Page 316 - War Conflict
Jharkhand: CPI (Maoist) hideout busted, huge cache of arms recovered
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Jharkhand Police personnel have jointly busted a Communist Party of India (Maoist) hideout in Jharkhand's Gumla district on Thursday.Acting on the intelligence inputs, the 158 and 218 Battalions of CRPF and state police unearthed a huge cache of arms and ammunition reportedly dumped by the CPI (Maoist) cadres.Among the recovered weapons are 1 AKM rifle, one 12 bore double barrel gun, one .315 rifle, 2 pistols, one magazine of AKM, 10 live rounds of AKM and 5 live rounds of 8MM. Also, 12 Gelatin sticks weighing approximately 1.25 Kilograms and 1.5 Kilograms of Ammonium Nitrate have been recovered.20 detonators, 10-metre safety fuse, and 2 steel containers have also been recovered and confiscated from the hideout.Gumla is known to be a hotbed for Naxal activity in Jharkhand and lies in the Red-corridor. It is located in the southern part of the Chota Nagpur plateau and is one among 30 worst Naxalite-Maoist extremism affected districts in the ..
Strasbourg gunman shot dead by French police
French police on Thursday shot dead a gunman who had been on the run since killing three people at Strasbourg's popular Christmas market. More than 700 French security forces had been hunting for 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday night. He was believed to have been injured after exchanging fire with soldiers during the attack, but managed to escape and had not been seen since getting out of a taxi in the Neudorf area of the northern French city. Minutes before he was shot dead on Thursday, a helicopter with a powerful searchlight flew over Neudorf. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told reporters that the police swooped after the suspect was spotted on the street. Officers tried to arrest him, but he shot at the police. "They immediately returned fire and neutralised the assailant," Castaner said. Dozens of police vehicles converged on the area where the police were applauded after the shooting. "Bravo!" some shouted as people gathered at the police cordon,
Strasbourg attacker one of IS 'soldiers': Propaganda agency
The gunman who killed three people at Strasbourg's popular Christmas market was one of the "soldiers" of the Islamic State jihadist group, the extremist organisation's propaganda agency said Thursday. The perpetrator of "the attack in the city of Strasbourg... is one of the soldiers of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition" against the jihadist group, the Amaq agency said in a message posted on Twitter.
Strasbourg shooting suspect killed by police: Report
The man responsible for the Strasbourg terror attack was killed by police on Thursday, a spokesman for the Paris prosecutor's office said.
Fifth person detained in connection with Strasbourg shooting
A fifth person was arrested and placed in police custody on Thursday in connection with the gunman who killed three people and wounded many others near the Christmas market in France's Strasbourg, the newspaper Le Figaro reported.
EU rolls over Russia economic sanctions: Tusk
EU leaders extended punishing economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine for another six months on Thursday, amid heightened tensions between Kiev and Moscow over their Azov Sea clash. The EU first imposed the measures in July 2014 after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing 298 people, an attack blamed by the EU on pro-Russian rebels. The sanctions target whole sectors of the Russian economy including its valuable oil businesses. "EU unanimously prolongs economic sanctions against Russia given zero progress in implementation of Minsk agreements," EU President Donald Tusk tweeted from a summit in Brussels. The EU-brokered Minsk peace agreement, backed by Moscow and Kiev, was first reached in late 2014 and then re-worked in early 2015 but is violated regularly. The Ukraine-Russia conflict flared up again last month when Russian forces seized three Ukrainian vessels and sailors as they tried to pass through the Kerch Strait from the Black .
Suspected jihadists kill 42 in Mali's nomadic Tuareg camps
Suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people during a series of attacks on Tuareg nomadic camps in Mali, local leaders said Thursday. Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg self-defense official, said the attacks took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the sprawling West African nation's eastern Menaka region. The victims, who included children as young as eight, were members of his group known as MSA, which has been fighting militants with ties to the Islamic State group who are active in the region. This week's violence risks setting off a new cycle of intercommunal clashes in the Menaka region, where 100 civilians have already been killed this year. In September, similar motorcycle gangs attacked a nomadic community near Mali's border with Niger, killing at least 12 civilians. Meanwhile, Malian authorities said Thursday they had arrested four men accused of planning attacks before the end of the year in several major West African capitals. Malian intelligence services ..
French police sweep Strasbourg in hunt for gunman
Dozens of French police cordoned off an area in southern Strasbourg on Thursday where a gunman who killed three people when he opened fire at the city's popular Christmas market was last seen. An AFP reporter at the scene said police including members of the elite RAID intervention force blocked several streets in the Neudorf neighbourhood in the early evening. The district is a short drive from the Strasbourg city centre where the gunman shot and stabbed shoppers before taking a taxi to flee the scene. Three people were killed and 13 injured, according to an updated toll from French authorities. More than 700 French security forces have been hunting for 29-year-old suspect Cherif Chekatt since the bloodshed on Tuesday night. Police in several European countries have joined the manhunt for Chekatt, a Strasbourg native. He is said to have been injured after exchanging fire with soldiers, but managed to escape and has not been seen since exiting the taxi in Neudorf. Authorities ...
US lashes out at 'predatory' China, Russia in Africa
The United States lashed out Thursday at "predatory" Chinese and Russian involvement in Africa as it announced a leaner footprint that insists on accountability in trade and peacekeeping. In a speech billed as unveiling a new US strategy on Africa, national security advisor John Bolton sounded the same notes as Trump's "America First" philosophy with a distrust of international institutions and a sense of stark competition with rival powers. Bolton denounced China for its aggressive quest for natural resources and its rising military and maritime presence -- warning that the balance of power in the Horn of Africa could shift to Beijing -- and accused Russia of using the continent to seek past imperial glory. "The predatory practices pursued by China and Russia stunt economic growth in Africa, threaten the financial independence of African nations, inhibit opportunities for US investment, interfere with US military operations and pose a significant threat to US national security ...
Staff among 4 held for loot at Domino's outlet
A staff of Domino's Pizza were among the four youths arrested for allegedly robbing the outlet at gunpoint in outer Delhi's Nangloi area, police said Thursday. The accused have been identified as Sachin (22), Sonu (20), Banty (18) and Sumit (23), they added. In the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Domino's Pizza staff informed the police that three unknown persons entered into their food outlet in Ratan Park and looted Rs 1,50,800 at gunpoint, said Seju Kuruvilla, deputy commissioner of police (outer). During investigation, after analysing the call details of its employees, the activities of one Sonu, sweeper at Domino's Pizza, was noticed to be suspicious. He was detained and the accused revealed his role in the robbery, Kuruvilla said. Later, it was revealed that Sonu and Banty, along with Sachin and Sumit, committed the robbery in the outlet, he added. Police laid a trap and apprehended Banty. Sachin and Sumit were also arrested when they were planning to go to Manali, the ..
Mungantiwar files defamation case against Nirupam
Senior Maharashtra minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday filed a criminal defamation complaint against Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam over allegations made by Nirupam following the killing of man-eater tigress Avni. Mungantiwar filed the complaint in the judicial magistrate's court in Chandrapur near here, said the minister's lawyer Kartik Shukul. Nirupam, in a press conference on November 10, had made several baseless allegations against the BJP leader, he said. Mungantiwar, who holds the forest portfolio, had come under severe criticism after tigress Avni, who had reportedly killed over a dozen people in Yavatmal district, was shot dead on government orders. Advocate Shukul said that Nirupam had levelled several false allegations against Mungantiwar including that the BJP leader was part of international syndicates involved in wildlife trade and during his tenure there has been large-scale deforestation in the state. Mungantiwar has sought action against him .
A year after Doklam stand-off, soldiers of India China seen dancing together
A year after the armies of India and China were locked in a standoff at Doklam, soldiers of the two countries were seen chanting, linking arms and dancing in the backdrop of a joint military drill in a video released by the Indian Army. The armies of the two sides resumed their annual military drill 'Hand in Hand' on December 10 and it will continue until December 23 at Chengdu in China. "Ex #HandInHand2018. 'Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal'. Troops of #IndianArmy & #ChineseArmy sharing lighter moments after practicing gruesome Battle Obstacle Course. #Synergy #Interoperability #UnitedNations @SpokespersonMoD @PIB_India," the Army tweeted. Last year, the two sides were locked in a standoff at Doklam leading to tensions between the two sides.
NATO to send Ukraine secure comms amid Russia standoff
NATO announced on Thursday that it will supply Ukraine with secure communications equipment by the end of the year to help Kiev combat destabilisation efforts by Russia. Alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg praised Ukraine for its "calm and restraint" during the recent naval standoff with Russia in the Azov Sea and said NATO support for Kiev would continue. After talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Stoltenberg repeated a call for Russia to free sailors seized in the Azov Sea clash last month. "Today, I told President Poroshenko that we will deliver secure communications equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces by the end of this year," Stoltenberg said. "We are also supporting Ukraine to improve its naval capabilities, logistics and cyber defence." Earlier this week the EU said Russia had prepared the ground for the sea clash with a year-long campaign of disinformation about Kiev and NATO's plan for the Azov Sea. Stoltenberg took aim at Russia's "destabilising behaviour", ...
Top al-Shabab defector-turned-Somalia candidate is arrested
The former No 2 leader of Somalia's al-Shabab extremist group, who is now a top candidate in a regional election next week, was arrested on Thursday, prompting violent protests in which four people were killed, officials said. Mukhtar Robow, once al-Shabab's spokesman, was arrested by Ethiopian troops that are part of the African Union peacekeeping forces supporting Somalia's federal government, Nur Ahmed, an electoral official in Southwest state, told The Associated Press. The arrest could re-ignite old tensions between Somalia and neighbouring Ethiopia. Robow was flown from Baidoa to the capital, Mogadishu, said a Somali intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. In a statement, Somalia's security ministry confirmed Robow's arrest, citing the federal government's earlier ban on his candidacy and alleging that he had failed to renounce extremist ideology. The statement also accused Robow of mobilising armed forces ..
Kuki rebel shot dead in Manipur
A Kuki rebel was gunned down inside a hotel at Saikul in Kangpokpi district of Manipur on Thursday evening, police said. He died instantly.
Several dozen killed near Mali's border with Niger
Several dozen civilians have been shot dead by gunmen who raided an area in northeastern Mali near the border with Niger, local officials and a Touareg self-defence group told AFP Thursday. The attack, which took place early Wednesday, occurred in an area which has been badly hit by jihadist violence that has claimed several hundred lives this year, most of them civilians of Touareg or Peul ethnicity. "Gunmen riding on motorbikes raided many areas in the southern part of the Menaka region and executed civilians from the (Touareg) Idaksahak community," said the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad (MSA), which spoke of 47 people killed. Local officials, who confirmed the attack, put the number of dead at several dozen but said they couldn't. The MSA, part of a Touareg rebellion movement in the north, said the assailants headed for the Niger border after first setting a bushfire. A Menaka official who wished to remain anonymous said he could not give an exact death toll as "by the time .
CRPF ADG of J&K Zone meets guv
The CRPF additional director general (ADG) of Jammu and Kashmir zone called on Governor Satya Pal Malik at Raj Bhawan here on Thursday. ADG V S K Kaumudi briefed Malik about the current internal security scenario in the state, an official spokesperson said. The governor lauded the role of the paramilitary force in the peaceful conduct of the recently-concluded panchayat polls in the state.
Two LeT militants killed in encounter in Baramulla
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said Thursday. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Brath Kalan area of Sopore on Wednesday evening following information about presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire on security forces. Two militants, identified as Owais Ahmad Bhat alias Abu Bakar and Tariq Ahmad Dar alias Abu Abdullah, both affiliated to the terror outfit LeT, were killed in the gunfight, the official said. "Both the terrorists were wanted for complicity in terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities," he said. A huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including rifles, were recovered from the encounter site, the official said.
Third person dies after Strasbourg Christmas market attack: government
A third person has died from wounds sustained during a shooting attack on a popular Christmas market in Strasbourg, French authorities said Thursday. Another 13 people are injured, with five still in critical condition, the local prefecture said in a statement. One of the injured has been declared brain dead. Previously officials had said two victims had died and 13 were injured. The suspected attacker, a 29-year-old Strasbourg native named Cherif Chekatt, opened fire at the eastern city's annual Christmas market on Tuesday night. Police and soldiers exchanged fire with Chekatt, who was wounded but managed to escape. More than 700 police in France have been searching for him since and the government has raised its security alert for terrorism to its highest level. Border controls have been reinforced in Germany and Switzerland, where the career criminal has previous convictions, and hundreds of additional soldiers have been deployed to secure other Christmas markets across France.
Centre sets up tribunal to adjudicate ban imposed on 8 Manipur insurgent groups
The Centre has constituted a tribunal to adjudicate matters related to extension of ban imposed on eight insurgent groups in Manipur for five more years over continued involvement in unlawful and violent activities. In a notification, the Home Ministry said the tribunal was set up under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and will be headed by Delhi High Court judge Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal. The tribunal will adjudicate whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Meitei extremist organisations of Manipur as "Unlawful Associations", the notification said. The organisations which were banned last month include Peoples' Liberation Army generally known as PLA and its political wing, Revolutionary Peoples' Front (RPF), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing Manipur Peoples' Army (MPA), Peoples' Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and its armed wing 'Red Army'. The others are Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its armed wing, ...