Regional
Houses rented to kidnappers, Daesh militants ‘will be seized’
![](https://www.ariananews.af/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/balkh.jpg)
Qudratullah Abu Hamza, Balkh’s governor, warned home owners Monday that houses rented to kidnappers and Daesh militants will be confiscated.
Hamza called on residents of the northern province to support the IEA security forces and to not allow such elements to settle in residential areas.
He said should home owners ignore this warning, the IEA will identify houses rented by kidnappers and militants and seize the properties and prosecute the owners.
“The houses that were given to the kidnappers will not be returned to their owners. The houses that were given to Daesh will be seized and the owner of the house, and people in charge of the area will be introduced to the attorney general.
“If they provide houses to kidnappers, or Daesh, the owners will be dealt the same punishment as the kidnappers and Daesh,” said Hamza.
The decision has been met with mixed reaction by civil society activists in Balkh.
“Crime is an individual act by the suspect or accused person. If they are caught and identified, after an investigation, they can be introduced to judicial institutions,” said one activist.
While Balkh is a fairly secure province, a number of kidnappings have been reported in the province over the past few years.
The most high-profile case of them all was that involving
Abdul Rauf, who was nine years old at the time of his abduction.
He was rescued and reunited with his family in April – two years after being kidnapped.
Regional
Egypt’s Sisi makes first presidential visit to Turkey in 12 years
Erdogan met Sisi at Ankara airport on Wednesday and the two then travelled in the same car to the presidential palace for around two hours of talks.
![](https://www.ariananews.af/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Sisi-Erdogan.jpg)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed the Gaza war and ways to further repair the long-frozen ties between the regional powers during talks in Ankara, in the first such presidential visit in 12 years.
Relations between Ankara and Cairo collapsed in 2013 after Egypt’s then-army chief Sisi led the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, a Turkish ally who had become Egypt’s first democratically elected president the year before, Reuters reported.
Ties between the two countries began thawing in 2020 when Ankara launched a diplomatic drive to ease tensions with its estranged regional rivals, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Last year, Ankara and Cairo mutually reappointed ambassadors and Turkey said it would also provide Cairo with armed drones. Erdogan travelled to Cairo in February for his first trip to Egypt since 2012.
He met Sisi at Ankara airport on Wednesday and the two then travelled in the same car to the presidential palace for around two hours of talks.
“With a win-win mindset, we will carry our multi-dimensional ties forward,” Erdogan said, adding Ankara particularly wanted to deepen ties with Egypt on natural gas and nuclear energy.
Ministers from the two countries signed 18 memorandum of understanding on cooperation in energy, defence, tourism, health, agriculture, finance, culture, education, and transport.
Speaking at a joint press conference, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey and Egypt wanted to boost annual trade by $5 billion to $15 billion in the next five years.
He added that Ankara and Cairo shared a “common stance” on the Palestinian cause, while Sisi said they were both calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to violence in the West Bank.
Turkey, which has condemned Israel for its war against Hamas militants in Gaza, has sent thousands of tonnes of aid to Egypt for Palestinians and praised Cairo’s humanitarian efforts and role as negotiator in the talks on a ceasefire and hostage deal.
Sisi said they also discussed the situation in Libya, over which the two countries have long been at odds and backed opposing factions in an unresolved conflict.
“We stress that it is important to turn the page on the ongoing crisis through holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously with the exit of illegal foreign forces and mercenaries from the country, and put an end to the presence of armed militias to end the division,” he said.
Regional
Helicopter of Iran’s late president Raisi crashed due to weather, final report says
A preliminary report by Iran’s military had said in May that no evidence of foul play or an attack had been found during the investigation.
![](https://www.ariananews.af/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Ibrahim-Raisi-Chopper-crash.jpg)
The helicopter crash in which Iran’s late President Ebrahim Raisi was killed was primarily caused by weather conditions that included thick fog, Iran’s state TV said on Sunday, citing the final investigation report on the incident, Reuters reported.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner who was seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died when his helicopter crashed in May in a mountainous region near the Azerbaijan border.
“The main reason of the helicopter crash was complicated weather conditions in the region,” the final report concluded, according to Iran’s state TV.
A thick mass of fog caused the helicopter that was carrying Raisi and his companions to crash into the mountain, the report issued by a high committee charged by Iran’s military with investigating the incident said.
A preliminary report by Iran’s military had said in May that no evidence of foul play or an attack had been found during the investigation, read the report.
Regional
Three Israelis killed in West Bank shooting attack
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said three policemen had been in the vehicle and were killed in Sunday’s attack.
![](https://www.ariananews.af/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Israel.jpg)
Three Israelis were killed on Sunday when their vehicle came under fire near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said.
The military confirmed the attack in the area of the Idna Tarqumiyah Junction, saying that security forces were searching for the assailants, Reuters reported.
Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids across the West Bank since last Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the area in months, which Israel says is aimed at rooting out Islamist militants.
The operation has drawn international calls for a halt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said three policemen had been in the vehicle and were killed in Sunday’s attack.
“We are fighting on all fronts against a cruel enemy who wants to murder us all,” Netanyahu said, also referring to six Israeli hostages killed in captivity in Gaza and whose bodies were recovered from a tunnel on Sunday.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline member of Israel’s security cabinet, called for more action against Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
“We need to do now what we didn’t do that awful night and launch a pre-emptive strike and strike terrorism hard,” he said, referring to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“We are committed to eliminating terrorism on all fronts,” he said, speaking from the scene of Sunday’s attack.
Israel’s ambulance service had initially said two people had been killed and a third critically wounded.
Hamas, which is fighting a war with Israel in Gaza, praised the attack in the West Bank, but did not claim it, saying it was a “natural response to the massacres and genocide in the Gaza Strip”.
“We call on all those who carry weapons to direct their bullets at the chests of the occupiers who continue to commit massacres against our people in Gaza Strip,” the statement said.
Israel denies committing acts of genocide in the Gaza war, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 strike on Israel.
-
Sport4 days ago
Kuwait beats Afghanistan 4-3 in five-a-side Futsal tournament match
-
World5 days ago
US researchers find probable launch site of Russia’s new nuclear-powered missile
-
Latest News4 days ago
UN Security Council members ‘divided’ over Afghanistan issue
-
World5 days ago
Biden says Netanyahu not doing enough to secure hostage deal
-
Sport3 days ago
Afghanistan thrashes New Zealand 5-1 in five-a-side futsal tournament match
-
Latest News4 days ago
Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 35 Palestinians but pauses allow third day of polio vaccinations
-
Sport4 days ago
Bangladesh sweep test series in Pakistan in healing touch for troubled nation
-
Latest News3 days ago
Discussion program launched for journalists and Herat spokesmen