The World in Brief

A sniffer dog and policemen inspect the site of a grenade attack Thursday in Jammu, India.
A sniffer dog and policemen inspect the site of a grenade attack Thursday in Jammu, India.

Syria disputes report on chemical attack

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria's government has strongly criticized a report issued by the global chemical-weapons watchdog that said chlorine was likely used in a deadly attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year.

In a statement Thursday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the report was "full of flagrant falsification of facts." It said the report lacks "professionalism" and accused those who prepared it of being far from neutral and objective.

The report issued last week by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' fact-finding mission found "reasonable grounds" that chlorine was used in the April 7 attack. Medical workers said at the time that the attack killed more than 40 people.

The mission's mandate does not include laying blame.

Grenade blast kills civilian in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India -- A civilian was killed and at least 30 others were injured by a grenade blast Thursday at a bus station in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, police said.

The grenade was hurled at the main bus station in Hindu-majority Jammu city and rolled beneath a bus, where it exploded, police said. The injured were taken to a hospital, including at least four who were in critical condition. One person later died in the hospital, medics and police said.

Hours after the blast, police said they arrested a man they accused of throwing the grenade, calling it a "major breakthrough." Top police officer M.K. Sinha said the Kashmiri man was directed by Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest rebel group, to carry out the attack.

Hizbul Mujahideen did not immediately comment on the police allegations. However, the Joint Resistance Leadership, which challenges India's sovereignty over Kashmir, released a statement saying the attack on unarmed civilians was "the most reproachful act which should be condemned by all civilized humans."

In the past, Indian authorities have blamed rebels fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region for similar grenade attacks, often without producing any evidence. Rebels have in turn accused government agents of carrying out the attacks to defame their movement.

Two top Afghans survive Kabul shelling

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Mortar shells exploded Thursday outside a ceremony in the Afghan capital, Kabul, attended by the country's chief executive and a former president. Both men were unharmed, but three others were killed, a government official said.

Nusrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said 31 people were wounded in the attack that was set off from a house near the ceremony. Security forces battled for several hours with militants holed up in the house, Rahimi said, and two insurgents were eventually killed and one person arrested.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

The ceremony was commemorating the 1995 death of prominent minority Hazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari, who was killed by the Taliban. Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai attended the gathering.

Presidential candidate and former Afghan national security adviser Hanif Atmar tweeted that eight of his personal guards were wounded and called the attack "horrid and unforgiveable." Another presidential candidate, Latif Pedram, was injured. The extent of his injuries was not immediately known.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban waged a four-hour battle with security forces on Wednesday night in northern Kunduz province, in the Qalay Zul district, killing seven policemen, according to Mohammad Yosuf Ayubi, chairman of the provincial council.

And early Thursday, the Taliban killed four Afghan border patrol officers in western Herat province, near the border with Iran, said Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Taiwan seeking to buy U.S. fighter jets

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan has submitted an official request to purchase new fighter jets from the United States to "counter current enemy threats," the island's deputy defense minister said Thursday.

The request comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has used increasingly strident rhetoric toward Taiwan, a self-governed island that split from the mainland during a civil war in 1949. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and maintains that the two sides must ultimately be reunified.

Xi warned in a January address that he would not rule out the use of force against Taiwanese independence activities. The island's democratically elected, independence-leaning leader, Tsai Ing-wen, has opposed threats to self-rule.

Taiwanese Deputy Defense Minister Shen Yi-ming, who announced the fighter-jet purchase request at a news conference, said the goal is to provide pilots with more sophisticated equipment, in part to "demonstrate our determination and ability to defend ourselves."

Huang Wen-chi, the Taiwan Defense Ministry's director of strategic planning, said the jets could be anything from F-15s, F-18s and F-16s to cutting-edge F-35 stealth fighters, "as long as it meets our combat needs."

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

photo

AP/GREGORIO BORGIA

Passers-by are reflected in the window Thursday of a clergy robes shop in Rome.

A Section on 03/08/2019

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