Page 100 - War Conflict
In video message, IS chief emulates other hunted leaders
They make threats from their hideaway lairs and celebrate mass attacks. The ending isn't scripted for these hunted men with horrifying death tolls on their hands. When the reclusive Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in a video Monday, he was the latest in a series of most-wanted figures to use the medium to communicate with the outside world. Al-Baghdadi's goal was to dismiss suggestions of the extremist group's defeat and his own often-reported demise, claim responsibility for the recent Sri Lanka bombings on Easter and warn of a "long battle" ahead. In the video, released by an IS-run media outlet, al-Baghdadi like others before him, such as Osama Bin Laden wanted to show he's alive and assure followers that the battle against "infidel enemies" continues. "Audio and video messages by hunted figures is their way of rallying and reassuring followers that the group must carry on," said Colin P. Clarke, a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center. "In some ...
Kerala Police on 'high alert' after Sri Lanka blasts
Kerala DGP Loknath Behera said that the state police is on high alert in the wake of the Sri Lanka blasts."Kerala Police is at high alert after Sri Lanka blasts," Behera said."Alert given to Indian Coast Guard, Commandos and Bomb Detachment Squad. An analysis of large volumes of technical data like phone calls, social media activities being done daily," he added.More than 250 people were killed and several hundred suffered injuries in the eight coordinated explosions that rattled various churches and high-end hotels located across Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo, Kochchikede and Batticaloa as the Christian community celebrated Easter on April 21.
Sri Lanka lifts ban on social media
Sri Lanka on Tuesday lifted a temporary ban on several social media networks, which was put in place to prevent spreading misinformation after the ghastly suicide bombings on Easter Sunday.The government has urged people to use social media responsibly saying "use social media responsibly even though the ban is lifted, due to the prevailing situation in the country".Along with social media bans, the government has imposed lockdown, with nightly curfews for several days.With this, life in Sri Lanka has started reviving, which came to stand still after a series of coordinated bombings shook the South Asian island nation. Over 250 people were killed in the attack.Sri Lanka is known for taking such preventive measures in the past. Last year, in March during Kandu riots also Sri Lanka had blocked popular social media networks, such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Viber and Instagram to name a few, for three days in order to prevent the spreading of communal violence across the country.Meanwhile, .
US warns of more attacks in Sri Lanka by active members of terror group still at large
The US has warned that the terrorist threat in Sri Lanka still remains as active members of the group that carried out the massive suicide attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large, a media report said Tuesday. The US Embassy here has said that at the request of the Sri Lankan Government, US security experts were working closely with their Sri Lankan partners on "fulfilling short term, specific objectives" related to the recent attacks and to bringing the perpetrators to justice. Nancy VanHorn, the spokesperson at the US Embassy in Colombo that the US believes active members of the attack group that carried out the terror attacks on Easter Sunday may still be at large. "As the (US) Ambassador (Alaina Teplitz) has previously stated and as reflected in our travel advisory, the terrorist threat is ongoing," the spokesperson told the Colombo Gazette. Sri Lankan authorities said they believed a little-known local militant Islamist group known as National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) was ...
Protests after body of abducted property dealer found
The body of an abducted property dealer was found in a field in Bihar's Nalanda district, triggering protests, police said on Tuesday.
NZ Dy PM slams Sri Lanka-Christchurch terror link claim
New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on Tuesday criticised suggestions that Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday suicide bombings were in retaliation to the Christchurch mosque shootings, saying his country was being "misused".
Church services in Sri Lanka to resume from May 5: Cardinal
Public mass in the terror-hit Sri Lanka would resume in certain Catholic churches from May 5 and no bags will be allowed inside as part of the tight security measures, according to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. All public church services were cancelled after the Easter Sunday bomb blasts that ripped through three churches and high-end hotels, killing 253 people and injuring 500 others. The prelate said on Monday that vigilance committees formed by the residents of the parish would be responsible to identify individuals who enter their respective churches and parishioners will have to confirm their identity before entering a church. The cardinal, who conducted a private memorial mass on Sunday fearing repeat of the Easter attacks, told media that bags will not be allowed to be taken inside the churches owing to security measures. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's had also attended the private memorial mass. Commenting on Prime Minister ...
22 IS militants killed, 2 captured in Afghanistan
Twenty-two Islamic State (IS) militants were killed and two others captured on Tuesday as security forces stormed their hideouts in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, an official statement said.
Easter attacks: Three suspects arrested, van seized
The Sri Lankan police on Tuesday announced that three suspects were arrested along with a van connected to the devastating Easter Sunday bombings from the country's North Central Province. The suspicious van was wanted over the terror attacks and was taken into custody at Sungavila in Polonnaruwa town, Ruwan Gunasekara, police spokesperson, said. They said the van which bears the licence plate 'EP PX 2399' was taken into custody along with the three suspects. The van was parked in the garden of a home in the area and further investigations are being carried out. Last week, Sri Lanka placed all police stations in Colombo on high alert as police were hunting for an unidentified container truck and a van, believed to be carrying explosives. A warning was issued by the Director of Security at the Colombo Harbour said intelligence had found information that an unidentified container truck and a van carrying a potential explosive device was heading towards Colombo. A total of 106 suspects, .
'Family of bomber leading Lanka blasts appeared to be normal'
Zahran Hashmi, who led the team of suicide bombers in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, appeared to be from a very normal family, his father-in-law said on Tuesday. Mohammed Hussein Abdul Cader identified the photos of his son-in-law Hashmi, daughter Abdul Cader Fathima Zadiya and grand daughter when intelligence officers came to his house after the bombings, the Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday. Zahran, the leader of the National Thowheeth Jamath (NTJ), the terror outfit involved in the country's worst terror attacks, blew himself up in the posh Shangri-La hotel. He is known for his extremist speeches and the Muslim community in the country had warned the authorities about the cleric. Abdul said that Hashmi visited their house several times with a relative and told them that he was studying in a mosque. Hashmi even asked to marry his daughter. "When my daughter was 15 years of age, I gave her in marriage to him," Abdul said, adding that they had visited Zahran's family as well. "He had two
Sri Lanka lifts social media blockade imposed after Easter Sunday blasts
The Sri Lankan government Tuesday lifted a nationwide social media ban imposed to curb the spread of misinformation after the devastating Easter Sunday bombings that killed 253 people. According to the information department, President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to lift the ban on Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and other popular platforms from April 30. The government has asked the public to share content on social media sites with "utmost responsibility" while bearing in mind the current situation of the country, the Sunday Times reported. Social media had remained blocked in Sri Lanka where a string of powerful blasts tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, killing 253 people and injuring more than 500 others. The government said it blocked social media in the wake of the Easter Sunday attacks to curb the spread of misinformation among the public. The Islamic State has claimed the attacks, but the ...
42 foreigners killed in Easter blasts: Lanka ministry
With the death of two more Chinese nationals, the number of foreigners who died in the massive Easter Sunday bombings on Monday rose to 42, including 11 Indians, according to the Sri Lankan foreign ministry. Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said that as of Monday April 29, the number of foreign nationals who have been killed in the attack rose to 42. "It includes, one from Bangladesh, four from China, 11 from India, three from Denmark, one each from the US, Japan, the Netherlands and Portugal, Switzerland, two each from Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, six from the UK, two holding US and UK nationalities, one holding Swiss and Dutch nationalities, one holding Dutch and Sri Lankan nationalities, and two holding Australian and Sri Lankan nationalities," the statement said. Another 12 foreigners remain unaccounted for and could be among still unidentified bodies at Colombo's police morgue, the statement said. Previously authorities had said that 40 foreign nationals were ...
Social media ban lifted in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to lift the temporary social media ban that was imposed after the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings, an official statement said on Tuesday.
Memory centre takes visitors through 4 decades of Afghan war
A teary-eyed Hameed Rafi said he'll never forget the day he joined a panel of civilian war victims and family members and spoke about the suicide bombing in Kabul that killed his sister last August. Sharing his story with them in March at the Afghanistan Center for Memory and Dialogue, Rafi recalled how all of the wounded in the attack had been taken to hospitals, so he began searching lists of wounded hanging on hospital walls. But he couldn't find the name of his sister, 18-year-old Rahila, who had been studying in an education centre for her college entrance exam when the attack happened. Then, a doctor suggested Rafi also search lists of those killed. "That shocked me, I had never considered that my sister wouldn't be alive anymore," he said. But as he learned later, Rahila had perished, he told those who attended the panel discussion. Rafi's chance to share his story is at the heart of the memory centre's mission. Launched in February by the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy
Burkina Faso: Attack on church kills 6
An attack by motorbike-borne assailants on a Protestant church here claimed the lives of six people, including of a pastor. At least two people are said to be missing after the attack that happened on Sunday."The attack happened around 1 pm just as the faithful were leaving the church at the end of the service. The attackers were on motorbikes. They fired in the air before aiming at the members of the congregation," an unnamed witness told Al Jazeera on Monday.This is the first attack on a church since sectarian violence erupted in the African country, according to government spokesman Remy Fulgance Dandjinou. It is not yet known if any group claimed responsibility for the attack.The strike comes exactly a week after coordinated bomb blasts rattled multiple locations, including churches, across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.Rinaldo Depagne, West Africa Project Director at International Crisis Group, said: "Armed groups...have every interest in troubling or going against the good ...
3 injured in clashes between two groups in UP
At least three people were injured in clashes between two groups of the same community over a financial dispute here, the police said on Tuesday. The brawl took place at Kawal village under Jansath Police Station on Monday evening, SHO Santosh Kumar Tyagi said. Police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control by arresting five people, he said. The injured-- Nasrin, Shahrukh and Sattar were shifted to hospital.
ISIL chief says Sri Lanka attack was 'vengeance for brothers in Baghouz'
Chief of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a propaganda video, asserted that the battle for Baghouz, ISIL's final bastion in eastern Syria, "is over."Al Jazeera cited the video, published by ISIL's Al Furqan media network on Monday, in which the ISIL leader seemed to have grown a bushy grey beard. He kept an assault weapon close by and sat in a cross-legged position on a cushion along with three men by his side whose faces were blurred."There will be more to come after this battle," said al-Baghdadi, apparently referring to the final fight in Baghouz.Al-Baghdadi had appeared for the first time in the propaganda video since delivering a sermon at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014, declaring a "Caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.Meanwhile, an audio message was also put out, purportedly of al-Baghdadi, saying that the April 21 attacks in Sri Lanka, which left at least 253 people dead, was "vengeance" for ISIL's "brothers in ...
Ugandan pop star opposition MP arrested over 2018 protest
Ugandan police arrested pop star turned MP Bobi Wine on Monday, barely two days after lifting the house arrest of a potential challenger to veteran President Yoweri Museveni, and placed him in custody over a protest he organised last year, his lawyer said. Wine, at 37, is the figurehead of a new generation who grew up under Museveni but want to see change and his anti-government songs have helped win him a big following. Police arrested him after he answered a summons to the Criminal Investigations Directorate on Monday morning, said one of his lawyers, Asuman Basalirwa. "Bobi Wine and four others including his brother and his bodyguard have been remanded to prison until May 2," Basalirwa told AFP. "The state claims my clients in July 2018, held a demonstration against the social media tax without notifying the police contrary to the provisions of Public Order Management Act," he said. "The state further claims the accused refused to cooperate with police to ensure participants in the
Video of IS chief Baghdadi appears, cites Sri Lanka attacks
A man, appearing to be the Islamic State leader's Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, has appeared in a video posted on the terror group's media network, vowing more attacks in revenge for loss of the "caliphate's territory", reports said on Monday.
Islamic State leader: Sri Lanka attack was revenge for Syria
The leader of the Islamic State group praised the Easter suicide bombings that killed more than 250 people in Sri Lanka in a video released Monday, calling on militants to be a "thorn" against their enemies in his first filmed appearance in nearly five years. The video of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to whom the suicide bombers in last week's attack apparently pledged their loyalty, came as the top official in the Catholic Church urged Sri Lanka to crack down on Islamic extremists "as if on war footing." Meanwhile, a government ban on niqab face covering took effect as soldiers and police officers conducted raids in eastern Sri Lanka, the home of the alleged mastermind of the attacks. The 18-minute video of al-Baghdadi included images of the extremist leader sitting in a white room with three others, assault rifles by their sides. He discussed Sri Lanka in an audio portion of the video, suggesting the April 21 attacks came after they filmed him. Al-Baghdadi praised the attackers, saying they