Page 25 - War Conflict
Suicide bomber kills 11 in eastern Afghanistan
A suicide bomber targeted a police checkpoint Thursday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, killing at least 11 people and wounding 13 others, an official said. The Afghan arm of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was committed by an assailant on foot, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province. There was at least one child among the fatalities, while three others were wounded. The area around Jalalabad is home to fighters from both the Taliban and the IS group's Afghan affiliate. Last month, three blasts in rapid succession in the center of Jalalabad left three people dead and 20 wounded. Until then, this city near the border with Pakistan had largely been spared from attacks and fighting, mainly with IS, in far-flung parts of the surrounding province. However, in March, at least 16 civilians were killed in a suicide bombing followed by gunfire targeting a construction company near the city's airport. The Taliban .
Rocket fired from Gaza hits building in Israel: municipality
A rocket fired from Gaza on Thursday hit a building in the Israeli border town of Sderot, its municipality said without reporting any casualties. The Israeli army, which said air raid sirens had been triggered in the south of the country, said a "projectile was fired from the Gaza Strip towards the town of Sderot", without giving further details.
Jaishankar has directed Indian Embassy to rescue 7 youths stranded in Iraq: Harsimrat
Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has directed the Indian Embassy in Iraq to ensure the safe return of seven youths from Punjab stranded in the war-ravaged country.The youths have been stranded in Iraq's Erbil city for the last seven months and hail from Punjab's Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts."Met the External Affairs minister @DrSJaishankar ji along with family members of 7 Punjabi youths stranded in Irbil city for past 7 months after being duped by a travel agent. I express my gratitude to Jaishankar ji for directing Indian Embassy in Iraq to ensure their quick return," she tweeted after meeting Jaishankar along with the family members of the seven youths.Harsimrat, who is also an MP from Bathinda, said that Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) would bear the travel expenses of the seven youths."As the Indian Consulate would complete the legal formalities needed to ensure the return of these youths to ...
MP CM announces Rs 1 cr aid for family of martyred CRPF jawan
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath Thursday announced a financial assistance of Rs one crore and a government job for the kin of CRPF jawan Sandeep Yadav who was killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Yadav, who hailed from Dewas district in Madhya Pradesh, was among five Central Reserved Police Force personnel killed in the attack in south Kashmir Wednesday. Expressing grief over his death, Nath said in a statement here that his supreme sacrifice has made the state proud. Yadav, who hailed from Kulala village in Dewas, was attached to the 116thbattalion of the CRPF. Two motorcycle-borne terrorists, believed to be from the Jaish-e-Mohammed group, fired at a CRPF patrol party on the Khanabal-Pahalgham road in Anantnag district, killing five personnel from the paramilitary force and injuring three others Wednesday.
Haryana CM expresses grief over CRPF trooper's killing
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday expressed condolences over the killing of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper Ramesh Kumar in the suicide attack in Anantnag town in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pb govt to give jobs to relatives of 7 armed forces personnel killed in line of duty
The Punjab government has decided to give jobs to the dependents of seven armed forces personnel killed in the line of duty, a spokesperson said Thursday. A high-powered committee, headed by the Punjab chief secretary, recommended their names to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for his final clearance. Prabhpreet Kaur, wife of Wing Commander M S Dhillon has been recommended for the post of Assistant Registrar Cooperative Societies, the spokesperson said. Wing Commander M S Dhillon had made the supreme sacrifice in an air crash while evacuating civilians from flood-hit areas in Arunachal Pradesh in 2017. Gurpreet Kaur, wife of Lance Naik Sandeep Singh and Rajwinder Kaur, wife of Sepoy Mandeep Singh of Gurdaspur have been recommended for the post of Social Education and Panchayat Officer in the Rural Development Department. Pallavi Saini, wife of Gunner Sukhdyal in Pathankot, has been recommended for the post of Inspector in Cooperative Societies. Shamsher Singh, brother of Sepoy Mandeep .
3 suspected ISIS supporters held in Coimbatore; TN module
Three suspected ISIS supporters were detained here Thursday by police for interrogation over alleged conspiracy to carry out attacks in the city, a day after the NIA arrested the terror outfit's Tamil Nadu module mastermind following searches. Police said they carried out searches at the houses of Mohamed Hussain, Shahjahan and Sheik Safiullah and seized "incriminating" documents and digital devices. "The three persons are being interrogated regarding the "incriminating materials seized during the search," a police release here said. The seized devices included cellphones, SIM cards, computer hard disks, bank account documents, pen drives, memory cards. It said the searches against the three were carried out following information that they were "staunch supporters" of ISIS and have been propagating the terrorist organisation's ideology in social media. They were also supporters of Zahran Hashim, mastermind of Sri Lanka Easter Sunday suicide bombings, and had praised his
Suicide bomber kills 9 in eastern Afghanistan
A suicide bomber walked up to an Afghan police vehicle in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, and detonated an explosive device that killed three police and six civilians on Thursday, said provincial health department official Shoaib Sahak. He said another 13 people were wounded, some of the seriously. Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said security forces were the target of the attack. Several of the injured were police, he said. No one took immediate responsibility for the attack, but both the Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State Khorasan Province and the Taliban operate in Nangarhar province, considered an IS stronghold. Afghanistan's security forces come under near-daily attacks by both Taliban and IS-affiliated fighters. Afghan forces have suffered staggering casualties in recent years, even as the Taliban hold peace talks with the US Peace Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. He is currently in the Afghan capital, Kabul, trying to restart
Surveillance-savvy Hong Kong protesters go digitally dark
Hong Kong's tech-savvy protesters are going digitally dark as they try to avoid surveillance and potential future prosecutions, disabling location tracking on their phones, buying train tickets with cash and purging their social media conversations. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up crowds opposed to a China extradition law on Wednesday, in the worst unrest the city has witnessed in decades. Many of those on the streets are predominantly young and have grown up in a digital world, but they are all too aware of the dangers of surveillance and leaving online footprints. Ben, a masked office worker at the protests, said he feared the extradition law would have a devastating impact on freedoms. "Even if we're not doing anything drastic -- as simple as saying something online about China -- because of such surveillance they might catch us," the 25-year-old said. This week groups of demonstrators donned masks, goggles, helmets and caps -- both to protect themselves against
Fighting kills at least 50 eastern DR Congo: Governor
At least 50 people have been killed in violence in Ituri, a volatile province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), governor Jean Bamanisa Saidi said Thursday. "As of the day before yesterday, we had a figure of some 50 (dead), but it's true, we are aware that there are other cases," he told AFP. Other sources said the toll could be 60 or more than 70. The fighting began last Friday and escalated on Monday, affecting the territory of Djugu north of the provincial capital of Bunia, and causing many people to flee their homes, the sources said. The cause of the flareup was not immediately clear, but it occurred in a region where tens of thousands died in clashes between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups between 1999 and 2003. The deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, General Bernard Commins, told a press conference on Wednesday that the two communities had suffered fresh violence. A Hema leader, Pilo Molondro, told AFP that 49 deaths had been recorded since the ...
SGPC to probe missing artefacts relating to Operation Bluestar
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Thursday ordered a probe into the whereabouts of artefacts relating to the Sikh religion and history after they were allegedly taken over by the Indian Army during Operation Bluestar to flush out militants from the Golden Temple complex 35 years ago.
10 killed, 9 injured in Afghanistan suicide attack
As many as 10 people, including five civilians, were killed and nine others injured in a suicide attack on a police vehicle at Jalalabad in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan on Thursday, officials said.
Suicide bomber kills nine in eastern Afghanistan
At least nine people were killed and 12 others injured by a suicide bomber Thursday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, an official said. The bomber, who was on foot, detonated a device near a local police checkpoint, according to a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province. "Four security personnel and five civilians have been killed and 12 more, including three security personnel, wounded," said Attaullah Khogyani. There was at least one child among the fatalities, while three others were among those wounded. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area around Jalalabad is home to fighters from both the Taliban and the Islamic State group's Afghan affiliate. A wave of violence across Afghanistan in recent weeks has claimed the lives of dozens of civilians and security forces. After 18 years of conflict, the Taliban are in negotiations with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad for some sort of peace settlement. A resolution still seems far off, with .
166 SPOs appointed in Poonch to strengthen security grid
Police have appointed 166 special police officers to strengthen the security grid in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said Thursday. The police department in Poonch selected the candidates and an approval has been given by the police headquarters for their appointment, they said. The appointments of the SPOs are aimed to strengthen the security grid in the border district, they said.
Taliban's bid to overrun Afghan district foiled, 20 killed
Taliban's attempts to capture Obe district in Afghanistan's Herat province have been foiled with 20 insurgents killed, the police said on Thursday.
Arms and ammunition belonging to insurgent group seized in Imphal
Arms and ammunition were found on Thursday during a combined search operation by officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), 6 Assam Rifles and Imphal East Commando Police near New Salem Tangkhul Village in Kangpokpi district.The NIA team led by Dy SP Nishant Singh, 6 Assam Rifles team led by Col. AK Das and Imphal East Commando unit led by inspector Md. Rajeev was spurred to action after NIA received credible input about the presence of a cache of arms and ammunition of Kangleipak Communist Party (People War Group) in New Salem Tangkhul Village's forest area.After a prolonged search, the team found the arms and ammunition buried in bushes in the ground of Nangdam Thumkhong Hill.The arms and ammunition included one AK-56 Rifle with three magazines, two pistols, two Chinese hand grenades, 180 live rounds of AK-56, ten 9 mm live rounds and four 0.38 mm live rounds. Uniforms along with jungle boots were also found concealed in the cache.As per information received by the NIA, ..
Sri Lanka appoints new intelligence chief after Easter attacks probe row
Major General Ruwan Kulatunga will be Sri Lanka's new chief of National Intelligence after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked his predecessor for blaming him for failing to avert the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Kulatunga would replace Sisira Mendis, a retired senior police superintendent, who was sacked by Sirisena after he testified before a parliament select committee formed to probe the Easter bombings that targeted three Catholic churches and high-end hotels, killing 258 people. During the inquiry last week, Mendis testified that the April 21 attacks could have been averted and also said that President Sirisena had failed to hold regular security meetings to assess the threat from Islamic radicals. Mendis, in his testimony, mentioned about the prior intelligence of the attacks and the official negligence in averting the series of blasts. Sirisena, who is also the Minister of Defence, last week claimed that he had sacked Mendis before he appeared for the enquiry. Earlier, ...
Egypt officials say roadside bomb wounds 6 police in Sinai
Egyptian security officials are saying that six policemen were wounded by a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol vehicle in the restive northern Sinai province. The officials said Thursday that the bomb was detonated remotely near the city of El-Arish. They said Islamic militants had set up ambushes along the highway leading to El-Arish where they had kidnapped at least 14 civilians over the course of the last 24 hours. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media. Egypt has battled Islamic militants for years in northern Sinai, where an affiliate of the Islamic State group is based. Last week, the group claimed responsibility for the killing of eight policemen in an assault on a checkpoint near El-Arish.
Belgium to bring home six orphans of jihadists slain in Syria
Belgium will bring six orphans home from Kurdish-controlled camps in Syria after the deaths of their jihadist parents, Finance Minister Alexander De Croo said Thursday. "These are children who were born in our country and who today no longer have parents," the minister told VRT public radio after a cabinet decision. Belgium is one of several European countries wrestling with the dilemma of what to do about citizens trapped in Syria following the defeat of the Islamic State group. Some are reticent to accept captured extremist fighters, but the cases of children and non-combatant wives have proved more complicated for Western authorities. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said Belgium has a signed deal to allow returnees to transit through Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The bulk of the Islamic State fighters and family members who were captured when its so-called caliphate collapsed are being held in Syria in Kurdish-run camps. De Croo said that four of the six ...
Pakistan ordered Wednesday's suicide attack: J&K Governor
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said on Thursday that the 'fidayeen' (suicide squad) attack in Anantnag district on Wednesday was carried out at the behest of Pakistan.