Page 626 - War Conflict

US mall shooting kills 1

At least one person was killed in a mall shooting in the US state of Tennessee, prompting the evacuation of the entire building.

Trump-Kim meet: SIPRI director predicts possible deal over denuclearization

A historic face-to-face sit down between the U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could possibly result in a fruitful deal to denuclearize in return for a peace treaty.This is expected to happen if North Korea's crucial security issues are addressed in a security arrangement that is guaranteed by China, the head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said."It's always possible to deal. There's massive history over the past at least 70 years of peace agreements and treaties being arrived at between two or three parties that previously said they hated each other," SIPRI Director Dan Smith was quoted as saying by CNN."So it's possible Kim and Trump come to an agreement," he said.According to Smith, North Korea fears a potential America-led change of the North Korean regime or what it calls "hostilities" toward the country."What Americans, South Koreans and perhaps Chinese all need to be thinking about is how do you address North Korean .

Syria rebels hand over arms in new deal with regime: monitor

Syrian rebels today were surrendering their heavy weapons for the second day after agreeing with the government a new deal to withdraw from central towns, a war monitor said. Opposition fighters agreed with regime forces and their allies to a ceasefire deal earlier this week for the rebel towns of Talbisseh, Rastan, and Al-Houla, which fall in Syria's central province of Homs. "The fighters are handing over their heavy and intermediate weapons to Russian and regime forces for the second consecutive day," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. It included artillery and machine guns, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory. "Once the handovers are finished, the rebels who want to leave will be evacuated out with civilians," Abdel Rahman told AFP. The deal for the three rebel-controlled towns follows a similar pattern to other agreements recently reached across Syria, mostly around Damascus. Rebels and civilians will be granted safe .

4 killed in suspected Shabaab attack in northern Kenya

Four people were killed in the northern Kenyan town of Mandera, which borders Somalia, police said Friday, in an attack blamed on Islamist group Al-Shabaab. The four men, all non-Muslims who were not from the area, were attacked at a remote quarry on Thursday night, with some of them shot dead and others hacked with a machete. "They were killed at the quarry during the attack," said regional police commander Mohamud Saleh. "We suspect Al-Shabaab and we are pursuing them." A senior police source on the ground, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the group of more than 10 attackers "opened fire indiscriminately at the workers." He said several others were injured. National police spokesman Charles Owino confirmed the killings. "The attack was targeting non-locals and all those who died are not from here." Owino said police had received reports of an impending attack and security was beefed up in the region, however "no one knew exactly where" the attack would be. A major security ..

Mob attacks police team, five cops injured

A mob attacked a police party after it caught a loot accused at Allauddinpur village in neighbouring Shamli district, leaving five cops injured, police said here today. The police team led by SHO of Titrow police station Arun Kumar has gone to arrest the accused Randhawa when it was attacked by his supporters last evening, said ASP Shalok Kumar. They pelted stones at the police party and freed the accused, the ASP said. The injured policemen include SHO Arun Kumar, sub-inspector Pramod Kumar, head constable Ram Gopal Rathi and constables Manoj and Gopal. They were rushed to a local hospital and extra police force have been sent to nab the accused. The security has been tightened in the village, the ASP said. The attackers have also damaged the police vehicle, he added.

Afghan official: Taliban take district in northern province

An Afghan official says the Taliban have captured another district in the northern province of Badakhshan. Abdullah Naji Nazari, a provincial council member, says the insurgents launched a surprise attack on Thursday in the strategic Kohistanat district, which is located along a route to the provincial capital, Fayz Abad. Nazari says no casualties were reported in the day-long assault. He added that the captured district is now the third under Taliban control in Badakhshan, which has about two dozen districts. Army spokesman in nearby northern Balkh province, Mohammad Anif Rezaye, says reinforcements have arrived in Fayz Abad but are awaiting orders to move against the Taliban due to bad weather in the region. Last month, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, when they regularly launch attacks.

Myanmar Army killing Christians in Kachin

Not long after Myanmar army carried out targeted killings of Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state, it has now been accused of committing atrocities against Christians in the northernmost state of the country, Kachin.According to Anadolu Agency, a report by United Nations has found that more than 5,000 civilians have been displaced in the last three weeks following clashed between military and Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a rebel group.The clashed initially broke out in 2011, the recent violence hints at another case of ethnic cleansing.A UN human rights expert earlier raised concern over the sharp increase in violence in the state in the recent past, while the world focused on Rakhine.Yanghee Lee, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar reported that recent aerial bombing by the military had killed innocent civilians and displaced many in the villages.There were also reports that aid has been cut off by the military, leaving many stranded in the villages without ...

Chandrapur, Ballarpur 'most beautiful' railway stations

Chandrapur and Ballarpur railway stations in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district have been selected as the most beautiful stations in the country by the Railway Ministry, state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar today said. The Railway Ministry has come out with a list of best railway stations, and Chandrapur and Ballarpur are at first position, he said, speaking to reporters here. Both stations will be awarded by the Railway Ministry, he said. Mungantiwar is the guardian minister for the Chandrapur district. "A beautification drive for these two stations was undertaken a year ago. A team of artists from the Nagpur Government Chitrakala Mahavidyalay worked there," he said. "A picture of a tiger on the stairs of the Ballarpur railway station has become a selfie-point. No passenger leaves without taking a selfie with the tiger," said the minister, adding that Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal called him to congratulate over the distinction the two stations have achieved.

DPC holds first meeting; decides to make action plan to deal with security challenges

The newly-constituted Defence Planning Committee today deliberated on the geo-strategic landscape of the region and decided to make an "action plan" to effectively deal with various security challenges facing the nation. The meeting, chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, also discussed ways to expedite modernisation of the armed forces and evolving a security strategy for the country, official sources said. "The members deliberated upon the geo-strategic landscape and agreed to chart a time-bound action plan in keeping with its broad mandate," the Defence Ministry said. Members of the Defence Planning Committee (DPC) include three service chiefs, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Lt General Satish Dua. Officials said all members of the committee attended the meeting. The DPC was appointed last month to facilitate "comprehensive" planning for the defence forces ...

3 killed, 13 injured in suicide attack in Pakistan

At least three people were killed and 13 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a bus carrying Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) employees in Pakistan's Punjab province on Thursday, the media reported.

3 Naxals killed in 2 incidents in Chhattisgarh

Three Naxalites carrying cash rewards on their heads were killed in two encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district, the police said today. While two of the rebels were gunned down under the Kistaram police station area this afternoon, another was killed in the Kanhaiguda-Chintakonta jungles late last night, Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena said. Joint teams of the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Special Task Force (STF) were involved in the operations, Meena told PTI. As the security forces were cordoning off a forest close to Putpalli village near Kistaram, along the Telangana border and about 500km from Raipur, there was an exchange of fire between the ultras and the forces, he said. The Naxals soon fled into the forest, but during the search that followed, the bodies of the two rebels in uniform were found along with an AK-47 rifle, an SLR rifle and a grenade launcher, among other things, Meena said. At least 15 .

1 detained for spreading 'rumours' about youths joining militancy

The Jammu and Kashmir Police today detained a man for allegedly spreading rumours about two youths joining militancy in Baramulla district,police said. Rumours being spread on social media networks about two boys of Palhallan Pattan joining militant ranks are completely wrong, a police spokesman said. He said such rumours were strongly rebutted and people were requested not to pay attention to them. The spokesman said that those spreading rumours about Palhallan youths have been identified and as of now one such person has been detained.

No deadline for signing Naga peace accord: Nagaland CM Rio

Amidst hectic negotiations to resolve the Naga insurgency problem, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today said there was no deadline for finding a solution to the decades-old issue, but the focus of the talks was on reaching an agreement as early as possible. Rio also said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which empowers security forces to conduct operations, arrest anyone, anywhere, without prior notice, should be removed from everywhere, but the controversial law was still in force in Nagaland as the situation in the state was still not conducive. "There is no time-line or deadline for signing the Naga peace accord. But the aspiration is to reach in a solution as early as possible," he said here after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh here. Rio said peace negotiations have been going on between the Issak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and the interlocutor of the government for the last two decades and hence it was time to ...

17 killed by IS-linked extremists in Mali's northeast

A Tuareg leader says extremists linked to the Islamic State group in Mali have killed at least 17 people in two communities in the West African nation's Menaka region. Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, secretary-general for the Tuareg self-defence group, says the attacks by Islamic State in the Greater Sahara occurred in Tindinbawen and Taylalene. Violence has been increasing in the region between the Fulani communities, some of whom are suspected of links with the extremist group, and Tuaregs allied with French soldiers fighting extremism in the Sahel. A Fulani association on Sunday said 44 Fulanis were killed by the Tuareg group on April 27 along the Mali-Niger border. The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali says extremists killed at least 47 Tuareg civilians in the Menaka region on April 26 and 27.

Gunmen abduct German Red Cross nurse in Somalia

A German nurse working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been kidnapped by armed men in the Somali capital, the aid organization said on Thursday.

Afghan journalists mark World Press Freedom day with protests

Afghan journalists on Thursday boycotted an official ceremony to mark World Press Freedom day and accused the government of not doing enough to ensure the safety and security of media workers in the country.

Death toll in Libya election commission attack rises to 14

Libya's health ministry said today that the death toll from the suicide attack against the headquarters of the electoral commission in Tripoli a day earlier had risen to 14. Six others were wounded in the attack claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), which saw two assailants open fire at guards and officials before blowing themselves up. The death toll had previously stood at 12 killed and seven injured. The attack has been strongly condemned by the United Nations, the European Union, France, the United States, Britain and Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). The bloodshed comes as the international community pushes for elections in Libya that it hopes will help calm the turmoil that has plagued the North African country since the 2011 ouster of dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Turmoil has continued in Libya with rival militias, tribes and jihadists vying for territory and the country's oil wealth, despite a 2015 UN-backed deal to set up the GNA in ...

Suicide bomber targets Pak Atomic Energy Commission's bus, kills 2

A vehicle of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission was today targeted by a motorcycle-borne attacker in a suicide blast in the northern Punjab province, killing at least two persons and wounding more than a dozen others. The lone attacker first opened fire at the bus and later detonated himself near the vehicle when it slowed at a speed breaker in Attock district, police said. "The driver and a passerby were killed while 13 people, mostly employees of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), got injured in the attack," he said. TV footage showed the driver's side of the bus was badly damaged in the bombing. The security forces rushed to the scene and have cordoned off the area. They are ascertaining if the attacker had any accomplice, a police official said. No group has taken responsibility for the attack, but Taliban militant have been involved in such targeted attacks in the past. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has condemned the attack. The PAEC is an independent public sector

UN chief calls for calm in CAfrica

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres today called for calm in Central African Republic, where at least 24 people were killed in attacks in the capital Bangui targeting a church and a mosque. Guterres condemned Tuesday's attacks, which also left about 170 people wounded, and "urges all actors to cease violence and work together to bring peace and stability to the country," his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement. "The Secretary-General calls for calm and urges the Central African Republic authorities to investigate these repeated attacks and quickly bring those responsible to justice." The violence erupted when men in a well-known local militia group rammed through a roadblock. Armed men then stormed a church in the middle of a service, killing worshippers and a priest. In response, a mob burned a mosque and lynched two people believed to be Muslim. The violence has raised fears that the country, one of the most unstable in the world, could again plunge into a bloody ...

Afghan official: Gunman kills counterterrorism official

Officials say an unknown gunman has shot and killed a deputy counterterrorism official in western Farah province. Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the provincial governor, says the gunman opened fire today on Abdul Jalal's vehicle, killing him. Mehri added the attack took place in the provincial capital, also called Farah, when Jalal was on his way home. Mehri says police are investigating and no one has been arrested. There was no immediate claim of responsibility by insurgent groups.