Pakistan and India exchange hostile rhetoric over Kashmir attack

Pakistan and India continued to exchange hostile rhetoric on Thursday over a deadly attack in the restive Indian-controlled Kashmir last week, reaffirming they would never make concessions on security issues.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday to discuss the prevailing security situation. Zardari reaffirmed that Pakistan would take all necessary steps to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and vital national interests at all costs.

On the same day, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir observed a large-scale combat exercise, warning that any military adventurism by India would be met with an "immediate, resolute and high-level" response.

On the same day, India's Home Minister Amit Shah said that every terrorist involved in the ghastly act will be tracked down to make them answerable. He asserted that India's fight against terrorism will continue till the menace is completely wiped out.

India blames Pakistan for the April 22 attack that killed 26 civilians at a prime tourist location near the resort town of Pahalgam, a claim Pakistan strongly denies.

Tensions between Pakistan and India frequently flare along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between the two South Asian neighbors.

Pakistan and India exchange hostile rhetoric over Kashmir attack

Pakistan and India exchange hostile rhetoric over Kashmir attack

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight