Page 518 - War Conflict
31 troops, 50 Taliban rebels killed in Afghan clashes
At least 31 security force members and 50 Taliban militants were killed and 15 other officers were wounded in several attacks on checkpoints in northeastern Afghanistan, officials told the media on Thursday.
Spent two magical days with Xi, says Trump
Amid the trade war looming between the United States and China, US President Donald Trump went down the memory lane and recalled his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, during his maiden visit to China last year saying "he spent two magical days" with the Chinese leader.At a press conference after attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit here, Trump said on Thursday, " I spent two magical days with Xi Jinping. They were the most magical days I have ever lived." Interestingly, the remarks came after Trump was quizzed on US' trade situation with China.Claiming victory in the defence spending row by the NATO countries, Trump said that the allies agreed to "substantially up their commitment" and hailed the "tremendous progress" on the spending."Tremendous progress has been made. Everyone's agreed to substantially up their commitment. They're going to up it at levels that they've never thought of before," he was quoted by The Hill as saying.Multiple ...
Top Islamist cleric 'detained by Saudi authorities'
Saudi Arabia has detained a prominent Islamist scholar, activists said today, in a widening crackdown on dissent in the ultra-conservative kingdom, which is undergoing sweeping economic and social reforms. Rights campaigners and online activists said Sheikh Safar al-Hawali, a Sunni Islamist scholar and leading figure in Saudi Arabia's Islamic Sahwa reformist movement, had been taken into custody. They did not give further details about the case of the scholar, who has pushed a line of anti-Americanism and Islamic rule. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, named heir to the throne in June 2017, has spearheaded a string of reforms over the past year aimed at improving his country's image and economy. The changes have coincided with a widening crackdown on all forms of opposition. Authorities last month arrested a number of prominent women's rights campaigners, just days before the kingdom ended a decades-long ban on women driving. Hawali was jailed in the 1990s for opposing his ...
Maha: 'Mission Shakti' to train athletes for intl competitions
The Maharashtra government will train athletes for national and international competitions, including the Olympics, through its 'Mission Shakti' programme, state Forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said today. He added that the construction of sports complexes in Chimur, Pombhurna, Ballarpur and Mool areas of the state has been ordered on high priority. Mungantiwar said the sports complex at Ballarpur will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25 this year. "After the success of 'Mission Shaurya', where tribal students from Chandrapur scaled Mount Everest, 'Mission Shakti' programme is being implemented by the state government," he said. "In order to enable athletes to participate in national and international competitions, including the 2024 Olympics, services of qualified sports coaches, having experience of international competitions, will be made available," he said. He informed that international sports champions and experts will be invited, ...
Maha pilgrim dies en route to Amarnath shrine, toll rises to 21
An Amarnath pilgrim from Maharashtra today died of cardiac arrest on the way to the holy cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, police said. Samarjeet Sarja, 52, died at Domail along the Baltal route in the south Kashmir Himalayas this morning, a police official said. With this, the death toll in this year's pilgrimage -- which began on June 28 -- has gone up to 21.
Italy to host conference on Libya
Brussels, July 12 (IANS/AKI) Italy is organising a conference on turmoil-wracked Libya this autumn, populist Premier Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday at a Nato summit in Brussels.
Putin extends ban on Western food imports
Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended a ban on Western food imports for another 18 months after the European Union's decision to prolong its broader, punitive sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine. Putin's Thursday decree keeps the food ban in place until Dec 31, 2019. It follows the EU's move to extend its restrictions until year's end. The US and the EU introduced several rounds of sanctions to punish Russia for the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. They made lifting restrictions contingent on the progress of a 2015 peace deal for eastern Ukraine. Russia argues that the peace agreement has floundered at Ukraine's fault. The sanctions have hurt the Russian economy, restricting access to global financial markets and cutting imports of key technologies.
Chg: Reward-carrying militia commander among 5 ultras held
Five naxals, including a militia commander carrying reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head, were arrested in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Narayanpur district, police said today. The cadres were apprehended last evening from the forests of Balebeda village by a joint team of security forces out on a search operation, Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Shukla told PTI. They are identified as Guddu Ram Wadde (29), the militia commander, Chainu Ram Wadde (49), Raju Metami (44), Masia Ram (29) and Jano Maha (19), who is a woman cadre. Shukla said the five were allegedly involved in an encounter with security forces that occurred on July 4 this year in Balebeda forest. Two naxals were killed in that incident. "A combine squad of District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was carrying out the operation since the gunfight took place in the area to trace the ultras involved in that encounter," he said. While Guddu was active .
Taliban attacks on Afghan forces cause 'heavy casualties': Officials
Taliban attacks on Afghan security forces in the country's north have caused "heavy casualties", officials said today, putting the number of soldiers killed as high as 40 in ongoing fighting. Militants using night-vision goggles launched simultaneous raids on several Afghan military bases and posts in Dashte Archi district in Kunduz province overnight, defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish and other Afghan security sources told AFP. "We have suffered casualties, the Taliban have also suffered casualties," Radmanish said. Between 10 and 15 Afghan soldiers had been killed so far, and about the same number wounded, he added. But an Afghan security source told AFP that the death toll among security forces was "more than 40", and another confirmed that 39 had been killed and 10 wounded. A separate security source said there had been "heavy casualties" among the soldiers. An air and ground operation against the Taliban was under way, Radmanish said. But today afternoon an army base .
India to build 124-bed hospital in strife-torn South Sudan: Official
India has decided to build a 124-bed mental hospital in strife-torn South Sudan under a friendship programme between the two countries, an official said today. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the country's premier infrastructure building authority, will build the mental hospital at an estimated cost of Rs 120 crore. An official told PTI that the construction work is expected to be completed in two years. A team of the Ministry of External Affairs, CPWD and other departments concerned will visit South Sudan to inspect the project site next month, the official said. "The proposed mental hospital, which will have a capacity of 124 beds, will be funded by India and executed by CPWD. The hospital is being built under India-South Sudan Friendship Programme," the official, who did not wish to be named, said. "It is planned that the material for construction of the hospital will be sent from India and local sources of supply in neighbouring countries of South Sudan will also be ...
Trump: Nato states agree to increase defence funds
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that NATO countries have agreed to increase their military spending after he threatened to pull out at the summit here.
Buddha of Swat smiles nearly 12 years after Taliban dynamited it
The iconic Buddha of Swat, carved on a cliff in the 7th century, has been restored to its almost original form with Italian assistance in the troubled northwestern Pakistan, nearly 12 years after it was dynamited by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan during their control over the area. Buddha seated in a meditative posture, which is considered one of the largest rock sculptures in South Asia, was attacked in September 2007 by the Taliban militants, who blew up half the statue's face by drilling holes into the face and shoulders and inserting explosives, triggering a worldwide anger. The Italian government invested 2.5 million euros (USD 2.9 million) in five years to preserve the cultural heritage and restore the six-metre tall Buddha of Swat, depicted in a lotus position at the base of a granite cliff. Luca Maria Olivieri, an Italian archaeologist who oversaw the restoration of the Buddha of Swat, said the rehabilitation of the site has not been easy. The Italian Archaeologist said
Afghan officials: Taliban kill at least 15 troops, 4 police
The Taliban struck today in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz, leaving 15 soldiers dead there, and in western Farah province, where they killed four policemen, officials said. In Kunduz, Taliban fighters tried to overrun a military security post in the district of Dasht-e-Arch, using artillery shells, according to army spokesman Mohammad Hanif Rezaie, who is based in Balkh province. Along with the 15 killed, at least 13 soldiers were wounded in the four-hour-long gunbattle, he added. However, Mohammad Yosuf Ayubi, the head of the provincial council, said as many as 30 soldiers were killed. The disparate death tolls could not be immediately reconciled. In the attack in Farah, the governor's spokesman Mohammad Naser Mehri said the Taliban targeted a police checkpoint. The Taliban have not so far claimed either attack but the insurgents have recently stepped up assaults in both provinces and elsewhere in Afghanistan. A roadside bomb struck a vehicle in Farah's Khak-e Safad ...
TN CM condoles death of Sri Ranganathaswamy temple pontiff
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today condoled the death of the chief pontiff of Sri Ranganathaswamy temple in Tiruchirappalli district. In a message, the Chief Minister recalled that Sri Ranga Narayana Jeeyar had started off as a priest of a temple in Coimbatore, before going on to become the 50th jeeyar of the temple in Srirangam. In a statement, Palaniswami expressed his sympathies to the disciples of the jeeyar and others associated with him and prayed that the "soul of Sri Ranga Narayana Jeeyar reaches the Holy abode." The 84-year old Sri Ranga Narayana Jeeyar died yesterday after prolonged illness at a private hospital Tiruchirapalli. He had both lung and heart problems and had been admitted to hospital some time ago. He became the 50th jeeyar of the Srirangam temple in 1984.
TN CM condoles death of Ramanuja Mutt chief
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Thursday condoled the passing away of Sri Ranga Narayana Jeeyar, the 50th pontiff of Sri Ramanuja Mutt in Srirangam.
Amnesty urges 'war crimes' probe on UAE-run prisons in Yemen
An international rights group today called for an investigation into alleged disappearances, torture and possible deaths in detention facilities run by the United Arab Emirates and its allied militias in southern Yemen as potential war crimes. Amnesty International's call comes months after The Associated Press reported that the UAE and allied militias were running a network of secret detention facilities where torture and abuses were widespread, outside the control of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government. In a report titled "God only knows if he's alive," Amnesty said it documented "egregious violations going unchecked, including systemic enforced disappearance and torture and other ill-treatment amounting to war crimes." The UAE issued a statement Thursday promptly rejecting Amnesty's report, describing it as "politically motivated to undermine" Emirati efforts as part of the Saudi-led coalition in support of the Yemeni government. In Yemen's 3-year-old civil war, ..
Curfew in north Kashmir town after youth killed in army firing
The authorities on Thursday imposed curfew in a volatile north Kashmir town after a youth was killed in firing by security forces, a police officer said.
Table 2013 Dhule riots probe report in Assembly: Cong MLA
Congress MLA Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan has demanded that the Maharashtra government table in the state Assembly the report of the judicial panel that probed the 2013 Dhule riots. Six people were killed and several others injured in the police firing during riots in north Maharashtra's Dhule city in January 2013. Six police personnel were subsequently arrested after a video footage had emerged in which they were purportedly seen rioting and looting. A judicial commission, headed by retired Bombay High Court Judge K U Chandiwal, had probed the case and submitted its report to the state government in 2016. Khan yesterday met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, at his chamber in the Legislature complex here and urged him to table the probe report in the House. "We want to know observations made in the report, who have been held responsibleand what action will be taken against the accused," the legislator said. He also claimed that the state ..
Amnesty fears war crimes in UAE-run Yemen prisons
Human rights violations in a string of Yemeni prisons run by the United Arab Emirates could amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said today. It called for investigations by the UAE and allies including the United States into a network of unofficial prisons across southern Yemen where it said "egregious violations" have been committed, including enforced disappearances and torture. "Ultimately these violations, which are taking place in the context of Yemen's armed conflict, should be investigated as war crimes," said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty's crisis response director. "The UAE's counter-terrorism partners, including the USA, must also take a stand against allegations of torture, including by investigating the role of US personnel in detention-related abuses in Yemen, and by refusing to use information that was likely obtained through torture or other ill-treatment." The UAE has denied involvement in prisons across southern Yemen. The Gulf state has played a key role in a ...
Syria state media confirms deal with rebels for Daraa city
Syrian state media has confirmed a deal between the regime and rebels for opposition fighters to hand over their heavy weapons in the southern city of Daraa. On Friday, an agreement was announced for the wider province of the same name, the cradle of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. But the implementation was set to occur in three stages: first in the east of the province, then rebel-held parts of the provincial capital Daraa, and finally the province's west. "A deal has been reached between the Syrian state and the terrorist groups in Daraa al-Balad," state news agency SANA reported yesterday, referring to the rebels. Under the deal for opposition-held areas of Daraa city, rebels are to hand over their heavy and medium-sized weapons, it said. It would also provide for "fighters who wish to do so to settle their status with the regime" and stay, "and for those who refuse the agreement to leave the city", it said. It is the latest in a string of such so-called ...