A group of former prisoners who were once detained in Iran have slammed the Swedish government, saying it had failed to take enough action to secure the release of Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian physician facing the death penalty in Iran.

The 15 signatories of the letter, including prominent figures such as Barry Rosen and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said the Swedish government’s efforts had been "insufficient" as Djalali approaches his eighth year behind bars.

"The inaction and lack of a clear strategy on Sweden's part is alarming," Siamak Namazi, one of the signatories, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"It is imperative that the Swedish government upholds its responsibility towards its citizens."

Djalali, a medical professional and university professor, was detained in May 2016 by Iran's intelligence services during a visit for a scientific conference. He was subsequently sentenced to death in 2017 on charges of "espionage and selling information to Israel" and "corruption on Earth," charges he denies.

Vida Mehrannia, Djalali's wife, voiced her frustrations with the lack of progress in the case in an interview with Swedish Radio.

"The silence from the government is deafening," she said in the interview.

"We are desperate for action and engagement that can bring Ahmadreza home," she added.

The letter by the group of former prisoners underlines Iran's practice of detaining foreigners to use as bargaining chips in international negotiations.

They called on the Swedish government to collaborate internationally to combat the practice of hostage taking by establishing severe penalties as a deterrence.

Djalali’s case has also drawn attention to other Swedes detained in Iran, including Johan Floderus, and long-running tensions between Stockhokm and Tehran, particularly after the conviction of Hamid Nouri in Sweden for his role in the 1988 mass executions in Iran.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Police in Germany said on April 28 that they had arrested a 57-year-old Russian man on suspicion of stabbing two Ukrainian soldiers to death in a shopping center in the Bavarian city of Murnau a day earlier. The soldiers were said to be on rehabilitation in Germany when the incident took place. It is not clear if the alleged attacker and the victims knew each other. The two Ukrainians were 23 and 36 years old and lived in the southern German region of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Their names were not released, in line with German law.

Kazakhstan's Emergencies Ministry said on April 29 that among those forced to flee the recent unprecedented flooding in the north, 38,521 people had returned home. About 120,000 people, including 44,000 children, had been evacuated from areas affected by the floods, which were caused by abrupt warm weather that led to a massive snowmelt. According to a ministry statement, some of the rescue teams and military personnel deployed to help flood-affected regions had started leaving as water levels begin to recede. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

Moscow resident Stanislav Netyosov was charged with discrediting the Russian military after he dyed his hair blue and yellow, which police considered support for Ukraine due to its national flag of the same colors. Netyosov was charged on April 28 after he came to a police station to file a complaint saying he was attacked the previous evening by unknown assailants who broke his tooth and stole his telephone. Police also fingerprinted Netyosov and handed him a summons to a military recruitment center, saying they would "teach him to kiss his native land in the military trenches." To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

Czech police confirmed on April 29 that agents of Russia's military intelligence (GRU) were involved in two ammunition depot blasts that killed two workers near the eastern Czech village of Vrbetice in 2014. In 2021, Prague accused Moscow of being involved in the blasts and expelled several Russian diplomats. Moscow denied any involvement. The Czechs said two Russian men were involved in the explosion, identifying them as Russian citizens who have also been accused by Britain of participating in the 2018 poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for faster deliveries of desperately needed weapons for the depleted and outgunned Ukrainian troops as they struggle to stave off an intensified Russian offensive in the east.

U.S. President Joe Biden last week signed a long-delayed $61 billion military-aid package for Ukraine just hours after the Senate approved it following months of procrastination by Republicans in the House of Representatives, with Biden saying that he was "making sure the shipments start right away."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Zelenskiy, speaking on April 29 at a joint news conference in Kyiv with visiting NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, said that small quantities of weapons and ammunition had already begun arriving in Ukraine. But he urged that the deliveries gain momentum faster in order to be useful.

"Timely support for our army. Today I don't see anything positive on this point yet. There are supplies, they have slowly begun, but this process needs to be sped up," he said.

"Promptness in supply literally means a stabilization of the front line.... Together we must disrupt the Russian offensive."

Stoltenberg, visiting the Ukrainian capital for the third time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, acknowledged "serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield."

"For months the U.S. was unable to agree a package and European allies have been unable to deliver ammunition at the scale we promised," he added. "Ukraine has been outgunned for months and forced to ration its ammunition.... More support is on the way."

The Russian Defense Ministry on April 29 said that it had captured a village in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, and was advancing westward.

"Units of the Center Group of Forces liberated the village of [Semenivka] in...Donetsk," it said on Telegram.

Ukraine has not commented on the claim, which could not be independently verified.

Semenivka is located about 10 kilometers from Avdiyivka, which fell to Russian forces in February after a fierce battle that lasted for several months.

Ukraine’s top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, warned on April 28 that the situation in the east had deteriorated, with Russia attacking "along the entire front line."

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Ukraine's Top General Says Frontline Conditions Worsen, Troops Fall Back

"The enemy deployed up to four brigades in these directions, is trying to develop an offensive west of Avdiyivka and Maryinka, making its way to Pokrovsk and Kurakhove," Syrskiy said, adding that the Russian gains were of limited importance.

"In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these directions, but could not gain operational advantages," he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on April 29 that it has captured a village in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, and is advancing westwards as depleted and outgunned Ukrainian forces retreat. "Units of the Center Group of Forces liberated the village of [Semenivka] in...Donetsk," the ministry said on Telegram. Ukraine has not commented on the claim, which could not be independently verified. Semenivka is located close to Avdiyivka, which fell to Russian forces in February. Ukraine’s top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskiy warned on April 28 that the situation in the east has deteriorated, with Russia attacking “along the entire front line.”

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign started on April 29 in Afghanistan, Taliban authorities announced. The Taliban-run Health Ministry said the four-day campaign will cover 31 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, while immunizations will start later in the remaining three -- Ghor, Daikundi, and Bamyan -- due to heavy rains and cold weather. Besides vaccines, children will also receive doses of vitamin A to increase their resistance to the infectious disease, the ministry said. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio has not been completely eradicated. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

The Tajik Foreign Ministry said on April 28 that 954 Tajik nationals have been left stranded at Moscow airports due to tightened passport and custom controls in the wake of a terror attack last month. Hundreds of arriving Tajiks have been informed that they are barred from entering Russia, leaving them inside the airport as they seek a resolution. A day earlier, the ministry called on Tajik citizens not to travel to Russia. Rights groups said the ministry's recommendation was linked to a surge in anti-Tajik sentiment in Russia after 11 Tajik men were arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack on a concert hall near Moscow in March that left 144 people dead. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, click here.

A Kyrgyz man who was handed a suspended seven-year prison term for joining Russia's armed forces and fighting in Ukraine is expected to obtain Russian citizenship, Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said over the weekend. Askar Kubanychbek-uulu told Russian journalists that he had fled Kyrgyzstan via neighboring Kazakhstan and is currently in Russia. Meanwhile, according to a ruling in January by Bishkek's Birinchi Mai district court, Kubanychbek-uulu was banned from leaving the Kyrgyz capital while serving a three-year probation period that was part of his seven-year suspended sentence. Kyrgyz authorities have yet to comment on the situation. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.

Authorities in Russia's North Caucasus region of Karachai-Cherkessia said on April 29 that two police officers were killed and four wounded overnight in an attack by armed individuals who threw an explosive device and opened fire on a traffic police patrol. The attackers were killed by law enforcement, the region's Interior Ministry said. A week earlier, two other police officers were killed and one officer wounded in Karachai-Cherkessia after unknown attackers opened fire on a police patrol. The assailants managed to take a pistol, an AK-47, and ammunition from the officers, the authorities said at the time. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.

U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely didn’t order the death of imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny in February, according to an official familiar with the determination. While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found “no smoking gun” that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death -- which came soon before the Russian president's reelection — or directly ordered it, according to the official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Chechnya's Moscow-backed authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov says he has appointed his 16-year-old son as the supervisor of a Chechen special forces training school in Gudermes. Adam Kadyrov shot to notoriety last year in August after video was posted online of him beating Russian teenager Nikita Zhuravel, who had been arrested for burning a Koran. Following the incident, he was showered with awards and honors, including one for his "significant personal contribution to the strengthening of Islam and the defense of its values." Ramzan Kadyrov, a staunch ally of President Vladimir Putin, is rumored to be gravely ill. To read the original story by Current Time, click here.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit France, Serbia, and Hungary from May 5 to May 10, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry announced on April 29. Bilateral relations with France have maintained sound growth momentum, and both countries have had strategic communications and practical cooperation, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in discussing Xi's trip to France. He added that Xi will hold talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to exchange views on bilateral relations and discuss upgrading the China-Serbia relationship. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

A senior Pakistani judge has been released after being kidnapped in the South Waziristan district of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, after his captors released a video of him pleading for his freedom.

District and Sessions Judge Shakirullah Marwat was abducted in the Tank district of the restive province's Dera Ismail Khan region on April 27 after about 15 men on motorcycles cut off the vehicle he was riding in and set it on fire.

Muhammad Ali Saif, a media adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's chief minister, said in an audio message sent to RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on April 29 that Marwat had returned home after being released late the previous day. Saif did not provide any further details.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident but a video published by counterterrorism officials on April 28 purported to show Marwat saying that the Pakistani Taliban -- Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- would not release him until their demands were met. It was not immediately clear what the demands were.

The police chief for the Tank district, Abdul Salam Khalid, told Radio Mashaal that an investigation and search operation for those responsible was under way.

Police and judicial services were restored in South Waziristan when Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2018. But due to the security situation, courts for South Waziristan and some other districts are located in neighboring areas.

Dozens of police and civilians have been killed in the province since late 2022, when the TTP unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the central government.

Residents have said that the security situation has recently worsened significantly in the Dera Ismail Khan region, particularly in the Tank district, as well as in other areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province's south.

A recent report by the provincial police's anti-terrorism department said that in the first three months of this year, 25 armed attacks have been recorded in Dera Ismail Khan, with 17 in the Tank district.

Recently elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed concern over the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province during his speech to a joint session of parliament on April 18.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) says the Telegram messaging platform has blocked a number of official bots, including the chatbot used by Ukrainian intelligence. "Today, the management of the Telegram platform unreasonably blocked a number of official bots that opposed Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, including the 'Main Intelligence Bot,'" HUR announced on Telegram early on April 29, adding that the move contradicted "rules and public statements" made by Telegram's management. "Despite the blocking of our bot, your personal data is safe," HUR said. There was no immediate reaction from Telegram. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

TBILISI -- Seven opposition lawmakers were expelled on April 29 from a session of Georgia's parliament that is discussing a piece of legislation that domestic critics and Western countries have said will be used to crack down on independent voices in the country.

The session of the parliament's Legal Committee got under way after tens of thousands of people on April 28 again took to the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, to voice their opposition to the so-called "foreign agents" bill, regarded by many as mirroring the one used by the Kremlin to silence its critics.

The ruling Georgian Dream party has argued that the legislation would bring transparency among NGOs and combat what they call "values imposed by foreigners."

The seven expelled opposition members were Levan Bezhashvili of the United National Movement; Giorgi Vashadze, the leader of the Strategy Agmashenebeli party; independent lawmaker Tamar Kordzaia; Salome Samadashvili of the Lelo party; independent Tako Charkviani; Ketevan Turazashvili of the Citizens party; and Ana Tsitlidze of the United National Movement.

The decision to expel the seven was made by session chairman Anri Okhanashvili of Georgian Dream, who cited what he said were "violations" of parliamentary procedures. Several other members of the opposition were not allowed to finish their speeches against the piece of legislation advanced by Georgian Dream.

Before the start of the session, called ahead of an expected vote on April 30 on the second reading, the press center said only journalists from accredited TV stations would be allowed inside the building and due to "security" reasons, online and print media journalists were not allowed to work in parliament.

The press center also announced that visitors were banned from entering the building, with the exception of those "invited by the relevant structures."

The protest on April 28 was a continuation of two weeks of rallies led by opposition parties and activist groups against the bill, which was passed in a first reading earlier this month.

Tens of thousands of people gathered on Republic Square in central Tbilisi into the night on April 28, with many singing Georgian and European Union anthems and holding EU banners.

SEE ALSO:

Exiled Journalist Warns Georgia's 'Foreign Agents' Law Is 'First Step On Road To Repression'

The protest extended into the early morning on April 29, with reports saying that some protesters had broken through security lines near the parliament building, leading police to use tear gas and pepper spray without warning in order to disperse crowds.

The last few dozen demonstrators remained in the vicinity of the parliament until 3 a.m. local time before dispersing.

• RFE/RL's Georgian Service

Tens of thousands of Georgians staged a "March for Europe" on April 28 calling on the government to discard a controversial "foreign influence" bill, which the EU has warned would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on April 26 warned in a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that the country's plan to reintroduce a "Russian-style foreign agents law" could lead to a change in U.S. policy toward Tbilisi.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Senators Warn Tbilisi That 'Foreign Agents' Law Could Disrupt Relations

In the letter -- obtained by Voice of America (VOA) -- the senators said they were "increasingly concerned that Georgia’s transatlantic aspirations are being undermined."

EU officials have said that if Georgia adopts the bill as law, it would disrupt the South Caucasus country's membership hopes.

The ruling Georgian Dream party introduced the legislation in 2023 but was forced to withdraw it following mass protests. The party’s parliamentary group brought the law back with minor wording changes and passed its first reading on April 17.

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As Georgia Bids To Become A Tax Haven, Critics Worry It's All To Protect Oligarch Ivanishvili

The final reading of the bill is scheduled to be debated on May 17. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili told the BBC that she will veto it if it's approved in its final reading.

Zurabishvili said her major concern was the fact that the bill is "exactly a copy of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's law."

However, Zurabishvili said Georgian Dream had enough lawmakers to override her if she does use her veto.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the parliamentary faction of Georgian Dream, said earlier this month that the party planned to reintroduce the bill, which would oblige noncommercial organizations and media outlets that receive foreign funding and who are engaged in broadly defined "political" activities to report their activities to the authorities.

It would also introduce wide oversight powers by the authorities and potential criminal sanctions for undefined criminal offenses.

Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, the chairman of Georgia Dream, and other party leaders say the legislation is intended to increase transparency in the country’s political environment.

TBILISI – Thousands of people took to the streets of the Georgian capital again to protest plans by the ruling party to introduce a law that domestic critics and Western countries have said will be used to crack down on independent voices in the South Caucasus nation.

The action on April 28 was a continuation of two weeks of rallies led by opposition parties and activist groups against the parliament’s advancement of a so-called “foreign agents” bill that critics say mirrors one used by the Kremlin to silence critics in Russia.

An estimated 10,000 people gathered in Republic Square in central Tbilisi into the night on April 28, with many singing Georgian and European Union anthems and holding EU banners.

Reports near midnight said that some protesters had broken through security lines near the parliament building, leading police to use tear gas and pepper spray to disperse crowds.

Witnesses said police were moving in heavier equipment around protest sites in Republic Square and near the parliament.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on April 26 warned in a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that the nation’s plan to reintroduce a "Russian-style foreign agents law" could lead to a change in U.S. policy toward Tbilisi.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Senators Warn Tbilisi That 'Foreign Agents' Law Could Disrupt Relations

In the letter -- obtained by Voice of America (VOA) -- the senators said they are “increasingly concerned that Georgia’s transatlantic aspirations are being undermined.”

EU officials have said that if Georgia adopts the bill as law, it would disrupt the nation’s membership hopes.

The ruling Georgian Dream party introduced the legislation in 2023 but was forced to withdraw it following mass protests. The party’s parliamentary group brought the law back with minor wording changes and passed its first reading on April 17.

The final reading of the bill is scheduled to be debated on May 17. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili told the BBC she will veto it if it’s approved in its final reading.

Zurabishvili said her major concern is the fact that the bill is "exactly a copy of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's law."

However, Zurabishvili said the ruling Georgian Dream party has enough lawmakers to override her if she does use her veto.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of the parliamentary faction of Georgian Dream, earlier this month said the party planned to reintroduce the bill, which would oblige noncommercial organizations and media outlets that receive foreign funding and who are engaged in broadly defined "political" activities to report their activities to the authorities.

It would also introduce wide oversight powers by the authorities and potential criminal sanctions for undefined criminal offenses.

Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, chairman of Georgia Dream, and other party leaders say the legislation is intended to increase transparency in the country’s political environment.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed a new loan program with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on April 28, his office said. Sharif and Georgieva met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Islamabad is seeking a new, larger long-term Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement with the fund after a current $3 billion standby arrangement expires this month. "Both sides also discussed Pakistan entering into another IMF program to ensure that the gains made in the past year are consolidated and its economic growth trajectory remains positive," Sharif's office said.

Iranian authorities have banned the controversial Egyptian television series Hashashin (Assassin) about the life of Hassan Sabah, citing historical “distortions,” state media reported on April 28. Mehdi Seifi, director of the SATRA regulatory authority, said that "the serial's narrative of Islamic history involves many distortions that seem to have been produced by a politically biased approach," IRNA reported. The 30-part series depicts Sabah and his group, which operated as a Shi'ite sect in the 11th century from mountain fortresses in northern and western Iran and were known for violent political assassinations. The series is being broadcast in Egypt and is gaining popularity throughout the Middle East. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.

The crackdown on independent media in Russian mounted over the weekend, with two journalists having alleged ties to the late Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and Western news outlets being arrested and charged with “extremism.”

Russian courts on April 27-28 ordered the detention of Konstantin Gabov in Moscow and Sergei Karelin in Murmansk on charges that they worked with the Navalny Live YouTube channel.

Both men denied the allegations against them.

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'I'm Not Going To Quit': Facing Prison, Soviet-Era Dissident Skobov Speaks Out Against War, Repression

Gabov was ordered into pretrial detention for two months after prosecutors accused him of taking part in the activities of an extremist organization, saying he had prepared videos and photographs for Navalny Live.

Navalny Live is run by supporters of Navalny, a vocal Kremlin critic who died in an Arctic prison in February under mysterious circumstances.

Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, which broadcasts on YouTube from outside Russia, has been designated a "foreign agent" and an extremist group by Russian authorities, actions often used by the Kremlin to silence independent voices, especially since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Court video showed Gabov in a courtroom cage with his arms folded. Records indicated he has worked for foreign and domestic news outlets, including Reuters and Deutsche Welle, the German state broadcaster.

Separately, police in the northern city of Murmansk detained Karelin, 41, also on “extremism” charges after prosecutors alleged he cooperated with Navalny’s team and created videos for the YouTube channel.

Some reports said Karelin was detained on April 26.

Karelin, a video journalist and cameraman, had worked with AP and Deutsche Welle, among other outlets, according to court records.

The Kholod media group, which operates from outside Russia, on April 9 estimated that at least 53 people, and probably many more, had been arrested for their work related to the Navalny foundation.

On March 29, a Moscow court charged Russian journalist Antonina Favorskaya, a reporter for SOTAvision media, with participating in an extremist organization in connection with alleged posts to websites and social media platforms tied to the Navalny foundation.

According to investigators, she collected materials, filmed and edited videos, and created publications for Navalny’s foundation.

Favorskaya covered Navalny’s court hearings for years and filmed the last video showing the Kremlin critic alive on February 15 at a court hearing that he took part in over a video link from an Arctic prison. The next day, Navalny suddenly died in the prison.

Western leaders and rights groups have regularly condemned the arrests of journalists and the crackdown on independent voices in Russia.

European lawmakers on April 25 approved a resolution that called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of all political prisoners held in Russia, including journalists Alsu Kurmasheva of RFE/RL and Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal.

Russian officials threatened the West on April 28 with a "severe" response in the event that frozen Russian assets are confiscated, promising "endless" legal challenges and tit-for-tat measures. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia would never cede territories seized from Ukraine in exchange for the return of frozen assets. "Russian assets must remain untouched because otherwise there will be a severe response to Western thievery," Zakharova wrote on Telegram. In response to Russia's war in Ukraine, Washington and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia's central bank and Finance Ministry and blocked about $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West, most of which are in European financial institutions.

A senior judge serving the South Waziristan district in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has been kidnapped by armed men.

Police official Faheem Khan said that about 15 men on motorcycles cut off the vehicle that Judge Shakirullah Marwat was riding in the Tank district of the restive province's Dera Ismail Khan region.

Khan said the assailants set fire to the vehicle and kidnapped Marwat.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Sherpao Maseed, who heads the lawyers association in the Tank district, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Marwat was abducted while heading home from work.

While police said the driver of the vehicle was not harmed, Maseed alleged that Marwat's driver and bodyguard were physically abused by the assailants.

Tank district police chief Abdul Salam Khalid told Radio Mashaal that an investigation and search operation are under way.

SEE ALSO:

Gunmen Kill 3 Police In Separate Incidents In Northwestern Pakistan

Police and judicial services were restored in South Waziristan when Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2018. But due to insecurity, courts for South Waziristan and some other districts are located in neighboring areas.

Dozens of police and civilians have been killed in the province since late 2022, when the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban, unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the central government.

Residents have said that insecurity has recently worsened significantly in the Dera Ismail Khan region, particularly in the Tank district, as well as in other areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province's south.

A recent report by the provincial police's anti-terrorism department said that in the first three months of this year, 25 armed attacks have been recorded in Dera Ismail Khan, with 17 in the Tank district.

Recently elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed concern over the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province during his speech to a joint session of parliament on April 18.

YEREVAN -- Armenians have blocked the Yerevan-Gyumri highway as protests continue against the government's plans to hand over several border areas to rival Azerbaijan as part of a peace deal.

Images of the protest action that shut down traffic from Armenia's capital to the country's northwestern border were posted on the morning of April 28 on the Tavush For The Fatherland Facebook page.

The Martuni-Vardenis highway, linking the two cities near Armenia's eastern border with Azerbaijan, was shut down overnight.

Earlier this month, residents of several Armenian communities in the northeastern Tavush Province launched protests against the government's plans to hand over territory close to Azerbaijan's Qazax region.

Under the border delimitation agreement announced on April 19, Baku will regain control of four formerly Azerbaijani populated villages and surrounding areas in the Tavush region.

The villages were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era but have been controlled by Armenia since the 1990s.

WATCH: Armenian protesters scuffled with the police near the border with Azerbaijan late on April 26. Emotions got heated in the village of Kirants as the protesters tried to stop an unmarked vehicle, believing that it was transporting Azerbaijani cartographers due to work on the demarcation agreed between the two countries on April 19.

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Armenian Protesters Scuffle With Police Amid Nervousness Over Border Demarcation

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The agreement has been hailed by the United States and the European Union, as well as by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who has been accused by opposition politicians of giving up territory with no guarantees.

In a call with Pashinian on April 28, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed Washington’s support “for progress between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a durable and dignified peace agreement,” the State Department said.

The statement said Blinken reiterated that the United States welcomed the two Caucasus nations’ agreement to use the 1991 Almaty Declaration as a basis for the demarcation of their borders.

“Blinken noted ongoing U.S. efforts to support Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for Prime Minister Pashinian’s vision for a prosperous, democratic, and independent future for Armenia,” it said.

The State Department said Blinken also spoke with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, praising the agreements between the two sides and urging Baku to “keep up the momentum with his Armenian counterpart.”

Residents of the Tavush region have expressed concern that the border demarcation will block their access to farmland and leave them surrounded by Azerbaijani territory.

The protests spread to Yerevan on April 27, where people carrying banners criticizing the government stormed a concert stage.

Armenia agreed to the handover as the initial step in defining the frontier between the two rival South Caucasus countries.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been a majority ethnic Armenian enclave since the Soviet collapse and is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.

SEE ALSO:

Armenian Border Residents Protest As Yerevan, Baku Agree On Delimitation

The region initially came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994.

In 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with seven surrounding districts that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.

After Baku took full control over the region as the result of a one-day military operation in September last year, nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

The Iranian military on April 28 presented a new attack drone designed to fly into targets and explode, like the kind used by Russia in the war in Ukraine. According to the state Tasnim news agency, the new Iranian drone -- which has not yet been publicly named -- is similar to the Russian Zala Lancet drone, which was first produced in 2020. Tasnim published a video of the new drone in the report. Iran has made great progress in the production of drones in recent years, and Iranian-produced drones have been used extensively by Russian forces in Ukraine.