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Iran says attack on Israel is over as fears grow of wider conflict

Iran’s forces on Tuesday used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90% of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.

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Iran said early on Wednesday that its missile attack on Israel was over barring further provocation, while Israel and the U.S. promised to retaliate against Tehran as fears of a wider war intensified, Reuters reported.

Washington said it would work with longtime ally Israel to make sure Iran faced "severe consequences" for Tuesday's attack, which Israel said involved more than 180 ballistic missiles.

The United Nations Security Council scheduled a meeting about the Middle East for Wednesday, and the European Union called for an immediate ceasefire.

"Our action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation. In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X early on Wednesday.

Israel renewed its bombardment early on Wednesday of Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed armed Hezbollah group, with at least a dozen airstrikes against what it said were targets belonging the group, read the report.

Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from parts of the suburbs. Israel issued new evacuation orders for the area, which have largely emptied after days of heavy strikes.

Iran's attack marked it biggest ever military blow against Israel.

Sirens sounded across the country and explosions rattled Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley as the entire population was told to move into bomb shelters.

No injuries were reported in Israel, but one man was killed in the occupied West Bank, authorities there said.

Iran described the campaign as defensive and solely aimed at Israeli military facilities. Iran's state news agency said three Israeli military bases had been targeted.

Tehran said its assault was a response to Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon against Hezbollah and in Gaza.

Israel activated air defences against Iran's bombardment and most missiles were intercepted "by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States," Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X, adding: "Iran's attack is a severe and dangerous escalation."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to hit back.

"Iran made a big mistake tonight - and it will pay for it," he said at the outset of an emergency political security cabinet meeting late on Tuesday, according to a statement.

Iran's General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement carried by state media that any Israeli response would be met with "vast destruction" of Israeli infrastructure. It also said it would target regional assets of any Israeli ally that got involved.

Fears that Iran and the U.S. could be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel's growing assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.

Iran's forces on Tuesday used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90% of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.

Israel's Hagari said central and southern Israel received limited strikes. A video released by the military showed a school in the central city of Gadera heavily damaged by an Iranian missile.

U.S. Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles headed toward Israel, the Pentagon said. Britain said its forces played a part "in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East", without elaborating.

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed full U.S. support for Israel and described Iran's attack as "ineffective." Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for U.S. president, backed Biden's stance and said the U.S. would not hesitate to defend its interests against Iran.

"We will act. Iran will soon feel the consequences of their actions. The response will be painful," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters.

The White House similarly promised "severe consequences" for Iran and spokesman Jake Sullivan told a Washington briefing the U.S. would "work with Israel to make that the case."

Sullivan did not specify what those consequences might be, but he stopped short of urging restraint by Israel as the U.S. did in April when Iran carried out a drone and missile attack on Israel. The Pentagon said Tuesday's airstrikes by Iran were about twice the size of April's assault.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called "escalation after escalation", saying: "This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire."

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement that he strongly condemns Iran's new attacks on Israel, adding that in a sign of its commitment to Israel's security it mobilised its military resources in the Middle East on Wednesday.

Macron reiterated France's demand that Hezbollah cease its terrorist actions against Israel and its population, but also wished for Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity to be reinstated in strict compliance with a United Nations Security Council resolution.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also called for an immediate regional ceasefire. "The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks ... spiralling out of control," he posted on X.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with the leaders of Germany and France, and they agreed on a need for restraint from all sides, Downing Street said.

Nearly 1,900 people have been killed and more than 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, most in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics on Tuesday.

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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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