Page 117 - War Conflict
ISIS claims Lanka Easter blasts as toll rises to 321
Sri Lanka's worst terror attack targeting churches and luxury hotels that killed 321 people on Easter Sunday was claimed by the Islamic State even as a senior minister informed Parliament Tuesday that initial probe suggested local Islamist extremists carried out the devastating blasts in retaliation for the shootings in New Zealand mosques. Forty suspects, including the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers, have been arrested so far in connection with the attacks that shocked Sri Lankans who observed a day of national mourning on Tuesday. National flags were lowered to half mast and people bowed their heads as a three-minute silence began at 8:30 am local time, the time the first of the attacks occurred on Sunday. In a statement issued through its propaganda 'Amaq' news agency, the ISIS claimed that "the executors of the attack that targeted citizens of coalition states and Christians in Sri Lanka two days ago were with the group," according to the Site Intelligence ..
'Shattered': S. Lankan cricketer recounts church bombing horror
Sri Lankan cricketer Dasun Shanaka barely survived one of the deadly blasts that killed more than 320 people in the island nation on Easter Sunday, and says the horrific scenes have left him "scared" to go out. The 27-year-old allrounder skipped Easter service at St Sebastian's Church in his hometown of Negombo because of a long trip the day before, he told Cricinfo. It was among six churches and hotels targeted by suicide bombers who killed 321 people and injured hundreds more -- the worst violence seen in the country since a civil war ended a decade ago. The government has blamed the attacks on Islamist militants. "Normally I would have gone to church... (but) I was tired," Shanaka told the website in comments published Monday. "That morning, when I was at my house, I heard a sound, and then people were saying a bomb had gone off at the church. I rushed there, and I'll never forget the scene. "The entire church was destroyed, absolutely shattered, and people were dragging lifeless ..
New Zealand has no information on SL terror link
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office said on Tuesday that New Zealand "has not yet seen any intelligence" on the basis of which it can be said that suicide bombings in Sri Lanka were linked to the mosque attacks in Christchurch.
Modi's barb at Mamata - 'PM post cannot be bought like Saradha, Narada'
Hitting out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the post of prime minister is not in the "auction which can be bought by the money of Saradha and Narada scams.""Didi (Mamata) is also dreaming to become the prime minister by contesting a handful of seats. If the prime minister's post can be received from the auction, then Didi and the Congress would have come into the auction with the money looted by them," Prime Minister Modi said, while addressing an election rally here."The post of the prime minister is not in the auction which can be bought by the money of Saradha and Narada," said he.The Saradha Group financial scandal was a major scam caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by the conglomerate. The multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam allegedly involves several key leaders from the Trinamool Congress.Prime Minister Modi further attacked Chief Minister Mamata-led government on the issues of corruption and crime in the state."Today,
China issues Sri Lanka travel alert after deadly Easter blasts
China on Tuesday warned its citizens against travelling to Sri Lanka after a a series of bomb blasts ripped through churches and luxury hotels across the island nation on Easter Sunday, killing 321 people, including two Chinese nationals. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese embassy to Sri Lanka remind Chinese nationals not to travel to Sri Lanka in the near term," a statement posted on the Chinese embassy's website read. "Those already here, please step up safety precautions, try to stay away from crowded areas and pay attention to safety reminders by the embassy and local media to ensure personal safety." The embassy warned it would not be able to help Chinese citizens if they insisted on visiting Sri Lanka and that individuals would need to bear the financial cost of any assistance required. "In view of the current situation in Sri Lanka, if Chinese citizens insist on going after the reminder is issued, they will bring themselves huge security risks and make it ...
Mystery shrouds Sri Lankan group behind carnage
While the Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday carnage in Sri Lanka which killed at least 321 people, the needle of suspicion remained pointed towards the little-known local Islamist group, the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ).
ISIS claims responsibility for Sri Lanka bombings
The Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombings that claimed the lives of over 300 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.The terror outfit made the claim using its Amaq news agency, according to The New York Times.Earlier today, Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene said the attacks were in retaliation to the Christchurch terror attacks that took place in New Zealand on March 15."The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch," Al Jazeera quoted Wijewardene, as saying.Wijewardene also told the Sri Lankan Parliament that the death toll has mounted to 321, including 38 foreigners.Eight explosions rattled various suburbs in the Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo, Kochchikede and Batticaloa as the Christian community celebrated Easter Sunday on April 21.A mass burial ceremony was held here today following a funeral service at St. Sebastian's ...
Islamic State claims Sri Lanka carnage, toll is 321 (3rd Lead)
The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka as the death toll in the Easter Sunday bloodbath touched 321, including 10 Indians, with over 500 injured.
Doc & 10 member family thank stars for escape from SL blasts
A doctor's family from Karnataka put up at a place near the terror hit Shangri La hotel in Colombo realised they had left the place hours before the mayhem took place. Dr Raghuram G, a neurosurgeon in Columbia Asia Hospital here, had gone with his family and cousins to Lanka. "We were 10 in number and staying in a hotel next to Shangri La where the tragedy struck. We were roaming around the same area. On Sunday (when the bomb blasts took place) we went to Bentota island, 90 km from Colombo,"Dr Raghuram said. During their stay at Bentota, they came to know about thestring of bomb blasts ripping through Colombo and other partsof the island nation. They returned Sunday evening to find the roads deserted as curfew was imposed and all shops and hotels closed. Utter chaos and fear prevailed everywhere, he said. "We returned as we had our flight on Monday afternoon. We were asked to reach the airport six hours early," the doctor told PTI Tuesday. The family went to the police ...
Motorbike gunmen kill 10 in north Nigeria: police
Gunmen killed 10 people and abducted two women in northern Nigeria's Katsina state, police and residents said Tuesday, the latest violence involving armed criminal gangs. They drove motorcycles into the village of Yar Santa Sherere on Sunday evening, shooting and torching vehicles and businesses. "The bodies of nine people were evacuated by a police team and residents after the attack," said Katsina state police spokesman Gambo Isa. He called the gunmen "criminals" and said police tried to pursue them. Local resident Sada Iro said another body was found shortly after, taking the death toll to 10. "The bandits also kidnapped two women during the attack, and burnt many shops and vehicles before leaving," Iro said. Katsina state, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Nigeria's capital Abujua, has seen a string of violent attacks in recent months. The gangs, who appear to want cash and have no known ideological agenda, carry out regular raids of villages, stealing cattle and food, burning ..
Sri Lankan Cardinal asks government to punish perpetrators of blasts 'mercilessly'
Those responsible for the Easter Sunday bomb blasts should be punished "mercilessly" as the attacks have caused much suffering to the people, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo has demanded. The island nation was rocked by a series of eight bomb blasts in three churches and three high-end hotels, killing 321 people and injuring over 500 others. Forty suspects, including the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers, have been arrested in connection with the blasts. "It's a very, very sad day for all of us," the Cardinal said after his visit to St. Sebastian Church, one of the targets in the deadly attacks. "I wish to, therefore, express my deepest sympathy to all those innocent families that have lost someone, and also to those who have been injured and rendered destitute," he told reporters. The Cardinal condemned the violence "that has caused so much death and suffering to the people" and asked the government to hold an impartial enquiry into the attacks. "The ...
Communist rebel ambush kills six Philippine troops
Communist guerillas killed six Philippine soldiers and wounded six others on Tuesday, the military said, in one of the deadliest recent attacks in the country's 50-year-old Maoist insurgency. Members of the New People's Army (NPA) detonated bombs in a pre-dawn ambush of soldiers marching through a mountainous area of central Samar island, triggering a four-hour firefight. "Our troops had received a report that NPA forces were extorting money from residents and so they went there to take action," said regional military spokesman Captain Reynaldo Aragones. Rebel casualties had not been determined, but Colonel Ramon Zagala confirmed the soldiers' deaths to AFP. The 4,000-strong NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has waged a guerrilla campaign that has killed up to 40,000 people since 1969. It marked the 50th anniversary of its founding in March with an assault on a police station that killed three rebels and wounded two police officers. NPA units rarely engage
Naxal killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur
A hardcore Naxal was Tuesday gunned down in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, a police official said. The firefight between security forces and Maoist ultras took place in the afternoon in the forest near Fulgatta village under Mirtur police station limits when security forces from neighbouring Dantewada district were out on an anti-Naxal operation, Deputy Inspector General (anti-naxal operations) Sundarraj P Told PTI. Security forces from Dantewada had launched the operation along the border of the two districts, he said. When the patrolling team was cordoning off forests in Mirtur area (Bijapur), the ultras opened fire, following which security forces retaliated, he said. After the encounter, security forces found the body of a Naxal identified as Shankar alias Kamlu, active as member of the "Bhairamgarh area committee" of the Maoists, he said, adding that a 9mm pistol was also recovered.
Colombo police issue alert for van carrying explosives
The police in Colombo on Tuesday issued an alert that a van or lorry carrying explosives may be in the city following which security was stepped up at government buildings and police stations.
Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombings a revenge attack for Christchurch carnage: minister
Sri Lanka's worst terror attack targeting churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday was carried out by local Islamist extremists in retaliation for the mosque shootings in New Zealand, a senior minister informed Parliament on Tuesday, citing results of the initial probe. Addressing an emergency session of Parliament to discuss Sunday's attacks, Sri Lanka's state minister of defence Ruwan Wijewardene said the early findings of the ongoing probe found that the suicide bombings were in revenge for the March 15 deadly attacks at two mosques in Christchurch which left 50 people dead. "The preliminary investigations have revealed that what happened in Sri Lanka (on Sunday) was in retaliation for the attack against Muslims in Christchurch," Wijewardene told Parliament. According to an intelligence memo sent to some government officials before the attack, a member of the Islamic extremist group blamed for the Sri Lanka attacks had posted "extremist content" on social media after the ...
Islamic State claims Sri Lanka bombings
The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the horrific Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which killed at least 321 people and injured more than 500 in the worst outbreak of violence in the island nation in a decade.
We can't bring lives back, says helpless Vaas on Lankan blasts
"We cannot bring lives back," said an utterly helpless Chaminda Vaas Tuesday as thoughts of the multiple blasts that killed nearly 300 and shattered Sri Lanka's tranquility, crossed the former cricket star's mind. Yearning for normalcy, Vaas and his colleague Rangana Herath said the need of the hour is to stay strong and united. "So sad to see. We never thought these kind of things will happen in Sri Lanka. It is a lovely country and hospitable. People are very friendly. It is so tragic to see such things happen," Vaas told reporters here. "We need to rebuild. We can rebuild churches or hotels but we can't bring lives back. I am sure the Sri Lankan government and the people will be very united this time and make sure that we stick together," said the former left-arm pacer with 400 ODI and 355 Test wickets. Hearth has 433 Test wickets. Sri Lankan authorities arrested 24 people in connection with the blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels in the island nation on Easter Sunday, ...
Islamic State claims Easter Sunday blasts in Sri Lanka
The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a series of devastating suicide attacks that killed 321 people and wounded more than 500 others in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. "Those who carried out the attack that targeted members of the US-led coalition and Christians in Sri Lanka the day before yesterday are Islamic State group fighters," the terror group said in a statement through its propaganda 'Amaq' news agency, according to the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activities. Seven suicide bombers carried out multiple blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 321 people in the country's worst terror attack. Forty suspects, including the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers, have been arrested in connection with the attacks which shook Sri Lanka. Government's spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said local Islamist extremist group called the National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) is suspected of ...
Islamic State claims Sri Lanka carnage
The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that left at least 321 people dead and more than 500 injured.
Two Muslim brothers were Sri Lanka hotel suicide bombers: sources
Muslim brothers carried out two of the hotel suicide blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, part of a wave of bombings that killed more than 320 people, police sources told AFP Tuesday. The brothers, sons of a wealthy Colombo spice trader, blew themselves up as guests queued for breakfast at the Shangri-La and Cinnamon Grand hotels in the capital, the source said. The sources also revealed that a fourth hotel was targeted in the string of bombings, but the attack failed. The brothers, whose names have not been revealed, were in their late twenties and operated their own "family cell", an investigation officer said. But it was not clear what ties they had to the other bombers involved in the devastating attacks against three high-end hotels and three churches. The pair were key members of the Islamist National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) which the government has blamed for the attacks, the official added. Official sources told AFP an attack had been planned at a fourth hotel. A bomber had .