Page 619 - War Conflict
Swaraj seeks Afghan govt's help in securing release of 7 abducted Indians
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has requested the Afghan government to provide all possible help in freeing the seven Indian engineers abducted by Taliban militants in the restive northern Baghlan province. Swaraj, during a telephonic conversation with her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani, conveyed India's concerns about the abducted Indians and requested him for help in tracing and freeing them, official sources said. They said the Afghan Foreign Minister assured Swaraj that his government would make all possible efforts to rescue the abducted Indian engineers. "Rabbani, in the conversation, assured the Indian External Affairs Minister that the Afghan security forces would not spare any efforts in rescuing and ensuring the security and safety of the engineers," the Afghan Foreign Ministry said in a statement. According to Afghan media reports, the engineers were abducted by the militants from near the Cheshma-e-Sher area in Baghlan yesterday. The Indian engineers of KEC .
Centre to send 200 CISF commandos for security of Punjab jails
The Centre has decided to dispatch 200 central paramilitary commandos to guard over six high-security jails in Punjab which house dreaded criminals including Khalistani militants, amid reports of re-emergence of extremism in the state. Officials said the Union home ministry has sanctioned 200 CISF personnel to be deployed at the jails in Patiala, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Amritsar and Nabha prisons. They said the proposal came after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh last month met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and requested for a special contingent of paramilitary forces for his state. The two companies (about 200 personnel) of the CISF will soon be sent to Punjab and the state will deploy them in chosen jails as per their requirement, they said. The ministry has also asked the CISF to depute a team of special officers who will survey the prisons so that the CISF deployment can be made permanent. At present they will be deployed on a temporary duty ...
Rs 20 lakh looted in Gurugram
Four armed men on Monday looted Rs 20 lakh from the office of a liquor trader, police said.
Terrorists hurl grenade at police in JK
Terrorists in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir hurled a grenade at police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel deployed for law and order at Tahab Chowk.One CRPF personnel has received injuries.Earlier, the terrorists hurled a grenade at a police station which exploded just outside the station.Later, a search operation was launchedMore details are awaited.
J&K: Video of militant's mother giving gun salute to slain son goes viral
A video surfaced here today purportedly showing the mother of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Saddam Padder, who was among the five militants killed in an encounter with security forces yesterday, giving a gun salute to her slain son in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir. The low-quality video surfaced on social media this morning. A pheran-clad woman, believed to be Padder's mother, is seen pulling the trigger of a gun held by a militant atop a building in the Heff area of Shopian. Padder's mother hugged the militant, Syed Naveed Mushtaq -- a police deserter who decamped with four rifles from a police post guarding the Food Corporation of India facility in Budgam district last year -- before pulling the trigger of the automatic weapon. A police official said the video is being investigated.
Egypt refers 555 to military court on terror-related charges
Egypt's chief prosecutor has referred 555 terror suspects to a military court on charges of joining a local affiliate of the Islamic State group. Today's statement by the prosecutor says the suspects formed dozens of small militant cells and carried out 63 attacks against army and police forces in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. It says only 216 of the 555 suspects are in custody. Egypt has been battling Islamic militants for years, but the insurgency gathered steam and grew deadlier after the 2013 ouster by the military of Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist president whose year in office proved divisive. In February, authorities launched a wide-scale operation in Sinai, the Nile Delta and the Western Desert to target "terrorist and criminal elements and organizations.
CRPF jawan hurt in grenade attack by militants in JK
A CRPF jawan was injured in a grenade attack by militants in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said. The ultras hurled a grenade at the security forces at Tahab in Pulwama district this afternoon, resulting in injuries to the jawan, a police spokesman said. He added that the injured jawan was taken to a hospital, where his condition was stated to be stable. Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a hunt for the militants.
Trooper injured in J&K grenade attack
A trooper was injured on Monday as militants hurled a grenade at security force party in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama town, police said.
Govt aims for synchronised position among 3 services on induction of women
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the government was working with the Army, Navy and Air Force to have a "synchronised position" on the recruitment of women into the three services as there was no common ground on the matter at present. In an address at an event, she also said that the government was open to women recruited under short service commissioning being offered permanent commissioning. Sitharaman said there was no parity at present between the armed forces in recruitment rules related to women. She said, while women were already engaged as fighter pilots in the Air Force, considered an absolutely top notch position, in the Army, women were still missing from important positions. In the gender neutral Navy as well, women cannot go to the sea, she said, highlighting the lack of parity in the three services. "Each of these services has taken their own approach towards getting women a limited option of getting into their force and as a result there is no parity ...
6 killed in strikes on Yemen capital: medical source
Two air raids targeted the office of the presidency in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa today, leaving at least six people killed and 30 wounded, a medical source told AFP. The rebel-run Al-Masirah television blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the raids. Witnesses said the office, used by the Huthi rebel administration and located in the Tahrir district of Sanaa, is normally bustling with employees. Residents said they heard two powerful explosions hit the building, which is located near a hotel, a bank and shops, and not far from the central bank. "We were working next door to the presidential offices and heard a plane, and then an explosion," Ahmed Dehashir, a first responder, told AFP at the scene of the attack. "Some people rushed to the scene and saw the destruction and people caught under the rubble. We tried to dig out the dead and wounded from under the debris, and then there was a second strike," he said. "There are a lot of people trapped under the rubble," Dehashir added. .
Suicide bomber shot dead in Kabul
A suicide bomber was shot dead here on Monday while preparing to attack a blood donation camp, police said.
BSF trooper kills himself in Kashmir
A Border Security Force (BSF) trooper shot himself dead in Humhama area of Jammu and Kashmir's Badgam district.
Afghan police foil suicide attack on Kabul blood drive
A suicide bomber targeting a blood drive for victims of recent attacks blew himself up in Kabul today after being spotted by police, officials said, causing no other casualties. The foiled attack comes exactly a week after a double bombing in the Afghan capital killed 25 people, including AFP chief photographer Shah Marai and eight other journalists. The latest suicide bomber detonated himself after being spotted and shot at by police in Shar-e-Naw park in the heart of Kabul, police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP. Stanikzai said the bomber had been trying to reach a temporary blood donation centre that had been set up in the park. "The attacker was killed. There were no other casualties," he added. Interior minister Wais Barmak, who is facing questioning in parliament over deteriorating security, confirmed police had thwarted the attack. "The enemy is changing their tactics every day; we are also trying to adapt and change our tactics," Barmak told MPs. The incident came as the .
Working 'seriously' to have women in combat roles: Sitharaman
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government was working "seriously" to have women in combat uniforms -- a vow which, if fulfilled, will bring gender parity in the Indian armed forces and enable women to be deployed on-board submarines of the Navy and tanks of the Army.
US-Philippine war games open under pro-China Duterte
The US and Philippine militaries launched major exercises today aimed at fighting global terrorism, while staying mostly quiet on Beijing's reported installation of missiles in the disputed South China Sea. The annual manoeuvres are the second to be held under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has set aside long-simmering friction over competing claims to the waters in order to court Chinese trade and investment. The 12-day exercises began less than a week after US network CNBC reported that the Chinese military had over the past month installed anti-ship and air-to-air defences on islands also claimed by the Philippines. "This exercise was scheduled whether those missiles were there or not," US Lieutenant General Lawrence Nicholson told reporters in Manila. "The exercises really have very little to do with recent developments in the area," said Nicholson, the US director of the "Balikatan" ("shoulder-to-shoulder") manoeuvres. The South China Sea issue has been brewing for ...
Iraqi parliamentary poll candidate killed
A candidate in the fray for Iraq's May 12 parliamentary elections was stabbed to death near Mosul city, a police official said on Monday.
Explosives found buried in Assam
Huge quantities of explosive materials including RDX, have been recovered from Assam's Charaideo district, police said today. Acting on a tip-off, police launched an operation in Kanu Bhugbari village and recovered the explosives buried near a house. Around 6 kgs of RDX, remote controlled detonators, other explosive devices and bomb-making equipment along with some army uniforms were found from the spot, police said. Further search operations were continuing in the area and security across the district has been tightened, police added.
US, Philippines launch largest military drills under Duterte
US and Philippine forces have begun their largest annual military exercises under President Rodrigo Duterte, who had wanted to scale down America's military presence and involvement in combat drills as he sought closer ties with China and Russia. The Balikatan exercises opened today and were to involve combat drills in mock urban settings to train special forces in battling terrorists in cities following the Islamic State group-linked siege on southern Marawi city last year. After rising to power in 2016, Duterte vowed to scale back the presence of US troops involved in counterterrorism training in the country's south and once threatened to end the annual drills with American forces. These will be the largest joint drills since Duterte took office, though Filipino officials stress they're not aimed at China.
Saudi Arabia intercepts 2 missiles launched by Houthis
Riyadh, May 7 (IANS/WAM) Saudi Air Defence forces intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi rebels from Yemen.
Philippines, US troops begin drills
Troops from the Philippines and the US on Monday began a series of 12-day joint annual "Balikatan 2018" military drills.