Page 726 - War Conflict
Lanka's central town under police curfew after violence
Several shops and houses were set on fire in Sri Lanka's Kandy administrative district following violent clashes between two groups, police said today. An assault over a personal dispute had spread into a riot, police said. Police used tear gas to disperse an unruly mob after several shops and houses were set on fire. "Kandy's Theldeniya police division has been placed under a police curfew till 6 am on March 6," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. The elite special task force was deployed in the riot-hit area.
Kashmir on boil as six killed in gunfight
Hundreds of people, including some gun-toting militants, on Monday attended the funeral of a slain Lashkar-e-Taiba commander in south Kashmir despite authorities restricting people's movement and internet curfew clamped across the Kashmir Valley, a day after four civilians and two insurgents were killed in a shootout with the Army.
Shopian firing: Yasin Malik detained
Police today detained Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik after he tried to stage a protest against the alleged killing of civilians in Shopian firing. Malik, along with his supporters, reached Budshah bridge here and tried to march towards Lal Chowk, officials said. They were stopped and taken into preventive custody, the officials added. Six persons, including two militants, were killed in last night's shootout in Shopian's Pahnoo area. While the Army has said the deceased were militants and their alleged overground workers, police said they are investigating the matter.
22 militants killed in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that at least 22 militants have been killed in a series of airstrikes carried out in southern Helmand and Uruzgan provinces of the country.Khaama Press quoted MoD as saying in a statement that airstrikes were conducted in the past 24 hours, in which 16 other militants were also injured and three vehicles, two motorcycles, and some weapons were destroyed.Airstrikes were targetted at the militant hideouts.No insurgent group has commented on the airstrikes so far.Yesterday, at least four militants, belonging to Taliban insurgent group, were killed in an operation conducted by the Afghan security forces in southern Helmand province.Earlier on Saturday, the MoD had said at least 28 insurgents were killed during the military operations in the past 24 hours.
Iraq orders seizure of assets of Saddam-era officials
Iraq has ordered the seizure of assets that belonged to executed dictator Saddam Hussein and more than 4,200 officials from his former regime, an official statement said today. The list of ex-regime bosses was drawn up by the Iraqi agency charged with tracking down former officials from Saddam's Baath Party, and includes their relatives. Saddam's name appeared at the top of the list and it also said it included "his children, grandchildren, relatives". After the fall of the Saddam regime following the 2003 US invasion, property belonging to the former ruler and his cronies was snaffled up by Iraq's new leaders, armed forces and multiple militias. This new order now seeks to put an official stamp on the confiscation of the assets. The list of names includes Saddam-era government ministers, security bosses and officials from the Baath Party, including some who are in prison, who have been executed or have died. Among those named is Ali Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam better known as
Police probing into Shopian firing, DGP calls for peace
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police S P Vaid today said they were investigating the firing incident in which six people, including two terrorists, were killed by the Army in Shopian district. Vaid said the situation was under control and appealed to the people of Kashmir to maintain peace. Two weapons, along with other arms and ammunition, were seized from the possession of the militants, who fired upon a joint check-point of the security forces last night, the DGP told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. The troops retaliated after they were attacked and bodies of two terrorists and four others were recovered, Vaid said, adding that the matter is being investigated. Asked whether the deceased were overground workers, he said that is what army is saying. "We will see what their affiliation was," he added. On the return of a youth from militant ranks to his family, the DGP expressed hope that more women would make an appeal for their sons' return. "You have seen ...
Eight arrested in Belgium anti-terror raids: source
Eight people were arrested in Brussels following counter-terror raids amid signs of a plot in preparation, a source close to the investigation said. All eight were arrested yesterday in Molenbeek, an immigrant district linked to the Paris and Brussels terror attacks, following raids in Belgium, the source said.
UN rights body orders probe of Eastern Ghouta siege in Syria
The UN Human Rights Council today ordered an urgent investigation into the situation in Syria's besieged rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta and demanded immediate humanitarian access to the area. The council voted in favour of a resolution calling on rights investigators to "urgently conduct a comprehensive and independent inquiry into recent events in Eastern Ghouta." With 29 votes in favour, 14 abstentions and four opposed, the UN's top rights body also demanded immediate humanitarian access to the area where 400,000 residents have lived under siege from the regime since 2013 and face severe food and medicine shortages. The United Nations said Sunday it planned to deliver desperately needed humanitarian assistance to the enclave on Monday with a convoy of "46 truckloads of health and nutrition supplies, along with food for 27,500 people in need". But fresh violence could jeopardise the deliveries after fresh air raids by the Syrian regime killed at least 14 civilians overnight in the ..
5 injured in Kabul helicopter crash
As many as five people were injured when a foreign contractor helicopter crash landed at a military base in the Afghan capital, Kabul on Sunday, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed on Monday.According to officials, the helicopter crashed at the Marshal Fahim Military Academy near Qambar square in the city.The spokesman for the MoD, Dawlat Waziri was quoted by the TOLOnews as saying that the helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the military academy. He added that five people, who were injured in the incident, are in a stable condition. The injured were all foreigners.According to reports, the helicopter is owned and operated by a private company, responsible for assisting at a construction site at the academy.The military academy in Kabul was the site of a suicide attack in January, which killed 10 soldiers. The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
NC demands probe in Shopian firing incident
Opposition National Conference (NC) today demanded a probe into the firing incident in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir and said the killings cannot be justified by labelling the deceased as overground workers of militant groups (OGWs). Six persons, including two militants, have been killed in the last night's shootout in Shopian's Pahnoo area. While the Army claimed that the slain youths were militants and their associates, the police on the other hand didn't make any such claims and said they are still investigating the incident. "We are deeply shocked and grieved at the continued and unabated bloodshed in Kashmir. The Shopian killings cannot be justified with an arbitrary, unproven pronouncement of the youth being OGWs," a spokesperson of the National Conference said. He said the circumstances leading to killings in last night's shootout in Shopian should be probed and the report be made public. "The circumstances and details should be probed and made public by the state ...
42 militants killed in Afghan airstrikes
As many as 42 militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group and Taliban were killed in different airstrikes by the Afghan forces in the last 24 hours, Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday.Seven Taliban members were killed and six were injured in airstrikes launched by the Afghan National Army (ANA) in Garmsir, Grishk and Nad Ali districts of Helmand province, the MoD said in a statement.Also, two terrorist bases and two vehicles were destroyed during the airstrikes.An airstrike in Khas Uruzgan district of Uruzgan province killed 15 insurgents and injured 16 others, the MoD was quoted by TOLOnews as saying.In the third airstrike, 20 IS militants were killed in Darzab district of Jowzjan province in Afghanistan respectively.
Six deaths in gunfight put Kashmir on boil, again
Strict restrictions were imposed at various places and internet curfew clamped across the Kashmir Valley on Monday, a day after six people, including at least two militants, were killed in a shootout in a south Kashmir village.
Fresh air raids on Syria's Ghouta kill 14: monitor
Fresh air raids by the Syrian regime on the besieged rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta killed at least 14 civilians overnight, a monitor said today. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said barrel bombs -- crude, improvised munitions that cause indiscriminate damage -- were used, including on the town of Hammuriyeh, where 10 people were killed. The latest deaths brought to 709 the number of civilians killed since regime and allied Russian forces intensified their campaign against Eastern Ghouta in February. According to Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Observatory, at least 166 of them were children. The deadly raids, as well as other strikes and rocket fire elsewhere in Eastern Ghouta Monday, came as the battered enclave awaited a convoy of humanitarian aid from the United Nations.
Shopian firing: PDP MLA condemns 'civilian' killing, demands judicial probe
Ruling PDP MLA from Shopian Mohammad Yousuf Bhat today condemned the killing of "civilians" in the Shopian firing incident and demanded a judicial probe into it. Six persons, including two militants, have been killed in last night's firing in Shopian's Pahnoo area. The Army has alleged that the slain persons were militants and their overground workers. "When your heart bleeds and you are emotionally amputated, no condemnation is enough. I have no words to condemn these killings at Shopian," Bhat was quoted as saying in a tweet on Peoples Democratic Party PDPs official Twitter handle. The ruling PDP MLA said civilian killings cannot be justified under any circumstances which can "vitiate the peaceful atmosphere". "No circumstances can justify these civilian killings which can further the tendency to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere," he said. Expressing "solidarity" and "sincere condolences" to the bereaved families, Bhat said, "I demand a judicial enquiry be ordered to look into the ..
Deeply distressed by killing of civilians in Shopian:Mehbooba
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said she is deeply distressed by the killing of civilians in "crossfire" in Shopian district here. Six people, including two militants, were killed in a firing incident last night in south Kashmir's Shopian district after the ultras fired upon a joint check-point of the security forces. "Deeply distressed by more deaths of civilians caught in the crossfire in Shopian. My heartfelt condolences to the deceased's families," Mehbooba said in a tweet. After the incident, schools and educational institutes, which were to open today after two-month-long winter break, were closed as a precautionary measure in the Valley.
Turkey detains 12 Islamic State suspects, seeks 8 others
A Turkish prosecutor's office says police have detained 12 suspected Islamic State militants in the capital of Ankara and are searching for eight others. A statement from the Ankara chief prosecutor's office says the suspects were nabbed in a police operation on Monday. It says all the suspects are foreigners, without providing detail on their nationalities. According to the statement, they are suspected of trying to recruit members for the extremist group and were allegedly in contact with people in "conflict zones." The detentions came as the US Embassy in Ankara was closed today due to an unspecified security threat. A statement posted on the embassy's web page urged U.S. citizens to avoid the embassy in Ankara as well as large crowds and to "keep a low profile.
Shopian firing: Strike called by separatists hits normal life in Valley
Normal life in Kashmir was affected today due to a strike called by separatists to protest last night's firing incident in Shopian, in which six people, including two militants, were killed. Schools, colleges and other educational institutes remained closed due to the strike called by Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL). Public transport was off the roads in most parts of the Valley, but some private vehicles and cabs could be seen plying. Train services from Baramulla to Banihal have been suspended as a precautionary measure, a railway spokesperson said. Authorities have imposed restrictions in areas falling under seven police stations of the city as a precautionary measure, officials said, adding these police station areas include Rainawari, Khanyar, Nowhatta, M R Gunj, Safa Kadal, Kralkhud and Maisuma. Kashmir University has postponed all examinations scheduled for today, a spokesperson of the university said. Last night, a joint MVCP (mobile vehicle check post) near Pohan in ...
Toll in J&K gunfight rises to six
The toll in Sunday's gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district rose to six after two more bodies were recovered on Monday, police said.
Restrictions in Srinagar to prevent protests (Lead, correcting second para)
Authorities imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar city on Monday to prevent separatist-called protests, police said.
AP: Clash breaks out between TDP, YSRCP workers
The town of Pulivendula in Kadapa district witnessed a huge friction between Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party workers on Sunday when they clashed in the area after engaging in a war of words over "lack" of development in the area.The intensity of the clash was such that, one policeman was also injured, in addition to their vehicles being torched.According to reports, hundreds of workers from both the parties also pelted stones at each other, after TDP members claimed that no development took place in the town during Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's regime.This angered the YSRCP workers and the two sides clashed with each other.The clash created a chaos in the circle, which turned worse when the police tried to intervene, which is when their vehicles were torched.