Page 658 - War Conflict
Turkey welcomes strikes on Syria as 'appropriate': foreign ministry
Turkey today welcomed Western strikes targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime as an "appropriate response" in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack that left dozens dead. "We welcome this operation which has eased humanity's conscience in the face of the attack in Douma, largely suspected to have been carried out by the regime," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement. The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of strikes against Assad's regime today a week after the suspected deadly gas attack on the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma. Ankara said the attacks, with weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, that indiscriminately target civilians, "constitute crimes against humanity" and they should not go unpunished. "The Syrian regime, which has been tyrannising its own people for more than seven years, be it with conventional or chemical weapons, has a proven track record of crimes against humanity and war crimes," the ...
All civilised nations must unite to end Syrian civil war: Mattis
A series of air strikes in Syria by the US and its allies were designed to send a "clear message" to President Bashar al-Assad to stop his chemical weapons programme, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today and asked all civilised nations to urgently unite in ending the Syrian civil war. His remarks came after President Donald Trump announced targeted strikes on Syria in collaboration with the UK and France to retaliate against the April 7 chemical attack in the Syrian town of Duma. "The authoritarian Assad regime did not get the message last year as it was hit by American missiles after it carried out chemical weapons attack against its own people," Mattis said adding that it carried used chemical weapons again this year. Emphasising that the strikes are directed at the Syrian regime, Mattis said in conducting these strikes, the US has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian and foreign casualties. "But it is time for all civilized nations to urgently unite in ending the Syrian ...
US says 'large body' of evidence shows Assad regime behind Douma chemical attack
The US has "a large body" of evidence indicating that the Assad regime was responsibile for the April 7 chemical attack in Duma and that Syrian military officials coordinated the attack, the White House said today as it defended the joint air strikes on the war-torn country. The White House released an information sheet making its case for the Syrian regime's involvement in the Duma attack shortly after President Donald Trump announced targeted strikes on Syria in collaboration with the UK and France to retaliate against it. "A large body of information indicates that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in the Duma area of East Ghutah, near Damascus, on April 7, 2018. Our information is consistent and corroborated by multiple sources," the White House statement said. "This conclusion is based on descriptions of the attack in multiple media sources, the reported symptoms experienced by victims, videos and images showing two assessed barrel bombs from the attack, and reliable ...
NATO backs Syria strikes, UN appeals for restraint
The NATO Secretary General on Saturday backed the joint strikes by the US, the UK, and France targeting the Syrian regime's chemical weapons capabilities.
Tension over Ambedkar statue in Punjab town
Tension prevailed in Phagwara town of Punjab's Kapurthala district on Saturday following a late night clash between two groups over the installation of a Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar statue.
Syria says Western attack 'doomed to fail'
Syrian state media slammed Western strikes today as illegal and "doomed to fail," after the US, France, and Britain launched a joint operation against the Damascus government. "The aggression is a flagrant violation of international law, a breach of the international community's will, and it is doomed to fail," said state news agency SANA. Huge blasts were reported around Damascus early today, moments after the US, France, and Britain announced they were striking Syria's chemical weapons capabilities. AFP's correspondent in Damascus said several consecutive blasts were heard at 4:00 am local time, followed by the sound of airplanes overhead. Smoke could be seen emerging from the northern and eastern edges of the capital. SANA reported that the joint operation was targeting military installations around Damascus and near the central city of Homs. It said three civilians were wounded in the Homs attacks but did not give a toll for Damascus or mention any combatant casualties. Several ...
Syria "most serious threat" to int'l peace, security: Guterres
Syria represents the "most serious threat" to international peace and security, UN chief Antonio Guterres said today, urging all the member states to show restraint and avoid any acts that could escalate the situation and worsen suffering of the Syrian people. Guterres remarks came in the wake of combined military air strikes by the US, the UK and France against President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime. "I have been following closely the reports of air strikes in Syria conducted by the US, France and the UK. There's an obligation, particularly when dealing with matters of peace and security, to act consistently with the Charter of the United Nations and with international law in general. The UN Charter is very clear on these issues," he said. He said the Security Council had "primary responsibility" for the maintenance of international peace and security and called on the members of the Security Council to "unite and exercise" that responsibility. "Syria indeed today represents the ..
'US struck Syria when it had chance at peace'
The US and its allies delivered a military strike against Syria precisely at the moment when the country received a chance for a peaceful future, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Strikes hit Syria as country had 'chance for peaceful future': Moscow
Russia's foreign ministry said today that Western strikes on Syria came as the country had "a chance of a peaceful future." Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook: "those behind all this claim moral leadership in the world and declare they are exceptional. You need to be really exceptional to shell Syria's capital at the moment when it had gained a chance of a peaceful future." Huge blasts were reported around Damascus early today, moments after the US, France, and Britain announced they were striking Syria's chemical weapons capabilities. The joint operation came one week after a suspected chemical attack outside Damascus left more than 40 people dead. Zakharova suggested that Western media bore some responsibility for the strikes, claiming the White House cited "multiple media sources" on the suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma. "American and other Western media must understand their responsibility for what happened," Zakharova wrote. The Russian ...
France's Macron says Syria strikes target 'regime chemical weapons capacity'
French President Emmanuel Macron said that France had joined the US and Britain in an ongoing operation of strikes to target "the capacities of the Syrian regime to produce and use chemical weapons". "We cannot tolerate the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons," he said in a statement issued shortly after huge explosions were heard in Syria's capital early Saturday followed by the sound of airplanes overhead. For Macron, "the facts and the responsibility of the Syrian regime are not in doubt," concerning the "deaths of dozens of men, women and children" in what he said was a chemical weapons attack on April 7 in Douma. "The red line set by France in May 2017 has been crossed," he said. "I have ordered the French army to intervene tonight as part of the international operation in coalition with the US and Britain directed against the secret chemical arsenal of the Syrian regime," he said.
US, allies strike Syria over suspected chemical attack
The US, UK and France launched coordinated strikes against Syrian research, storage and military targets as President Donald Trump sought to "punish" his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack that killed over 70 people, media reports said.
US launches 'precision srikes' on Syria as UK, France join in
In a combined operation, the US, Britain and France today launched military strikes against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime, President Donald Trump announced, as he alleged the war-torn nation of using chemical weapons against its own people. The US president claimed that the joint action was meant to establish a "strong deterrent" against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. Trump said he has ordered "precision strikes" against Syria, where dozens of people were killed last weekend in a suspected toxic gas attack on Douma, the largest town in a former rebel stronghold outside Damascus. "These are not the actions of a man; they are crimes of a monster instead," Trump said in an address to the nation. Describing the strike as a deterrent, Trump said the US would maintain pressure on Syria until the Assad regime suspends use of chemical weapons. "America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria," he said, thanking the UK and France for joining the US in its fight ...
Manoj's Mantra: Never back down in face of adversity
His ancestry goes back to the third battle of Panipat, and Manoj Kumar, a rare Indian boxer to have claimed two Commonwealth Games medals, says his career too has been about fighting wars both inside and outside the ring. A gold-medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Manoj signed off with a bronze medal at the ongoing edition in the welterweight 69kg division after losing to England's Pat McCormack last night. His is a rare feat which has also been achieved by a certain Vijender Singh but minus the gold medal. The 31-year-old Manoj is exuberance personified when he gets down to talking about life and boxing. The many medals are punctuated by many stories of disappointment as well but his thoughts have never veered towards giving up, much like the small army of Marathas that fought the Afghan invaders way back in 1761. "A Maratha in Haryana, how does that even sound? I belong to the Ror community, descendants of the Maratha soldiers who fought Afghans during the ..
Abducted journalists are dead, says Ecuador president
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has said that the three journalists abducted last month near the Colombian border are dead.
US, France, Britain launch strikes on Syria: Trump
President Donald Trump announced today that a joint US-British-French operation had been launched on Syria, targeting the "criminal" regime of Bashar al-Assad and saying an alleged chemical attack had marked a "significant escalation." "A short time ago, I ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad," Trump said in a primetime televised address to the nation. "A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way. We thank them both. This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime.
UN chief warns of full-blown military escalation in Syria
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of the danger of a full-blown military escalation in Syria.
Kidnapped journalist team killed in Ecuador
Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno today confirmed the deaths of three members of a journalist team kidnapped by renegade Colombian rebels -- and launched a retaliatory military operation in the area where they were snatched. The three men were kidnapped on March 26 while covering a story on violence along the border with Colombia, where Ecuadoran forces have been battling Colombian guerrillas engaged in drug trafficking. Announcing their deaths after the expiry of a tense 12-hour deadline for the kidnappers to prove the trio was still alive -- or face a "forceful" response -- Morales said he had ordered an operation in the area involving crack troops from the police and the army. "Sadly, we have information confirming the murder of our fellow countrymen," he told reporters in Quito, two hours after the ultimatum expired, warning the kidnappers of a forceful response if they didn't comply. "We have resumed ... military and police operations in the strip of land by the border where they .
Gunmen kill 26 in attacks on herding villages in Nigeria
Gunmen have killed 26 people in northern Nigeria's Zamfara state, in the latest in a series of attacks blamed on cattle thieves, a local official said today. Men on motorcycles attacked gold miners near Kuru-Kuru village in Anka district late Thursday and clashed with residents from a nearby village who had mobilised in anticipation of the assault. "We buried 26 people killed in the two attacks by the armed bandits," chairman of Anka local government Mustapha Gado Anka told AFP. "The victims were miners from Kuru-Kuru that were attacked and residents of Jarkuka village who had come to help their neighbours," Anka said. He said the assailants ambushed the group of volunteers from Jarkuka who had come to help. Zamfara state police spokesman Mohammed Shehu confirmed the attack, but declined to give details "until after the police commissioner is briefed". The killings were the latest round of tit-for-tat attacks by cattle thieves on farming communities in the state. Last month, at least
India to host conference aimed at checking proliferation of WMDs
India will next week host a global conference aimed at helping nations to implement a UN resolution that seeks to check proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to terrorists and other non-state actors, the External Affairs Ministry said today. The ministry, in cooperation with Germany and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), will host the India-Wiesbaden Conference 2018 from April 16-17, 2018, at the Federation House here. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) will be the industry partner for the event titled Securing Global Supply Chains through Government-Industry Partnerships towards Effective Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1540'. Representatives from the government and Industry of 39 countries, as well as experts from the UNSC 1540 Committee and UN Office for Disarmament Affairs in New York, will be participating in the two-day conference, the MEA said. The Conference provides an opportunity to participants ..
Indian, Russian companies signs 7 defence related agreements
Indian companies and Russian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) on Friday signed seven MoUs on the sidelines of DefExpo 2018 here on Friday, an official statement said.