Daily Security Brief: January 22, 2012

KABUL: Two members of a family were killed and seven others wounded when a gas cylinder exploded in their house in Kabul, relatives and a doctor said on Sunday.

The incident took place in the Deh Mazang locality on Saturday night, a relative of the victims, Mohammad Mohsin, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said a woman and a seven-year-old child were killed and seven others injured in the blast. The wounded people were taken to Istiqlal and Andhra Gandhi Children Hospitals.

Istiqlal Hospital chief, Dr. Yousuf Pur, confirmed receiving four injured people. He said such incidents were the result of gas leakage or placing cylinders near heaters.

–Zarghona Salehi

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NANGARHAR: Twenty militants joined the reconciliation process as a result of joint efforts by National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials and provincial peace council members in eastern Nangarhar province, officials said on Sunday.

The fighters had been active against the government in Achin, Haska Mina and Rodat districts, Deputy Governor Muhammad Hanif Gardiwal told a news conference. The insurgents also turned in 20 heavy weapons, he said, promising jobs for the individuals renouncing violence.

The group, including a commander, handed a machine gun, two rocket launchers and other weapons to security forces, said Malak Nazir, the High Peace Council head for the Nangarhar chapter.

A 16-year-old surrendering militant, Muqaddas, said his father had taken him to a religious school, Hashmia Madrasa, in Pakistan‘s Khyber tribal region, where they lived as refugees.

“My teachers told me infidels have occupied my country, Afghanistan in his homeland. — Abdul Mueed Hashmi

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NANGARHAR: Two people have been arrested on the charge of smuggling 18 weapons in the Barg-i-Matal district of eastern Nuristan province, an official said on Sunday.

The two were detained at the Do Kalam port, border police official, Col. Mohammad Ayub Hussainkhel, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Hailing from Narai district of neighbouring Kunar province, the detainees had confessed to smuggling the weapons from Pakistan to Nuristan, he concluded.

—Abdul Mueed Hashimi

mm/ma/mud                               

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