Page 776 - War Conflict
Construction of strategically important Rohtang tunnel completed: Jaitley
The construction of a tunnel under the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh, one of the country's strategically most important defence infrastructure projects, has been completed, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.
Suicide bombers target NE Nigeria in Boko Haram 'fight-back'
Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in northeast Nigeria, shortly after another bomber killed four at a displaced persons' camp, an emergency services official said today. The failed mission at Mandarari village, near the town of Konduga in Borno state, and the successful attack just outside the state capital, Maiduguri, both came after ramped-up military action against Boko Haram Islamists. Nigeria's military announced in late 2016 that it had cleared the jihadists' Sambisa Forest stronghold but they are said to have since returned. The head of the Borno state emergency management agency, Ahmed Satomi, said soldiers and civilian militia intercepted two women at Mandarari at about 9:00 pm yesterday. "The women detonated their explosives, killing themselves, having realised they had been uncovered," he told AFP. About 45 minutes earlier, a male suicide bomber scaled a rear fence at the Dalori camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri and blew himself up. As well as the
Rs 2.95 lakh crore allocated for defence budget
The defence budget was increased by a mere 7.81 per cent to Rs 2.95 lakh crore against last year's Rs 2.74 lakh crore, belying expectations of a significant hike when the armed forces are facing growing challenge on the borders with both Pakistan and China. In his budget address, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will develop two defence industrial production corridors and bring out an industry-friendly military production policy to promote the domestic defence industry. Out of total allocation of Rs 2,95,511 crore for defence budget, only Rs 99,947 crore has been set aside for capital outlay to purchase of new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware. The allocation has been estimated at around 1.58 per cent of the GDP and 12.10 per cent of the total budget of Rs 24,42,213 crore for 2018-19. Military experts said the allocation for defence budget was inadequate to modernise India's armed forces when they are having to deal with an ...
Cameroon soldier kills three civilians
A Cameroonian soldier shot dead three civilians overnight in the northern town of Mora, sources close to the security services said today. The man, a corporal deployed as part of the fight against the Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, killed two women and a boy, according to one source. Nine others were injured. Another security source confirmed the toll and called the shooting "an act of madness". A source said the man had deserted his base and had been going house-to-house while under the influence of cannabis, demanding money and opening fire on those who refused. The victims are believed to be from among those displaced in the region by the fighting. The situation in Mora on Thursday was described as tense, with the refugees demanding retribution against the soldier. Mora is home to the headquarters of the local sector of the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram, in which Cameroon participates along with four other countries in the ...
Afghanistan says it has proof attackers trained in Pakistan
Afghanistan has given neighboring Pakistan confessions and other proof that the militants who carried out a recent series of attacks were trained in Pakistan and that Taliban leaders there are allowed to roam freely, the Afghan interior minister said today. Wais Ahmed Barmak told a news conference the evidence was presented at a meeting a day earlier in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Afghanistan's spy chief, Masoom Stanekzai, also attended the meeting, along with senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials. Stanekzai, addressing the same news conference, said Afghanistan laid out its proof and asked Pakistan to take action to prevent further attacks. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which has expressed condolences over the recent attacks. A Pakistani delegation is due in Kabul on Saturday. Nearly 200 people have been killed over the past month in attacks claimed by the Taliban and a rival Islamic State affiliate. Afghan authorities say they ...
Heavy Pak shelling along LoC in Rajouri, 71 schools closed
Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) today targeting civilian areas as well as Army posts in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, forcing the authorities to close 71 schools. "Heavy shelling was resorted to by Pakistan troops in Nowshera and Lam sectors of Rajouri district since this morning," Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. The shelling was reported in Kampla, Pukhari, Lam, Anwas Bhandar and Rattal Basali areas, he said. In the wake of the shelling, 71 schools were closed, the deputy commissioner said. Yesterday also Pakistan troops had resorted to firing and shelling along the LoC in Mankote, Krishnaghati and Nowshera sectors, officials said adding that the Indian troops gave a befitting reply. In January this year, 14 people, including 8 civilians and 6 jawans, were killed and over 65 others were injured in Pakistan shelling along the LoC and International Border (IB).
Myanmar killings have hallmarks of genocide: UN official
The UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar on Thursday repeated allegations that the killings of Rohingyas by the Myanmar Army bear "the hallmarks of a genocide".
No fresh violence in Kasganj; ops intensified to nab 2 accused
No fresh violence was reported since last night in Kasganj which now looks like an impregnable fortress due to the heavy deployment of gun-toting security personnel. The Police Headquarters in Lucknow said combing operations had been intensified to nab Naseem and Waseem. The two are brothers of Saleem, the prime accused in the killing of Chandan Gupta, who was arrested yesterday. Saleem, who is in his 30s, and his brothers, are accused of killing the 22-year-old college student, police officials said. Meanwhile, Kasganj appeared to be under siege with the deployment of state police, PAC jawans and RAF personnel. Shops selling essential items and medicines opened, though the number of customers seemed less compared to other times. "There has been no report of any untoward incident since last night," Superintendent of Police Piyush Srivastava said. According to an FIR and statements by some of the witnesses, Saleem had opened fire from the roof or balcony of his house. At ..
Saudi, UAE envoys bid to end standoff in Yemen's Aden
Saudi and Emirati envoys shuttled between Yemeni government forces and besieging southern separatists in second city Aden today in a bid to end a tense standoff after days of deadly infighting. The Sunday assault on the embattled government's headquarters by its former allies has opened up a new front in the devastating civil war that has created what the United Nations says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the two major contributors to a military coalition that has backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since he fled into exile in 2015. But they have struggled to keep together the disparate alliance supporting him against Shiite Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north. South Yemen was an independent country until union with the north in 1990 and Hadi has relied heavily on militia that support its restoration. Many of them have been recruited into special forces units trained by the UAE to ..
ULFA, PLA militants killed by Assam Rifles
In an encounter along the Kharsang - Miao Road in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, the Assam Rifles on Monday morning gunned down two militants.Of the two militants, one belonged to the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and the other belonged to People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur.The ULFA is a separatist outfit operating in Assam for the indigenous Assamese and seeks to establish a sovereign Assam with an armed struggle in the Assam conflict.In 1990, the government of India banned ULFA, citing it as a terrorist organisation.The organisation is known for a number of assassinations and bombings, and also reportedly maintains a number of camps in Bangladesh, where members are trained and sheltered away from Indian security forces.While, the PLA of Manipur founded by N. Bisheshwar Singh in 1978, is a separatist armed revolutionary group fighting for a separate independent socialist state of Manipur.Further details awaited.
Boy injured in explosion dies in Kashmir
A 10-year-old boy injured in an explosion at the site of a gunfight in Shopian district in Jammu and Kashmir succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, taking the number killed there to five.
UN official says Rohingya crisis has 'hallmarks of genocide'
The UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar said today that the Myanmar military's violent operations against Rohingya Muslims bear "the hallmarks of a genocide." Yanghee Lee told reporters in Seoul, where she is based, that she couldn't make a definitive declaration about genocide until a credible international tribunal or court had weighed the evidence, but "we are seeing signs and it is building up to that." Her briefing described her recent visit to refugee camps in Bangladesh and other areas in the region to discuss the Rohingya, a percecuted Muslim minority in Myanmar. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled their villages into Bangladesh since the Myanmar military's crackdown following Aug 25 attacks by Rohingya insurgents. The government of Myanmar has refused her entrance to the country. Responding to a question about an Associated Press report Thursday that details a massacre and at least five mass graves in the Myanmar village of Gu Dar Pyin, Lee said that while
26 militants killed in Afghanistan
At least twenty six militants have been killed in an airstrike on an assembly of the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's southeastern Ghazni province.Provincial Governor's spokesman Mohammad Arif Noori confirmed the figures, adding that more than 20 others have been wounded in the airstrike, reported Khaama Press.No comments have been received from the Taliban by far on the report.Ghazni is among the relatively volatile provinces in southeastern parts of the country, which borders some of the restive provinces in the South.The latest airstrike has been carried out as a part of the ongoing counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban and other insurgent groups in the restive parts of the war-torn country, the report said.
Six injured in attack by rabid dog
At least six people were injured after a rabid dog attacked them at Gangeru village in Shamli district, police said today. The incident took place yesterday under Kandhla Police Station area when the dog entered the village and started attacking the people, they said. The six injured were provided treatment, they added.
Two militants killed in Arunachal
The Assam Rifles on Thursday shot dead two terrorists in Arunachal Pradesh.
Campaign launched in Kabul over recent attacks
A campaign was launched in Kabul city in the aftermath of the deadly attacks that hit the war-torn nation recently, leaving plethora of people dead and wounded.Afghanistan's ArtLords launched the campaign "I am With You Compatriot" with an aim to pay tribute to the scores of victims of the recent attacks, reported Khaama Press."To show sympathy with the victims of terror attacks, ArtLords is distributing armbands with the message "I am with you Compatriot" and we are painting the mural against the warlords and people are driving around Afghanistan with black tinted windows and no number plates," ArtLords, said in a statement.The statement added that the campaign also denounces the culture of impunity for the influential figures and powermongers.Artlords was established in 2015. It is a grassroots movement of artists and volunteers which paves the way for social transformation and behavioral change through employing the soft power of art and culture as a non-intrusive approach.The ...
2nd unearthed WW II bomb in Hong Kong triggers evacuation
The discovery of a 450 kg bomb from the World War II in Hong Kong has triggered evacuation of over 4,000 people, even as experts were trying to deactivate it on Thursday.
Suicide bomber kills four in northeast Nigeria
A suicide bomber killed four people today in an attack on a camp for people displaced by Boko Haram violence in the northeast Nigeria, emergency services said. The bomber scaled the rear fence of an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp on the outskirts of the city Maiduguri and detonated his explosives in the crowd, said Garba Idris Garga, head of Nigeria's emergency management agency (NEMA) in the northeast. "He blew himself up among tents housing the IDPs," Garga said, adding that 44 people were injured, some critically. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Boko Haram jihadists are believed to be responsible, Garga said. Minutes after the first attack, a female suicide bomber launched another attack but no one died or was injured. "A female suicide bomber came around shops outside the camp where people were gathered. Luckily the people became suspicious of her and quickly dispersed before she detonated her explosives," Garga said. The latest ..
Venezuela says UN chief 'went too far' in Guyana border
Venezuela today said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "went too far" by referring a century-old border dispute with Guyana to the International Court of Justice. Venezuela has been pressing a historic claim to Guyana's Essequibo region, which encompasses two thirds of the former British colony, since US oil giant Exxon Mobil discovered oil in off its coast in 2015. Guterres sent the case to the ICJ yesterday following a failed UN-sponsored attempt that was aimed at brokering a settlement between Venezuela and Guyana by the end of 2017. "Guterres went too far" by attempting to bypass the Geneva Agreement, a 1966 border dispute deal that Venezuela reached with then-colonial power Britain, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said. Guyana's foreign ministry said yesterday that it welcomed Guterres's decision, adding that the ICJ is the "appropriate forum for the peaceful and definitive settlement of the controversy." Guyana maintains that valid land borders were set in .
Herder-farmer violence kills 14 in Nigeria
Suspected reprisal attacks between herdsmen and farmers killed at least 14 people in central Nigeria, police said today, the latest violence of an escalating conflict. Amnesty International said yesterday that 168 people have been killed in communal violence this year alone, warning it is "spiralling" out of control and heaping pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to act. In central Nigeria's Nasarawa state, gunmen suspected of being cattle herders killed at least seven farmers. Nasarawa police spokesman Idrisu Kennedy said armed men stormed the farming village of Kadarko in the Keana district of the state yesterday and opened fire on residents. "We received report of an attack on (an ethnic) Tiv neighbourhood in Kadarko by unknown gunmen who opened fire, killing seven people," he said. The attack was believed to be a reprisal against Fulani herders after suspected Tiv gunmen on Sunday killed 73 cows in the same village and two herders went missing. Kennedy refused to ..