Page 487 - War Conflict

Drug smuggler commits suicide during police encounter

Following a fierce gunfight with the police, an alleged drug smuggler today committed suicide in Bhimana, Rajasthan, police said. Khartaram of Barmer who was also an absconding murder accused died in the encounter, while Bhajan Lal Bishnoi of Jodhpur was arrested. The hunt for the third smuggler was on, they said. Acting on a tip-off that a huge consignment of poppy husk was being hauled in the area, a checkpoint was set up in Bhimana under the foothills of Arawali early morning, SP (Pali) Rahul Prakash said. An approaching car was signalled to stop but the driver sped past while another car following it opened fire at the police personnel, said Prakash. Five rounds were fired at the police but no body was hurt, he added. However, as the tyres of the vehicles, in which the smugglers were escaping, got punctured in retaliatory fire, they were forced to run towards the hills on foot in a bid to escape, the SP said. We launched a search operation with the help of the villagers and laid a

Yogi's security increased following possible terror threat

Reacting on the possible threat to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his visit to Delhi and subsequent tightening of security, Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday said it was just a part of their security drill, which was done based on threat perception."There is no specific reason for this, it is a part of our drill. On the basis of threat perception, we increase the security of VVIPs," IG Law and Order Praveen Kumar Tripathi said.According to Madhya Pradesh police, a terror threat is lurking over the chief minister, following which they issued an alert to enhance his security.In an advisory to Delhi and UP police, the MP police has claimed that young boys might attack Yogi Adityanath."They could also target important religious places in Uttar Pradesh", MP police said.The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister already has a Z Plus security.Reportedly, Adityanath's personal security has been further tightened and additional commandos from the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) have been deployed to ..

Lankan PM wishes Karunanidhi speedy recovery

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today wished ailing 94-year-old DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi a speedy recovery. After offering prayers at the Lord Venkateswara temple near here, he had a brief chat with reporters outside the shrine. "The ailing Karunanidhi will soon recover and I wish him a speedy recovery." Wickremesinghe said he had spoken to DMK working president M K Stalin yesterday about his fathers health condition. Replying to a query on the problem Tamil Nadu fishermen face in the waters bordering the island nation, Wickremesinghe said, "The issue is settling down and we are trying to solve it." Wickremesinghe arrived here last evening.

US slaps sanctions on Russian bank over NKorea dealings

The United States today slapped sanctions on a Russian bank for helping North Korea evade UN Security Council measures designed to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it also targeted an individual and two entities for "facilitating North Korean illicit financial activity.

Miscreants loot Rs 3.6 lakh from bank branch in Muzaffarpur

Five armed miscreants today looted Rs 3.6 lakh from a Bank of India branch in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, police said. The miscreants, who arrived in three motorcycles, barged into the bank situated at Sakri-Saraiya Chowk under Kudhani police station area and looted Rs 3.6 lakh before decamping with the money, Senior Superintendent of Police Harpreet Kaur said. The miscreants also damaged the hard disks of computers and threw them outside before snatching the gun of the bank's security guard, Kaur said adding that the gun was later found lying at some distance from the bank. Kaur, who reached the spot, said that a Special Investigation Team headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police has been constituted to probe into the matter. No one has been arrested so far in this connection, she said.

Arunachal Governor, Army chief discuss recruitment of youths

Arunachal Pradesh Governor B.D. Mishra on Friday met Army chief General Bipin Rawat and discussed the recruitment of more youths from the frontier state in the armed forces.

Indonesia beefs up security ahead of Asian Games

Indonesia will deploy tens of thousands of security personnel to prevent street crime and potential terrorist attacks during this month's Asian Games, police said today. Some 40,000 troops and police officers will deployed in the capital Jakarta and Palembang in Sumatra, which are co-hosting the August 18 to September 2 Games. Another 10,000 police officers will be on standby in Jakarta, while hundreds of CCTV surveillance cameras have been installed inside and outside sports venues. "Preparations are going well and we are ready to safeguard the Asian Games," national police spokesman Yusri Yunus told AFP. Security would be tightened at public places including airports, malls, hotels and tourist spots, he added. Terrorism, street crime and Jakarta's notorious traffic congestion are top priorities for the Games, national police chief Tito Karnavian said earlier this week. Indonesia suffered its most deadly terror attack in more than 10 years in May when suicide bombers killed 13 people

Burqa-clad suicide bombers kill at least 29 inside Afghan Shiite mosque

Burqa-clad suicide bombers struck a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan today as it was crowded with worshippers for weekly prayers, killing at least 29 people and wounding more than 80 in the latest attack on the minority. Officials said they feared the death toll could rise after the assault, the latest targeting civilians who have borne the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan's long conflict. "Two suicide explosions happened during Friday prayers in the Khwaja Hasan area of Gardez," said Abdullah Hasrat, spokesman for Paktia province near the Pakistan border. He told AFP the toll had risen to 29 killed and 81 wounded, with children among the victims. The bombers wore "women's clothing", he said, and shot first at the mosque's security guards before opening fire on worshippers then detonating their explosives. Provincial police chief General Raz Mohammad Mandozai confirmed the incident, and that the pair were wearing burqas to hide their explosives and weapons. Local resident ...

New 'wave' of cholera cases likely to hit Yemen: UN

Yemen is likely to be struck by another "major wave" of cholera cases, the World Health Organization said today, as it called for a three-day truce to allow vaccinations. The warning came a day after a deadly airstrike on the country's largest hospital in the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, where WHO staff were preparing the cholera vaccination drive at the time of the attack. "We have had two major waves of cholera epidemics in recent years and unfortunately the trend that we have seen in recent days to weeks suggests that we may be on the cusp of the third major wave," WHO's emergency response director, Peter Salama, told reporters in Geneva. "We are calling on all parties to the conflict to act in accordance with international humanitarian law and to respect the request of the international community for three full days of tranquility to lay down arms and to allow us to vaccinate the civilian population," he added. Yemen, described by the UN as the world's worst humanitarian ...

NDFB militant killed in Meghalaya gunbattle

A member of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was killed in an encounter with police this morning in Meghalaya's East Garo Hills (EGH) district, a senior officer said. Around 6 am, a team of police officers raided Tarasin village in Songsak police station area of the district, having received information about the movement of militants in the region, Superintendent of Police Ringrang TG Momin said. "Based on the tip-off that some NDFB members and local miscreants have gathered at Tarasin village, an operation was launched early today to arrest them. On seeing a police team approaching, the militants opened fired, leading to an exchange of fire between the two sides," Momin said. While most of them managed to flee, one militant, identified as Koma Boro, was killed in the exchange, the SP said, adding that a rifle and a magazine were seized from the possession of the deceased. "The blood trails at the site of encounter also suggests that more militants might ...

35 killed in Afghan Shia mosque attack

At least 35 people were killed and more than 70 others wounded after two explosions ripped through a Shia mosque in Afghanistan's Gardez city on Friday, the media reported.

Zimbabwe riot police break up opposition press conference: AFP

Zimbabwean riot police entered a Harare hotel today to break up a press conference by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who has rejected election results announced in the early hours of the morning. The police, carrying shields and teargas cannisters, prevented the event from starting at the Bronte Hotel in the capital, AFP reporters witnessed.

NDFB militant killed in Meghalaya

A National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militant was gunned down on Friday by security forces in Meghalaya's East Garo Hills district, police said.

US Army Lt. Gen. calls on Eastern Command GOC-in-C

Signifying the growing strategic partnership between two leading armies of the world, Lt. Gen. Bryan P. Fenton, Deputy Commander, US-Indo Pacific Command, called on Lt. Gen. Abhay Krishna, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command, at its headquarters in Fort William here on Friday, an official said.

Dy Commander US-Indo Pacific Command calls on Lt Gen Krishna

Lt Gen Bryan P Fenton, Deputy Commander, US-Indo Pacific Command, today called on Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna, GOC-in C Eastern Command here today, as part of his three-day visit to India. The two dignitaries held meaningful discussions on various important regional and global security related issues concerning the two countries, a Defence spokesman said. Leading a five-member US delegation, Lt Gen Fenton visited the Eastern Command headquarter at Fort William here. The visit of the senior US Army officer to the Eastern Command signifies the growing strategic partnership between the two leading armies of the world, who are also important partners in bilateral training, spokesman Wing Commander S S Birdi said. The meeting was aimed at further strengthening defence cooperation existing between the two nations to fight unitedly in the global war on terrorism, he said.

Teen hit by bullet in Kupwara

A teenager was hit by a bullet during clashes between civilian protesters and security forces on Friday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.

German court rejects case of Holocaust-denying 'Nazi grandma'

Germany's jailed "Nazi grandma" Ursula Haverbeck, 89, today lost a challenge before the country's highest court, which reaffirmed that constitutional free speech guarantees do not cover Holocaust denial. Haverbeck started her latest prison term in May for insisting that Nazi Germany's mass murder of millions of Jews and others was "only a belief" and that Auschwitz was "not historically proven" to have been a death camp. German law makes it illegal to deny the genocide committed by Adolf Hitler's regime, which in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in occupied Poland alone claimed some 1.1 million lives, mostly of European Jews. Holocaust denial and other forms of incitement to hatred against segments of the population carry up to five years in prison, while the use of Nazi symbols such as swastikas is also banned. The Constitutional Court ruled that "punishment for denying the National Socialist genocide is fundamentally compatible with Article 5 (1) of the Basic Law," which guarantees ...

Twin suicide blasts kill at least 20 inside Afghan Shiite mosque

Twin suicide blasts struck a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan today as it was crowded with worshippers for weekly prayers, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens in the latest attack on the minority. Officials have said they fear the death toll could rise after the assault, the latest targeting civilians who have borne the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan's long conflict. "Two suicide explosions happened during Friday prayers in the Khwaja Hasan area of Gardez," said Abdullah Hasrat, spokesman for Paktia province near the Pakistan border. Provincial police chief General Raz Mohammad Mandozai also confirmed the presence of two suicide bombers, adding that the assailants also opened fire on the crowd before detonating explosives. He said at least 20 people had been killed and around 50 others injured. Other officials said as many as 25 people had died. Gardez public health department chief Wilayat Khan Ahmadzai said that more than 70 people in total had been killed and .

At least 20 killed in Afghan Shiite mosque attack: officials

At least 20 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan today, officials said, warning that the toll could rise. "We have 20 people killed and around 50 others were wounded," General Raz Mohammad Mandozai, provincial police chief of Paktia province, near the Pakistan border, told AFP. A second official said there were at least 70 dead and wounded in the attack.

15 killed as explosions rock mosque in Afghanistan

At least 15 people were killed and more than 50 others wounded after two explosions ripped through a mosque in Afghanistan's Gardez city on Friday.