Page 656 - War Conflict
Protest against Syria strikes in New York city
A protest against the US-led air strikes on Syria was held at the Union Square in New York city.
Insurgents attack checkpoint in Afghanistan, kill 4: police
An Afghan official says insurgents have killed at least four police in an attack on a checkpoint. Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor in the eastern Ghazni province, says five other police were wounded in the attack late Saturday. He says the militants opened fire on the checkpoint and then targeted reinforcements with a roadside bomb. No one has claimed the attack, but the Taliban are active in the area and control large parts of the province. The Taliban stormed a government compound in another part of Ghazni late Thursday, killing 15 people, including three senior local officials.
UK historian wants 1857 revolt soldier's skull buried in India
A British historian wants the skull of an Indian soldier who was among those executed after the revolt of 1857 against the East India Company to be repatriated to India and buried where he participated in his last battle. Dr Kim Wagner, Senior Lecturer in British Imperial History at Queen Mary College in London, believes the time is right for Havildar Alum Bheg a principle leader of the revolt, which the British characterise as a sepoy mutiny to be buried in his country of birth. His skull had been brought to England by Captain A R Costello, who was on duty when Alum Bheg was executed after the revolt in India. It was discovered years later in a pub in the eastern English coastal town of Walmer in Kent. "His regiment was originally raised at Kanpur, but my suggestion would be for his skull to be buried near the Ravi River, at the border between India and Pakistan, where we know Alum Bheg participated in the Battle of Trimmu Ghat," said Wagner, the author of 'The Skull of Alum Bheg: .
Man injured in clashes sucumbs to injuries
A person who was injured during clashes between protestors and security forces in central Kashmir's Ganderbal district earlier this month, succumbed at a hospital here today, police said. Mohammad Amir Lone, a resident of Chattergul area of Kangan, who was injured during the clashes in Kangan on April 3, succumbed at SKIMS Hospital Soura this morning, a police official said. He said Lone and another youth - Irfan Ahmad - were brought to SKIMS Hospital in an injured condition on April 3 following clashes between protestors and security forces in Kangan. A youth - Gowhar Ahmad Rather was injured, and later succumbed, during clashes in the area a day earlier. Protests erupted in many parts of Kashmir against the killing of civilians during encounters between militants and security forces in Shopian and Anantnag districts on April 1.
Injured Kashmiri youth dies
An 22-year-old youth who was injured in clashes with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, died on Sunday at a hospital here.
US-led airstrikes hit all targets in Syria: Pentagon
The US Defence Department has said airstrikes on Syria had struck all of their targets and none of the coalition's planes or ship-launched missiles had been intercepted by President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
70 IS militants arrested in Turkey
The Turkey police on Saturday arrested 70 Islamic State militants from the country, as per the police sources.Ten foreign suspects, including an, IS senior member, were arrested in central Turkey for their links to the terrorist group, according to a police source, quoted by the Anadolu Agency.The arrests were made in the central Anatolian province of Eskisehir and the terrorists were the nationals of Iraq.Simultaneous raids were carried out at nine addresses in the city as part of a probe launched by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Eskisehir.Later in a separate incident at Istanbul, police arrested 51IS suspects, all foreign nationals, another source said.Police conducted simultaneous raids in six districts of Istanbul and seized numerous documents and digital materials linked to the terrorist group, the source added.More than 300 people lost their lives in IS-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror organization has targeted civilians in the suicide bomb, rocket, and gun .
18 Al-Qaeda inmates escape from prison
Eighteen inmates of the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda branch managed to escape from a prison controlled by the Shiite Houthi rebels in Al-Bayda province, an official has said.
One dead, 20 wounded in Timbuktu 'terror' attack: official
A rocket and car bomb attack left one UN peacekeeper dead, a dozen wounded and another dozen French soldiers hurt at Timbuktu's airport area, Mali's security ministry said today. "A terrorist attack targeted" France's Barkhan camp as well as UN troops stationed outside the northern Mali city during the afternoon, the ministry said on Facebook. A dozen rockets were fired at the two camps with gunmen dressed as UN blue helmets riding two vehicles rigged with bombs. "One of the vehicles exploded, while the second bearing the UN sign was halted," the statement said. The ministry said the latest casualty toll was one UN soldier dead, a dozen wounded, five of them seriously, and a dozen French soldiers also hurt. "The fighting ended towards 18h30. The sector is being searched. The situation is under control," it added. A foreign security source told AFP that the assault was "unprecedented" in Timbuktu. The United Nations had earlier released the same toll for its troops. In a tweet, the UN .
UN forces face 'unprecedented' attack in Mali
An attempted suicide bombing and mortar fire left at least six UN peacekeepers wounded in northern Mali, a foreign security source told AFP. "At least six blue helmets were wounded during an unprecedented attack in Timbuktu," the source said yesterday. In a tweet, the UN force "confirmed a major and complex attack on the camp at Timbuktu this afternoon (mortars + exchanges of fire + suicide attack vehicle)". It made no mention of casualties but said the situation was "under control". "It's the first time there has been an attack on this scale against the MINUSMA in Timbuktu," the security source said, adding that the final casualty toll was still awaited. "We've never seen an attack like this," an official from the Timbuktu governorate told AFP. "Shell fire, rockets, explosions and perhaps even suicide bombers." Unrest in Mali stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising against the state, which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north. More than a ...
Syrian army declares Ghouta rebel enclave fully retaken
The Syrian army has declared that all anti-regime forces had left Eastern Ghouta, nearly two months into a blistering offensive on the rebel enclave on the outskirts of the capital. "All terrorists have left Douma, the last of their holdouts in Eastern Ghouta," state news agency SANA yesterday quoted an army spokesman as saying, using the regime's usual term for rebels. "Areas of Eastern Ghouta in rural Damascus have been fully cleansed of terrorism," an army spokesman also said in a statement delivered on state television. The announcement comes after a massive assault launched by Syrian government and allied forces on February 18 to retake the enclave, which had been out of regime control since 2012. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, at least 1,700 civilians have been killed in bombardment on the enclave in eight weeks. Douma is the main town in what at the start of the year was a sprawling semi-rural area just east of Damascus, home to ..
Toxin used in Salisbury poisoning was not Russian made, Lavrov cites Swiss Lab report
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Saturday that the toxin used to poison former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, was BZ toxin, as confirmed by a Swiss laboratory."Based on the results of the examination, traces of the toxic chemical BZ and its precursors, related to chemical weapons of the second category in accordance with the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, were found in the samples. BZ is a nerve agent temporarily disabling a person. The effect is achieved within 30-50 minutes and lasts up to four days," said Lavrov.However, the most intriguing aspect of his claim remains to be the fact that the toxin has been in the possession of the US and the UK and has never been produced in Russia.Lavrov further questioned the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is investigating the poisoning incident, for not taking into consideration the information about the BZ nerve agent, which, along with Novichok toxin, was
Moscow accuses OPCW of manipulating Skripal probe
Moscow today accused the chemical weapons watchdog of manipulating the results of its probe into the poisoning of a former Russian spy, saying his samples had traces of a nerve agent used by the West. Britain says former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were last month targeted with a nerve agent of the Novichok family which was developed in the Soviet Union. The attack shredded ties between Russia and Britain and led to a severe crisis in relations between Moscow and the West including a huge wave of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said it confirmed "the findings of the United Kingdom relating to the identity of the toxic chemical" without naming the substance involved. Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the OPCW had sent the Skripals' biomedical samples to Swiss experts who found they contained traces of the nerve agent BZ used by the West. "According to the results of the examination, .
Launched airstrikes to cripple chemical weapons infrastructure of Syria: Pentagon
The "precise, overwhelming and effective" military strike in Syria was aimed to "cripple" the chemical weapons infrastructure of the Syrian regime and it succeeded in destroying three chemical weapons facilities in the war-torn country, the Pentagon today said. It said the "precise, overwhelming and effective" military strike in Syria by the US, France and Britain were intended to send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons against its own civilians is inexcusable. The Pentagon said it destroyed three chemical weapons facilities of the Syrian regime. Marine Lt Gen Kenneth F McKenzie director, Joint Staff, told reporters that the US, France and Britain in all deployed 105 missiles against three targets. "Taken together were able to overwhelm the Syrian air defence system," he said. The US assesses that the Syrians fired about 40 missiles in retaliation, but none of them endangered the US forces and its allies. Defensive effort of Syria was ineffective, he said. Pentagon Chief
1 killed, 10 injured after portion of temple collapses
An eight-year-old boy was killed and 10 others injured after a portion of the tower of a temple collapsed during a storm in Howrah district today, police said. The incident happened at Kachol Village under the jurisdiction of Jaipur police station when devotees gathered to offer puja, the police said. A police officer said that the minor died on the spot. The injured were taken to a hospital, he added.
US 'locked and loaded' if Syria uses chemical weapons again: Haley
The US is "locked and loaded" if Syria uses chemical weapons again, America's UN envoy Nikki Haley said today. The US and its allies France and Britain launched air strikes, targeting sites associated with Syria's chemical weapons capabilities. The joint operation was in response to a suspected chemical attack in the city of Douma last week. President Donald Trump "enforces" the red line and the US will sustain the pressure on the war-torn nation, she said. "With yesterday's military action, our message was crystal clear. The United States of America will not allow the Assad regime to continue to use chemical weapons. "Last night, we obliterated the major research facility that it used to assemble weapons of mass murder," Haley told an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Syria here. Haley said she had spoken to President Trump, who said if the Syrian regime uses "this poison gas" again, the United States is "locked and loaded". "When our President draws a red line, our President .
India asks all parties to exercise restraint in Syria
As the US, the UK and France launched air strikes in Syria targeting chemical weapons facilities, India today urged all parties concerned to show restraint and avoid any further escalation in the war-torn country. The External Affairs Ministry said India has taken note of the air strikes in Syria and was closely following the situation. "We have taken note of the recent strikes in Syria. India is closely following the situation. The alleged use of chemical weapons, if true, is deplorable. We call for an impartial and objective investigation by the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) to establish the facts," Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry Raveesh Kumar said. The air strikes by the US, UK and France came in response to a suspected chemical attack on the town of Douma in Syria last week which killed dozens. Kumar said, "In the meantime, we urge all Parties to show restraint and to avoid any further escalation in the situation. The matter should be ..
Terrorism attack foiled in Islamabad, suicide jackets recovered
A terrorism attack was foiled by the law enforcement agencies in Islamabad and two suicide jackets along with arms and ammunition were recovered on Saturday, the media reported.
Phagwara clash: Internet services suspended in four Punjab districts
Internet services were suspended in four districts of Punjab on Saturday after tension gripped the industrial town of Phagwara following clashes between the Hindu and Dalit groups over a poster of Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar.
MEA deplores chemical strikes in Syria
Responding to the recent suspected chemical strikes in Syria, which claimed over 70 lives, a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, on Saturday, condemned the use of chemical weapons, saying India was closely following the situation."We have taken note of the recent strikes in Syria. India is closely following the situation. The alleged use of chemical weapons, if true, is deplorable. We call for an impartial and objective investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to establish the facts. In the meantime, we urge all Parties to show restraint and to avoid any further escalation in the situation. The matter should be resolved through dialogue, negotiations, and on the basis of the principles of the United Nations' Charter and in accordance with the international law. We hope that the long drawn suffering of the people of Syria would come to an end soon," a statement read.On April 7, an unconfirmed chemical strike was carried out in Syria's Douma, a ...