Page 386 - War Conflict
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.
Deputy chief of ISIS-linked group in Somalia killed: officials
Somali intelligence officials say the deputy leader of an Islamic State-affiliated extremist group based in northern Somalia has been killed in the capital. The officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters told The Associated Press that Mahad Maalin's body was found near a Mogadishu beach last week, a few days after he reportedly was abducted while secretly visiting the city. The officials say his relatives have accused other deputies in the extremist group. Reports have emerged that the group's leader was ill, creating rivalry among possible successors. Abdiqadir Mumin, an elderly British extremist, founded the IS-linked group that is said to have dozens of fighters. It has claimed attacks in the north and outside Mogadishu and makes money from extorting civilians.
Punjab CM visits cemetery of Indian soldiers in Israel
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday visited the cemetery of Indian soldiers in Israel who had laid their lives during the War of Liberation of Haifa in 1918. Haifa celebrated the centenary year of its liberation by Indian cavalry units in September, paying warm tributes to the courage shown by them in what is considered by most of the war historians as the "last great cavalry campaign in history". Singh, who is a well-acclaimed military historian and has penned books like 'Saragarhi' and 'The Defence of the Samana Fort', visited the Commonwealth Cemetery for the Battle of Haifa martyrs and paid his tributes to the Indian soldiers who had laid their lives while protecting the Israeli city of Haifa from the Ottoman Empire forces during World War I. Haifa municipality has immortalised the sacrifice of the Indian soldiers in the liberation of Haifa by including a chapter on their bravery in history textbooks taught at schools. Singh is on a five-day visit to Israel that ...
Rajnath says Kulgam incident 'very unfortunate', announces ex-gratia for kin of deceased
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday termed as "very unfortunate" the death of seven civilians in a blast after an encounter had ended in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir and appealed to people not to venture such places where security operations were on. The minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for next of kin of the deceased. "There has been an incident in Kulgam. I have been informed that some civilians have been killed in it. It is very unfortunate. I have been told that the operation had concluded and the security forces had left but some people went there and an explosion took place due to some reason. We are pained at the loss of lives," Singh told reporters here. Singh said he wanted to convey his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. "The price of a life cannot be set in monetary terms but still I announce an ex-gratia relief of Rs five lakh for each affected family," he said. The Home Minister, who reviewed the security situation in the ...
Boko Haram jihadists kill two in NE Nigeria attack
Boko Haram jihadists have killed two people in an attack on a village in northeast Nigeria near the town of Chibok, residents and a militia official told AFP Tuesday. The jihadists, believed to be loyal to Boko Haram factional leader Abubakar Shekau, late Monday raided Mifah, seven kilometres from Chibok, where militants abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in 2014. Boko Haram's nine-year conflict has killed an estimated 27,000 people and displaced two million, creating a humanitarian crisis and spilling into Nigeria's northern neighbours. "They killed two people and looted the village before setting it on fire," said David Bitrus, a civilian militia member fighting alongside the army, after the Mifah attack. "The village has been reduced to ashes. Six people were injured in the attack," he said. The attack, which happened around 8 pm (1900 GMT), forced residents of the village to flee to Chibok. "The gunmen came in a truck and on several motorcycles and began shooting in the village," .
France begins deliberations on new aircraft carrier
PARIS (Reuters) - France will make a decision on the replacement of its flagship aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle at the start of 2020, its armed forces minister said on Tuesday.
7 killed in Iraq car bombing
At least seven people were killed and 20 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in Iraq's Mosul city on Tuesday, the military said.
Pilgrim dies on way to Vaishno Devi shrine
A 61-year-old pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh died en route the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Tuesday. Harbir Singh Teotia, a resident of Ghaziabad, fell unconscious near Satya point along the new track while on his way from base camp Katra to cave shrine on Monday evening, a police official said. He said the pilgrim was rushed to Himkoti dispensary where doctors declared him brought dead. Quoting doctors, the officials said Teotia had suffered a massive heart attack resulting in his death.
29 Chhattisgarh-bound Tripura troopers injured in accident
Twenty nine troopers of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) bound for poll-related duties in Chhatisgarh have been injured after their bus fell into a deep gorge, police said here on Tuesday.
Security beefed up to foil sit-in by separatists, normal life hit in Srinagar
Normal life remained affected for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as the authorities imposed restrictions in certain parts of the city to foil a sit-in protest by separatists at Lal Chowk over the death of seven civilians in a blast at an encounter site in Kulgam district Sunday. All roads leading to Lal Chowk's historic Ghanta Ghar (clock tower) were sealed, with a large number of police and paramilitary personnel deployed to foil any attempt by the separatists to reach there, officials said. The authorities also imposed restrictions in parts of the old city as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, they added. Shops, private offices and other business establishments remained shut in many parts of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, while public transport was off the roads. The separatists had not called for a strike on Tuesday, but the authorities shut down all educational institutions and postponed examinations. While a shutdown was observed Monday, the ...
5 Indian fishermen apprehended by Sri Lankan Navy
At least five Indian fishermen belonging to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy from Neduntheevu in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday.The navy authorities also recovered a mechanised boat from the fishermen.Straying of Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen into each other's waters is a recurrent problem as territories on the sea are not clearly demarcated.According to media reports, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami last week wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to secure the release of eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu lodged in Sri Lankan prisons.
29 personnel of Tripura State Rifles injured in bus accident
At least 29 personnel of the 8th battalion of Tripura State Rifles were injured on late Monday night in a bus accident in West Tripura district.The accident took place in Baramura hills area when the team of Tripura State Rifles were on their way to Chhattisgarh for their election duties.Two of the injured personnel have been shifted to Kolkata, while others have been admitted to GB Pant Hospital in Tripura."Out of all the injured, two are serious. Doctors have decided to refer them to Kolkata. All of them are conscious. A train was leaving from Agaratala tomorrow for Chhattisgarh for election duty. They were a part of the battalion which was leaving tomorrow," Director General of Police (DGP) of Tripura Akhil Kumar Shukla told ANI.Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb, Health Minister Sudip Roy Barman, and other senior officials rushed to the hospital and visited the injured."Doctors are looking after them, I believe they'll be fine soon. Chief Secretary , Director General of Police and .
France to have memorial for Indians who took part in World War I
A memorial dedicated to Indians who fought in World War I would be unveiled in France next month.