Page 289 - War Conflict
British airports boost defences against drones
British airports are boosting their counterdrone efforts after severe disruption during the holiday period, marking the first concrete sign that the three days of flight mayhem last month could be a catalyst for spending on systems to thwart the malicious use of unmanned aircraft.
Security forces fire to disperse protesters marching to gunfight site
Security forces resorted to aerial firing on Saturday to disperse scores of protesters trying to march towards the site of a gunfight between security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.
Car bomb explosion wounds 3 in northwest Pakistan
Pakistani police say a car bomb has exploded in a Peshawar neighbourhood wounding three people and damaging several shops. Officer Dost Mohammad says the explosion Saturday took place outside a mosque in the Kali Bari area of the city. He says a woman was among the wounded, who were rushed to a nearby hospital. Mohammad said the area was nearly deserted at the time of the early morning blast. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is surrounded by lawless tribal regions that have served as a sanctuary for Islamic militants for decades. Militants have targeted the city for years.
Afghan official says insurgents stormed checkpoint, 7 killed
An Afghan official says at least seven border police officers were killed when their checkpoint came under attack by insurgents in southern Kandahar province. Aziz Ahmad Azizi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kandahar, says four other officers were wounded in the attack in the Spin Bolduk district. He added that 16 insurgents were killed and 11 others wounded in an ensuing battle that took place over several hours late Friday. The Taliban did not immediately comment on the attack but they have been carrying out near-daily attacks targeting Afghan forces, despite stepped-up efforts by the United States to find a negotiated end to the country's 17-year war.
CRPF personnel injured in Pulwama encounter
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel sustained bullet injury in a fierce encounter between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday.A combined cordon and search operation by 180 Battalion of CRPF, Rashtriya Rifle (RR) and Jammu and Kashmir Police to smoke out the terrorists is still underway at Aripal-Tantry Mohalla in Pulwama.However, no casualty has been reported as yet.Earlier on Friday, a civilian was shot at by a terrorist in Pulwama district. The injured was later shifted to the hospital for medical treatment.
Xi orders Chinese military to be combat-ready; says risks and challenges on rise
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the army to enhance its combat readiness to make sure it is always ready for a battle, saying risks and challenges are on the rise as the world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, state media reported Saturday. The People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's largest with two million troops, last year doubled the training period for new recruits from three to six months in a bid to improve their combat capabilities. President Xi, who also heads the PLA besides the ruling Communist Party, told a meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military, that "the world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, and China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development". Xi is the Chairman of the CMC. He is the only civilian in the high-power military body comprising top defence officials. Preparedness is vital in the era of drastic changes, ...
5 held for domestic LPG cylinders pilferage
Five employees of a gas distributing agency were arrested by Thane police when they were allegedly transferring gas from domestic cylinders to commercial containers, police said Saturday. Police had raided a godown on January 3 in the district and caught Boraram Dhatraval (38), Surtaram Dhartraval (30), Vikas Bishnoi (23), Karnaram Dara (30) and Bhudram Baishnoi (23) in the act, a police officer said. Police seized gas cylinders and other accessories worth Rs 23.40 lakh from the spot, he said. The officer said the accused used to withdraw around 2-3 kg gas from per domestic cylinder.
Gunfight erupts in J&K
A gunfight erupted on Saturday between the security forces and holed-up militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said.
UN to send new envoy to Somalia after flap led to expulsion
The United Nations plans to replace an envoy who was expelled from Somalia after questioning the arrest of a political candidate with an extremist history, the world body said Friday. The announcement came after three days of diplomatic back-and-forth over Somalia's expulsion of Nicholas Haysom, a longtime UN official who has also served as envoy to Afghanistan, Sudan and South Sudan. UN spokesman Farhan Haq said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has full confidence in Haysom, deeply regrets Somalia's decision and spoke twice about it with Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. The world body also argues that its personnel can't be kicked out under the diplomatic doctrine that Somalia invoked. Nevertheless, the secretary-general plans to appoint a new representative for Somalia, Haq said. "It's crucial that the UN mission on the ground is able to go about its work," he explained. That work includes electoral support and other functions. Somalia's UN mission didn't immediately ...
Taliban blames US, Afghan forces for most civilian casualties in 2018
The Taliban blamed US and Afghan forces for almost 90 per cent of civilian casualties in 2018, in a report released Friday that suggested Afghanistan's largest militant group was not responsible for a single death or injury. The data -- which NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan dismissed as "propaganda" -- follows a record year of bloodshed in the Afghan war, which by some estimates overtook Syria as the world's deadliest conflict zone. The figures, which the Taliban release every year and are based on "witnesses and primary sources", showed a total of 4,170 civilian casualties -- 2,294 deaths and 1,876 wounded -- last year. US and "stooge" Afghan government forces caused 3,705 casualties, while the Islamic State group and other "unknown" entities were responsible for 465, the Taliban claimed. Rejecting the figures, Resolute Support said the Taliban continued "to inflict great harm on Afghan civilians". "Over the last few months alone, the Taliban has carried out a host of .
Jihadists advance against rebels in northern Syria: Monitor
Jihadists gained ground Friday from rebels in Syria's last major opposition bastion after four days of fighting that has killed more than 100 fighters, a war monitor said. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist-led alliance, seized more than 20 villages from rival rebels in the northern province of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "HTS was able to take control of areas previously held by Nureddine al-Zinki in the west of the Aleppo countryside," the Britain-based monitor said. Those areas lie in the northeast of Syria's last major rebel bastion, which includes a large part of Idlib province as well as adjacent parts of Aleppo and Hama provinces. The clashes broke out after HTS, which is led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, on Monday accused Nureddine al-Zinki of killing five of its fighters. Fighting flared on Tuesday in the northern province of Aleppo before expanding to the neighbouring provinces of Idlib and Hama in the following days. Friday's fighting brought .
Tajik soldier killed in Afghan border clash: source
A soldier from Tajikistan's border service was killed in a clash with Afghan smugglers during a search for a missing shepherd, a security source in the ex-Soviet country said Friday. A source in Tajikistan's security structures told AFP that the border service office was killed during the hunt for a shepherd suspected kidnapped. "A Tajik officer was killed in the clash," the security source said, noting the fighting took place along the porous border 180 kilometres southeast of Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe. The source also said 15 kilogrammes of hashish and a machine gun were seized by Tajik servicemen following the clash. The shepherd, who local media reports have said is 42-years-old, was first reported missing on January 1. Mountainous Tajikistan, the poorest former Soviet republic, shares 1,344 kilometres of border with Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of opium and heroin. Incidents on the border frequently include shootouts and kidnappings of Tajiks by Afghan smugglers
Forty-six killed in Burkina ethnic clashes
Forty-six people were killed in central-northern Burkina Faso this week after a suspected jihadist attack triggered ethnic clashes, the government said on Friday. Authorities initially said 13 died in violence in Yirgou village in Barsalogo district on Tuesday and Wednesday, but a government spokesman said the toll had increased to 46. "It started with a terrorist attack in Yirgou that killed seven people including the village chief," said spokesman Remis Fulgance Dandjinou. "People pursuing the terrorists carried out a number of acts which led... to 46 victims being identified today, including the seven killed by terrorists." Residents said after the jihadist attack, villagers, who are from the Mossi ethnic group, attacked a nearby camp of nomadic Fulani herders, accusing them of being accomplices to the militants. Burkina Faso lies in the heart of the sprawling, impoverished Sahel, on the southern rim of the Sahara. The region became a hotbed of extremism after chaos engulfed Libya .
Defence Ministry toiling to complete national war memorial by January 25
The Defence Ministry is burning the midnight oil to ensure that the national war memorial project is completed by January 25."The work at the memorial site is going on in full swing and necessary actions are being taken to ensure that all obstacles are overcome and the memorial is ready by January 25 deadline," a Defence Ministry official said.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has also formed an oversight committee to ensure that all the memorial related work is completed in time, the official stated.The Defence Minister holds a weekly review meeting to keep a close track on the project with senior officials of the ministry and the armed forces.The project is coming up at the India Gate complex in the heart of the national capital. The National War Museum is also underway at the Princess Park Hostel area.Setting up the national war memorial was one of the first promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the members of the armed forces. A cabinet clearance in this regard was ...
Rakhine rebels kill 13 Myanmar police in brazen raids
Thirteen Myanmar police officers were killed in raids Friday by ethnic Rakhine rebels, the army said, in a brazen, co-ordinated attack on the country's Independence Day which adds a dangerous new dimension to conflict in the restive western state. Rakhine has seen a surge in violence in recent weeks between rebels from the Arakan Army (AA) -- who are seeking greater autonomy for their ethnic Rakhine group, who are Buddhists -- and security forces, displacing thousands. It has added a fresh layer of complexity and danger to the violence in an area already scored by deep ethnic and religious enmity, which saw hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims forced over the border by a bloody army crackdown in 2017. Around 350 Militants from the Arakan Army swarmed four police stations in northern Rakhine state early on Friday "killing 13 police and wounding nine others", according to a statement released late Friday by the army chief's office. The militants stole scores of weapons and ...
Army chief remembers Albert Ekka's supreme sacrifice
Army Chief General Vipin Rawat on Friday remembered the supreme sacrifice made by Lance Naik Albert Ekka, a recipient of the country's highest military award Param Vir Chakra, during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Expressing his gratitude to the war hero's widow Baldina Ekka, Rawat said he was fortunate that he could pay a visit to Chainpur, Ekka's paternal village in Gumla district. Rawat honoured Baldina with a shawl and handed over a cheque of Rs 51,000 and said the country was proud of Ekka and his family. He narrated how Ekka had destroyed the Pakistani army's bunker at Gangasagar in the Battle of Hilli despite sustaining injuries as a part of 14th Guard battalion. He was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra. Rawat also paid tribute at Ekka's bust situated in Chainpur Bazar Tand. The Army chief was in Gumla to take part in a rally organised to remember the armymen who made supreme sacrifices while serving for the country, as well as former armymen and their ...
13 Myanmar police killed in attacks by ethnic Rakhine rebels: army
Thirteen Myanmar officers were killed in Friday morning's co-ordinated raids on police posts, the army said, in a brazen attack by scores of ethnic Rakhine rebels which adds a dangerous new dimension to conflict in the western state. Militants from the Arakan Army (AA), who are seeeking greater autonomy for their Buddhist ethnic group, swarmed four police stations in northern Rakhine state early on Friday "killing 13 police and wounding nine others," according to a statement released late Friday by the army chief's office.
Myanmar's Rakhine rebels attack police posts in pre-dawn raids
Ethnic Rakhine rebels carried out pre-dawn attacks on four police stations near the Bangladesh border in a strike confirmed Friday by both the rebel group and Myanmar's army, with the militants claiming to have killed seven and taken 14 "prisoners of war" as operations ramped up. Myanmar's western state of Rakhine has seen a surge in violence in recent weeks between rebels from the Arakan Army (AA) and security forces, displacing thousands. It has added a new dimension to the violence in an area already scored by deep ethnic and religious enmity, which saw hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims forced over the border by a bloody army crackdown in 2017. The AA is calling for greater autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist population in what is one of the country's poorest states. Friday morning's attacks took place in Buthidaung township in the north of Rakhine state, army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP. "We can confirm that the attack on the four police stations .
Himachal seeks India Reserve Battalion for women
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Friday called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here and requested him to sanction one more India Reserve Battalion (IRB) for women.
Pak army shells forwards areas along LoC in Poonch
In yet another ceasefire violation,Pakistan army troops resorted to mortar shelling on forwardposts and civilian areas along Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said Friday. Indian troops fired in retaliation, they said, adding that no casualty or damage was incurred. There were nearly 1,600 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2018 till October-end, the highest recorded in a year so far, they added. The areas hit twice in intermittent shelling and firing on Thursday were Gulpur and Khari Karmara in Pooch district, where some shells hit a shop, a house and a cowshed. Pakistani troops had violated ceasefire on Wednesday and Tuesday also by resorting to firing on forward areas along the LoC in Poonch. Despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence tothe ceasefire understanding of 2003 for maintaining peace andtranquility, Pakistan forces have carried out 1,591 incidentsof unprovoked ceasefire violations along the LoC and ...