Page 777 - War Conflict
Pak extradites 27 Taliban suspects to Afghanistan
Pakistan handed at least 27 suspects belonging to Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network to Afghanistan, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry Office said on Wednesday.According to The Express Tribune, the extradition of the suspects took place back in November 2017, before Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa's maiden visit to Kabul.However, the handover had been kept confidential till now.Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry Office declined to share more details of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network.Kabul in the past asked Islamabad to hand over the Afghan Taliban suspects who are allegedly hiding in Pakistan.Also, this was the first time that the suspects of Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network were extradited to Afghanistan.Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained frosty due to the latter's constant blame on Pakistan's non-cooperation on tackling terrorism and insurgency and also sending terrorists to Afghanistan for conducting suicide attacks over the years.This comes at .
Sashastra Seema Bal to organise 3-day fair in Delhi
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) will organise a three-day fair in the national capital exhibiting handmade artifacts and household items brought from various parts of the country, from February 2. The exhibition-cum-fair is being organised by the wives welfare association of the force. It will showcase a variety of items like brassware, silk and woolen items, cane furniture, bamboo products, wooden sculptures among others. The fair will be inaugurated by Savitri Singh, wife of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, on February 2 at the Old JNU campus in south Delhi. President of the SSB wives' welfare association, Gita Mishra, wife of SSB chief R K Mishra, said the proceeds generated from the event would be used for the welfare of the families of jawans and officers. She said the fair 'Sandiksha' aims to provide a platform for promoting handicrafts, cuisine and culture of border regions, especially where the force is deployed. Special programmes by the armed forces' band will ..
Govt sanctions 7,000 troops to BSF for Pak, B'desh borders
The Border Security Force (BSF), which guards the country's volatile border with Pakistan, will raise six new battalions comprising around 7,000 personnel, official sources said today. The Ministry of Home Affairs also sanctioned an amount of Rs 2,090.94 crore to the force. The new battalions will also be deployed along the smuggling and infiltration prone India-Bangladesh border. The troops will be recruited fresh by the force, to be deployed as part of the six battalions. They will be on the ground in over an year's time, the sources said. Each BSF battalion has over 1,000 jawans and officers. The home ministry, the sources said, had on January 19 approved the proposal of the force to raise these fresh battalions and asked the BSF headquarters here to quickly initiate the process of operationalising them. Four battalions, as per the order, will be raised as part of the forces' task of guarding eight Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) along Pakistan and Bangladesh, while the .
Teacher, allegedly grilled by ATS in Naxal case, 'ends life'
Days after he was allegedly questioned by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in a Naxal-related case, a school teacher committed 'suicide' here last week. Prabhakar Narayan Machha (64) was found to have hanged himself at his house in Pratikshanagar area of Sion in central Mumbai on January 23, police said. He was taken to the Sion hospital for treatment but was declared dead before admission, said an official of the Wadala TT police station. Police sources said that Machha had been questioned by ATS sleuths following the arrest of a person from neighbouring Kalyan town for suspected Naxal links on January 12. Machha's name had allegedly surfaced in his interrogation. Machha was questioned and some documents were seized from his house, but he was allowed to go, sources said. Subsequently, the ATS arrested six more persons from eastern suburbs of Mumbai. The arrested men were working for the 'Golden Corridor Committee' of Maoists whose task was to spread the rebels' ...
Gorakhpur: 6 hurt in clash over tree felling
Six persons were today injured in a clash between two groups over the cutting a tree, police said. SP (North) Ganesh Saha said of these six injured persons two received gunshot wounds when a group opened fire at Motiram Adda locality under Jhangha police station area. Those injured in the firing were undergoing treatment at the BRD medical college, while the rest were admitted in the district hospital, he said. Police has detained 12 people in this connection, the official said.
Pakistani troops target Mankote sector of Poonch
Pakistani troops today again violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting retaliation by Indian forces, officials said. The firing from across the border in Mankote sector began around 5 pm and was continuing intermittently from both sides, a police spokesperson said. Pakistani troops targeted forward posts and villages in Dabraj, Balnoi and Narh villages of Mankote with small and heavy weapons, he said. There was no report of any casualty in the Pakistani firing, he added. The spokesman said Pakistani troops had also resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling for 15 minutes in the Krishna Ghati sector of the Poonch district last evening. Besides Krishna Ghati sector, Pakistani troops had pounded half a dozen villages in the Naushera sector of nearby Rajouri district yesterday, he said. Fourteen persons, including eight civilians, were killed and over 70 injured in intense shelling by Pakistan along the ...
Gouri, Israeli poet-warrior and national icon, dies at 94
Haim Gouri, the Israeli poet who fought with an elite combat unit, covered the trial of Adolf Eichmann and became a national icon, died today aged 94, his family said. Gouri published more than 20 books, with his poetry including reflections on his time as part of the elite Palmach combat unit predating Israel's founding. He fought in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 surrounding Israel's creation the same year and served as a reserve officer in the Six-Day War of 1967. After the Holocaust, he was sent to Europe to help Jewish refugees migrate into what was then British mandatory Palestine. A number of his poems were set to music and became popular songs in Israel. His coverage of the trial of Nazi war criminal Eichmann later became a book, "Facing the Glass Booth." Born in Tel Aviv in 1923, Gouri came from a politically engaged family, with his father part of the Mapai party of Israeli founding father and prime minister David Ben-Gurion. Gouri was also a documentary ...
Teen killed in Turkey by rockets from Syria: official
A 17-year-old girl was killed in a Turkish border town today by rockets launched from Syria, officials said, as Turkey presses its offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia. Ankara began a cross-border operation dubbed "Olive Branch" supporting Syrian rebels with air strikes and ground troops in northern Syria against the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia and its western enclave of Afrin on January 20. Another individual was also hurt after two rockets hit Reyhanli in Hatay province from northern Syria, the district mayor Huseyin Sanverdi said in a statement. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a press conference in Ankara that 17-year-old Fatma Avlar was killed in a rocket attack. According to state-run news agency Anadolu she died after she was taken to hospital. The agency added that the rockets were launched by the YPG and hit two different houses. A few hours later, at least one new rocket hit a street in the centre of Reyhanli, not far from where the .
NSG commandos to undertake regular yoga, psychological tests
NSG 'black cats' will now perform yoga as part of their daily physical training and undergo graded psychological tests under a new regimen to prepare them for counter-terror and hijack operations. According to a blueprint prepared by the National Security Guard, the force has, for the first time, decided to introduce yoga exercises in the "routine" physical training curriculum of its commandos. It has also decided on a regular process to tabulate the "psychological attributes" of each of its combat commandos, also known as black cats, in order to enhance their overall personality development. The new steps are being taken as the NSG's mandate to counter terrorist and hijack bids, apart from protecting high threat perception VIPs, is very specific and requires "physically and mentally fit personnel", who are trained to be the best commandos of the country, states the blueprint. A Psychological Screening Test (PST) is conducted at present when personnel from various ...
Afghan spy chief in Pak to handover Kabul attacks evidence
A high-level Afghan delegation comprising the interior minister and the intelligence chief today arrived in Pakistan to handover evidence relating to the recent deadly attacks in Kabul and a message from President Ashraf Ghani, media reports said. Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said the Afghan team, comprising Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak and National Directorate of Security chief Masoom Stanekzai, visits Islamabad with a message from President Ashraf Ghani and will hold discussions about cooperation, Dawn reported. However, Afghanistan's Tolo News reported, citing an Afghan presidential palace source, that the delegation is to handover evidence to Pakistan regarding the recent attacks in Kabul. The evidence will be shared with the Pakistan Army, the source claimed, without providing further details. It said Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called Ghani last night to pass on his condolences but Ghani refused to take his call. Instead ...
Qatar ratifies international deals amid blockade
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani ratified a number of international cooperation agreements in various fields, the media reported on Wednesday.
China lashes out at Taiwan over cancellation of flights
China has criticized rival Taiwan over the cancellation of flights during the Lunar New Year holiday in response to a dispute over a new air route. A spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office says the move to cancel 176 flights over the holiday beginning February 16 is inconveniencing Taiwanese and "hurting the feelings" of people on both sides. Taiwan complains it was not properly consulted about the opening of route M503 and that it poses a danger to planes landing and taking off from on islands near the Chinese coast controlled by Taiwan. China and Taiwan divided amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing threatens to use force to take control of the self- governing island republic. It has been increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on the island.
Officials: Afghan intel chief makes surprise visit Islamabad
Afghanistan's intelligence chief and foreign minister have made a surprise visit to Pakistan's capital following a recent spate of deadly attacks in Afghanistan. Afghanistan says some of the attacks were carried out by perpetrators linked to Pakistan's powerful spy agency, the ISI. The visit today by Masoom Stanikzai and Wais Ahmed Barmak comes a day after Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it handed over 27 insurgents to Afghan authorities last year, including members of the Haqqani network. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry as well as Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, confirmed the visit but there were no immediate details. Afghanistan has accused Pakistan's ISI of training at least one perpetrator in the January 20 attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, in which 22 people died, including 14 foreigners. Pakistan denies it aids insurgents.
Trump signs order to keep infamous Guantanamo prison open
President Donald Trump today signed an executive order to keep open the controversial US prison at Guantanamo Bay, paving the way to transfer new terror detainees to the infamous facility in Cuba. Trump announced the move during his first State of the Union address, reversing his predecessor Barack Obama's decision to close the controversial site "as soon as practicable". The prison on the American military base at Guantanamo Bay has been used for years to detain high-profile terror suspects and enemy combatants. The facility has been criticised for its grim conditions. "Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil. When possible, we annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them," Trump said. "But one must be clear:Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are," he said. Trump rued that in the past the US ..
Pakistan didn't hand over any prisoners: Afghanistan
The Afghan government on Wednesday rejected reports that Pakistan handed over 27 Taliban and Haqqani network prisoners to Afghanistan last year.
Pak handed over 27 TTA, HN militants to Afghanistan: FO
Pakistan has handed over 27 suspected militants associated with the Taliban and the Haqqani Network, to Afghanistan in November last year, a senior official has said. In a series of tweets, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan "continued to push any suspected TTA (Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan) and HN (Haqqnai Network) elements to prevent them from using our soil for any terrorist activity in Afghanistan." "In this context, 27 individuals suspected of belonging to TTA & HN have been handed over to Afghanistan in November 2017," he tweeted. In his new South Asia Policy in last August, US President Donald Trump had called for tougher measure against Pakistan if it fails to cooperate with the US in its fight against terrorism. In his first tweets this year, Trump had accused Pakistan of playing a "double game" on fighting terrorism and asked Islamabad to take decisive action against militants operating from its soil to "earn" the US ...
Vietnam marks 50 years since launch of Tet Offensive
Vietnam marked 50 years since the audacious Tet Offensive today, in a bittersweet ceremony featuring patriotic dance performances recalling the attacks that changed the course of the Vietnam War. The surprise military offensive in 1968 -- launched by the communist north on the eve of the Tet lunar new year -- targeted more than 100 cities and outposts in southern Vietnam. The assault eventually prompted the US to withdraw from the bloody war, though at the time it was a military disaster for Hanoi which lost an estimated 58,000 fighters. Today entertainers dressed as soldiers and peasants took to the stage at an official ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by a string of performances from flag-bearing dancers and martial arts performers in red and gold. Some war vets attending the event recalled the thrill of hard-fought battle, followed by the heartache of losing fellow fighters. "We resisted the enemy until we had no bullets, we left our guns and retreated," Nguyen .
Body of jawan recovered from Chenab in Jammu
The body of an Army jawan, who had gone missing after being washed away by the Chenab during an exercise earlier this month, has been recovered from the river in a border area of Jammu district, police said today. Mandeep Singh, from Punjab, drowned in the river at Doomi in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district on January 8, they said. The jawan was undergoing training with a few Army personnel at the school in Doomi when he reportedly drowned. The body was recovered in Pargwal area yesterday. It has been handed over to the Army after a post-mortem examination at a hospital in Akhnoor, the police said.
Top Kabul delegation in Islamabad as Afghan violence escalates
A high-level Afghan delegation arrived here on Wednesday and is expected to hold talks with Pakistani officials about cooperation between the two countries, an official said.
Containing terrorism in Pakistan's own interest: Expert
It is in Pakistan's own interest to cooperate with Afghanistan and the international community to contain terrorism and other forms of violence, an expert has said.In an article written for the Dawn, writer-cum-journalist Zahid Hussain says, "It is imperative for us (Pakistan) to clean up our home in our own national security interest."Accepting that the surge in militant violence and growing instability in Afghanistan is a major challenge that Pakistan has to deal with from a security perspective, Hussain also does not hesitate to nail the United States for its continued belief that the terror threat from Afghanistan and Pakistan should only be dealt with militarily.Kabul's ineffective and fragmented administration is also cited by him as a key factor for the "deepening Afghan crisis".Commenting on the latest wave of terror attacks in Kabul that have claimed dozens of civilian lives, Hussain says that this is clearly indicative of a shift in strategy by insurgents, wherein, they have