Page 453 - War Conflict

Israel destroys West Bank home of Palestinian attacker: army

Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly knife attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said today. Minor clashes broke out between Palestinians opposed to the raid and soldiers in the West Bank during the early hours of Tuesday morning, the military and witnesses said. The family home was destroyed, an AFP journalist at the scene said. The army said its forces "demolished the residence of the terrorist Mohammed Dar Youssef from the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah." Dar Youssef snuck into the Adam settlement south east of Ramallah in July, stabbing three Israelis, one fatally, according to the Israeli authorities. He was then shot dead by a local resident. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Twitter on Tuesday he had kept the promise made to the widow and other relatives of Yotam Ovadia, the victim of the Adam attack, to destroy the house quickly. The stabbings also led Lieberman to pledge to build more settler ..

Militants open fire, hurl petrol bomb at Army patrol

Militants today hurled a petrol bomb and fired indiscriminately at an Army patrol party in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said. No loss of life has been reported. A petrol bomb was hurled upon a cordon and search operation (CASO) party of 44 Rashtriya Rifles followed by indiscriminate firing by militants between the area of Gad-Bough and Armullah in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, a police official said. He said the forces' party was coming from Sugan area of the neighbouring Shopian district after commencing a CASO and were moving towards their camp in Ahgam. The forces' party retaliated, the official said.

UN urges calm in Libyan capital amid clashes

Tripoli, Aug 28 (IANS/AKI) The UN Support Mission in Libya has called on warring armed groups in the south of the capital to "immediately cease all military action" and end the intensifying clashes that have claimed at least four lives in recent days.

First flight of Haj pilgrims lands in Srinagar

The first flight carrying a batch of 310 pilgrims, returning from Saudi Arabia, after performing the Haj landed here on Tuesday.

Militants attack Army vehicle in J&K

Militants attacked an Army vehicle on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.

Wait over, insurgency-hit families in Tripura find new homes

An obscure colony in the remote South Narayanpura village near India-Bangladesh border is the new address of 39-year-old Minati Das, who along with her family was forced to flee home during the three-decade-long insurgency in Tripura. Das, along with thousands other displaced families in West Tripura, had since been living in makeshift slums, working as maids and daily wagers to make ends meet. In a relief that came after thirty years, the BJP-led state government recently handed over land pattas (deeds) to 235 families in West Tripura and Sipahijala districts. Of them, 55 families have received their deeds earlier this month for settlement at South Narayanpur village. "This is my shelter now. I am happy with 1296 sq ft area allotted by the government. At least, I have a place to stay," Das said. Tripura witnessed its worst ethnic riot between the tribal and the non-tribal communities in the 1980s, killing over 6000 people. Sajal Poddar, the secretary of 'Paschim zila and

Indian peacekeepers in S Sudan lauded for helping improve essential infrastructure

Going above and beyond their call of duty, Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan rehabilitated a long-neglected runway at the Malakal airport, providing essential infrastructure support to the area. The Indian peacekeepers serving the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) repaired and rehabilitated one of the tarmacs at the Malakal airport that had been left inoperable and damaged. Laden with significantly-sized craters, the runway had not been used since 2013, when the crisis in the country broke out. The runway had thick tall bushes at its peripheries and the arduous work of rehabilitating the long-neglected runway had to be scheduled around the arrivals and departures of airborne objects taking place at an adjacent airstrip pertaining to the same flight operating facilities, a press release from UNMISS said. Due to such conditions, the peacekeepers had to spend an unprecedented number of evenings and weekends at the airport. "This project fell far beyond the realm of our ...

Pakistan cracks down on Kashmiri protestors in PoK

Dozens of people were severely injured in Kotli town of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) after police baton-charged demonstrators who were carrying out a peaceful rally. The demonstrators were demanding their due share of rights, which they have been deprived of under Islamabad's more than seven-decade misrule in the region.In order to disperse the huge number the protesters who had managed to gather, police also lobbed tear gas shells which exacerbated the damage.Pictures, which later surfaced on the public domain, are testimony to law enforcement agencies' barbarity on the people of the region. Security forces have been given a free hand by Islamabad to perpetrate brutalities on the Kashmiri people.It wasn't an exclusive example of Pakistan's brutalities on people of PoK. The authorities of Pakistan, who have always meted out a novercal treatment to the citizens of the region, exercise extreme high handedness whenever they sense a voice of dissent emerging from the region. However, ..

Jihadist leader, three others killed in Mali French airstrike: Army

A top jihadist leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara group, an aide and two civilians have been killed in northeastern Mali by a French airstrike, the French command centre in Paris said today. "Commandos deployed on the ground (after the airstrike) confirmed the death of Mohamed Ag Almouner and one of his bodyguards. They also found the bodies of a woman and a teenager," a statement said of the action near Menaka.

Two eunuchs arrested in murder case

Two eunuchs were arrested today in connection with the murder of an eunuch and her assistant in this district, police said. The eunuch, Rajkumari (65), and her assistant Geeta (25), were killed with an intention of loot in their house on Saturday, they said. The accused had slit their throats.\ Simran ( 22) and Pari(21) were traced on the basis of their mobile location while three are still absconding, police said.

Top Myanmar military leaders must be prosecuted for genocide: UN report

The Myanmar government has consistently said its operations targeted militant or insurgent threats

Saudi-led coalition accuses UN of bias in Yemen

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen today accused the United Nations of "biased" reports on air strikes that allegedly killed dozens of children in rebel-held areas. "The coalition is surprised by the ... biased positions of some reports," said coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki, adding that the information was "prejudiced" and based on "rebel stories". The coalition has not confirmed or denied it carried out two air raids on Thursday that the UN said killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida. The UN Security Council had already called for a "credible" investigation into a strike blamed on the coalition in northern Yemen on August 9 that the Red Cross said killed 40 children. The coalition has announced its own probe into that raid. Two UN officials have made public statements condemning the attacks. "We all know that UN bodies are under pressure by the Huthi militias... and these reports may have come in response to .

France's Macron urges Europe to take charge of own defence

French President Emmanuel Macron pushed today for Europe to take more responsibility for its own defence, saying the continent's security shouldn't rely so much on the United States and could even include discussions with Russia. In a speech to French ambassadors in Paris, Macron said "Europe cannot rely on the United States only for its security. It's up to us to meet our responsibilities and guarantee our security, and therefore European sovereignty." He said discussions on defence cooperation should be extended to all European countries and Russia, on condition that progress is made with Moscow on putting an end to the fighting in eastern Ukraine between the government and Russia-backed separatists. Macron's vision included a more united front on at least half a dozen security topics and comes after US President Donald Trump's repeated demands for Europe to become more self-sufficient in its defence. "This reinforced solidarity will imply a revision of the European architecture of .

FB bans military accounts in Myanmar

Facebook has banned many high profile accounts in Myanmar saying they "inflame ethnic and religious tensions" in the country."We are removing a total of 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook Pages, followed by almost 12 million people," Facebook stated in a post.The social networking service company deleted the accounts of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the military's Myawady television network. "We want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tension," the post read.Deleting the accounts for "engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook" the post said that "this type of behavior is banned on Facebook because we want people to be able to trust the connections they make."Earlier this month, Facebook shared an update on the steps it was taking to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation on the social media platform.

Police raid in southern Egypt kills 5 suspected jihadists

Egyptian police today killed five suspected jihadists in a raid on their hideout in a mountain creek in southern Egypt, the interior ministry said. A statement said security personnel clashed with the alleged militants during an operation to comb a remote area some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Cairo. Five "terrorist elements" were killed after they opened fire on security forces, the ministry said. There was no mention of any losses among the security personnel. Jihadists launched an insurgency in Egypt after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was forced out by the military in the face of mass protests against his rule. Attacks have largely been concentrated in the Sinai Peninsula in eastern Egypt, but have also taken place elsewhere across the country. The army in February launched a major operation centred on the Sinai to wipe out jihadists, including members of the Islamic State group. The military says that over 250 suspected jihadists and at least 35 .

Statue of Mother Mary found damaged

A statue of Mother Mary was found damaged on the church premises here today, police said. Police suspect that vandals could have damaged the 'Maatha statue' (statue of Mother Mary), said to be 100-years-old, around midnight yesterday. People in the area, who used to offer prayers at the Church before putting out to sea, found the bust portion damaged this morning. Local people blocked the Kovalam-Kanyakumari road demanding action against the culprits. Police held talks and persuaded them to disperse.

J-K panchayat polls: Over 20000 CAPF personnel to be deployed

Over 20,000 personnel of central paramilitary forces such as CRPF and BSF will be deployed in Kashmir Valley for "pre-election duties" ahead of panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir, officials today said. They said a total of 202 companies that were given the task of conducting the recently-concluded Amarnath pilgrimage in the state will now be deployed in Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara, Bandipora, Shopian and Awantipora for pre-election duties. The pilgrimage, which lasted about two months, concluded yesterday. A single company of these forces has about 100 personnel. According to an order issued by the state police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will contribute the largest number of companies at 132, followed by Border Security Force (BSF) 32, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 25 and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 13. "A total of 203 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) deployed for the Amarnath Yatra have been diverted and ordered to be .

Gunmen kill 2 in attack on Afghan-Tajik border

Security officials in Tajikistan said today that two people have been killed and one injured after men stormed the border from Afghanistan. Tajik Border Guards said in a statement that they are looking for a group of 10 to 12 armed men who crossed the Panj River separating the country from Afghanistan yesterday. The men, armed with a hand-held grenade launcher and automatic rifles opened fire on three forest rangers, killing two of them and injuring one. Tajikistan has a long, porous border with Afghanistan, and the area across the Panj is currently under Taliban control. The incident comes a week before Moscow hosts a Taliban delegation for Afghanistan talks. Russia's Defence Ministry later on Monday denied reports that it carried out airstrikes on nearby Taliban-controlled territory in retaliation. Officials in Russia and Tajikistan have long been worried about a potential spillover of militant activities from Afghanistan. The chief of Tajikistan's Border Guard Forces earlier this .

Afghanistan: 'Foreign' fighter jets carry out airstrikes

Fighter jets, either from Russia or Tajikistan, carried out airstrikes in Darqad district of Takhar province in north-eastern Afghanistan.Provincial governor's spokesperson, Mohammad Jawid Hejri, confirmed the news and said that a clash broke out between drug smugglers and Tajik border guards in Takhar province.He added that rockets were fired by the border guards in the province, following which "fighter jets" carried out an airstrike early on Monday.However, Hejri said that the jets were "foreign", belonging to either Russia or Tajikistan. He stated that the affected area is under the control of the Taliban and not under the Afghan government. He also informed that two Tajik border guards lost their lives during the clash.The Takhar province, which borders neighbouring Tajikistan, has seen a number of clashes in recent months, notably between Afghan security forces and armed groups, including Taliban. The terrorist group has attacked dozens of check posts in the province in recent ..

Facebook blocks accounts of Myanmar Armed Forces' top leadership

Facebook announced on Monday that it has blocked the accounts of the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces and others to prevent the spread of hate speech and fake news.