Page 108 - War Conflict
Afghans killed more by pro-government forces than Taliban
Pro-government forces in Afghanistan have killed more civilians in the first three months of 2019 than the Taliban and other insurgent groups, the UN said in a report.
Firearms stolen from New Zealand police amid buyback scheme
New Zealand police were left red-faced Friday after admitting 11 firearms have been stolen from a police station while in the midst of a nationwide buy-back scheme following the Christchurch massacre. The firearms -- some earmarked for destruction -- were stolen from the Palmerston North police station in the central North Island. "I am very concerned about what has occurred. It is absolutely unacceptable," acting regional police commander Sarah Stewart said. Radio New Zealand reported at least one stolen weapon was a banned semi-automatic, but Stewart refused to confirm this nor would she say if any ammunition was taken. "Eleven firearms which were in an exhibit storage area are currently unaccounted for. I should be clear that these were not police firearms, but were a range of weapons being held as exhibits or handed in for destruction," she said. Police commissioner Mike Bush has ordered an immediate investigation into the theft and an audit on security around firearms at all ...
Sri Lankan attacks example of ISIS spreading from Iraq, Syria into Afghanistan: Iran FM Zarif
The Islamic State (ISIS) has been "airlifted" from Iraq and Syria into Afghanistan and one example of it is the barbaric attack in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said here. Speaking at the Asia Society here on Wednesday, he said that the attacks in Sri Lanka has vindicated what they have been saying. Unfortunately, we have been saying that and people believe that we were just trying to make propaganda and a conspiracy theory approach. ISIS has been airlifted from Iraq and Syria into Afghanistan," he said. "You see one example of it unfortunately in the barbaric attack on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka, Zarif said responding to a question on the status of ISIS and the connection with the terror attacks in the island nation. The Sri Lankan authorities say that National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) was behind the attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels. But ISIS have claimed responsibility for the attacks and named the suicide bombers ...
70 IS suspects held after bombings: Sirisena
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday said that there were as many as 140 Islamic State suspects in the country and 70 of them have already been held after the Easter Sunday bombings.
Heatstroke leaves 15 dead at famous shrine in Pakistan
At least 15 people have died due to heatstroke while attending the annual religious rites at a revered shrine in Pakistan's Sindh province, an official said Friday. Sarwar Shaikh, the in-charge of the Edhi Centre in Sehwan area, said the death toll of devotees at Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine had reached 15 as the heat wave continues in various parts of the city for the last four days. Thousands of devotees from all over Pakistan and even abroad converge at the Lal Shahbaz Qalander shrine every year for the annual Urs. The provincial authorities have often been criticised for not making adequate safety and other arrangements for the devotees. In February 2017, at least 90 people were killed and around 300 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the shrine while the evening prayers were taking place and faithfuls were involved in Sufi rituals. The Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack. Even after the horrific attack, the devotees continue to throng the ...
Islamists threaten Sufi Mosques: Sri Lanka police
Police in Sri Lanka issued a warning on Friday that some "Islamic fundamentalists" were planning another spate of bombings targeting traditional Sufi mosques in the country known as 'Kuppu Palli' or 'Auliya' mosques.
Sri Lanka police wrongly ID American Muslim over attacks
Sri Lankan police have been left red-faced after wrongly identifying a female American Muslim activist as a suspect in the deadly Easter bombings. On Thursday, police issued a flyer with the names and photos of six people -- three men and three women -- wanted in connection with attacks that killed over 250 people. Among those listed was a woman identified as Abdul Cader Fathima Khadhiya, accompanied by a photo of a woman in a headscarf purported to be the individual wanted for questioning. But the photo in fact showed Amara Majeed, an American Muslim whose parents are Sri Lankan immigrants and who penned an open letter to President Donald Trump in 2015 about his rhetoric on Muslims. "Hello everyone! I have this morning been FALSELY identified by the Sri Lankan government as one of the ISIS Easter attackers in Sri Lanka," Majeed wrote on her Facebook page. "What a thing to wake up to! This is obviously completely false and frankly, considering that Muslim communities are already ...
IGP will resign on Friday, says Sirisena
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday announced that Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara will resign later in the day, after he was asked to quit over mishandling of intelligence reports ahead of the Easter Sunday bombings.
SL suicide bomber obtained empty cartridges discarded by Army
A suicide bomber who blew himself up at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, one of the targets in the Easter Sunday bombings, had obtained empty cartridges discarded by the Army, a media report said on Friday.
Maoists blow up BJP election office in Jharkhand
Maoists on Friday blew up a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election office in Jharkhand's Palamau district, police said.
Lanka didn't arrest citizens who joined IS as joining foreign terror outfit not against law: PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government knew that Sri Lankan nationals who joined the Islamic State had returned, but they could not be arrested as joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law in the island nation. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Easter terror attacks on three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels that claimed 253 lives but the government has blamed a local Islamist extremist group National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) for the bombings. We knew they went to Syria...But in our country, to go abroad and return or to take part in a foreign armed uprising is not an offence here, Wickremesinghe told Sky News. We have no laws which enable us to take into custody people who join foreign terrorist groups. We can take those who are, who belong to terrorist groups operating in Sri Lanka," he was quoted as saying. Facing public criticism for not acting against Islamist extremist groups in the island nation, Prime Minister
Wanted Sri Lanka radical Hashim led hotel attack: president
An Islamic extremist believed to have played a key role in Sri Lanka's deadly Easter bombings led an attack against a Colombo hotel, the country's president confirmed Friday. "What intelligence agencies have told me is that Zahran was killed during the Shangri-La attack," President Maithripala Sirisena told reporters, referring to Zahran Hashim, leader of a local extremist group. He added that Hashim led the attack against the high-end hotel and was accompanied by a second bomber, identified only as "Ilham". He said the information came from military intelligence and was based in part on CCTV footage recovered from the scene. Hashim appeared in a video released by the Islamic State group after they claimed the bombings, but his whereabouts after the blasts were not immediately clear. More than 250 people were killed in the attacks against three churches and three hotels. A fourth planned attack on a hotel failed. Security forces had been on a desperate hunt for Hashim, believed to be
Dubai's Burj Khalifa lights up with Sri Lanka flag
Dubai's iconic skyscraper Burj Khalifa lit up to the colours of Sri Lanka's flag to show solidarity with the victims of the suicide bombings on Easter Sunday. The tallest and most famous skyscraper in the world was lit up Thursday and it hoped for a world built on tolerance and coexistence. "#BurjKhalifa lights up in solidarity with #SriLanka. Here's to a world built on tolerance and coexistence," according to a tweet on the official twitter account of the skyscraper. Apart from the Burj Khalifa, iconic landmarks in Abu Dhabi also lit up with the colours of Sri Lanka's national flag, Khaleej Times reported. The Emirates Palace, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, ADNOC building, Capital Gate were among the buildings decked up in Sri Lankan colours, the report said. Nine suicide bombers, believed to be the members of a local Islamist extremist group National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ), carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three churches, two of them Catholic, and three luxury hotels
Key info on SL attacks revealed by arrested suspects
Sri Lankan security authorities have extracted vital information from the terror suspects arrested in connection with Easter Sunday bombings, the media reported on Friday.
UK, Aus warns against travelling to Sri Lanka, sees further attacks
The UK and Australia have advised their citizens not to travel to Sri Lanka unless their journey is essential as terrorists were "likely" to carry out further attacks in the country, following the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that killed 253 people and injured over 500. According to advisories, future attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, the The UK Foreign Office (FCO) updated its guidance, urging British citizens in the country to avoid large gatherings. But on Thursday it went further, warning about the potential for more attacks. "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka, due to the current evolving security situation following attacks on April 21 2019," it said. "Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Sri Lanka. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners." Foreign Office officials told those at the ...
Sri Lanka toll revision grim sign of bombings force
The dramatic revision of the death toll in Sri Lanka's Easter bombings, which has been cut by more than 100, is a grim indicator of the power of the deadly blasts. The force of the explosions so badly mutilated bodies that parts of victims were wrongly collated and identified in the initial confusion, officials said. "Many of the victims were badly mutilated... There was double counting," the health ministry said in explaining the new death toll of 253, down from 359 announced on Wednesday. Health Ministry director general Anil Jasinghe said the "very complex nature of the human remains" made it hard for forensic experts to initially compile an accurate toll. "In explosions like this, bodies get badly mutilated. It is not always possible to have complete bodies," he said. "This is why it was initially difficult to arrive at a precise toll." The sheer force of the suicide bombings at three churches and three hotels is clear from the damage sustained by the targeted buildings. At St ...
Entire family of suspected SL bombings mastermind missing since Easter Sunday: Reports
Mohomed Hashim Madaniya, sister of the suspected mastermind behind the deadly serial blasts that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing more than 250 people, said that her entire family has been missing since the day of the attacks.Speaking exclusively to Daily Mirror [Sri Lanka], the 25-year-old woman said, " I went and gave food to my parents and my sisters family on April 18, and haven't heard from them since."Madaniya said that her brother, Zahran Hashim, 33, is the eldest of all siblings. He is married to Mohomed Haadiya, 23, and is the father of two children aged a boy aged eight and a girl aged four.Hashim's brother Mohomed Zeyin Hashim, 30, is married to Abdul Gafoor Afrin, 23, and has two children a boy, aged five, and a girl aged three. The third was Mohomed Rilwan Hashim, 28, married to Nafha, 20, and is the father of two children aged five, and the other a six-month-old boy.The remaining sister Mohomed Yaseera Hashim, 20, was married to Mohomed Rishad, 22, and is the ..
Six deminers killed in Yemen blast
Six demining experts were killed in an explosion Thursday at an arms depot in Yemen's Red Sea city of Mokha, said the Saudi landmine clearance project which employs them. The project, MASAM, said on its website that the six experts, whose nationality was not given, died in a blast at a depot containing mines and other explosive devices which were to be destroyed. In January, five foreign experts also with MASAM -- two from South Africa, a Croatian, a Bosnian and a Kosovar -- died in an accidental explosion in the central province of Marib. Rights groups say landmines have killed and injured hundreds of civilians and blocked aid deliveries since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in the government's war against Huthi rebels in 2015. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 10,000 people -- most of them civilians -- have been killed and more than 60,000 wounded in fighting since March 2015. Rights groups say the toll could be much higher.
Sri Lanka reduces toll to 253, Defence Secretary quits (Into Night Lead)
Sri Lanka on Thursday revised down the toll in Easter Sunday bloodbath to "about 253" even as Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned accepting responsibility for the attack and security forces continued a search for accomplices of the suicide bombers.
Mexico says ready to apologise to US over border incident
Mexico's president said Thursday he was willing to offer an apology to the United States, if necessary, to cool an escalating war of words over a border confrontation between US and Mexican troops. "If necessary, the secretary of foreign affairs will send a note explaining how the facts occurred and, if there was an infraction; he will offer the apologies that are required," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily news conference. The leftist president was keen to emphasize that Mexico wanted to avoid "any kind of friction, confrontation," with the United States, it's main trading partner. "We do not intend to violate, to affect, the sovereignty of the United States of America," he said. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump escalated his war of words with Mexico over immigration when he announced he would send armed soldiers to the border after Mexican soldiers had "pulled guns" on US troops. Trump was apparently referring to an April 13 incident in which Mexican ...