18/03/2026

WEDNESDAY | MAR 18, 2026

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‘It was like doomsday’ KABUL: Ahmad, 50, watched flames engulf his friends at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul where he was undergoing treatment, unable to save them as they cried for help after a Pakistani airstrike, leaving a scene he said resembled “doomsday”. The Afghan government says at least 400 people were killed and 250 injured in the Monday night attack, but Islamabad denied having targeted any such facility, saying it had struck military installations and “terrorist support infrastructure”. one name, said he and his 25 roommates had gathered in their dormitory after prayers when the attack occurred. He was the only survivor among them. “The whole place caught fire. It was like doomsday,” he said. Mohammad Mian, who works in the radiology department of the hospital, said many young people under treatment lived in large containers on the campus and very few survived the strike. o Airstrike survivor describes terrifying scene ones whose rooms were not destroyed and were fortunate. But the places where the bombs were dropped, everyone there was killed.” When Reuters visited the site yesterday, the blackened walls on a single-storey building served as evidence of the fires that had raged inside only hours ago. In other places, structures were reduced to piles of brick, metal and wood, with personal belongings of patients, including pillows, shoes, and items of clothing, left scattered among the debris.

Three held in Bali porn probe JAKARTA: Bali police arrested two French nationals and an Italian on accusations of producing and distributing pornography. The trio, a woman and two men, were being held on suspicion of seeking to “profit from pornographic video and content”, said police chief Joseph Edward Purba of the Badung district of Bali. The foreigners risk up to 10 years’ imprisonment on a pornography production charge and another six for online distribution. Indonesia strictly forbids the production of pornographic material. Last year, British adult film star Bonnie Blue was deported from Bali, after receiving a fine for a traffic violation that was the only charge to stick from an investigation into porn production. Balinese officials have been complaining of unruly behaviour by tourists, following a string of deportations in recent years, including several Russian influencers expelled for posing naked at sacred sites. Purba said the latest investigation was sparked by “a viral video containing pornographic content circulating on social media”. Last Friday, immigration officials arrested the Frenchwoman, described as a “content creator”, and the Italian as they attempted to depart Bali for Thailand. The Frenchman, described as the woman’s “manager”, was arrested days later in Badung. – AFP LONG FUEL QUEUES IN VIENTIANE VIENTIANE: Long queues formed at petrol stations across the Laotian capital Vientiane as fuel shortages deepened. Laos is dependent on Thailand for fuel supplies, which initially announced it was suspending exports to conserve its holdings, but has assured Vientiane that fuel is on its way. More than 40% of the 2,538 filling stations in Laos were closed last week. AFP saw more than 15 petrol stations shuttered in Vientiane on Monday. Others were rationing what little remained. The government has ordered ministries to limit in-person meetings and strongly encouraged people to switch to electric vehicles. – AFP HIROSHIMA SURVIVOR DIES AT 88 TOKYO: Shigeaki Mori, the survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing whom former US president Barack Obama embraced during a visit to the city in 2016, has died at 88. Mori was eight years old when the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, flattening the city on Aug 6, 1945 and knocking him unconscious with the force of its blast. Thirty years later, Mori embarked on a quest to find victims who were cremated at his school playground. His work also identified 12 Americans who died in the bombing. He died in a hospital in Hiroshima on March 14. – Reuters

Dr Ahmad Wali Yousafzai, a health officer at the hospital, which he said housed some 2,000 patients at the time of the strike, recalled three explosions whose blasts he said hurled some of his colleagues from one wall to another. As fires erupted, there were screams and cries for help “from all directions”, he said. “We were too few in number to save all of them,” he said. Ambulance driver Haji Fahim was among those who transported bodies to the nearby Afghan-Japan hospital, moving at least eight bodies over five hours. “Now we have come again ... there are still bodies under the rubble,” he said. – Reuters

BR I E F S

In Ahmad’s dormitory, some bunk beds still stood intact against a wall, their bedding undisturbed as the room, with the ceiling thrown off, lay open to the blue sky.

“It was extremely terrifying,” he said. “Those who survived were the

Ahmad, who also volunteered as a guard at the hospital and gave only

Afghans stand next to what remains of a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

Manila hands out cash relief MANILA: Hundreds of Philippine tricycle drivers lined up yesterday in Manila for cash handouts they hope will provide temporary relief from a war-driven surge in fuel prices that has left the country scrambling for short-term answers. Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered the Middle East war last month, the archipelago nation has implemented a four-day work week for civil servants, seen ferry schedules reduced in some areas and begun eyeing the possibility of Russian oil imports. As the drivers awaited their

help until the end of the war.” The Senate was expected to vote later in the day to grant President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who was on hand for the subsidy dispersal, the authority to temporarily suspend or reduce excise taxes on oil. At a press briefing yesterday, Vigor Mendoza, chair of the country’s transport regulator, announced fare hikes that he said were “proof of ... genuine concern”for both commuters and the embattled sector. Most rides in jeepneys, the backbone of the country’s transport system, were set to jump about 8% on average, the regulator announced. The Philippines, which depends almost entirely on the Middle East for its crude oil, is eyeing the possibility of buying from Russia. Ramon Ang, CEO of the Philippines’ sole oil refiner Petron, said the company was “in talks” to buy Russian oil. Patiently awaiting his subsidy at the Manila community centre, Cipriano said he could only pray for a quick end to the war. “We’re not the only ones affected,” he said of his fellow drivers. “No one wins in war.” – AFP

handouts, officials unveiled a series of price hikes across a range of local transport, including the jeepneys millions of Filipinos rely on to get to work daily. But the increases did not extend to the country’s hundreds of thousands of tricycle drivers, who earn money by carrying passengers down narrow, winding alleys on small motorcycles and carriages. “These are the highest fuel prices I’ve ever experienced,” said Romeo Cipriano, who has driven a tricycle for four decades. The subsidy of 5,000 pesos (RM329) would be “better than nothing”, the 60-year-old said. Al de Ocampo said his daily earnings had been halved from 1,000 to just 500 pesos in recent weeks. The handout he received would last no more than a week, de Ocampo said. “The price of fuel rose again today, but the fare is still the same,” with customers unable to afford to pay any more, de Ocampo said. “They must remove the fuel tax if possible. “If they can’t remove the tax then reduce it 50%. That would be a great

Marcos reassuring a tricycle driver in Manila yesterday. – AFPPIC