Page 104 - War Conflict
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.
One nabbed for posing as CISF constable
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) arrested a man posing as a constable of the force from Chandni Chowk metro station here."On Saturday, following a tip-off received at about 8:22 p.m. a suspicious person was nabbed in a CRPF uniform near gate number 3 at the Chandni Chowk Metro Station and was taken to the security room for enquiry," CISF said in a statement on Sunday.The accused neither possessed any identity card nor any other satisfactory proof which could justify that he was a part of the para-military force.Upon sustained interrogation, he revealed his identity as Nadeem Khan and said he is a resident of Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh and at present is undergoing training at CRPF regional training centre in Mohan Nagar in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar."A contact was established with Mohan Nagar centre and informed that no such trainee of the said name was present in their centre. Subsequently, UP Police was also contacted and it was found that his parents are fine and
Sri Lankan churches shut a week after bombings
Churches in Sri Lanka remained shut on Sunday, a week since the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 253 people.
Villager injured in Naxal attack dies
A villager who was critically injured in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district died at a hospital in neighbouring Telangana, a police official said on Sunday. On Saturday evening, two policemen were killed and the villager received injuries when Naxals opened fire on them near Tongguda camp of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Pamed area, located around 500 km from the state capital Raipur, he said. Constable Arvind Minj and assistant constable Sukku Hapka, belonging to the District Police Force, along with the villager, identified as Kawasi Itta, were returning on a motorcycle to Tongguda camp from Tippapuram side, he said. A 'Small Action Team' of Naxals (typically comprising four-five cadres) opened fire on them, killing Minj and Hapka on the spot and leaving Itta critically injured, he said. The villager was initially shifted to a hospital at Cherla in Telangana, located around 17 km from Pamed. "He was later referred to a Bhadrachalam-based ...
UAE-based Indian couple narrowly escaped SL attacks
A Dubai-based Indian couple narrowly escaped the blast at Colombos Cinnamon Grand hotel, which was one of the eight targets of the April 21 serial bombings in Sri Lanka, the media reported on Sunday.
Lanka's Roman Catholic leader says Easter blasts 'insult to humanity'; holds special mass
The Archbishop of Colombo on Sunday condemned the Easter suicide bombings as "a great tragedy" and an "insult to humanity" at a special mass attended by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, marking a week since the country's worst terror attack killed 253 people. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the country's Roman Catholic leader, conducted the special private mass shown live on television after Sri Lanka's Catholic churches on Thursday suspended all public services until the security situation improves. Tight security was provided in the vicinity with military standing by at the Archbishop's House, the Cardinal's official residence. "It is our faith which has been challenged," the Cardinal said. Nothing is more precious than the human lives, he said. "God is the reflection of love and kindness, so how can someone kill in the name of God?" Cardinal Ranjith asked in a reference to the militants who claimed that the attacks were on behalf of the almighty. As
Police arrest militants who attacked police post
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday arrested two militants blamed for attacking a police post in Srinagar city on Friday.
Sri Lanka: IS claims responsibility for attacks in Kalmunai
The Islamic State (IS) terror group on Saturday claimed that the three men who detonated their suicide vests during a standoff with Sri Lankan police belonged to their group.A statement carried out by the IS mouthpiece Amaq News agency also said that 17 police officers were either killed or injured in the ambush, reported Russia Today.According to the reports, 15 people, including 6 children were killed in the said shootout at what was believed to be a Jihadist hideout in eastern Sri Lanka's Kalmunai city on Friday.Among the 15 dead, six are suspected terrorists. Additionally, two or more suspected terrorists are on the run after the shootout.Following the incident, Sri Lankan authorities had seized bomb-making materials and ISIS uniforms and flags from the house, which appeared to be a bomb-making factory or storage facility.One of the six suspected terrorists found dead has been identified as Mohamed Niyas, a prominent member of a local extremist group National Tawheed Jamath ...
2 suspects wanted in Sri Lanka bombings arrested
Two suspects, wanted over the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, were arrested on Sunday, police said.
Sri Lanka's Easter carnage: Colombo needs to be wary of Pakistan-ISIS links (Comments)
The ISIS, or the Islamic State, has eventually claimed responsibility for the multiple terror bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday targeting churches and hotels, killing 359 and injuring about 600 people. The sites hit in the attacks were all frequented by tourists, and at least 42 foreign nationals died in the explosions.
US issues new travel advisory for Sri Lanka
In a new travel advisory, the US State Department has ordered the departure of all school-age family members of American government employees in Kindergarten through 12th grade.
IS claims responsibility for SL ambush that killed 17
The Islamic State (IS) terror group has claimed responsibility for an "ambush" carried out by three jihadis in Sri Lanka, saying that it caused 17 deaths after authorities in the island nation confirmed 16 dead in an operation in Kalmunai city.
Three killed in bomb blast in Pakistan
At least three security personnel were killed and two others injured in a bomb blast in Pakistan's northwest district of North Waziristan, local media reported.
Easter blasts: Sri Lanka bans 2 terror groups, including NTJ
President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday banned the activities of two terror groups suspected to be behind the horrific coordinated blasts in Sri Lanka earlier this week that claimed lives of more than 250 people.Sirisena took the decision under emergency regulations banned the National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ), and the splinter group Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim (JMI) in Sri Lanka, Colombo Page reported."President Maithripala Sirisena, in terms of powers vested in him as the under Emergency Regulations No. 01 of 2019, has taken steps to ban the organizations National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) and Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) in Sri Lanka," the President's Office said in a statement."All activities of those organisations as well as their property will be seized by the government," the statement read.This comes after eight explosions rattled churches and high-end hotels located across the Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo, Kochchikede and Batticaloa as the Christian community ...
Sri Lanka Easter bombings: President Sirisena bans radical groups
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has banned the National Thawheed Jammath (NTJ) and another radical group suspected to be behind the Easter Sunday explosions, which killed over 250 people and injured 500, the President's Office said in a statement.
EU slams Trump's withdrawal from UN arms trade treaty
The European Union warned Saturday that US President Donald Trump's rejection of a UN treaty designed to regulate the global arms trade would hamper the global fight against illicit weapons trafficking. "A decision by the US to revoke its signature would not contribute to the ongoing efforts to encourage transparency in the international arms trade, to prevent illicit trafficking and to combat the diversion of conventional arms," said the EU's chief diplomat, Federica Mogherini. "The EU will continue to call on all states, and in particular the major arms exporters and importers, to join the Arms Trade Treaty without delay," she said. Trump said Friday the United States would not abide by the 2013 treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade, calling it "misguided" and an encroachment on US sovereignty. The US Senate never ratified the treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it. Trump said he was revoking his predecessor's signature. Mogherini said the EU viewed the ...