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Muslims at Hajj pilgrimage brave intense heat to cast stones at pillars representing the devil

Dr Mohd Ramzan Ali
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Muslims at Hajj pilgrimage brave intense heat to cast stones at pillars representing the devil

Muslims at Hajj pilgrimage brave intense heat to cast stones at pillars representing the devil

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims on Wednesday braved intense heat to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

With morning temperatures rising past 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Farenheit), huge crowds of pilgrims walked or took buses to the vast Jamarat complex just outside the holy city of Mecca, where large pedestrian bridges lead past three wide pillars representing the devil.

Using pebbles collected the night before at a campsite known as Muzdalifa, the pilgrims stone the pillars. It’s a reenactment of the story of the Prophet Ibrahim — known as Abraham in Christian and Jewish traditions — who is said to have hurled stones at Satan to resist temptation.

READ MORE : Hajj pilgrimage starts in Saudi Arabia, with 2 million expected after lifting of COVID measures

The ceremony was marred by tragedy on a number of occasions in the 1990s and 2000s, when hundreds died in stampedes during the stoning ritual. Saudi authorities have since built an expanded network of massive pedestrian bridges and redesigned the site to make it safer for pilgrims.

This year, the biggest danger might be the heat.

Temperatures soared past 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) on Tuesday, as Muslims marked the spiritual high point of the pilgrimage by spending the day praying at Mount Arafat, where there was no breeze and almost no shade.

Pilgrims huddled under umbrellas, dousing themselves with bottled water. Cellphones were almost too hot to hold and shut down after just a few minutes of use.

Saudi authorities have deployed tens of thousands of health workers for the pilgrimage and volunteers were handing out water. More than 6,700 pilgrims have been treated for heat exhaustion or heat stroke since the start of the pilgrimage, said Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali, a Health Ministry spokesman.

The annual Hajj pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims are required to undertake it at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able. For the pilgrims it is an unrivalled religious experience that wipes away sins, bringing them closer to God and face-to-face with fellow Muslims from all corners of the earth.

The last three days of the Hajj coincide with Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, a joyful occasion in which Muslims around the world sacrifice sheep or cattle and distribute some of the meat to the poor. The holiday commemorates Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael on God’s command. In Christian and Jewish traditions, Abraham is willing to sacrifice his other son, Isaac.

The holiday, which is held according to Islam’s lunar calendar, depending on the sighting of the moon, began Wednesday in several Middle Eastern countries and will begin Thursday in some Asian countries.

The Saudi royal family has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure to maintain Islam’s holiest sites and to hold the annual pilgrimage, which is a major source of its legitimacy. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, traveled to Mecca on Tuesday to oversee the pilgrimage, according to state-run media.

This is the first Hajj to be held without COVID-19 restrictions since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Authorities had expected some 2 million pilgrims, but official figures released late Tuesday showed that around 1.8 million were taking part in the pilgrimage. That’s considerably fewer than the nearly 2.5 million who came in 2019. Worldwide economic woes may have been a factor.

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Failed Wagner revolt leaves a question in Africa: Will the ruthless mercenaries remain?

Mark Kenya
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Failed Wagner revolt leaves a question in Africa: Will the ruthless mercenaries remain?

Failed Wagner revolt leaves a question in Africa: Will the ruthless mercenaries remain?

BIRAO, Central African Republic (AP) — The Russian mercenary group that briefly threatened President Vladimir Putin’s authority has for years been a ruthless force-for-hire across Africa, protecting rulers at the expense of the masses. That dynamic is not expected to change now that the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been exiled to Belarus as punishment for the failed rebellion.

The Wagner Group brutalizes civilians in the Central African Republic, Mali and elsewhere to crush dissent and fend off threats to their leaders’ power. In exchange, Russia gains access to natural resources and ports through which weapons can be shipped, and receives payments that enrich the Kremlin and help it fund operations elsewhere, including the war in Ukraine.

READ MORE : Wagner Group’s Revolt in Russia Ends After Deal Struck. What is International Response

Neither Russia nor the African leaders dependent on Wagner’s fighters have any interest in ending those relationships. But many questions linger in the aftermath of Wagner’s stunning revolt, such as who will lead its thousands of fighters stationed across many African nations and whether Moscow will absorb these fighters into the Russian army.

“The situation is extremely volatile,” said Nathalia Dukhan, senior investigator at The Sentry, a U.S.-based policy organization that published an investigative report Tuesday accusing Wagner of carrying out various human-rights abuses in African countries. “But what we have learnt from investigating and analyzing Wagner in Africa in the past 5 years is that the group is resilient, creative, fearless and predatory, so it is less likely that the Wagner empire will instantly fall like a house of cards.”

Beyond the financial rewards, Putin has also sought to use Wagner fighters to help expand Russia’s presence in the Middle East and Africa. He seeks out security alliances with autocrats, coup leaders, and others who have been spurned or neglected by the U.S. and Europe, either because of their bloody abuses or because of competing Western strategic interests.

Asked whether Wagner’s weekend mutiny could erode Russia’s positions in Africa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a state-run TV network that security assistance to African countries would continue. He specifically mentioned the Central African Republic and Mali, and noted that Russian government officials have maintained contact with leaders there.

Lavrov told RT he has not seen “any sign of panic or any sign of change” in African nations over the revolt against Moscow. But amid the uncertainty, there is at the very least some confusion about what exactly comes next.

In Mali, where at least 1,000 Wagner fighters replaced French troops brought in to fight Islamic extremists, the U.S. alleges that the Kremlin uses the country as a way-station for arms shipments to Russian forces in Ukraine. But the Malian government has denied using Wagner for any purpose other than training.

An officer in the Malian Air Force who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to comment publicly said Russian fighters play an important combat role.

Still, some experts said the revolt against the Kremlin will force African countries reliant on Wagner to pay closer attention to how they engage with Russia, where Putin faces the gravest threat to his authority since coming to power more than two decades ago.

“Developments in Russia will likely render many African countries more cautious in their engagement with Russia moving forward,,” said Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused security consulting company Signal Risk.

Any unexpected turn of events domestically in Russia poses potential threats to African leaders who have become dependent on its foreign fighters to stay in power, such as those in Mali and the Central African Republic.

“Any withdrawal could readily be exploited by non-state groups challenging the authority of the government in these countries,” said Cummings.

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Irwin reported from Dakar, Senegal.

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Ukraine accuses a local man of directing a missile strike that killed 11 at a pizza restaurant

Shasi Kumar
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Ukraine accuses a local man of directing a missile strike that killed 11 at a pizza restaurant

Ukraine accuses a local man of directing a missile strike that killed 11 at a pizza restaurant

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday arrested a man they accused of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed at least 11 people, including three teenagers, at a popular pizza restaurant in eastern Ukraine.

The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded 61 other people, Ukraine’s National Police said. It was the latest bombardment of a Ukrainian city, a tactic Russia has used heavily in the 16-month-old war.

The strike, and others across Ukraine late Tuesday and early Wednesday, indicated that the Kremlin is not easing its aerial onslaught, despite political and military turmoil at home after a short-lived armed uprising in Russia last weekend.

READ MORE : Vladimir Putin : Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2 billion in a year

There has been no apparent military push by Ukraine to exploit that turmoil, though the government has been tight-lipped about recent battlefield developments as it seeks to gain momentum in its recently launched counteroffensive.

The Kremlin reeled from the weekend mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner private army of prison recruits and other mercenaries. Wagner has played a key combat role for Russia in Ukraine. The rebellion posed the most serious threat so far to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

Prigozhin went into exile in neighboring Belarus on Tuesday, according to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, after Russia said he wouldn’t face charges for the revolt. Prigozhin’s whereabouts could not be independently confirmed.

Lukashenko has said his country would allow Wagner to set up a temporary camp in Belarus, but it remained unclear how many mercenaries would move there.

Wagner’s impending deployment to Belarus has rattled its neighbors. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s ruling party, announced plans to strengthen the country’s eastern border, saying about 8,000 Wagner troops are expected to arrive in Belarus.

And Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis noted Tuesday that the mutiny “shows how fast detachments from within Russia mobilize and move within its territory,” underlining “a more volatile, more unpredictable environment for our region.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy played down concerns that Wagner would pose a threat from Belarus. He said the group’s mercenaries probably wouldn’t arrive there in significant numbers, and added that Ukraine’s military believes the security situation along its Belarusian border will remain “unchanged and controllable.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the unrest had weakened Putin, though he added that it’s “hard to tell” to what extent.

“He’s clearly losing the war in (Ukraine),” Biden said of Putin before departing Washington for Chicago. “He’s losing the war at home and he has become a bit of a pariah around the world.”

In Kramatorsk, two sisters, both age 14, died in the attack, the city council’s educational department said. “Russian missiles stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels,” it said in a Telegram post.

The other dead teenager was 17, according to Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin.

The attack also damaged 18 multistory buildings, 65 houses, five schools, two kindergartens, a shopping center, an administrative building and a recreational building, regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Rescuers were still searching the rubble for bodies and more survivors in a city where last year, about six weeks after the start of war, 52 civilians were killed in a Russian missile strike on a train station.

Officials initially blamed Tuesday’s strike in Kramatorsk on an S-300 missile, a surface-to-air weapon that Russia’s forces have repurposed for loosely targeted strikes on cities, but the National Police later said Iskander short-range ballistic missiles were used.

Kramatorsk is a front-line city that houses the Ukrainian army’s regional headquarters. The pizza restaurant was frequented by journalists, aid workers and soldiers, as well as local residents.

The Security Service of Ukraine said the man it detained, an employee of a gas transportation company, is suspected of filming the restaurant for the Russians and informing them about its popularity.

Pope Francis’ peace envoy, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, was to meet with an aide to Putin, Yury Ushakov, in Moscow on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the talks would include “possible ways of political-diplomatic settlement.”

Francis dispatched Zuppi, a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace initiatives, to Moscow in hopes of helping spur peace negotiations after his visit to Kyiv earlier this month. At the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis again appealed for an end to the war, praying that Ukrainians “may soon find peace: There is so much suffering in Ukraine, let us not forget that.”

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Associated Press writer Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, Edith M. Lederer in New York and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed to this report.

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German foreign minister poses challenge to South Africa over its position on Russian war effort

Mark Kenya
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German foreign minister poses challenge to South Africa over its position on Russian war effort

German foreign minister poses challenge to South Africa over its position on Russian war effort

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister on Tuesday called for Russia “to stop the bombing” of Ukraine, a pointed message during a visit to South Africa as it draws accusations of aiding Moscow’s war effort.

Annalena Baerbock’s challenge came during a one-day visit to Pretoria that had been framed largely as focused on energy and climate issues.

But South Africa’s position on the war in Ukraine has been under close scrutiny since U.S. Ambassador Reuben Brigety alleged that South Africa secretly loaded weapons onto a Russian ship that docked at a naval base near Cape Town in December.

READ MORE : “Putin is not a war criminal”: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban made a wonder statement

Those allegations sparked serious concerns among South Africa’s Western allies over its position on the war. U.S. lawmakers have even called for some kind of punishment for Africa’s most-developed economy for what they view as its pro-Russian stance.

The South African government says it is neutral in the war in Ukraine and denies that an arms shipment was sent to Russia. But South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the visit last year of the Lady R Russian cargo ship, which is under U.S. sanctions for allegedly transporting weapons for the Russian government.

Baerbock didn’t directly refer to the weapons allegations when making comments alongside South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor ahead of their meeting Tuesday. But she said that the rising food and oil prices that are sparking hardship across the African continent were the result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“For this suffering to end, the war must end,” Baerbock said. “For the war to end, Russia must stop the bombing and withdraw its soldiers. This war is an attack on the U.N. charter, on the very rules that bind and protects us all.”

Pandor referred to the “very substantial” relationship between South Africa and Germany. Germany is South Africa’s third biggest trade partner behind China and the U.S.

“South Africa and Germany share many common values on matters of peace and security, human rights, climate change, sustainability and economic development,” Pandor said.

South Africa has scrambled to protect its international reputation and its relationships with Western partners following Brigety’s accusations in May.

The country also faces possible diplomatic peril in August that might further strain relationships with the West when it hosts a summit of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies that is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

South Africa has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the summit even though he is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes over the abduction of children from Ukraine.

South Africa is a signatory to the ICC treaty and is obliged to arrest Putin should he set foot on the country’s territory, but has not committed to doing that.

A top official with South Africa’s ruling ANC party has said it would “welcome” Putin.

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“Putin is not a war criminal”: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban made a wonder statement

Marietta Reformado
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“Putin is not a war criminal”: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban made a wonder statement

“Putin is not a war criminal”: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban made a wonder statement

Russian resident Vladimir Putin is not a war criminal, and Ukraine can no longer be considered a sovereign state.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban in an interview with the German newspaper Bild

The head of the government of Hungary did not answer the question whether Vladimir Putin would be arrested if he visited the country in accordance with the warrant of the International Criminal Court.

“Putin is not planning to come to Hungary yet, so we can talk about it only hypothetically,” Orban said, clarifying that for him the Russian dictator “is not a war criminal.”

At the same time, he continues to insist on an urgent truce.

“If we want a truce and negotiations, we have to convince the parties to the conflict to sit down at the table. And telling them, ‘go, sit down, we will arrest you,’ would not be very good. Therefore, we can talk about these legal and criminal consequences only after making peace. It’s absolutely pointless to talk about it now,” he added.

Orban also stated that he considers it impossible for Ukraine to win this war, because “Ukraine will run out of soldiers faster than Russia.” And in general, the head of the Hungarian government noted that “Ukraine can no longer be considered a sovereign state.”

“What really matters is what the American people want. Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state. They have no money. They have no weapons. They can only fight because the West supports them. So if the Americans decide they want peace, then peace will be,” said Orbán.

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Vladimir Putin : Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2 billion in a year

Shasi Kumar
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Vladimir Putin : Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2 billion in a year

Prigozhin to be investigated after being paid $2 billion in a year – Putin

MOSCOW,(Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the finances of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s catering firm would be investigated after his mutiny, saying Wagner and its founder had received almost $2 billion from Russia in the past year.

Putin initially vowed to crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolutions of 1917 and then a civil war, but hours later a deal was clinched to allow Prigozhin and some of his fighters to go to Belarus.

READ MORE : Wagner Group’s Revolt in Russia Ends After Deal Struck. What is International Response

Speaking to soldiers from the Russian army at a meeting in the Kremlin, Putin said he had always respected Wagner’s fighters, but that the fact was the group had been “fully financed” from the state budget.

He said it had received 86 billion roubles ($1 billion) from the defence ministry between May 2022 and May 2023.

In addition, Prigozhin’s Concord catering company made 80 billion roubles from state contracts to supply food to the Russian army, Putin said.

“I do hope that, as part of this work, no one stole anything, or, let’s say, stole less, but we will, of course, investigate all of this.”

Prigozhin, whom Putin did not mention by name, could not be reached for immediate comment on Putin’s remarks.

He said earlier this year that he had always financed Wagner but had looked for additional financing after the war began in Ukraine.

He said on Monday that he had not been trying to overthrow the Russian state and that he remained a patriot who was trying to settle scores with the defence ministry.

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Foo Fighters UK Tour 2024: how to get tickets, presale, potential setlist and full list of stadium dates

Diplomat Times
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Foo Fighters UK Tour 2024: how to get tickets, presale, potential setlist and full list of stadium dates

Foo Fighters UK Tour 2024: how to get tickets, presale, potential setlist and full list of stadium dates

UK (NW) – Foo Fighters have announced their return to the UK with a huge stadium tour entitled ‘Everything Or Not At All’. The news comes after the band were revealed to be ‘The ChurnUps’ on the Glastonbury line-up and performed an electric surprise set.

The band made the exciting announcement via their social media accounts, and confirmed that the support acts would include the likes of Courtney Melba, Honeyblood, Loose Articles, Wet Leg, Shame, Hot Milk and Himalayas at varying dates across the UK.

The tour comes after the release of the band’s latest album ‘But Here We Are’, which marked the first studio album the band has released since the death of their longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins. Hawkins died in March 2022.

So, how can you get your hands on tickets for Foo Fighters?

Here’s everything you need to know including the full list of UK dates they are set to play.

General sale for tickets begins on Friday June 30 at 9am BST. Tickets will be available via Ticketmaster 

Foo Fighters UK Tour 2024 – presale

Presale for Foo Fighters fans begins on Wednesday, June 28 9am and will last until an honour before general sale. For fans in Scotland, Gigs in Scotland will also host a presale event for fans that begins on Thursday June 29 at 9am.

Foo Fighters UK Tour 2024 dates

  • June 13 – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
  • June 17 – Hampden Park, Glasgow
  • June 20 – London Stadium, London
  • June 22 – London Stadium, London
  • June 25 – Principality Stadium, Cardiff
  • June 27 – Villa Park, Birmingham

Foo Fighters setlist

While there is no word on the setlist for the UK dates, setlist.fm released the running order of songs from a show the band played on June 16, 2023 at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in the US :

  • No Son of Mine
  • Rescued
  • Walk
  • The Pretender
  • Learn to Fly
  • Times Like These
  • Under Your
  • Breakout
  • The Sky Is a Neighbourhood
  • Shame Shame
  • Sabotage / Whip It/ March of the Pigs / Haven’t Met You Yet
  • My Hero
  • This is a Call
  • The Teacher
  • Big Me
  • Monkey Wrench
  • Show Me How
  • Best of You
  • Aurora
  • Everlong

READ MORE : Rapper Young Thug drops new album ‘Business is Business’ from jail

By Beth Franklin

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Pakistan army fires 3 officers for failing to stop Khan supporters from attacking installations

Qaseem Hassan
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Pakistan army fires 3 officers for failing to stop Khan supporters from attacking installations

Pakistan army fires 3 officers for failing to stop Khan supporters from attacking installations

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military said Monday that it has fired three senior army officers over their failure to prevent violent attacks on public property and military installations by supporters of the country’s former prime minister.

The attacks last month came after former premier Imran Khan was arrested in a graft case. Maj. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said a top general was among those fired, and action had been taken against another 15 army officers over their “unintentional negligence” in the matter. The military did not disclose the names of the officers who were fired or disciplined, but it said some family members of retired army officers were also facing investigation.

At a televised news conference, Sharif said the military was also trying 102 civilians over their involvement in the May 9 attacks, during which the residence of a top regional commander was destroyed in Lahore.

ABOUT RIOTS : Former PAK PM Imran Khan returns home after arrest, riots

The latest development comes weeks after thousands of demonstrations from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party attacked the military’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, stormed an air base in Mianwali in the eastern Punjab province and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan in the northwest.

The demonstrators were angered over Khan’s arrest after he was dragged from a courthouse in the capital, Islamabad, in connection with a graf case. The violence subsided only after Khan was released on an order from Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

At least 10 people were killed in clashes between Khan’s supporters and police and since then, and police have arrested more than 5,000 people in connection with the riots. Most have been freed on bail pending trial.

Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote last year by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The former cricket star has denounced what he says are more than 100 cases against him, including for corruption and “terrorism.” He says he is being politically victimised by Sharif, a charge the government denies.

In recent weeks, Khan has denounced the violence, saying he never incited his supporters. Authorities said that, so far, no decision had been made to send Khan’s case to the military court. A joint investigation team was conducting a probe into what role, if any, Khan may have had in the violence.

Despite strong opposition from domestic and international rights groups, the government is pressing ahead with the plan to try civilians involved in the attacks on military installations in military courts. The military and the government have said anyone facing such trials will get attorneys of their choice.

Khan is living in his home city of Lahore after he won protection from arrest in multiple cases, pending trial.

On Monday, he appeared before a court that granted him protection from arrest until July 6, on charges of inciting people to violence.

The military spokesman, Sharif, said the military exercised restraint last month when rioters attacked their installations. He said the attack was designed to draw a violent response from the army.

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Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks, UN says

Qaseem Hassan
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Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks, UN says

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks, UN says

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations said Tuesday it has documented a significant level of civilians killed and wounded in attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover — despite a stark reduction in casualties compared to previous years of war and insurgency.

According to a new report by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, since the takeover in mid-August 2021 and until the end of May, there were 3,774 civilian casualties, including 1,095 people killed in violence in the country.

That compares with 8,820 civilian casualties — including 3,035 killed — in just 2020, according to an earlier U.N. report.

READ MORE : Myanmar: Junta bans independent news outlet The Irrawaddy

The Taliban seized the country in August 2021 while U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from Afghanistan after two decades of war.

According to the U.N. report, three-quarters of the attacks since the Taliban seized power were with improvised explosive devices in “populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets,” the report said. Among those killed were 92 women and 287 children.

The statement said that the majority of the IED attacks were carried out by the region’s affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province.

However, the U.N. report said a “significant number” of the deaths resulted from attacks that were never claimed or that the U.N. mission could not attribute to any group. It did not provide the number for those fatalities.

The U.N. report also expressed concern about “the lethality of suicide attacks” since the Taliban takeover, with fewer attacks causing more civilian causalities.

It noted that the attacks were carried out amid a nationwide financial and economic crisis. With the sharp drop in donor funding since the takeover, victims are struggling to get access to “medical, financial and psychosocial support” under the current Taliban-led government, the report said.

The U.N. agency demanded an immediate halt to attacks and said it holds the Taliban government responsible for the safety of Afghans.

The Taliban said their administration took over when Afghanistan was “on the verge of collapse” and that they “managed to rescue the country and government from a crisis” by making sound decisions and through proper management.

In a response, the Taliban-led foreign ministry said that the situation has gradually improved since August 2021. “Security has been ensured across the country,” the statement said, adding that the Taliban consider the security of places of worship and holy shrines, including Shiite sites, a priority.

Despite initial promises in 2021 of a more moderate administration, the Taliban enforced harsh rules after seizing the country. They banned girls’ education after the sixth grade and barred Afghan women from public life and most work, including for nongovernmental organizations and the U.N.

The measures harked back to the previous Taliban rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, when they also imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. The edicts prompted an international outcry against the already ostracized Taliban, whose administration has not been officially recognized by the U.N. and the international community.

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YouTuber Devraj Patel killed in road accident, Face of viral ‘Dil Se Bura Lagta Hai’ meme

Roshan Bilung
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YouTuber Devraj Patel killed in road accident, Face of viral ‘Dil Se Bura Lagta Hai’ meme

YouTuber Devraj Patel killed in road accident, Face of viral ‘Dil Se Bura Lagta Hai’ meme

Raipur (IT) – Devraj Patel, a well-known comedian and YouTuber from Chhattisgarh passed away in a tragic road accident on Monday. The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. while Patel traveled as a pillion rider.

He was on his way back from filming a video in Nava Raipur when a truck collided with him, resulting in severe head and body injuries. 

As a result, Devraj Patel, who was riding as a pillion passenger, got trapped under the truck’s rear wheel, according to the official’s statement.

Fortunately, the bike rider, Rakesh Manhar, escaped without any injuries. He promptly called an ambulance, and Patel was immediately taken to a hospital.

READ MORE : Tollywood choreographer Rakesh Master passes away at 53

Tragically, the doctors declared him dead upon arrival. Devraj Patel, originally from Mahasamund, gained popularity for his video titled ‘Dil se bura lagta hai.’ Expressing his condolences, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel took to his official Twitter account to share an old video of Devraj Patel.

In his tweet, the Chief Minister paid tribute to the late YouTuber and wrote,

“Devraj Patel, who made his place among crores of people with ‘Dil Se Bura Lagta Hai,’ who made us all laugh, left us today. The loss of amazing talent at this young age is very sad. May God give his family and loved one’s strength to bear this loss. Om Shanti,” Mr. Baghel tweeted in Hindi.

Soon after Mr. Baghel’s tweet, fans of the YouTuber expressed their sadness on the social media platform.

Born and raised in Mahasamund, he captured the hearts of millions with his unique style and relatable content.

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