Page 615 - War Conflict

Damascus shelling, blast kill two: state TV

Shelling and a blast in Syria's capital Damascus killed two people and wounded several others today, state television said. It reported "two killed and 14 wounded in terrorist attacks on Damascus Tower and Maysat Square". The shellfire struck at the tower in the central Marjeh Square district, while a second blast destroyed a car in the northeast of the city, it said. State television first reported that the second blast was due to an explosive device inside a vehicle, but then said it may have been caused by rocket fire on the area. An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard two large explosions. State television broadcast images of security forces gathering around the mangled, burnt-out skeleton of a car in Maysat Square. A few metres away, the metal shell of a small bus also appeared blackened. Bassam al-Dahni, a government employee, said he had run to the scene after hearing what he described as a "large blast". Those who arrived found "wounded on the ground and we helped to get them

Koreas peace talks: South hopes to get its detained citizens released from North

South Korea' unification ministry has said that it continues to make efforts to release six of its countrymen detained in North Korea.Unification ministry spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun said the government is trying to resolve the detainee issue through inter-Korean talks, reported Yonhap, South Korea's news agency, on Wednesday."Our government has worked to resolve the detainee issue through inter-Korean talks and cooperation with the international community, and it will continue to make active efforts to bring back those detainees as soon as possible," said unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun while speaking to the media.The statement comes at a time when the two Koreas have decided to sign a peace treaty formally later this year, ending the 65-year-old war between the two countries.South Korea is also hopeful as there are reports of the possible release of three US citizens held in North Korea.As of now, six South Korean citizens are held in North Korea. The prisoners include ..

Army provides borewell to Raj village

Locals of Chahuwali village in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh city were overjoyed as the Indian Army provided a borewell in the water deficit area after culmination of the 'Vijay Prahar' exercise today. Over 25,000 troops of the Jaipur based South Western command participated in the month-long exercise. As part of the battle drills, the Army engineers of the command drilled a borewell to supply water to the forward troops during the culmination stage of the exercise, Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said. "Instead of abandoning the borewell, it was decided to leave it for the owner of the land," he said. The land owner Nathuram was overjoyed with the gesture and stated that he is greatly indebted to the Army for fulfilling his long cherished dream of cultivating his barren land. The village head, Jagdish Saharan, also expressed gratitude to the Army for this support.

Prez Kovind to visit Siachen base camp tomorrow

President Ram Nath Kovind will visit the Siachen base camp in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow and interact with soldiers posted there, an official statement said today. Siachen is considered as the highest battlefield in the world. "He will be the first president to visit this camp since the visit of the then president APJ Abdul Kalam in 2004. The president will also visit the Kumar Post,' a statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

36 killed, 71 wounded in Kunduz airstrikes: UNAMA

At least 36 people were killed and 71 others injured in the airstrikes carried out by the military forces in the Kunduz province, according to a United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report.The strikes took place in Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province on April 2.The report said 30 of the dead and 51 of the wounded were children, reported Tolo news."A key finding of this report is that the government, which indicated the airstrike, targeted senior Taliban leaders present in the area, used rockets and heavy machinegun fire on and around a religious gathering, killing and injuring civilians, the majority of whom were children," the report said.The UNAMA, however, was not able to confirm the exact number of civilian and Taliban casualties.Till now, 50 Taliban members had been killed leaving 150 wounded.

2 BSF jawans killed, woman injured in IED blast in Manipur

Two BSF jawans were killed and a local woman injured in an IED blast outside the force's camp in Manipur today, a senior official said. The blast triggered by an improvised explosive device (IED) occurred at about 2 pm, when the Border Security Force (BSF) men were deployed just outside the gate of their Koirengi sector headquarters camp, on the Dimapur-Imphal highway here, the official said. "The blast took place inside a shop that is located near the camp. The two killed constables -- Sanjay Tirkey and N N Meetei -- were on a road protection task," he said. The two jawans received splinter injuries in the blast and later succumbed, the official said. The lady owner of the store, Ichan Meetei, was also injured in the blast. She was evacuated to a nearby hospital, he said. The IED was suspected to have been planted by insurgents active in the area, he added.

Blast kills 2 BSF troopers in Manipur

A powerful explosion triggered by suspected militants killed two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers on the Imphal-Dimapur road in Manipur on Wednesday, officials said.

LeT module busted in Baramulla, 4 held

The Baramulla Police on Wednesday busted a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module and arrested four terrorists who were responsible for killing three civilians.DIG North Kashmir Dr Sunil Kumar told the press that the police also arrested six over ground workers and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition and other paraphernalia.One of the arrestees was an active terrorist Bilal Ahmed, who recently joined the LeT ranksDIG Kumar said that during the investigation, it was found that one Nadeem alias Abu Osama was operating the entire module.The LeT has been active in flaring tension in North Kashmir.

2 killed, 5 injures after truck crashes into bus stop

Two people were killed and five others injured after a truck today rammed into people sitting at a bus stop on Jammu-Pathankot highway in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, police said. According to the police, people were waiting for a bus at Chandwan morh on the highway when a truck came and hit them. The two labourers, identified as Mahabir and Manoj, were killed on the spot, while the five seriously injured were rushed to a nearby Sub Division Hospital (SDH), Hiranagar. The injured, after the preliminary treatment, were referred to the GMC hospital in Jammu, a police official said, adding that all the victims were resident of Chhattisgarh. A manhunt has been launched to track down the absconding truck and its driver, the official added.

Army's 'Vijay Prahar' exercise in Rajasthan ends

The Indian Army's 'Vijay Prahar' exercise in which over 25,000 troops of the Jaipur based South Western command participated culminated today in Rajasthan's Suratgarh. South Western Army Commander Lt Gen Cherish Mathson witnessed the final offensive of the forces achieving a decisive victory. "I had laid out unambiguous scope for activities to be carried out and had also bench marked standards to be achieved. I am fully satisfied with the efforts put in and results achieved, Lt Gen Mathson told reporters in the firing range. He said that designing an offensive campaign on the principles of operational art in a deep air-land battle with real time intelligence marked the beginning of the exercise. The concept of 'Air Cavalry' employing attack and weaponized helicopters has also been validated during the exercise, he said. Participating formations are now confident of continuing the offensive even after a tactical Nuclear, Chemical or Biological attack by the adversary by modern CBRN ...

Suicide bombers, gunmen attack Kabul police stations: officials

Suicide bombers and gunmen launched apparent coordinated attacks on two Kabul police stations today, with officials saying at least one of the assaults is ongoing. AFP journalists heard a series of loud explosions in the heart of the Afghan capital followed by volleys of gunfire that were confirmed by Afghan officials and witnesses. In the first attack a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police station in the west of the city, sparking an intense gunfight between other militants and officers, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. Ariana TV footage showed a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky while a photo posted on Twitter purportedly of the west Kabul police station showed a building on fire. The second attack took place in front of a police station in Shar-e-Naw neighbourhood in central Kabul, Danish said. "Two attackers who tried to enter the police compound were shot dead," the spokesman added. The attack on the first police station has ended while ..

Two BSF jawans killed in IED blast in Manipur

Two Border Security Force (BSF) jawans were killed in an IED blast outside their camp in Manipur today, a senior official said. He said the blast triggered by an improvised explosive device (IED) occurred at about 2 pm, when the BSF men were deployed just outside the gate of their Koirengi sector headquarters camp, on the Dimapur-Imphal highway here. The two jawans, both of constable rank, received splinter injuries in the blast and later succumbed, the official said. The IED was suspected to have been planted by insurgents active in the area, he added.

Miscreants make bid to loot bank in Kochi by

An attempt was made to loot a nationalised bank branch here with miscreants making a hole in a wall of the premises, police said today. The hole big enough to facilitate entry of a person was found on one of the walls when the staff of the Bank of India branch at Kalamassery came to open it this morning. Police said they were examining the footage of CCTV system inside the bank premises. But it was not immediately known whether the miscreants entered the bank. There was no sign of any attempt to break any room, including the room where cash is kept, they said adding the hole was not made with any drilling machine. A CCTV footage obtained from an adjacent building showed some persons standing outside the bank with hand-held light, police said without elaborating further. On a complaint from the bank, a case against unidentified persons had been registered and investigations were on, police added. The bank manager said they had closed the branch at 6.50 pm yesterday and the

6 pilgrims from Kerala killed in TN road mishap

Six people from Kerala on their way to the famous Lord Muruga temple here were killed and two others seriously injured in a car-lorry collision today, police said. The six, including two women, died on the spot when the car in which they were travelling and a lorry collided head-on near here early this morning, they said. The injured had been hospitalised. The occupants of the car from Kottayam district in Kerala were on a pilgrimage trip to the hill shrine of Lord Muruga here in Dindigul district, over 110 kms from Madurai, police said.

4 LeT militants behind Baramulla attack held

Police today busted a Lashker-e-Taiba terror module in north Kashmir and arrested 10 people, including four militants who were allegedly responsible for gunning down three boys at Baramulla on April 30. "We have ample evidence to suggest the hand of outlawed Lasher-e-Taiba group in instigating violence and killing innocent people in north Kashmir," Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Swayam Prakash Pani told reporters here. He said besides the four militants, police had also arrested six over-ground workers (OGWs) who were allegedly active in providing shelter and transportation to the militants. A police spokesman said two of the four militants held were involved in the killing of Haseeb Nabi Khan, Irfan Ahmad Sheikh and Mohammad Asgar Sheikh all residents of Baramulla, on April 30. "Eyewitness accounts suggested that three to four terrorists were involved in commission of this heinous crime," the spokesman said. "Out of the three civilians killed, names of two had figured ..

Kashmir University students protest professor's killing

Kashmir University students on Wednesday held noisy but peaceful protests against the killing of an assistant professor in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.

5 officers, 1 inmate dead in Indonesia detention center riot

Five officers and one prisoner were killed in a riot at a police detention center in a city near Indonesia's capital that authorities allege was earlier being targeted by Islamic militants, an official said today. The riot happened in Depok, on Jakarta's southern outskirts, where four days earlier police arrested three Islamic militants they say planned to attack the headquarters and other police stations in the same town. The Islamic State group's Amaq News Agency published a report saying the fighting that broke out at the prison late Tuesday was between its fighters and the counterterrorism squad. A counterterrorism investigator said in a text message that six officers had been taken hostage by the inmates, and five of them were killed. One other officer was still being held captive. Four police officers were injured and were being treated at a hospital, said the investigator, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. Earlier in the day, ...

Normalcy returns to Kashmir as separatists call off strike

Normalcy returned to most parts of Kashmir Valley today as the separatists called off their three-day strike against the death of six civilians during clashes with security forces, in which eight militants were also killed. A police official said there were no restrictions in most parts of the summer capital today, with shops and other business establishments getting back to business. He said public transport also resumed services. Similar reports were received from district headquarters of the Valley, except in Pulwama and Shopian districts of south Kashmir, the official said. He said markets in main towns of Pulwama and Shopian remained shut, while the public transport was also suspended. The official, however, said the situation remained peaceful in these areas. The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an amalgam of separatist groups spearheaded by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, had yesterday called off their three-day strike, and asked the ...

2 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan

Two civilians have been killed and 19 others injured after Taliban militants mounted a mortar attack in Afghanistan's Nangarhar, an official said on Wednesday.

UN calls for safe release of Indian engineers kidnapped in Afghanistan

The UN has called for the speedy and safe release of the seven Indian engineers abducted in Afghanistan's restive northern Baghlan province. The abducted Indian engineers were working on a project for the construction of a power sub-station in Afghanistan. They were abducted by militants from the vicinity of Cheshma-e-Sher area on Sunday while they were going to inspect the work on the project. "We, obviously, call for their speedy and safe release," Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said yesterday in response to a question by PTI on the abduction of the Indian engineers. On whether the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has any information on the incident, Dujarric said he has "not seen any particular information." Afghanistan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani had met Indian envoy to the country Vinay Kumar and assured him that no efforts will be spared by the Afghan security forces to ensure the safety and release of the seven Indian engineers. Rabbani also ..