Afghan earthquake kills 5, destroys mud-brick houses
Kabul, Afghanistan – An earthquake destroyed mud-brick homes and killed five people near Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan on Sunday, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Six others were injured in the quake.
An army rescue team and doctors were on their way to the remote mountainous area, said Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi.
He had earlier said the affected area was in Paktika, but he later said it was in Zabul – both provinces that border Pakistan.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan has several bases along the border with Pakistan, and a spokesman for the force, Sgt. Ty Foster, said he had no reports of any damage to military property or equipment.
A spokesman for Zabul’s provincial governor said buildings in five villages in remote mountains were damaged.
“Most of the homes are made from mud bricks, so they are not very strong,” Ali Khail said by telephone from Qalat, the regional capital. “We have sent trucks with food and water to the area.”
He said the injured had been brought to hospitals in Qalat.
Pakistan’s Seismological Center said two quakes were registered along the border area early Sunday. One was magnitude 5.2 and hit just after midnight, while the other, magnitude 4.9, was at dawn.
POTTSTOWN, Pa.
Girl, 14, may lose arm after school snakebite
A 14-year-old girl may lose her arm after being bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school, authorities said.
The snake was caught in Valley Forge, Pa., by a 17-year-old male student, who took it in a shoe box to a drama club gathering at St. Pius X High School on Friday.
The boy was showing the reptile to other students when it bit the girl’s finger.
The girl, whose name was not released, apparently threw the snake across the room and the boy threw it outside. The snake was not found, but authorities were able to identify it because the boy photographed it with his cellphone camera.
She was treated at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center about 45 minutes after being bitten, a police spokesman said.
“The doctors said if it had been a half-hour longer, she would likely have been dead,” he said.
However, police said she could still lose her arm.
WASHINGTON
Rapper shot during carjacking attempt
New York rapper Cam’ron was shot and wounded during a botched carjacking near a Washington waterfront nightspot, his manager said Sunday.
The artist, who was recovering at Howard University Hospital, had stopped at a traffic light shortly after midnight when a man attempted to steal his Lamborghini, said his manager, Big Joe.
When Cam’ron refused to give up the car and attempted to drive away, the gunman fired a single shot that passed through both of Cam’ron’s arms, said a spokeswoman for his label, Diplomat Records.
MIAMI
United pilot removed after alcohol detected
A United Airlines pilot was removed from the cockpit and questioned by police after security screeners at Miami International Airport reported smelling alcohol, police said.
The pilot was not arrested and no breath test was done, but the airline suspended him pending an internal investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration also is investigating.
“United’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry, and we have absolutely no tolerance for abuse or violation of this well-established policy,” airline spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said.
Three years ago at the same airport, two America West pilots were arrested after screeners smelled alcohol on their breath before they boarded a plane. Both pilots were fired by America West and are serving prison sentences.
JERUSALEM
Palestinians will try to dismantle militia
The Palestinian Authority signaled Sunday that it would embark on an effort to dismantle the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a violent militia with links to the ruling Fatah political movement.
The initiative, unveiled by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, calls for members of the group to be incorporated into the Palestinian security forces after a period of training.
The Al Aqsa Brigade, created in the early days of the Palestinian uprising that began five years ago, is thought to consist of several thousand fighters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who claim allegiance to Fatah, the movement that underpins the Palestinian Authority.
Riddled with internal rivalries, the group consists of dozens of local cells acting independently with little in the way of an overall command structure.
CAIRO
Al-Qaeda No. 2 urges aid for quake victims
Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader called on Muslims to put aside criticism of Pakistan’s president and give aid to the victims of the massive earthquake that devastated Kashmir this month, according to a videotape broadcast Sunday.
“You should send as much aid as you can to the victims, regardless of (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf’s relations with the Americans,” Ayman al- Zawahri said in the videotape aired by al-Jazeera network.
Previously, al-Zawahri has castigated Musharraf as a “traitor” to the Muslim nation and called for his overthrow.
Pakistani troops are cooperating with the United States in the search for al-Zawahri and al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who are believed to be hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
