Page 629 - War Conflict

Iraqi officials: Drive-by shooting kills 8 north of Baghdad

Iraqi officials say gunmen in two speeding cars opened fire on civilians near a town north of Baghdad, killing at least eight people and wounding 13. Eyewitnesses told the police they saw the gunmen displaying the black flag of the Islamic State group. Two police officials said Wednesday that the attack happened late the night before in a busy commercial area near Tarmiyah. The town is located about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, north of Baghdad. Iraq is heading into parliamentary elections on May 12 the first balloting since the government declared IS defeated in Iraq. Despite the defeat, IS militants are still capable of launching deadly assaults. The police officials and eyewitnesses spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Miscreants hurl petrol bomb at Shopian MLA's house

Miscreants today hurled a petrol bomb at the ancestral home of PDP MLA Mohd Yusuf Bhat in Shopian, police said. The PDP MLA was not present at his home when the incident took place, they said. The police guard present at the spot immediately informed the fire brigade and the fire was doused, police said. A window of his attic was damaged in the incident, they said. "Miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at my house in Shopian today," Bhat said. He said he was not present at his residence at the time of the attack and was not aware of any damage in the incident. "Police has reached the spot and are assessing the damage," he said. Bhat's residence has been targeted by militants in the past, who carried out a grenade attack in October 2016, while a security guard picket inside his house was set afire by mob in August 2016.

Thai court sentences 6 to death for southern bombings

An army spokesman says a court in southern Thailand has condemned six men to death for several bombings in 2016 that killed two people and wounded more than 20. The spokesman says 10 defendants had originally received death sentences on Monday from the Pattani Provincial Court. Because of their cooperation, three had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment and another to 40 years in prison. Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat have been plagued for over a decade by Muslim insurgents seeking autonomy from predominantly Buddhist Thailand. More than 6,500 people have been killed in the violence since 2004.

Security increased in NE Nigeria after deadly bombings

Nigeria today ordered increased security around markets and places of worship after a twin suicide bomb attack killed scores of people in the country's restive northeast. The emergency services said at least 26 people died in the blasts in the town of Mubi, Adamawa state, on Tuesday but local residents said they buried more than 60 victims. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, deputising for President Muhammadu Buhari who has been on a visit to the United States, said the government was "shocked and outraged" by the attacks. "This desecration of a place of worship by criminals is tragic and condemnable," Osinbajo said in an emailed statement. "Security agencies have been directed to immediately take steps to beef up security in Mubi and environs, especially markets and places of worship," he added. The attacks came a day after US President Donald Trump promised Nigeria more support in the fight against Boko Haram Islamists, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 since 2009. The ...

S Korean President Dismisses US Troop withdrawal

South Korean President Moon Jae In has dismissed the idea of withdrawing US troops from the country if a peace treaty were to be signed to formally end the Korean War.The issue has nothing to do with North Korea, but only with the Korea-U.S. alliance, he added, as per Yonhap news agency report."U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is a matter of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. It has nothing to do with signing a peace treaty," the president said, according to his spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom.An official from the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae earlier dismissed the possibility, highlighting the role of USFK as a mediator between neighbouring superpowers like China and Japan.Currently, around 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea. American soldiers are maintained there since the end of the Korean War in an armistice that left the two Koreas technically still at war.In a landmark summit on Friday, Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to push for a peace treaty which would end ...

Woman naxal surrenders in Gadchiroli

A dreaded woman naxal carrying a reward of Rs 4 lakh on her head surrendered in Gadchiroli district today, police said. The naxal, identified as Jyoti alias Raveena Joga Pudyami (26), a resident of Shirakunta of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, turned herself in before Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police, a statement issued by the police said. The surrendered rebel will be given facilities per the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the Maharashtra government, it added. Pudyami, who had joined the naxal activities in Bhopalpattanam Dalam in 2009, was also a deputy commander of Mangi Dalam (Telagana). Nine naxals have surrendered before Gadchiroli police so far this year, a police official said.

French government under fire after May Day chaos

France's interior minister promised today to boost security at protests after hooded youths ran amok at May Day demonstrations in Paris, torching cars and a McDonald's restaurant. Police said 109 people were in custody after the violence, which has sparked criticism in the press that the government was unprepared for 1,200 black-clad troublemakers joining the traditional May 1 protests for workers' rights. "The authority of the state, reduced to statements of 'strong condemnation', has been tarnished once again," read a column in the right-leaning Figaro newspaper. Regional daily L'Est Republicain deplored "the sight of these 1,200 thugs dressed in black on the Austerlitz bridge", while the L'Alsace newspaper declared: "Governing means planning ahead." Interior Minister Gerard Collomb pledged to look again at how to police protests given the rise of far-left "black bloc" protesters who turn up with the intention of attacking police or property. "For the next demonstrations there will .

US, Israel condemn Palestinian president over 'anti-Semitic' comments

US and Israeli officials have condemned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas over alleged anti-Semitic comments, after he suggested the "social function" of Jews in the banking sector had led to past massacres. Israel's foreign ministry today accused him of fuelling "religious and nationalist hatred against the Jewish people and Israel." David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, said Abbas had reached a "new low" while President Donald Trump's envoy Jason Greenblatt said "peace cannot be built on this kind of foundation." The comments came after Abbas, who has faced accusations of anti-Semitism before, suggested in an address to a rare meeting of the Palestinian National Council on Monday night that Jews' relations with banking had led to hostility against them. "From the 11th century until the Holocaust that took place in Germany, those Jews -- who moved to Western and Eastern Europe -- were subjected to a massacre every 10 to 15 years. But why did this happen? They say 'it is ...

Stones pelted on school bus in J&K; students injured

Two children were injured on Wednesday when a group of miscreants attacked a school bus with stones in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, police said.

S Korea: US troop withdrawal not linked to possible peace treaty

South Korean President Moon Jae-in today dismissed claims that US troops stationed in the country would have to leave if a peace treaty was signed with the North. Seoul and Pyongyang have remained technically at war since the 1950s but Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed at a landmark summit last week to work towards a permanent treaty to replace a 65-year-old armistice agreement. "US Forces Korea (USFK) is a matter of the South Korea-US alliance. It has nothing to do with signing a peace treaty," Moon said, referring to the agreement that sees 28,500 US forces based in the South. Moon's comments came after a presidential adviser publicly suggested the presence of US soldiers, sailors and airmen would be called into question if a peace treaty were to be agreed with Pyongyang. Moon Chung-in had written in Foreign Affairs magazine that it would be "difficult to justify (US forces) continuing presence in South Korea" after the adoption of a peace treaty. The Blue House -- ...

Pakistan's Hazara community end protest against targeted killings

The leaders of Pakistan's Shia Hazara community on Wednesday agreed to call off their protest over a recent spate of targeted killings in Quetta city following a meeting with Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

27 killed in twin blasts in Nigeria

At least 27 people have been killed and 56 injured after two blasts rocked Nigeria's Mubi town in Adamawa, officials said.

Gunmen kill 16 in Iraq

At least 16 people have been killed and four injured after unknown gunmen attacked houses at a town in Iraq's Salahudin province, an official said.

Six Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan

At least six militants affiliated to terror outfit the Taliban, including its local leader have been killed in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province.The deaths were the result of the raids conducted by the Special Operations Forces of the Afghan Intelligence, National Directorate of Security (NDS), Khaama Press reported.The operation was conducted in the vicinity of Khogyani district according to the statement issued by the provincial government media office.The Taliban leader killed during the operation has been identified as Faridullah who was also famous as Zindani, the statement added.Two other individuals, identified as Ezatullah and Hejratullah have been arrested on suspicion of having connections with the Taliban, according to the report.No comments have been received from the anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban militants in connection with this report by far.This comes in tandem with various ongoing counter-terrorism operations in certain northern ...

CAR: Bangui Church attack leaves 15 dead

At least 15 people including a priest have reportedly been killed and several wounded in Central African Republic's (CAR) capital city Bangui when gunmen attacked a church.Several media reports stated that Notre Dame de Fatima church was attacked with gunfire and grenades during a morning service according to witnesses.The CAR has faced several years of ethnic and religious conflict.The attack occurred on the border of the predominantly Muslim PK 5 neighbourhood where 21 people were killed last month, according to the media reports.Four years ago, over a dozen people, including a priest, lost their lives in an armed attack at the same church.

200 arrested as chaos erupts at May Day rally in Paris

At least 200 people have been arrested after they clashed with the riot police and damaged properties in Paris during a traditional march to mark the international Workers' Day, police said.

Paris: 200 arrested in May Day riots

The Police here arrested nearly 200 demonstrators who damaged shops and torched cars during annual May Day protests.Raising slogans such as "Rise up, Paris" and "Everyone hates the police", around 1,200 people in black jackets and masked faces participated in the traditional May 1 union-led demonstration for worker's rights, the South China Morning Post quoted the police report.The demonstrators destroyed a McDonald's restaurant near Austerlitz station, east of the city centre, and set it ablaze. Various vehicles and a car dealership were also set ablaze, according to several media reports."Macron makes us mad," read a banner held by one masked demonstrator.Riot police used teargas and water cannon to disperse the protesters. Four people were reportedly injured in the clashes, including a police officer."I condemn with absolute firmness the violence that has taken place today and which has misled the May Day processions. Everything will be done so that their authors are identified and

Nigeria blasts kill 24: Reports

At least 24 people were killed on Tuesday in a double suicide attack on a mosque and a market in northeast Nigeria.The death toll is likely to increase.The incident took place in the town of Mubi in Adamawa State at around 1pm local time as worshippers amassed for afternoon prayers, CNN reported, police as saying.No terror outfit or group has claimed the responsibility for the attack. However, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has launched previous attacks in Mubi, according to the reports."The first bomber went into the mosque while they were praying and detonated his explosives killing four people," spokesman for the Adamawa State police, Othman Abubakar told CNN.The second bomber who was a few hundred meters afar detonated his device as well, as worshippers fled the mosque, which claimed another 20 lives.The bombings come just a day after suicide bombers killed four people in Maiduguri, Borno State.It is pertinent to mention that this also came a day after Nigeria's President

At least 16 killed in C.African flare-up

At least 16 people were killed and nearly a hundred wounded today in clashes between militia and security forces in the capital of the Central African Republic, sources said. The UN mission MINUSCA said it stepped up patrols after the fighting erupted in Bangui's mainly Muslim PK5 district -- an area that has become a flashpoint in a country weakened by sectarian violence and dogged by militia rule. Security sources in PK5 said a shootout started after men in a militia group which is led by an individual calling himself Force rammed through a roadblock. Hospital sources said at least 16 people died, including a priest and a child, while 96 people were being treated for wounds. The priest was named as Toungoumale Baba, who died in the nearby district of Fatima, a church source said earlier. There were no immediate details about the circumstances of his death. As hostile crowds gathered at various points in the city, UN mission MINUSCA said it sent patrols "to secure the [PK5] zone and .

Army's 'Vijay Prahar' exercise underway in Rajasthan

Over 20,000 troops of the strike formations of the Army's South Western Command are engaged in the "Vijay Prahar" exercise to fine-tune the Army's jointmanship with the Indian Air Force (IAF) near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. The exercise is being held in the wake of the IAF testing its might in the "Gagan Shakti" exercise in the western sector of Rajasthan, which shares an over-1,000-kms border with Pakistan. During the exercise, the formations are practising and operationalising certain concepts of operating in the network-centric environment, integrated employment of modern-day sensors with the weapon platforms, employment of attack helicopters in the air cavalry role and a bold offensive of application of the Special Forces. The exercise that began a couple of weeks ago will conclude on May 9 and Army chief General Bipin Rawat and other senior officers are likely to witness the final phase. "Strike formations of the command are going through the exercise in the Mahajan area, near ...