Page 548 - War Conflict
Death toll in Caracas club stampede rises to 18
Venezuelan authorities today revised to 18 the death toll following a stampede at a crowded Caracas club over the weekend. The deaths occurred after a brawl broke out during a middle school graduation party and someone detonated the tear gas, sending more than 500 people rushing for the exits, said Interior and Justice Minister Nestor Reverol. "The tear gas canister did not cause the death of these 18 people," he told journalists. "It was the stampeded of 500 people in the place who did not have sufficient evacuation routes. On Saturday, Reverol had said eight minors were killed in the incident. Today he said eight people had been detained in connection to the case, including an adolescent who "confessed" to having set off the tear gas. There have been several incidents with tear gas over the past year in Venezuela, but with no victims. The country is grappling with a severe economic crisis and pressure for President Nicolas Maduro to step down, amid a collapse in the price of oil, ..
Station master shot at, RPF jawan beaten up by gunmen
Gunmen fired at and injured the station master of a railway station near here and assaulted an RPF jawan in Bhagalpur district, police said today. The unarmed jawan, Manohar Lal Yadav, was attacked for trying to save an elderly couple from being looted at Katariya station, Superintendent of Police, Railway, Katihar, Dilip Kumar Mishra said. "After being thrashed, Yadav rushed to the chamber of the station master Rishikesh Kumar. He bolted the door from inside. The attackers chased Yadav and fired through the window injuring the station master," the SP said. The gunmen had thought that the RPF man might raise an alarm, he said adding that other RPF personnel could not intervene as they were carrying only batons. The two have been hospitalised, the SP said.
TV actress in trouble for video against police firing
After a month-long search for a television actress for allegedly spreading misinformation on the police firing during the anti-Sterlite protest, the police arrested her at Wellington here today. Nilani, in police attire, had released a video on social media in which she was seen condemning the police firing in Tuticorin and terming it as pre-planned,police said. In the video, she is seen saying that she felt ashamed to be wearing khakhi and would have gone to meet the families of the victims who were killed in the firing, if she was not busy with her commitments. Based on a complaint, police registered cases against her under various IPC sections including 153 (wantonly provocative with intent to cause riot), and under the Information Technology Act. A search was on for her for the last one month, police said. On information that she was staying in her relative's house at Wellington, the police took her into custody and produced her before the judicial magistrate ...
2 killed in road accident in J&K
Two persons were killed while five others injured in an accident in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said. A vehicle with seven people aboard fell in a deep gorge at Sinthan Top in Kokernag area of the south Kashmir district, a police spokesman said. Nissar Ahmad Rather and Rifat Maqbool, both residents of Kokernag, died while five others were injured. All the injured persons were shifted to hospital by police for treatment, the spokesman said. He said a case has been registered and an investigation has been taken up.
Policeman killed, two injured in J&K attack
One policeman was killed and two others were injured in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Wednesday, police said.
Militants fire upon security forces' vehicle, 1 injured
Militants fired upon a security forces' vehicle near Gallandar on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway today,injuring a policeman. The ultras fired upon a police vehicle of the 7th Battalion IRP in Pampore area of the city, a police official said, adding a policeman suffered injuries in the attack. The injured has been taken to a hospital, the official said, adding a hunt has been launched to nab the attackers.
NIA training programme on terror crimes for NE policemen
A three-day training programme on terror crimes for police personnel of the Northeastern region began here today, an Assam Police spokesperson said. The training programme has been organised by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in association with Assam Police, under the guidance of Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Inaugurating the programme, Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said such training sessions will benefit the officials immensely during anti-terror operations in the region. The programme will include cyber crime investigation and other related areas connected with terror probe, the spokesperson said.
Chhattisgarh MLA, supporters clash with police
An independent MLA and his supporters allegedly clashed with police in Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund district, an official said today. MLA Vimal Chopra, eight police personnel including two officials, and others were injured in the clash that occurred last night when the politician and his supporters were trying to gherao Kotwali police station over alleged manhandling of the MLA's supporter by police. "An FIR has been registered against Vimal Chopra and his supporters over a violent clash with police when they were trying to gherao Kotwali police station last night," Mahasamund Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI. As per preliminary information, a police team on night patrolling duty had warned Chopra's supporter Ankit Lunia (27) against beating up some minor youths in Mini Stadium area after a minor dispute, he said. "However, the MLA alleged that a police sub inspector (SI), who was part of the police team, manhandled Lunia and slapped him," the SP ...
Statue honouring Sikh soldiers who fought for Britain to be installed in UK
A 10ft-high bronze statue of a Sikh soldier honouring the community's "unmeasurable" contribution during the First World War will be installed in the UK's West Midlands to commemorate 100 years since the end of the conflict. The Lions of the Great War monument, which will be installed in November in Smethwick, West Midlands, will honour the South Asian service personnel who fought for Britain, BBC reported. Sandwell Council called it a "striking tribute" to the community. The statue, depicting a Sikh serviceman carrying a rifle, will stand on a 6ft granite plinth with inscriptions that name the regiments in which South Asian soldiers served. It will pay tribute to the thousands of troops from India who fought and died for Britain between 1914 and 1918. More than 83,000 turbaned Sikh soldiers gave their lives and more than 1,00,000 were injured during the two world wars. President of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Smethwick, which is covering the cost of the statue, Jatinder Singh said: ...
Police confirms Meghalaya CM claim that violent protests was
The Meghalaya police today confirmed Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma's claim that recent violent protests in Shillong was "sponsored," saying that they have also identified some instigators behind the protests. The picturesque town of Shillong, also called "Scotland of the East" was rattled by violent protests for five days in early June after an assault of a bus handyman and two others at local Punjabi Lane on May 31, leading to imposition of indefinite curfew and shutdown of internet. The clashes between local Khasis and Sikhs were fuelled by fake news of the bus handyman's death over social media. The Army and para-military forces had to be deployed to control the violence which had badly affected tourism in Meghalaya. "We have been able to identify some of the instigators behind the June first week agitation," East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Davis Marak told PTI. The instigators have been identified on basis of probe and also on statements of the people arrested for ..
Iraq police in armed clash with pro-Iran militia in Baghdad: security official
Iraqi police surrounded the Baghdad headquarters of the pro-Iran Hezbollah Brigades militia today, after an armed clash with law enforcement left three people wounded, an interior ministry source said. The Hezbollah Brigades, part of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units that fought the Islamic State group in Iraq, is also fighting on the side of Bashar al-Assad in Syria independent of the authorities in Baghdad.
Russia warns against Trump's 'alarming' plans for US space domination
Russia today expressed alarm over US President Donald Trump's call for the United States to dominate space exploration and his plan to create a separate branch of the military called a Space Force. Russian foreign ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing that Russia "noted the US president's instructions... to separate space forces from the air force," saying "the most alarming thing about this news is the aim of his instructions, namely to ensure (US) domination in space." Trump on Monday said at a speech in the White House that "America will always be the first in space" and "we don't want China and Russia and other countries leading us." He also called for the Pentagon to create a new "Space Force" that would become the sixth branch of the American military, although this requires Congressional approval to take effect. Zakharova warned that the US is "nurturing plans to bring out weapons into space with the aim of possibly staging military action there." "This is not based on ...
Biggest Iraqi tribe calls for arms to defend against IS
Iraq's biggest tribe has appealed for weapons to defend itself against the Islamic State jihadist group after several of its members were abducted and killed in a central desert region. The Shammar are a particular target for IS because they sided with the government in the battle with the jihadists, who were expelled from their last urban strongholds last year. "We hold the security forces responsible for protecting civilians... failure to do so is a failure of duty," Shammar leader Sheikh Abdallah Hmeidi Ajeel al-Yawar said in a statement on Tuesday. "If the security forces are unable to control these areas inhabited by the Shammar and other tribes... the commander-in-chief (of the armed forces Prime Minister Haider Abadi) should open the door for volunteers to join the ranks of the army and form a brigade of sons of the region to protect themselves." A minibus driver was the latest member of the Shammar tribe to go missing on Tuesday in Wadi al-Safa in Salaheddin province, ...
Rocket attack in southeast Turkey kills 2 soldiers
Turkish officials say a rocket attack by Kurdish rebels on a military vehicle in southeast Turkey has killed two soldiers and wounded one other. A statement from the governor's office for Hakkari province said the attack occurred today as the vehicle was leaving a hilltop base near the town of Cukurca, close to the border with Iraq. The attack came as Turkey intensified cross-border airstrikes against suspected bases belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, including Qandil mountain - where the group's leadership maintains its headquarters. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said of Qandil: "Our aim is to drain the biggest of terrorist swamps." The PKK has waged a more than three-decade-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people.
Bullet riddled body of BMP jawan found
A jawan of the Bihar Military Police (BMP) was found murdered near here today shortly after he left his native village, to resume duty at the BMP headquarters in Bodh Gaya, police said. According to Sub Divisional Police Officer of Tekari, Nagendra Singh, the bullet-riddled body of 27-year-old BMP jawan Guddu Kumar was found on the road close to Madarpur village, where he had come on a holiday three days ago. Asked whether assailants could have attacked the BMP jawan with the intention of loot or because of some other reason, the SDPO said "it is not clear as to what could have been the motive of the killers. We are at present investigating the matter keeping all possibilities in mind.
Explosion at Vietnam police station injures officer: state media
A small explosion outside a police station in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City injured an officer today, state media reported. The cause of the explosion, near the scene of major protests earlier this month, was not immediately clear. Images on state media showed the station's charred walls with debris from a destroyed motorbike strewn across the pavement. State-run VNExpress news site reported that a policewoman was injured in the incident. A witness told AFP he heard two explosions in quick succession. "I ran to the scene, I saw smoke, it looked very chaotic... even now I'm still very panicked," said the resident, declining to be named. Cong An Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh news site, the official mouthpiece of city police, said other witnesses speculated the explosion "could have been be caused by a motorbike malfunction". Bomb blasts, even small ones, are very rare in communist Vietnam where dissent is strictly controlled and activists are routinely jailed. The incident comes just 10 ..
Lanka calls for details of conflict missing issued by rights group
The Sri Lankan government today appealed for details of people who went missing during the country's three-decade civil war after a list of such persons was published by an international rights group. Last month, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) listed about 280 names of enforced disappearances which included at least 29 children. ITJP called it the largest single group of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka's history with hundreds of people disappearing at the same time and place with multiple eye witnesses both inside and outside the country. The number has since been increased to 351 and all of them have been described as those "who are alleged to have disappeared while in the custody of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in May 2009" when the civil war ended with the defeat of the LTTE militant group. The foreign ministry said the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is the permanent and independent entity in Sri Lanka that is vested with the tasks of searching and tracing
Gunmen kill police officer's son, uncle in Pak city of Quetta
Police in Pakistan said gunmen today opened fire on a police officer's car in the northwestern city of Quetta, killing his minor son and uncle and injuring the officer critically. Officer Abdul Qayum says fellow officer Abdul Samad came under attack in the suburban area of Nawa Kili when returning home after purchasing food for breakfast. Qayum said attackers escaped on motorcycles. He said the boy and uncle died at a hospital and Samad is in critical condition. The attack came hours after counter-terrorism police killed four 'terrorists' in an overnight raid in the Terameel area. Three officers were wounded in the firefight. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which is the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baloch separatists. Islamic militants also operate in the region.
61 killed in Afghanistan clashes
At least 45 Afghan security forces and 16 militants have been killed after Taliban militants attacked security checkpoints in two Afghanistan provinces, authorities said on Wednesday.
Russian airline launches flight to Iraq
Russian airline Red Wings today made its maiden flight to Iraq as commercial services between Moscow and Baghdad resume following the 2003 Iraqi War. The Airbus 320 took off at 1.30am Moscow time from the Russian capital's Domodedovo airport. Russian media reported this week that the airline had been given approval from the Iraqi Transport Ministry to begin one regular flight a week from Moscow to Baghdad. Regular commercial flights between the two countries were cut in 2004 when a US-led coalition overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime. Russian and Iraqi authorities have been in negotiations to restart flights since 2015. In September last year, Iraqi Airways completed its first flight to Moscow in 13 years. Moscow and Baghdad recently strengthened military ties with Iraq purchasing Russian T-90 battle tanks this month.