Page 645 - War Conflict

Shepherd injured in IED explosion near LoC

A sheepherd was injured in an IED explosion near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday, police said.

'I was wrong': Armenia PM quits after mass protests

Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian resigned today after mass protests against his election, seen as a blatant power grab by the opposition. "I am leaving the post of the country's leader," Sarkisian was quoted as saying in a statement by his press service, just days after he took office. "Nikol Pashinyan was right," he said referring to the leader of the protests. "I was wrong." After serving for a decade as president, Sarkisian was last week elected prime minister by lawmakers in a move the opposition said was designed to extend his rule under a new parliamentary system of government. Constitutional amendments approved in 2015 transferred power from the presidency to the premiership. Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer, was first elected president of the impoverished, Moscow-allied country in 2008. After the 2008 vote, 10 people died in clashes between police and supporters of the defeated opposition candidate. He was re-elected in 2013, with his second and final term .

Surrendered militants in NE to get enhanced grant of Rs 4 lakh, monthly Rs 6k

Surrendered militants in the north-east will get an immediate grant of Rs 4 lakh each against Rs 1 lakh earlier, and a monthly stipend of Rs 6,000 besides other benefits, officials said today. The surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy for the north-east was implemented in 1998 to wean misguided youth and hardcore militants away from the fold of militancy. This policy was comprehensively revised beginning April 1 to attract more youths into the mainstream away from militancy, as enumerated below, a Home Ministry official said. "Under the revised norms, a surrendered militant will get an immediate grant of Rs 4 lakh as against Rs 1 lakh earlier. Monthly stipend has been raised from Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000 for three years," the official said. Incentives for weapons/ammunition have been increased ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh, provisions for vocational training for self-employment will be provided to all surrendered militants, funds for construction of rehabilitation camps will be ...

Three brothers beheaded in Afghanistan, IS blamed: officials

Three brothers have been beheaded in restive eastern Afghanistan, officials said today, blaming the gruesome executions on Islamic State group fighters. The men aged 19, 24 and 27 were taken from their home and killed by IS on last night in Chaparhar district in Nangarhar province, provincial governor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani told AFP. Nangarhar borders Pakistan and is a stronghold for IS militants. Two of the brothers recently graduated from medical school and the third was still at university, Khogyani said, adding the boys' father was also killed by IS last year. "Their bodies were found in Chaparhar district where they lived," said the spokesman. Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal confirmed the brutal murders and said an investigation had been launched. "They were taken out of their house by armed men and their beheaded bodies were found by villagers near their house," Mashreqiwal told AFP. IS first emerged in Afghanistan in 2014 as NATO combat troops ...

No militarisation of Sri Lanka's Hambantota port - China

China today dismissed as "baseless" the reports that it will militarise Sri Lanka's southern port of Hambantota, saying the facility was part of Beijing's "pragmatic cooperation" with Colombo for economic development. Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan recently met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during which he reaffirmed that China firmly upholds and supports economic globalisation and attaches great importance to its relations with Sri Lanka, according a release issued by the Chinese Embassy here. "Responding to recent baseless suspicion on so-called Chinese militarisation at Hambantota Port, the Ambassador pointed out that there is no any military purpose for China to conduct conduct friendly and pragmatic cooperation with Sri Lanka," the release said. According to analysts here, the comments appear to allay the concerns raised by India over Chinese plans in neighbouring Sri Lanka on the broader Indian Ocean context. "China never interferes in Sri Lanka's internal ..

Saudi-led airstrike at Yemen wedding killed at least 20

An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a wedding party in northern Yemen, killing at least 20 people, health officials said today, as harrowing images emerged on social media of the bombing the previous day. Khaled al-Nadhri, the top health official in the northern province of Hajja, told The Associated Press that most of the dead were women and children who were gathered in one of the tents set up for the wedding party in the district of Bani Qayis. He says the bride was also among the dead. Hospital chief Mohammed al-Sawmali said the groom and 45 of the wounded were brought to the local al-Jomhouri hospital. Footage that emerged from the scene of the airstrike shows scattered body parts and a young boy in a green shirt hugging a man's lifeless body, screaming and crying. Health ministry spokesman Abdel-Hakim al-Kahlan said ambulances were initially unable to reach the site of the bombing for fear of subsequent airstrikes as the jets continued to fly overhead after the initial ..

Exhumation of Spain's civil war victims begins

Experts on Monday began the exhumation of four people who were killed in the Spanish Civil War and buried alongside thousands of other war dead in mass graves incorporated into a mausoleum that was built by former dictator Francisco Franco.

AFSPA removed from Meghalaya completely, partly in Arunachal

The AFSPA has been removed completely from Meghalaya and its area of operation in Arunachal Pradesh has been restricted to three police stations bordering Assam and three districts neighbouring Myanmar, officials said today. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,which empowers security forces to conduct operations, arrest anyone anywhere without prior notice, has been removed from all areas of Meghalaya from March 31. The decision has been taken due to a significant improvement of security situation in the state,a Home Ministry official said. In Arunachal Pradesh, areas under the controversial act have been reduced from 16 police stations areas bordering Assam to eight police stations besides Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts, the official said. There have been demands from various organisations in the north-east as well as in Jammu and Kashmir for repealing the act, which, they say, gives sweeping powers to the security forces to act against civilians. The AFSPA has been in ...

AFSPA removed from Meghalaya, restricted in Arunachal

The Union Home Ministry has removed Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and reduced it to eight police stations in Arunachal Pradesh, an official said on Monday.

Threat of nuclear weapons use growing, UN warns

A top UN official today denounced growing rhetoric claiming that nuclear arms are necessary and warned that the risk of such weapons being used was on the rise. "The threat of the use, intentional or otherwise, of nuclear weapons is growing," the UN's top representative for disarmament affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, told a preliminary review meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT, which was introduced at the height of the Cold War a half century ago, seeks to prevent the spread of atomic weapons but also puts the onus on nuclear states to reduce their stockpiles. But speaking at the opening of the Geneva meeting, Nakamitsu warned that "the world today faces similar challenges to the context that gave birth to the NPT." The preparatory committee in advance of the 2020 NPT review conference comes after North Korea, which pulled out of the treaty 15 years ago, declared a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests and said it would dismantle its nuclear test ...

Palestinian dies of wounds, bringing Gaza toll to 40: medics

Two Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israel were pronounced dead Monday, a Gaza official said, bringing the toll from Israeli fire since March 30 to 40. A spokesman for the Hamas-controlled territory's health ministry named the latest fatalities as Tahrir Wahada, 18, and Abdullah Shamali, 20. Wahada was shot in the head in a clash east of Khan Yunis on April 6, and Shamali died of "bullet wounds to his belly" sustained on Friday, according to the spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra. Most of the 40 Palestinians killed by Israel since the start of "March of Return" protests on March 30 were shot by snipers on the border, while a few others were killed by Israeli artillery or air strikes. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the coastal enclave, wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean, have gathered at the border on consecutive Fridays to call for Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return to their former homes now inside Israel. Some protestors have launched stones or burning ...

Afghan officials: Taliban attacks kill 14 troops, policemen

Taliban attacks in western Afghanistan killed 14 soldiers and policemen today as Kabul residents prepared to bury their loved ones slain in a horrific bombing by the Islamic State group that targeted a voter registration center the day before, killing 57. Prayer services were held for the Kabul victims as families of those killed in yesterday's bombing carried the bodies of their kin and dug the graves at a cemetery in the hills above the Afghan capital. The first of today's near-simultaneous attacks in western Badghis province hit army units in the district of Ab Kamari, killing nine soldiers, said Ghulam Sarwar Haidari, the deputy provincial police chief. Moments later, another large group of insurgents struck police in Qadis district, killing five policemen. Sharafuddin Majidi, spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed the casualty tolls. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the Badghis attacks in a statement to the media. The attacks came on the heels of yesterday's

Grief turns to anger over Kabul suicide attack

Hundreds of grieving Afghans buried their loved ones in Kabul on Monday amid growing anger over a suicide attack on a voter registration centre that killed 57 people including children and wounded over 100. The bomber blew himself up on Sunday morning in a large crowd queueing to collect national ID certificates so they could register to vote in long-delayed legislative elections scheduled for October. The blast, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, caused carnage in the street in the heavily Shiite-populated western neighbourhood. Pools of blood and body parts mixed with shattered glass, bloodstained ID documents and passport-sized photos on the ground. More than 40 of the wounded, including children, were taken to a trauma hospital run by Italian NGO Emergency, which said at least 20 people required "major surgeries". Anguish quickly turned to anger on social media as Afghans blamed the Kabul government for failing to protect its people -- a constant refrain after such ...

Jailed Egyptian photographer wins UN press freedom prize

Detained Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, will be awarded UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations' cultural body said today. Shawkan was arrested in August 2013 as he covered deadly clashes in Cairo between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. He is one of 700 defendants facing charges of killing police and vandalising property during the clashes. "The choice of Mahmoud Abu Zeid pays tribute to his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression," said Maria Ressa, head of the UNESCO jury which is awarding the prize. Egypt's foreign affairs ministry yesterday voiced its "profound regret that an organisation with the status of UNESCO would honour a person accused of terrorist and criminal acts". Several hundred people, including three journalists, were killed during the security forces' bloody dispersal of a pro-Morsi sit-in after the military ousted the Islamist in 2013. Egypt's first ..

Student injured in Kashmir clashes

Clashes erupted in the Kashmir Valley on Monday as people protesting against the rape and murder of a young girl pelted stones at soldiers. A student sustained pellet injuries in Anantnag town.

BSF jawan injured"in encounter with Naxals in C'garh's Kanker

A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan"was today"injured"in an exchange of fire with Naxals in Chhattisgarh"s insurgency-hit Kanker district, police said. The incident took place at around 10 am in the forests near Mahla BSF camp, under Partapur police station limits, about 300 kilometres from here, when personnel from BSF"s 114th battalion were out on an area domination operation, Kanker Superintendent of Police KL Dhruv told PTI. "When the patrolling team was in the forests close to a village near Mahla, Naxals triggered two blasts using improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They then opened fire on security forces which led to a firefight," he said. He identified the jawan who sustained multiple injuries in the encounter as constable Shree Bhagwan Singh. "He was brought for medical treatment to Pakhanjore town and then airlifted to Raipur," the SP said. The Naxals fled the spot after coming under heavy fire from the patrolling team, the official said. He added that ...

Student injured in J&K clashes

Clashes broke out at several places in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday after protesters pelted stones at army personnel. A student sustained pellet injuries in Anantnag town.

Verdict for Paris suspect Abdeslam in Belgian trial

A Belgian court will give its verdict Monday on Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving suspect in the Paris Islamist attacks, over a bloody 2016 shootout with police in Brussels that led to his capture. Prosecutors asked at the trial in February for Abdeslam and his co-defendant Sofiane Ayari to be jailed for up to 20 years if found guilty on charges of terrorist-related attempted murder and possession of banned weapons. Neither Abdeslam, who is being held in jail in France pending a separate trial over the 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people died, nor Ayari is expected to be in court in Brussels for the verdict, a court spokesman told AFP. Belgian security forces will mount a major operation around the imposing Palace of Justice building in Brussels for the verdict, which judges are due to start reading out at 0645 GMT. Abdeslam, 28, a Belgian-born French national, was transported to the court from France for the first day of the trial amid tight security including a helicopter ...

Protesters pelt stones at army in J&K

Clashes broke out at two places in Shopian and Pulwama districts on Monday after protesters in Jammu and Kashmir pelted stones at army personnel at these places.

10 killed in Nigeria gunmen attack

At least 10 people were killed following gunmen's invasion of a farming community in a Nigerian state of Kogi early on Sunday, police said.