Page 397 - War Conflict
Three miscreants loot Rs 2.10 lakh from ATM staff in Bihar
Three motorcycle-borne miscreants Sunday looted Rs 2.10 lakh from an ATM staff of a bank in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, a police official said. The three miscreants ambushed the ATM personnel, identified as Murari Lal, and snatched a bag containing Rs 2.10 lakh when he (Lal) went to replenish the ATM with currency notes on his bicycle, Saraiyan Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shankar Jha said. The miscreants fired two rounds in the air before decamping with the money, the SDPO said. The police have recovered an empty cartridge from the site of occurrence. The incident took place near the ATM located on Chhath Ghat road under the jurisdiction of Sahebganj police station, he said. The police will investigate the matter, particularly the reason as to why the ATM staff had gone alone and that too on a bicycle, a police official said.
Taliban attack Afghan army base, killing 17 soldiers
Afghan officials say the Taliban have attacked an army base, killing 17 Afghan soldiers and abducting 11 others. Ghausuddin Noorzai, the district chief in Pusht Rod, in the western Farah province, says another four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which began late Saturday and continued into Sunday morning. He says the Taliban also overran two checkpoints near the base, seizing weapons and ammunition. Abdul Samad Salehi, a member of the provincial council in Farah, confirmed the death toll and said the troops defending the base received no air support or reinforcements. The Taliban claimed the attack. The insurgents attack security forces on a near-daily basis and have seized several districts across the country.
Afghan district police chief killed in Taliban attack
At least eight Afghan police personnel, including a district police chief, were killed in clashes in the southern province of Zabul overnight, a provincial source said on Sunday.
Crude bombs recovered in Malda district
A large number of crude bombs were recovered from a mango orchard in Baishnab Nagar police station area of Malda district, police said on Sunday. Acting on a tip off, the police raided Khosalpur village and recovered a total of 165 crude bombs were kept in buckets. The bomb squad diffused the bombs on Sunday. It was not clear who had stored the bombs there, police said.
Twin blasts in Somalia kill 22
The death toll had risen to 22 and more than 30 others are injured after Saturday's twin suicide bomb attacks in Somalia's Baidoa town, officials said on Sunday.
Book revisits Haldighati battle
A new book on Maharana Pratap examines the life of the great Rajput warrior and also revisits the famous battle of Haldighati with the Mughals saying it remained inconclusive and there was no clear winner. In Maharana Pratap: The Invincible Warrior, noted historian Rima Hooja describes in detail how Maharana Pratap managed to elude capture by the mighty Mughal army for so long and never bowed down to Akbar. Recently some school textbooks introduced revised chapters saying Maharana Pratap defeated Mughal emperor Akbar at Haldighati, whereas earlier books said that the battle was inconclusive. The story of Haldighati is a story of great courage and sacrifice; of the clash of indomitable wills; of Mughal ambition and expansion versus Rajput pride and honour, according to Hooja. She cites in her book that the two armies faced each other on June 18, 1576 on the terrain of Haldighati. Akbar's Mughal army outnumbered Maharana Pratap' Mewar forces which included cavalry, infantry, 150 ...
PM to inaugurate India's 1st national police museum this month
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's first national police museum in Delhi on the occasion of police commemoration day on October 21, a senior official said Sunday. The museum - depicting the history, artefacts, uniform and gear of central and state police forces - is coming up as an underground facility in the premises of the national police memorial in Chanakyapuri area of Delhi. The museum project is being steered by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in coordination with the central armed police forces (CAPFs) that function under the command of the Union home ministry. "While some state police forces and paramilitary forces have their small museums, this is the first time that the country will have a national-level permanent exhibition on policing subjects. It will also act as a repository of knowledge for researchers on policing subjects," a senior official had told PTI in June when the news agency first reported the story. He added that a meeting was recently held in ..
Ashok Chakra for Odisha Police's SOG officer who sacrificed his life fighting Maoists
An Assistant Commandant of the Odisha Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has been conferred with the Ashok Chakra posthumously for sacrificing his life while fighting the Naxals, home ministry officials said Sunday. Assistant Commandant Pramod Kumar Satpathy laid down his life on February 16, 2008 during a fire-fight between the security forces and the Maoists in the Gosama jungle of Ganjam district and adjoining areas of Phulbani district. Keeping in view his heroism and bravery, Satpathy was awarded with the gallantry medal Ashok Chakra posthumously, a Home Ministry official said. On February 15, 2008, at about 10.30 PM, more than 500 heavily armed Naxals carried out simultaneous and multi-pronged attacks on the police training school (PTS) armouries located in Nayagarh police station, two other police stations and one out post of Nayagarh and one police station and one out post in Ganjam, the officials said. Naxalite cadres, many of them from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and ..
Death toll in Afghan election rally attack rises to 22
The death toll in a bomb attack on an Afghan election rally has risen to at least 22 people, officials said Sunday, as the country braces for more violence ahead of the October 20 poll. Dozens of people were killed or wounded in parliamentary election-related attacks across Afghanistan on Saturday as militants step up attacks on the ballot. A motorcycle carrying explosives detonated among supporters of Nazifa Yousefibek, a female candidate for the northeastern province of Takhar, provincial governor spokesman Mohammad Jawad Hejri told AFP. Most of the 22 killed and 36 wounded were civilians, he said. Provincial health director Hafizullah Safi put the death toll slightly higher at 23. In the western province of Herat, two gunmen attacked the campaign office of a candidate in Injeel district, killing two people, provincial governor spokesman Jailani Farhad said. A nine-year-old boy and a security guard died in the attack and two others were wounded. Violence related to the long-delayed
2002 Gujarat riots: Ex-Army officer dubs SIT report as 'blatant lie'
Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah (Retired) on Saturday said that the transport was delayed to the army for over 24 hours during the 2002 Gujarat riots, even though they had made a request to the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.Speaking to the reporters following the launch of his book titled 'The Sarkari Mussalman', which was unveiled here by former vice president Hamid Ansari, Lt General Shah said that what he has written in his book is 'gospel truth', which is mentioned on 'war diaries' of the Indian Army."There was a difference between the report filed by me and the one by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). There was a difference of 24 hours. Certain channels claimed that I was lying. We were on the field for more than 24 hours. I do not want to pinpoint anyone, but this was the fault of the administration. I do not want to make any political statement," he said."I was not aware of the SIT report until a few days ago when this was pointed out to me. Let me say ...
14 dead in Somalia double suicide blasts
Powerful double suicide explosions rocked southwestern Somalia on Saturday, killing 14 people and injuring 20 others.Two unidentified men wearing suicide west separately targeted Bilan hotel and Badri restaurant in Baidoa city in southwestern Bay region, Abdi Mohamed Ali, a police captain told Anadolu News Agency. He added that the most of the casualties were civilians.Bay's information minister Ugas Hassan Ibrahim said that the injured were rushed to the Baidoa Regional Hospital for treatment.The militant group, al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility for the attack, through Andalus Radio, its media channel. The group frequently carries out suicide attacks in Somalia and parts of East Africa.Somalia has been plagued with insecurity, violence and political chaos in the last three decades. Infighting between the forces of the Federal Government of Somalia, assisted by African Union peacekeeping troops, and various militant Islamist groups and factions, have claimed thousands of lives.
17 killed in Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen's Hodeidah
At least 17 passengers fleeing escalating war in Yemen's war-torn port city of Hodeidah were killed on Saturday when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit two buses near a security checkpoint, a provincial hospital official said.
Salvadorans celebrate ahead of Romero's canonization
Hundreds of churchgoers from around Central America paraded in San Salvador to celebrate the impending canonization of slain Salvadoran cleric Oscar Romero. Pilgrims, many wearing clothes printed with Romero's face, gathered in front of Romero's tomb, in the crypt of San Salvador's central cathedral, and at the Hospital of Divine Providence chapel, where he was assassinated in 1980. "We are arriving here to honour the memory of Monsignor Romero, who took his faith to the point of giving his life for what he believed was right," said Francisco Navarro, a 51-year-old Honduran, at the chapel along with 30 of his compatriots. President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who is in Rome for the canonization, said in a statement that El Salvador is "united in joy" for the "historic event that fills us with hope and happiness." Vigils in churches around El Salvador were scheduled for Saturday night, with the canonization set to be broadcast on giant screens in the early hours. Many pilgrims believe ...
16 killed in 2 attacks on Afghan election campaigns
At least 16 people were killed Saturday and 36 wounded in two attacks against Afghanistan's ongoing parliamentary election campaign ahead of next week's vote, authorities told Efe.
At least 16 dead in Somalia suicide bombings: police
At least 16 people were killed in Somalia on Saturday in suicide bombings that targeted a restaurant and coffee shop, police said. Suicide bombers walked into the two locations in the southwestern city of Baidoa and detonated their vests within minutes of each other, according to witnesses. The blasts came a day before the first anniversary of a truck bombing that left more than 500 dead in Mogadishu, the worst ever attack in Somalia which was blamed on Islamist group Al-Shabaab. "The number of the dead we have confirmed from the two blasts is 16 and nearly twenty others were wounded some of them seriously, nine people died in the second blast and seven in the first," said Abudulahi Mohamed, a police official in Baidoa. "The targeted locations are populated by innocent civilians so that all of the victims were civilians, and the number of the dead can increase anytime because of the wounded," he added. Mohamed Adam, another police official, gave the same toll. "I saw fifteen dead ...
Gandhi statue sparks controversy in Malawi
Over 3,000 people have signed a petition opposing a planned statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Malawi's commercial capital Blantyre, saying the Indian independence hero had done nothing for the southern African country. Work on the statue began two months ago along a road named after Gandhi. The Malawi government says it is being erected as part of a deal that will see New Delhi construct a USD 10 million (8.6-million-euro) convention centre in Blantyre. "Mahatma Gandhi has never contributed anything to Malawi's struggle for independence and freedom," a statement from the "Gandhi Must Fall" group said. "We therefore, feel that the statue is being forced upon the people of Malawi and is the work of a foreign power aiming at promoting its image and dominion on the unsuspecting people of Malawi." The petitioners claim that Gandhi, who early in his career practised in South Africa and fought against apartheid-era segregation laws, was racist. "We are not comfortable with imperialistic and ...
US envoy meets Taliban delegation in Qatar
Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, met with a Taliban delegation in Qatar to discuss the progress made in the peace process in the war-torn nation.According to Tolo News, a statement from the terrorist outfit confirmed the meeting between two sides.Head of the Qatar political office Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, Mawalwi Salam Hanafi, Shuhabuddin Delawar, Qari Deen Moh. Hanif, Zahed Ahmadzai and Sohail Shaheen were also present in the meeting.The two sides discussed the "end of the occupation" in Afghanistan and vouched to find a "peaceful solution in Afghanistan." Emphasising on the need for "real and Afghan-inclusive solution", the two sides agreed to hold more meetings in the future.The meeting took place in a bid to find a solution and end the 17 years of war in the nations.
Nigerian troops foil Boko Haram attack on base: army
Nigerian troops have foiled an attempt by Boko Haram fighters to overrun a military base in the restive northeast leaving six soldiers wounded, the army said on Saturday. Troops "successfully repelled (a) Boko Haram terrorist attack" on a base in the town of Arge in Borno state on Friday, army spokesman Texas Chukwu said in a statement. "Several members of the Boko Haram terrorists were neutralised while others fled with gunshot wounds during the encounter," he said. "Unfortunately, six soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries and are currently receiving medical attention at the military facility." Chukwu said three Boko Haram trucks were destroyed and one other vehicle recovered in the latest attack in the area. On August 29, IS-affiliated Boko Haram jihadists claimed to have killed "several" Nigerian soldiers in mortar strikes on the Arge military base. The claim could not be independently verified. Boko Haram's Islamic State group-backed faction -- known as the Islamic State .
India provides assistance to build another 1,200 houses in 50 Lanka villages
India on Saturday provided Sri Lanka with additional assistance to build another 1,200 houses through 50 model villages. With this, India's collaboration with Sri Lanka's Ministry of Housing and Construction under the Model Villages Housing Programme now covers 2,400 houses in 100 model villages. An MoU was signed to build 1,200 houses through 50 model villages, using Indian grant assistance of USD 3.5 million, the Indian High Commission here said. The 1,200 houses in the 50 model villages are in addition to the earlier 1,200 homes under construction in collaboration with the housing ministry. The houses will be constructed using the successful owner-driven model with Indian grant assistance. As per the new MoU, 600 houses each will be constructed in the Southern and Northern Provinces, the Indian mission said. The project will target low-income, landless and homeless beneficiaries. A cash grant of 500,000 Sri Lankan rupees will be provided to each beneficiary in instalments, linked ..
Taliban say 'general' discussion held with US special envoy
The Taliban held talks with the US special envoy tasked with finding a negotiated end to Afghanistan's protracted and increasingly bloody war, a Taliban official said Saturday. In a statement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the meeting with Zalmay Khalilzad was held Friday in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. Taliban political chief Abbas Stanikzai led the five-member delegation that discussed with Khalilzad "ways of finding a peaceful end to the occupation of Afghanistan," the statement said. It went on to say that the presence of "foreign forces" in Afghanistan was the biggest concern of the Taliban. Mujahid said the two sides discussed "finding a good way for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan." The US Embassy in Kabul said only that Khalilzad was in the Afghan capital Saturday meeting with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. Khalilzad arrived in Kabul from Qatar, winding up his ...