No religion encourages air pollution, India’s top court says

The Supreme Court of India criticised Delhi’s state government and police for failing to enforce the fireworks ban, noting that continued sale and bursting of crackers in the national capital even after the Diwali festival contributed to severe air pollution.

The court said no religion promoted activities causing pollution and that such actions infringed on the right to health of citizens. “No religion encourages any activity which creates pollution,” a bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said.

They demanded “immediate action” and directed the Delhi police chief to strictly enforce the ban and inform manufacturers and vendors of firecrackers in the capital region of it.

It questioned the state government for delaying the announcement of the ban which allowed people to stockpile firecrackers, worsening air quality in the city after the Hindu festival of Diwali.

The Delhi government last month announced a total ban on the manufacture, sale, storage and use of firecrackers until the new year in a bid to address the capital’s deteriorating air quality.

Delhi typically sees a spike in air pollution during the festive season starting in October.

After Dussehra celebrations in the second week of October, Delhi’s Air Quality Index reached the “poor” category, with higher levels of fine particulate matter raising the risk of respiratory issues, eye irritation, asthma, and serious lung conditions.

The ban followed an initial announcement on 9 September that firecrackers wouldn’t be allowed during the upcoming festivals, including Diwali.

Delhi started banning fireworks during the festival season in 2017 after a Supreme Court inquiry into their impact on air quality.

In 2018, the court allowed only “green” firecrackers, prohibiting conventional ones. However, due to difficulties in distinguishing them, the city moved to impose a blanket ban in later years.

The ban is routinely defied, with many people citing tradition and religious and cultural significance as the reasons for continuing the practice of burning firecrackers during the festival season.

The challenge of enforcing the ban is compounded by the easy availability of firecrackers in the city.

The capital has long faced hazardous air quality in winter, often forcing the government to close schools early to protect children. Year-round pollution from vehicle emissions and dust intensifies in winter when crop stubble burning in nearby states adds to the problem. Low wind speeds further trap pollutants, including firecracker emissions, close to the ground, making the air particularly difficult to breathe.

After the Diwali celebration on 31 October, Delhi again became the most polluted city in the world as people continued bursting firecrackers despite the government ban.

The Swiss firm IQAir reported an Air Quality Index of 348 for the city the next day, categorising air quality as “hazardous” for its 33 million residents.

A study published in June found that air pollution killed 135 million people over the last four decades around the world, with India and China accounting for the bulk of the fatalities.

Jamie Oliver children’s book pulled amid Indigenous backlash

A children‘s book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticised for causing offense to First Nation Australians.

The Guardian newspaper reported Saturday (9 November) that the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation had condemned Billy And The Epic Escape, which was published earlier this year.

The group criticised one of the subplots of the book, which tells the story of a First Nations girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences”.

In a statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offence and apologised “wholeheartedly”.

“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” he said. “Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”

First Nation campaigners were particularly aghast that neither Oliver nor his publishers, Penguin Random House, had consulted with them before the novel was published.

“It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action,” the publisher said. “With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale.”

Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, is among a long list of celebrities to have put their names to children’s books, a trend that has been criticised by many children’s authors, who say they are being crowded of their market.

Oliver released his first children’s book, Billy And The Giant Adventure, last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.

Oliver, who rose to fame in 1999 with his book and television show The Naked Chef, has long campaigned on children’s food and nutrition and caused a furore in 2005 when he hit out at the nutritional of some school dinners in the U.K.

Man crushed to death by falling fan blade at Australian wind farm

A worker was crushed by a fan blade at Australia’s largest wind farm in west of Melbourne, police said.

The accident happened on Monday morning in Victoria’s west at about 8am local time during the second stage of construction at the Golden Plains Wind Farm.

“First responders attempted to revive the man but he was declared deceased at the scene,” Victoria police said in a statement.

The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) – is one of the country’s largest and oldest trade unions – raised concerns about allegedly unsafe working conditions due to pressure to complete the project, with specific worries about non-union contractors and “inadequate supervision”.

“This is not just another statistic, this is a worker who went to work and never came home,” AWU Victoria secretary, Ronnie Hayden, said.

There have reportedly been concerns over Vestas, the company overseeing the project at Golden Plains windfarm on Bells Road in Rokewood, engaging in “non-unionised contractors for some of the most dangerous work on-site”, according to Mr Hayden.

“This devastating loss could have been prevented,” Mr Hayden said.

“Just two weeks ago, union delegates from three different unions met with Vestas management to raise serious safety concerns, telling them it was only dumb luck that nobody had been killed on site yet,” he said.

The Golden Plains Wind Farm aims to produce nine per cent of Victoria’s energy and is expected to be completed by 2027.

Helicopter footage from Monday showed three turbines on the ground, with two seemingly supported by metal structures. The company reported that the subcontractor was killed while a blade was being prepared for installation.

WorkSafe Victoria, a statutory authority of the state government of Victoria, said fatalities investigators, technical experts, and renewable energy construction inspectors are currently at the scene.

Danny Nielsen, the country head of Vestas in Australia and New Zealand, expressed devastation over the worker’s death, offering support to his family and colleagues. He emphasised that workplace safety is the company’s top priority and announced the site’s closure.

“With workplace safety as our number one priority, the site has been closed and we are working closely with the authorities, including the police and Worksafe Victoria, to investigate what happened and work with the project partners to take steps to prevent it (from) recurring in the future,” he said in a statement.

Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, said “any accident in any workplace is indeed a deep concern and a tragedy”.

Canada denies claims of banning Australian diaspora outlet

Canada’s foreign ministry has clarified that the Australian diaspora outlet, The Australia Today, was “never banned” in Canada, refuting claims that the news outlet’s content was restricted due to government orders.

Last week, the outlet claimed Canadian authorities had blocked its social media pages for airing a press conference where India’s foreign minister criticised the North American country’s handling of the Khalistan issue.

Earlier, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addressed the alleged blocking of The Australia Today and noted that its social media was restricted soon after the outlet aired a joint press conference of S Jaishankar with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.

“We understand that the social media handles and pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. This happened just an hour, or a few hours, after this particular handle carried the press conference of S Jaishankar along with Penny Wong.

“The outlet also had several articles on the visit of the external affairs minister, as also an interview of him. We were surprised. It looks strange to us,” Mr Jaiswal was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

“But, nonetheless, what I will say is that these are actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech.”

A government spokesperson has now clarified that Meta’s policy, implemented in 2023 under Canada’s Online News Act, restricted all news content on its platforms within Canada. Although The Australia Today voiced concerns over the timing of the restriction, which followed Indian Mr Jaishankar’s interview, Canada’s foreign ministry stated that the access issues were due to Meta’s policy alone, dismissing suggestions of selective enforcement.

Mr Jaishankar concluded an official visit to Australia on 7 November.

In September last year, Reuters reported that Meta planned to continue blocking news on Facebook and Instagram. Canada had published a draft of the Online News Act, which requires tech giants to pay news publishers, and Meta said it did not address the company’s concerns and that it would stick to blocking news.

The legislation had come after the Canadian media sector sought stricter regulation of tech giants to address their dominance in the online ad market and ensure fairer competition for news outlets.

The Online News Act, part of a global trend to make tech giants pay for news, became law in June and was expected to come into effect in December after the rules were finalised.

“Today, we are confirming that news availability will be ended on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada prior to Online News Act taking effect,” Facebook said in a blog post in June last year.

In order to comply with the new law, the company said, “content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada”.

The Independent has contacted The Australia Today to understand whether the company was aware of the Meta rules in Canada.

Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj, managing editor of The Australia Today, claimed that the restriction on the outlet’s social media after it aired an interview with Mr Jaishankar and his press conference with Ms Wong came “under orders from the Canadian government”. The restriction has been” difficult for our team and those who value free and open journalism”, he added.

The Independent has also contacted Canada’s Office of the Information Commissioner for comment.

Canada and India have seen bilateral relations nosedive since Ottawa accused New Delhi of orchestrating last year’s assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijar in Surrey, British Columbia. The two sides have even expelled each other’s diplomats.

Mr Jaishankar had earlier responded to Canada’s allegation of the Indian government’s involvement in Nijjar’s assassination saying Ottawa was making claims without concrete evidence. He had also condemned Canada’s surveillance of Indian diplomats, calling it unacceptable.

“Let me make three comments. One, Canada has developed a pattern of making allegations without providing specifics. Secondly, when we look at Canada, for us the fact that they are putting our diplomats under surveillance is something which is unacceptable,” he said at a press conference in Canberra, before referring to an attack on a Hindu temple in the North American country, “Third, the incidents, and do look at the videos. I think they will tell you in a way political space today has been given to extremist forces there.”

The Independent has reached out to the Indian foreign ministry for comment about The Australia Today claims.

Woman discovers needle left in vagina during childbirth 18 years ago

A woman in Thailand has had to endure severe pain for nearly two decades after medical staff left a needle in her vagina during childbirth.

The woman, now 36, from the southern Narathiwat province said a nurse accidentally dropped a needle into her vagina 18 years ago while stitching her up after childbirth.

A doctor apparently tried “using his fingers” to retrieve the misplaced needle but could not get it, the woman told the nonprofit Pavena Foundation for Children and Women, which she asked for assistance on 4 November.

Fearing more blood loss due to a delay in suturing, the woman recalled, the doctor continued the procedure without taking the needle out.

She was soon feeling constant pain in her lower abdomen, which often turned severe, the foundation said.

An X-ray last year showed that the needle was still lodged in her vagina, prompting doctors at the local hospital to send her for surgery in the Songkhla province.

The procedure, however, has had to be postponed two-three times as the needle keeps moving inside her.

The woman has to visit the hospital at least four times a month for follow-ups to monitor her condition, causing her significant financial strain.

“Her family is poor, so she asked Paveena to help,” the foundation said on its website last week.

Pawina Hongsakul, the head of the foundation, said she contacted a public hospital and set up an appointment for her treatment.

She also coordinated with the department of social development and human security in the province to arrange transport for the woman for her hospital visits.

It was not immediately known when she might have surgery to remove the needle or whether she would take legal action against the hospital for medical malpractice.

In June, another Thai woman nearly lost her life after a medical team left gauze inside her uterus during treatment for cancer that caused her to suffer a severe infection.

‘Roadkill hotspot’ sees 150 endangered koalas die every year

A stretch of highway in Australia is a “roadkill hotspot” for koalas with nearly 150 of the endangered marsupials killed in just one year, scientists have warned in a new study.

Koalas are struck and killed by vehicles along a 50km stretch of the Peak Downs Highway that connects Mackay with the Bowen Basin coal mining region.

About 145 healthy koalas were struck and killed along this stretch in 2023 compared to an average of 350 elsewhere in Australia due to road accidents every year, researchers from the Central Queensland University found.

Koalas are critically endangered marsupials native to Australia and only about 100,000 to 250,000 are left now, according to the country’s National Koala Monitoring Programme.

They face threats such as dog attacks, diseases like Chlamydia, wildfires, habitat loss, and fragmentation.

Roadkills are also a major cause of the endangered population’s decline.

The latest analysis found that over 80 per cent of the koalas hit by speeding vehicles on the Peak Downs Highway die as a result.

“We found that the spatial distribution of these accidents fit a random pattern along this stretch of road,” the study, published in the journal Animals, noted.

The relative homogeneity of vegetation across this particular landscape could be causing koalas to not concentrate at specific crossing points, researchers said. “There are horrendous numbers of koalas getting hit and killed by vehicles every year on this relatively short stretch of road, with no reduction in sight,” Rolf Schlagloth, a co-author of the study, said.

They call for the avoidance of high-quality koala habitat for highway infrastructure.

“Unfortunately, these koalas are not receiving enough protection from the Government,” Griffith University researcher Douglas Kerlin said.

“In Queensland, koalas are listed as ‘endangered’ under the Nature Conservation Act, but policies enacted by the State Government are currently focused on populations in South East Queensland, while koalas in places like Central Queensland are largely ignored,” Dr Kerlin said.

In the short term, scientists said retrofitting protective infrastructure such as bridges to separate traffic and wildlife could help reduce roadkill.

“We have monitored three bridges that had been retrofitted with short sections of wildlife exclusion/diversion fencing to encourage koalas (and other wildlife) to pass underneath the road rather than taking the risk of crossing the road properly,” Dr Schlagloth said.

Wildlife exclusion fencing could also assist in keeping koalas away from particular stretches of road, researchers said, but such infrastructure was not found to facilitate koala crossings under the Peak Downs highway.

Improving driver attention and awareness of the potential for koalas to be on specific roads may also reduce deaths.

“Driver visibility is also a contributing factor. We know that the better or greater the visibility a driver has, the less likely it is for a koala vehicle collision to occur,” Dr Schlagloth said.

Secret China project revealed to be nuclear propulsion project

New satellite imagery has finally revealed that China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, in the clearest sign yet Beijing is advancing toward producing its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

That is according to a new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents provided to The Associated Press.

China’s navy is already the world’s largest numerically, and it has been rapidly modernizing. Adding nuclear-powered carriers to its fleet would be a major step in realizing its ambitions for a true “blue-water” force capable of operating in seas far from China in a growing global challenge to the United States.

“Nuclear-powered carriers would place China in the exclusive ranks of first-class naval powers, a group currently limited to the United States and France,” said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. “For China’s leadership, such a development would symbolize national prestige, fueling domestic nationalism and elevating the country’s global image as a leading power.”

Researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California said they made the finding while investigating a mountain site outside the city of Leshan in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan, where they suspected China was building a reactor to produce plutonium or tritium for weapons.

Instead they concluded that China was building a prototype reactor for a large warship. The project at Leshan is dubbed the Longwei, or Dragon Might, Project and is also referred to as the Nuclear Power Development Project in documents.

There have long been rumors that China is planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the research by the Middlebury team is the first to confirm that China is working on a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship.

“The reactor prototype at Leshan is the first solid evidence that China is, in fact, developing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at Middlebury and one of the researchers on the project. “Operating a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is an exclusive club, one that China looks set to join.”

Drawing on satellite images and public documents including project tenders, personnel files, environmental impact studies — and even a citizen’s complaint about noisy construction and excessive dust — they concluded a prototype reactor for naval propulsion was being built in the mountains of Mucheng township, some 70 miles (112 kilometers) southwest of Sichuan’s provincial capital Chengdu.

The reactor, which procurement documents indicate will soon be operational, is housed in a new facility built at the site known as Base 909, which houses six other reactors that are operational, decommissioned or under construction, according to the analysis. The site is under the control of the Nuclear Power Institute of China, a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation, which is tasked with reactor engineering research and testing.

Documents indicating that China’s 701 Institute, formally known as China Ship Research and Design Center, which is responsible for aircraft carrier development, procured reactor equipment “intended for installation on a large surface warship” under the Nuclear Power Development Project as well as the project’s “national defense designation” helped lead to the conclusion the sizable reactor is a prototype for a next-generation aircraft carrier.

Satellite mages from 2020 to 2023 have shown the demolition of homes and the construction of water intake infrastructure connected to the reactor site. Contracts for steam generators and turbine pumps indicate the project involves a pressurized water reactor with a secondary circuit — a profile that is consistent with naval propulsion reactors, the researchers say.

An environmental impact report calls the Longwei Project a “national defense-related construction project” that is classified “secret.”

“Unless China is developing nuclear-powered cruisers, which were pursued only by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, then the Nuclear Power Development Project most certainly refers to a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier development effort,” researchers wrote in a detailed 19-page report on their findings shared exclusively with the AP.

Jamie Withorne, an analyst at the Oslo Nuclear Project who was not involved in the research and reviewed the findings, said Middlebury’s team made a “convincing argument.”

“From the identifying reports, co-location with other naval reactor facilities, and correlating construction activity, I think it can be said that it is likely the Longwei Project is housed at Base 909, and it could potentially be located at the identified building,” she said.

The research does not, however, provide clues as to when a Chinese nuclear-powered carrier could be built and become operational, she said.

Sarah Laderman, a senior analyst with Open Nuclear Network, a program of the U.S.-based NGO PAX sapiens foundation, said the findings were “carefully conducted and thoroughly researched.”

“Given the evidence presented here, I see a compelling case made that China seems to be working towards building a nuclear propulsion system for its naval surface ships (likely aircraft carriers) at this location,” said Laderman, who is based in Vienna and was not involved in Middlebury’s research.

China’s first carrier, commissioned in 2012, was a repurposed Soviet ship, and its second was built in China but based upon the Soviet design. Both ships — named the Liaoning and the Shandong — employ a so-called “ski-jump” type launch method, with a ramp at the end of a short runway to help planes take off.

The Type 003 Fujian, launched in 2022, was the country’s third carrier and its first to be indigenously designed and built. It employs an electromagnetic-type launch system like those developed and used by the U.S. Navy. All three carriers are conventionally powered.

Sea trials hadn’t even started for the Fujian in March when Yuan Huazhi, political commissar for China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, confirmed the construction of a fourth carrier. Asked if it would be nuclear-powered, he said at the time that would “soon be announced,” but so far it has not been.

There has been speculation that China may begin producing two new carriers at once — one Type 003 like the Fujian and one nuclear-powered Type 004 — something that it has not attempted before but that its shipyards have the capacity to do.

Matthew Funaiole, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ China Power Project, said he doubts China’s next carrier will be nuclear-powered. Instead, he said, he would expect the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s fourth carrier to focus on optimizing the existing design of the Fujian carrier with “incremental improvements.”

Nick Childs, senior fellow for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the Chinese “have taken an incremental approach to their carrier development with a number of ambitions that will evolve over time.”

“For now, their deployments have been relatively cautious, remaining largely within range of shore support, but projecting influence and to some extent coercion within their near waters.”

Eventually, however, “larger carriers more akin to their U.S. counterparts will give them more options to project power,” Childs said.

It takes several years to build a carrier and bring it into operation, but developing nuclear propulsion for its next generation of warships would eventually give China more power to run advanced systems, such as electromagnetic launchers, radars and new technology weapons, Childs said.

“As well as obviating the need for the ship to refuel regularly and therefore giving it much greater range, nuclear power means that without the need to carry fuel oil for the ship there will be room aboard for fuel and weapons for its aircraft, extending their capabilities,” Childs said.

“Much will depend on what overall size the next carrier is, but the addition of nuclear power will represent a significant step further in China’s carrier development with a vessel more comparable to the U.S. Navy’s carriers.”

Zhao, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said nuclear-powered carriers would provide the Chinese military “with greater flexibility and endurance to operate around strategic hotspots, especially along the First Island Chain, where most territories disputed by China are located,” said Zhao.

The First Island Chain includes the self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own and vows to annex it by force if necessary.

The U.S. is obligated by a domestic law to supply Taiwan with sufficient weapons to deter invasion, and it could provide assistance to the island from its bases in the Pacific in the event of an invasion or blockade. Tensions also have risen in the South China Sea between China and neighboring nations over territorial disputes and maritime claims.

“These carriers could also extend Chinese operations deeper into the Western Pacific, further challenging the U.S. military’s ability to ‘intervene’ in regional matters that China views as best resolved by countries from the region only,” Zhao said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has tasked defense officials with building a “first-class” navy and becoming a maritime power as part of his blueprint for the country’s rejuvenation.

The country’s most recent white paper on national defense, dated 2019, said the Chinese navy was adjusting to strategic requirements by “speeding up the transition of its tasks from defense on the near seas to protection missions on the far seas.”

The People’s Liberation Army Navy is already the world’s largest navy with more than 370 ships and submarines. The country also boasts powerful shipbuilding capabilities: China’s shipyards are building many hundreds of vessels each year, whereas the U.S. is building five or fewer, according to a U.S. congressional report late last year.

However, the Chinese navy lags behind the U.S. Navy in many respects. Among other advantages, the U.S. currently has 11 carriers, all nuclear powered, allowing it to keep multiple strike groups deployed around the world at all times, including in the Indo-Pacific.

But the Pentagon is growingly increasingly concerned about China’s rapid modernization of its fleet, including the design and construction of new carriers.

That aligns with China’s “growing emphasis on the maritime domain and increasing demands” for its navy “to operate at greater distances from mainland China,” the Defense Department said in its most recent report to Congress on China’s military.

And China’s “growing force of aircraft carriers extend air defense coverage of deployed task groups beyond the range of land-based defenses, enabling operations farther from China’s shore,” the report said.

At least 26 dead in powerful bomb blast at train station in Pakistan

At least 26 people have died in a powerful bomb blast at a train station in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan.

More than 40 were wounded in the explosion that tore through the station in the early hours of Saturday.

“The blast took place inside the railway station when the Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination,” said Muhammad Baloch, the senior superintendent of police operations.

Quetta is the capital of the restive Balochistan province, which has seen a growing threat in recent months from local militant groups.

Early photographs of the aftermath of the explosion showed the platform littered with passengers’ luggage.

“The target was army personnel from the infantry school,” said Mouzzam Jah Ansari, inspector general of police for Balochistan.

Mr Baloch said the attack “seems to be a suicide blast” but it was too early to say for sure. Around 100 people were present at the station at the time of the attack, Mr Baloch said, citing footage of the incident.

“So far 44 injured people have been brought to civil hospital,” Dr Wasim Baig, a hospital spokesperson, told Reuters.

Mohammad Omar, 22, was heading to his hometown of Jaffaradbad with his mother and brother when the bomb went off. “I was waiting for the train at the railway station along with my family when all of a sudden, a powerful blast took place,” he told Dawn from the hospital.

The death toll is likely to rise as some of the wounded passengers are in a critical condition, said Shahid Ring, a government spokesperson, earlier.

An investigation has been launched into the incident to ascertain the nature of the blast, he said.

The Balochistan Liberation Army, a separatist group that operates in the region, has claimed responsibility for the attack and said a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. Police officials said they are investigating the claim.

If confirmed, it would be the second deadly attack by BLA militants in a little over a month in Pakistan.

Pakistan Railways announced a temporary suspension of all train services to and from Quetta following the explosion. The Quetta station will remain closed from 11 to 14 November to secure the area, ARY News reported.

Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said the “terrorists will pay a heavy price for their heinous act” as he called for a comprehensive investigation.

Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi announced an expansion of intelligence-based operations across the restive province. He said the attack was aimed at destabilising the country.

On 7 October, at least two Chinese nationals were killed after BLA militants carried out a bomb attack near the international airport in Karachi. The attack took place just a week before a high-level summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), raising security concerns for the meeting of world leaders.

BLA militants have repeatedly targeted security forces and foreigners, especially Chinese nationals who are in Pakistan as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which includes the construction of major infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

The militant group sees the presence of foreign workers as a threat to local resources and its grip on the restive southwestern region. The region has been battered by a decades-old insurgency that has destabilised Balochistan and created security concerns for projects trying to access the province’s untapped resources.

In August, at least 73 people were killed in Balochistan after separatist militants attacked police stations, railway lines and highways.