Page 632 - War Conflict
Afghan security forces shrinking sharply: US watchdog
The strength of the Afghan security forces has declined sharply over the last year, a US government watchdog has said amid reports of desertions and high casualty rates.
Afghan airstrike on Taliban kills 6 civilians
An Afghan official says an airstrike targeting Taliban fighters has killed six civilians in the southern Helmand province. Mir Ahmad, a provincial council member in Helmand, says two other civilians were wounded in the airstrike by the Afghan air force yesterday in the Nad Ali district. He says the strike killed around a dozen Taliban insurgents. Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed the airstrike but said all the killed and wounded were Taliban members. Elsewhere in Helmand province, a roadside bomb struck a vehicle in the Gareshk district, killing at least three civilians, according to the district chief, Mohammad Saleem Roodi. Thousands of mourners have attended a memorial ceremony for AFP's chief photographer in Afghanistan who was killed along with eight other reporters in a double suicide bombing by the Islamic State group in Kabul the previous day. Relatives, friends and government officials all gathered to pay tribute to Shah Maria and extend condolences .
Taliban attacks in Kabul aim to grab global attention: Mattis
The Taliban and its affiliated groups are carrying out major terrorist attacks inside the Afghan capital to grab international media attention ahead of an election in October, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said. A double suicide blast in Kabul killed 25 people yesterday including an AFP photographer and at least eight other journalists. "We anticipated that they would do their best to try to bring bombs right into Kabul. They want them reported," Mattis said here. "They need international media to, basically, broadcast this going on so they can undercut through those kinds of attacks, what's obviously setting them on their backfoot diplomatically, militarily. So it's been anticipated," he said. Asserting that there have been a number of attacks that have been stopped, he regretted that the terrorist groups have gotten through on a few occasions, and in some cases they are targeting the locations where voting will either be going on or registration for polls is being ...
Central Command celebrates its 55th Raising Day
The Indian Army's city-headquartered Central Command celebrated its 55th Raising Day on Tuesday, a defence official said.
Security forces seize IED, gun
Security forces today seized an improvised explosive device (IED), a gun and wires from Dhelkahi hills in Bihar's Aurangabad district, police said. Acting on a tip off that Maoists had hidden some explosive materials and arms in Dhelkahi hills, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and police personnel carried out a search operation in the area, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rajesh Kumar Singh said. The team found a 2 kg IED, a gun and wire to detonate bombs from the hill, the ASP said. The Maoists had hidden the explosives material with a view to detonating the bomb when securitymen would cross the area, Singh said.
Mehbooba condemns killing of 3 youths in Baramulla
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today condemned the killing of three youths by Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) militants last night at the Old Baramulla town in Jammu and Kashmir. The deceased -- Asif Ahmad Sheikh, Haseeb Ahmad Khan and Mohmmad Asgar -- all in their early 20s, were residents of Kakkar Hamam in Baramulla, police said. The chief minister said she was pained to see young boys getting killed in an unending cycle of violence which, she reiterated, ought to be put to an end. Mufti extended sympathies to bereaved families.
20,000 Indian soldiers sharpen military manoeuvres near Pakistan border
Over 20,000 soldiers from the strike formations of the Indian Army have been engaging in a military drill near the border with Pakistan in Rajasthan.
Mehbooba, separatists condemn civilian killings in Baramulla
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and separatist leaders on Tuesday condemned the killing of three civilians in Baramulla.
Afghan media defiant after deadly day for journalists
Afghan journalists were shaken but defiant today, vowing to continue reporting on the bloody conflict after the deadliest attack on the country's media since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Ten journalists were killed yesterday, including Agence France-Presse chief photographer Shah Marai, in attacks that sparked outrage around the world and underscored the dangers faced by Afghan media. The deadly assaults have rocked Afghanistan's tight-knit journalist community. Many of them are close friends as well as colleagues who look out for one another as they work in an increasingly hostile environment. Hours after the double suicide blast in Kabul that killed nine journalists and 16 others, dozens of Afghan news editors and executives gathered at the site in a public display of defiance to militants. The message was "if they destroy a line of journalists, there's going to be a longer line back at the scene within a few hours," Tolo News director Lotfullah Najafizada told AFP. Tolo News ...
S Korea, Japan, China to hold summit next week
South Korea, China and Japan will hold a trilateral summit in Tokyo next week, Seoul announced today, the latest move in a diplomatic whirlwind centred around North Korea. The gathering on May 9 will bring together the South's President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, in the neighbours' first such meeting for more than two years. It follows a historic and headline-grabbing summit between Moon and the North's leader Kim Jong Un last Friday. They vowed to pursue denuclearisation and a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, setting the mood for Kim's much-anticipated face-to-face encounter with US President Donald Trump. But analysts have urged caution, warning that similar previous pledges have come to nothing, and that the North has yet to make clear what concessions it is willing to make with its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. All three of the neighbours are deeply involved with North Korea -- the South as its ...
Dalai Lama greets Korean leaders over peace talks
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has written separately to North and South Korean leaders to congratulate them on their pledge to make the Korean peninsula nuclear weapons free.
3 killed in clash between two groups at temple fest
Three persons, including two brothers, were hacked to death and three others injured in a clash between two groups during a temple festival in a village in the district, police said today. The groups, which have been at loggerheads over a cremation site, quarrelled yesterday over priority in receiving temple honours at the local shrine, they said. They attacked each other with clubs and sickles. Pradeep (32) and Rajesh Kanna (30), both brothers, were hacked to death while a 17-year-old boy also was killed, they said. The brothers' father Shanmugasundaram and three others were injured and admitted to hospital, police said. Police are on the lookout for those who created the trouble.
Separatists demand UN probe into Baramulla attack
Separatists today condemned the killing of three youths by armed gunmen in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir and demanded a probe by the United Nations into the incident. "The JRL (Joint Resistance Leadership) strongly condemns the killing of three youths in Baramulla. Any killing on grounds of political or party affiliations is inhuman, unIslamic and unacceptable to people and leadership of Kashmir," separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in a tweet. He demanded that the United Nations (UN) take note of the incident and probe the killings. "The state authorities conveniently blame armed youths and vice versa. In the process, the culprits never get identified. It is a matter of serious concern and needs to be investigated. (We) appeal the #UN to take note of this and set up an impartial inquiry into these killings," the separatist leader said. Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) militants had yesterday struck at the Old Baramulla town in Jammu and Kashmir and gunned down three men, in ...
Vijay Prahar exercise underway in Rajasthan
More than 20,000 troops of strike formations of the Army's South Western Command were engaged in Vijay Prahar exercise to fine-tune jointmanship with the Indian Air Force near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. Strike formations of the command are going through the exercise in Mahajan area close to Suratgarh in Rajasthan in which over 20,000 troops are participating with fighting equipment for a couple of weeks, Brigadier Anil Gautam, Brigadier General Staff (Information Warfare), South Western Command said. The exercise has been set on situation based on a swift offensive action. The aim of the exercise is to fine-tune jointmanship with the Indian Air Force, he said. The IAF carried out exercise Gagan Shakti and demonstrated their capabilities and strength to handle adversaries, the brigadier said. In the immediate wake of Gagan Shakti, this exercise was being held for testing and refining jointmanship and maximising the impact of the joint operations, he said. The brigadier noted that some of
CPI(M) condemns killing of civilians
Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPI(M) today condemned the killing of four youth in separate incidents in Pulwama and Baramulla districts of the state. Last night, Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) militants struck at the Old Baramulla town in Jammu and Kashmir and gunned down three men, in their early 20s. A police spokesperson said all the three persons were shot at from a very close range in Iqbal market of Old Baramulla town, killing them on the spot. While in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including Sameer Ahmed Bhat alias 'Sameer Tiger', were gunned down and a civilian killed in an encounter. The civilian was killed when security forces were trying to chase away a stone pelting mob, the officials said. "We strongly condemn the killing of a youth in security forces firing in Pulwama district and killing of three other youth at the hands of 'unidentified gunmen' in Baramulla district," State Secretary CPI(M) Ghulam Nabi Malik said in a statement. Malik asked how .
Afghan attacks on media shows jihadists are weak: Pentagon chief
Fighters are targeting journalists in Afghanistan because they are weakened and want more news coverage in order to undermine the country's electoral process ahead of an expected vote in October, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has said. "This is the normal stuff by people who cannot win at the ballot box, so they turn to bombs," Mattis said when asked about a day of bloodshed in Afghanistan that left dozens dead, including many children and journalists. "They need the international media to basically broadcast this going on, so they can undercut through those kind of attacks, what is what has obviously set them on their back foot diplomatically and militarily. "We anticipated that they would do their best to try to bring bombs right into Kabul." A double suicide blast in Kabul killed 25 people, including AFP photographer Shah Marai and at least eight other journalists. Reporters Without Borders called it the most lethal single attack on the media since the fall of the Taliban. Later ...
Syrians held by rebels freed as part of deal with government
Syrian state-run media say 42 people who were held for years by al-Qaida-linked insurgents in the country's northwest have been released as part of a deal to hand over areas around Damascus back to the government. Al-Ikhbariya TV broadcast images today of the released, including women and children, arriving by bus at a government-controlled checkpoint, kissing and hugging Syrian soldiers. The 42 are the first batch of more than 80 who are to be released. According to the deal, al-Qaida-linked fighters are to evacuate from a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus while some 5,000 people in two northwestern villages besieged by insurgents will be allowed to move to government-held areas. This is the latest in evacuation deals which are effectively capitulation amid intense military offensives.
Pompeo condemns 'barbaric' Kabul twin suicide blasts
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday condemned the "barbaric and senseless" suicide attacks in Afghanistan's Kabul, which claimed 29 lives.In a statement, Pompeo said, "The United States strongly condemns today's (April 30) senseless and barbaric attack in Kabul that killed 29 people and wounded dozens more, including several brave journalists and media professionals. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who were injured and killed, and we mourn all those who lost their lives.""The United States, along with our Afghan and international partners, is committed to defeating ISIS (Daesh) in Afghanistan, which has claimed responsibility for this attack. We stand with the people, the independent media, and government of Afghanistan and remain committed to supporting the Afghan people's efforts to achieve peace, security, and democracy for their country," the statement read, citing TOLOnews.Condemning the deaths of the journalists in .
US has never been closer to getting rid of N Korea's nukes: Trump
The US has never been closer to getting rid of North Korea's nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump has said, exuding confidence that his planned summit with the reclusive country's leader Kim Jong Un will be a "success". Trump has accepted an invitation for a meeting with Kim. The meeting is scheduled to take place soon, possibly in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) straddling the border between the two Koreas. He also confirmed yesterday that Singapore was also on the list of possible sites. Trump praised Kim for living up to his promise of not launching ballistic missiles and carrying out any nuclear tests before the planned meeting. "The US has never been closer to potentially having something happen with respect to the Korean peninsula that can get rid of the nuclear weapons, can create so many good things, so many positive things, and peace and safety for the world," Trump said yesterday. "So, we'll see what happens. You know, I often say, Who knows? Who knows? Maybe a lot of things
Restrictions imposed in JK as separatists protest civilian's death in encounter
Restrictions were imposed in parts of Srinagar, Pulwama and Kulgam of Jammu and Kashmir today in view of a strike call by separatists to protest the killing of a civilian near the site of an encounter with security forces. A police official said the curbs have been imposed in police station areas of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, Safakadal, Maisuma, Kralkhud andMaharajgunj. The restrictions have been imposed as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, he said. Two militants, including top Hizbul Mujahideen ultra Sameer Ahmad alias Tiger, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Drabgam area of Pulwama District yesterday. Meanwhile, a civilian was killed in the security forces' action against protestors near the scene of gun battle. Separatists, under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), had called for a strike to protest the killings. The strike affected normal life in the Valley as most of the shops and other business establishments were shut, while ..