Page 103 - War Conflict
Afghanistan: 2 civilians amongst 11 killed in clash
11 people, including two civilians, lost their lives in the fighting between security forces and the Taliban in Qaisar here on Sunday, according to an army spokesperson.The gun battle was triggered after a group of Taliban terrorists attacked the checkpoints of pro-government militias in Qaisar district's Kohi on Sunday morning, said Ghulam Hazrat Karimi, an army spokesperson in the northern region.Apart from the civilians, four pro-government militias and five Taliban terrorists were also killed, according to Al Jazeera.
Iranian FM to visit North Korea soon
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is scheduled to visit North Korea soon, state media said on Sunday.Zarif, who is on an official visit to the United States, told Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in an interview that the date for the visit will be announced soon.The Iranian Foreign Minister also asserted that he is not aware of President Hassan Rouhani's possible visit to the South Asian country.The visit holds prominence as both countries are facing US sanctions.Last year, Trump had announced "toughest sanctions" on Iran, which has since punctured the country's economy. This was followed by Monday's decision to not extend sanction waivers for the nations importing Iranian Oil.Speaking on the same, the Zarif said that Iran could consider leaving the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as one of the options of responding to the US sanctions.The NPT is a multilateral international document drafted by the UN committee on disarmament with the aim of ...
Sister of Easter Sunday bombing mastermind fears 18 relatives dead after attacks
The sister of the suspected mastermind of Sri Lanka's debilitating Easter Sunday bombings has claimed that nearly 18 members of her family are missing and feared dead since the attacks and subsequent raids.Mohamed Hashim Mathaniya is the sister of Mohamed Hashim Zahran, one of the suicide bombers who appeared in a video released by an Islamic State-linked news agency before blowing himself up on Easter Sunday.Mathaniya told CNN that five of her relatives went missing on Sunday itself after the attacks.It is pertinent to mention here that Sri Lankan authorities on Friday had conducted a raid at what was believed to be a jihadist hideout in eastern Sri Lanka's Kalmunai city.In the shootout that ensued between the police and suspected terrorists, 10 civilians including six children were killed.Speaking about the shootout, Mathaniya said: "It did not hit me until I saw the bodies of the men and women. When they said six children, I thought whether they could be the people related to ...
Iraq demands Bahrain FM's apology for insulting Shia cleric
Iraq on Sunday demanded an apology from Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa after the latter insulted an Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.Khalid stated that the Iranian government "controlled" Baghdad, along with calling al-Sadr a "dog" in a tweet posted on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera."The words of the Bahraini foreign ministry - representing Bahraini diplomacy - are offensive to Muqtada al-Sadr...(and) are totally unacceptable in diplomatic practice," Iraq's foreign ministry outlined in a statement."They also harm Iraq, its sovereignty and independence, especially when the Bahraini minister speaks of Iraq being under the control of neighbouring Iran," the statement further read.Khaled allegedly insulted al-Sadr after the cleric denounced the wars in Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria, demanding the immediate departures of the leaders of the said countries."Muqtada expresses his fear of increased (foreign) intervention in Iraq...and instead of putting his finder on ...
No peace if Taliban do not adapt: US envoy
There will be no enduring peace in Afghanistan unless the Taliban adapt to the changes that have swept the country since they were ousted in 2001, a US diplomat said Sunday. Special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading US efforts to forge a peace deal with the Taliban, made the comments in a visit to Kabul as he continues a months-long push for a settlement. Speaking to Tolo News, Khalilzad said the Taliban recognise their government "made a lot mistakes" when it was in power from 1996-2001, and "they have learned a lot". "If the Taliban insist on going back to the system they used to have, in my personal opinion it means the continuation of war not peace," said Afghan-born Khalilzad, speaking in Dari. Khalilzad has signalled progress in talks, which centre on the Taliban guaranteeing Afghanistan can never again be used as a springboard for foreign terror attacks, in return for an eventual withdrawal of foreign forces. When the hard-line Islamists were in power, they barred girls ...
Most Sri Lanka Islamist radicals killed or arrested: PM
Sri Lankan forces have killed or arrested most of the radical Islamists linked to the Easter suicide bombings and the country is ready to return to normality, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sunday. But the prime minister said the government had planned tougher laws to deal with Islamist extremists and that foreign clerics teaching in Sri Lanka illegally will be expelled. The Easter Sunday bombings that left 253 dead were carried out by a "small, but a well organised group," Wickremesinghe said in a statement. "Most of them have been arrested. Some have died," he said. "Now we are able to return to normality." "We should all now help restore the normal life of the community." Three churches and three hotels were targeted by suicide bombers in the attacks in which at least 40 foreigners were killed. More than 100 people have been detained since the attacks. Authorities have said there are about 140 followers of the Islamic State group in the country. Wickremesinghe confirmed ..
Lanka lifts nationwide night curfew
Barring three areas, Sri Lanka on Sunday lifted the nationwide night curfew which was imposed after the island nation was rocked with eight blasts targeting churches and hotels that killed 253 people, including Indians. Police also said they have arrested one more person suspected to be involved in the Easter blasts. "No island-wide curfew tonight. Curfew only imposed in Kalmunai, Sammanthurai and Chavalakade areas from 5 pm today," police spokesmen Ruwan Gunasekera said. Ibrahim Mohamed Ifran Ahmed, the elder brother of two suicide bombers at the Shangri-La and Cinnamon Hotels, was arrested in Dematagoda area for possessing swords and an air rifle, he added. A string of eight powerful blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE. Gunasekera said a mother-child duo rescued by police from a terrorist ...
3 militants involved in Srinagar attack arrested: Police
All three militants involved in the attack on a police post in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar district on Friday have been arrested, police said on Sunday.
Refugees, asylum seekers harassed in Sri Lanka after Easter Sunday blasts
Nearly 1,600 refugees from about 15 countries, mostly from Pakistan, are facing threats and have been attacked in Sri Lanka following the Easter Sunday bombings which killed over 250 people, an official said Sunday. Sri Lanka Sunday marked a week since the coordinated blasts hit three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 253 people and inuring over 500 others. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group has claimed the April 21 coordinated blasts, but the government has blamed local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) for the attack. There are about 1,600 of them from about 15 countries and from various religious beliefs. They had arrived here to avoid persecution in their own countries. A majority of them are Pakistani Christians, a welfare official working with the refugees said. A majority of them were living in the western coastal town of Negombo where one of the Churches, St Sebastian's, came under attack by an ISIS-linked suicide bomber. "They have come ...
3 JeM terrorists responsible for attack on police post arrested
There Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, involved in Friday's attack on a police post here, have been arrested, police said here on Sunday. "We have arrested three persons so far in connection with the Chanapora attack case," senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Srinagar Haseeb Mughal told reporters here. The SSP identified the arrested terrorists as Mushtaq, Junaid and Latief. Mughal said the three belonged to JeM and were involved in the attack on the Chanapora police post in which a sentry was injured. They had also made a failed attempt to snatch his rifle. "We collected the digital evidence and strengthened the intelligence grid after the attack. We focussed on the suspects already on our radar. We picked them up, questioned them and during questioning, one of them confessed and gave us further details about the group, he said. Giving details of the attack, the SSP said the three came to Chanapora on a motorcycle, but left it some distance away from the police post. One of ...
Four dead, 20 wounded in Tripoli air raids: unity govt
Air raids by the self-styled Libyan National Army against the capital on Saturday night killed four people and wounded 20 others, Libya's internationally recognised unity government said. But Amin al-Hachemi, a spokesman for the Government of National Accord's healthy ministry, on Sunday warned that "the death toll could increase in the coming hours". A pro-GNA military source said the victims were civilians. "Several sites were targeted by air strikes late Saturday night, causing victims among civilians," the source told AFP. "Most of the strikes hit areas in the district of Abou Slim... (but) none hit military targets." Strongman Khalifa Haftar's LNA launched an offensive against Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, on April 4. But after initial gains, Haftar's forces have encountered stiff resistance on the southern outskirts and his troops have been pushed back in some areas. At least 278 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the clashes, according to a toll released ...
Sri Lanka hotel bombers' brother arrested
The elder brother of two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at two hotels in the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka was arrested during a raid in Dematagoda on Sunday, police said.
How can someone kill in the name of God, wonders Sri Lankan Cardinal
Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic leader Sunday said God is the reflection of love and kindness and wondered how someone can kill in the name of God as he referred to the Islamist militants who claimed the massive Easter Sunday bombings were on behalf of the Almighty. As the country marked a week since the coordinated blasts hit three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 253 people and inuring over 500 others, Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, conducted the special private mass. Attended by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe along with other leaders, the mass was shown live on television after Sri Lanka's Catholic churches on Thursday suspended all public services until the security situation improves. The Archbishop, who started his mass with an appeal for peace and unity, said: "It is our faith which has been challenged". "God is the reflection of love and kindness, so how can someone kill in the name of God?" Cardinal Ranjith asked ..
Gemstones, cash recovered from Sri Lanka safe house
Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday recovered gemstones worth more than 30 million rupees and 15 million rupees in cash from a safe house in Dematagoda, police said.
Iraq summons US diplomat over offensive comments
Iraq's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said that it has summoned the charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Baghdad over comments on social media considered offensive to the diplomatic norms.
Church services televised in Sri Lanka
Catholics in Sri Lanka followed televised religious services on Sunday as churches remained shut after the bishops' conference decided to suspend mass until further notice due to fears of fresh attacks following the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings.
It was like movie, there was blood everywhere: Dubai-based Indian couple who survived Lanka blasts
A Dubai-based Indian couple, who had a narrow escape in the Sri Lanka blasts, said the whole scene looked like a movie and unreal, recounting that they saw blood spilled everywhere as bodies were taken out from the hotel they were staying in, according to a media report. Abhinav Chari, manager at a health insurance firm in Dubai, and his wife Navroop were visiting the island nation for a business trip and staying in the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, one of the targets in the series of bomb blasts that ripped through luxury hotels and churches on Easter Sunday. Recounting the day, Chari said that he and his wife were in the middle of the Easter service when the priest requested people to leave the church premises calmly, saying he has received reports about bombings in other churches, the Gulf News reported. After we left the church we got into a taxi to go get some breakfast because that is what we would normally do after Easter mass. We started noticing a commotion on the roads and decided ..
Iran Guards drone spies on US warships in Gulf: media
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards' drone successfully carried out a surveillance flight over an American aircraft carrier in the Gulf, Tasnim news agency claimed in a Sunday report on its website. A video published by the agency, which could not be immediately verified, shows a light blue coloured drone with the name "Ababil III" written on the wings in Farsi and Latin script. It is seen taking off from a desert base near the sea, as the soundtrack of an action movie plays in the background, and flies over first an escort ship and then an aircraft carrier with fighter planes parked on the deck. "The naval force of Sepah (the Guards' Farsi name) is aware of all the movements of American terrorist forces in the region and the Persian Gulf and closely monitors them," Tasnim wrote. Tasnim did not name the aircraft carrier or say when the video was shot. In the Koran, Ababil refers to a type of magical birds that protected Islam's holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia against an invader king's .
Pakistan: 3 security personnel killed in bomb blast
Three security personnel were killed and one other injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan's northwest district of North Waziristan on Saturday.The incident occurred after an explosive device planted near a check post went off in the Shava tehsil of the district, reported Dawn.Following the explosion, two personnel identified as Ameer Zaman and Abdul Wali died on the spot, while the third officer, Nambot Khan, succumbed to injuries in the hospital.After the incident, the security forces rushed to the site and shifted the body and injured to a nearby hospital.Security forces have cornered off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the perpetrators, reported Xinhua.No group has yet claimed the responsibility for the attack.
J-K police arrests two terrorists for attacking police post in Srinagar
Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday arrested two terrorists that carried out an attack on a police post in Srinagar's Chanpora on April 26.The terrorists were arrested in Budgam's Wathora.In the incident, a policeman was critically injured and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for the treatment.Security forces had launched searches in the area to nab the terrorists.