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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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Tarig Ali Bakheet and Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister discuss Afghanistan’s situation
Both sides emphasized the importance of continued collaboration to address the urgent needs of the Afghan people.

Tarig Ali Bakheet, the Special Representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for Afghanistan, met and held discussions with a Japanese delegation led by Masayuki Kamada, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, regarding the situation in Afghanistan.
According to a statement by the OIC, the meeting mainly focused on the current situation in Afghanistan and explored ways to enhance humanitarian cooperation between the organization and Japan.
Based on the statement, both sides emphasized the importance of continued collaboration to address the urgent needs of the Afghan people.
The meeting took place at the office of the OIC Special Representative for Afghanistan in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The statement also noted that the Consul General and Deputy Consul General of Japan in Jeddah were part of the Japanese delegation.
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AWCC activates new site in Nangarhar’s Kuz Kunar district
Residents of Kuz Kunar expressed happiness over gaining access to telecom and internet services and called for the further expansion of such services across Nangarhar.

Officials from Afghan Wireless Communications Company (AWCC) say they have activated a new site in the Kuz Kunar district of Nangarhar province.
According to AWCC representatives, the launch of this site has provided thousands of families with access to telecommunication and internet services.
They added that Afghan Wireless will also soon launch 4G internet services in the area.
Meanwhile, officials from Nangarhar’s Department of Telecommunications and Information Technology stated that efforts are underway to expand telecom services to other remote areas of this province.
Rahimullah Shinwari, head of the ATRA (Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority) office in Nangarhar, said that with the activation of the new AWCC site, 25,000 families will now have access to telecom and internet services.
Residents of Kuz Kunar expressed happiness over gaining access to telecom and internet services and called for the further expansion of such services across Nangarhar.
In recent years, AWCC has extended its telecom and internet services to many remote areas across the country.
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Moscow’s move a ‘significant step toward recognizing Afghanistan’s political realities’, says Haqqani

Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani on Wednesday met with Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, and Dmitry Zhirnov, Russia’s ambassador to Kabul.
Haqqani expressed appreciation for Moscow’s recent decision to remove the Islamic Emirate from its list of terrorist organizations. He described the move as “a significant step toward recognizing the political realities of Afghanistan.”
In a statement, the interior ministry said that both sides emphasized the importance of upgrading diplomatic relations to the level of embassies and reaffirmed their commitment to mutual cooperation in the fields of security and trade.
During the meeting, the two parties also discussed regional and bilateral cooperation in the areas of security, economy, and commerce, and stressed the need to strengthen ties between the two countries.
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