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At least 17 killed in Philippines troop plane crash
At least 17 people were killed when a Philippines Air Force plane carrying troops crashed on landing in the south of the country and broke up in flames on Sunday, the country’s worst military air disaster in nearly 30 years.
The Lockheed C-130 transport aircraft crashed at Patikul in Sulu province, in the far south of the archipelago nation where the army has been fighting a long war against Islamist militants from the Abu Sayyaf and other factions.
Seventeen bodies had been recovered and 40 injured had been rescued so far, Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement. Most of the 92 people aboard were troops flying from Laguindingan Airport, some 460 km (290 miles) to the northeast.
“Rescue and recovery is ongoing,” Lorenzana said.
Pictures from the scene showed flames and smoke pouring from wreckage strewn among trees as men in combat uniform milled around. A large column of black smoke rose from the coconut palms into the blue sky.
Military chief Cirilito Sobejana said the plane had “missed the runway trying to regain power.”
A military spokesman, Colonel Edgard Arevalo, said there was no indication of any attack on the plane, but that a crash investigation had not begun and efforts were focussed on rescue and treatment.
Sobejana said in a message to Reuters that the plane had crashed a few kilometers (miles) from Jolo airport at 11:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) and had been carrying troops.
“We are currently attending to the survivors who were immediately brought to the 11th Infantry Division station hospital in Busbus, Jolo, Sulu,” he said.
The island is about 950 km (600 miles) south of the capital, Manila.
The Lockheed C-130H Hercules aircraft, registration 5125, had only arrived in the Philippines recently.
It was one of two aircraft granted by the U.S. government through the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, according to a government website announcement in January. It quoted an air force spokesman as saying the aircraft would provide enhanced capability for heavy airlift missions.
The website C-130.net said the plane that crashed had first flown in 1988. The model is a workhorse for armed forces around the world.
The Philippines armed forces have had a patchy air safety record. Last month a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training mission, killing six people.
A Philippines Air Force C-130 crash in 1993 killed 30 people. A 2008 crash by the civilian variant of the Lockheed plane flown by the Philippines Air Force killed 11 people, according to the Aviation Safety Network.
In the country’s worst plane crash, an Air Philippines Boeing 737 crashed in 2000, killing 131 people.
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Afghan official slams Shehbaz Sharif’s ‘shameful’ claims on Islamic unity
Khubaib Ghufran, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Information and Culture, sharply criticized Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over his recent claims about Islamic unity in relation to the war in Iran, calling them “shameful.”
On his X account, Ghaffran wrote: “You praised Trump as a hero of the Gaza peace plan, yet today you claim Islamic unity regarding Iran in a war that the same criminal (Trump) and his allies initiated?”
He added that while Afghanistan is governed under an Islamic system, Shehbaz Sharif has shown no compassion even toward the most vulnerable groups—from children to women and drug addicts—and that this cruelty persisted even during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ghaffran described Sharif’s stance as a “grave shame” and a stark example of “historical hypocrisy.”
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Airstrike on Kabul drug rehabilitation centre sparks legal concerns
Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Isabelle Lassee, said the scale of casualties suggests the presence of a significant civilian population at the site.
An airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul has drawn sharp criticism from Amnesty International, raising serious questions about compliance with international humanitarian law.
The strike, carried out on 16 March, targeted a site at Camp Phoenix, a former military base that has functioned largely as a rehabilitation centre since 2016. Pakistani officials have claimed the attack was aimed at an ammunition depot allegedly located within the compound.
Responding to those claims, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Isabelle Lassee, said the scale of casualties suggests the presence of a significant civilian population at the site.
“While the total number of casualties has yet to be independently verified, it is clear that the attack caused extensive civilian harm, with reports indicating hundreds killed or injured,” she said.
Lassee emphasized that the facility was widely known to house civilians undergoing treatment, and warned that any military action should have taken this into account. “Pakistan’s military should have taken all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she added.
She further noted that even if a military target had been present within the compound, international law requires that any strike be proportionate, ensuring that civilian harm is not excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
“The scale of destruction raises serious concerns about whether an adequate proportionality assessment was conducted and whether sufficient steps were taken to verify the target and minimize civilian casualties,” Lassee said.
Amnesty International has called on Pakistani authorities to disclose the intelligence behind the strike and to launch an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the incident. The organization stressed that findings should be made public to ensure accountability.
The group also urged all parties involved in the conflict to adhere strictly to international humanitarian law and to protect civilian infrastructure, including medical and rehabilitation facilities.
The airstrike formed part of Pakistan’s “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” which included strikes in both Kabul and Nangarhar Province. The targeted rehabilitation centre, known as Omid, reportedly had the capacity to accommodate around 2,000 individuals.
Casualty figures remain contested. Islamic Emirate officials claim more than 400 civilians were killed and over 200 injured, though these numbers have not been independently verified. The United Nations has so far confirmed 143 deaths.
The strike comes amid escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 76 civilian casualties had already been recorded since the conflict intensified in February.
Pakistani officials, meanwhile, reported civilian casualties on their side of the border, including four deaths in Bajaur district on 15 March and the killing of a child in North Waziristan earlier in the month, allegedly due to cross-border fire from Afghanistan.
The latest developments underscore growing concerns about civilian safety as hostilities between the two countries continue to intensify.
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