Page 238 - War Conflict
Palestinian dies of wounds after Israel border fire: Gaza ministry
A Palestinian teenager died Tuesday four days after he was hit by an Israeli tear gas canister during clashes along the Gaza border, the Hamas-run enclave's health ministry said. Hassan Nofel, 17, was hit in the face with a tear gas canister on Friday during a protest east of Al-Bureij in central Gaza, the ministry said. Two Palestinian teenagers were killed and 17 others wounded by Israeli gunfire that day during protests and clashes along the heavily fortified frontier. At the time, the Israeli army said some 8,200 "rioters and demonstrators" had gathered along the border to throw stones and a number of explosive devices towards its troops. The Israeli forces "responded with riot dispersal means and fired according to standard operating procedures", a spokesman said. Palestinians in Gaza have for nearly a year gathered at least weekly along the border for often-violent protests, calling on Israel to end its decade-long blockade of the enclave. At least 250 Palestinians have been ...
BJP stages walkout from C'garh Assembly on law & order issue
Targeting the Congress government in Chhattisgarh over the "deteriorating" law and order situation in the state, opposition BJP Tuesday staged a walkout from the Legislative Assembly. Moving a calling attention motion notice, BJP MLAs Brijmohan Agrawal, Shivratan Sharma and Ajay Chandrakar alleged that due to the negligence of the police department, the law and order situation in the state has worsened. Agrawal said on January 30, 2019, motorcycle-borne men had looted a jeweller father-son duo at Changorabhata in the capital and several other cases of loot, dacoity allegedly occurred in the last one-and-a-half month in the capital. The incidents have created a sense of insecurity among the citizens, women, children and businessmen, he claimed. "The residences of chief minister as well as the Director General of Police is in the capital and if the law and order situation here is so poor, then one can imagine the condition in other parts of the state," he said. Rejecting ...
UN agency cites refugee 'surge' from new South Sudan clashes
The United Nations refugee agency says 13,000 people have fled renewed fighting and violence in parts of South Sudan in recent days, many into neighboring Congo. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees cites a "surge" of arrivals into Congo's Ituri province since clashes erupted Jan. 19 between the South Sudanese army and a rebel group, the National Salvation Front. UNHCR said Tuesday that thousands of people mostly women, children and the elderly arrived by foot over the weekend in northeastern Congolese villages near the border town of Ingbokolo. Another 8,000 are reported to have been internally displaced near the South Sudan town of Yei. Last week, the U.N. envoy for South Sudan, David Shearer, said fighting there had "diminished greatly" since a peace agreement was signed in September.
Tribal man killed by Maoists in Odisha
A tribal man was killed allegedly by Maoists in Nabarangpur district on the suspicion of being a police informer, a senior police officer said Tuesday. A group of armed ultras stormed Venas village under Raighar Block late on Monday night and forcibly took away Tunu Gond from his house accusing him of being a police informer, the officer said. The body of Gond with gunshot mark and lying in a pool of blood was found by the villagers on the outskirt of the village, located on the border with Chhattisgarh, early Tuesday, he said. Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Santunu Mohanty said a police team was sent to the spot after getting information and arrangements have been made to send the body for post-mortem. The assailants left a letter at the spot saying Gond was eliminated as he was working as an informer for the police and passing on information about activities of the red rebels despite warnings, police said. Raighar block in the district which was a Maoist .
India signs contract for purchasing 72,400 new assault rifles
India on Tuesday signed the much-awaited contract for the purchase of 72,400 new assualt rifles for the armed forces, government sources said.
Israel's Rivlin marks 70th anniversary of last Jewish camps in Cyprus
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin flew in to Cyprus Tuesday to mark 70 years since the closure of British detention camps on the island for Jews trying to reach Palestine after World War II. He was to visit a monument in Nicosia dedicated to the 2,200 children of Holocaust survivors who were born in the British colonial camps between 1946 and 1949. Rivlin also held talks with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades. Cyprus and Israel aim to upgrade relations, "especially on energy, security, economy, tourism, research and innovation", tweeted Anastasiades. Britain, the colonial power in Cyprus and Palestine at the time, detained about 52,000 illegal immigrants on Cyprus, mostly young orphans, and housed them in tents. The monument is situated at a present-day army camp that was known as the British Military Hospital. Those detained had been intercepted at sea by British mandate authorities as they approached Palestine, and they were held in 12 camps on the nearby island. The camps were ...
BSF's 6-day shooting competition starts in Indore from Wed
The Border Security Force's (BSF) Inter-Frontier Platoon Weapons Shooting Competition will begin in Indore in Madhya Pradesh from Wednesday, a highlight being the first-time participation of a women's team of the border-guarding force. The six-day event is being organised at the BSF's Central School of Weapons and Tactics (CSWT) based here, said a senior official. He informed the weapons that would be fired during the competition are the same ones the BSF uses in combating terrorists along the country's border. "BSF Director General Rajnikant Mishra will inaugurate this annual competition. A total of 686 shooters, including 100 women, posted at 11 frontiers of the country will take part in the event," CSWT Inspector General (IG) V K Mehta told reporters Tuesday. "For the first time, a BSF women's team is taking part in the competition," Mehta said. The competition will be conducted in 11 sections by using Insas rifles, mortars, light machine guns (LMG) and snipers which
Jailed Haqqani Network leader in Taliban team of peace negotiators
The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday announced a 14-member team of negotiators, comprising some new faces including a jailed leader of the Haqqani Network, to continue peace talks with the US.
Main conspirator of Lashkar terrorist's escape killed
In a major success, security forces shot dead Hizbul Mujahideen militant Hilal Ahmed Rather, who had helped dreaded LeT terrorist Naved Jhatt escape, during an encounter in South Kashmir Tuesday in which an Army jawan was also killed, officials said. Rather, 21, was killed in the encounter in Ratnipora area of Pulwama, a district highly infested by militants, after a tip-off was received by the Jammu and Kashmir Police about his presence during the intervening night. A cordon and search operation was launched by the police along with the Army and the CRPF. As it was going on, the militants fired upon the security forces, who retaliated effectively, a police spokesman said. In the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of encounter. "Rather was the main accused in the escape of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant Naved Jhatt from a Srinagar hospital," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) Swayam Prakash Pani said. His body was handed over ..
'Tired of fighting': 30 years ago, Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan
On February 15, 1989, crowds of stunned onlookers watched the last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan over the Friendship Bridge -- defeated after a decade of war. "The Russians were waving and smiling at the people. It seemed they were tired of fighting," Abdul Qayum, who was a border guard in Hairatan, where the bridge crosses the Amu Darya river into what is now Uzbekistan, told AFP. With 1.5 million dead on the Afghan side and nearly 15,000 from the Soviets, the Red Army had retreated, defeated by Afghan mujahideen resistance. The Soviets' December 27, 1979 invasion -- decided in secret by a select caucus of Politburo members -- had been presented in official propaganda as coming to the aid of "a fraternal people" confronted by an Islamic rebellion. The two countries were linked by a friendship and cooperation treaty signed when Afghanistan became communist a year earlier, after a coup. Qayum, now aged 60, recalled the confusion as Red Army soldiers rolled into Afghanistan. "An ...
Anil Ambani negotiated Rafale deal on behalf of Modi: NCP
The NCP on Tuesday alleged that industrialist Anil Ambani negotiated the Rafale contract on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cited an e-mail to drive home its point. NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik called the controversial fighter jet deal as "pre-planned loot of the country's money". Malik also charged Modi with being the "main person who got everything done" as he referred to media reports of the Centre dropping the anti-corruption clause from the deal. He cited the e-mail written by an Airbus executive to a French official to allege that Ambani had met the French defence minister days before the signing of the deal during Modi's visit to France in 2015, and that the industrialist was aware of the MoU that India and the European country signed. "Now, the Modi government has been completely exposed. The entire deal was negotiated by Anil Ambani on behalf of Modi and the e-mail has exposed everything," Malik said. "It is a pre-planned loot of the country's
Taliban name negotiating team ahead of new talks with US
The Taliban have announced a 14-member negotiating team ahead of talks this month with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been meeting with the insurgents to try to end America's longest war. Mullah Abbas Stanikzai heads the Taliban team announced Monday, which includes five former inmates of the US prison in Guantanamo Bay who were released in 2014 in exchange for a captured American soldier. The team also includes Anas Haqqani, the jailed younger brother of the leader of the Haqqani network, a powerful Taliban faction. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Haqqani, who is being held in Kabul, "should be released to start work on the negotiating team." The Taliban refuse to meet with the US-backed government in Kabul.
Hizbul militant, soldier killed in encounter
A Hizbul Mujahideen militant, who helped Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Naveed Jatt escape from police custody at a hospital here last year, was Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in which a soldier also lost his life, police said. Based on a credible input about the presence of militants in Ratnipora area of Pulwama, a cordon and search operation was launched in the intervening night, a police spokesman said. He said that as the searches were going on, the militants fired upon the forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed and the body was retrieved from the site of encounter. The slain militant was identified as Hilal Ahmad Rather, a resident of Behgambagh Kakapora of Pulwama district, the spokesman said. He said as per police records, Rather was affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM). Rather had a long history of terror crime and was wanted for his complicity in a series of crimes, ...
Afghan mujahideen fighter turned president dies: family
An Afghan mujahideen commander who fought the Soviets and rose to become the country's first president after the Red Army retreated has died aged 93, his family said Tuesday. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, who commanded a mujahideen faction during the decade-long insurgency against the Soviet occupiers, passed away late Monday in a Kabul hospital after a long illness. Prominent Afghans, including former president Hamid Karzai, have begun visiting the Mojaddedi family home to pay their respects. Afghanistan's de facto prime minister Abdullah Abdullah extended his condolences to the respected Mojaddedi clan. "He has played a vital role in all national issues and his legacy will remain part of Afghanistan's history," he posted on Twitter. Presidential candidate and former national security adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar said Mojaddedi's passing "leaves a huge vacuum in Afghan politics and public life". Mojaddedi's death comes three days before the 30th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from ..
Myanmar police crack down on protest against divisive statue
Police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of several thousand demonstrators in eastern Myanmar on Tuesday, activists said, as protests mount over a new and controversial statue. The bronze structure depicts the father of de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- Aung San -- on horseback and was unveiled early this month in the capital of Kayah state despite strong opposition. Aung San is widely revered by the majority ethnic Bamar (Burmese) population as an independence hero for his role in the struggle against British colonial rule. But the general, who was assassinated before independence in 1948, is viewed less favourably among many ethnic minority groups, who see him as a symbol of Bamar domination. On Tuesday, several thousand people marched to the Kayah state parliament only to be blocked by police in riot gear who were lined up behind rolls of barbed wire. One protest leader, Myo Hlaing Win, told AFP by phone that 10 people had been injured after police fired rubber bullets ..
70 killed or injured in US-led airstrike in Syria: Report
A total of 70 civilians were killed or wounded by a US-led airstrike in eastern Syria, state agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
5 policemen killed in terrorist attack in Dera Ismail Khan
Five policemen were killed on Tuesday when militants attacked their van in northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. The incident occurred in Paroha tehsil in Dera Ismail Khan district, bordering South Waziristan. The terrorists, hiding behind bushes, attacked the police van with heavy firing. Four policemen were killed in the attack and the Station Head Officer (SHO) was injured, they said. The injured SHO was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, they added. The security forces have cordoned off the entire area and a search operation has been launched to nab the terrorists.
Soldier, militant killed in Kashmir gunfight (Third Lead)
A soldier and a militant were killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Tuesday, the Army said, denying earlier reports that two soldiers died.
Soldier, militant killed in Kashmir gunfight
A soldier and a militant were killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday, the Army said, denying earlier reports that two soldiers died.
Under-resourced UN peacekeepers undermine their credibility: India
India, which is among the largest troop contributors to the UN peacekeeping, has called for adequate resources for the peacekeepers, asserting that "under-resourced" Blue Helmets cannot accomplish their mandated tasks. Speaking at a General Debate on Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C-34), India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said on Monday the views of troop/police contributing countries on implementing the mandates should be reflected in relevant reports of the Secretary-General. "Peacekeepers must be given adequate resources to accomplish the tasks set for them. Desiring peacekeepers to do more and more with less and less is not a recipe for success," he said. "Under-resourced peacekeepers, unable to accomplish their mandated tasks, undermine the credibility of the UN peacekeeping," he said. As the Special Committee opened its 2019 substantive session, member states highlighted the need to work more closely to ensure continued progress .