At least 10 people were killed and 16 others wounded in an armed attack on staff members of a British-American charity in Afghanistan that has been clearing land mines in the country for decades, officials said Wednesday.
Tariq Arian, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, blamed the Taliban for the attack, which occurred late Tuesday at a demining camp in the northeastern province of Baghlan and targeted employees of the charity, the HALO Trust. He said the victims were all Afghan citizens.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, denied any involvement and said the area where the “horrifying” attack had taken place was not under the militant group’s control.
The HALO Trust, a British charity with a U.S. affiliate registered in Washington, said Wednesday that an “unknown armed group” entered the demining camp Tuesday night and opened fire on about 110 men.
Minnesota third-degree murder law at issue in ex-cop’s appeal
A prosecutor urged the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday to uphold the third-degree murder conviction of a former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot an Australian woman who had called 911 in 2017, saying a reversal would make it impossible to prosecute other officers on the same charge.
But defense attorney Caitlinrose Fisher argued that the Minnesota Court of Appeals erred in February when it affirmed Mohamed Noor’s conviction. She argued the language of Minnesota’s third-degree murder statute, backed by case law, requires that a defendant’s actions be directed at more than one person, and that the law is meant for cases such as indiscriminate killings.
The state law defines third-degree murder as “an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life.” A central dispute is whether “dangerous to others” must be read as plural, or if the fatal act can be directed at a single, specific person.
Iran candidate says he’s willing to potentially meet Biden
An Iranian presidential candidate said Wednesday he’d be willing to meet with President Joe Biden if he wins his country’s election next week, though “America needs to send better and stronger signals” to the Islamic Republic.
Former Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati stressed that an American return to Iran’s nuclear deal was key to any possible relationship amid the wider tensions in the Mideast.
“I think we haven’t seen anything serious from Mr. Biden’s side yet,” Hemmati said. “They first need to go back to the (nuclear deal) that they withdrew from. If we see the process and more confidence is built, then we can talk about that.”
Hemmati, 64, is one of the seven candidates approved by Iranian authorities to run for the presidency in the Islamic Republic’s June 18 election. Polling and analysts suggest he lags in the race behind hardline judiciary chief and front-runner Ebrahim Raisi.
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