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Geopolitics

Islamist Terrorists Attack Major Pakistani Air Base

NEW YORK TIMES, CNN (USA), THE TELEGRAPH (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar)

Worldcrunch

ISLAMABAD - At least nine men, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, stormed an air force base in the early hours of Thursday in Kamra, about 80 kilometres northwest of Islamabad, reports Al Jazeera.

According to a military spokesperson, the eight attackers were killed in a firefight with security forces that lasted several hours. The ninth attacker died by detonating his suicide vest outside the perimeter of the base, adds Al Jazeera.

One Pakistani soldier was killed in the exchange of gunfire, reports Al Jazeera. Four airmen were wounded in the attack, reports CNN.

The Pakistani Taliban organization, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack. The U.S., UK and Canadian governements consider the group as a terrorist organization. It has strong ties to al-Qaeda.

The Minhas air base in Kamra is thought to be one of the possible locations where part of Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile is stored, reports The New York Times. One transport airplane was damaged in the assault.

The attack came only a few hours after Pakistan announced plans to launch an operation in the militant region of North Waziristan, in the tribal belt, as requested by the U.S.

The assault is the third on the air base since 2007 reports The Telegraph. The base was struck by a suicide bomber in December 2007 and again in August 2009 killing eight people, including two soldiers.

This is the largest attack on Pakistan’s military since May 2011 when terrorists struck a naval base in Karachi, killing 10 people and wounding 20 to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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