Page 49 - War Conflict
Afghan official: Suicide bombing kills 6 near Kabul academy
Afghan authorities say a suicide bomber targeting a military academy in the capital of Kabul has killed at least six people. The Interior Ministry says six others were wounded in the bombing on Thursday. A ministry statement says a soldier noticed a suspicious person and approached him, causing the attacker to detonate his explosives near the Mashal Fahim academy. Ferdus Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says police are trying to get more details about the bombing in western Kabul. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but insurgents have targeted this academy in the past. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in Kabul and have staged large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital.
Four troops killed in Ukraine helicopter crash
An army helicopter has crashed in western Ukraine killing four servicemen, the military said on Thursday. The Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the western Rivne region during a training flight late Wednesday, killing three crew members and the commander of the 16th Separate Army Aviation Brigade of Ground Forces, a statement said. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences and tasked newly-appointed general staff chief Ruslan Khomchak with overseeing the investigation. "Our army should not be losing people during games and drills," the 41-year-old president was quoted as saying by his office. Zelensky, a former comedian, swept last month's presidential election in a rebuke to the establishment fuelled by popular anger over war with Russian-backed separatists and social injustice. The conflict against Russia-backed insurgents in the east has claimed some 13,000 lives since 2014.
Search operation in Kashmir's Sopore
Security forces on Thursday carried out a search operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore area, police said.
Xi broke promise on South China Sea: Top US general
The US military's top general said Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jingping reneged on promises not to militarize the South China Sea and called for "collective action" to hold Beijing responsible. General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was not calling for military action, but stressed that there was a need to enforce international laws. "The fall of 2016, President Xi Jinping promised President Obama that they would not militarize the islands. So what we see today are 10,000-foot runways, ammunition storage facilities, routine deployment of missile defense capabilities, aviation capabilities, and so forth," he said in a talk on US security and defense at the Brooking institution. "So clearly they have walked away from that committment." "The South China Sea is in my judgement not a pile of rocks," he continued, referring to the series of reefs and outcrops that have been claimed as territory by China, reclaimed and expanded to accomodate
Sri Lanka failed to arrest Easter bomber despite warnings
Sri Lankan authorities failed to arrest the jihadist who led the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 258 people despite mounting evidence against him, the country's top intelligence official said Wednesday. Sisira Mendis told a parliamentary probe into security lapses leading to the April 21 suicide bombings that the attacks led by Zahran Hashim could have been avoided if he had been detained. "He was reported for hate speech. He had come to the attention of the authorities before the attacks," said Mendis, who is the Chief of National Intelligence. "Police could have at least detained him for questioning when there were these reports against him." Official sources said Hashim came to the attention of the authorities following a violent clash with a moderate Muslim group in his village in eastern Sri Lanka two years ago. However he was not arrested. The national parliament Wednesday began investigating the circumstances that allowed a known Islamist group to stage the audacious attack ..
Cache of arms recovered in Palamau
CRPF personnel along with the Jharkhand Police recovered a cache of arms during a search operation in Palamau district on Wednesday, a police officer said. The joint team, during a search operation at Bagsara hill, recovered four IEDs, five country-made rifles, one revolver, three 12-bore guns, 11 packets of gelatin sticks, 250-metre detonating chord and 200-metre electric wire, he said. The recovery happened under the jurisdiction of Pipra police station, the police officer said.
Militant eliminated in Encounter at Shopian; security personnel, civilian also killed
A militant was killed in an encounter Wednesday in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir in which a security personnel and a civilian also lost their lives, police said. Before the encounter broke out in Pinjoora area, several people were injured when security personnel used batons and fired pellets to disperse a violent mob which pelted stones on the forces during the cordon and search operation, they said. The operation was launched following information about presence of militants there, a police official said. As the security forces were carrying out the searches, a mob tried to disrupt the operation by pelting stones on them, the official said. He said the security forces chased the miscreants using batons and firing pellets, resulting in injuries to several persons. Meanwhile, the militants opened firing at security forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing encounter, one militant was gunned down while a security force personnel also died, the official said, adding one civilian ...
Civilian killed in clashes with security forces in Shopian
A civilian was killed on Wednesday in clashes between security forces and protesters in Pinjora village of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.
C'garh: Naxal carrying reward of Rs 1 lakh arrested
A Naxal, carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, was arrested in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district Wednesday, police said. Acting on a tip-off, Koparam Kadti (40) was arrested near Masodi village under Farspal police station area by a team of local police, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said. Maoist banners and pamphlets were seized from his possession, the SP said. Kadti, head of the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangthan (DAKMS), a Maoist front, was associated with the rebels since 2007, Pallava said. He was mainly tasked with arrangement of commodities of daily use for the rebels, convening meetings of villagers, spreading Maoist propaganda, keeping a watch on movement of security forces and recruitment of youths, the SP said, adding that Kadti was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.
Nigerian troops repel Boko Haram attack on key town
Nigerian soldiers on Wednesday repelled an attack by Boko Haram jihadists on the northeast city of Maiduguri, security sources and residents told AFP. The attack, the latest in a wave of assaults by Islamist gunmen, was repulsed hours before President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn into office for a second term in power. Soldiers intercepted a "huge number" of fighters from Boko Haram on the outskirts of Maiduguri on Tuesday night, beginning a night-long battle that continued until close to dawn on Wednesday. "Our troops did an impressive job, and fought off the terrorists," said a military source, who asked to be named. Troops fought all night, and "forced them to withdraw by dawn," the source said. A member of a self-defence militia, that fights alongside regular troops, said Boko Haram forces were spotted as they moved towards the city in the dark. "Luckily they were sighted by soldiers, who fought them all night long," the militia fighter said. Residents of the city reported the ...
Arrested suspected Pak spies were in contact with Hizb militants in PoK: Officials
Two persons, who were arrested for shooting videos and taking photographs outside an Army camp in Jammu, were allegedly in direct contact with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants in based in Pakistan as spies, officials said Wednesday. The suspected spies were arrested Tuesday. The suspected spies of Pakistan, who were handed over to the police, are being grilled at a joint interrogation centre to know about the plan of the terrorists. The duo were identified as 38-year-old Mushtaq Ahmed Malik, son of Atta Mohd Malik of Udhyanpur area of Doda district, and 24-year-old Nadeem Akhter, son of Mohd Shafi of Malhar area of Kathua district, they said. They were working for two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists based in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and were in contact with them, they said. The two Hizbul militants based in PoK were kins of the duo and they had gone to PoK and joined HM several years ago, they said. The duo were given tasks by the Hizbul militants for recce of areas, video ...
Amarnath Yatra: Barcode slips for pilgrims; about 40,000 troops to guard route
Security arrangements for the forthcoming annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir have been scaled up, with authorities deciding to issue a 'barcode'-enabled authority slip to pilgrims to keep a track of the actual number of people travelling to and from the cave shrine. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), that is tasked as the primary force to secure the pilgrimage that faces terrorist threats, will deploy an enhanced number of upgraded electromagnetic chips or RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags on vehicles that will transport pilgrims and other civilians associated with the yatra. The Centre has decided to deploy about 40,000 central paramilitary and state police personnel to secure the 46-day yatra that begins on July 1 from the twin route -- traditional Pahalgam track in Anantnag district and shortest Baltal track in Ganderbal district. It will conclude on August 15, the day Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated in the country. Out of total number of forces, about ...
Libyan commander hands over prominent militant to Egypt
A prominent Egyptian militant wanted for scores of terror attacks in his country was handed over by Libyan forces loyal to a commander pushing to take the capital of Tripoli and flown back to Egypt on Wednesday. Egyptian TV networks aired footage of a blindfolded Hisham el-Ashmawi, a former army officer turned militant, landing in Cairo and being taken off a military plane. El-Ashmawi was captured last October in the Libyan city of Derna, a longtime bastion of Islamic militants, by commander Khalifa Hifter's self-styled Libyan National Army. Hifter's forces now are battling to take Tripoli, fighting militias allied to a U.N.-supported government based in the Libyan capital. El-Ashmawi's return to Egypt came after a meeting Tuesday between Hifter and Egypt's intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, in the eastern city of Benghazi, which serves as Hifter's base. The handover reflects the close ties between Egypt and Hifter, whose divisive campaign against Tripoli, which started in April, has so
Sri Lanka signs port deal with India, Japan
Sri Lanka has signed a deal with India and Japan to develop a deep-sea container terminal here amid increasing forays by China which has taken a strategic port on a 99-year lease that has worried New Delhi. The three countries will jointly build the East Container Terminal at the Port of Colombo. High Commissioner of India to Colombo Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Akira Sugiyama and Sri Lankan Minister of Ports & Shipping and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake signed the Memorandum of Cooperation in Colombo on Tuesday. Sri Lanka's Port Authority (SLPA) said that around 70 per cent of Colombo Port's transshipment business is India related while Japan had cooperated since the 1980s to develop the port's container terminals. SLPA retains 100 per cent ownership of the East Container Terminal. The Terminal Operations Company (TOC) conducting all East Container Terminal operations is jointly owned; Sri Lanka retains a 51 per cent stake, and the joint venture .
Landmines, weapons recovered in Jharkhand
The Jharkhand Police, in a joint operation with the CRPF, recovered nine weapons and 13 landmines from Palamau district on Wednesday, an official said.
Clashes between protesters, security forces in Kulgam, 20 injured
Clashes broke out between protestors and security forces during a cordon and search operation in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, leaving 20 persons injured. The operation was launched in Tazipora area in the early hours following information about presence of militants there, officials said. They said as the security personnel were carrying out searches, a large number of locals gathered and started pelting stones at them. The security personnel used batons and fired pellet guns to disperse the protestors, the officials said, adding nearly 20 persons were injured in the incident. While most of the injured were treated at a local hospital in Kulgam, four youth with serious injuries were referred to a hospital here for treatment, they added. The cordon was lifted as security forces did not find any militant in the area.
Civilian shot at in Baramulla
Suspected militants have shot at a civilian in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said on Wednesday. Feroz Ahmad sustained gunshot injuries during the incident at Bomai in Sopore on Tuesday night. He is undergoing treatment at a hospital, an officer said. A case has been registered and an investigation is on, the officer added.
NIA team in Sri Lanka to help in Easter bombings case; will seek more details of probe
A two-member team of the NIA is in Sri Lanka to hold discussions with authorities about a probe in the Easter Sunday bombings over claims that some terrorists, owning allegiance to ISIS, had travelled to India, including Kashmir, officials said Wednesday. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) team is led by Inspector General Alok Mittal, who has probed various ISIS-related cases in South India, including a conspiracy by the terror module to kill prominent leaders. During investigations in the case, the NIA had alerted the island nation that ISIS terrorists were planning to carry out strikes there. India had been regularly sharing intelligence inputs about a possible terror attack in Sri Lanka targeting the Indian High Commission and religious places there. The inputs to Sri Lanka were sent through diplomatic channels after a thorough investigation pertaining to the ISIS case in Coimbatore was carried out by the NIA, which has filed a charge sheet against seven people. The Indian ...
Over 50 injured in clashes at Kulgam gunfight site
More than 50 civilian protesters were injured on Wednesday in clashes with security forces near the site of a gunfight with militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.
Protection of civilians is primary responsibility of national governments: India
India has emphasised that the protection of civilians in the conflicts is the primary responsibility of national governments and not of the peacekeepers, voicing concern that very little is done to strengthen national and societal capacities of protection. The general tendency is to wrongly assume that protection of civilians is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict, peacekeepers, and humanitarian organisations. However, this responsibility primarily rests with the national governments, India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said at a Security Council open debate on 'Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.' Very little is done in terms of strengthening the national and societal capacities of protection. "Outside agencies can only supplement and not supplant the responsibility of national governments," he said. Naidu also pointed out that protection of civilians in the context of UN peacekeeping operations has been a complex one ...