Page 646 - War Conflict
Kabul blast: Death toll rises to 52
The death toll in Sunday's deadly suicide bombing in Kabul has risen to 52. More than 100 others were injured in the blast that hit a crowd waiting at a voter and ID registration centre, according to the Afghan officials.Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health confirmed the death toll and the number of wounded, TOLO News reported.The Interior Ministry said that the bomber was on foot and blew himself up after approaching the centre, which is in the Dashte Barchi area of western Kabul.The explosion happened at about 10 a.m. on Sunday morning in PD6.President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the attack and said it couldn't divert them from their aims or weaken this national democratic process.According to a report, Kabul's acting police chief, Mohammad Daoud Amin, stated that a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the doorway of the offices.The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
German defence ministry wants to spend billions on armaments this year: report
BERLIN (Reuters) - The German Defence Ministry plans to spend billions of euros on armaments this year to tackle deficiencies in the armed forces' equipment, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Sunday.
Gunmen kill 2 Shiites in Pakistan
Police in Pakistan say gunmen have killed two Shiites and wounded a third in Quetta, the latest in a recent series of attacks on the religious minority. Police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema said both men were local officials in Shiite community organisations. Cheema said the attackers fled the scene on motorcycles after Sunday's shooting and that a search is underway. It was the fifth attack in recent months targeting Shiites in Quetta. Last week, a Shiite shopkeeper was killed in a drive-by shooting. No one has claimed the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of Sunni Muslim extremists, who view Shiites as apostates. No arrests have been made.
14 Saddam-era officials still jailed in Iraq
Fourteen officials from Saddam Hussein's regime are still in Iraq's prisons, 15 years after the late dictator was deposed by a US-led invasion in 2003, according to an AFP survey. Of the list of 55 suspects most wanted by the coalition that invaded Iraq, six were executed, six were killed in combat, eight died in captivity, five are on the run, and 16 were freed by the Americans before they pulled out of the country in 2011. Saddam's two sons -- Uday and Qusay -- were among those killed in fighting. The remaining detainees include the dictator's defence minister, General Sultan Hashim Ahmad, sentenced to death in June 2007 but never executed. The others are mid-level Baath party cadres who held positions in the military or government. The latest to be detained is Abdel Baqi Abdel Karim Abdallah, a top Baath party official who was arrested in June 2015 in Kirkuk while in hiding. All detained former regime officials are being held in Nasiriyah prison in the country's south, according .
16 Maoists gunned down in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli
In the biggest crackdown on Maoists in four decades in Maharashtra, security forces on Sunday gunned down at least 16 Maoists, including some women, in the state's Gadchiroli district, an official said.
Islamic State suicide bomber kills 57 in Afghan capital
An Islamic State suicide bomber carried out an attack at a voter registration center in the capital Kabul today, killing 57 people and wounding more than 100 others, said officials form the Afghan interior and public health ministries. Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majro said that among 57 who were killed in the attack, 22 were women and eight are children. Majro added that 119 people were wounded in the attack, among them 17 children and 52 women. "The tolls could still rise," he added. Gen Daud Amin, the Kabul police chief, said the suicide bomber targeted civilians who were registering for national identification cards. The large explosion echoed across the city, shattering windows miles away from the attack site and damaging several nearby vehicles. Police blocked all roads to the blast site, with only ambulances allowed in. Local TV stations broadcast live footage of hundreds of distraught locals gathered at nearby hospitals seeking word about loved ones. The Islamic ...
36 IS militants killed in Iraqi airstrikes in Syria
At least 36 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in airstrikes by the Iraqi air force targeting IS positions inside neighbouring Syria, the Iraqi military said on Sunday.
Twin bombings kill 58 in Afghanistan
At least 58 people were killed in twin blasts in Afghanistan on Sunday while another 117 were injured, media reports said.
Anti-Hezbollah candidate beaten in southern Lebanon
A candidate running against Hezbollah in Lebanon's parliamentary elections was in hospital today after being assaulted by a group of men in his southern hometown, he told AFP. Journalist Ali al-Amin is a vocal critic of the Tehran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah, and is challenging the party in the upcoming May 6 legislative election. "I was hanging up the very first picture of myself at the bottom of my street in Shaqra, just 100 metres (yards) away from my house," he said. Dozens of men approached him and demanded he take down the campaign poster, but he refused. They then began beating him, Amin said. "I'm at the hospital now. My tooth is broken, I have very severe back pain and was hit in the head," he said. Amin, who is running in the polls as a Shiite Muslim, directly blamed Hezbollah: "It was an organised group of well-known guys, authorised by Hezbollah." Lebanon's May 6 legislative vote will be the first since 2009, after years of deadlock and security concerns prompted ...
Rajnath speaks to Maha CM; takes stock of Gadchiroli situation
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and took stock of the security situation in Gadchiroli district where at least 14 Naxals were killed by police, an official said. During the telephonic conversation, the chief minister briefed the home minister on the details of the operation in which the Maoists were killed. Singh also discussed with Fadnavis about the Left-Wing Extremism situation in Gadchiroli district and other related issues, the ministry official said. Fourteen Naxals were killed in an encounter with police in Gadchiroli today, an official said, adding that a team of C-60 commandos, a specialised combat unit of the Gadchiroli police carried out the operation. "...The combing operations are still on," said Inspector General of Police Sharad Shelar. He said the combing operation, which started in the morning, was currently underway at Tadgaon forest in Bhamragad, around 750 kilometres from Mumbai.
Two suicide bombers kill four in north Nigeria mosque
Two suicide bombers killed four Muslim worshippers in a mosque in a northeast Nigerian town still being rebuilt after virtual destruction by Boko Haram in 2014, sources said today. The bombers, a man and a woman, detonated their explosives inside the mosque during morning prayers on Saturday in the town of Bama in Borno state. The pair "blew themselves up in a mosque while people were praying" Baba Shehu Gulumba, Bama local government chairman, told AFP. An earlier toll listed three deaths. "Another victim died at the hospital in Maiduguri," taking the toll to four, Shehu Gulumba later told AFP. A senior military officer in Bama earlier confirmed that three people had died, adding that nine people were also injured. "Some of the injured are in a critical condition and may hardly make it. They have been transferred to Maiduguri for better medical care," said the military officer, who asked not to be named. The attack came two weeks after residents began returning to the town which was .
Set up more ITBP battalions in Bihar: Nitish to Rajnath
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today requested Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to set up 1-2 more battalions of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in the state. As of now, Bihar has two ITBP battalions. "There are two ITBP battalions in Bihar -- one at Saran and other at Katihar. I would request the Home Minister to set up one or two more battalions of ITBP in Bihar. We will give our full support and cooperation (for setting up the battalions)," Kumar was quoted as saying in an official release. Kumar said this while speaking at a function organised on the occasion of inauguration of ITBP's 6th battalion's buildings at Kotheya village in Saran district. Rajnath Singh inaugurated the buildings. Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and MPs Janardan Singh Sigriwal and Rajiv Pratap Rudy were also present on the occasion. "I would request the Home Minister to create a 'system' wherein central forces should be made available at the request of Director General of Police (DGP) in ...
Boy from PoK held in Poonch
A 12-year-old boy, hailing from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), was detained shortly after he ventured into this side in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said. The boy was detained by Army personnel guarding the Line of Control (LoC) from Basooni in Balakote sector, a police officer said. He said the boy was moving under suspicious circumstances when intercepted by the troops. He was immediately arrested, the officer added. After questioning, the boy was handed over to the police, the officer said adding he appeared mentally disturbed and is believed to have inadvertently crossed the LoC.
UK police, spies to get more teeth to tackle terror suspects
Britain's police and security services are to be given greater powers to tackle the threat posed by terror suspects, according to a media report. Documents leaked to The Sunday Times show that the security services will be able to step in and disrupt plots earlier in order to prevent a terrorist attack. The plan calls formore focus on "communities where the threat from terrorism and radicalisation is highest". Details of the plans are contained in a 120-page draft of the UK government's counter-terrorism strategy due to be published in the next few weeks which promises a "step change in our domestic investigative capabilities". As part of plans to be included in a new Counter-terrorism Bill, spies and police will have the authority to warn government departments, town hall chiefs and other devolved administrations about suspects on their radar before they are deemed dangerous enough to be placed under surveillance by MI5 Britain's internal security service. It will also include ...
Kabul-Baghlan blasts, attack on Afghans' democratic rights: India
Condemning Sunday morning's "cowardly" and "barbaric" explosions in Kabul and Pul-e-Khumri city, India have called them an attack on the democratic rights of Afghans.One of the two explosions, occurred at an ID distribution and voter registration center at about 10 a.m. on Sunday morning in Afghan's capital city Kabul, claimed 48 lives and wounded about 112.Kabul's acting police chief, Mohammad Daoud Amin, stated that a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the door way of the offices, reported Afghan's TOLO News.This explosion happened close to a voter registration center in the provincial capital, officials confirmed.Two hours after the Kabul bombing, an explosion rocked Pul-e-Khumri city in Baghlan province, killing at least six people and wounding five others."This is not only an attack on innocent civilians but also an attack on the democratic rights of the Afghan people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of the victims, and we wish quick and complete ...
India condemns terror attacks in Afghanistan, offers help
India on Sunday strongly condemned the terror attacks in Afghanistan's capital Kabul and in the country's Baghlan province during the ongoing voter registration process that claimed at least 37 lives.
16 Maoists killed in Maharashtra
In the biggest crackdown in four decades in Maharashtra, security forces on Sunday gunned down at least 16 Maoists including some women in Gadchiroli district, an official said.
Naxalism will be wiped out from the country: Rajnath
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today asserted that Naxalism will be "wiped out" from the country as he lauded the efforts of the Nitish Kumar government in tackling the menace in Bihar. Addressing an event organised by the state party unit on the eve of Babu Veer Kuer Singh's 160th Viyotsav Diwas in Patna, he said the number of incidents related to the rebels has come down since 2013. Also, the number of deaths due to Naxal attacks has come down to one third, he said. "Naxalite's confidence is shattered...Naxalism will be wiped out from the country," Singh said at the programme attended by a galaxy of BJP leaders and Union ministers. "These Naxalites thrive at the cost of poor people...I would like to tell the poor of the country as well as those of Bihar that the Naxal leaders want them to remain poor, whereas their own children study in prominent colleges and universities, and some of them even study abroad. The Naxalite leaders have become crorepatis," he said. The home ...
India condemns 'cowardly' terror attacks in Kabul, Baghlan in Afghanistan
India today strongly condemned the "cowardly and barbaric" terror attacks in Kabul and northern Baghlan province of Afghanistan, which killed over 50 people and left dozens injured, in the latest wave of attacks that came ahead of parliamentary and district council elections in the country. Afghan authorities said at least 48 people were killed in a bomb blast outside a voter registration centre in Afghan capital Kabul, while another blast in Baghlan province left five people dead. Referring to the Kabul attack, India said it was not only an attack on innocent civilians but also an attack on the democratic rights of the Afghan people. "What makes this attack particularly reprehensible is the fact that the terrorists and their backers chose to attack a voters' registration centre for the upcoming parliamentary and district council elections. The attack has resulted in the death of Afghans who firmly support and believe in the democratic process to empower themselves and make their ...
Six killed in another Afghanistan explosion
In a second bombing in Afghanistan on Sunday, six persons were killed and five injured as a bomb went off close to a voter registration centre in Baghlan.