Page 493 - War Conflict
'Militants snatch rifle from policeman'
Unidentified militants snatched a rifle today from a policeman in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said. The militants snatched an INSAS rifle from constable Mohammad Ishaq at Khurhama area of Lolab in the north Kashmir district, a police official said. He said Ishaq was on duty in connection with the visit of MLA Lolab Abdul Haq Khan, a former minister, in the area when the incident took place. The police have launched a probe into the incident, the official said.
Tajikistan attack killing 4 tourists was led by opposition member: Police
Police in Tajikistan today appeared to blame a banned opposition party for an attack previously claimed by the Islamic State group that left four tourists dead and was originally reported as a hit-and-run road accident. A police statement called a detained man identified as leading an attack that killed two tourists from the United States and one each from Switzerland and the Netherlands an "active member" of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, which was banned in 2015. Authorities in the Central Asian country offered no immediate proof of the assertion. According to the police statement Hussein Abdusamadov, 33, who police identified as the leader of the group that attacked the tourists, is an "active member" of the IRPT and also "underwent training in Iran", a country with whom Tajikistan has poor relations. The Islamic State jihadist group yesterday claimed the attack on a group of seven tourists cycling in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres from Tajikistan's ...
IS claims responsibility for Tajikistan attack that killed 4
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a weekend attack on Western tourists in Tajikistan that left four people killed. A car rammed into a group of cyclists south of the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Sunday. The driver then joined the passengers in attacking the tourists with knives, leaving four dead and three injured. Authorities in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation had said terrorism was a possible motive. In a statement late yesterday the Islamic State said that a group of its soldiers attacked the "citizens of the Crusader coalition." The Islamic State group usually refers to the US-led coalition that is fighting it in Syria and Iraq as crusaders. The statement did not say how many militants took part in the attack.
Militants attack refugee department in Afghanistan
An explosion on Tuesday rocked the department of refugees and migrants in the Afghan city of Jalalabad.
Bomb planted near Assam Rifles camp defused
A powerful bomb planted near an Assam Rifles camp at Manipur's border town Moreh was defused on Tuesday morning.
Van blast in southern Philippines kills 10
Ten people, including troops and civilians, were killed when an explosion tore through a van at an army checkpoint in the southern Philippines today, as authorities warned the blast could be linked to a wider plot by Islamic militants. The powerful explosion happened after soldiers and pro-government militia troops stopped the vehicle and tried to search it just after dawn on the outskirts of the mainly Christian city of Lamitan, which is on the predominantly Muslim island of Basilan. One soldier, five militia troops and four civilians were killed. The van driver, a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf militant group also died, Philippine military spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo told reporters in Manila. He added that government forces had been on heightened alert after receiving reports that extremists planned to plant improvised explosives in areas around the island. "We can just imagine the tragedy that this would bring to the people of Basilan had we not stopped them at the ...
Afghan official: Roadside bomb kills 11 in western province
A roadside bomb struck a passenger bus in western Afghanistan today, killing at least 11 people, including women and children, officials said. The morning attack in the Bala Buluk district in western Farah province also wounded 31 people, all civilians, according to Abdul Jabar Shahiq, the provincial health department chief. Shahiq said the bus was on its way from Herat province toward the capital, Kabul, when it hit the roadside bomb. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but the Taliban have a strong presence in the province, especially in Bala Buluk where they often plant roadside bombs to target government officials or Afghan security forces. Such attacks often end up inflicting significant casualties among civilians. The latest report by the United Nations says the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan in the first half of this year increased by 1 percent, compared to the same period last year. The U.N. mission in Afghanistan said the number -- 1,692 ...
Amarnath yatra crosses 2 lakh mark in 33 days; highest in 3 yrs
The number of pilgrims paying obeisance at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir Himalayas crossed the 2 lakh mark in 33 days this year, the highest since the last 3 years, officials said. As many as 2.60 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at Amarnath despite interruptions due to torrential rains. "On the 33rd day of the ongoing Amarnathji Yatra yesterday, 3,827 pilgrims paid obeisance at the holy cave and cumulatively since the beginning of the pilgrimage on June 28, 2,62,314 pilgrims paid darshan at the holy cave," an official spokesperson said. Last year, the total number of pilgrims who visited the shrine was 2,60,003 in 40 days, whereas this year the pilgrimage has crossed this number in 33 days, he said. As many as 2,20,490 pilgrims visited the cave shrine in 2016, but it was highest in 2014, when 3,72,909 pilgrims visited the shrine. It was followed by 3,53,969 in 2013 and 3,52,771 pilgrims in 2015, data said. The smallest batch of 588 pilgrims today left Jammu for twin ..
Afghan anti-corruption efforts struggle: US watchdog
Afghanistan's security forces are failing to increase control in the war-torn country and Kabul remains apathetic to clamping down on rampant corruption, a US government watchdog said today. The latest report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which comes almost a year after President Donald Trump unveiled an overhauled strategy for Afghanistan, highlights persistent issues that have stymied progress for years. SIGAR pointed to a US Department of Justice report that found the situation in Afghanistan to be "consistent with a largely lawless, weak and dysfunctional government" with many corruption cases languishing due to the lack of political will. The report describes problems within the Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC), established in 2016 by President Ashraf Ghani to prosecute major corruption cases involving senior officials or substantial monetary losses. Afghanistan is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to ...
Indonesia bans local IS-affiliated group behind deadly attacks
An Indonesian court today banned a local extremist network responsible for a series of deadly terror attacks on home soil, significantly expanding police powers to charge members and freeze funding. Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS), was involved in a deadly 2016 Jakarta attack and a wave of suicide bombings in May in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya, according to authorities. Two families -- including girls aged nine and 12 -- blew themselves up at churches and a police station, killing 13. "Herewith we declare [JAD] a forbidden organisation," lead judge Aris Bawono Langgeng said at South Jakarta district court. Indonesia has banned just one other radical Islamic group, Jemaah Islamiyah, in 2008 because it was found guilty of committing terrorist acts. The ruling will beef up police powers to go after JAD, which has been connected to a series of other plots in Indonesia, including a firebomb attack on a church that ...
Man jailed in Australia over terror plot
A man was jailed for 17 years today for plotting a terrorist attack in Australia after being prevented from travelling to Syria, with the judge saying he continued to hold extremist views. Agim Kruezi, 25, was arrested in 2014 and pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to one count each of preparing for terrorist acts and planning a foreign incursion. The court heard Kruezi, reportedly an Australian-born Albanian, planned to travel to Syria to fight with an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group but was stopped by customs officers and his passport was cancelled. He instead turned his attention to an attack on home soil. Broadcaster ABC said police found a loaded semi-automatic sawn-off rifle, two balaclavas, two machetes, a photocopy of a book titled Jihad, and an Islamic State flag pinned to his bedroom wall when he was arrested. Instructions to carry out beheadings were also discovered on his computer and in the days before his arrest, he purchased 10 litres (2.6 US gallons) of petrol and .
Indonesian court outlaws Islamic State-linked group
An Indonesian court today outlawed Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a network of militants that supports the Islamic State group, following a series of deadly attacks over the past two years. Presiding Judge Aris Bawono Langgeng told the South Jakarta District Court that the network of almost two dozen extremist groups is a "forbidden corporation." He said its activities and those of other organizations affiliated with it or IS are banned. The case against Jemaah Anshorut Daulah was brought by government prosecutors and appeared aimed at empowering stronger police action against militant members of the network and their supporters. In 2008, a court banned Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida affiliated network responsible for the Bali bombings in 2002. The group was obliterated by a sustained crackdown on militants by Indonesia's counterterrorism police with U.S. and Australian support, but a new threat has emerged in recent years inspired by IS attacks abroad. The prosecution indictment filed ...
8 killed, 40 injured in Afghan bomb blast
At least eight people were killed and 40 others injured as a roadside bomb blast struck a passenger bus in Afghanistan's Farah province on Tuesday, government officials said.
Roadside bomb hits Afghan bus, killing eight, wounding 40: officials
\A roadside bomb hit a Kabul-bound passenger bus in western Afghanistan today, killing at least eight people and wounding around 40, mostly women and children, officials said. "It was a bomb planted by the Taliban to hit security forces but unfortunately it got a passenger bus," Farah provincial police spokesman Muhibullah Muhib told AFP. There was no immediate confirmation that the Taliban was responsible for the blast, but Afghanistan's largest militant group is very active in the province. The explosion happened as the bus travelled through Bala Baluk district of Farah at 4:30 am (0000 GMT), provincial governor spokesman Naser Mehri told AFP. Photos posted on social media purportedly of the bus showed the vehicle's blackened shell and dozens of Afghan men standing at the scene. Civilians have borne the brunt of the 17-year conflict and improvised explosive devices, such as remotely detonated or pressure-plate bombs, are one of the main causes of casualties. Such IEDs caused 877 ...
Powerful bomb in van kills at least 5 in south Philippines
The Philippine military says a soldier and four militiamen have been killed by a powerful bomb that exploded while the troops were inspecting a suspicious van on a southern island. Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Gerry Besana says two other government militiamen were wounded in the blast after dawn today near an army militia outpost in the village of Colonia on the island province of Basilan. Police say the blast occurred after militiamen flagged down the van at a checkpoint for inspection, although the report had limited details and it's unclear what happened to the driver. No group has claimed responsibility. Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Arnel Dela Vega committed "every available resource under his disposal to identify the perpetrators in the soonest possible time.
Philippines car bomb attack toll rises to 10
A powerful car bomb exploded in the Philippines island of Basilan early on Tuesday. The death toll has reached 10, according to military sources.
6 killed in car bomb attack in Philippines
Six people, including a soldier and four militia men, were killed on Tuesday when a powerful bomb apparently rigged to a vehicle exploded in the southern Philippines island of Basilan.
UN receives 70 new allegations of sex abuse and exploitation
The United Nations says it received 70 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in the second quarter of 2018 43 involving UN personnel, 24 involving people working for UN partner organisations, and three pertaining to UN-authorised international forces. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said today the allegations made between April 1 and June 30 include 18 from UN peacekeeping missions and 25 from UN agencies. The 84 alleged victims include 46 women and 17 girls and one boy under the age of 18, he said. Haq said the alleged perpetrators include 80 men and 4 women. Of the 70 cases, he said 61 are being assessed and investigated, three were substantiated through an investigation, two were not substantiated and four were closed under circumstances which were not disclosed.
IS group claims responsibility for Tajikistan attack: SITE
The Islamic State group today claimed responsiblity for an armed attack on foreign cyclists in Tajikistan that left four people dead, the SITE monitoring group reported. Two Americans, a Swiss national and a Dutch citizen were struck by a car and attacked yesterday while on a popular cycle route in the Danghara district, about 100 kilometres south of the capital Dushanbe, officials said. In a statement published today, the IS group said that a "detachment from the soldiers of the Caliphate" had carried out the attack against "citizens of Crusader coalition countries," according to SITE.
Palestinian teen says no regrets after release from Israeli prison
Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi said today she was deeply changed by her eight-month sentence in an Israeli jail for slapping two soldiers, but does not regret any of her actions. Tamimi, who was 16 when she was arrested in December for hitting and kicking soldiers in front of her house in the occupied West Bank, was released yesterday and swarmed by media from across the globe. In an interview the day after her release, the now 17-year-old told AFP that she understood she had become a "symbol" of the Palestinian cause. "Of course my life has been changed a lot. I changed a lot in prison," said Tamimi. "I became more focused, more aware also. Prison ages a person. In one day you age 100 years," she said in the backyard of her home in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Asked if she would have done the same thing if she had known it would land her behind bars for months, she said yes. She pointed to the circumstances in which the soldiers had entered the garden of her house in ...