Page 70 - War Conflict

At least 8 Afghan police killed in airstrike: Official

At least eight Afghan police were killed in an airstrike during a clash with the Taliban, an official said Friday, in the latest incident of potential friendly fire in the conflict. Police were fighting the Taliban in Helmand province late Thursday when the Afghan forces called for air support. "I can confirm an airstrike on the Afghan police, and unfortunately, eight police were killed and 12 others were wounded," Omar Zwak, Helmand provincial government spokesman told AFP. The death toll was confirmed by interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi on Facebook. He said 11 more police had been wounded in the strike. Rahimi said a joint delegation has been appointed to investigate the incident. Meanwhile, another official -- head of the Helmand provincial council Ataullah Afghan -- gave a different toll, saying 18 Afghan police were killed and 14 others were wounded. Only Afghan and US forces in Afghanistan conduct airstrikes. There was no immediate comment from US forces. Afghan and US

US forces kill 17 Afghan police officers by mistake

At least 17 Afghan police officers were killed and 14 others injured after the US Air Force mistakenly targeted its allies, an official said on Friday.

Cases filed against BJP man, 2 others for ruckus at MNM poll meet

Cases have been registered against a local BJP functionary and two others for allegedly throwing eggs and stones at the dais from where Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan was addressing an election meeting near Aravakurichi in the district, police said Friday. The missiles did not hit anybody and no one was injured, they said. The incident happened on Thursday when Haasan was getting off the stage after completing his address. MNM workers roughed up two people suspected to have hurled stones and eggs, before police rescued them and took them away for questioning. The incident came a day after a footwear was hurled towards a vehicle from which Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday evening. Haasan, founder of new political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), kicked up a controversy this week with his comment that "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", a reference to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram .

Naxal involved in killing of C'garh BJP MLA arrested

A Naxal allegedly involved in the killing of BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi and four policemen in an IED attack last month, was Friday arrested in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, police said. The rebel, identified as Jivan alias Hemla, carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was apprehended by local police near Dantewada jail here, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said. After receiving an input by neighbouring Sukma district police that a few Naxal cadres were about to meet their colleagues lodged in Dantewada jail, police swung into action, he said. On sensing the presence of police personnel, around four suspects tried to flee from the spot. One of them was nabbed, while rest others escaped in the forest, he said. Hemla, a native of Gangaloor area in neighbouring Bijapur district, was active as in-charge of Chetna Natya Mandli (CNM)- a cultural wing of Maoists and member of Malangir Area Committee, Pallava said. Maoists have given a 'bandh' call on ...

German military resumes training mission in Iraq

The German Defence Ministry says it's resuming its military training mission in Iraq after a re-evaluation of the security situation determined the threat level had lessened. The Ministry said Friday the re-assessment was a joint assessment by coalition forces serving in Iraq, which is led by the United States. Last week, the US said they'd detected signs of Iranian preparations for potential attacks on US forces and interests in the Middle East, and the threat assessment in Iraq was raised to its highest level. That prompted Germany to suspend its training of Iraqi soldiers in the north, and ordered the 160 German soldiers to stay on base. The Ministry says the threat level has now been lowered, so its soldiers can again leave their base and would "soon" resume their mission.

US to support SL's fight against terrorism, aid agency offers $480mn grant

The United States on Thursday reiterated support for Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. The support came in the wake of the Easter Sunday coordinated bombings which killed more than 250 people across the country last month.US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo met Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana here on Thursday and the two attended a high-level meeting that focused on security, counter-terrorism and transnational organised crime among other matters.In a statement, the State Department said, "The Secretary (Pompeo) reiterated the United States' condemnation of the attacks that Sri Lanka suffered last month, which also killed five Americans and strong US support for Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism.""Foreign Minister Marapana noted appreciation for U.S. support in the aftermath of the bombings and conveyed Sri Lanka's interest in deepening cooperation to prevent future attacks," the statement said.Pompeo and Marapana further welcomed the approval of a USD 480 .

'Srinagar airport, Awantipora base always at high alert'

The Srinagar airport and the Indian Air Force airbase at Awantipora are already at high alert for over a decade and a half, officials said on Friday in wake of reports about heightened security following an imminent terror threat.

IS claims deadly Niger attack: propaganda arm

The Islamic State group Thursday claimed an ambush on an army patrol in Niger that killed at least 28 troops. A military patrol was ambushed on Tuesday near the village of Tongo Tongo in the western Tillaberi region, near the Mali border, security sources told AFP. The ambush came one day after insurgents attacked Niger's high-security Koutoukale jail, which holds the country's most dangerous detainees, including jihadists from groups active in the Sahel area and from Nigeria's Boko Haram. IS claimed responsibility for both the ambush and the prison attack in a statement published on its social media channels. It said Tuesday's ambush killed and wounded around 40 soldiers. Niger is one of a number of poor, fragile countries in the Sahel region that have been hit by jihadist violence.

Sri Lanka Muslims pray at vandalised mosques

Sri Lanka's minority Muslims attended Friday prayers as heavily armed troops and police guarded all mosques, including those badly vandalised in riots in the wake of the Easter terror attacks. Police said security would remain tight over the weekend for a major Buddhist festival as well as the 10th anniversary of the ending of the country's decades-long Tamil separatist war. Clerics said some of the damaged mosques cleared out glass shards and other debris and conducted services with attendance at a high level. "We had about 450 to 500 people," M. I. M. Siddeeque, the trustee of the riot-hit Kinyama mosque in the worst affected North-Western Province told AFP by telephone. "There were six soldiers outside the mosques and many more police at the top of the road." Siddeeque said his mosque was cleared of the debris, but windows, furniture and the public address system were yet to be replaced. In the town of Minuwangoda, the faithful packed the first floor of the two-storeyed Hujjaj ...

Indonesia arrests dozens of terror suspects ahead of poll results

Indonesian police said Friday that they have arrested dozens of Islamic-State linked terror suspects, including some who planned to detonate bombs at political demonstrations when election results are announced next week. Some 29 suspects were rounded up this month alone, with 60 in all detained since the start of the year in raids across the Southeast Asian nation, they said. Eight other suspects had been killed in confrontations with authorities, police said, including the wife of a militant who blew up herself and a child following a dramatic standoff at their home in March. Some arrested suspects were skilled bomb makers and had fought alongside the jihadist group in Syria, as well as members of local extremist network Jemaah Anshurat Daulah (JAD), police said. JAD has pledged allegiance to IS and was blamed for a wave of suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya last year. The world's biggest Muslim majority nation has seen a string of attacks by ...

Curfew remains in Bhaderwah after cow vigilantes kill man

Curfew continued for the second day on Friday in tension-ridden Bhaderwah town of Jammu and Kashmir after one man was killed by so-called cow vigilantes a day ago.

Principal, teacher linked to SL terror group arrested

A principal and a teacher were arrested in Sri Lanka for alleged links to the Islamist group National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), which has been blamed for the Easter suicide bombings, police said on Friday.

17 policemen killed in friendly airstrike, says Helmand provincial council

At least 17 Afghan policemen were killed in a friendly airstrike carried by the Coalition Forces in Nahr-e-Saraj district in the southern Helmand province on Friday, said the provincial council.Attaullah Afghan, head of the provincial council, said that at least 17 policemen were killed in the airstrike which was carried by the Coalition Forces "by mistake", reported Tolo News.However, Afghan's Interior ministry has said that the death toll is seven and that too is not clear whether the casualties were due to friendly airstrike or scuffle with Taliban.The ministry said at least 11 other policemen have suffered injuries.Attaullah Afghan, head of Helmand Provincial Council, said that at least 17 policemen were killed in the airstrike which was carried by the Coalition Forces "by mistake".Coalition forces led by the United States of America with it allied forces--United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Poland-- are deployed in West Asia and middle east.

Separatist call shutdown over civilian killing in J&K

A separatist-called protest shutdown on Friday over civilian deaths during an anti-terror operation found support in the valley as shops, public transport, businesses and educational institutions remained closed here in the city and other places in Jammu and Kashmir.

Civilian among three killed in Shopian gunfight

While a police statement said that three militants were killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, it was confirmed later that one of the victim was a civilian.

Kamal Haasan asks party cadre to maintain decorum, not to be drawn into violence

Amid incidents such as hurling of stones and footwear during his bypoll campaign, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan Thursday asked his fans to be maintain decorum and "not to be drawn into the violence". Haasan had stoked a controversy on Sunday by saying "free India's first extremist was a Hindu", referring to Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi. "Dear MNM family and fans, this is an acid test for our decorum and demeanour. Do not listen to their noises and be drawn into their violence," he said in a tweet. "They are extremists who are slighted by the Truth. Naalai Namadhey! (Tomorrow belongs to us), " he added. While footwear was thrown during the actor's bypoll campaign at Thirupparankundram in Madurai on Wednesday, stones and eggs were hurled during a public meeting on Thursday at Aravakurichi in Karur district by unidentified persons. MNM workers had allegedly beaten up the persons suspected to have thrown stones and eggs.

Lebanon bids farewell to prominent ex-Maronite patriarch

Lebanon on Thursday laid to rest the former patriarch of its Maronite church Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir after a packed religious service for the respected power-broker. Sfeir, who wielded considerable political influence during the country's civil war and was an ardent advocate of a Syrian troop withdrawal, was buried in the seat of the Maronite church in the northern town of Bkirki. Hundreds of mourners took part in the funeral, including clergymen and local and foreign dignitaries, among them French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. "He was a man of peace," Le Drian said. "Throughout his entire life, he was an architect of Lebanese national reconciliation." Cardinal Leonardo Sandri led a delegation from the Vatican. Sfeir was a "free and courageous man" who sought reconciliation and sovereignty for his country, Sandri told mourners. The former patriarch died on Sunday, two weeks after he was hospitalised with a chest infection. "Sfeir's death is a loss to the nation," said the ...

'Worried' over conflict, Italian PM tells Libyan warlord

Rome, May 16 (IANS/AKI) Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had a lengthy meeting with Libya's eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar on Thursday and told him of Italy's "concern" at the "extremely critical" situation in war-wracked Tripoli.

State police, QRT to maintain law and order in Bengal: EC

Law and order in the final phase polls in West Bengal on Sunday will be maintained by the Quick Response Teams (QRT) and the state police, Special Observer Ajay V. Nayak said on Thursday.

Maharashtra ATS detains 4 people from J&K in Latur

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has detained four people from Jammu and Kashmir in the state's Latur town for suspected links with militant organisations in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said here on Thursday.