A local first-time voter belonging to Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district has written an open letter to Kashmiri separatists questioning their right to prevent people from voting in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.


First-time Kashmiri voter questions separatist ideology


IANS Automatic

Four police officers including a district police chief were killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan's Laghman province on Tuesday, officials said.


4 policemen killed in Afghan bombing


Over 166,900 tourists arrived in Sri Lanka last month, which was a 7.5 per cent decline compared to the same period last year due to large cancellations following the Easter Sunday bombings, according to official statistics on Tuesday.


Sri Lanka receives over 166,900 tourists in April


BJP's state unit secretary Ashok Koul on Tuesday surrendered his security as a mark of protest against the alleged withdrawal of security of a party leader who was killed by militants in Anantnag district on Sunday.


Senior BJP leader surrenders security in protest


The Colombo district organizer of the proscribed National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) Islamist group Mohamed Farouk Mohamed Fawaz was on Tuesday remanded further till May 21 by a court here, the media reported.


NTJ's 'Colombo organizer' remanded till May 21


The Sri Lankan police and military said the country is now safe as all those involved in the Easter Sunday bombings have been either arrested or dead and steps have been taken to implement a special security plan following the attacks.


Sri Lanka is now safe, say police and military


Following intelligence showing Iran made plans to target US forces in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, decision to reinforce the American military presence in the region was taken in an effort to deter any possible moves by Tehran, Dow Jones Newswires reported.


US deployment triggered after inputs of Iranian attack plans


India's deep state is well versed in the art of intelligence warfare. Its human intelligence-led inputs to the Sri Lankan establishment, though unutilised, showed that they were on top of their game. India has been tracking the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) for sometime now. New Delhi moved with great alacrity passing on direct actionable intelligence in the weeks and days leading up to the Easter Sunday bombings. And this happened from material accessed during interrogations of an ISIS suspect arrested in India.


Terror Trail-I: Lashkar's grand plot in Lanka, B'desh & Maldives (IANS Exclusive)


The Election Commission on Monday banned the exhibition of a documentary film titled "Bhagva Atankvad ka Bhramjal (The Delusion of Saffron Terror)", featuring Malegaon blast accused and BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha candidate Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.


'Saffron terror' documentary banned in Bhopal


Voting in Jammu and Kashmir's restive Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency - which went to polls in an unprecedented three stages - ended on Monday with the heavy security ensuring a largely peaceful election, but the turnout not even reaching double figures.


Anantnag poll mostly peaceful but total turnout only 9%


Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said that he believes the Islamic State (IS) terror group chose to target his country to show that "they still exist".


IS chose Sri Lanka to show they exist: SL President


An NIA court here on Monday sent alleged Islamic State (IS) operative Riyas Aboobacker, who was arrested by the agency on April 29 from Palakkad, to Kerala Police custody.


Arrested IS suspect sent to Kerala Police custody


Radicalization of moderate Muslims should be avoided in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, Minister of City Planning Rauff Hakeem has said as he blamed "a cult" within the community for the carnage.


Avoid radicalization of moderate Muslims: SL Minister


Militants hurled a grenade at a polling station in Pulwama district on Monday even as Ladakh and Anantnag Lok Sabha seats recorded a turnout of 3.6 per cent in the first three hours.


Amid grenade attack in Pulwama, J&K registers 3.6% polling


Two soldiers were injured on Sunday in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, army sources said.


Two soldiers injured in IED explosion near LoC


Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Sunday directed authorities to conduct a probe into the killings of political workers by militants.


J&K Governor orders probe into political workers' killings


At least 52 Taliban militants, including two key comanders, were killed by the Afghan Army in Ghazni province, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.


Afghan military kills 52 Taliban militants


Turkey has killed 28 Kurdish militants in retaliation to an attack which left three Turkish soldiers dead, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.


Turkey kills 28 Kurdish militants after attacks


Israeli Army warplanes, drones and artillery continued striking militants' facilities in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to the firing of barrages of rockets from the coastal enclave into Israel, the media reported.


Israeli warplanes strike Gaza after rocket fire


India and Sri Lanka have urged countries to come together and adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT), proposed by India in 1996 but blocked by some nations, as the world mourns the victims of terrorist attacks in the island nation.


UN pact against terror urged as tribute to SL victims


The Islamic State suspects, who carried out blasts in Sri Lanka during the Easter celebration claiming over 240 lives were trying to expand their base in India's Tamil Nadu, official sources said.

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