2 held with 53 kg marijuana in Birgunj
Police have confiscated a huge cache of marijuana from a loaded truck in Birgunj.
DSP Om Prakash Khanal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Parsa said that they have impounded the truck and arrested its driver Purna Bahadur Moktan (45) of Hetauda, Makwanpur and assistant driver Raj Bhulan of Hetauda-4.
He said that the police confiscated 53 kg marijuana from the truck (Na 3 Kha 6384) heading towards Parsa from Makwanpur during the security check.
Police said that they are looking into the case.
Labour Day being marked today
The International Labour Day is being marked today by organising various programmes by different labour unions and workers, recalling the victory of labourers for their demand for eight-hours of works and legal rights.
On this occasion, trade unions and labour fraternities are conducting different programmes.
The Nepal Trade Union Congress this morning organised a rally in the Capital City. Started from Bhrikutimandap, the rally is to converge into an assembly by reaching at Bhaktapur Buspark from Sahid Gate, New Road Gate and Ratna Park.
Likewise, General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions is scheduled to organise an assembly in Bhrikutimandap this afternoon.
Furthermore, Joint Trade Union Coordination Center (JTUCC), which is a joint union of over a dozen trade unions active in Nepal, is marking this day by organising a grand rally this afternoon in the Capital City.
Security beefed up along Nepal-India border
In view of the security sensitivity for the upcoming local level elections, officials have intensified security in the no-man's land of the Nepal-India border in Banke district.
Security at the border points has been beefed up considering that illegal arms could be brought in from no-man's land to affect the polls scheduled for May 13.
District Police Office, Banke, said security checks had been made strict in the border area as illegal incidents could happen from India due to open border during the time of election.
Currently, security officials from both the countries are carrying out joint patrolling and stricter security checks in Jamunaha and Rupaidiya points, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Banke Madhu Sudan Neupane said.
Overall issues of security are being raised in a joint meeting of security officials taking place later today, it is said.
Banke district shares 65 kilometres of open border with the Indian side.
Blast kills more than 50 at Kabul mosque, its leader says
A powerful explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque, its leader said, the latest in a series of attacks on civilian targets in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Reuters reported.
The blast hit the Khalifa Sahib mosque in the west of the capital in the early afternoon, according to Besmullah Habib, the deputy spokesperson for the interior ministry.
The attack came as worshippers at the Sunni mosque gathered after Friday prayers for a congregation known as Zikr – an act of remembrance practised by some Muslims but seen as heretical by several Sunni groups.
Sayed Fazil Agha, the head of the mosque, said someone they believed was a suicide bomber joined them in the ceremony and detonated explosives. “Black smoke rose and spread everywhere, dead bodies were everywhere,” he said, adding that his nephews were among the dead. “I survived, but lost my beloved ones.”
A local resident, Mohammad Sabir, said he had seen people being loaded into ambulances. “The blast was very loud. I thought my eardrums were cracked,” he said.
The emergency hospital in downtown Kabul said it was treating 21 patients wounded in the blast and two were dead on arrival. A nurse at another hospital, who declined to be identified, said it had received several people in a critical condition, according to Reuters.
A health source said hospitals had so far taken in at least 30 bodies in total.
Scores of Afghan civilians have been killed in recent weeks in blasts, some of which have been claimed by Islamic State (IS). The latest attack came on the last Friday in the month of Ramadan, in which most Muslims fast, and before the religious holiday of Eid next week.
The Taliban rulers say they have secured the country since taking power in August and largely eliminated IS’s local offshoot. However, international officials and analysts say the risk of a militant resurgence remains.
Many of the attacks have targeted the Shia minority but Sunni mosques have also been attacked.
Bombs exploded on two passenger vans carrying Shia Muslims in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, killing at least nine people, Reuters reported.
Last Friday, a blast tore through a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers in the city of Kunduz, killing 33.
