Page 540 - War Conflict
IEDs found, two Naxals arrested in Bijapur district
Security forces today recovered three powerful improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and arrested two rebels in separate incidents in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-affected Bijapur district, police said. The CRPF's 168th battalion and local police found the IEDs, weighing 5 kg each, buried under a dirt track between Basaguda and Dharmapur villages, a local police official said. The devices had been made using steel tiffins, he said, adding that the bomb disposal squad immediately defused them. Two alleged Naxals, identified as Punem Somlu (34) and Hapka Jila (47), were arrested by a joint team of the CRPF's 85th battalion and local police from their native village Kakekorma, the official said. The two were allegedly involved in torching of vehicles engaged in road construction near Pamalwaya Kalighati on Bijapur-Gangalor road last month, the police offcial said.
Ammunition seizure; Police, explosives experts scour area
A day after a huge cache of explosives and ammunition was unearthed in the district, a top police official today said it could have been buried 35 years ago, even as explosives experts scoured the area. More than 50 boxes of abandoned ammunition, 41 light machine guns, 22 machine guns and five land mines were recovered near Thangachimadam area in the district yesterday. The explosives were recovered after occupants of the house alerted police to what they had discovered while a septic tank was being dug following which police were despatched to the spot. Police said the items seized included eight rolls of wires for connecting the explosives, 20 mines, 11 packets of explosive chemicals, 15 hand grenades, 400 automatic rifle bullets, 5500 small arms ammunition ,4928 SLR ammunition, 199 sniper class bullets and 20 M5-302 bullets. Police and explosives experts were checking the area to find if more explosives and ammunition have been buried, officials said. "We have to ...
Deradicalisation on for youths with leanings towards ISIS: CM
Deradicalisation is underway for 29 youths found to be having leanings towards ISIS, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said today. "The activities of Islamic fundamentalists who owe allegiance to ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terror outfit) are being closely monitored. Deradicalisation is underway for 29 Muslim youths, who were found having leanings towards ISIS," Palaniswami said. A special team in the intelligence wing was keeping tabs on the social media for pro-ISIS elements, the Chief Minsiter said tabling the policy note for 2018-19 for the police department. On the Special Task Force, vested with the responsibility of preventing extremists from taking refuge in the forests of Tamil Nadu, he said their focus of late has been on the tri-junction region of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka (in the Nilgiris district). "Due to continuous sightings and activities of Maoists in the forests of Kerala,especially in Malappuram, Wayanad and Palakkad districts bordering
UN probe accuses DR Congo troops, militia of 'crimes against humanity'
UN investigators today accused the security forces and militia fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of committing crimes against humanity in the country's restive Kasai region. The probe was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council last year to investigate abuses in Kasai, which was plunged into violence in September 2016 after government troops killed a local chieftain, Kamwina Nsapu. The chieftain was opposed to the Kinshasa government and now rebels fighting in his name are battling government forces and a pro-government militia called the Bana Mura. "Some of the abuses committed by the defense and security forces, the Bana Mura militia and the Kamwina Nsapu militia constitute crimes against humanity (and) war crimes," the investigators said. The report will be presented to the rights council next month. It accused both government troops and militia members of targeting civilians in a "systematic or widespread manner," highlighting atrocities that ...
Boko Haram homeless face housing crisis as rains hit
Thousands of men, women and children made homeless by the Boko Haram insurgency risk disease because of lack of shelter in northeast Nigeria, aid workers said today. The Norwegian Refugee Council said more than 4,000 people were having to sleep in the open in the town of Dikwa, where they have fled military operations against the jihadists. Nigeria, which maintains the Islamist militants are virtually defeated, is encouraging internally displaced people (IDPs) to return to their homes, as troops wind up operations. But humanitarian organisations say towns outside the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, do not yet have the minimum standards of basic services to cope with an influx of so many people. The Nigeria director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Cheick Ba, said they were "extremely concerned" by the situation in Dikwa, which is 92 kilometres (57 miles) east of Maiduguri. "Children are sleeping outside with nothing over their heads. With the rains now hitting the area, they risk ...
Nearly 60 foreign terrorists among 243 militants operating in Kashmir
Nearly sixty foreign terrorists are among 243 militants operating in Kashmir valley where "Operation All Out"is in full swing to wipe them out to tackle terrorism in the valley. In less than six months, 75 young men including some highly educated have joined militancy in Kashmir valley, thereby raising concerns due to an unusual surge in such persons taking up guns. Police and security forces are to intensify their "outreach programme" to persuade local militants through their families to lay down weapons and join the mainstream. "As many as 243 terrorists are operating in Kashmir valley and of these, 59 militants are foreigners", a senior Police officer told PTI quoting official statistics. Besides, 15 terrorists are operating in Jammu region, it said, adding a total of 188 locals and 70 foreign terrorists are operating in the entire Jammu and Kashmir. Operations against militants in J&K would be intensified in the days to come as extremist activities increased during ...
'Most wanted Pak Taliban terrorist resurfaces to deny role in Benazir's assassination'
Ikramullah, one of Pakistan's most-wanted terrorists and named as the second suicide bomber of a cell that assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007 has appeared in a Taliban video denying his involvement, the BBC reported today. Bhutto, 54, was assassinated in a bomb-and-gun attack on her car in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, as she left an election rally. Ikramullah, who was then about 16 years old, is believed to have been a back-up Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan suicide bomber, who was meant to detonate his explosive vest if the first attacker did not succeed. But officials say he walked away after the other bomber blew himself up, killing Pakistan's first woman premier and at least 20 others at an election rally in Rawalpindi in 2007. In his first public statement on the case, Ikramullah appears in a video produced by a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban which was obtained by the BBC. It is believed to have been filmed in eastern Afghanistan, where the ...
Chemical weapons meeting again pits UK against Russia
A Nobel Prize-winning chemical weapons watchdog is opening a special meeting to consider a British proposal on whether it should have the right to apportion blame for chemical attacks. Russia has already voiced its opposition. The British delegation to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says early today that it wants to empower the group to identify those responsible for chemical weapons attacks, which it has been unable to do so far. Several nations feel such limits hamstring the organisation, and the British delegation say the change would "strengthen the Organization entrusted with overseeing the ban on chemical weapons." Russia has said such a change in the rules would undermine the organization and threaten its future.
How can grossly unrepresentative Security Council pursue noble cause of responsibility to protect: India
India has questioned how the UN Security Council, which is "grossly unrepresentative" and has a questionable record in addressing common challenges, pursue the noble cause of responsibility to protect populations and prevent genocide and crimes and humanity. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin's remarks came during a UN General Assembly general debate yesterday on The Responsibility to Protect and the Prevention of Genocide, War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes against Humanity'. "While Responsibility to Protect, at its core, has an appeal as a 'noble cause', its usage has only been selective in the context of a wider geo-strategic balance of power among competing players or groups," he said. Akbaruddin said there are many critical questions that need to be addressed if this noble cause is to be pursued in an impartial manner. "How can we ensure commonly accepted legal definitions of the crimes that we are discussing? What will qualify as a trigger
Taliban calls Islamic Scholars conferences a US process
The Afghan Taliban has denounced the so-called Islamic Scholars conferences in Asia and the Middle East as an "American process" and urged clerics to reject the gatherings. The Taliban says in a statement Tuesday the U.S. first gathered religious scholars for a conference in Indonesia in May, and have since organized similar conferences in Kabul, Islamabad, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. No date has been set for a conference in Saudi Arabia. The Taliban consider the conferences to be anti-Islamic and led by the U.S., the group said in the statement. It says the U.S. is using them to seek justification for its "military occupation" of Afghanistan. "The Islamic Emirate urges religious scholars to reject these conferences which are a scheme of the invaders," it said.
Odisha police to destroy drug-fund link of Maoists
Maoists are now engaged in heavy hemp cultivation in three districts of Odisha and the police will completely destroy such farming, a senior police officer said. The rebels are involved in such cultivation in the cut-off areas of Malkangiri, Koraput and Jeypore districts and trade in drugs is now their only source of income, Odisha DGP R P Sharma told reporters yesterday. "Odisha police with the help of multi-agency squads will completely destroy the hemp cultivation this year," he said. Last year hemp cultivation in over 4500 acres of land in the state was destroyed, he said. He said the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and state excise department were also tracking drug traffickers.
Suspected LTTE ammunition, explosives unearthed in Rameswaram
The Ramanathapuram district police has recovered a huge cache of ammunition and explosives on a coastal hamlet near Thangachimadam's Rameswaram island.The police suspect that the buried explosives are from the 1980s and belong to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a military organisation that fought for separate Tamil Eelam (land) for Tamils in Sri Lanka.According to media reports, a resident of Anthoniyarpuram found a box of bullets while constructing a septic tank, following which he alerted the police.In immediate action, police dug up the spot and found a huge cache of trinitrotoluene detonators, detonator launchers and over 50 boxes of ammunition.
Suicide bombing kills 9 policemen in Afghanistan
Some nine police personnel were killed and three others wounded in a suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, official said on Tuesday.
9 policemen killed in Afghan suicide attack
Nine police personnel have been killed and three others wounded in a suicide blast attack in Afghanistan's Kunar province an official said on Tuesday.
Bodies of 3 kidnapped Ecuadorean press workers identified
Authorities in Colombia have identified the remains of two journalists from Ecuador and their driver who were kidnapped while reporting in a dangerous border region, officials said today. The Ministry of Defence announced that three bodies recently discovered had been confirmed as those of the news team that disappeared three months ago. The employees of the Ecuadorean newspaper El Comercio were investigating a rise in drug-fueled violence along the Colombia-Ecuador border. "I pledge the word of the State of Colombia and of course of the Attorney General to the families that this horrendous crime will not go unpunished," Attorney General Nestor Martinez said in a statement. Officials have said an armed dissident group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia kidnapped the trio on March 26 and later killed them. They are journalist Javier Ortega, photographer Paul Rivas and driver Efrain Segarra. The remains will be turned over to Ecuadorean officials, officials said. Relatives ...
7 Taliban, 3 Afghan soldiers killed in Herat clash
At least seven Taliban fighters and three Afghan security force members were killed in a clash in Chishti Sharif district.The clash broke out after the Taliban insurgents attacked Afganistan security forces.According to the officials, two Afghan National Army soldiers and an Afghan National Police soldier were martyred in the clash and eight other security force members were wounded.As per Tolo News, Taliban has not yet commented on the clash.
8 killed in Kunar suicide bombing
A suicide attack in Kunar province in the East Afghanistan claimed eight lives and injured four people.The explosion took place near a police outpost in Sawkai district at around 8pm (local time) on Monday.The incident occurred when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive near a check post of Afghan Local Police, Tolo News reported.There is still no information on the identities of those who lost their lives in the blast.
Arrests in Mozambique after jihadist attacks: president
Mozambique's president announced today several arrests following a wave of deadly attacks blamed on jihadists and has received offers of support from Russia and the US to tackle the bloodshed. In his first comments on the violence engulfing the northeastern Cabo Delgado region, President Filipe Nyusi vowed that security forces would be "firm and ruthless" in pursuing the shadowy group blamed for more than 30 deaths. Vast riches of natural gas were recently discovered off the region's coast but the violence has thrown the viability of exploiting the reserves into doubt. "We condemn these acts and will not rest until their perpetrators and collaborators are neutralised and held accountable for their crimes," said Nyusi as he marked Mozambique's 43rd year of independence at a media conference in Maputo. "Our defence and security forces are on the ground -- firm and ruthless." Nyusi said he had received offers of support from Moscow and Washington but did not give further details. "US ...
India hosts 160 Sri Lankan defence personnel, families in Gaya
In an innovative step towards strengthening military ties, India today hosted a 160-member delegation comprising Sri Lankan military personnel and their families in Bihar's Gaya, where they will visit Buddhist religious places. One C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force brought the Sri Lankan delegation comprising of personnel from all three services and their family members from Colombo to Gaya, the Air Force said. The delegation will also visit the Officers Training Academy in Gaya. The visitors would be airlifted back to Colombo tomorrow. During the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's recent visit to Sri Lanka, a proposal was discussed for a visit of Sri Lankan military personnel of all three services and their families to the Officers Training Academy in Gaya and the Buddhist religious site at Bodh Gaya. The Sri Lankan side was extremely enthusiastic about the tour, while the Ministry of Defence cleared the out of the box proposal from the Army chief on priority. India and Sri Lanka ..
Masked men snatch bag containing cash: police
Four masked men on two motorcycles allegedly snatched a bag containing Rs 22 lakh cash from an employee of a private cash collecting company at gun point today, police said here. The incident took place this evening at Fatehgarh Churian road when Kulwinder Singh after collecting cash from different city based traders was on way towards office on his scooter to deposit the money, they said. He was intercepted by four unidentified people who looted the cash at gun point, police officials said. They masked men fired in the air, they said adding investigations were underway.