Page 384 - War Conflict

SIM box, hundreds of mobile SIM cards recovered in Jharkhand

Ranchi police on Wednesday seized a SIM box and more than 300 mobile SIM cards from an apartment.

Egypt security forces say 11 militants killed south of Cairo

Egyptian officials say security forces have killed 11 men armed with assault rifles in a firefight that began during a dawn raid on a desert cave south of Cairo. The officials say the men killed Wednesday had been in possession of weapons and ammunition, including explosives, in the Western Desert near the Farafra depression, and had planned "hostile operations." The area is near the city of Assiut, some 320 kilometers, or 200 miles, from Cairo. The officials were not identified in their statement but spoke anonymously under government regulations. Egypt launched a nationwide operation against militants in February. It has struggled to combat a long-running insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula that is now affiliated with the Islamic State group, and which has also carried out attacks on the mainland.

2 militants including M.Phil degree holder killed in Kashmir

Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including an M.Phil degree holder, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Nowgam area of the city on Wednesday, police said. The slain militants have been identified as Sabzar Ahmad Sofi, a PhD scholar who had joined the militant ranks, and Asif Ahmad, the official said. Sofi, who was pursuing PhD in Botany from Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi, had joined the militant ranks in the aftermath of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July 2016. He is third highly educated person to have been killed this year after joining militancy. The 33-year old Sofi also held MSC and B.Ed degrees. Earlier this month, AMU scholar turned militant Manaan Bashir Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir Kupwara district while an assistant professor from Kashmir University Mohammad Rafi Bhat was killed in a gunfight in Shopian district two days after joining the militant ranks in May this year. There has been an ...

Turkey detains Swedish citizen over alleged PKK links: state media

Turkey has detained a Swedish man over suspected links to Kurdish militants in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, state media reported. The 46-year-old man is accused of being a regional leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Sweden, state-run news agency Anadolu said late Tuesday. The agency said the man, identified only by the initials H B, had also taken a photograph in front of an image of PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on an island off Istanbul. The Swedish citizen was detained as part of an operation coordinated by the Diyarbakir prosecutor working with the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) and security forces after he had allegedly come to Turkey for secret meetings with PKK-linked individuals. The PKK has been waging an insurgency in Turkey since 1984. Fighting intensified in 2015 after the collapse of a two-year ceasefire. The PKK is also blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western ...

Two militants killed in J&K

Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a top commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Nowgam area of the city on Wednesday, police said. Acting on a tip off about presence of militants in Suthu Kothair locality of Nowgam, security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the early hours, a police official said. He said the militants opened fire on security forces during the search operation, triggering a gunbattle in which two ultras were killed. The slain militants have been identified as Sabzar Ahmad Sofi, a PhD scholar who had joined the militant ranks, and Asif Ahmad, the official said. "The standard operating procedures were followed during the operation and there was no collateral damage during the encounter," he added. The official said incriminating material besides arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site. Clashes broke out between protestors and security forces soon after the encounter ended, he said, adding the law ...

Ph.D scholar killed in Srinagar, tension brews in Kulgam, Anantnag

As reports of a Ph.D scholar killed in a shootout here reached his hometown Anantnag on Wednesday clashes broke out, even as the authorities continued to face a separatist standoff protesting Sunday's civilian deaths in Kulgam for the second consecutive day.

Pilgrim dies enroute Mata Vaishno Devi shrine

A 34-Year-old pilgrim died of cardiac arrest on his way to the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir, police said Wednesday. Surender Gole, a resident of North-West Delhi, collapsed near the shrine Tuesday, they said. He was rushed to a nearby dispensary where the doctor declared him brought dead, police said.

Militants kill 4 workers of oil and gas exploration company in Pakistan

Four kidnapped employees of an oil and gas exploration company in Pakistan have been killed by militants near the country's restive northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday. They were abducted from North Waziristan's Spinwam Abakhel area on Tuesday. Later, their bullet-riddled bodies were discovered. Security forces have launched an operation to nab the militants. No group has claimed responsibility for the killing. Last week, two workers of the same company were kidnapped. One of them was released later. North Waziristan has long been a sanctuary for the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups.

J-K: 2 terrorists gunned down in Nowgam

Two terrorists were gunned down in an exchange of fire with security forces in at Wanbal area of Nowgam on the outskirts of Srinagar on Wednesday.The two neutralised terrorists are yet to be identified.Earlier this morning, security forces had launched a cordon and search operation on the basis of reliable input about the presence of the terrorists in the area.During the search operation, terrorists opened fire on the security forces who retaliated, leading to an encounter.The Jammu and Kashmir police have informed that no collateral damage took place during the encounter. The security forces also recovered incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, from the site of the encounter.The police have registered a case in the matter and the investigation in this regard is underway.

Good chance space force will move forward next year, says Donald Trump

The purpose of the space force will be to secure America's vital national interests in space, Pence said

2 militants killed near Srinagar

Two militants were killed on Wednesday in a gunfight with the security forces in the outskirts of Srinagar city, police said.

Gunfight on near Srinagar

A gunfight started on Wednesday between holed up militants and security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar city, police said.

Israeli troops kill Palestinian in border clash: Gaza ministry

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager in a border clash on Tuesday, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said in a statement. It named him as 17-year-old Muntaser Mohammed al-Baz, saying he was shot in the head earlier during protests near Bureij in central Gaza and died of his wounds in hospital. An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP that troops at the border fence opened fire during a violent protest by about 200 Palestinians. "They burned tyres and threw explosive devices at soldiers," she said. "They also threw a petrol bomb." She said none of the soldiers was injured. "Troops responded with riot dispersal means and gunfire according to the rules of engagement," she added. Near daily protests along the Gaza border since March 30 against Israel's crippling 11-year blockade of the impoverished enclave have sparked repeated clashes with the army. More than 200 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed in the violence. Last week a rocket from the Palestinian ..

Gunmen kill four people in NW Pakistan: officials

Three employees of an oil and gas exploration company and their paramilitary escort were kidnapped and shot dead Tuesday in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. The killings happened in North Waziristan where the Pakistani military has been engaged in a series of offensives against Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants for over a decade. "The employees and their escort, an official of Frontier Corps, were heading towards their office when kidnapped by unknown gunmen," a senior local administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said their bullet-riddled bodies were found near Spinwam late in the afternoon. A local intelligence official also confirmed the incident and fatalities and said it was unclear where the gunmen were from as no group has so far claimed responsibility for the incident. Violence in Pakistan has declined dramatically in recent years following a series of military operations along the northwestern border with ...

Poonch army camp explosion caused by Pakistan shelling: Official

The explosion inside an Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Tuesday was caused by Pakistani shelling, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

Blast inside army brigade headquarters as Pak violates ceasefire

Pakistani troops Tuesday violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir with one of the shells landing inside the brigade headquarters in the town but causing no casualties, a defence spokesman said. The ceasefire violation came just two days after three Indian soldiers and two heavily-armed Pakistani intruders were killed in a gunfight along the Line of Control (LoC) in nearby Rajouri district. "Pakistani troops fired rocket propelled grenades (RPG) and small arms at around 1035 hours during ceasefire violation. One round landed on a barrel type store shelter in Poonch causing it to catch fire," Jammu-based defence spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said on Tuesday evening. "Initial analysis indicates caliber of 105/106 mm RCL (recoilless gun). Further details are being ascertained," he added. Earlier in the day, when the blast was reported inside the 93rd brigade headquarters at Moti Mahal in Poonch, the spokesman had said that it had nothing to do with ...

Pawar had first brush with politics as four-day old infant!

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had his first brush, literally, with politics as a four-year-old. The former Union minister, who has completed 51 years in electoral politics, revealed this at a book release event here Tuesday evening. Pawar said he was just four days old when his mother Shardabai, who was elected as chairperson of the local municipal works committee in Pune in 1938, carried him in a state transport bus to Pune where she was scheduled to cast her vote. Pawar said Shardabai was the driving force behind her seven sons and four daughters, all of whom acquired graduate degrees in various disciplines like law, engineering, architecture, metallurgy and agronomy. The Marathi book, 'Mu Po Aai', edited by journalist Sandeep Kale, has articles by 30 Maharashtrian editors about their mothers. Pawar has penned the foreword for the tome. Pawar also recalled that as Defence Minister he insisted on inducting women into armed forces despite repeated .

Difficult for govt to take action against insurgent groups across Indo-Bangladesh border

Indian insurgent groups are living across the Indo-Bangladesh border but it is difficult for the government to take any action as they shift base very frequently, a senior BSF official said Tuesday. BSF Meghalaya Frontier Inspector General I Mohanti told PTI that it does not mean the Bangladeshi government is harbouring these groups. Mohanti said it is practically "very difficult" to seal the border. Meghalaya has a 443 km-long international border with Bangladesh and according to the BSF official over 110 km is still unfenced due to land acquisition issues. "Indian insurgent groups are living just across Indo-Bangladesh border in makeshift camps in villages and identifying them is difficult because they belong to same ethnic groups," Mohanti told PTI. "Some of them (insurgents) have got married. Some stay in makeshift camps and by the time the Bangladesh authorities act upon the information we share with them, they shift base," he said. The BSF FIG said that groups such as the ...

MP: Violence in Jabalpur over idol immersion; 35 held

A clash broke out between police and devotees Tuesday in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur over immersion of the idol of goddess Kaali in the Narmada river, an officer said. Police lobbed tear gas shells and caned rioters to bring the situation under control. Immersion of idols in the river is banned to avoid pollution of the water body. The incident occurred after people carrying the idol of "Mannatwali Kaali Mata" were prevented by the police from immersing it in the river at Gwarighat area, the police officer said. After an argument over the issue, a mob attacked the police with stones and set seven motorcycles of police personnel on fire, said police officer Arjun Uikey. "Immersing idols in the Narmada river is banned to protect the water body from pollution," Uike said, adding that a small pond was constructed for the immersion purpose near the holy river. According to eye-witnesses, rioters hurled stones at police who retaliated. As more rioters joined in, the police ...

Six killed by car bomb near Iraq's Mosul

A car bomb attack Tuesday killed six people and wounded 26 more at a market in a town near the Islamic State group's former Iraqi capital of Mosul, medics said. Images of the scene posted on social media showed a devastated market in the town of Al Qayyarah, 60 kilometres south of Mosul, with wounded being evacuated as bystanders watched on. "The attack killed six people and wounded 26," doctor Abdelmoneim Majid al-Tabu, who heads the town's health service, told AFP. Al Qayyarah was held by IS after they swept through northern Iraq in 2014. The jihadists were ousted from the town in 2016, almost a year before they were driven out of Mosul. While IS has now lost all its urban footholds in Iraq it retains the capacity to launch deadly attacks, with cells operating in desert areas along the border with Syria.