Page 586 - War Conflict
India funds Lanka housing scheme named after regime change monk
The Indian government has funded a housing village in north-central Sri Lanka named after a leading Buddhist monk who was instrumental in the ouster of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election in 2015. A ceremony was held yesterday to lay the foundation stone for the 153-house project at Elapathagama in Anuradhapura named the 'Most Ven Maduluwave Sobhitha Thero Village', the Indian High Commission here said in a release. The village will be developed using a grant of 300 million Sri Lankan rupees from the government of India, the project is part of India's development cooperation with Sri Lanka," the release said. Sobhitha was instrumental in galvanising the opposition forces against the regime of Rajapaksa. Incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena was picked as the common opposition candidate against Rajapaksa by the Sobhitha-led civil movement. Rajapaksa after his defeat had slammed India and the West for allegedly working against him to ensure Sirisena's ...
No change in situation at Doklam: MEA
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said there is no change in Doklam and status quo position with regard to China and Bhutan continues to exist as before."There has been no change in the situation at the Doklam faceoff site. Status quo is continuing," Swaraj said during an interaction with the media on the occasion of the completion of four years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.In 2017, Indian and Chinese troops were mired in a long-standing face off in the Doklam area of Bhutan. The standoff was started when the Chinese side tried to alter the status quo by building a road in the area in violation of its understandings with both the countries.On 16 June 2017, Chinese troops with construction vehicles and road-building equipment began extending an existing road southward in Doklam, a territory which is claimed by both China and India's ally Bhutan.On August 28, both India and China announced that they had withdrawn all their troops from Doklam.
Militants loot Rs 1.7 lakh from bank, take away guard's rifle in J-K
Two militants looted Rs 1.7 lakh in cash from a bank and took away a 12-bore rifle from its guard in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said. The armed militants barged into the Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch at Srigufwara in Anantnag district this afternoon and looted Rs 1.72 lakh at gunpoint, a police official said. He said the gunmen also snatched the 12-bore rifle of the bank's private security guard before fleeing the place. Police have issued screen grabs from CCTV cameras showing the two militants and asked general public to help identify them.
Gunmen loot cash, gun from J&K bank
Unknown gunmen on Monday looted cash from a bank in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district and fled with a 12 bore gun, police said.
Police arrest 12 Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district
Twelve Naxals were today arrested from separate places in Chhattisgarhs insurgency-hit Bijapur district, police said. Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI that six Naxals were apprehended from the forest near Dalla village under Basaguda police station limits, five from areas falling under Bedre police station and one from Tarnichhilpatpara in Jangla village. Six Naxals were nabbed after a joint team of the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) 168th battalion and District Force acted on a tip-off and launched a search operation near Dalla in Basaguda, he said. Basaguda is located about 450 kilometres from the state capital. The six arrested from the forest near Dalla village have been identified as Madkam Hunga (24), Oyam Manglu (26), Kunjam Hunga (45), Punem Bandi (35), Uika Podia (25) and Nupo Pandu (20), the SP said. Madkam Hunga, he said, was an active member of the Maoists' "military platoon number 9" and had also served as the gunman of Maoist ...
Suicide blasts kill at least three in NE Nigeria
Two female suicide bombers suspected to be Boko Haram jihadists killed at least three people in northeast Nigeria, emergency services said today. The bombers detonated their explosives inside a house and near a mosque in the Mashamari area of Konduga, 35 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of the Borno State capital Maiduguri, on Sunday evening. "Three people were killed in the two attacks and seven others were injured," Bello Danbatta, chief security officer of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), told AFP. "One of them detonated near a mosque while residents were preparing for the evening prayers and moments later the second one detonated inside a house," said Danbatta, who was involved in evacuation of the victims. But Ibrahim Liman, of the civilian militia force assisting the military against Boko Haram, said two more victims died on the way to the hospital in Maiduguri, raising the death toll to five. The attack came two weeks after five militia members were killed ..
Miscreants loot Rs 9 lakh from gas agency staff
Three miscreants today looted Rs 9 lakh from two employees of a gas agency in Bihar's Sitamarhi district, police said. The incident occurred at Barahi village when the two employees of the gas agency were on their way to deposit Rs 9 lakh in a bank at Parihar, Sitamarhi, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Veer Dhirendra Kumar said. The miscreants fired at the gas agency staff who fell down from their bike and decamped with a bag containing Rs 9 lakh, the SDPO said. One of the employees of the gas agency received bullet injury. He has been rushed to Sitamarhi Sadar hospital where doctors declared him out of danger.
Four Maoists killed in Jharkhand
Four Maoist guerrillas were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Jharkhand's Palamau district on Monday.
Taliban commander orders closure of opium labs in Afghanistan
A Taliban commander in the Afghanistan's Helmand province has ordered all opium labs to be moved out of the urban areas the group controls as US airstrikes targeting the facilities are killing many civilians, a media report said on Monday.
Afghan official: Gunmen kill 3 people in Herat province
An Afghan official says gunmen have killed at least three people in an attack in western Herat province. Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor in Herat, says the three victims include an employee of a voter registration centre and two policemen. A third policeman was wounded in the attack, which took place late last night. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, a spokesman says that the Taliban overrun several villages today in the district of Khoja Ghor in northern Takhar province, pushing back the local police. Sonatullah Timor there were no casualties reported. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, claimed the attacks in Takhar, saying insurgents have pushed near the district centre and taken several posts.
20 killed in suspected jihadist attack in Mali: sources
Around 20 people including civilians were killed in a suspected jihadist attack in northeastern Mali near the border with Niger, sources said. The deaths came after more than 100 people including many civilians, particularly from the Fulani and Tuareg communities, died in recent months as a result of attacks by rival armed groups in the region. A local official in the town of Talataye -- where Saturday's attack took place -- said late yesterday that the assailants arrived in three vehicles and on a motorcycle. Khalil Toure, a teacher, added: "They opened fire on a group of people resting under a tree, killing five people on the spot and wounding two." Jihadists have also ramped up their activities in central Mali in recent months, targeting domestic and foreign forces in violence once confined to the country's north. France intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to help government forces drive Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists out of the north. But large tracts of the country remain lawless ...
Israeli army raids West Bank Palestinian camp after soldier death: AFP
The Israeli army raided a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank today, AFP journalists said, in an apparent hunt for suspects in the killing of a soldier. Dozens of Israeli troops entered the Amari Refugee Camp in Ramallah in the early hours of Monday, closing off all the entrances, AFP journalists said. At least 13 Palestinians were lightly or moderately injured during the raid as clashes broke out, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, with soldiers firing tear gas and bullets. Residents said a number of Palestinians were arrested, though there was no immediate confirmation or statement from the army. Israeli forces later withdrew from the camp. It came days after an Israeli soldier was killed during a raid inside the camp. Sergeant Ronen Lubarsky, 20, of the Duvdevan special forces unit, was struck on the head by a stone block thrown during an arrest raid Thursday and died early Saturday. Israeli media said the block was a granite slab dropped from a third-floor ...
Two Venezuelan generals among group detained for 'treason': lawyer
Two Venezuelan generals were among a group of people arrested last week for allegedly plotting against the country's President Nicolas Maduro, their lawyer has said. The generals are accused of leading a group of eight soldiers and a civilian. Alfonso Medina Roa, a lawyer for the officers, yesterday said they were charged in a military court for "treason against the fatherland, instigation of rebellion, mutiny and crimes against military decorum." Maduro alluded to the group's arrest in an announcement last week, though he did not say how many of them were soldiers nor their ranks. Human rights NGO Foro Penal described the arrests as political detentions. It estimates there are some 350 "political prisoners" currently in detention, including 70 from the military. Maduro has offered to release some imprisoned opponents as part of what he has called a "pacification policy" in the wake of the deaths of some 200 people in protests since he took office in April 2013. On Friday, 22 such ...
WB Assembly bypoll: 33% polling registered in first 4 hours
Around 33 per cent voting was recorded in the Maheshtala Assembly bypoll till 11 am, an Election Commission official said. The polling process that began on a peaceful note at 7am will continue till 6pm, he said. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Kasturi Das. Maheshtala is witnessing a triangular contest among the Trinamool Congress, the BJP and the Left Front. The TMC has fielded Dulal Das, the husband of the deceased MLA, while the BJP, which is trying to emerge as the main challenger to the TMC, has nominated Sujit Ghosh, a former joint director of the CBI. The Left, on the other hand, has fielded Prabhat Chowdhury, a relatively greenhorn in the fray. The Congress is backing Chowdhury. Ten companies of central forces, along with a large contingent of state armed forces, have been deployed in the constituency to ensure free and fair by-election, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal, Aariz Aftab, said. Altogether, 2,48,855 voters are .
Three soldiers injured in IED blast
Three soldiers were injured in an IED blast triggered by militants in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. A Casper vehicle of the 44 Rashtriya Rifles was damaged in an IED blast triggered by militants in Zainapora area of Shopian district, an Army official said. The official said three soldiers sustained injuries in the blast.
3 soldiers injured in J&K explosion
Three Indian Army soldiers were injured on Monday in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.
Soldier injured in Pulwama militant attack dies
An Indian Army soldier injured in a gunfight between militants and the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district succumbed to his injuries on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.
US drone strikes kill 11 IS militants in Afghanistan
At least 11 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed after US and NATO-led coalition forces launched airstrikes in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, authorities said on Monday.
Two traffic policemen gunned down in Quetta
Two traffic police personnel were gunned down by two bike-borne unidentified suspects in the Sirki Road area of Balochistan's capital city Quetta in Pakistan on Sunday.Both the attackers were killed by police in retaliation soon after the incident took place, reported the Express Tribune.The bodies of the traffic police officers were shifted to civil hospital where they were identified as Abdul Rasheed and Bashir Shah.According to the report, four passersby were wounded in the exchange of fire between the police and the suspected gunmen.The wounded have been shifted to the hospital in the area.Police cordoned off the entire area.A further probe is under way.
IED blast in Shopian
Militants today triggered an IED blast in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, targeting an Army vehicle, officials said. A Casper vehicle of the 44 Rashtriya Rifles was damaged in the IED blast triggered by militants in Zainapora area of Shopian district, an Army official said. He said further details of the incident were awaited.