Page 509 - War Conflict
Afghanistan probes civilian casualties in military operation: defence ministry
Afghan authorities are probing reports that 14 civilians were killed or wounded during a military operation, the defence ministry said today, with several officials saying women and children were among the victims. The casualties were caused by an air strike in the northern province of Kunduz on Thursday, Char Dara district governor Zalmai Farooqi and villagers told AFP. Villager Haji Shireen said 13 people, all women or children, were killed in the air strike that also destroyed some houses in Robat village. An AFP reporter said he saw 12 bodies when he visited the village on Thursday. Kunduz regional hospital head Naeem Mangal said the bodies of 12 women and children had been brought to the medical facility. "Women and children were martyred," Farooqi said, blaming "foreign" forces for the air strike. US Forces in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. The defence ministry statement did not specify if the casualties were caused by an air strike. "A ...
6 injured in roadside bomb targeting security convoy in Pak
A roadside motorcycle bomb today exploded near a security convoy in Pakistan's Balochistan province, injuring at least six persons and seriously damaging nearby shops and cars, police said, the latest attack to rock the restive region. A vehicle belonging to a law enforcement agency was the target of the blast, Chaman Station House Officer Gul Muhammad said. The blast on the Mall Road of Chaman town in the south-western province was caused by a remote-controlled motorcycle bomb parked at the side. The bomb was detonated when the vehicle passed by. Vehicles parked near the site of attack were damaged with windscreens shattered as a result of the impact. The shops situated near the main road caught fire as the explosion jolted the city. Police said that at least six people were injured in the attack and were shifted to a nearby hospital. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Security situation in the Balochistan has deteriorated ahead of elections on July 25. Last week, .
Buses arrive to ferry Syria rebels out of zone near Golan: Monitor
Buses were gathering today in a southwestern sliver of Syria near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to transfer rebel fighters and civilians to opposition territory further north, a monitor said. The transfers come under a surrender deal agreed this week between Russia and Syrian rebels in Quneitra province that will see the sensitive zone fall back under state control. Rebels will hand over territory they control in Quneitra and the neighbouring buffer zone with the Israeli-occupied Golan, a war monitor and a rebel source told AFP. The deal included safe passage to northern Syria for any hardliners who refuse to live under government control, and buses began entering the area today to carry out the transfers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "The buses reached government-controlled territory in Quneitra on Thursday, and today they began crossing into opposition areas for the evacuation," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. He said it remained unclear how ...
Women from ethnic armed group killed in Myanmar's east
Several women were among those killed in Myanmar's restive eastern region in renewed clashes between the army and an ethnic rebel group, with both sides providing conflicting accounts of the battle. Fighting broke out on July 11 between soldiers and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) insurgents near Awelaw village in remote Shan state near the Chinese border, both sides confirmed. The military announced today that eight people, mostly women, were killed in the clashes. "Among the TNLA insurgents, the bodies of three men and five women in camouflage uniforms were seized," the post on the Commander-in-Chief's Facebook page stated. A different account of the clashes released on Monday by the TNLA, however, described how six women medics were arrested after an ambush by troops before being "killed brutally". The area, in Myanmar's restive eastern frontier, is off-limits making it difficult to verify either side's claims. In recent years, women have been swelling the ranks of some ...
Official: Taliban attacks kill 8 police in east Afghanistan
A district governor in Afghanistan says Taliban fighters launched a wave of attacks in eastern Ghazni province, killing at least eight police and wounding seven others. Saeeb Khan Elham said today that insurgents launched a wave of attacks on compounds and police security posts in the Qarabagh district late the night before. He said government forces meant to reinforce the district were attacked in a Taliban ambush that included roadside mines and were unable to help. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone interview with AP. He says 16 police were killed and a government compound in the district damaged.
Vaishno Devi pilgrim dies in J&K's Reasi; fresh Amarnath batch leaves for Kashmir
An 85-year-old pilgrim died near the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, while a fresh batch of 1,753 pilgrims today left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for the valley to perform the annual Amarnath Yatra, officials said. The pilgrim, Udhay Ram Agarwal from Odissa, was returning from the shrine when he suddenly fell unconscious near Battery point along the new track last night, they said. The officials said he was shifted to the nearby Bhawan dispensary but was declared brought dead by doctors. Meanwhile, a fresh batch of 1,753 pilgrims, including 369 women and 50 sadhus, left the base camp in Jammu to join the ongoing yatra to the 3,880-metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, they said. They said the pilgrims left in a convoy of 56 vehicles under tight security. While 1,152 pilgrims, including 175 women and 50 sadhus, opted for the traditional 36-km Pahalgam track, 601 pilgrims are performing the yatra via the shortest 12-km Baltal ...
1,753 pilgrims leave for Amarnath
A batch of 1,753 pilgrims left Jammu for the Kashmir Valley on Friday to perform the Amarnath Yatra, police said.
Helicopter mishap turns Army medical drill into real deal
A medical evacuation drill at a California military base turned into a real emergency when two US Army Blackhawk helicopters participating in the exercise blew down four large tents and injured 22 Army Reserve soldiers, officials said today. No one was seriously injured in the mishap Wednesday night at Fort Hunter Liggett, though two soldiers had to be airlifted to a hospital for treatment as others troops provided medical care. "They were equipped and trained to immediately jump in, and they were quickly able to respond to the situation," said Master Sgt. Valerie Resciniti, an Army spokeswoman. Injuries included cuts and bruises, sore shoulders, injured limbs and non-serious head trauma, Col. David Heflin said. That wasn't what was supposed to happen as the 228th Combat Support Hospital out of San Antonio, Texas, participated in the medical evacuation training exercises happening throughout the service this month. The military was investigating why the choppers were so close to the ..
Mastung blast: Suicide bomber identified
The suicide bomber, who was responsible for the election rally suicide attack at Mastung in Balochistan last week, has been identified as Hafiz Nawaz, a resident of Abbottabad.On July 13, at least 149 people, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Siraj Raisani, were killed and over 200 injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up during an election rally in Mastung, making it one of the single largest terror attacks in the history of Pakistan, Geo TV reported.According to the media reports, the Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the Mastung attack.Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Thursday, Inspector-General (IG) Balochistan Mohsin Hassan Butt said that the suicide bomber had travelled from Abbottabad to Sindh and was in contact with a banned terrorist organisation."The suicide bomber was a part of Daesh (IS) and had been affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as well. The facilitators of the attack have also been detected," Butt was quoted
Pak identifies Mastung suicide bomber as jihadist who fought in Afghanistan
Pakistani authorities today identified the suicide bomber, who killed 149 people at an election meeting in the troubled Balochistan province last week, as a jihadist who moved to Afghanistan two years ago to fight foreign forces. Deputy Inspector General Counter-Terrorism Department Aitzaz Ahmed Goraya said the bomber was identified as Hafeez Nawaz, a resident of Mirpur Sakro, 33-km away from Thatta. He said the bomber was identified from his hand which was found at the scene of the blast. "The suicide bomber was seated in the fourth row during the corner meeting. He stepped forward to stand near the stage before detonating his explosives," the officer said. The attacker's family "confirmed their son had been in Afghanistan for the last two years to wage jihad against the foreign forces", Goraya said. The blast on July 13 killed 149 people and left some 200 others injured, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the country's history. Nawab Siraj Raisani, a candidate from PB-35 ...
Tripura hawker lyncing: 2 detained
Tripura Police today detained two persons in connection with the lynching of a hawker at Murabari area in Mohanpur sub-division on June 26. However, they were released after interrogation for some time, Assistant Inspector General of Police Smriti Ranjan Das said. Uttar Pradesh-based garment hawker Jahir Khan Qureshi was lynched by a mob inside a camp of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) the state's own counter-insurgency force, at Murabari on June 28. The mob violence was triggered over rumour of the presence of child lifting gang following the murder of an 11-year-old boy at Mohanpur sub-division in West Tripura on June 26. Two more persons were lynched by mobs at Bishalgarh in Sipahijala district and Sabroom in South Tripura on the same day. They include Sukanta Chakraborty, who was hired by the government for campaign against rumour mongering.
4 woman among 8 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh
Eight Maoists, including four women, were gunned down in a gun battle with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district early on Thursday, police said.
4 women among 8 Maoists gunned down in Chhatisgarh
Eight Maoists, including four women, were shot dead on Thursday in an encounter with security forces in an area adjoing the border of Dantewada-Bijapur districts in Chhattisgarh, an official said. Several sophisticated firearms were recovered from them.
China donates 7 mn euros to Cameroon's security forces
China has donated 6.86 million euros (USD 7.95 million) to Cameroon's army to boost its "peacekeeping and security operations", state radio reported today. The donation was made yesterday by China's ambassador to the central African country, Wang Ying Wu, in a meeting with Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo, CRTV reported. The ambassador told state radio that the grant was intended to help Cameroon's army "reinforce its capacities in peacekeeping and security operations in the region". Cameroon faces armed challenges in the Far North region, where jihadists from neighbouring Nigeria's Boko Haram are active, and in the Northwest and Southwest regions, where separatists from the English-speaking minority have launched an insurgency. The army has been accused of serious human rights abuses in areas where troops are active, including filmed extrajudicial killings of women and children put on social media and condemned by Amnesty International on July 12. The government first dismissed ...
Pakistani terrorist shot dead in J&K's Kupwara district: police
A Pakistani militant belonging to terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was killed by the security forces in an encounter today in the Handwara area of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. A foreign militant, belonging to the LeT, was killed in the encounter at Batpora in Handwara in north Kashmir, a police official said. The body of the Pakistani militant was recovered from the encounter site along with a weapon and other incriminating material, he said. More details about the identity of the slain militant are being ascertained, the official said. Security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in the area following inputs about the presence of militants. The operation turned into a gun-battle after the militants fired upon a search party, which retaliated. The firing has stopped, but the search operation was still going, the official said.
Montenegro says 'contributes to peace' in response to Trump attack
Montenegro's government today defended its contribution to peace in response to a verbal attack from US President Donald Trump, who said this week that the tiny Balkan nation's "aggressive" people were capable of triggering "World War III". The rebuttal comes after Trump ignited outrage across Europe with his broadside, which many interpreted as the latest sign of the US president's shaky commitment to the NATO alliance, which Montenegro joined last year. In a statement today Montenegro defended its history of "peaceful politics," saying the country "contributes to peace and stability not only on the European continent but worldwide, along with US soldiers in Afghanistan." It also added that it has served as a "stabilising" force in the region, which was ravaged by wars during the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Alongside Macedonia, Montenegro was the only ex-Yugoslavian country whose decision to split from the federation did not trigger a war, though its soldiers ...
Indian soldiers keep peace, empower South Sudanese
Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan have taken up another mission - to educate and empower locals in Wau Shilluk, a region on the banks of the Nile in the war-torn east African country.
IS kidnaps 12 demining staff in Afghanistan
Armed men from the terror group Islamic State (IS) have kidnapped 12 mine removal staff working for an Afghan organization in the country's Kunar province, an official said on Thursday.
ISIS follower found guilty of terror plot to kill British PM
A Bangladeshi-origin Briton who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group has been found guilty of hatching a terror plot to behead Prime Minister Theresa May in a suicide attack on Downing Street. Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, on trial at the Old Bailey court in London this week, planned to bomb the gates of 10 Downing Street, kill guards and then attack the prime minister with a knife or gun. His plan was foiled as a result of a joint undercover operation by the FBI in the US and MI5 and Scotland Yard in the UK. "I want to do a suicide bomb on Parliament. I want to attempt to kill Theresa May," he is reported to have told the undercover intelligence officers. "There are lorries here with big gas tankers, if a brother can drive it next to Parliament I will bomb," said the 20-year-old from Birmingham, who had sworn allegiance to ISIS. He has been on trial along with a 22-year-old ISIS ally, Mohammad Aqib Imran, who is accused of planning to travel abroad either to Libya or Syria to ..
Boko Haram kills six traders in Nigeria ambush: locals
Boko Haram fighters killed six traders when they ambushed a convoy of lorries under military escort in northeast Nigeria, a civilian militia member and a local resident said today. "Six traders were killed in an ambush by Boko Haram gunmen on Tuesday," said Umar Kachalla, from the volunteer security force in Gamboru, a trading hub on Nigeria's border with Cameroon. The attack happened at about 6:00 pm (1700 GMT) at Mussini village, some 16 kilometres from Gamboru. Kachalla said the gunmen opened fire on the 23-strong convoy, forcing it to stop, then looted supplies and torched the vehicles. "The poor state of the road makes it difficult for motorists to escape any ambush because they need to manoeuvre through deep and gaping potholes," he added. Abubakar Yusuf, from Gamboru, passed the scene on Thursday morning. "I can see the trucks lined up. They are all burnt. Nothing remains but heaps of ash from the goods," he said. "It is true. Six people were killed in the ambush, including ...