Page 707 - War Conflict
47 security personnel killed in Chhattisgarh in 13 years
As many as 47 security personnel have been killed in Chhattisgarh's Naxal-affected Bastar region since 2005.According to statistics, nearly 10 anti-landmine vehicles were attacked and blown up in major and minor incidents in Bastar that claimed lives of 47 security men and 42 injured since 2005.According to experts, the Naxalites know that an anti-landmine vehicle can withstand 20 kg of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and hence they are using about 50 kg to target convoy of vehicles respectively.The Chhattisgarh government had considered the anti-landmine vehicle 'safe' to tackle the insurgents. However, considering the figures, it has proved to be a failure.Another challenge that the experts warned is, Bastar, which is rich in minerals and has a large abundance of iron-ore, gave the Naxalites a huge advantage as they have advanced to stuffing explosives in plastic containers instead of tins, which are not easily detected by mine-detection equipment.Among the major incidents in ...
Kabul explosion death toll rises to three
The death toll in an explosion that took place in Kabul on Saturday morning has risen to three.It was earlier reported that two had died in the incident that occurred near Jalalabad Road in Kabul's PD9 area.Police were quoted by Tolo News, as saying that a suicide car bomber had detonated his explosives near a compound housing foreign contractors at around 9 a.m.Afghanistan's Interior Ministry also confirmed that four other people had been injured in the incident.The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Rajapaksa-backed Joint Opposition moves no confidence motion against PM
Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa-backed Joint Opposition has moved a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who was recently replaced as law and order minister after clashes erupted in the central Kandy district. Joint Opposition (JO) parliamentarian Ranjith Soysa said the motion of no confidence against the 68-year-old Wickremesinghe will be handed over to Speaker of parliament next week when the House resumes. Rajapaksa told reporters yesterday that they were close to topple the government. "He (Wickremesinghe) will have to go soon," Rajapaksa said. The JO said the motion against Wickremesinghe will contain charges of economic mismanagement by him during the last 3 years. It said that even some members of Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) would sign the motion. Among the top most charges against Wickremesinghe would be the alleged scandal in the Central Bank bond issues in 2015 and 2016, Sonysa said. Wickremesinghe is accused of ...
Three killed in Kabul suicide bombing
At least three people were and four others injured in a suicide bombing here on Saturday, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said.
Militants attack J&K cop
A group of militants on Saturday attacked a senior Jammu and Kashmir Police officer in Shopian district when he was traveling in a bullet-proof vehicle.
Taliban claims deadly car bomb attack in Kabul
A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul today, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as the group comes under growing pressure to take up the Afghan government's offer of peace talks. "Around 9:10 am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP. Two civilians were killed and three others were wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work. Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majrooh told AFP at least four people had been wounded. Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the bomber was heading towards global security company G4S but "detonated himself before reaching the target". The deadly attack - the latest in a series in the war-weary Afghan capital - comes days after the top US general in Afghanistan said ...
7 killed in US copter crash in Iraq
All seven members aboard the US military helicopter HH-60 which crashed in western Iraq near the Syria border were declared dead early on Saturday.All seven service members aboard a US helicopter were killed. The aircraft crashed in western Iraq a day earlier, the Dawn quotes US officials at Pentagon.The crash did not appear to be the result of enemy activity and is under investigation, the Pentagon officials added.US Army Brigadier Jonathan P. Braga condemned the incident while reiterating the risks being faced by the servicemen each day."This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women face every day in service of our nations. We are thinking of the loved ones of these service members today," Dawn quotes Braga.The Pentagon further informed that an accompanying US helicopter immediately reported the crash that enabled a quick-reaction force comprised of Iraqi security forces and coalition members to reach the spot and secure the scene.The names of those killed will be released .
Militants fire at senior cop's cavalcade in J&K
Suspected militants today attacked a senior police officer's cavalcade in south Kashmir's Shopian district, but there was no loss of life, police said. The militants fired at the cavalcade of senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Shopian A S Dinkar in Harmain area of the district, a police official said. He said the firing was retaliated by police personnel, forcing the militants to flee. There are no reports of loss of life on either side, the official said, adding further details are awaited.
Car bomb rocks Kabul, multiple casualties: officials
A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul today, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others, an Afghan official said. "Around 9:10am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish told AFP, adding the target of the attack was not clear. Two civilians were killed and three others wounded in the attack, Danish said. The blast happened at a time when many people would have been driving to work. Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majrooh told AFP at least four people had been wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast which came days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the capital was "our main effort". It also comes amid growing pressure on the Taliban, the largest militant group in the country, to take up the Afghan government's offer of peace talks to end the 16-year conflict.
Canada to send peacekeepers to Mali: official
Canada will send peacekeepers backed by helicopters to the troubled west African nation of Mali before autumn, a government source said today. Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan is to provide details of the number of troops on Monday, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity about what will be Canada's first mission to Africa since Rwanda in 1994. Jihadists have ramped up their activities in central Mali in recent months, targeting domestic and foreign forces in violence once confined to the country's north. Four UN peacekeepers were killed and four were wounded in late February when a mine exploded under their vehicle in central Mali. Islamic extremists linked to Al-Qaeda took control of Mali's desert north in early 2012, but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. In June 2015, Mali's government signed a peace agreement with some armed groups, but the jihadists remain active, and large tracts of the country are lawless. In ...
4 IS terrorists killed in Afghanistan
At least four militants belonging to the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) have been killed in the latest airstrike conducted by the United States in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.Khaama Press quoted the 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East as saying that the US military carried out an airstrike on ISIS hideout in the past 24 hours using the unmanned aerial vehicle.One insurgent was also injured in the airstrike, the Afghan Military said.IS has not commented on the airstrike so far.Last week, at least 15 militants of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in a similar airstrike in the eastern Kunar province.
Spy poisoning: Putin most likely behind attack, says Britain
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "overwhelmingly likely" to have ordered the nerve agent attack on an ex-spy and his daughter, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said.
Turkish air strike hits hospital in Syria's Afrin: monitor, medics
A Turkish bombing raid struck the main hospital in the Kurdish-controlled Syrian town of Afrin, killing sixteen civilians, a monitor said. The Kurdish Red Crescent medical service, which supports the hospital, confirmed to AFP the hospital was hit but did not give a toll. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Turkish air strike "directly" hit the medical facility. "Sixteen civilians were killed, including two pregnant women," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. No medical staff were among the dead, he told AFP. Serwan Bery, co-chair of the Kurdish Red Crescent and based in the northeast Syria town of Qamishli, also said no hospital staff were known to have died. "There was bombing on the city during the day that got close to the hospital, but this evening it was directly hit," said Bery. "It was the only functioning hospital in Afrin city," he said. Turkey and allied rebels have waged a nearly two-month offensive on the Afrin region, which is ...
Burundi frees political detainees after pardon
Burundi today freed 740 prisoners, most of whom had been imprisoned after taking part in protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza in 2015, the government announced. The detainees were released from Bujumbura's Mpimba prison -- the country's largest -- after a ceremony presided over by Justice Minister Aimee-Laurentine Kanyana, with several western ambassadors in attendance. Their release came in the wake of a presidential pardon at the turn of last year. Of the 740 released, 450 had been "sentenced for taking part in the insurrectional movement of 2015," Kanyana said, using the official term for protests that ran from late April to mid-June 2015. A western diplomat who saw the ceremony said, "We heard that there would be many prisoners of opinion who were freed." "It's good news if that's the case," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We will check before speaking on an official basis." In 2015, the authorities released a number of opposition candidates, again
Death and exodus as two Syria assaults escalate
Air strikes killed dozens of civilians in Eastern Ghouta and forced thousands to flee their homes today as Syrian and allied forces pressed their blistering assault on the six-year-old rebel stronghold. At least 76 civilians were killed as the toll for the month-old assault near Damascus continued to mount and world powers remained unable to stop one of the seven-year conflict's worst crises. The war entered its eighth year with another deadly assault unfolding in the north, where Turkish-led forces pressed an operation to seize the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin, sending thousands more civilians on to the roads. Turkish artillery fire killed 27 civilians on Friday in the city of Afrin, where remaining residents were stocking up on food in preparation for a fully-fledged siege. On the edge of Ghouta, a sprawling semi-rural area within mortar range of central Damascus, hundreds of civilians were still streaming out of destroyed towns, carrying scant belongings in bags and ...
Several hurt as car hits crowd in West Bank
A car hit a crowd of people including Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank today, injuring several people, the Israeli army said. Israeli media reported two people were killed and three injured in what they described as a suspected car ramming near the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus confirmed that a number of people had been hit but told AFP the authorities were still investigating whether the incident was an attack or an accident. There have been a number of previous attacks by Palestinians using cars to ram into groups of Israeli soldiers or civilians.
Scoreboard of the twenty20 international match of the Nidahas Tri-Series between Sri ...
Scoreboard of the twenty20 international match of the Nidahas Tri-Series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh here today. Sri Lanka Innings (20 overs maximum) Danushka Gunathilaka c Sabbir Rahman b Shakib Al Hasan 4 Kusal Mendis c Soumya Sarkar b Mustafizur Rahman 11 Kusal Perera c Mehidy Hasan Miraz b Soumya Sarkar 61 Upul Tharanga run out (Mehidy Hasan Miraz/Mustafizur Rahman) 5 Dasun Shanaka c Mushfiqur Rahim b Mustafizur Rahman 0 Jeevan Mendis c Mustafizur Rahman b Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3 Thisara Perera c Tamim Iqbal b Rubel Hossain 58 Isuru Udana not out 7 Akila Dananjaya not out 1 Extras: (LB-4, W-5) 9 Total: (For seven wickets, 20 Overs) 159 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-22, 3-31, 4-32, 5-41, 6-138, 7-154. Bowling: Shakib Al Hasan 2-0-9-1, Rubel Hossain 4-0-41-1, Mustafizur Rahman 4-1-39-2, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4-0-16-1, Mahmudullah 4-0-29-0, Soumya Sarkar 2-0-21-1.
UNSC urges Taliban to consider Afghan's peace process
The UN Security Council on Friday urged militant group Taliban to consider the peace process initiated with Afghan government with an open mind.While welcoming Kabul's offer to Taliban to engage in direct talks, the UNSC advised the latter to participate in the Afghan peace process without any preconditions or resorting to violent threats, reported by certain media sources.Earlier on February 28, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani dwelled on a plan to conduct peace process with Taliban which might include the latter to be declared as a political organisation.Later Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah blasted Taliban for not responding to the Afghan offer for peace and reconciliation.Security Council President Karel Jan Gustaaf van Oosterom of Netherlands said in a statement that UNSC members commended the second meeting of the Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation in Afghanistan in February."The members of the Security Council also welcomed the offer made by .
68 killed in Syria attacks as more people flee
Syrian government and Russian airstrikes killed at least 46 people in a besieged town outside of Damascus today, while Turkish shelling and attacks on a Kurdish-held town in northern Syria left at least 22 dead there, monitors and officials said. The staggering death toll - at least 68 civilians - killed came a day after Syria passed the seven-year mark in its relentless civil war. In Damascus' rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta, Syrian and Russian jets struck the town of Kafr Batna with cluster bombs, napalm-like incendiary weapons, and conventional explosives, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The assault was part of an indiscriminate campaign by President Bashar Assad's forces to retake the town and the rest of the enclave from the rebels. A medical charity supporting hospitals in the Ghouta region, the Syrian American Medical Society, said doctors in Kafr Batna were treating patients for severe burn wounds. The charity said it recorded 40 casualties on Friday. The ...
Seven US personnel killed in Iraq helicopter crash: official
Seven US military personnel were killed when the helicopter carrying them crashed during a routine transport mission in western Iraq, a defense official said today. "It was a routine troop transport operation going from Iraq to Syria, nothing out of the ordinary," the official said. "There were seven people aboard -- they are all believed to be dead." Another official said that four of those killed in Thursday's crash belonged to the Air Force. A Pentagon statement said the crash involved a Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk and did not appear to be a result of enemy activity. An accompanying US helicopter reported the crash and a quick reaction force comprised of Iraqi Security Forces and US-led coalition members secured the scene. "This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women face every day in service of our nations. We are thinking of the loved ones of these service members today," Brigadier General Jonathan Braga said. "We are grateful to the Iraqi security forces for their ...