Page 245 - War Conflict
Eight kg of gold ornaments looted from parcel service staff
A three-member motorcycle gang looted eight kg of gold ornaments after attacking a staff of a parcel service who was going to send the consignment by air early Thursday. According to police, 26-year-old Prithvi Singh was going on a two-wheeler to the city airport with the parcel containing the ornaments worth Rs 2.50 crore around 5.30 AM. Suddenly, three people wearing helmets riding a motorcycle waylaid him, threw chilly powder on his face and attacked him with some weapons before fleeing with the parcel containing the jewellery, police said. Police suspect this could be the handiwork of some people who had noticed the man going to the airport with such consignments.
Dinkar Gupta new DGP of Punjab
Senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta was on Thursday appointed as the Punjab director general of police. He succeeds Suresh Arora, who was on an extension after his retirement on September 30 last year. Gupta's appointment was cleared by the chief minister Thursday morning, an official spokesman said here. Gupta, a 1987-batch IPS officer, is the senior-most of three officers, all of the same batch, to be empanelled for appointment to the top post by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) earlier this week. In his previous stint, Gupta was posted as Director General of Police, Intelligence, Punjab. His responsibilities involved the direct supervision of the Punjab State Intelligence Wing, State Anti-Terrorist Squad and Organized Crime Control Unit. Gupta was empanelled on April 26 last year for appointment to the post of additional director general at the Centre. He did an eight-year stint on central deputation with the Home Ministry, from June 2004 to July 2012, where he held many ...
10 Naxals killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh
At least 10 Naxals were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Thursday, police said. The encounter took place around 11 am in a forest in Bhairamgarh police station area when a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI. "So far, the bodies of 10 Naxals along with 11 weapons have been recovered from the spot," he said. Search operations were still underway in the area, he added.
Afghan man extradited to US on charges of narco-terrorism aimed to benefit Taliban, Haqqani network
A 53-year old Afghan man has been extradited to the US on charges of attempting to import heroin into the country as well as for engaging in narco-terrorism to benefit terrorist organisations Taliban and the Haqqani network. Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf, who had been taken into custody by Estonian authorities in Tallinn last October, was extradited to the United States Wednesday, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman said. The indictment charges Manaf, a citizen of Afghanistan, with attempting to import heroin into the United States and narco-terrorism. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. As alleged, Manaf, already sanctioned by the Treasury Department for assisting the Taliban, attempted to import large quantities of heroin into the US, funnelled heroin trafficking proceeds to the Taliban and attempted to provide financial assistance to the Haqqani terrorist network," Berman said in a statement. According to the allegations ...
US blocks UN move to defend Hebron mission
The United States on Wednesday blocked a proposed UN Security Council statement expressing regret over Israel's decision to end an international observer force in the West Bank city of Hebron, diplomats said. Kuwait and Indonesia had circulated the draft statement following a closed-door council meeting during which many countries expressed concern about the Israeli move. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that he would not renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), accusing the mission led by Norway of bias. The 64-member team of unarmed observers was established in Hebron following a massacre of Palestinians in 1994. The proposed statement was to express the Security Council's "regret" about Israel's "unilateral decision" and call for "calm and restraint" in Hebron, according to the text seen by AFP. It stressed "the importance of the mandate of the TIPH and its efforts to foster calm in a highly sensitive area and fragile ...
Guaido orders military to allow entry of humanitarian aid
The self-proclaimed interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, on Wednesday ordered the country's armed forces to allow the entry of international humanitarian aid, which is beginning to be collected at storage centers.
About 15 killed in Cameroon's restive Anglophone region
At least 15 people were killed and several others injured on Wednesday in Bole-Bakundu, a locality in Southwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of Cameroon, sources said.
Iraqi forces kill 5 IS militants in Kirkuk
Iraqi security forces killed five Islamic State (IS) militants on Wednesday in the province of Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, a provincial security source said.
Taliban say Moscow talks with Afghan politicians 'very successful'
Two days of unprecedented talks with high-ranking Afghan politicians in Moscow were "very successful", the Taliban said Wednesday, despite disagreements over women's rights and demands for an Islamic constitution in the war-torn country. "It was very successful. We agreed on many points and I am hopeful that in future, we can succeed further, and finally we can reach a solution, we can find a complete peace in Afghanistan," Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, who headed the Taliban delegation, told reporters in the Russian capital.
US Army to buy two Israeli Iron Dome air defense systems
The US Army said Wednesday it wants to purchase a pair of Iron Dome short-range air defense systems, an interceptor technology developed by Israel with US support. Army spokesman Colonel Patrick Seiber said the deal would meet a short-term need to protect troops from "indirect fire" such as rockets and mortars. No decisions have been made yet about where the two systems may be deployed. "The Iron Dome will be assessed and experimented as a system that is currently available to protect deployed US military service members against a wide variety of indirect fire threats and aerial threats," Seiber said in a statement. Iron Dome systems have been in operation by the Israeli air force since 2011 and have seen frequent use in thwarting rocket attacks from Gaza and elsewhere. Seiber said the US Army will "assess a variety of options" for a system that could be used in the long term. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as defense minister, called the deal further proof
Taliban: Half of US troops to leave Afghanistan by May 1
The U.S. has promised to withdraw half of its troops from Afghanistan by the end of April, a Taliban official said Wednesday, but the U.S. military said it has received no orders to begin packing up. Taliban official Abdul Salam Hanafi, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Moscow between the Taliban and other prominent Afghan figures, said that U.S. officials promised the pullout will begin this month. "The Americans told us that from the beginning of February to the end of April, half of the troops from Afghanistan will be withdrawn," he said. Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Rob Manning said, however, the U.S. military had received orders to begin withdrawing. "Peace talks with the Taliban continue, but (the Defense Department) has not received a directive to change the force structure in Afghanistan," he said. Hanafi said the U.S. and the Taliban will each create a technical committee that "will work on a timetable for the withdrawal of remaining troops." The Pentagon has ...
Nepal extends deadline for war crimes investigations
Nepal on Wednesday approved a third extension for commissions tasked with probing crimes committed during its decade-long civil war, promising changes to make the hamstrung bodies effective. The commissions had initially been given two years in 2015 to probe abuses by government forces and Maoist rebels during the conflict that left 17,000 dead and others missing without a trace. But even after four years and two extensions, their mandates were to expire on Saturday without resolving a single case. A parliament meeting passed an amendment to the Transitional Justice Act that allowed a year's extension. Law minister Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal said in his parliament address that the terms of the commissions had to be extended to avoid a legal vacuum. "The government understands that lawmakers are concerned the issues may not be resolved with the existing structure, working approach and speed of the two commissions... we are committed to finding a permanent solution," he said. More than 65,000
Bangladesh virtually seals off border with Myanmar amid fresh influx of refugees
Bangladesh has sealed off its border with Myanmar amid fresh influx of refugees fleeing troubled Rakhine state following reported military clampdown, this time against the ethnic majority Buddhists and Hindus being the victims, Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said Wednesday. Over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have taken refuge in Bangladesh after fleeing from Rakhine state in neighbouring Myanmar to evade atrocities, which the UN called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", following the action by the military in August 2017. "We can't take any more of them (Myanmar refugees). The border with Myanmar is almost sealed off," he told reporters before departing for New Delhi. Momen is visiting India on his maiden overseas tour since Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina formed the government for the third consecutive terms after winning the December 30 general elections. He said that Bangladesh has opened its border and allowed enough of the influx of refugees opening the border "now it is better ..
Al-Qaida sees Afghanistan as safe haven for its leadership: UN Monitoring Team
Terror group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that backs Al Qaida still has its strongholds in Afghanistan where near about 2,500 to 4,000 militants are positioned in eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar, Nuristan and Laghman, and Al-Qaida continues to see Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership, the United Nations appointed Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team said in its latest report.Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team keeps an eye on the progress of UN Resolution 2368 (2017) concerning ISIL (Da'esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities by member countries.The Monitoring Team in its 23rd report submitted to UN Secretary General on January 15 said that Al-Qaida continues to see Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership, based on its long-standing, strong ties with the Taliban and it is seeking to strengthen its presence in Badakhshan province, especially in Shighnan district, which shares a border with Tajikistan.It added
J-K: District Commander of LeT for Pulwama killed
Security forces on Wednesday killed a commander of proscribed terror outfit LeT in a gun battle in Pulwama district of Kashmir.Irfan Ahmed Sheikh, LeT's so-called Pulwama 'District Commander' was gunned down after a joint patrolling party was fired upon by terrorists at Chakoora area of the district on Wednesday evening.The firing was retaliated, leading to a brief gunfight.Sheikh was the resident of Chakoora, Pulwama and was wanted by the law for his complicity in terror crimes.Sheikh had a long history of terror crime records for which several terror cases were registered against him.He was involved in conspiring and executing several terror attacks on security establishments in the area including grenade attacks.Arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of gun-fight. All these materials have been taken in case records to further investigate their complicity in other terror cases.Citizens were advised not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can prove ...
Top Iraqi cleric rejects Trump's plan for US troops in Iraq
Iraq's most senior Shiite cleric on Wednesday joined a chorus of Iraqi politicians and clerics criticizing recent statements by President Donald Trump in which he said US troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Iraq aspires to have "good and balanced relations" with all of its neighbors "based on mutual interests and without intervention in internal affairs." Iraq "rejects being a launching pad for harming any other country," he said during a meeting with UN Iraq envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert at the cleric's base in Najaf. Both Iraq's president and prime minister have hit back at Trump's statements to US media this week stating that US troops should stay at a base in Iraq so that America can "watch Iran." "We spent a fortune on building this incredible base," Trump said. "We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real ...
Wanted Sri Lankan drug kingpin, others arrested in Dubai
Makandure Madush, most-wanted Sri Lankan underworld drug kingpin, and several others have been arrested in a raid at a hotel here, the police said.
Ganja worth Rs one crore seized, one held
Ganja worth Rs one crore was seized Wednesday when it was about to be smuggled to Sri Lanka at the Athiaman beach near here, police sources said. Police arrested a retired Tahsildhar for allegedly abetting the smuggling of the narcotic substance. The man is the owner of a garden where the ganja had been hoarded for being smuggled, police said. They said 196 kg of 'Kerala ganja' was seized in the area. The ganja was to be exchanged for gold. On Tuesday night, 10 kg ganja was seized near Uchipuli here. Police arrested a Sri Lankan national in connection with the seizure.
LeT commander killed in Pulwama
A top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit was killed in a gunfight with security forces on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama District.
LeT terrorist killed in encounter in Pulwama
A self styled district commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terror outfit was killed in a brief encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said. The encounter broke out when a joint patrolling party of army and police was fired upon by terrorists at Chakoora area of Pulwama district, a police spokesman said. "Consequently, one terrorist got killed in the exchange of fire. The killed terrorist has been identified as Irfan Ahmed Sheikh, a local resident," the spokesman said. Sheikh was affiliated with LeT and was known as district commander of the outfit for Pulwama. He was wanted by the law for his complicity in terror crimes, the spokesman said. "Irfan Sheikh had a long history of terror crimes for which several terror cases were registered against him. He was involved in conspiring and executing several terror attacks on security establishments in the area including grenade attacks," the spokesman said.