Page 673 - War Conflict
Mortal remains of youths from Himachal killed in Iraq consigned to flames
The mortal remains of four people from Himachal killed by the Islamic State terror group in Iraq's Mosul were consigned to flames in their native villages today. Of the four youths, Aman Kumar, Inderjeet and Sandeep Kumar were from Kangra district while Hem Raj hailed from Mandi district. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kishan Kapoor and Kangra Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar received the mortal remains of the four youths at the Amritsar International Airport late last night, officials said, adding that the bodies were handed over to the families this morning.
BJP government responsible for Rajasthan's deteriorating law and order: Pilot
Congress' Rajasthan unit chief Sachin Pilot blamed the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in the state for the deteriorating law and order situation, courtesy the divide and rule policy it had adopted.
Houses of Dalit MLA, ex-MLA set afire in Rajasthan
The houses of a sitting and a former MLA, both Dalits, were set afire by a violent mob this afternoon in Rajasthan's Karauli district following which curfew was imposed in the area, a senior official said. A mob comprising nearly 5,000 people set ablaze houses of sitting MLA Rajkumari Jatav and former MLA Bharosilal Jatav in the Hindaun City, District Collector, Karauli, Abhimanyu Kumar told PTI. While Rajkumari Jatav is from the ruling BJP, Bharosilal Jatav is a former Congress legislator who also served as a minister in the state. The incident occurred a day after Rajasthan and several other states saw large scale protests and violence during a 'bandh' called by Dalit organisations. Considering the law and order situation, curfew was clamped in the city till Wednesday morning, Kumar added. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested under preventive sections of law in the last two days of protest and 175 cases registered against anti-social elements, officials said. Rajasthan Home Minister ...
ULFA cadre nabbed in Nalbari
A United Liberated Front of Assam (ULFA) cadre was apprehended from Barkura in Assam's Nalbari district on Tuesday.The cadre was apprehended when a joint operation was launched by the Red Horns Division (a.k.a. 21st Mountain Division) of the Indian Army and Assam Police on Monday night.The troops of the unit established a Special Mobile Check Post (MCP) at Barkura Chowk on National Highway 31 and during the conduct of a routine search; the ULFA cadre was apprehended.He was found in possession of a nine mm factory made revolver along with two live rounds.The convict, along with the seized weapon and ammunition, has been handed over to the Nalbari Police Station for further investigation.
MP Minister whose home was attacked promotes peace
Madhya Pradesh Minister Lal Singh Arya on Tuesday said he believes in peace. The Minister's statement came after police foiled an attempt to storm the residence of Arya in Bhind district earlier in the day.The mob, which was protesting over the alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Act, reportedly pelted stones on Arya's residence.Arya, a Dalit, was not home when the incident took place.Talking to ANI, Arya said that the Congress workers were involved in the stone pelting."I was not at my residence when stone pelting at my house took place. It is today that I got to know that some Congress workers were involved in this," Arya told ANI.The 'Happiness Minister', however, said, "I believe in peace, even if they (Congress) continue to throw stones.Meanwhile, the death toll in Madhya Pradesh due to violent protests during the nationwide bandh called by several Dalit organisations has reached seven after one more person succumbed to its injuries.Protests across ..
1 peacekeeper killed, 11 wounded in C. Africa attack:UN
A peacekeeper was killed and 11 others were wounded when a UN base came under attack today in the Central African Republic, the UN spokesman said. Anti-balaka fighters attacked the temporary base in Tagbara, near the southern city of Bambari, triggering "several hours of exchange of fire," aid UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
UK lab 'hasn't identified' source of nerve agent used on spy
The head of the British military facility analysing the Novichok nerve agent used to poison Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter said today it has "not identified the precise source" of the substance. Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of the Porton Down defence laboratory, told Britain's Sky News that analysts had identified it as military-grade Novichok, but they had not proved it was made in Russia. "We have not identified the precise source, but we have provided the scientific info to government who have then used a number of other sources to piece together the conclusions," he said. "It is our job to provide the scientific evidence of what this particular nerve agent is, we identified that it is from this particular family and that it is a military grade, but it is not our job to say where it was manufactured." Aitkenhead added that "extremely sophisticated methods" were needed to create the nerve agent, and that was "something only in the capabilities of a state ...
Saudi coalition says Yemeni rebels attack Red Sea oil tanker
Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea today, causing "minor damage" to the ship, the Saudi-led coalition battling the rebels said. Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said the attack occurred at 1:30 pm (local time) in international waters west of the port of Hodeida in Yemen, which is under Houthi control. The coalition said a naval ship belonging to a member country rapidly intervened, without giving further details. The statement did not immediately provide details on the type of weapon used or the extent of the damage. Al-Malki said a coalition naval ship accompanied the oil tanker until it completed its navigation north. Pictures carried by state-run Saudi al-Ekhbariya TV showed a hole ripped through the side of the ship but no oil leaking out. The coalition spokesman described it as a "terrorist attack" that threatens commercial shipping routes in the vital Bab al-Mandeb strait, used for oil shipments from the Gulf to Europe, as well as goods from .
Strike call by separatists disrupts normal life in parts of Kashmir
Normal life was paralysed in Kashmir for the second day today on a strike call given by separatists to protest the killings in encounters in Shopian and Anantnag districts on Sunday even as restrictions on movement of people continued to be imposed in three districts and some parts of the city as a precautionary measure, officials said. There were reports of fresh clashes between protesters and security forces in Kangan area of Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district in which atleast two persons were injured, police said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked the security forces to ensure that standard operating procedures were followed and collateral damage avoided while dealing with security situations. The chief minister was reviewing the overall situation in the Valley in a high-level meeting of officers here, an official spokesman said. The chief minister impressed upon the officers dealing with security situation to ensure that collateral damage is avoided and all the ...
Sub-Inspector succumbs to injuries sustained during 'Bharat Bandh' protest
Sub-Inspector Mahendra Chaudhary, who was injured in the nationwide protests, organised by various Dalit outfits yesterday, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.Chaudhary had reportedly received head, upper and lower body injuries, mostly from the pelting of stones that the agitated protesters had resorted to during the 'Bharat Bandh' protests yesterday.He was admitted to a hospital in Jodhpur, but as his health was increasingly deteriorating (he had six heart attacks since he was admitted), he was being moved to a different hospital in Ahmedabad and a seventh heart attack claimed his life en route.The nationwide bandh was called by Dalit organisations on Monday against the Supreme Court's ruling that allegedly diluted the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.Even as the Centre filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, protests turned violent after protesters resorted to stone pelting, damaging private and public properties including cars, shops, etc and blocking trains.Violent ...
92 injured in Dalit violence: Haryana police
Eight civilians and 84 police officials were injured in yesterday's violence during 'Bharat band', Haryana police said today. Also, 100 persons have been arrested for attempting to cause damage to public property and indulge in acts of violence in various parts of the state, they said. Minor damage was caused to 24 government and 60 private vehicles during the protest, Director General of Police, BS Sandhu said. There were reports of stone-pelting on two trains, he said, adding that six shops suffered minor damage. Normal life was paralysed in Haryana while rail and road traffic too was adversely affected as Dalit organisations staged protests alleging "dilution" of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as part of the nationwide bandh call.
100 arrested in Haryana for violence during SC protest
The Haryana Police have arrested 100 people for violent incidents related to the protest called by Scheduled Castes organizations on Monday, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.
Soldier killed, four others injured in Pakistan firing on LoC
One of the five soldiers injured on Tuesday in Pakistan shelling and firing on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district has succumbed in hospital, a defence official said.
Rs 3 lakh looted from elderly man in UP
Two motorcycle-borne unidentified youths today looted Rs 3 lakh from a retired Railway employee here. Sundar Lal Baghel had withdrawn the money from SBI's Chowki Bag Bahadur branch here and was returning home on a cycle when he made a brief stop at a shop, police said. As he was preparing to leave the shop, the miscreants snatched his bag of cash and fled, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Preeti Singh said. "A case has been filed against the unidentified miscreants and the hunt for them is on," she said.
Senior Naxal leader, two others killed in encounter: police
A senior Naxal leader, his wife and another woman rebel were killed in an alleged encounter with police in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra today. The encounter took place in Sirkonda forest of Sironcha tehsil this morning, said a police release here. A team of C-60 commandos, the special anti-Naxal unit of Gadchiroli police, was conducting a combing operation when the Naxals opened fire on them, it said. After a brief gun-battle, the rebels fled, leaving behind bodies of three Naxals, police claimed. Two of the slain Naxals were identified as Sunil alias Vilas Mara Kulmethe (39), 'a divisional commander' who carried a reward of Rs 16 lakh on his head, and his wife Swarupa alias Aamsi Pocha Talandi. The third Naxal, a woman, wasn't identified, police said. Kulmethe was involved in the Naxal movement since 2001 and had 39 serious cases registered against him, while his wife was involved in Naxal activities since 2003 and was carrying a reward of Rs 6 lakh on her head, ...
Militant, over-ground worker arrested by security forces in J-K
A militant and an over-ground worker (OGW) were arrested today by security forces from the Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said. Parvaiz Ahmad, an active militant, and OGW, identified as Aamir, both residents of the Awantipora area in Pulwama district, were apprehended by security forces from Hygam in the Sopore area of Baramulla district, a police official said. He said some arms and ammunition were seized from their possession.
Five Cameroonian soldiers killed in suspected Boko Haram attack
Five Cameroonian soldiers have been killed in an attack on a military post in the far north of the country, sources said. The five, one of whom was an officer, were killed on Monday night in the village of Sagme, close to the Nigerian border and the Lake Chad region, according to relatives and local sources. Three other soldiers were wounded. No one has claimed responsibility for the killings but the area has seen many incursions by the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram in the past. The Cameroonian army has not commented. Cameroon, along with Chad and Niger, has joined a military effort by Nigeria to crush Boko Haram, a militant movement opposed to Western influence and seeking an Islamic state based on Sharia law, but the countries have increasingly seen the conflict spread across their borders. Since 2014, the group has killed 2,000 civilians and soldiers and kidnapped about 1,000 people in northern Cameroon, according to an analysis by the International Crisis Group (ICG) think ...
4 Christians among 9 killed in twin attacks in Pakistan
Nine people, including four of a family from the minority Christian community in Pakistan, were killed in two separate attacks in Quetta in the south-western Balochistan province, police said. The ISIS claimed responsibility for the first attack in which unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a rickshaw in which a Christian family was travelling on Quetta's Shah Zaman road. All four died on the spot while a woman was injured and rushed to a hospital, Provincial Police Chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said, adding that her father and three cousins were killed in the firing. The attack on the Christians, he said, appeared to be a targeted attack. "We are investigating whether it was a targeted attack due to personal enmity or sectarian reasons," he said. The Christians on Sunday had celebrated Easter in Pakistan and the family had come to celebrate with their relatives from Lahore. Shortly after the attack on the Christian family in the evening, two groups clashed with each other ..
40,000 civilians return home in Syria's Eastern Ghouta
A total of 40,000 civilians have returned home in the Syrian capital's Eastern Ghouta, where the Army nearly gained full control, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.
Arms watchdog to meet over UK-Russia spy poison case
The world's chemical weapons watchdog said it would hold a meeting at Russia's request tomorrow to discuss Britain's allegations that Moscow was behind the poisoning of an ex-spy in England. "The chairperson of the Executive Council... has received a request by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation... to convene a meeting of the Executive Council," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said today on its website. It said the meeting behind closed doors will start at 10:00 am at the OPCW's headquarters in The Hague. Britain has said it is "highly likely" that Moscow was responsible for an attempt to poison former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the quiet English city of Salisbury on March 4. London has accused Russia of using the Novichok nerve agent, developed in the latter days of the Soviet Union. Moscow has angrily denied any involvement. In a letter dated last Thursday, Russia's ambassador to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin asked