MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of mourners in various parts of southern Pakistan attended funerals for 28 Shiite pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran this week while heading to Iraq, community leaders and officials said.
The victims of the crash were later buried in various graveyards in the Sindh province, local Shiite leader Jaafar Hussain said.
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MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of mourners in various parts of southern Pakistan attended funerals for 28 Shiite pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran this week while heading to Iraq, community leaders and officials said.
People attend funeral prayer of a Shiite Muslims pilgrim, who was killed in the bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, in Larkana, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Usama)
People carry the casket of a Shiite Muslim pilgrim who was killed in the bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, during a funeral in Larkana, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Usama)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Air Force, officials offer funeral prayer of Shiite Muslim pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, after their bodies arrived at an airbase in Jacobabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (Pakistan Air Force via AP)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Air Force, bodies of Shiite Muslim pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, arrive at an airbase in Jacobabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (Pakistan Air Force via AP)
The funerals took place hours after a military aircraft brought home the bodies and the injured on orders from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. All the victims were from Sindh province, where the plane landed.
Authorities have not announced the cause of the crash near the city of Taft, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
In southern Pakistan, Zawaar Javed, the father of a man who died, said his son minutes before the crash sent him a message on WhatsApp, saying the brakes of bus had failed, and later he heard news about the accident.
In a state TV report, Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, a local Iranian emergency official, also blamed the crash on the bus brakes failing and a lack of attention by the driver.
The Pakistani pilgrims had been on their way to Iraq’s holy city of Karbala, to commemorate Arbaeen — Arabic for the number 40 — marking the end of the annual 40-day mourning period after the date of the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, a central figure in Shiite Islam.
Hussein died at the hands of the Muslim Umayyad forces in the Battle of Karbala, during the tumultuous first century of Islam’s history.
People attend funeral prayer of a Shiite Muslims pilgrim, who was killed in the bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, in Larkana, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Usama)
People attend funeral prayer of a Shiite Muslims pilgrim, who was killed in the bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, in Larkana, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Usama)
People carry the casket of a Shiite Muslim pilgrim who was killed in the bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, during a funeral in Larkana, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Muhammad Usama)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Air Force, officials offer funeral prayer of Shiite Muslim pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, after their bodies arrived at an airbase in Jacobabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (Pakistan Air Force via AP)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Air Force, bodies of Shiite Muslim pilgrims who were killed in a bus crash in Iran while heading to Iraq for a pilgrimage, arrive at an airbase in Jacobabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (Pakistan Air Force via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea offered a rare glimpse into a secretive facility to produce weapons-grade uranium as state media reported Friday that leader Kim Jong Un visited the area and called for stronger efforts to “exponentially” increase the number of his nuclear weapons.
It’s unclear if the site is at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear complex, but it's the North's first public disclosure of a uranium-enrichment facility since it showed one at Yongbyon to visiting American scholars in 2010. While the latest unveiling is likely an attempt to apply more pressure on the U.S. and its allies, the images North Korea's media released of the area could provide outsiders with a valuable source of information for estimating the amount of nuclear ingredients that North Korea has produced.
During a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials, Kim expressed “great satisfaction repeatedly over the wonderful technical force of the nuclear power field” held by North Korea, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
KCNA said that Kim went around the control room of the uranium enrichment base and a construction site that would expand its capacity for producing nuclear weapons. North Korean state media photos showed Kim being briefed by scientists while walking along long lines of tall gray tubes, but KCNA didn’t say when Kim visited the facilities and where they are located.
KCNA said Kim stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges to “exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defense,” a goal he has repeatedly stated in recent years. It said Kim ordered officials to push forward the introduction of a new-type centrifuge, which has reached its completion stage.
Kim said North Korea needs greater defense and preemptive attack capabilities because “anti-(North Korea) nuclear threats perpetrated by the U.S. imperialists-led vassal forces have become more undisguised and crossed the red-line,” KCNA said.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it strongly condemned North Korea’s unveiling of a uranium-enrichment facility and Kim’s vows to boost his country's nuclear capability. A ministry statement said North Korea’s “illegal” pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of U.N. bans is a serious threat to international peace. It said North Korea must realize it cannot win anything with its nuclear program.
North Korea first showed a uranium enrichment site in Yongbyon to the outside world in November 2010, when it allowed a visiting delegation of Stanford University scholars led by nuclear physicist, Siegfried Hecker, to tour its centrifuges. North Korean officials then reportedly told Hecker that 2,000 centrifuges were already installed and running at Yongbyon.
Satellite images in recent years have indicated North Korea was expanding a uranium enrichment plant at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. Nuclear weapons can be built using either highly enriched uranium or plutonium, and North Korea has facilities to produce both at Yongbyon. It’s not clear exactly how much weapons-grade plutonium or highly enriched uranium has been produced at Yongbyon and where North Korea stores it.
“For analysts outside the country, the released images will provide a valuable source of information for rectifying our assumptions about how much material North Korea may have amassed to date,” said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Overall, we should not assume that North Korea will be as constrained as it once was by fissile material limitations. This is especially true for highly enriched uranium, where North Korea is significantly less constrained in its ability to scale up than it is with plutonium,” Panda said.
In 2018, Hecker and Stanford University scholars estimated North Korea's highly enriched uranium inventory was 250 to 500 kilograms (550 to 1,100 pounds), sufficient for 25 to 30 nuclear devices.
Some U.S. and South Korean experts speculate North Korea is covertly running at least one other uranium-enrichment plant. In 2018, a top South Korean official told parliament that North Korea was estimated to have already manufactured up to 60 nuclear weapons. Estimates on how many nuclear bombs North Korea can add every year vary, ranging from six to as much as 18.
Since 2022, North Korea has sharply ramped up weapons testing activities to expand and modernize its arsenal of nuclear missiles targeting the U.S. and South Korea. Analysts say North Korea could perform nuclear test explosions or long-range missile tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November with the intent to influence the outcome and increase its leverage in future dealings with the Americans.
North Korea had conducted test-launches of multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday. In an apparent reference to those launches, KCNA said Kim had supervised test-firing of nuclear-capable 600mm multiple rockets to examine the performance of their new launch vehicles.
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This undated photo provided on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, by the North Korean government shows its leader Kim Jong Un, center, on an inspecting visit at what they say is an institute of nuclear weapons and a facility for nuclear materials at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The letters read "North Korea, unveiling the uranium enrichment facility for the first time." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
In this undated photo provided on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center right, inspects what they say is test-firing from their new launch vehicle of 600mm multiple rockets at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This undated photo provided on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, by the North Korean government shows what they say is test-firing from their new launch vehicle of 600mm multiple rockets at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
In this undated photo provided on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, walks with other officials near what it says is their new launch vehicle of 600mm multiple rockets at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The letters on the top read "North Korea, unveiling the uranium enrichment facility for the first time." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The letters read, "North Korea, unveiling the uranium enrichment facility for the first time," and "the construction site for expanding the capacity for the production of nuclear weapons." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. The letters read, "North Korea, unveiling the uranium enrichment facility for the first time." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
North Korea discloses a uranium enrichment facility as Kim calls for more nuclear weapons
North Korea discloses a uranium enrichment facility as Kim calls for more nuclear weapons
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech, marking the country's 76th founding anniversary in Pyongyang, North Korea Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
