NEWS

IS claims responsibility for attack on Syrian town, 44 dead

DAMASCUS: A twin bombing struck a crowd in a predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria on Wednesday, killing 44 people and wounding dozens more, Syria's state-run news agency and Kurdish media reported. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Media reports said a truck loaded with large quantities of explosives blew up on the western edge of the town of Qamishli, followed by an explosives-packed motorcycle a few minutes later in the same area. The blasts caused massive damage in the area and rescue teams were working to recover victims from under the rubble, the SANA news agency said.

Qamishli, near the Turkish border, is mainly controlled by Kurds but Syrian government forces are present and control the town's airport.

Syrian state TV broadcast footage showing people running away from a mushroom of gray smoke rising over the town and others running amid wrecked or burnt cars.

Qamishli resident Suleiman Youssef, a writer, told The Associated Press by telephone that he heard the first explosion from few miles away. He said the blasts leveled several buildings to the ground and many people were trapped under the rubble.

"Most of the buildings at the scene of the explosion have been heavily damaged because of the strength of the blast,'' he said.

The Islamic State group, in a statement published by the IS-linked Aamaq news agency, said it carried out the attack in Qamishli, describing it as a truck bombing that struck a complex of Kurdish offices. The extremist group has carried out several bombings in Kurdish areas in Syria in the past.

The predominantly Kurdish US-backed Syria Democratic

Forces have been the main force fighting IS in northern Syria, capturing significant territory from the extremists

over the past two years.

Wednesday's explosion came as US-backed Kurdish forces pressed ahead with their offensive to take the IS-held town of Manbij, also in northern Syria but further to the east of Qamishli.

NEWS

                                                     NEWS

DARRA ADAMKHEL: Gunfire echoes through a dusty northwest tribal town, the soundtrack to Pakistan's biggest arms black market, where Kalashnikovs welded from scrap metal are cheaper than smartphones and sold on an industrial scale.

Darra Adamkhel, a town surrounded by hills some 35 kilometres (20 miles) south of the city of Peshawar, was a hub of criminal activity for decades. Smugglers and drug runners were common and everything from stolen cars to fake university degrees could be procured.

This generations-old trade in the illicit boomed in the 1980s: The mujahideen began buying weapons there for Afghanistan's battle against the Soviets, over the porous border.

Later, the town became a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, who enforced their strict rules and parallel system of justice -- infamously beheading Polish engineer Piotr Stanczak there in 2009.

Now Darra is clean of all but the arms, yet the gunsmiths in the bazaar say the region's improved security and authorities' growing intolerance for illegal weaponry are withering an industry that sustained them for decades.

"(The) Nawaz Sharif government has established checkpoints everywhere, business is stopped," said Khitab Gul, 45.

Gul is known in Darra for his replicas of Turkish and Bulgarian-made MP5 submachine guns, one of the most popular weapons in the world, widely used by organisations such as America's FBI SWAT teams.

The MP5 can retail for thousands of dollars. Gul's version, which comes with a one-year guarantee, costs roughly 7,000 rupees, or $67 -- and, he claims, it works perfectly.

Gul then puts on a demonstration, test-firing his MP5 in the small outer yard of his workshop -- first the single shot mode, then firing in a burst.

A Darra-made Kalashnikov, Gul says, can sell for as little as $125, cheaper than most smartphones. "The workers here are so skilled that they can copy any weapon they are shown," he explains.

"In past 10 years I have sold 10,000 guns, and had zero complaints," he claims.

In Gul's sweltering workshop, employees shout over the roar of electrical generators as they expertly cut and drill through metal brought from the shipyards of Karachi, far to the south on the Arabian Sea.

The main bazaar which cuts through the town used to hold nothing but tiny gun shops crammed together, their gleaming wares displayed openly on racks as customers test-fired into the air above.

Trade was illegal, unlicensed and unregulated, but long tolerated by authorities with little power in the tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where militants once operated with impunity.

Residents, for their part, viewed the market as legitimate in an area dominated by Pashtun traditions, where gun culture is deeply embedded in male identity.

But in recent years, the military has cracked down on extremism, particularly in the tribal areas, and security is the best it has been since the Pakistani Taliban were formed in 2007.

Every second or third shop in Darra now sells groceries or electronics instead of weapons, the gunsmiths lament. The Wild West atmosphere is fading as the town embraces modern conveniences.

Before the crackdown Gul's workshop -- just one of hundreds in the town -- could produce more than 10 weapons a day, he says.

Now they only produce four. "Demand has decreased," he says.

Gunsmiths put the blame squarely on the Pakistani government and military, particularly checkpoints on the way to Darra halting customers who once travelled to the town openly.

Foreigners have been banned for security reasons.

The military has not yet objected to the gun market in Darra directly, but residents say they have had to give sureties that they will not harbour militants, and a half-hearted attempt at licensing is now also being made.

"I have been working here for 30 years but now I have no work to do," says Muzzamil Khan, sitting idle outside his workshop. "I am ready to sell my lathe machine."

Muhammad Qaisar, making cartridges at his shop in the main bazaar, said at one point there had been up to 7,000 shops there -- but now almost half have closed.

If the government does not change its policies, he says, "I fear... Darra will be finished".

Darra trade union leader Badam Akbar confirmed that some 3,000 shops have closed, and said skilled workers are attempting to learn new trades. "Nothing is left in this bazaar now," he says

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ielts writing tips

1. Read the question – answer the question

Rule  number 1 is to answer the question: read the question carefully and underline all the information you need to include. This works differently in the essay and the report.

In the essay, often you will find background information and the question itself. Make sure you answer the question

(eg “Do you agree?”) and do not write generally about the topic. If you copy another essay you have written on the same topic, you will lose a lot of marks.

In task 1, all the information you need to include is in the chart/graph: make sure you identify the key points before you start writing.


2. Don’t start writing too soon – think and plan!

It is important to finish both pieces of writing, but the way to do this is not necessarily starting to write immediately. If you do that, you may get half way through the writing and realise you cannot finish it. Only start writing when you know how you are going to finish.

In the essay this can mean up to 10 minutes and in the task 1 report it can mean up to 5 minutes. The more you think, the better and more quickly you will write. 2/3 minutes is almost certainly not enough. For more detail on this, try looking at Planning an IELTS essay – the 10 minute solution.
3. Write enough words

250 means AT LEAST 250 and 150 means AT LEAST 150. See my post on how many words for more detail on this.
4. Don’t write too many words

The more words you write, you more mistakes you are likely to make. The more words you write, the less efficient you become and the quality will fall. The ideal is to aim for between 260 – 280 words in the essay and 160-180 words in the report.
5. Don’t copy whole sections of the question

If you copy whole sections of the question, the examiner will not include those words in your word count: 260 words can become 230 words if you are not careful.

6. Time is your enemy – have a plan and a watch

Timing can be a problem. It is important to keep moving and stick to your timing. Don’t be tempted to spend more than 40 minutes on your essay – you need 20 minutes to answer task 1 properly.

7. Task 1 and task 2 – which do you answer first?

The essay is worth twice the marks of the report. One idea is to do task 2 (the essay) before task 1(the report), just to ensure you finish the essay. You do need to spend at least 20 minutes on part 1 though. Do not try to answer it in 15 minutes.
8. Check your writing

It is important to check your writing for grammatical errors. You need to have a checklist before you enter the exam of what mistakes you typically make. For a little more detail on this, try checking this post about how to check your writing
9. Think about range of vocabulary

You should also check your writing for unnecessary word repetition – you are graded on the variety of your language. You should note that this does not mean you need to use long, complex words, rather it means you should use precise words.

10. Think about the examiner – use paragraphs well

The examiner will not spend very long grading your paper. You need to create an immediate good impression and the best way to do this in my experience is to present a well-structured piece of writing with clearly laid out paragraphs. This way the examiner is going to be on your side. If, however, it looks disorganised, the examiner is not going to be impressed.