KABUL, 30 August 2021, (TON): As the universities are still closed across the country and more than 200 university lecturers have left Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan appointed Shaikh Abdulbaqi Haqani as acting minister of higher education.

Meanwhile, the academic deputy minister, financial and administrative deputy minister, and students’ affairs deputy minister was also appointed in the ministry.

The new leadership held an introductory meeting with the former leadership of the ministry and thanked the latter along with all university lecturers for their services in the ministry of higher education.

The acting minister said that national and religious are two vital values and pledged to be working along with the previous leadership of the ministry of higher education.

The former minister of higher education Abbas Basir who was attending the meeting said that he is glad to be handing over the ministry to a team that is both eligible and committed to serve Afghanistan.

KABUL, 30 August 2021, (TON): The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says “it has received evacuation applications from over 2,000 Afghan journalists.”

The largest global body of journalists, IFJ said “it had approached the Taliban to arrange safe passage for Afghan media workers from the Kabul airport.”

AFJ Deputy Secretary-General Jeremy Dear said that they had already received the applications from Afghan media workers through affiliated organisations.

He said “the IFJ has approached different European countries, including Spain, North Macedonia, France, Mexico, Italy, Germany, the UK, the US and Canada to issue visas and assist with evacuation of Afghan journalists.”

However, he explained, no country was ready to accept more than 10-15 journalists. With applications received daily, he added the number was constantly rising.

ISLAMABAD, 30 August 2021, (TON): The military's media wing said in a statement that two Pakistan Army sepoys were martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists from across the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bajaur district.

"Terrorists from inside Afghanistan across the international border opened fire on a military post in Bajaur district," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that Pakistani troops had responded in a befitting manner.

Read the statement "as per intelligence reports, due to [the] fire of Pakistan Army troops, two to three terrorists got killed and three to four terrorists got injured."

The martyred soldiers were identified as Sepoy Jamal, 28, from Mardan, and Sepoy Ayaz, 21, from Chitral.

The ISPR said Pakistan "strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that [the] existing and future setup in Afghanistan will not allow such activities."

In a similar incident, a paramilitary soldier was martyred on Thursday when terrorists attacked a check-post in the Three Baman Sector from across the Afghan border.

NAYPYITAW, 30 August 2021, (TON): According to local residents “an explosion went off near a military convoy on 62nd Street in Mandalay’s Pyigyidagun Township.”

One person living in the area told media “The vehicles, including civilian ones, were parked there to carry out crackdowns on street protest columns. I think somebody threw a bomb.”

Another Pyigyidagun resident confirmed that he also heard the sound of a large blast that shook the entire neighbourhood.

He said “even the ground trembled. It was intense. I bet they [the soldiers] were hit.”

The sources said “they did not see the explosion and so were unable to confirm if there were any casualties.”

The military has not released any information about the incident.

LONDON, 30 August 2021, (TON): The UK government faced a torrent of criticism after its hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan ended, leaving hundreds eligible for relocation behind.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed a mission “unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes” after the UK airlifted over 15,000 people in the last two weeks.

But current and former officials slammed government failings, suggesting many more Afghans could have been rescued.

The Observer leftwing broadsheet cited a whistleblower as saying thousands of emails from MPs and charities to the foreign ministry highlighting specific Afghans at risk from the Taliban takeover went unopened.

Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has already been strongly criticized for not immediately ending a beach holiday when the Taliban took control.

The Observer said it saw evidence that an official email account set up by the Foreign Office to receive such pleas regularly had 5,000 unopened emails last week.

SANA'A, 30 August 2021, (TON): At least 30 soldiers were killed and more than 65 injured on Sunday in an attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on a military base in southern Yemen.

A ballistic missile followed by two explosives-laden drones struck a barracks housing about 50 troops at Al-Anad air base in Lahj province, 70 km north of Aden.

Medics described a chaotic scene as soldiers carried their wounded colleagues to safety, fearing another attack.

Most of the wounded were taken to the nearby Ibn Khaldun hospital, where many were in critical condition with third-degree burns. Graphic video footage from the scene showed several charred bodies on the ground.

One of the survivors, soldier Nasser Saeed “we were able to shoot down one drone. Many were killed and wounded.”

Hospital spokesman Mohsen Murshid said all its resources were needed to cope with the wounded. “We have called on the entire staff, surgeons and nurses, to come in,” he said. “We also know that there are still bodies under the rubble.”

NAYPYITAW, 30 August 2021, (TON): Half a lifetime ago, 39-year-old Yangon resident Nyein Chan Hmu was part of an unlikely rebellion that pitted students of a military college against the junta that then ruled Myanmar.

In 2002, he was a member of the fourth batch of cadets at the Military Technology College (MTC) in Pyin Oo Lwin. This was also, as it turned out, the last batch, as the new college was closed that same year following a mutiny by its students.

Angered to learn that they would graduate at a lower rank than they had expected, and without the professional qualifications they had hoped to obtain, the students rose up. And the army, true to form, cracked down.

Thousands of students were caught up in that little-known uprising, and by the time it was all over, dozens were serving long prison sentences for daring to challenge the top generals’ authority.

NEW DELHI, 30 August 2021, (TON): India's Border Security Force (BSF) shot to death two Bangladeshis along Burimari Bandermatha frontier in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat this morning.

BSF members took away the bodies of Yunus Ali and Sagar Chandra into their territory, Camp Commander Subeder Billal Hossain of BGB-61 Burimari BoP and Officer-in-Charge of Patgram Police Station Omor Faruque confirmed.

BGB and police said the deceased were involved in cattle smuggling from India, reports our Lalmonirhat correspondent.

The BGB official said “BSF troops of 104 Chengrabandha camp, under Cooch Behar district of India's West Bengal, opened fire when a team of 8/10 people were returning to Bangladesh from India with cattle. Yunus Ali and Sagar Chandra died on the spot.”

KATHMANDU, 30 August 2021, (TON): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “eight Nepalis rescued from Afghanistan arrived in Kathmandu Sunday via Doha of Qatar.”

The Ministry has also said that coordination with the bodies concerned was underway to repatriate Nepalis who are waiting for homecoming.

Issuing a press note, the Ministry stated that the government officials are in touch with all Nepalis staying in Kabul.

After the Taliban takeover, a total of 778 Nepalis have been rescued so far and all of them arrived home.

GAZA, 30 August 2021, (TON): The Israeli air force attacked two sites in Gaza, the army said, after Gazans clashed with forces on the border and launched incendiary balloons at southern Israel.

A statement from the Israeli army said “IDF fighter jets struck a Hamas military compound used for manufacturing weapons and training as well as an entrance to a tunnel adjacent to Jabalia,”.

It added “the strikes were in response to Hamas launching incendiary balloons into Israeli territory and the violent riots that took place yesterday.”

There were no reports from Gaza of casualties caused by the Israeli strikes.

Israeli firefighters said “two wildfires broke out in the Eshkol region near the Palestinian enclave.”

Protests erupted later in the day, with the Israeli army firing tear gas and stun grenades as Palestinians burned tyres on the border between Gaza and Israel.

The health ministry in Gaza said 11 Palestinians had been hurt in the clashes, three of them by live fire.