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Iran calls for UN Security Council meeting after Hezbollah’s leader killed

The strike followed the assassination of some of the group’s most senior leaders over recent weeks.

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Iran on Saturday called for the United Nations Security Council to meet over Israel's actions in Lebanon and across the region, Iran's U.N. ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote in a letter to the 15-member body after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly warns against any attack on its diplomatic premises and representatives in violation of the foundational principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and reiterates that it will not tolerate any repeat of such aggression," he wrote.

"Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent rights under international law to take every measure in defense of its vital national and security interests," Iravani said.

Israel carried out its deadly strike against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah after learning he would be meeting senior commanders in the movement's underground headquarters in southern Beirut, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

The strike, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that Israel would not accept Hezbollah's forces on its borders, followed the assassination of some of the group's most senior leaders over recent weeks.

Israeli military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the operation, which the military called "New Order", occurred on Friday while Nasrallah and the Hezbollah senior chain of command were meeting to plan further attacks against Israel.

"We had real time intelligence, an opportunity, an operational opportunity that allowed us to carry out this attack," he told reporters.

Israel's Army Radio quoted the head of the air force squadron that conducted the attack as saying the pilots were only given details of the target a short time before taking off.

"The pilots did not know what the target was in the days the (strike) was being planned," the officer, identified only as Lieutenant Colonel M., was quoted as saying.

"We exposed the teams to the target only a few hours before carrying it out and they understood what they were going for."

Shoshani declined to comment on speculation that the strike may have used U.S.-made Mark 84 heavy bombs, but Brigadier General Amichai Levin, commander of Hatzerim air base, told reporters that dozens of munitions hit the target within seconds.

Ali Karaki, the head of Hezbollah's southern front, whom Israel tried to kill earlier in the week, was also killed in the raid, Shoshani said.

Hezbollah, which launched its first barrages a day after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, confirmed Nasrallah's death and said it would continue its battle against Israel "in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon".

Since then, the two sides have been exchanging daily missile and rocket fire, forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to evacuate and leaving wide areas virtually deserted.

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Chinese embassy says citizens killed in ‘terrorist attack’ in Pakistan

Pakistan broadcaster Geo News reported at least 10 people were injured in the blast in addition to some fatalities.

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Two Chinese nationals were killed in an explosion near the international airport of the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Sunday night, the Chinese embassy in Pakistan said, in what it described as a "terrorist attack", Reuters reported.

In a statement emailed to journalists, separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed the explosion was an attack carried out by them using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting Chinese nationals, including engineers.

Pakistan broadcaster Geo News reported at least 10 people were injured in the blast in addition to some fatalities. The nature of the blast was not immediately clear, Geo News cited a provincial official as saying.

Karachi police did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The Chinese embassy said a convoy from the Port Qasim Electric Power Company was attacked near the airport, read the report.

"The Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in Pakistan strongly condemn this terrorist attack, express deep condolences to the innocent victims of both countries and sincere sympathies to the injured and (their) families," the statement said, adding the Chinese side has been working with Pakistani authorities in the aftermath.

The BLA seeks independence for the province of Balochistan, located in Pakistan's southwest and bordering on Afghanistan and Iran. In August, it launched coordinated attacks in the province, in which more than 70 people were killed.

BLA specifically targets Chinese interests - in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit the province. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing's consulate in Karachi, Reuters reported.

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Dozens of Pakistan police injured in clashes with supporters of former PM Khan

The protesters plan to gather in the city’s red zone, which houses the country’s parliament and a fortified enclave of foreign embassies.

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Over 80 police personnel have been injured in clashes with supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan taking part in a march near Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday.

The march, which is being led by the head of the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where Khan's party remains in power, aims to gather in the capital, defying a ban on congregations, to press for Khan's release and agitate against the ruling coalition, Reuters reported.

"The convoy, led by the chief minister, fired on the police and continuously used teargas against law-enforcers," Naqvi told journalists.

He said more than 80 police officers had been treated for injuries since Friday, when clashes broke out just outside the city during an anti-government rally.

Authorities have sealed off Islamabad and blocked cellphone services to prevent the gathering, read the report.

Islamabad is on high alert ahead of a series of top-level diplomatic events scheduled over the next two weeks, including a visit by India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Naqvi said while the convoy was heavily armed, the police had been instructed not to carry weapons to prevent the situation from escalating. The government has deployed the army to enhance security in Islamabad.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party denies using violence, and says it wants to hold a peaceful gathering.

Naqvi had previously called on the PTI to delay any gathering until after diplomatic engagements in the city, including a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting on Oct. 15-16 which will be attended by delegations, including from China, Russia and India.

On Saturday, Naqvi said the authorities had intelligence that the protesters planned to disrupt the SCO conference in a bid to gain attention.

"We can't allow this. I will say to them again, to not cross more red lines - don't make us take extreme steps," Naqvi said.

The PTI, which says the Islamabad protest is just for one day, is also holding a gathering in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday, where a lockdown of roads is in place, Reuters reported.

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Six Pakistani soldiers killed in clash with militants

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Six Pakistani soldiers, including a high ranking officer, were killed in a clash with militants in the country's restive northwest, the military said in a statement on Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shoukat, who the military said was leading the troops in the encounter with militants, was among those killed in the tribal district of North Waziristan, on Friday night.

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