Page 333 - War Conflict
Curtail terror, turn secular, Gen Rawat's advice to Pakistan
Army chief General Bipin Rawat Friday said Pakistan must curtail terror activities on its soil and develop itself as a secular state if it wanted cordial relations with India. He also said the Indian Army was not yet ready to have women in combat roles. Rawat was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Passing Out Parade of the 135th course at the National Defence Academy (NDA) here. Asked about a recent statement of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan about his country willing to take two steps for every step forward by India, he said the neighbouring nation should first take steps to curtail terror activities on its soil. "I would like to tell Pakistan to initiate that first step (curtailing terror). In the past, India has taken several steps. When we say terror is being harboured in your country, show some action by curtailing terror activities which are used against India," Rawat advised Pakistan. On Khan's statement as to why India and Pakistan could not be friends when ...
Chhattisgarh: Naxals using effigies, dummy weapons to confuse security personnel
Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district are continuously fine-tuning their strategies and tactics in order to maintain their relevance in the region. On Friday, a group of Naxals installed scores of effigies in the forest area in order to mislead and confuse security personnel about to their presence.Moreover, the forces recovered Improvised Explosive Device (IED) weighing 7 kilograms from near one of the effigies. The IED was buried under the mud and connected with a power source at a distance of about 2 metres. It was later diffused by the Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) personnel."When our forces went for area domination, they found three effigies installed in the region. These effigies also had dummy weapons like AKM and SLR made of wood which looked real. Our forces first thought that Naxals are present in the area and immediately cordoned off the area. It is a new strategy adopted by Naxals to confuse the forces and to create panic among them," CRPF's 150th Battalion ...
Chhattisgarh: 8 Naxals arrested in Dantewada
The Chhattisgarh Police on Thursday arrested eight Naxals following an exchange of fire in Hiroli area of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district."The police busted a Naxal camp and arrested the eight Naxals following an exchange of fire in Hiroli," said Abhishek Pallav, Superintendent of Police, Dantewada.The security personnel have recovered one weapon and explosives from the site of encounter.Meanwhile, a joint operation was carried on Thursday by District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) in border areas of Fulbagdi, Aranpur and Gadiras police stations.While moving towards the target, security personnel were fired upon by a large Naxal party of about 50-60 members. After firing for almost an hour, the Naxals fled the area.Upon searching the area, police parties found the dead body of a uniformed Naxal with an SLR weapon and two magazines, confirmed Abhishek Meena, Superintendent of Police, Sukma.
Explosives seized in Thane; one arrested
A cache of explosives, including gelatin sticks, was seized from a vehicle in the city and one person arrested in this connection, police said Thursday. An autorickshaw was intercepted in Mumbra town near here on November 27 and 250 gelatin sticks and an equal number of detonator caps were seized from the vehicle, they said. Acting on a tip-off, a police team kept a vigil and nabbed a man who was allegedly transporting the stock in the autorickshaw, the police said. He was identified by the police as Gulabsingh Rawatsingh Solanki (40). The police said they were on the lookout for his accomplices and suspect the seized explosives may be part of a big smuggling racket being operated from Rajasthan. Members of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) Thursday selected samples of the seized material for testing, they added.
Nepal Army takes action against 187 soldiers for corruption
The Nepal Army on Thursday convicted 173 personnel, including 23 officers, for their involvement in corruption in the last year's recruitment process. After a month-long investigation, a court martial found them guilty of soliciting bribes from aspiring soldiers and assuring them jobs, including those who managed to get entry into the force. Apart from jail term and explusion from the Army, the court also slapped a fine of 32.28 million Nepali rupees on them, according to a press release from the Nepal Army headquarters. Two soldiers were sentenced to six years imprisonment and expulsion from the Army, six soldiers, including two officers, have been sentenced to one month to three years of imprisonment and expulsion, one soldier would be expelled from job and promotion of dozens of others have been halted as per the court martial. The Giri-led army court also sacked 112 personnel, among them 101 were the new recruits who managed to secure the job through bribery, it said. They, ...
Car bomb attack toll in Kabul rises to 15
The death toll soared to 15 in the car bomb attack in Kabul that targeted London-based Security contractor company G4S, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said on Thursday.
Hry has sizeable contribution in armed forces: Khattar
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Thursday though the state has a sizeable contribution of around 10 per cent in the armed forces, efforts are being made to increase their strength. While speaking at the Civil Military Liaison Conference here on Thursday, Khattar offered all support and cooperation. He said he would provide land to the Army for setting up an armed forces preparatory institute in the state so that maximum youth could join the forces. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Western Command Lt General Surinder Singh, Chief of Staff of the Western Command P M Bali and other senior officers of the state government and the Army were also present on this occasion. While describing Haryana as the state of 'Jawan and Kisan' (land of soldiers and farmers), he said that at present the contribution of the state in the armed forces is nearly 10 per cent, which he said was "significant". "To achieve this, we are ready to give all support and cooperation .
Centre relaxes height norms for STs, Gorkhas of Northeast applying for
The Centre, in a bid to remove "discrimination", has relaxed height norms in a few categories for male candidates from the Northeast applying for posts of constables and sub-inspectors in central paramilitary forces. In a communication, the Home Ministry said the decision has been taken to maintain uniformity in height norms of male Gorkhas and male Schedule Tribes candidates of the Northeastern region. Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said with this relaxation, large numbers of youths from the Northeast and Gorkhas will be recruited in central paramilitary forces. "Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a historic decision to remove discrimination in height norms for the STs of North-East India & Gorkhas for recruitment in Central Armed Forces," Rijiju tweeted. According to the revised norms, the height of male ST candidates from the Northeast for recruitment as constables should be 157 cm instead of 162.5 cm. Similarly, the height of male Gorkhas and male Schedule ...
UK security firm G4S says five employees killed in Kabul attack
British security firm G4S said Thursday that five of its employees were killed and 32 wounded in a Taliban-claimed attack on one of its compounds in Kabul. A massive crater marked the spot where the militants detonated a vehicle bomb outside the compound late Wednesday before trying to fight their way inside in the latest violence to rock the Afghan capital. G4S, which provides security for British diplomats, said one Briton and four Afghans were killed in the attack. Earlier, Afghan authorities had said at least 10 people had been killed in the attack, but it was not immediately clear if that toll included the G4s employees. "It is with great sadness that we can confirm that five of our employees were killed and 32 were injured, five of them seriously," managing director Charlie Burbridge said in a statement. "We are committed to our security role in support of the people of Afghanistan, and we are determined that incidents such as this will not prevent the vital work that the ...
Illicit liquor seized in UP
Ten thousand litres of illicit liquor was seized on Karnal-Meerut highway in Shamli district here, police said Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted a loaded truck at the highway and seized the liquor bottles worth Rs 60 lakhs, they said. During investigation, the accused revealed that he was smuggling the liquor from Punjab to Bihar, the police said, adding a case was registered against the truck driver.
Wounded toll rises after blast at UK security firm in Kabul
A massive crater marked the spot where a vehicle bomb detonated outside a British security firm's compound in Kabul, killing at least 10 people, as the number of wounded rose Thursday to 29. In the latest Taliban-claimed attack in the Afghan capital, militants detonated the bomb and then tried to fight their way into the compound housing G4S security company late Wednesday, authorities said. "Five attackers were involved, one detonated his vehicle at the gate, and four others were on foot and they entered the building," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. He said the 10 dead were Afghans, but police spokesman Abdul Basir Mujahid said authorities were still working to identify the nationalities of the victims. G4S has not confirmed if any of its employees were among the dead, and the British embassy in Kabul has not yet made any statement. Mujahid said foreigners were among the wounded, but did not give their nationalities. An AFP photographer could see the shattered ...
Chhattisgarh: 1 Naxal killed in encounter
Security forces on Thursday killed a Naxal in an encounter on Dantewada and Sukma border of Chhattisgarh.The encounter, which broke out earlier today is still underway.Further details in the matter are awaited.Earlier on November 26, as many as nine Naxals and two security personnel were killed in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh in two separate operations carried out by the security forces.A huge cache of arms and ammunition including automatic rifles and improvised explosive device (IED) were also recovered from the spot by the police.
China says 8,000-strong UN peacekeeping standby force ready
China says it has assembled a standby force of thousands of United Nations peacekeepers, furthering its leading role in the global body's efforts to tamp down conflicts worldwide. Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told reporters Thursday that the 8,000-member force had passed an assessment last month approved by UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. That fulfils a pledge made at the U.N. three years ago by Chinese President Xi Jinping. China provides the most peacekeepers of any permanent UN Security Council member and is the second-largest contributor to the operations' multi-billion dollar budget, at slightly over 10 per cent. Ren says China has also trained more than 1,500 peacekeepers from more than a dozen countries. The UN currently runs 15 peacekeeping missions, the bulk of them in Africa.
Despite sanctions South Sudan stays armed for war: Report
Despite long-standing restrictions, new weapons have continued to reach South Sudan's battlefields, often via neighbouring countries, a detailed report by an arms monitoring group said Thursday. A four-year investigation, by London-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR), into the supply of weapons that have helped keep South Sudan's civil war alive since December 2013, has revealed the important role played by neighbouring countries, particularly Uganda, in circumventing arms embargoes. While the UN Security Council did not impose an arms embargo on South Sudan until July 2018, more than four years into a war that has killed an estimated 380,000 people, the EU has banned direct sales of weapons by member states to Sudan since 1994, amending the embargo to include newly-independent South Sudan in 2011. Nevertheless, the government army -- known as the SPLA, or Sudan People's Liberation Army -- has been kept well supplied with weaponry, often funnelled through Uganda and sometimes ...
Afghan officials say Taliban attack in Kabul killed 6 people
Afghan officials have revised the number of casualties from a deadly Taliban attack the day before on the Kabul offices of a Britain-based security company to six people killed. Earlier reports said the assault left 10 dead but Afghanistan's public health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said on Thursday that four of the dead were attackers. He says 23 people were wounded but didn't identify any of the casualties. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives on Wednesday as other insurgents battled with Afghan forces near the security company called G4S. The Taliban say the attack was revenge for a U.S. airstrike hours earlier in southern Afghanistan that killed 30 people, many of them civilians, including children. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claims all 10 dead are foreigners. Insurgents often exaggerate their claims.
Lankan Navy sinks TN fishermen's boat, arrests four
The Sri Lankan Navy allegedly sunk a boat belonging to fishermen hailing from Rameswaram, while they were fishing near Katchateevu and arrested four of them, the police said Thursday. The naval personnel chased the fishermen away and allegedly rammed their vessel into the fishermen's late Wednesday night and took four of them away to the island nation, they said. The personnel damaged the fishing nets and took away the GPS equipment, police added.
Boko Haram kills three soldiers, overrun Nigerian army base
Boko Haram jihadists have killed three soldiers in an attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria's Borno state near Lake Chad, military and civilian sources said. Fighters from Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) driving in several trucks attacked the base in Cross-Kauwa village on Tuesday and engaged troops in an hours-long gunfight, the sources told AFP late Wednesday. "We lost three soldiers in the fight," said a military officer who asked not to be named. "The soldiers fought the terrorists but were overpowered and had to withdraw from the base," he added. A Cross-Kauwa resident said the Islamists stormed the village in trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT). "The insurgents fought the soldiers for three hours and forced them to abandon the base," said the resident who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Bukar, for fear of reprisals. Buba said troops withdrew to the garrison town of Monguno, 18 kilometres (11 miles) away while others
Need for strong aviation security felt at symposium
A global symposium held here underscored the need for establishing "a stronger aviation security" and "a risk-based approach" to deal with emerging challenges in the field of aviation security.A delegation of India's Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) led by its Director General Rajesh Ranjan attended the Global Aviation Security Symposium (AVSEC 2018) organised by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), headquartered at Montreal, Canada.The two-day long symposium, the theme of which was 'The Need To Know,' was held on November 27-28 and discussed various subjects like "effective risk awareness, application of enhanced security measures, need for the establishment of a stronger aviation security and the need for a risk-based approach to aviation security."Ranjan, Director General CISF, in his deliberations, highlighted the unique expertise of his force in protecting critical infrastructure including those in aviation sector from the perspective of both anti-hijacking ..
India determined to protect its sovereignty: Kovind
India has remained firmly committed to peace and is also determined to use all its might to protect its sovereignty, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday.
3 Bodo militants taken into custody
Three Bodo militants were taken into custody from Kunnathanadu in Kochi early Thursday, police said. The three cadres of the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were residing near Aluva in Kochi and working in a factory at Mannoor near Aluva, police added. They were picked up following information from the Assam Police. The accused have cases against them under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 120 B (criminal conspiracy to commit offence punishable with death), among others. The three are being interrogated and would be handed over to the Assam Police, an official said.