Page 542 - War Conflict
Nigeria: 86 killed in fresh herder-farmer violence
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has called for calm after 86 people were killed in an attack by suspected nomadic herders against farming communities in the restive centre of the country. The grim discovery in the Barikin Ladi area of Plateau state came after days of violence apparently sparked by an attack by ethnic Berom farmers on Fulani herders on Thursday. State police commissioner Undie Adie said a search of Berom villages in the area following clashes on Saturday found "86 persons altogether were killed". Adie told reporters six people were also injured and 50 houses were razed. Bodies of those who died have been released to their families, he added. The deaths are the latest in a long-running battle for land and resources that is putting President Muhammadu Buhari under pressure as elections approach next year. The violence fuelled by ethnic, religious and political allegiances has killed thousands over several decades. Analysts believe it could become Nigeria's biggest .
36 dead in militia attack on village in central Mali: Group
A community militia killed 32 civilians in an attack on a village in central Mali then returned shortly after Malian soldiers left and killed four more, the head of the West African nation's largest ethnic Fulani association has said. Mali's government earlier in the day confirmed the first attack and said 16 people were killed, as the Fulani ethnic group faces growing pressure over accusations of links to al-Qaida extremists. The death tolls differed because many bodies had been buried by the time Malian soldiers responded, Abdoul Aziz Diallo with the Tabital Pulaku association told The Associated Press. The original attack occurred Saturday when militia members killed herders outside Koumaga before entering and "starting to fire on the villagers," Diallo said. As soon as Malian soldiers left the village Sunday afternoon militia members returned, killing a man and his three sons, Diallo said. Koumaga village has the reputation of being the birthplace of a number of al-Qaida-linked ...
Clashes in Nigeria between farmers, herders leave 86 dead
At least 86 people have died in Nigeria after violent clashes broke out between farmers and cattle herders, police in Plateau state said.
10 arrested in France for planning attacks on Muslims
French anti-terrorism units have detained a group of ultra far-rightists suspected of planning assaults against Muslim community in the country, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb has said.
Chhattisgarh: Naxals threaten locals to join them
The Naxals are threatening people in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district and have apparently asked them to send one member from each family to join them.Here, over the past few months, several clashes have been reported between the security forces and the Naxals.In order to beef up their army, the Naxals are now apparently forcing villagers to join them."They have informed us that one member from each family needs to join them otherwise they will kill us. We are really scared of them. We don't know what to do next," a local said.However, the state police have denied any such demand from the Naxals."Police has not received any kind of information regarding this - that the Naxals have announced that locals should join them," Deputy Inspector General R L Dangi said."Their (Naxal's) population is declining day-by-day as police is taking strict actions. Maybe that's why they are trying to create a psychological pressure amongst the masses. However, the youth in the area have now understood ..
Mattis expects NKorea to return US servicemen remains soon
US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said that he was optimistic that North Korea would soon hand over the remains of US servicemen killed during the 1950-1953 Korean war. Mattis yesterday noted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un committed to doing so in his June 12 meeting with President Donald Trump on denuclearising the Korean peninsula. He said that the United Nations Command in South Korea is standing by to receive the remains. "We simply are standing by for whenever the diplomatic activities are done,"he told journalists. "We are optimistic that it will begin," he added, because Kim agreed to it. More than 35,000 Americans were killed on the Korean Peninsula during the war, which ended in an armistice with no peace treaty. Among them, 7,700 are still considered missing, including 5,300 in North Korea alone, according to the Pentagon. The Pentagon says Pyongyang has indicated several times that they have as many as 200 sets of remains that could be those of US soldiers who ...
Mattis sees positive signs in Afghanistan
US Pentagon chief James Mattis has said that there were encouraging signs in Afghanistan for talks between the government and the Taliban after 17 years of fighting. He pointed to the Taliban's acceptance of a three-day ceasefire offered recently by President Ashraf Ghani. Although the Taliban turned down a chance to extend the halt, Mattis pointed to the way Taliban fighters joined with government security forces and civilians to break fast on the Eid religious holiday. "Clearly Ghani has hit a responsive chord," Mattis told reporters yesterday. "Not just on the Afghan national government side, but also it cut deep into the Taliban. We'll see how this goes forward." During the unprecedented ceasefire fighters on both sides of the conflict expressed hopes it would continue. But the sight of its fighters openly mingling with security forces and civilians appeared to alarm the Taliban's leaders, who ordered their men back to their posts.
Taliban storm 16 check posts in Maidan Wardak
The Taliban insurgents stormed around 16 check posts and escaped with military hardware, weapons and ammunition, lawmakers from Maidan Wardak province said on Sunday, during a Wolesi Jirga session.The attacks took place against Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) check posts in Jalrez district of the province, according to MPs.APPF soldiers claimed that 13 check posts were captured and have been under siege for three days.They said the check posts fell to the Taliban on Friday and on Saturday, Tolo News reported.The APPF soldiers on Sunday said that airstrikes were carried out targeting the insurgents.The defense ministry spokesman stated that commandos and Special Forces have been deployed to the area to recapture the check posts.Defense experts have accused the Taliban of exploiting government's extended ceasefire.The Presidential Palace said the ceasefire is what the Afghan nation wants.In Kunduz province, the Afghan security forces has resumed their military operation code named
Israel launches 3 airstrikes on Gaza
Israeli army drones have carried out three successive airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, in response to arson kites and balloons fired from the enclave.
86 killed in Nigeria attack
At least 86 people have been killed following a coordinated attack on several villages in the Nigerian state of Plateau, the police said.
New protest in Greece against Macedonia name deal
Some four thousand people protested in Thessaloniki, against a name deal between Greece and Macedonia, police have said. The protesters, mainly from the far right, brandished banners reading "politicians traitors", an AFP journalist said yesterday. They marched towards the offices of the governing parties of SYRIZA and ANEL,with some turning violent and hurling objects. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Greece and Macedonia last week signed a historic preliminary agreement to rename the small Balkan nation the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a row that has poisoned relations between the two neighbours since 1991. As the two countries' foreign ministers signed the deal Greek protesters clashed with riot police, who beat them back with tear gas near the small Greek village of Pisoderi, 25 km away. Six policemen and six protesters were injured, police said, as around 500 demonstrators waving Greek flags tried to approach the ceremony. The accord aims to start ...
32 Fulani civilians killed in Mali attack: local group
At least 32 civilians were killed and ten are missing following an attack in central Mali, believed to have been carried out by traditional hunters, local officials said today, as the government said 16 bodies had been found. Armed Dozo hunters, linked to the Dogon ethnic group, were suspected of ambushing the isolated village of Koumaga in the Mopti region yesterday, killing dozens of Fulani herders, including children. "They surrounded the village, separated the Fulani people from the others and killed at least 32 civilians in cold blood," said Abel Aziz Diallo, president of the local Tabila Pullaku association. Another 10 people were missing, he added. "The men were dressed in Dozo clothing but we wonder if they were all Dozo hunters," said an elected official from the region, speaking on condition of anonymity. Violence has increased over the past three years in central Mali between nomadic Fulani herders and Bambara and Dogon farmers, sparked by accusations of Fulanis grazing ...
France arrests 10 ultra-right suspects over plot to attack Muslims
Ten people with links to the radical far-right have been arrested by anti-terrorist police in France over an alleged plot to attack Muslims, judical sources said today. The arrests were made Saturday in operations across France but mainly on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, the sources told AFP. The suspects had an "plan to commit a violent act targeting people of the Muslim faith," one source close to the probe said. Another source said the gang was looking to hit "targets linked to radical Islam". France has been hit by a string of jihadist attacks since early 2015, often by people who have become radicalised or claim to have acted in the name of the Islamic State group. More than 240 people have been killed in the attacks, including 130 who lost their lives in a wave of bombings and shootings in November 2015.
Mali says 16 killed in attack on ethnic Fulani village
Mali's government says 16 people have been killed as the Fulani ethnic group faces growing pressure over accusations of links to al-Qaida extremists. The leader of Mali's largest Fulani association says the death toll is higher, with 32 civilians killed Saturday when a community militia attacked Koumaga village in the central part of the country. Abdoul Aziz Diallo says the death tolls differ because many bodies had been buried by the time Malian security forces arrived. Diallo says another eight people are missing. Koumaga village has the reputation of being home to a number of al-Qaida-linked extremists. Such fighters have been attacking security forces and a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the West African nation regularly since 2015. Security is a key concern ahead of Mali's election on July 29.
Egypt extends its state of emergency for another 3 months
Egypt has extended its state of emergency for another three months. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's decision was published in the official gazette today. It should be approved by parliament within seven days and go into effect on July 14. Egypt has been under a state of emergency, after an Islamic State affiliate bombed two Coptic churches in April last year killing at least 44 people. Egypt has been battling Islamic militants for years, but the insurgency gained strength after the 2013 overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president. The militants have mainly targeted security forces and Christians. In February, Egypt launched a massive security operation against militants in Sinai, parts of Egypt's Nile Delta and the Western Desert.
Separatists call for strike tomorrow in protest against civilians' killings
Separatists today called for a strike in Kashmir tomorrow against the recent civilians' killings allegedly in the security forces firing. A 23-year-old man was allegedly killed in security forces firing today after a group of youth pelted stones on them while an encounter was on in Chedar Ban area of Qaimoh in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, police said. The JRL (Joint Resistance Leadership), comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, has called for a complete shutdown tomorrow, a JRL spokesman said in a statement. The spokesman said the separatist trio have expressed serious concern over the re-starting of operation all-out and cordon and search operation (CASO)" in Kashmir ... especially in south Kashmir which has resulted in the killing of four innocent civilians. Security forces have been carrying out operations to sanitise the Jammu-Srinagar national highway ahead of the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, beginning June 28, another senior police ...
Afghanistan: IS leader behind recent Jalalabad attacks killed
A senior leader of the Islamic State group's offshoot ISIS Khorasan (ISIS-K), who was involved in the recent attacks in Jalalabad city, has been killed during an operation of the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS).ISIS-K leader, identified as Adam Khan was killed on Saturday night in the vicinity of Chaparhar district in Nangarhar province, Khaama Press reported, citing the statement issued by the provincial government media office on Sunday.According to the provincial government, the recent deadly attacks in Jalalabad (cricket ground, customs department, medical faculty, and education directorate) were planned and carried out under the leadership of Adam Khan, the report said.Some weapons, motorcycles, and munitions have also been confiscated during the operation.On May 27 at least two back to back explosions were reported in Jalalabad city.This came barely a few days after three back to back explosions at a cricket stadium in the city killed at least eight .
Youth injured in J&K clash on Friday succumbs
A youth, injured in clashes with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Friday, succumbed in a hospital here on Sunday, police said.
Explosives recovered after encounter with naxals in Jharkhand
Security forces have recovered a huge cache of explosives following an encounter between security personnel and naxals in East Singbhum district of Jharkhand, police said. The encounter took place yesterday night when a joint team launched a massive anti-naxal operation at Yuktidih, Bhadua, Pungoda and Chekam villages of Ghatsila sub-division. The team was led by Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations), Pranav Anand Jha and Assistant Commandant of the 207 battalion of CoBRA, Ankush Chauhan. When the security personnel reached a spot between Pungoda and Bhadua villages, the naxals opened fire at them, forcing the security personnel to retaliate, Jha said. The encounter lasted for around two hours. The naxals, however, managed to escape under the cover of forest, he said. The security personnel launched search operation in the area during which they recovered under barrel grenade launcher (UBGL), detonators, fuse wire, pistol, six rounds of live ammunition of 9 mm .
Two LeT militants killed, one surrenders in Kashmir
Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed while a third one surrendered to security forces on Sunday in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.