Page 724 - War Conflict
2 Koreas to hold summit, Pyongyang offers nuke deal: Seoul
North and South Korea have agreed to hold a summit at their heavily armed border next month, with Pyongyang saying it would consider abandoning nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, Seoul said today. If confirmed by Pyongyang, the offer would mark the first time under the current leadership the North had declared itself willing to discuss conditions under which it might consider giving up its nuclear arsenal -- a move it has previously insisted was firmly off the negotiating table. Following a meeting in Pyongyang with leader Kim Jong Un, Chung Eui-yong, the national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said the North had stated there was "no reason" to hold on to its nuclear weapons "if military threats towards the North are cleared and the security of its regime is guaranteed". Chung said Kim and Moon would meet in late April at the fortified border village of Panmunjom for what would be only the third inter-Korean summit since the end of the ...
Wreckage of famed US World War II carrier discovered
A piece of prized World War II US naval history, the wreckage of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, which was sunk by the Japanese in a crucial sea battle, has been discovered by an expedition funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The expedition team announced that the wreckage of the Lexington, crippled by the enemy and then scuttled on May 8, 1942, in the Battle of the Coral Sea, was found Sunday on the seabed in waters 3,000 meters deep, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) off Australia's east coast. In addition to helping stop Japan's maritime advance, the sea battle is famous for being the first in which the opposing ships did not come in sight of each other, carrying out their attacks with carrier-launched aircraft.
Lanka declares state of emergency to quell communal tensions
Sri Lanka today declared a state of emergency for 10 days to rein in the spread of communal violence between majority Sinhala and minority Muslims in the country's scenic Kandy district that left two persons dead and damaged several mosques and homes. Violence, triggered by the death of a Sinhalese man at the hands of a mob last week, erupted yesterday in the Theldeniya area of the central hill district popular with tourists. The government sent troops and elite police commandoes to Kandy to restore order and enforce the curfew. President Maithripala Sirisena and the Cabinet decided to declare a state of emergency for 10 days following the violence prevailed in some parts of the country, Minister of Social Empowerment S B Dissanayake told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. A Gazette notification would be issued right away after the President signs the proclamation, giving effect to the state of emergency, he said. Muslims claimed that around 10 mosques, 75 shops and 32 houses ...
Normalcy returning to Kashmir Valley
Normalcy appeared to be returning to the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday even as clashes erupted between security forces and protesters in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district amid a crippling shutdown there.
Over 27,000 personnel left CAPFs in last 3 years: Govt
Over 27,000 personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have either resigned or taken voluntary retirement in the last three years owing to various reasons, the government informed Parliament today. The maximum of such instances have been reported in two of the largest paramilitary forces of the country -- the Border Security Force (11,198) and the Central Reserve Police Force (10,620) for a time period between 2015 upto January, 2018. The Central Industrial Security Force saw 3,410 personnel leaving the force on various accounts in the same time period followed by 1,122 from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), 518 from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and 994 from the Assam Rifles. The data, of a total of 27,862 personnel resigning or proceeding on voluntary retirement during the said time period was provided by Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. He said the CAPFs have informed the government that the force personnel proceeded on ...
Sri Lanka to declare Emergency after communal clashes
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday decided to declare a 10-day state of Emergency after communal clashes erupted in Kandy district.
Wreckage found of WWII aircraft carrier USS Lexington
Wreckage from the USS Lexington, a US aircraft carrier which sank during World War II, has been discovered in the Coral Sea, a search team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced Monday. The wreckage was found Sunday by the team's research vessel, the R/V Petrel, some 3,000 meters (two miles) below the surface more than 500 miles (800 kilometers) off the eastern coast of Australia. The search team released pictures and video of the Lexington, one of the first ever US aircraft carriers, and some of the planes which went down with the ship. Remarkably preserved aircraft could be seen on the seabed bearing the five-pointed star insignia of the US Army Air Forces on their wings and fuselage. On one aircraft, an emblem of the cartoon character Felix the Cat can be seen along with four miniature Japanese flags presumably depicting "kills." The search team also released pictures and video of parts of the ship, including a name-plate, and anti-aircraft guns covered in decades of ...
Sri Lanka re-imposes curfew in Kandy after racial violence
Sri Lankan police on Tuesday re-imposed a curfew in parts of Kandy city after after clashes triggered by racial violence erupted between two groups.
Afghan official: Sticky bomb kills 2 in eastern province
An Afghan official says at least two people were killed when a sticky bomb attached to a fuel truck detonated in eastern Nangarhar province. Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, says the explosion today morning also wounded three people. He says it took place in the province's Behsud district, along a main highway between the provincial capital of Jalalabad with the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan. Khogyani also says that the force of the explosion was so strong that around 30 shops and car repair places located by the roadside caught fire and burned down. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but both the Taliban and Islamic State militants are active in the province and have stepped up their attacks against Afghan security forces.
China accused of detaining Chinese Muslim women in Xinjiang
China has allegedly detained dozens of Chinese Muslim women in its restive Xinjiang province, located in the north-western part of the country, for marrying Pakistani men belonging to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region of Pakistan.This issue was addressed in a unanimously passed resolution of the Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly, which was disclosed by the Pakistani lawmakers on Sunday.According to the resolution passed, it has called the Pakistan government to take urgent steps to secure the release of over 50 Chinese wives, who according to them, was taken into custody last year when they were in their native towns of the Xinjiang province visiting their relatives, the Voice of America reported.The deputy speaker of the assembly, Jafferullah Khan, was quoted by various media outlets as saying that the Chinese women were rounded up during an anti-terrorism drive by China on the ethnic Uighur Muslim community in Xinjiang.The women are married to GB men, most of them who are affiliated .
Onus on Taliban to respond to Ghani's peace talk offer: US
The US has called on the Taliban to give "serious" consideration to an offer for peace talks extended by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last week, but said any such dialogue should not involve America. Ghani at an international conference in Kabul last week offered to allow the Taliban to establish itself as a political party and said he would work to remove sanctions on the militant group if it joined the government in peace negotiations. But the Taliban has continued to reject direct peace talks with the government and has insisted it will only negotiate with the US. Alice Wells, a US principal deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of South and Central Asian affairs, told reporters Ghani is not demanding "surrender" by the Taliban. "This is not a surrender that's being offered to the Taliban, but a dignified process for reaching a political framework. And again, he emphasised that this is negotiations without preconditions, a process that would lead to a cessation of ...
Firing incident: Shutdown in Shopian
Shopian town and adjoining areas observed a shutdown for the second consecutive day today while incidents of stonepelting took place in parts of the city in protest against the killings in the firing incident in the south Kashmir district in Sunday. Shops and business establishments remained closed in Shopian while transport remained off the roads, a police official said. He said some persons indulged stonepelting in Gojwara area of the city, forcing the closure of shops in the area. Life in rest of the valley returned to normal after yesterday's strike called by the separatists against the killings in the incident. Six persons including two militants have been killed in Sundaynight's shootout in Shopian's Pahnoo area. While the Army has said the slain youth were militants and theiroverground workers, police has said they are investigating theincident.
Naxals torch buses, trucks in Chhattisgarh; ex-cop killed
Naxals torched three buses and as many trucks after directing their occupants to alight the vehicles in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district late last night, a police official said today. A former police constable, who was among the bus passengers, was shot dead by the ultras, he said. The private buses were heading towards Telangana via Sukma from different locations. The Naxals set them blaze near Peddakudthi and Penta villages between 10 pm and 11 pm, Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI. Four vehicles were torched at one spot and two others set ablaze barely 300 metres from there. The armed ultras stopped the buses and asked the passengers to get down, following which they set the vehicles ablaze, he said. One of the buses was going to Hyderabad from Jagdalpur, the headquarter of Bastar district, another from Dantewada towards Hyderabad and the third was on its maiden run from Malkangiri in Odisha to Hyderabad, he said. Former constable Munna Sodi,
Lost WW2 aircraft carrier found in Australia
The wreckage of a US aircraft carrier that was sunk during the World War Two has been found off the east coast of Australia, authorities said on Tuesday.
China boosts defence budget to achieve 'peaceful development'
China is increasing its defense budget yet again, this time by 8.1% for the year ahead. China thus remains the second highest spender on its military in the world, eclipsing Russia but still far behind the USA.China's defense spending, announced on 5 March at a National People's Congress (NPC) session where the Ministry of Finance unveiled its national budget, amounts to RMB1.107 trillion (USD175 billion). This is the fastest increase in the past three years as China seeks to spread its reach farther around the world as it performs a new range of missions.Premier Li Keqiang, who delivered the budget in a speech lasting around two hours with President Xi Jinping looking stoically on, said China would "advance all aspects of military training and war preparedness, and firmly and resolvedly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests".This phrase "war preparedness" is an oft-repeated one, but China refuses to say with whom the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is ...
Suicide bomber kills three in NE Nigeria: militia
A suicide bomber on a bicycle killed three people when he detonated his explosives on the outskirts of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, civilian militia said. Eighteen people were also injured in the attack, which happened in the Muna Dalti area of the city, said Musa Ari, a civilian militia member helping with security against Boko Haram. "The bomber attacked at about 8:20 pm (local time) in the midst of a group of residents hanging out, killing three and wounding 18," he added. "There is no doubt this is the work of Boko Haram terrorists." Another militia leader, Ibrahim Liman, gave the same toll and said the bomber detonated the explosives as he passed the group. The Muna area of Maiduguri, which is home to a vast camp for people displaced by the conflict, has been repeatedly hit by suicide attacks blamed on Boko Haram. Previous targets include the camp itself, military and civilian militia checkpoints, and a bus station. Boko Haram has increasingly used mostly female ...
Naxals torch buses in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, 1 killed
Naxals torched two buses after asking passengers to alight in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district tonight, police said. One person was reported to have been killed by naxals at the spot, they said. The incident took place between Peddakudthi and Penta villages under Dornapal police station limits when the two buses, were heading to Hyderabad, a senior police official told PTI. While one bus was going to Hyderabad from Jagdalpur, another from Malkangiri (Odisha) to Hyderabad via Sukma, he said. Armed ultras stopped the buses between Peddakudthi and Penta and asked the passengers to get down from the vehicles following which they set it ablaze, he said. Besides, naxals also reported to have torched a truck which was passing through the spot during the incident, he said. As per eyewitnesses, ultras have also killed a person after setting vehicles on fire, but it could be officially confirmed once security forces will reach to the spot, which is around 500 kms away from the state
Recieved From: Inayat Jehangir - (A)
A boy has quit militancy and returned to his family in Jammu and Kashmir, a senior police official said today, barely three days after another such incident. "One more young boy of (the) valley who had chosen (the) path of violence a couple of days back has joined back his family. I wish the family happy reunion. Great step forward," S P Vaid, the state director-general of police, said in a tweet. Last Friday, a boy from Kashmir had returned home from militancy following an appeal by his mother. As a policy matter and to protect the surrendering militants, the police have been keeping their details secret.
Sunjuwan attack mastermind gunned down in J-K
Indian Army on Monday gunned down the mastermind behind Sunjuwan terror attack in which five army soldiers were killed.Acting on a specific intelligence input, a small team of the Army along with the elite Special Operations Group cordoned off the Hatwar area in Awantipora and carried out a 'surgical attack' on a house and killed Jais-e-Mohhamed (JeM) commander Mufti Vakas.At the time of filing this report, the Army said that the operation was in progress.Indian Army's Northern Command tweeted: "#IndianArmy #OpHatwar (#Awantipur). One #Terrorist killed. Operation in progress @adgpi @PIB_India @SpokespersonMoD @JmuKmrPolice @crpfindia (sic)."Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) SP Vaid confirmed that killed Jais-e-Mohhamed (JeM) commander was mastermind behind many terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including Sunjuwan terror attack."Jaish commander Mufti Vakas has been killed in an encounter at Hatiwara, Awantipora. He was Cheif Commander of JEM in J&K and master ...
45 killed in bombardment of Syria enclave
Syrian regime bombardment on the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta killed at least 45 civilians today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based war monitor said at least 19 of the victims were killed in the town of Hammuriyeh, where regime aircraft used crude improvised munitions known as "barrels bombs". The Observatory warned that toll could rise further as bodies were still being retrieved from the rubble.