Page 747 - War Conflict
Al-Qaeda operative gets life term for terror offences
Al-Qaeda operative Ibrahim Suleiman Adnan Adam Harun has been sentenced to life in prison, the Department of Justice said today. The sentencing comes following his conviction by a jury on multiple terrorism offences, including conspiracy to murder American military personnel in Afghanistan and bomb the US embassy in Nigeria. He was convicted on March 16, 2017. "The evidence presented at trial established that the defendant and other jihadists attacked a US military patrol in Afghanistan, resulting in the death of two American soldiers and the serious injury of others," Acting Assistant Attorney General James O'Callaghan said. Commissioner James P. O'Neill of the NYPD said Harun was a dedicated and early soldier in Bin Laden's al-Qaeda, joining just weeks before the September 11 attacks. "Harun will rightfully spend the rest of his life behind bars. This department with our partners in law enforcement remains deeply committed to combating terrorism from New York to Nigeria and ...
CRPF conducts health camp in Chhattisgarh
The 195 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of Dantewada conducted Civic Action Program (CAP) in Chhattisgarh's Pushpal village on Friday.Under the Civic Action Program, a health camp was also organised for the people of the village in the Naxal area.People in large number gathered in the health camp to avail the service. The health camp provided treatment free of cost to the people.The health camp has even garnered a lot of positive response from the villagers.Earlier on January 17, the 111 battalion of the CRPF of Dantewada conducted a Civic Action Program (CAP) in Chhattisgarh's Potali village.
Chindits Trail Expedition flagged off
The Indian Army on Friday flagged off a Chindits Trail Expedition to commemorate the spirit and ethos of Indian troops employed on Burma front in the Second World War.The expedition, which will conclude on March 8, will cover a total distance of 400 kilometres in four phases over a period of 20 days.Moving through jungle trails and surviving off the land, without recourse to any modern amenities, the troops plan to truly relive the Chindits experience. The expedition will be led by Captain Sachit Sharma and the team comprises of 25 soldiers for each phase.The expedition will cover the areas of Deogarh, Shadpur, Damoh, and Nauradehi and will collaborate with the local civil administration and forest department to connect with indigenous tribes inhabiting the region, to spread the message of national integration and organise medical camps for their benefit, read an official note.The remote and inaccessible region of Central India was specially chosen by the British in 1943 during the ...
Pentagon watchdog raises doubts about Afghan war progress
A Pentagon watchdog agency raised fresh doubts today about progress in the 16-year-old US war in Afghanistan and suggested that restrictions on the public release of information make it difficult to gauge the effectiveness of US strategy. The Pentagon's office of the inspector general, in a report done jointly with the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, said the Afghan government by the end of 2017 had not expanded its areas of control, even as the US added about 3,500 troops and intensified airstrikes against the Taliban. "On the sole quantifiable metric discussed publicly to date - expanding security to 80 percent of the Afghan population by the end of 2019 - Afghanistan made no significant progress in 2017," the report said. That assessment underpins doubts expressed by others, including members of Congress who are impatient for progress. Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said this week that recent Taliban attacks ...
Syrian army unearths 34 bodies from mass grave in Raqqa
A total of 34 bodies of Syrian civilians and soldiers have been unearthed in the northern province of Raqqa, reports said on Friday.
Delhi Police did exceptionable tasks lately: Rajnath Singh
Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh on Friday said the Delhi Police has done some exceptional tasks in the last few days.Speaking at the 71st Raising Day Parade of Delhi Police here, the Home Minister said the Delhi Police arrested wanted Indian Mujahideen terrorist Junaid Khan, rescued a child kidnapped before the Republic Day and managed the chaos at the time of the release of Padmavat.Singh said the Delhi Police did a great work by arresting Khan, the mastermind of serial bomb blasts across the country that left about 165 persons dead and over 535 injured.The terrorist, absconding from the past 10 years, was arrested in Nepal by a Delhi Police special cell.Ariz Khan alias Junaid was most importantly wanted in the 2008 Delhi serial blasts case with which the Batla House encounter is related.
Bandits kill dozens in northern Nigeria: police, locals
Dozens of people were killed when an armed gang opened fire on locals in northern Nigeria, police and residents said today, in the latest violence to hit West Africa's largest economy. The carnage happened in Birani village, in the Zurmi area of Zamfara state, where previous bloody clashes have been blamed on cattle rustlers and kidnapping gangs. Rural communities in the region have long been plagued by cattle thieves who kill villagers, loot and torch homes, prompting locals to form vigilante groups to defend themselves. Police said 18 people died in the violence but according to locals more than twice as many lost their lives. "We buried 41 people yesterday (Thursday) as a result of the attack from bandits who came on motorcycles, opening fire on anyone they could see," said villager Lawwali Bube. "They started by attacking a truck conveying bridesmaids and some traders. They stopped them, took out the driver and slit his throat. They then opened fire on the truck, killing ...
Ethnic clashes claim 76 lives in DR Congo since December: UNICEF
The UN Children's Fund today said it had recorded 76 cases of people killed in ethnic violence in Democratic Republic of Congos Ituri province since December, mostly women and children. UNICEF is "very concerned about the situation of more than 46,000 children who are on the run because of the violence" between the Hema herders and Lendu farmers, which flared up during the Second Congo War (1998-2003). "More than 76 cases of murder ... have been documented, among them a majority of women and children," the UN agency said in a statement indicating that the victims were all hacked or stabbed to death. The governor of the northeastern Ituri province, Abdallah Pene Mbaka, told AFP he was sceptical about the reported toll. "There were indeed deaths (but) 76 deaths related to this violence? No, people need to do some work first. It matters to avoid sensational news," he said. "I fear that the humanitarian workers have fallen into facile ways," Pene Mbaka added, declaring that he was ...
Politics should be kept away from Indian Army: Actress Nimrat Kaur
"The Test Case" actress Nimrat Kaur's father was killed by Muslim militants, but she says her mother kept them away from an anti-Islamic environment and brought her up to have a liberal mind. She also said there should be no political interference in the Indian Army.
Security tightened in poll-bound Tripura: DGP
Security has been tightened in Tripura for the Assembly polls scheduled on February 18, the state's Director General of Police (DGP) Akhil Kumar Shukla said today. He also urged voters to exercise their franchise without fear. "If anyone tries to take law in his hand law would take its own course. Firm and strict action would be taken against them. I would appeal to the voters to exercise their franchise without fear," the DGP told a press conference here. He said central armed forces (CAP) were deployed across the state along with state armed personnel and police. "We are in the process of arresting potential trouble mongers, verifying gun licenses, seizing illegal weapons and checking vehicles," Shukla said. Senior police officers have been instructed to ensure swift, firm and neutral action in any law and order situation, he said. The Border Security Force (BSF) has been asked to keep a close vigil along the 856-kilometre-long Indo-Bangla border in the state, he ...
Turkey court jails 3 journalists for life over Gulen links: state media
A Turkish court today jailed three prominent journalists for life on charges of links to the group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, state media said. Veteran journalists and writers Nazli Ilicak and the brothers Mehmet and Ahmet Altan were handed the life sentences at a trial in Istanbul over links to the outlawed group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, the Anadolu news agency said. A similar punishment was handed to three other suspects.
Top jihadist commander killed by rival Syria rebels: monitor
A prominent jihadist commander was killed by a rival hardline group in northern Syria today, a monitor said, in a new sign of fierce intra-rebel tensions in the area. An array of rebel factions still hold parts of Aleppo province and almost all of neighbouring Idlib, but they have clashed several times in a struggle for influence. Fighters from the Islamist Nureddine al-Zinki rebel group "fired on a car as it was crossing one of their checkpoints in the village of Al-Huta after midnight," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Abu Ayman al-Masri, a top commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was in the car and was killed," the Britain-based war monitor said. His wife was also wounded. Al-Ibaa, a media channel affiliated with HTS, also reported that Masri had been killed and his wife wounded after "being hit in direct fire from al-Zinki." HTS is dominated by members of Al-Qaedas onetime Syria affiliate, Al-Nusra Front. According to the Observatory, Masri was in charge of ...
J&K: Security forces call off operation after militants escape
Security forces called off an operation against militants in Pattan town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, after they managed to escape taking advantage of the darkness early today, a police spokesman said. "Security forces (had) received information about the presence of militants in Tantraypora of Pattan, after which an operation was launched," the spokesman said. He said while the security forces were laying the cordon and evacuating civilians from the area, the militants opened indiscriminate firing and escaped. "While the cordon was being established and civilians evacuated from the area, the militants fired indiscriminately and managed to escape, taking advantage of darkness," he said. No one was injured in the firing by the militants. The encounter between the security forces and the militants hiding in the area had begun early today.
Gunmen shoot dead 18 in northwestern Nigeria over cattle
Police say gunmen have shot dead at least 18 people in Nigerias northwestern Zamfara state. State police spokesman Muhammad Shehu says an armed gang ambushed a group of residents in Birani village. He says the bandits were mobilized by cattle rustlers who had been prevented from stealing cows. Some local media reports put the death toll as high as 40. The incident is the latest in a series of killings by armed men who attack villages in northwestern Nigeria to steal cattle. Amnesty International says thousands of people have been displaced and at least 168 killed since the beginning of this year as farmers and nomadic herdsmen fight over land in five Nigerian states.
Taliban militants killed in US airstrike
At least six Taliban militants have been killed in an airstrike conducted by the US forces in Afghanistan's southern province Uruzgan.A local police official confirmed that six Taliban militants, including one of their local leaders, identified as Mullah Ghazi, were killed and four others were wounded, reported Khaama Press.The security chief of Uruzgan province Abdul Qawi Omari has confirmed that the US forces based in Afghanistan carried out a series of airstrikes.Several weapons, ammunition, and explosives belonging to the Taliban group have been destroyed in the airstrike.No comments have been received from the anti-government armed militant groups including the Taliban militants by far.
Rwanda says 3 Congolese soldiers killed in border clash
Rwanda's military says it has killed three Congolese soldiers while repulsing an alleged attack by Congos forces. Eugene Nkubito, a commander of Rwandan forces in the north, told reporters late Thursday that the attack happened Tuesday in a village in Musanze District. But Maj Guillaume Ndjike, a Congolese military spokesman, says Rwandan troops had crossed into Congo and fought its soldiers at the foot of Mount Nikeno in North Kivu province. Ndjike says there were deaths and injuries on both sides before a cease-fire was observed. The deadly exchange raises tensions between the often-uncomfortable neighbours who have fought several times in the past.
3 teachers killed in extremist attack in northeastern Kenya
A Kenyan official says suspected al-Shabab extremists have killed three teachers in an overnight attack in the northeastern county of Wajir. North Eastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh says an unknown number of gunmen attacked Qarsa primary school and targeted non-Muslim teachers. Saleh says a rescue team responding to the attack ran over an improvised device but no one was injured. Education along Kenyas border with Somalia has been greatly hindered after non-Muslim teachers refused to work in the region following the extremist groups targeting of non-Muslims starting in 2014 that left dozens dead. Al-Shabab has vowed retribution after Kenya sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the extremists in the Horn of Africa nation.
10,000 civilians killed, injured in Afghanistan in 2017
More than 10,000 civilians were killed or injured in violent attacks in in Afghanistan last year, the UN has said.
Criminals torch three buses in Jharkhand
Unidentified criminals torched three buses after being refused extortion money in Jharkhand's Chatra district, police said on Friday.
Two naxals killed in gunbattle with police in Chhattisgarh
Two naxals, including a woman, were gunned down by the security forces in an exchange of fire in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district, police said today. The skirmish took place late last night in a forest near Tokanpalli village under Chintagufa police station limits when a joint team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-naxal operation, Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI. The exchange of fire broke out between the two sides, when the patrolling team was cordoning off the forests adjoining Tokanpalli, located around 500 kms away from here, he said. "After guns fell silent, bodies of two ultras, including that of a woman, were recovered from the spot along with country-made weapons, explosives and Maoist-related material," the DIG said. The deceased were identified as Nanda, active as Gangulawa Area Committee member, and the woman- Sanni alias Kunjam Lakkhe, Nagaram LOS (local .