From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people this week at a mosque in northwestern Pakistan had disguised himself in police uniform and did not raise suspicion among the guards, the provincial police chief said Thursday.
The bomber arrived pushing a motorcycle at the mosque, located inside a high-security police and government compound in the city of Peshawar, said the police chief, Moazzam Jah Ansari.
The bomber wore a police uniform and the guards at the site assumed he was a police officer -- their colleague -- and did not search him, Ansari added.
Police have identified the bomber, the police chief also said, and are close to arresting suspects who helped him carry out Monday's bombing, one of the deadliest ever in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
"We will avenge the martyrdom of each and every policeman," Ansari told a news conference on Thursday, without providing more details. He pledged that all those responsible for the attack, including the mastermind and facilitators, will be arrested and punished under the law.
Pakistan's defense and interior ministers in speeches to Parliament this week blamed the Pakistani Taliban, who maintain sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, for orchestrating the bombing. The Pakistani Taliban, known by their acronym TTP, are a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban.
Ansari said that most of the casualties -- the explosion also left 225 wounded -- were not caused by the detonation of the bomber's explosives but by the collapse of the roof of the 50-year-old Peshawar mosque. The force of the blast caused the roof, which was supported by outside walls but no pillars, to cave in.
Police also released footage, from police CCTV cameras, showing the suspected bomber, in police uniform, approaching the police compound pushing a motorcycle, giving the impression it had broken down.
"I admit that it was a security lapse and I take responsibility for it," Ansari said. He did not offer to resign his post.
On Wednesday, dozens of police officers in a rare move joined a peace march organized by the members of civil society groups in Peshawar, demanding better protection for police.
Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan accused the Pakistani Taliban and in speeches to Parliament, said the TTP planned the attack from neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan has demanded the Afghan Taliban to take action against the TTP. Initially a TTP commander claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing but hours later the group's chief spokesman distanced the TTP from the carnage, saying attacking mosques was not its policy.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed foreign minister urged Pakistani authorities to look domestically for the reasons behind violence in their country instead of blaming Afghanistan.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch appeared to dismiss the Afghan Taliban criticism.
"We take the loss of innocent lives very seriously and would expect our neighbors to do the same," Baloch told a news conference Thursday. "Pakistan expects sincere cooperation" from Afghanistan, he said.
Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with government forces. The violence has increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Late Thursday, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's government reached out to his predecessor and now opposition leader, Imran Khan, inviting him and other opposition politician to a conference next Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the surge in militancy across the country.
There was no immediate response from Khan, who was ousted in a no-conference vote in Parliament in April last year.
------
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this story.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Careful attention to government statements and legislation is required to get a handle on the level of risk British Columbians’ information is under, as investigators probe multiple breaches under a continued barrage of attacks.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
The Oscar-winning team behind the nearly US$6 billion blockbuster 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' trilogies is reuniting to produce two new films.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.