Page 409 - War Conflict
About 30 injured in violence during 12-hr shutdown in Puri
Around 30 people, including 10 police personnel, were injured in violence during a 12-hour shutdown on Wednesday by an outfit to protest against the introduction of queue system for devotees in Jagannath Temple in Odisha's Puri district. The violence erupted during the dawn-to-dusk shutdown in the seaside pilgrim town called by Sri Jagannath Sena after the police picked up its convener Priyadarshan Patnaik and held him under preventive detention. The outfit had given a call for 'Puri bandh' soon after the queue system was introduced in the temple on Monday on an experimental basis. Asserting that the stir would be further intensified, Patnaik said the manner in which the new system was introduced had hurt the sentiments of a large number of devotees. Activists of Sri Jagannath Sena and the locals held a demonstration demanding the immediate release of Patnaik. They also blocked the 'Bada Danda' - the Grand Avenue facing Jagannath Temple by burning tyres in a number of places. A mob ..
ICJ to hold public hearings in Kulbhushan Jadhav case from Feb 18 to 21 next year
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case from February 18 to 21 next year at The Hague, a statement issued by the principal judicial organ of the United Nations said Wednesday. Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on spying charges in April 2017. India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the verdict. The world court has halted Jadhav's execution on India's appeal pending the final verdict by it. Both India and Pakistan have already submitted their detailed pleas and responses in the world court. "The hearings will be streamed live and on demand (VOD) in English and French on the Court's website as well as on UN Web TV, the United Nations online television channel," said the press release issued by the ICJ. Pakistan says its security forces arrested Jadhav from Balochistan province in March 2016 after he reportedly entered the country from Iran. In its submission to the ICJ, Pakistan had stated ..
Yemen's Houthi rebels release ex-president Saleh's sons: Report
Yemen's Shia Houthi rebels on Wednesday released two sons of slain former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the media reported.
Security forces recover IED in Manipur
Security forces recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) in Manipur's Thoubal district Wednesday, police said. Troops of the Assam Rifles while conducting regular patrolling at Wangjing Urakhong area in the district detected the IED planted by unidentified miscreants at around 10 am, they said. After the detection of the IED, the security forces immediately cordoned off the area and informed the police. The bomb squad of the police reached the spot and safely detonated the IED at a nearby place, they added.
LeT militant who threatened people against participating in polls held
Security forces Wednesday arrested a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant, who had issued threats to people against taking part in the local bodies and panchayat elections, from Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. "Acting on a reliable input, security forces in Sopore arrested one local militant during naka checking at Baramulla-Handwara road near Hadipora crossing," a police spokesman said. He said the arrested militant has been identified as Amir Sultan War, a resident of Naidkhai in Bandipora district. "War had recently joined the LeT outfit and a video showing him with a weapon had gone viral in which he was seen giving threat to the people of north Kashmir not to participate in the forthcoming Local Bodies and Panchayat elections," the spokesman said. A case has been registered in the concerned police station in this regard, he added.
Tension prevails at Jagannath temple over queue system
Tension prevailed on Wednesday at Jagannath temple in Puri as a 12-hour dawn-to-dusk shutdown to protest against the introduction of a queue system for 'darshan' turned violent.
Chinese armed drones now flying across Mideast battlefields
High above Yemen's rebel-held city of Hodeida, a drone controlled by Emirati forces hovered as an SUV carrying a top Shiite Houthi rebel official turned onto a small street and stopped, waiting for another vehicle in its convoy to catch up. Seconds later, the SUV exploded in flames, killing Saleh al-Samad, a top political figure. The drone that fired that missile in April was not one of the many American aircraft that have been buzzing across the skies of Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. It was Chinese. Across the Middle East, countries locked out of purchasing U.S.-made drones due to rules over excessive civilian casualties are being wooed by Chinese arms dealers, who are world's main distributor of armed drones. "The Chinese product now doesn't lack technology, it only lacks market share," said Song Zhongping, a Chinese military analyst and former lecturer at the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force University of Engineering. "And the United States restricting its .
Chhattisgarh: 3 Maoists killed, 1 held in Sukma
In a clash between police and Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district early on Wednesday, three left wing extremists were gunned down and one was arrested. Four rifles and a pistol were also recovered from the site, police said.
Egypt says security forces kill 15 militants in Sinai
Egyptian said Wednesday that police have killed 15 suspected militants in a shootout in the northern Sinai Peninsula, where they are battling an Islamic State-led insurgency. The Interior Ministry says the militants were killed during a raid on their hideout in the city of el-Arish, where they were planning attacks on security forces in the coming days. It says security forces dismantled two explosive devices and seized weapons. The statement did not say when the raid took place or whether any security forces were killed or wounded. It wasn't possible to independently confirm the report as access to the northern Sinai is heavily restricted. Earlier this week, the Islamic State group said one of its leaders in Sinai has been killed. The group's Aamaq news agency announced the death of Abu Hamza al-Maqdisi late Monday, calling him a "martyr" without saying where or how he died. A photo of a young, smiling, bearded man accompanied the report. IS says he was killed recently, without ...
Islamic State says senior militant in Egypt's Sinai killed
The Islamic State group says one of its leaders in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has been killed. The group's Aamaq news agency announced the death of Abu Hamza al-Maqdisi late Monday, calling him a "martyr" without saying where or how he died. A photo of a young, smiling, bearded man accompanied the report. IS says he was killed recently, without specifying the day. Egypt has been battling militants for years, but the Sinai-based insurgency gained strength after the 2013 military overthrow of the country's first elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, whose brief rule was divisive. In February, Egypt launched a massive operation against militants in Sinai and other parts of the country.
Attacks on Afghan checkpoints kill 7 police
Afghan officials say insurgents have killed seven police in separate attacks. Wali Ahmad Sarih, a police spokesman in the southern Nimroz province, says the Taliban attacked a checkpoint late Tuesday, killing four police and wounding two others. He says four insurgents were killed and six wounded in the ensuing gunbattle. Aziz Ahmad Azizi, the spokesman for the governor of the southern Kandahar province, reported a similar attack in which the Taliban killed three police and wounded six, also late Tuesday. The Taliban, who have seized districts across Afghanistan and carry out near-daily attacks, claimed the assault in Kandahar, and are known to be active in Nimroz.
Mass grave with skeletal remains of over 150 people found in Sri Lanka
A mass grave with skeletal remains of around 151 people have been found in Sri Lanka's former war zone where the government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were engaged in a 30-year civil war, officials said on Wednesday. At least 14 of the skeletal remains found in the northeastern district of Mannar were of children. The digging work at the old cooperative store site in Mannar was conducted for the 79th day Tuesday to establish if it was a mass burial site. In March, the construction workers had found remains when the ground was dug to build a new construction. Excavations were on since March. The remains have been kept in a special room of the Mannar magistrate court and will be sent for carbon testing. Amidst international complaints of large numbers of missing in Sri Lanka's conflicts since the 1980, the office of missing persons was set up this year. Various probes set up from time to time since the 1990s have found that nearly 25,000 people are missing as a result of the armed ...
AFSPA extended in Arunachal's three districts for six months
The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for six months in Arunachal Pradesh's three districts and in the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the state's eight police stations bordering Assam, notifying them as "disturbed areas", a government notification said.
Militants abduct shopkeeper in J&K
Suspected militants abducted a 30-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday, police said. Tauseef Ahmad was kidnapped by the unidentified gunmen from his shop at Unisoo in Sopore town, 55 km from here, a police officer said. Security forces have launched an operation to rescue the abducted person, the officer added.
Indonesia struggles to recover economy, maintain order in tsunami-hit Palu
The tsunami-swept Palu city on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island still lingers with helplessness due to stalled economy following multiple cuts down on electricity and fuel supplies that paralyzed activities to run the city.
5 Haqqani militants killed in Afghan raid
Five militants of Haqqani militant group were killed in an Afghan Air Force-led airstrike in Afghanistan's Paktika province, the country's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
Three Naxals killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh; arms seized
Three Naxalswere gunned down in an encounter with security forces in a dense forest in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Wednesday. Besides, one ultra was arrested from the encounter site, located around 500 km from the state capital Raipur, they said. The gunbattle took place Tuesday evening in the forest of Muler village when a team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena told PTI over phone. Security forces had launched the operation after receiving specific inputs about presence of rebels in the area, said. An exchange of fire ensued between the two sides when the patrolling team was descending from a hill, the police officer said. After the guns fell silent, bodies of three Maoists were recovered from the spot. One 315 bore rifle, four muzzle loading guns, one pipe bomb and commodities of daily use were also found, he said. Theidentity of the deceased Maoists was yet to be ascertained as ...
US to offer cyberwar capabilities to NATO allies
Acting to counter Russia's aggressive use of cyberattacks across Europe and around the world, the U.S. is expected to announce that, if asked, it will use its formidable cyberwarfare capabilities on NATO's behalf, according to a senior U.S. official. The announcement is expected in the coming days as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Wednesday and Thursday. Katie Wheelbarger, the principal deputy assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, said the U.S. is committing to use offensive and defensive cyber operations for NATO allies, but America will maintain control over its own personnel and capabilities. The decision comes on the heels of the NATO summit in July, when members agreed to allow the alliance to use cyber capabilities that are provided voluntarily by allies to protect networks and respond to cyberattacks. It reflects growing concerns by the U.S. and its allies over Moscow's use of cyber operations to ...
AFSPA extended in Arunachal Pradesh for six months
The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh and its eight police station areas bordering Assam by another six months, in view of continuing activities of banned insurgent groups of the Northeast. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh and eight police stations bordering Assam were declared "disturbed" areas under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958. "Now, therefore, Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the following eight police stations in the districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the State of Assam, are declared as 'disturbed area' under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 up to March 31, 2019 w.e.f. October 1, 2018, unless withdrawn earlier," the notification said. The police stations include Balemu and Bhalukpong police ...
Violence in Puri over queue system in Jagannath Temple
Nine policemen were injured as violence broke out here Wednesday during a 12-hour bandh called by a socio-cultural organisation protesting introduction of a queue system for devotees visiting the Jagannath Temple, the police said. The dawn-to-dusk shutdown in the seaside town called by Sri Jagannath Sena turned violent as a mob barged into the 12th century shrine, uprooted barricades erected on Baisi Pahacha and near Singhadwara and ransacked the office of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), they said. The protesters ransacked a police outpost and an information centre near the Singhadwara as well as the town police station, besides burning tyres and indulging in stone pelting, they said. While around nine police personnel were injured in stone pelting, many structures suffered extensive damage in the mob attack, prompting the police to use mild force in order to control the situation, a senior police official said. Soon after the queue system was introduced in the temple on