Page 761 - War Conflict
Vintage T-55 tank presented to UP varsity
A vintage T-55 tank was gifted to Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur by the Indian Army to "motivate" students, an official statement said on Friday.
Zia is 'physically, psychologically alright': official
Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia, sentenced to five years imprisonment in a graft case, spent her night as a lone inmate of a renovated facility of the old Dhaka's abandoned central jail, where an official said, she was "physically and psychologically alright". Today, authorities allowed Zia's younger businessman brother and four other relatives to meet the 72-year-old leader. Zia was convicted by a special court here in connection with the embezzlement of 21 million taka (about USD 250,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust, named after her late husband Ziaur Rahman, a military ruler-turned- politician. The chief of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was sent to a renovated facility of the old Dhaka's abandoned central prison. "She is physically and psychologically alright," a prison official told a private TV channel preferring anonymity. But a senior BNP leader said, "She is in isolation", and alleged that her conviction
Pashtun Long March wake-up call against fundamentalism: Ghani
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday came out in support of Pashtun Long March, which is being organised in northwestern Pakistan against authorities who carry out abuses against the ethnic tribe."I fully support the historical #PashtunLongMarch in Pakistan. The main purpose of which is to mobilise citizens against fundamentalism and terrorism in the region," Ghani said in a tweet.Pashtun Long March is a protest movement led by young Pashtuns from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where they have long been the targets of military operations, internal displacement, ethnic stereotyping and abductions by the security forces.He said the historical importance of the march traced back to the great proponent of Bacha Khan, whose philosophy was based on the non-violent ideology.Ghani said the march was a positive initiation against fundamentalism that morally bound each and everyone to support Pashtuns.The President also called on the media to impartially fulfill their ..
Study: Extremists still flourishing in Indonesia's prisons
A new study has found Indonesia's overcrowded prisons are ill-equipped to deal with Islamic militant inmates, hampering efforts to prevent the spread of violent radicalism. The study adds to years of warnings by experts that the country's prisons have become a jihadis training ground. The research conducted by psychologists from the University of Indonesia found that prison staff lack the ability to identify high-risk inmates who could recruit others because they're given limited information and little specialist training. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has arrested and imprisoned hundreds of militants in the crackdown that followed the 2002 Bali bombings. But many remained committed to violent extremism after release and while in prison radicalised others, who went on to commit acts of terror.
Pakistan Taliban commander killed in US drone strike
A key Pakistan Taliban commander has been killed in a US drone strike close to the Afghan border in Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency, a media report said on Friday.
Two hardcore naxals killed in gunbattle with police in C'garh
Two hardcore Maoists, including a deputy commander, were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in a naxal-affected forest in Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh today, police said. The skirmish took place at around 12.30 pm in the forest of Bodla village under Gatapar police station limits when a joint team of security forces was out on a counter-insurgency operation, RajnandgaonSuperintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal told PTI. The composite squad of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), District Reserve Guard (DRG), district force and Hawk force of Madhya Pradesh police had launched the operation in Gatapar, located around 160 kms away from the state capital, he said. The exchange of fire started after the patrolling team came under heavy firing from a group of ultras in Bodla forests. The intermittent firing lasted for a long time, he said. "After thegunsfellsilent, security forces searched the area and recovered bodies of two naxals along with two ...
3 Army jawans injured in Pak shelling along LoC in Poonch
Three Army jawans were injured in intermittent firing and shelling by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, officials said today. The Army officials said intermittent firing was underway when reports last came in. The Pakistan Army continued firing and shelling overnight along the LoC in the Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, the officials said. In the firing and shelling, three jawans suffered minor splinter injuries, they said. Yesterday, a 45-year-old woman was killed in shelling by the Pakistani troops along the LoC in the KG sector of Poonch.
Indra Nooyi appointed ICC's first independent female director
PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has been appointed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board as the governing body's first independent female director. Nooyi will join the Board in June 2018 to align with the term of the ICC Independent Chairman, following the unanimous confirmation of her appointment at today's meeting, an ICC release said. "I am thrilled to join the ICC as the first person to be appointed to this role. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board, ICC's partners, and cricketers around the world to grow our sport responsibly and give our fans a new reason to follow every ball and shot," Nooyi said. ICC Chairman, Shashank Manohar, said: " Adding another independent director particularly a female is such an important step forward in improving our governance. To have someone of Indra's calibre is fantastic news for the global game." The introduction of an Independent Director, who must be female, was approved by the ICC Full ...
Egypt army announces major operation in Sinai, Nile Delta
The Egyptian army announced the launch today of a major operation in the Nile Delta and the northern Sinai Peninsula, heart of a persistent Islamic State group insurgency. Police and troops have been put on "maximum alert" for the duration of Operation Sinai 2018, the army said in a statement. The goal is to tighten control of border districts and "clean up areas where there are terrorist hotbeds". The security forces have been increasingly targeted by jihadists since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Most of the violence has been in North Sinai province, but there have also been attacks on the military, police and even churches elsewhere, including Cairo. In November, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is seeking re-election in polls next month, ordered the armed forces chief of staff to restore security in Sinai within three months after militants killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque. Jihadists have also attacked tourists, killing ...
Protest shutdown affects life across Valley
Normal life was affected across the Kashmir Valley on Friday during a shutdown called by separatists to mark the fifth anniversary of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Death toll tops 220 in four-day regime assault on Syria rebel
Syrian regime jets have pounded Eastern Ghouta, sending the death toll from a four-day assault on the rebel enclave on the outskirts of Damascus soaring past 220. Violence also flared in eastern Syria on Thursday, where the US-led coalition said it had killed at least 100 pro- regime fighters to fend off an attack on its Kurdish allies. The clash marked a fresh escalation between Washington, which has threatened the regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons, and Damascus, which labelled the latest incident in eastern Syria a "war crime". Moscow also slammed the US-led strikes, with Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia saying he had lodged a protest about the assault during a closed-door Security Council meeting. "To confront those who really fight international terrorism on the ground in Syria is criminal," he said. The UN Security Council yesterday failed to back a UN appeal for a month-long humanitarian ceasefire in Syria. In Eastern Ghouta, which lies east of .
Beyond duty: BSF ferry pregnant woman to hospital
Troop of 8 Battalion (Bn) Border Security Force (BSF) carried a pregnant woman, who was under labour pain, in a boat from remote areas of Badapada in Odisha to Chitrakonda hospital.Troops of Company Operating Base (COB) Janbai and Badapada and 8 Battalion BSF carried the woman to Chitrakonda hospital.The incident took place on Thursday, where the woman, identified as Pramila Khora, complained of labour pain but her husband could not arrange any ambulance or any other vehicle.The team of BSF soldiers, who were on a routine patrolling in the area, on receiving the information rushed to aid the husband and wife.According to reports, she was later shifted to Malkangiri District Headquarters Hospital for further treatment.
UN monitoring situation in Bangladesh, calls maintaining calm
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on sides in Bangladesh to maintain calm in the aftermath of the jailing of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who was convicted of embezzlement, and the violent protests that have ensued.
Canadian sub makes first trip to Asia-Pacific in 50 years
A Canadian submarine has crossed the Pacific to patrol off the Asian coast for the first time in nearly 50 years, the navy said today, amid heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. Although HMCS Chicoutimi's mission was scheduled a year ago, it comes after the United States and its allies agreed at crisis talks in Vancouver last month to tougher measures to halt North Korean sanctions transgressions, including naval security operations to prevent maritime smuggling. The sub's exact location and activities in the Pacific are classified. "This deployment signals the strategic importance of the Asia-Pacific region to Canada and reinforces Canada's commitment to the maintenance of regional peace and security," Navy spokesman Captain Rick Donnelly told AFP. The submarine, he said, was participating in "non- specific patrols and exercises with foreign navies" in the region, but will "not be doing any Olympic security" for the Seoul Winter Games, nor ...
Death toll tops 200 in four days of Syria raids on rebel area:
Four days of ferocious Syrian government raids on the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta have killed more than 200 civilians, a war monitor said today. Syrian government troops have since Monday waged an intense air campaign on Eastern Ghouta, the only significant opposition pocket near the capital Damascus. Bombardment today alone killed 58 civilians including 15 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The deadliest strikes hit a market in the town of Erbin and killed 21 civilians including nine children. "These are the worst four days that Eastern Ghouta has ever gone through," said Hamza, an overwhelmed doctor at the local Erbin clinic who was treating wounded patients. "From 2011 until now, there has never been the level of bombardment we've seen in the last 96 hours." He described seeing shell-shocked children brought in to the clinic, sitting in silence even though they were badly wounded. "As a doctor, the hardest thing you ..
Army Chief reviews Eastern Command's operational preparedness
Army chief Bipin Rawat on Thursday visited the Eastern Army headquarters at Fort William her and reviewed the operational preparedness in view of the security situation in the eastern theatre, a defence official said.
Suicide attack kills one in Iraq's Ramadi
A suicide bombing killed one person in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi today, the first such attack since government forces retook it from jihadists, police and medics said. "A man driving a motorcycle blew himself up outside a police checkpoint," in Ramadi, a police captain said. A hospital source said one person was killed and 10 others were wounded. The Islamic State jihadist group captured Ramadi in May 2015 and government forces retook it in February 2016. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but most such attacks in Iraq are the work of IS jihadists. In December, the Iraqi government announced the "end of the war" against IS, which has been expelled from the Baghdad region and other urban areas it had seized in a sweeping 2014 offensive. Jihadist elements are still active in parts of the country.
China deploys Su-35 jets in SCS to counter US patrols
China has deployed the newly- acquired Russian made Su-35 fighter jets in its combat mission over the disputed South China Sea to challenge recurring US aerial and naval patrols asserting freedom of navigation and over-flight in region. The Chinese air force recently sent its Su-35 fighter jets to take part in a joint combat patrol over the South China Sea, the Chinese air force said in a statement. Th US military is periodically sending warships and air force jets to assert freedom of flights and navigation over the South China Sea as China claims most of it. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims over the area. This is the first time the People's Liberation Army Air Force has made public the deployment of its Su-35s, introduced to China in late 2016, state-run People's Daily reported. The air force did not reveal when the patrol took place. The release said the multirole fighter jet's participation in combat exercises will help ...
Jail Superintendent suspended over Srinagar Hospital firing
Srinagar's Central Jail Superintendent, Hilal Ahmad Rather on Thursday was suspended from service and was asked to report to Director General (DG) of Prisons, following the incident at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS), in which two police personnel lost their lives and one terrorist escaped.According to officials, "the suspension of the Jail Superintendent, was taken up for his carelessness and dereliction of duty in the supervision and surveillance of hundreds of prisoners and under-trials, mostly locals and Pakistani militants, and others involved in stone-pelting and attacks on public property".Earlier in the day, two attackers and two over ground workers (OGW) have been arrested in connection with the attack on Srinagar's SMHS Hospital firing, which led to the escape of one detained Pakistani terrorist."SIT started probe and due to scientific evidence, we ascertained who or what were involved. They were identified, raids were conducted. We apprehended two militants by the .
'Naga army' not to disrupt state polls
The 'Naga army', an insurgent group in Nagaland, has said that it will not interfere in the ongoing election process in the state and will respect people's wish in this regard. Clarifying its January 30 call for "solution and not election", the group issued a statement yesterday saying it was responding to the wishes of the people. It said the wishes of the people are supreme and it will respect their decision. "The directive was also meant solely for the officers and personnel of the Naga army as a mechanism to control and discipling for non-interference in any electioneering matter/process. The Naga army will never use force or coercion to boycott election," it said. The elections to the 60-member Nagaland assembly will be held on February 27 for which civil society groups, some insurgent groups and several political parties have given a boycott call.