Page 28 - War Conflict
100 killed in armed attack on village in Mali
An armed attack on a village in central Mali left 100 people dead on Monday, officials said.
Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo to reopen on June 12 after deadly Easter attacks
Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo announced Monday that it will partially reopen on Wednesday, seven weeks after the five star property was attacked by a suicide bomber on Easter Sunday. The Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo was one of three hotels hit by the suicide attacks on April 21 and suffered extensive damages. While the other two hotels reopened in recent weeks, most of the sections of the Shangri-La Hotel remained closed. "From Wednesday 12 June 6pm onwards, popular dining establishments including Sapphyr Lounge, Capital Bar & Grill and Kaema Sutra will reopen for service. Guests will be able to enjoy room stays and Chi, the Spa from Saturday 15 June onwards," Mahika Chandrasena, Director of Public Relations at Shangri-La, Colombo, told PTI. The hotel said in a statement that the Shangri-La Group was grateful to the local authorities and the global community for their outpouring of support and messages of commendations received these past seven weeks. The group's heartfelt sympathies ..
95 killed in attack on central Mali village
Ninety-five people in a central Malian village inhabited by the Dogon community were killed by gunmen in an overnight attack, a local official and a security source said Monday, giving a provisional toll. "Right now we have 95 dead civilians. The bodies are burned, we are continuing to look for others," an official in Koundou district, where the village of Sobane-Kou is located, told AFP. A Malian security source at the site of the massacre said "a Dogon village has been virtually wiped out". The local official said the attackers came and "started shooting, pillaging and burning." The village had about 300 inhabitants, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The attack appears to be the latest incident in a cycle of violence in central Mali, an ethnic mosiac. The tit-for-tat began when a predominantly Fulani jihadist group led by preacher Amadou Koufa surfaced in the region and started targeting the Bambara and Dogon ethnic groups. The Fulani, also known as Peul, are ...
SL reopens international airport terminals for pick up, see off
Sri Lanka's Civil Aviation Authority on Monday said it has re-opened the Bandaranaike International Airport for pick-up and see-off after strict security measures were imposed following the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Colombo to expedite delayed Indo-Lanka projects
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said here on Monday he had assured India of expediting the delayed Indo-Lanka projects, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the island country.
Zimbabwe court releases two more rights activists
Two Zimbabwean rights campaigners arrested last month and charged with subversion were released on bail on Monday, lawyers said. The pair were among a group of seven human rights defenders arrested at Harare airport on their arrival from the Maldives, where police allege they attended a workshop on how to overthrow President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government. High court judge Justice Amy Tsanga ordered the release of Rita Nyamupinga and Stabile Dhewa, who were charged with "subverting a constitutional government", Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights spokesman Kumbirai Mafunda told AFP. "We welcome the court's decision in releasing the human rights campaigners. They did not deserve to have been in prison in the first place," he said. Mafunda said they were released on $1,000 bail each and that the court imposed "onerous conditions" on the activists, including having to report to a police station every day. Their five co-accused were released on bail on Friday. Their arrests came after ...
Life limps back to Sudan capital on day 2 of civil campaign
Several shops opened and buses plied the streets Monday as life limped back to the Sudanese capital on the second day of a nationwide civil disobedience campaign called to pressure the ruling military into handing over power. The timid return to normalcy came as the ruling military council announced that security forces on the streets would be boosted after four people were killed in clashes on Sunday -- the first day of the campaign -- two in Khartoum and two in the capital's twin city of Omdurman, just across the Nile river. The civil disobedience campaign comes a week after a deadly crackdown on protesters in Khartoum left dozens dead and almost two months since the April 11 ouster of Sudan's longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir following months of protests. Protesters had set up several roadblocks across many areas of the capital that the ruling generals have vowed to remove in order to bring "life to normal". On Monday, several shops, fuel stations and some branches of private banks ...
C'garh: Naxal involved in attacks on security forces held
A Naxal "militia commander" involved in several attacks on security personnel was arrested in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Sunday evening, an official said. Arjun Kunjam (27) was held from the forest near Empur village in Pamed police station limits by a joint team of the Black Panther, a specialised anti-Naxal unit of the state's Special Task Force (STF), and the district police, he said. He said Kunjam was involved in the killing of two security personnel in the district on April 27 this year, as well as in an attack which killed 12 troopers here in 2007. He also participated in a raid on a grocery shop in Pamed in 2010 in which two jawans lost their lives, the official added.
Mauritian woman, friend looted on Yamuna Epressway
A Mauritian woman and her Indian friend were allegedly looted by three motorcycle-borne men on the Yamuna Expressway here, police said Monday. The incident took place on Sunday near Saitgarhi village under Naujhil police station limits, Superintendent of Police, Mathura rural, Aditya Kumar Shukla said. Plodie Celine and her friend Anup stopped at the expressway after their car broke down. The accused reached there and forced the duo to part with their belongings, Shukla said. Cash worth Rs 15,000, foreign currency and mobile phones of the duo were looted by the accused, he said. Efforts are on to arrest the culprits, the officer added.
Committee probing Easter attacks submits its final report to Lankan President
A three-member committee appointed to probe the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka that killed 258 people, including 11 Indians, Monday submitted its final report to President Maithripala Sirisena. Supreme Court Justice Vijith Malalgoda, who headed the committee, handed over the report to President Sirisena. Other members of the committee - former ministerial secretary Padmasiri Jayamanne and former police chief N K Ilangakoon - were also present. The details of the report were immediately not available. President Sirisena appointed the committee on April 22 to probe into the Easter bombings and identify its root causes along with other related matters. The ad hoc investigation body had submitted two interim reports on the investigations to the President on earlier occasions. Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another ...
Traders' body in TN collects Rs 3.2 cr for Pulwama martyrs'
The Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) here has collected Rs 3.2 crore for the families of CRPF personnel killed in Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir in February last. As part of its noble gesture, Rs 3.80 lakh was handed over to Sheena, the widow of Vasanth Kumar, one of the victims of the attack, at a function organised here yesterday, a JITO release said Monday. JITO local chapter Chairman, Kailash Jain said the organisation has already collected Rs 3.2 crore as Pulwama fund and a cheque for Rs 3.80 lakh each would be personally handed over to the kin of the other martyrs soon. Nearly 40 CRPF personnel were killed in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
Colombo Catholic church's head skeptical over probe on Easter bombings
The head of Colombo's Catholic church in Sri Lanka Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has expressed dissatisfaction over the ongoing probe in the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings, saying it will "end up in nothing" like all the previous investigations. His comments came amidst an infighting between the two factions of the ruling coalition over the abdication of responsibility to prevent the deadly attack despite the availability of prior intelligence. Addressing a religious gathering at Akmeemana district on Sunday, the Cardinal said he was skeptical about the progress in the probe. "We can't be satisfied about the investigations. Like all the previous investigations on many incidents in the past, this will also end up in nothing," he said. President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a high-powered panel to investigate the attacks that killed 258 people, including 11 Indians, and injured nearly 500. However, the report, which was promised to be issued within two weeks, has not seen the light ..
Despite protests, pro-Beijing leader claims won't withdraw extradition bill
Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader on Monday said she had no plans to withdraw the controversial bill that allows criminal extraditions to mainland Chinese, a day after an estimated one million people marched through the streets to oppose the proposal."This is a very important piece of legislation that will help to uphold justice and also ensure that Hong Kong will fulfil her international obligations in terms of cross-boundary and transnational crimes," Al Jazeera quoted Chief Executive Carrie Lam as saying."The bill will resume its second reading on the June 12," Lam added.Riot police surrounded Hong Kong's parliament on Monday after a mass rally turned violent as several hundred protesters clashed with police, who responded with pepper spray before the standoff ended, plunging the autonomous state into a new political crisis.Ignoring the huge public backlash, Lam said her administration had already made major concessions to ensure that the city's unique freedoms would be protected and .
12 Haqqani network commanders killed in Afghanistan
At least 12 commanders of Haqqani network were killed in an operation by Afghan forces in the country's Khost province, officials said on Monday.
New Zealand calls time on non-combat mission in Iraq
New Zealand will begin scaling back its non-combat mission in Iraq next month and bring home the last of its troops by mid-2020, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday. Wellington deployed troops on a "behind-the-wire" training mission in 2015 to boost the ability of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) to fight the Islamic State group. Ardern said the small contingent of troops, currently 95, who have been working alongside the Australian army at the Taji military base north of Baghdad, had completed their mission. "When it comes to Iraq, it's time to go," Ardern said, adding that 44,000 ISF personnel had been trained at the base. "The New Zealand and Australian troops at Taji have worked hard, not only to provide training, but also to ensure that the ISF are well placed to take over this commitment at Taji in the near future." She said New Zealand troop numbers at Taji would fall to 75 next month, then 45 in January 2020, before the withdrawal in June next year. Defence Minister Ron ..
Lanka Tamil leader says Muslims' rights being abused, demands international probe
A top Tamil leader in Sri Lanka has called for an international investigation into the alleged injustice meted out to the minority Muslim community in the country in the aftermath of the massive Easter Sunday bombings. The fundamental rights of the Muslims are being abused using an act of terror, C V Wigneswaran, former chief minister of the Tamil-dominated Northern Province, told reporters on Sunday, referring to the difficulties faced by the minority community, which constitutes nine per cent of the population, following the deadly April 21 suicide bombings. Following the attacks that claimed 258 lives, some Muslim politicians representing the government came under criticism for their alleged support extended to the rising militancy. "Muslims are a part of the Sri Lankan community, they are being subjected to injustice in violation of the country's Constitution," Wigneswaran said in Jaffna, once the hotbed of the over three-decade long conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil ...
Syrian Army continue offensive to retake rebel-controlled areas
After recapturing Kafr Houd in the last few days, the Syrian Army is continuing its offensive to retake areas which are controlled by rebels."We are in the northern countryside of Hama in the village of Kafr Houd and we are heading to the towns of Tal Balah, Jalameh, and Jubain," a Syrian officer told Xinhua on conditions of anonymity."Our forces are advancing toward Tal Balah and Jubain to restore all areas that have been taken by the rebels over the past three days and the field situation is perfect," he said.The army is advancing to secure the road between the towns of Mhardeh and Sqailbiyeh, which was shut following a recent attack by the rebels, the officer said. The road is strategic as it is a supply route for the Syrian Army units deployed in the region.The inhabitants who fled after their towns fell to the rebels have started returning, head of Kafr Houd, Muhammad Ibrahim, told Xinhua."With the efforts of the Syrian Army, people have returned to the town of Kafr Houd and now .
Islamic State expands reach in Afghanistan, threatening West
The Islamic State group has lost its caliphate in Syria and Iraq, but in the forbidding mountains of northeastern Afghanistan the group is expanding its footprint, recruiting new fighters and plotting attacks on the United States and other Western countries, according to US and Afghan security officials. Nearly two decades after the US-led invasion, the extremist group is seen as an even greater threat than the Taliban because of its increasingly sophisticated military capabilities and its strategy of targeting civilians, both in Afghanistan and abroad. Concerns run so deep that many have come to see the Taliban, which has also clashed with IS, as a potential partner in containing it. A US intelligence official based in Afghanistan told The Associated Press that a recent wave of attacks in the capital, Kabul, is "practice runs" for even bigger attacks in Europe and the United States. "This group is the most near-term threat to our homelands from Afghanistan," the official said on ...
Hasina accuses Myanmar of being hesitant in taking back Rohingyas
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reportedly accused Myanmar of being hesitant in repatriating over a million Rohingya who fled ongoing sectarian conflict in the northern Rakhine State."The problem lies with Myanmar as they don't want to take back the Rohingyas by any means though Naypyidaw signed an agreement with Bangladesh promising to repatriate them," Dhaka Tribune quoted Hasina as saying on Sunday.The Prime Minister, at the same time, also feared that some international aid and voluntary agencies too were unwilling to resolve the crisis saying, "They never want the refugees to return to their home."She further noted that Dhaka had separately held talks with India, China, and Japan, over their stance on the Rohingya crisis. All the three countries had acknowledged Rohingyas as Myanmar nationals and agreed that they should return home, Hasina added.The Prime Minister also expressed her concerns about the security factors involving the Rohingyas as many of them were found
New Zealand plans to withdraw all Iraq troops by next June
New Zealand says it will withdraw all of its troops from Iraq by next June. The South Pacific nation has a small contingent of 95 so-called noncombat personnel deployed at the Taji Military Complex northwest of Baghdad, where they are tasked with training Iraqi security forces. The training mission is a joint operation with Australia, which has about 300 troops stationed at Taji. Australia has not made any announcement about its long-term plans at the base. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday the number of New Zealand troops will be reduced to 75 by July and then to 45 by January before all the troops all withdrawn. Ardern also announced New Zealand will reduce the number of defense force personnel it has posted in Afghanistan from 13 to 11.