Page 348 - War Conflict
Bangladesh observes Armed Forces Day
With due pomp and honour, the Armed Forces Day commemorating the martyrdom of military personnel in Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War was observed on Wednesday.
German security forces conduct largest airport anti-terror drill
The biggest ever anti-terror exercise at a German airport took place at the Cologne Bonn Airport during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Clash during religious procession in Kanpur leaves over half a dozen injured
More than half a dozen people were injured in Kanpur on Wednesday as two religious groups clashed with each other during a procession on the occasion of Prophet Muhammad's birth anniversary, police said.
Mobile phone services shut in Pak's major cities
Mobile phone services were shut down in Pakistan's major cities on Wednesday as the authorities beefed up security to prevent terror attacks during the Eid Milad-un Nabi celebrations, in the wake of a suicide attack in neighbouring Afghanistan that killed over 50 people, mostly clerics. Officials said the security was tightened to avert any tragedy on the occasion of the Eid Milad-un Nabi, marking the birth anniversary of the Prophet. However, internet services were available but faced periodic glitches. Terrorists usually use mobile phones to detonate explosive devices. Eid Milad-un Nabi is celebrated in Pakistan with special religious fervour. The day dawned with 31 gun salutes in Islamabad and 21 salutes at all provincial capitals. Special prayers were held in the mosques in the early morning. Processions, religious songs, speeches and distribution of free food are the main features of the day. However, common people face troubles due to closure of mobile phone services which is ...
One arrested in Amritsar grenade attack case: Punjab CM
One person has been arrested in connection with the grenade attack in Amritsar that left three people dead and over 20 injured on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday. "One Bikramjit Singh has been arrested and search for another accused, Avtar Singh, is on," Amarinder told the media here. The chief minister also showed pictures of the two accused and assured that the second person would be nabbed soon. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence is quite active in fomenting trouble in Punjab and the grenade attack in Amritsar was a pure act of terrorism, Singh said. Three people including a preacher were killed and over 20 injured when two-motorcycle borne men threw a grenade on a religious congregation on the outskirts of Amritsar on Sunday, an incident which police are treating as a terrorist act. The incident had taken place insidethe Nirankari Bhawan's prayer hall at Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi.
Victims recount horror of deadly Kabul blast as toll rises
Minutes after he took a seat among hundreds of religious scholars at a ceremony for the Prophet Mohammad's birthday in Kabul, a huge explosion shook the room, throwing Ahmad Fareed to the floor. Scattered around him were the bloodied bodies of turbaned men who had taken the full force of the suicide blast and probably saved his life. "It was absolute horror, people dead and wounded, covered in blood and pieces of flesh," Fareed, 40, told AFP on Wednesday as he lay in a hospital bed with leg and shoulder injuries. "My friend and his little son were also next to me, covered in blood and not moving." At least 55 people were killed and 94 wounded when the bomber blew himself up in the middle of the banquet hall at the Uranus Wedding Palace on Tuesday evening -- one of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan this year. A video posted on social media purportedly filmed by one of the hundreds of attendees showed a large gathering of men listening to a recitation of the Koran before an explosion
President Kovind visits Anzac Memorial in Sydney
President Ram Nath Kovind and First Lady Savita Kovind visited the Anzac Memorial at Hyde Park here on Wednesday afternoon and laid a wreath.Marking his first maiden visit to the island nation, the Indian President was received by the Governor of New South Wales (NSW), Retired General David Hurley, AC, DSC, along with his wife Linda Hurley at the Memorial.The leaders then together moved upstairs near the Pool of Reflection to enter the grand Memorial that has a marble dome ceiling, which was officially opened last month by the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry.The Anzac Memorial completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument of Sydney. The white Art Deco monument is located at the southern extremity of Hyde Park in the city's business district.The building was constructed as a memorial to the Australian Imperial Force in World War I, like the India Gate in New Delhi, to honour the service and sacrifice made by all servicemen, servicewomen and their families from colonial ...
PNG pledges to pay police APEC allowances after rampage
Papua New Guinea pledged Tuesday to pay police and soldiers their allowances for the recently concluded APEC summit after they stormed parliament to demand the unpaid bonuses. Up to 300 security personnel smashed windows and trashed furniture in parliament on Tuesday in protest over the special allowance for helping to protect the gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders, which ended Sunday. The outburst prompted looting around the capital, one of the world's most crime-ridden cities. Calm was restored after government ministers met with the protesters late Tuesday and agreed to pay the APEC allowance plus an additional bonus to all local personnel, police spokesman Dominic Kakas told AFP Wednesday. "Everything is back to normal," Kakas said. The lavish welcome for the international dignitaries had stirred resentment in Papua New Guinea, the poorest of APEC's 21 member nations. Preparations for the summit included the construction of purpose-built roads and conference centres, and the ...
Nearly 400 paramilitary personnel killed in action in 2015-17: MHA
Nearly 400 paramilitary personnel were killed due to firing from across the Indo-Pak border, and terrorist and insurgency violence in the country in the last three years, officials said Wednesday. The highest number of personnel killed in action were from the Border Security Force (BSF). The force lost 167 personnel between 2015 and 2017, and a majority of them were killed while guarding the highly sensitive border. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has lost 103 personnel in the last three years, mostly while fighting Naxals and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, a Home Ministry official said. While the BSF lost 62 personnel in action in 2015, 58 in 2016 and 47 in 2017, the CRPF lost nine personnel in action in 2015, 42 in 2016 and 52 in 2017. As many as 48 personnel of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) were killed in action in the last three years of whom 16 were killed in 2015, 15 in 2016 and 17 in 2017, the official said. The SSB guards the Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Nepal border. The ...
UN chief condemns deadly terrorist attack in Kabul
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council have strongly condemned the terrorist attack targeting a religious gathering in Afghan capital Kabul. The UN chief said deliberate targeting of civilians is a "clear violation of international humanitarian law". In a statement issued by his spokesperson, the secretary-general said "every effort" should be made to bring the perpetrators of Tuesday's attack to justice. Guterres also extended his deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured. The attack is said to be one of the deadliest in recent months as at least 55 people were killed and over 80 wounded in the blast that targeted a gathering of about 1,000 people, including religious scholars, celebrating the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has deployed human rights investigation teams to establish facts and gather more information. A press ...
2 Maoists arrested in Jharkhand
Two Maoists were arrested and a large number of weapons were seized in a three-day operation by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the state police in Jharkhand, officials said on Wednesday.
Taliban deny involvement in Kabul bombing that killed 50
The Taliban have denied involvement in a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital that killed at least 50 people. Tuesday's attack, which targeted a gathering of hundreds of clerics at a wedding hall in Kabul, bore the hallmarks of a local Islamic State affiliate, which has carried out mass bombings targeting minority Shiites as well as perceived supporters of the US-backed government. Both the Taliban and the IS affiliate want to overthrow the Afghan government and impose a harsh form of Islamic rule. But they are bitterly divided over leadership, ideology and tactics, with the Taliban mainly targeting security forces and government officials, and IS specialising in sectarian attacks on civilians. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said late Tuesday his group condemns any attack on civilians or religious clerics.
Peacekeeping strategy headed for tragedy: India warns at UN
Voicing concern over inadequate resources available for implementing peacekeeping mandates, India has warned that asking peacekeepers to "do more with less" is a strategy that is "setting us all up for a tragedy". A day after an Indian peacekeeper deployed with the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) was wounded in an attack, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin highlighted during a Security Council debate that peacekeeping missions in Africa are operating in vast environments. Drawing the attention of the Council to what MONUSCO peacekeepers are facing while deployed in sensitive areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Akbaruddin said the central sector of the country constitutes more than 500,000 sq kms of a total area of 2.34 million sq kms, with more than 11 million people of a total population of 81.5 million. For this vast area, four battalions of UN peacekeeping operations, totalling only about 3,000-odd troops, are .
Maharana Pratap: A warrior who withstood the might of Mughal empire at its peak (Book Review)
Book: Maharana Pratap - The Invincible Warrior; Author: Rima Hooja; Publisher: Juggernaut Books; Pages: 204; Price: Rs. 499
Sri Lankan rupee hits record low of 178.00 against dollar
COLOMBO (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee fell to a record low against the dollar on Wednesday, a day after Moody's downgraded the country's credit rating, as a political crisis worsens a rout in the currency.
Australia PM, Muslim leaders spar over his terror comments
Australian Muslim leaders said Wednesday they would boycott a meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison after he said they needed to do more to halt terror attacks in the country. Morrison singled out Muslim community leaders as having a "special responsibility" to counter "the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam" following a terror attack in Melbourne earlier this month that left two dead. "They must be proactive, they must be alert and they must call this out," Morrison said, adding that he would hold a roundtable meeting with Muslim leaders this week to discuss the problem. But Australian Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed and a group of other senior Muslim figures rejected the invitation in an open letter to Morrison Wednesday. The men said they were "deeply concerned and disappointed" with comments by Morrison and other ministers "which infer that the community is collectively culpable for the criminal actions of individuals and should be doing more to prevent such ...
India warns of possible UN peacekeeping 'tragedy'
In the aftermath of an Indian peacekeeper being wounded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India has warned that forcing troops in UN operations to function without sufficient resources "is setting us all up for a tragedy."
US condemns Kabul suicide bombing
The United States of America condemned the Kabul suicide bombing which killed as many as 50 people and injured several others who were part of a large gathering assembled to mark Prophet Mohammad's birth anniversary.The US also extended condolences to the families of the victims. "We send our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims. This shameless act comes as the Afghan people attempt to celebrate Milad-un-Nabi in peace, and reveals the cowardice and cruelty of those who perpetuate violence in Afghanistan," read the press release from US Department of State.The statement further asserted that the US is committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan, and stands by the people of Kabul country who "want peace and a future free from these horrific acts of violence".Kabul suicide bombing was the second act of violence in the war-torn country in a week. Earlier on November 12, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a police checkpoint killing at least 10 ...
Suicide bomb attack in Kabul kills at least 50
A suicide bombing on Tuesday at a hall in Kabul where hundreds of religious scholars had gathered to commemorate the Prophet Muhammad's birthday left at least 50 people dead and more than 70 others wounded, officials said.
US designates Hajji 'Abd al-Nasir as global terrorist
The United States Department of State on Tuesday designated Hajji 'Abd al-Nasir as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).In a press note, the Department of State stated that the US has imposed sanctions on foreign individuals who have committed or pose a significant risk of committing "acts of terrorism"."Today's designation seeks to deny al-Nasir the resources to plan and carry out terrorist attacks. Among other consequences, all of his property and interests subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with him," the statement noted.The Department of State also underscored that al-Nasir has held several leadership positions in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and SDGT.Within the past five years, al-Nasir has served as an ISIS Military Amir in Syria as well as chair of the ISIS Delegated Committee, the council that reports to ISIS leader Abu ...