Page 24 - War Conflict
Piyush Goyal, Arjun Ram Meghwal visit Tirupati Balaji temple
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Arjun Ram Meghwal offered prayers at the Lord Balaji temple here on Friday.Goyal was accompanied by Andhra Pradesh's Minister of Industries, Commerce and IT M Gautam Reddy.This is the first time Goyal is visiting the age-old shrine after assuming charge in the new Narendra Modi government.Meanwhile, Meghwal visited the temple along with his family members at VIP break darshan time. After darshan, TTD officials offered 'prasadam' to the minister.Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the temple after returning from his first foreign visit from the Maldives and Sri Lanka in his second term at the helm.
Five suspects of Easter Sunday attacks repatriated from Saudi Arabia
Five suspects linked to the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka have been repatriated from Saudi Arabia, police said Friday. The suspects also include Mohamed Milhan, a prominent member of the banned terror outfit National Thawheed Jamath (NTJ) that was responsible for the attacks. Milhan was also listed as a terror suspect in the Intelligence warnings issued before the Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Times Online reported. A team comprising officials of the Criminal Investigations Department took the suspects in its custody in Saudi Arabia and brought them back for further questioning. "Officers of the Criminal Investigations Department brought the suspects back to Sri Lanka this morning," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement. A series of coordinated blasts on April 21 targeted three churches and high-end hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others. Earlier, the Sri Lankan government banned the NTJ after the deadly attacks and arrested over 100 people ..
CRPF jawan killed in J-K cremated with state honours in MP
Central Reserve Police Force constable Sandeep Yadav, killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district this week, was Friday cremated with state honours in his native Kulala village in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas. Yadav's son lit the pyre amid shouting of patriotic slogans by the large crowd that had assembled there, including MP minister Jeetu Patwari and senior officials. The terror attack in the restive northern state took place on Wednesday, killing four CRPF troopers and injuring three others. Yadav's body arrived on Thursday night in Bhopal, where chief minister Kamal Nath paid tribute and said the state was proud of his supreme sacrifice. The state government also announced Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to Yadav's kin and a government job for one of them. Yadav was part of the 116 battalion of the CRPF stationed in J-K.
Nepal clears legal hurdles to acquire US rifles
The Nepal government has cleared legal hurdles to buy rifles from the US which has been pending for over a year due to differences over payment modality, according to a media report. The government would acquire 6,000 rifles, including M4, M-16, and A4 to equip its squads deployed as blue helmets in war-torn countries. The plan to buy the weapons was delayed after the supplier demanded the entire payment in a single sum, the Kathmandu Post reported. Despite clearance from the Ministry of Defence to procure the arms from the US Army, it had not materialised since the Nepali side couldn't pay the entire amount before the rifles were supplied. The Nepal Army was allowed to make the payment only in three transactions: an advance once the deal is signed, intermediate as delivery begins, and the final payment once all the consignment is delivered-before the Cabinet cleared the hurdles for the payment. However, officials on Thursday said the legal hurdles have been cleared by the Cabinet in .
Tribunal serves notice on LTTE on extending ban for 5 years
A Delhi High Court tribunal has served a notice on the LTTE, the terror group responsible for former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, to submit if it has any objection to it being continued as a banned organisation for five more years The notice was uploaded on the Home Ministry's website and published in two newspapers -- one English and one in a regional language. The tribunal, headed by Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, has also directed to affix the notice along with the gazette notification of May 14, 2019, extending the ban for five more years "at some conspicuous part of the offices of the LTTE, if any, in India and Sri Lanka". "...You are hereby called upon to show cause in writing within 30 days from the date of service of this notice as to why you Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) be not adjudicated for declaring as an unlawful association and why an order confirming such declaration be not made under section 4 (3) of the Act (Unlawful Activities Prevention ..
Ayodhya put on high alert
Ayodhya has been put on high alert after security agencies were given an intelligence input of a possible terror attack in the holy city.
4 arrested in Uri while trying to cross LoC
Four Kashmiri youths were arrested on Friday while trying to cross over the Line of Control (LoC) into the Pakistan administered Jammu and Kashmir to start arms training, sources said.
Two terrorists gunned down in Awantipora by security forces
Two terrorists were killed and arms and ammunition have been recovered from them in Braw Bandina area of Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Friday."On a credible input, a cordon & search operation was launched jointly by police and security forces in Braw Bandina area of Awantipora. During the search operation, the hiding terrorists fired on the search party. The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, 02 terrorists were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. The identities and affiliation of the killed terrorists is being ascertained," said a J & K police release."Incriminating material including arms & ammunition has been recovered from the site of encounter," it added.This comes after four terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in a village in Pulwama district last week.
Suspected LeT militants killed in J&K
Two suspected Lashkar militants were killed on Friday in a gunfight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.
5 terror suspects brought back to Sri Lanka
Five terror suspects who were arrested in Dubai in connection with the April 21 Easter Sunday suicide attacks, were brought back to Sri Lanka from Saudi Arabia on Friday, police said.
2 militants killed in encounter in J-K's Pulwama district
Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Friday, police said. According to a police official, security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in Braw Bandina area of Awantipora in the district in south Kashmir after receiving intelligence input about presence of militants in the area. As the forces were conducting searches in the area, the militants fired upon them. The security forces retaliated, he said. "Two militants have been killed in the Awantipora operation," the official said, adding the bodies along with arms and ammunition have been recovered from the site. The identity and affiliation of the slain militants are being ascertained, the official said.
CRPF commando injured in Naxal blast dies at AIIMS
A CRPF commando, who was wounded in an IED blast by the Naxals in Jharkhand last month, succumbed to his injuries at the AIIMS here, an official said on Friday. Constable Sunil Kalita, 32, was injured on May 28 in the jungles of Seraikela Kharsawan district when his party encountered a number of improvised explosive device blasts during patrolling. Kalita was first admitted to a hospital in Ranchi, but he was airlifted to Delhi and brought to the AIIMS on June 4 as he required enhanced medical care. He succumbed to his injuries on Thursday evening, the official said. The jawan was posted with the 209th battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), the elite jungle-warfare battalion of the CRPF. Fourteen other CoBRA and police personnel were injured in the incident that day. According to the official, the commando displayed bravery as he saved his colleagues during the blast despite being grievously injured. Kalita hailed from Assam's Kamrup district and had joined ..
Top HK advisor says extradition bill could be delayed
A contentious extradition bill at the centre of a political crisis in Hong Kong looks increasingly likely to be delayed, with a top adviser to the citys leader on Friday suggesting that it will be impossible to rush it through the legislature.
Huge security operation as Indonesia court hears poll rigging claims
Tens of thousands of security personnel fanned out across Jakarta Friday as a court heard a defeated presidential challenger's claim that Indonesia's 2019 election was rigged -- allegations that spawned deadly rioting last month. Ex-general Prabowo Subianto lodged an appeal that claimed his loss to incumbent leader Joko Widodo on April 17 was the result of massive electoral fraud and irregularities in the vote counting. Indonesia's election commission has said Widodo won 55.5 percent of votes in the world's largest Muslim-majority country against Subianto's 44.5 percent. Election officials and analysts have discounted Subianto's rampant cheating claims, and he lost a similar court battle in 2014 when Widodo defeated him. But peaceful protests against the official result erupted into two nights of street battles between police and rioters in Jakarta last month, leaving eight people dead and hundreds injured in the capital's worst violence in years. On Friday, the constitutional court .
Gunfight in J&K's Pulwama
A gunfight started on Friday between the security forces and holed up militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.
Hong Kong quiet now, but prospect of new protest looms large
Hong Kong's downtown was calm Friday after days of protests by students and human rights activists opposed to a bill that would allow suspects to be tried in mainland Chinese courts, although the prospect of further protests over the weekend loomed large. Demonstrators have said they remain committed to preventing the administration of Beijing-appointed Chief Executive Carrie Lam from pushing through the legal amendments they see as eroding Hong Kong's cherished legal autonomy which it retained after its handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Traffic flowed on major thoroughfares that had been closed after a protest by hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday, posing the biggest political challenge yet to Lam's two-year-old government. Protesters had kept up a presence through Thursday night, singing hymns and holding up signs criticizing the police for their handling of the demonstrations. Police said they have arrested 11 people on charges such as assaulting police officers
Saudi intercepts five Yemen rebel drones in new airport attack: coalition
Saudi forces on Friday intercepted five Yemeni rebel drones in the second aerial attack on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days, a Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said. The drones targeted Abha airport, where a rebel missile on Wednesday left 26 civilians wounded, and the nearby city of Khamis Mushait, which houses a major airbase, the coalition said in a statement released by Saudi state media. "The royal Saudi air defence force and air force successfully intercepted and destroyed five unmanned drone aircraft launched by Huthi militia towards Abha international airport and Khamis Mushait," the statement said. The airport was operating normally with no fights disrupted, the statement added. Huthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported earlier that the Iran-aligned rebels had carried out drone attacks on Abha Airport. The rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 that has exacted a heavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and ...
UN counter-terror czar visits China's Xinjiang
The UN's counter-terrorism czar is on a visit this week to China's Xinjiang region, where Beijing insists one million Uighurs and other Muslims are detained because of a terrorism threat, UN sources and rights activists said Thursday. Vladimir Voronkov, the under-secretary general for counter-terrorism, is the highest level UN official to visit Xinjiang, which activists have described as an open air prison, deprived of religious freedom. UN spokesman Farhan Haq confirmed that Voronkov, a Russian diplomat, was on an official visit to China, but did not provide details of his itinerary. Haq stressed that the UN counter-terrorism office works to ensure that measures used to fight terror respect human rights. Beijing argues that internment camps in Xinjiang are "vocational training centers" to steer people away from extremism and reintegrate them, in a region plagued by violence blamed on Uighur separatists or Islamists. Voronkov's visit to Xinjiang, first reported by Foreign Policy ...
WB: 151 bottles of Phensedyl seized, three arrested
Border Security Forces (BSF) on Thursday arrested three drug smugglers and seized 151 bottles of Phensedyl in Behar district of West Bengal.Two operations were conducted by the BSF personnel of Guwahati frontier on the intervening night of June 12 and 13 from bordering areas of Satbhandari and Choudharihat.In the first operation, BSF troops apprehended two Indian national identified as Bharat Barman and Prabha Barman who were trying to smuggle 50 bottles of Phensedyl to Bangladesh.Whereas in the second operation, acting on a tip-off, the troops apprehended another Indian drug smuggler Saidul Hoque with 101 bottles of Phensedyl.A case has been registered and further investigation is underway.
Sudan charges ousted leader Bashir with corruption: state media
Sudan's public prosecutor has charged ousted president Omar al-Bashir of corruption, the official SUNA news agency said on Thursday. The announcement came more than two month after the military ousted Bashir on April 11 following months of nationwide protests against his 30-year ironfisted rule. "The public prosecutor announces the completion of all investigations in the case brought against the deposed president Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir by anti-corruption prosecutors," SUNA said. An unnamed official was quoted by the agency as saying that Bashir is facing charges including "possessing foreign funds, acquiring suspected and illegal wealth and ordering (the state of) emergency". In April, Sudan's army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said that more than 113 million dollars worth of cash in three currencies had been seized from Bashir's residence. He said a team of police, army and security agents found seven million euros (USD 7.8 million), USD 350,000 and five billion Sudanese .