Page 403 - War Conflict
Jewellery worth Rs 25 lakh looted in Jharkhand
Unidentified robbers on Monday looted jewellery worth Rs 25 lakh from a businessman in Jharkhand's Ranchi, police said.
Hry govt to set up anti-terrorist 'kavach'
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Monday announced that the Haryana government will set up an anti-terrorist force (ATF) comprising specially trained recruits from the state police, to deal with present day security challenges. "We have decided to set up an anti-terrorist force. This force will be named 'Kavach'. Select Haryana police recruits will be trained by the National Security Guard (NSG). I have already spoken to the NSG in this regard," Khattar told reporters in Gurgaon, adding that some states have already set up such a unit. When asked on the need for such a force, Khattar said the ATF will deal with "security challenges in general which we face in the present day". Clarifying that the decision to form this force had nothing to do with any specific threat being faced by the state, the CM said, "Prevention is better than cure." When attacks in Pathankot and Mumbai occurred no one knew them from before, the idea is to be better prepared (in the future)," he explained. The ...
Israel raids Palestinian village after deadly shooting
Israeli security forces raided the village of a Palestinian suspected of shooting two Israelis dead, the army said Monday, making arrests while the assailant himself remained at large. Ashraf Naalwa, 23, from the northern West Bank village of Shuweika, has been named by the Israeli army as the Palestinian behind Sunday's attack in the occupied West Bank industrial area of Barkan where two Israelis were killed and a third wounded. Soldiers, as well as police and Shin Bet internal security officers "operated in the village of Shuweika, north of Tulkarm, from which the terrorist originated," the military said. It said security forces "arrested" an unspecified number of people "suspected of aiding the terrorist" while a manhunt for the gunman was still underway. A spokesman for the Shin Bet said they had arrested Naalwa's brother, while his sister was "detained, questioned and released", declining to provide further details. Naalwa was employed at the same plant in the northern West Bank .
Taliban calls for boycott of Afghan elections
The Taliban on Monday appealed to the people of Afghanistan to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country, calling them an attempt to legitimise the presence of foreign troops.
16 Naxals arrested in Chhattisgarh
Sixteen Naxals, five of them suspected to be involved in a deadly attack on a CRPF team last year, were arrested from Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, police said Monday. There were two women among the arrested ultras, they added. The arrests were made Sunday from a hill near Minpa village under the Chintagufa police station limits by a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF), the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the district police, a senior police official told PTI. In view of next month's Assembly polls, the security forces have intensified the patrolling in the interior forests of the Naxal-hit districts to apprehend the lower-rung cadres, who are instrumental in planting explosives to target the police personnel and putting up Maoist posters and banners, he said. Acting on an information about the presence of Naxals, the joint team launched an operation from the Burkapal camp towards Minpa and Tadmetla, located around 500 km from state capital Raipur, and apprehended the ...
Moscow to summon Dutch envoy over cyber-attack claim: Russian news agencies
The Russian foreign ministry was to summon the Dutch ambassador on Monday after the Netherlands said it had foiled a cyber attack by Russians, state news agencies reported. "Due to the campaign of disinformation carried out in The Hague the Dutch ambassador will be summoned to the foreign ministry on Monday," a source in the ministry told RIA Novosti state news agency. The Netherlands said Thursday it had expelled four GRU military intelligence agents in April for an attempt to hack into the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. At the time of the alleged plot the OPCW was investigating the March poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English town of Salisbury. It was also probing allegations of a chemical weapons attack on the Syrian town of Douma by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Moscow. The suspected agents were travelling on Russian diplomatic passports. Moscow last summoned the Dutch .
Ex-Sri Lankan Minister arrested for pro-Tamil Tiger comment
A former Sri Lankan Minister was arrested on Monday for calling for the return of the Tamil Tigers, a guerrilla group that waged a long civil war in the island nation.
Taliban vow to attack Afghan security forces during elections
The Taliban on Monday vowed to target government security forces in upcoming parliamentary elections, as US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Afghan leaders to discuss ways to end the 17-year war. Describing the polls as a "malicious American conspiracy", Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants would pull no punches to disrupt the long-delayed ballot scheduled for October 20. "People who are trying to help in holding this process successfully by providing security should be targeted and no stone should be left unturned for the prevention and failure" of the election, Mujahid said in a statement published in English. The Taliban -- Afghanistan's largest militant group that was toppled from power in the 2001 US-led invasion -- typically issue inflammatory and hyperbolic statements about the Afghan government and its international backers. But this latest declaration comes just days before the parliamentary election, which is seen as a crucial dry run for next year's .
Indian tourist killed in Bangkok shootout
An Indian tourist was killed and another was seriously injured in a shootout in Bangkok, Thai police said on Monday.
Puri violence: 5 policemen suspended for dereliction of duty
Five policemen have been suspended for dereliction of duty following the violence that rocked Puri on October 3 over protests at Jagannath temple, police said. A havildar and four constables were placed under suspension Sunday for negligence in discharging duties during the bandh when protesters ransacked the house of Revenue Minister and Puri MLA, Maheswar Mohanty, said Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi. The police personnel were deployed at Mohanty's residence at Kumutisahi locality in the pilgrim town. This apart, as many as 18 persons were arrested on Sunday in connection with the violent incidents that took place during the 12-hour shut-down called by socio-cultural outfit Sri Jagannath Sena to protest introduction of queue system for devotees at the Jagannath temple, he said. With this, the total number of people arrested in connection with violence during the bandh increased to 41 so far. Earlier, 23 people had been arrested by the police in connection with the ...
Mobile phones, ganja, cash seized from Bihar jails
Mobile phones, SIM cards, ganja and other banned items were seized during raids conducted at different jails of Bihar, a senior police officer said. The raids were carried out on Sunday in central, divisional and sub-divisional jails in all the districts of the state on the directive of Home Department Principal Secretary Amir Subhani. A total of 32 mobile phones, nine SIM cards, 50.5 gm ganja, 10 knives and Rs 48,690 in cash, besides other banned items, were seized during the operation, IG (Prisons) Mithilesh Mishra said in a release. Among the jails from where these were recovered are divisional jails of Sitamarhi, Munger, Jehanabad, Aurangabad Sasaram and Central Jail, Motihari, the release said. The raids were carried out just before the upcoming festival season in order to check incidents of crime, police said. Disciplinary action will be taken against guilty jail officials for their lapses that led to entry of the items, the release said, adding, FIRs have been ...
US-led International Coalition airlifts ISIS militants in Dier Ezzor
The United States-led International Coalition on Sunday airlifted a number of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists from Syria's eastern Dier Ezzor province.Sources told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that an air landing near the town of al-Sha'feh - where ISIS terrorists are positioned in the province - was carried out by the US-led coalition's choppers. The terrorists were transported to a different location.This isn't the first time the US-led military coalition is transporting Daesh (ISIS) militants from war zones. Recently, the international coalition conducted similar drills outside the village of al-Mrashde, from where ISIS terrorists spread in the Dier Ezzor province, to transport ISIS leaders.In April, three Iraqi-origin ISIS commanders, and their families were evacuated from around the village of Tal al-Shayer, 20 kilometres southeast of al-Hasakah province's al-Shadadi.In December 2017, numerous ISIS militants were transported from the Dier Ezzor province to al-Hasakah, which
South Sudan inmates seize control of prison
More than a dozen inmates have disarmed prison guards and seized part of a notorious detention centre in South Sudan's capital Juba, officials said Sunday. A detained officer of the National Security Service (NSS) overpowered a guard at the entrance of the Blue House compound and disarmed him in overnight, the NSS said in a statement. After opening the prison gate by firing shots at the locks, Captain Keribino Wol then "mobilised" 15 detainees and "took over one part of the prison" where he forced several inmates to form a human shield to protect him from NSS officers, according to the statement. The detainees have seized 32 guns and knives, the NSS said, adding that it was seeking "to disarm (Keribino) peacefully for the safety of the other prisoners". The jail is part of the headquarters of the NSS. The prison has repeatedly drawn condemnation from human rights organisation over the alleged illegal detention of prisoners, torture and suspicious deaths. South Sudan, the world's ...
Afghan civilian casualties from suicide attacks soar: UN
The number of Afghans killed or wounded in suicide attacks soared 46 percent in the first nine months of 2018, the United Nations said Sunday, as militants increasingly target civilians. Suicide bombs caused 2,343 civilian casualties, more than any other tactic, including ground fighting, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a special report on the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Afghan conflict. Civilian casualties from all types of IEDs, including suicide bombs and pressure-plate mines, rose 21 percent from a year earlier to 3,634. UNAMA warned the increasing number of "deliberate and indiscriminate attacks" against civilians constituted "serious violations of international humanitarian law" that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. "The unpredictable nature of these types of attacks, often away from the fighting and in civilian populated areas, has caused ordinary Afghans to live in fear of the next explosion, severely curtailing ...
Puri violence: 5 policemen suspended, 18 more arrested
Five policemen were suspended for dereliction of duty and 18 people arrested for unruly behaviour on Sunday following the violence that rocked Puri on October 3 over protests at Jagannath temple, police said. A havildar and four constables were placed under suspension for negligence in discharging duties during the bandh when protesters ransacked the house of Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty, said Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi. The police personnel were deployed at Mohanty's residence in Kumutisahi locality in the pilgrim town. This apart, as many as 18 persons were arrested on Sunday in connection with the violent incidents that took place during the 12-hour shut-down called by socio-cultural outfit Sri Jagannath Sena to protest introduction of queue system for devotees at the Jagannath temple, he said. With this, the total number of people arrested in connection with violence during the bandh increased to 41 so far. Earlier, 23 people had been arrested by the police in ...
14 Police, 25 rebels killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan
At least 14 police, including a high-ranked officer, and 25 insurgents were killed in a large-scale attack launched by Taliban in the eastern Afghan province of Maidan Wardak, an official source told EFE on Sunday.
14 civilians die in DR Congo machete attack: Official
Machete-wielding attackers killed at least 14 civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo's restive North Kivu province, a local official said Sunday, in a wave of violence plaguing the mineral-rich region. A further nine people were injured in the assault near the village of Rubaya some 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of the province's capital Goma, regional governor Cosmas Kangakolo told AFP. He said a battalion of the Congolese army and police officers had been dispatched to Rubaya. "The attackers arrived in my neighbourhood. I hid but two neighbours were killed by machetes," local resident Pascal said. An armed Hutu militia known as the Mai-Mai Nyatura has been operating in the Masisi territory, where Rubaya is located. The region is a hub for mining coltan, a key component in cell phones and other electronic equipment. For more than 20 years, North and South Kivu provinces have been in the grip of inter-ethnic bloodshed between militia groups, which often extort money from ...
Syria rebels say to remove heavy weapons from buffer zone within days
Turkish-backed rebels said Sunday they expected to finish withdrawing heavy weapons from a planned buffer zone in northwestern Syria within days under a deal to stave off a regime attack. The National Liberation Front (NLF) announced Saturday that it has begun withdrawing heavy arms from the zone as part of an agreement between Syrian regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey. The accord, reached on September 17, aims to stave off a massive regime assault on Idlib province, the last major rebel bastion in Syria, by creating a 15 to 20-kilometre (9-12 mile) buffer zone ringing the area. Under the deal, all rebels in the demilitarised zone, which surrounds Idlib and also parts of the adjacent provinces of Aleppo and Hama, must withdraw heavy arms by Wednesday, and radical groups must leave by October 15. "We began to withdraw our heavy weapons from the demilitarised zone to rear positions," NLF spokesman Naji Mustafa told AFP. "The operation will last several days," he said, adding ...
Fire at Bengal's fireworks factory leaves 13 injured
At least 13 persons were injured on Sunday in a fire at a fireworks factory in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, police said.
Maoists will be crushed in 2-3 years: Rajnath
The long drawn Maoist insurgency in the country will be "completely erased" in two to three years, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared here on Sunday.