed to the “heroism” of Kashmiris such as Shah — and others who helped in the aftermath — and said their courage should be an opportunity to build “national unity”, not division.Shah’s brother, Naushad Hussain, described his horror at hearing reports of the shooting. He set off for the nearest hospital fearing the worst after Shah did not answer his telephone.”Many injured and dead people were being brought to Pahalgam hospital, but I was not allowed to go in to look for my brother,” Hussain said, speaking in their home village of Hapatnar.”One Indian tourist, a woman outside the hospital, told me she was saved by a local ponyman when her husband was killed,” Hussain said.”She said the local man was shot while trying to hold the attacker back.”It was only hours later, after following ambulances carrying the dead to the main city of Srinagar, that he discovered that the dead ponyman was his brother Shah.”There, I saw my brother’s body lying on a stretcher with his shirt torn,” Hussain said.He said he could see “three bullet wounds on his body, one across his neck and two on his upper chest.”Hussain said he also saw marks on his brother’s body.”I could see bruises on his left arm and wrists, which to me clearly indicated he had fought with the attacker,” he said.His father said his son had a very “sharp sense of right and wrong”.”We are not alone in our grief,” Shah senior said. “There are 25 other families, but I am proud of what my son did”.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have exchanged gunfire across their heavily militarised de facto border in contested Kashmir since an April 22 attack that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, claims it rejects.Troops are facing off along the 770-kilometre (478-mile) fortified Line of Control — the route of a ceasefire line dating back to 1949 — which ranges from icy outposts in high-altitude Himalayan mountains down to greener foothills in the south.India and Pakistan have fought over the Muslim-majority region since their partition at the end of British rule in 1947.Insurgents in Indian-run Kashmir have battled since 1989 seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.Both countries trade accusations of arming groups in each other’s territory to cause instability.India, a Hindu majority nation with 1.4 billion people, and Pakistan, a Muslim-majority nation with 240 million citizens, both have nuclear weapons, and their militaries are among the largest in the world.Pakistan’s main weapons supplier is China, Islamabad’s closest regional ally, as well getting drones from Turkey.Although India’s military strength is much larger, Pakistani analysts point to Islamabad’s decades of experience fighting insurgencies on its border with Afghanistan.India is the world’s largest arms importer, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).The bulk of India’s supplies come from Russia. New Delhi has also expanded military suppliers to include the United States, France and Israel, as well as developing its domestic production, including of aircraft carriers, submarines and helicopters.Both sides have boosted their military capabilities since 2019, when India launched air strikes on Pakistan following an attack by a suicide bomber on Indian forces in Kashmir.Here, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance database, are their estimated forces.- Pakistan – Military hardware and personnel: Active military:          660,000Paramilitary police:      291,000Defence budget:           $10 billion (2025)Nuclear capabilities: Islamabad has both land-based and air-delivered weapons, with medium-, short- and close-range ballistic missiles. Islamabad has sought submarine-launched nuclear-armed cruise missiles.Fixed wing aircraft:         812Rotary-wing (helicopters):   322Armoured fighting vehicles:  6,137Artillery:                   4,619- India – Military hardware and personnel: Active military:          1,475,000Paramilitary police:      1,616,000Defence budget:           $81 billion (2025)Nuclear capabilities: primarily land-based, but may be able to deliver bombs from the air, and is developing its submarine force. It has intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and are testing an intercontinental-range version.Fixed wing aircraft:           1,437Rotary-wing (helicopters):       995Armoured fighting vehicle:     7,074Artillery:                     11,225bb-jma-ecl-pjm/rsc

A fierce fire ripped through a hotel in the Indian city of Kolkata killing at least 15 people, police said Wednesday, with some clambering out of windows and onto the rooftop to escape.Several people were rescued from rooms and the roof of the budget hotel, Kolkata police chief Manoj Verma told AFP after the fire broke out on Tuesday evening.”The hotel turned into a gas chamber and it appears that many people suffocated to death,” said Verma, adding an investigation had been launched to determine the cause of the blaze.The Rituraj Hotel, which had 88 guests when the fire broke out, is located in a congested business district of central Kolkata.About a dozen people were burned and were undergoing treatment.A hotel worker told AFP that the fire broke out on the first floor of the six-storey building, where a bar was being built and where construction work had bricked up the windows.Building fires are common in India due to a lack of firefighting equipment and a routine disregard for safety regulations.Eyewitness Nanda Mondal, who runs a construction company, said he saw plastic panels covering the building that appeared to have “fuelled the fire”.”A man died after he tried to climb down a rainwater pipe,” said Mondal, 64.- ‘Negligence’ -The Press Trust of India news agency, which filmed images of soaring flames from the Kolkata building, reported that “several people were seen trying to escape through the windows and narrow ledges of the building”.Kolkata’s The Telegraph newspaper reported that at least one person died when he “jumped off the terrace trying to escape” the fire.Verma said the fire had been tackled and that “cooling operations are underway”.Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the families of those killed.”May the injured recover soon,” his office said in a statement.Kolkata, a bustling metropolis of more than 15 million people, is the capital of West Bengal state, which is governed by the opposition Trinamool Congress party.Sajal Ghosh, a city councillor who belongs to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party — which is in power nationally — said the fire seemed to have been a result of “negligence”.”It has also raised fresh questions about illegal constructions and safety standards in poorly regulated budget hotels in the city,” he said.

Pakistan said on Wednesday it had “credible intelligence” that India was planning an imminent military strike and vowed to retaliate, as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours have plummeted since New Delhi blamed its arch-rival Pakistan for last week’s assault on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, the deadliest attack on civilians there in a quarter of a century.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the military “complete operational freedom” to respond to the attack during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, a senior government source told AFP.Pakistan’s government has denied any involvement in the shooting, and information minister Attaullah Tarar said overnight that “any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response”.”Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” Tarar said in a statement early on Wednesday.However, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also said Pakistan would not strike first.Leaders around the world have expressed deep concerns and urged restraint by the uneasy neighbours who have fought several wars.Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region of around 15 million people, is divided between Pakistan and India but claimed in full by both nations. About 1.5 million people live near the ceasefire line on the Pakistani side of the border, where residents were preparing for violence by readying simple, mud-walled underground bunkers reinforced with concrete if they can afford it. “We are cleaning the bunker to ensure that if the enemy attacks at any time, we are not caught off guard and we can bring our children to safety,” 42-year-old Muhammad Javed told AFP in the village of Chakothi.- De-escalation calls -India’s army said on Wednesday it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops for a sixth straight night across the Line of Control (LoC), a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts that represents the de facto Kashmir border.A Pakistani security source told AFP that two drones were shot down on Tuesday near the LoC “after violating our airspace”. Tensions have been rapidly mounting in the week since the Pahalgam attack, with tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs, expulsion of citizens and border crossings shut.Modi vowed last week to pursue those who carried out the attack and those who had supported it.”I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” he said on Thursday.”We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls for restraint from several nations.The US State Department said top diplomat Marco Rubio would call his Pakistani and Indian counterparts soon to urge them “to not escalate the situation”.UN chief Antonio Guterres held calls on Tuesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he “offered his Good Offices to support de-escalation”, his spokesman said in a statement.Sharif’s office said later he had urged Guterres to “counsel India” to exercise restraint, while pledging to defend Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India”.- Wanted posters -India and Pakistan have fought over the former princely state since their independence from British rule in 1947, with the border splitting generations of families.Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men accused of carrying out the Kashmir attack — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.They have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest and carried out sweeping detentions seeking anyone suspected of links to the alleged killers.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.burs-pjm/ecl/pbt

Since the start of the school year in March, Afghan boys have been required to wear new uniforms of turbans and long tunics, following an order to adopt outfits reflecting Taliban rule.The Taliban government’s education ministry cites strengthening discipline, masking social inequalities and promoting what the authorities see as true Islamic attire as reasons for the dress code change — a move that has sparked division.”Islam has preserved and strengthened the standards of modesty and dignity by paying attention to clothing. Sharia clothing defines the identity of a Muslim male and female,” the ministry said in its directive.”Sharia clothing is a means to preserve the dignity of the individual and protect the society against moral degradation.”Before the Taliban authorities swept back to power in 2021, the shalwar kameez and turban — traditional wear in the region — were uncommon in academic or professional settings. Since their return, the streets of Kabul and other areas have become more uniform, with many men opting for the monochrome loose trousers and long tunic.Once mostly limited to religious schools, the shalwar kameez with a turban or hat are now mandatory for all students, whether in public or private schools.Girls are already from a young age required to wear uniforms, often a long black dress over matching trousers with a white headscarf, but can no longer study past primary school in non-religious institutions.- ‘Turned away’ -Male students must wear a light blue shalwar kameez along with a cap up to the age of around 15, afterwards donning white and wearing a turban.The rule — ordered by the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada — took time to be enforced and is still implemented unevenly across the country.In western Herat, student Nassir Ahmad said few pupils wore the new uniform at the start of the school year, but now they have no choice.”Our teachers told us not to come without it. If we don’t have the uniform and the cap, we can’t enter the classroom,” the 13-year-old told AFP.”I saw several of my friends turned away because they didn’t have a turban on,” said 17-year-old Qassim.He said morality police from the department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice came to the schools to ensure the rules are being followed.In the Taliban heartland of southern Kandahar, several students told AFP they were pleased with their new clothing.Mohammad Wali, a student at the Mahmoud Tarzi school, said he was “very happy” to wear the “Prophet’s clothing”.”It distinguishes students from other people in the street,” said the 17-year-old.In the capital Kabul, some students wear the turban while at school, only to stuff it into their bags as soon as they leave. – Too expensive -Among teachers and school principals — also told to swap their suits and ties or casual clothes for shalwar kameez and a black turban — some disapproved of the measure.”Today, everyone looks the same. A doctor no longer looks like a doctor and a cook no longer looks like a cook,” said the principal of a Kabul school, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.”The uniform does create discipline,” the principal conceded, having swapped out his suit and tie nearly four years ago to avoid trouble.But for some families, he said, paying the average 1,000 Afghanis ($14) per uniform is a burden in a country where 85 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, according the UN.”If a family has five or six children, how are they supposed to manage?” he asked.Students now wear their new uniforms in often dilapidated schools with meager resources.In remote areas, lessons are sometimes held outdoors under the shade of a tree. The Kabul principal said at first he didn’t sanction students out of uniform, but now education ministry officials show up at his school two to three times a week to check whether students are complying.”People in Afghanistan have no choice,” he said. “They obey and cannot complain.”strs-cgo/sw/dhc

Pakistan’s information minister said Wednesday that Islamabad had “credible intelligence” that India was planning an imminent military strike and he vowed a “decisive response”, as worries of spiralling conflict grew over a deadly attack in Kashmir.The statement by Attaullah Tarar came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a closed-door meeting the previous day with army and security chiefs, at which he gave the military “complete operational freedom” to respond to the attack, a senior government source told AFP.”Pakistan has credible intelligence that India intends to launch a military strike within the next 24 to 36 hours using the Pahalgam incident as a false pretext,” Tarar said in a statement.Pahalgam is a tourist hub in Indian-administered Kashmir where 26 men were killed on April 22, the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years.India has accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, a claim Islamabad has rejected.”Any act of aggression will be met with a decisive response,” said Tarar. “India will be fully responsible for any serious consequences in the region!”The development comes as nations around the world, from neighbouring China to the United States, express deep concerns and urge restraint by the nuclear-armed neighbours.India’s army on Wednesday said it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops for a sixth night in a row across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto Kashmir border, a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts.The army reported “small arms firing” in multiple sites, but with no reported casualties. Pakistan’s military did not confirm the shooting, but state radio in Islamabad reported on Tuesday it had shot down an Indian drone, calling it a violation of its airspace.It did not say when the incident happened, and there was no comment from New Delhi.- ‘Ends of the Earth’ -Tensions have been rapidly mounting in the week since the Pahalgam attack, with tit-for-tat diplomatic barbs, expulsion of citizens and land border crossings shut.Last week, Modi vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack, and those who had supported it.”I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” he said on Thursday.”We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a spiral into military action, with calls from several nations for restraint.The US State Department said top diplomat Marco Rubio would call his Pakistani and Indian counterparts soon to urge them “to not escalate the situation”.UN chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile held calls Tuesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he “offered his Good Offices to support de-escalation”, his spokesman said.Sharif’s office later said he had urged Guterres to “counsel India” to exercise restraint, while pledging to defend Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India”.Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men accused of carrying out the Kashmir attack — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.They have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest and carried out sweeping detentions seeking anyone suspected of links to the alleged killers.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.Iran has already offered to mediate and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”.US President Donald Trump downplayed tensions, saying on Friday the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.burs-pjm/mtp

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the military “operational freedom” to respond to a deadly attack in Kashmir that New Delhi has blamed on arch-rival Pakistan, a senior government source told AFP Tuesday.A week after the deadliest attack on civilians in the contested region in years, Modi on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with army and security chiefs, during which he granted “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing of our response to the terror attack”, said the government source, who was not authorised to speak to the media.The development comes as nations around the world, from neighbouring China to the United States, express deep concerns over the nuclear-armed neighbors’ mounting tensions and urge restraint.India’s army on Tuesday also said it had repeatedly traded gunfire with Pakistani troops across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto Kashmir border, a heavily fortified zone of high-altitude Himalayan outposts.Pakistan’s military did not confirm the shooting, but state radio in Islamabad reported on Tuesday it had shot down an Indian drone, calling it a violation of its airspace.It did not say when the incident happened, and there was no comment from New Delhi.India said the “Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms firing across the Line of Control” overnight Monday to Tuesday, the fifth night in a row that fire was exchanged there.The Indian army said its troops had “responded in a measured and effective manner to the provocation”. There were no reports of casualties.- ‘Ends of the Earth’ -Relations have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 in which 26 men were killed.Islamabad has rejected the charge and both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir and diplomatic barbs, as well as expelled citizens and ordered the main land border crossing shut.Last week, Modi vowed to pursue those who carried out the attack in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, and those who had supported it.”I say to the whole world: India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backer,” he said on Thursday.”We will pursue them to the ends of the Earth”.The bellicose statements have prompted worries of a rapid spiral into military action, with calls from several nations for restraint.The US State Department said top diplomat Marco Rubio would call his Pakistani and Indian counterparts soon to urge them “to not escalate the situation.”UN chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile held calls Tuesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in which he “offered his Good Offices to support de-escalation”, his spokesman said.Sharif’s office later said he had urged Guterres to “counsel India” to exercise restraint, while pledging to defend Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity with full force in case of any misadventure by India”.Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.Rebels in the Indian-run area have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.Indian police have issued wanted posters for three men accused of carrying out the Kashmir attack — two Pakistanis and an Indian — who they say are members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.They have announced a two million rupee ($23,500) bounty for information leading to each man’s arrest and carried out sweeping detentions seeking anyone suspected of links to the alleged killers.The worst attack in recent years in Indian-run Kashmir was at Pulwama in 2019, when an insurgent rammed a car packed with explosives into a security forces convoy, killing 40 and wounding 35.Indian fighter jets carried out air strikes on Pakistani territory 12 days later.Iran has already offered to mediate and Saudi Arabia has said Riyadh was trying to “prevent an escalation”.US President Donald Trump downplayed tensions, saying on Friday the dispute will get “figured out, one way or another”.burs-pjm/sco/des/md

West Indies’ Sunil Narine put in a fine all-round performance to keep holders Kolkata Knight Riders alive in the IPL with a tense 14-run win over Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.Narine smashed 27 off 16 balls in Kolkata’s 204-9 and then returned figures of 3-29 with his mystery spin to restrict the opposition to 190-9 at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground.Delhi’s South African star Faf du Plessis top-scored with 62 off 45 balls, but his knock was in vain as the hosts regularly lost wickets.Delhi are fourth in the 10-team table. Kolkata, who won their third title last year, stay seventh with four wins and five defeats.The top four teams at the end of the league phase will move into the play-offs of the popular and lucrative T20 tournament.Du Plessis hit back for Delhi after Abishek Porel’s early departure, but Kolkata had the opposition in trouble at 60-3 when KL Rahul was run out off a direct hit by Narine.Du Plessis, who returned to the team in the previous match after missing four games due to injury, raised his fifty in 31 balls and put on 76 runs with skipper Axar Patel, who hit a quickfire 43.Narine broke the stand to get Axar back in the dugout and five balls later bowled Tristan Stubbs for one to tilt the game in KKR’s favour.He then got the prized wicket of Du Plessis in his final over to dim Delhi’s hopes, but Vipraj Nigam smashed 38 off 19 balls to keep the chase alive until the last over when he fell to Andre Russell.Earlier, Narine and fellow opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz set it up for Kolkata in their brisk stand of 48 from 18 balls.Narine got off the mark with a first-ball six off Sri Lankan pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera and along with Gurbaz got 25 runs from the second over.Starc got Afghanistan’s Gurbaz caught behind for 26.Delhi struck back when leg-spinner Nigam trapped Narine lbw in his first over and Axar had skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who made a 14-ball 26, lbw with his left-arm spin.Angkrish Raghuvanshi, a 20-year-old up and coming batter who made 44, stood firm and, with Rinku Singh, added 61 runs.Chameera denied Raghuvanshi his fifty and Nigam cut short Rinku’s knock on 36 in the next over.Russell, who turned 37 on Tuesday, took the team past 200 with a six off Mitchell Starc, who roared back with two wickets in two balls in the 20th over but the hat-trick was avoided.Australia’s left-arm quick Starc trapped Rovman Powell lbw and then dismissed Anukul Roy for a duck with Chameera taking a stunner in the deep as he dived full length to take the catch.