Page 798 - War Conflict
7 die at Ethiopia's Epiphany in clashes with security forces
Ethiopian police in the restive Amhara region in the north confirmed today that seven people were killed when worshippers celebrating the Epiphany holiday clashed with security forces. The killings on Saturday in the town of Woldiya, 500 kilometres north of the capital Addis Ababa, happened on the second day of the colorful Epiphany celebrations in this East African nation. Amare Goshu, a police official in the region, told the state-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that seven people died, including one security officer, during the confrontation. He said that the security forces responded with force when youths in the town tried to attack officers who were patrolling the holiday procession areas. "More than 15 citizens and 2 police officers were also injured and are now receiving treatment," he said.
West's 'Russiaphobia' worse than during Cold War: Russian FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today said the West's "unprecedented Russiaphobia" was worse than at the height of the Cold War. "This Russiaphobia is unprecedented. We never saw this during the Cold War," Lavrov, fresh from a visit to New York on Thursday and Friday, said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant.
Pak top cop suspended for fake encounter of aspiring actor
A Pakistani policeman has been suspended after a probe committee found him guilty of staging a fake encounter and killing a budding model along with three other suspected Taliban militants. Senior Superintendent of Police Rao Anwar and another senior policeman were suspended after a widespread uproar on the social media as friends and relatives of Naqeeb, 27, who hailed from North Waziristan, disputed the claims that he was a commander of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The committee found that Naqeeb had a shop in Sohrab Goth area in North Waziristan and was looking for a career in modelling and acting. He had no prior links to any criminal or terror groups. The police and protesters had clashed over the issue at Sohrab Goth area, leaving many injured. Naqeeb and three other militants were gunned down by a raiding party led by Anwar on January 13 on the outskirts of Karachi with the police claiming that they were all members of the TTP. Additional ...
Tunisia kills senior Al-Qaeda member
Tunisian security forces have killed a senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb who was wanted by Algeria for two and a half decades, officials said. "A terrorist wanted by Algeria since 1993 was killed in an operation carried out by the Special Unit of the National Guard," Tunisian interior ministry spokesman Khlifa Chibani said yesterday. A security source said the person killed was Bilel Kobi, an Algerian who was close to the network's leader Abdelmalek Droukdel. Kobi had been charged with overseeing links between the network, known by its French initials AQMI, and its Tunisian branch, the official said on condition of anonymity. Another Algerian, Bechir Bin Neji, thought to have been the commander of an AQMI cell in the Sammama region of Tunisia, was also found dead with an assault rifle by his side, Chibani said. The Friday evening operation took place in the Mount Sammama area of central-western Tunisia, which lies in a range of hills that are a favoured ..
India condemns Kabul hotel attack
India on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which claimed 18 lives."We express our sincere condolences to the families of those killed in this heinous attack and wish speedy recovery to the injured," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said, in a statement."Reports about attack having being carried out by terrorists of internationally proscribed Haqqani Network are a matter of serious concern and bring to fore once again the need to effectively deal with safe havens and sanctuaries that these terrorists find in our shared neighbourhood," the statement added.Furthermore, India expressed solidarity with Afghanistan in bringing the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks and their supporters to justice.Gunmen stormed the heavily-guarded hotel located on a hilltop in the Bagh-e Bala area late on Saturday setting off a gun battle with security forces that continued into Sunday morning.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday condemned
Afghan forces end deadly Taliban siege at Kabul hotel
Security forces said today they had killed the last of six Taliban militants to end an overnight siege at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel that left at least 18 people dead, including 14 foreigners. Some of the 150 guests fled the gunbattle and fire sparked by the assault by shimmying down bedsheets from the upper floors. The militants, who wore suicide vests, pinned security forces down for more than 13 hours after the attack began about 9 PM yesterday. The gunmen roamed the hallways and targeted foreigners and Afghan officials inside the luxury, hilltop hotel. The more than 150 people who were rescued or managed to escape included 41 foreigners, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish. Of those, 10 people were injured, including six security forces, he said. Eleven of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline, Danish said. KamAir put out a statement saying some of its flights were disrupted because of the attack. Six of those ...
Heavy Pak shelling along IB, LoC in Rajouri, Jammu; civilian
One civilian was today killed and another injured when Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling along the IB and the LoC in Jammu and Poonch districts, drawing retaliation from Indian forces, an official said. Also, the neighbouring country's troops violated ceasefire for a fourth consecutive day by resorting to heavy shelling along the International Border (IB) and the LoC in three sectors of Jammu and Rajouri districts. "Two brothers were injured when shells hit their house in Kanachak-Pragwal sector along the IB in Jammu district tonight. One of them, Gopal, later succumbed to his injuries and the other is in hospital," a senior police official said. He said heavy shelling is going on in the area. Meanwhile, an Army jawan, injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan last night, succumbed to injuries today, the police said, adding, with this, the death toll in the border firing in Jammu and Kashmir since Thursday rose to 12. "Pakistan Rangers resumed (shelling) ...
Kabul hotel attack shows need to deal with issue of safe
India today strongly condemned the attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul, saying reports about the assault being carried out by Haqqani Network terrorists underlines the need to effectively deal with the issue of safe havens to terrorists in "our shared neighbourhood". An assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital killed at least 18 people, including 14 foreigners, and pinned security forces down for more than 13 hours before the last attacker was killed today. India strongly condemns the terrorist attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, the external affairs ministry said. "We express our sincere condolences to the families of those killed in this heinous attack and wish speedy recovery to the injured," the ministry said in a statement. The reports about the attack having being carried out by terrorists of the internationally proscribed Haqqani Network are a matter of serious concern and bring to fore once again the need to effectively deal with "safe
Pak resorts to heavy shellingalong IB, LoC in Rajouri, Jammu
Pakistan troops violated ceasefire for the fourth consecutive day today by resorting to heavy shelling along the International border (IB) and LoC in three sectors of Jammu and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, an Army jawan, injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan last night, succumbed to injuries today, raising the death toll in the border firing in Jammu and Kashmir since Thursday to 11, police said. "Pakistan rangers resumed (shelling) along IB in Kanachak sector of Jammu tonight. They have been mortar shelling and it is being replied back," a BSF spokesman said. Pakistan has resumed heavy shelling along LoC in Bhawani, Karali, Said, Numb and Sher Makri areas of Rajouri district this evening, DC, Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. In Akhnoor, Pakistani forces resorted to firing along the Line of Control (LoC), police officials said. Troops are carrying out retaliation, they said. Sepoy C K Roy, who was posted in a forward post in Mankote ...
SSB rescues five children, arrests one trafficker
A team of 56th battalion of Sashashtra Seema Bal (SSB) today arrested a person, allegedly involved in child trafficking, and rescued five children from Jogbani railway station in Bihar's Araria district. Acting on a tip-off, the SSB personnel carried out a special search operation at Jogbani railway station and intercepted a person since five children, all of them boys, were accompanying him, SSB's 56th battalion Commandant Mukesh Tyagi said. On being asked by SSB's patrolling team, the person, later identified as Mohammad Naim, failed to give any satisfactory reply about where he was taking the children and why, Tyagi said. When asked, the children, all of them less than 15 years old told the SSB team that Mohammad Naim was taking them to New Delhi where they would be given jobs, the commandant said. SSB later handed over the person, allegedly involved in child trafficking, along with five children to Jogbani Government Railway Police (GRP) for further and necessary ..
Bodh Gaya: NIA starts probe, recovered bombs deactivated
The NIA has started a probe along with the Anti Terrorism Squad of the Bihar Police in connection with the recovery of two bombs in Bodh Gaya which were deactivated today through controlled explosion, police said. "A team of National Investigation Agency, which arrived yesterday, has begun its probe along with the Anti Terrorism Squad of Bihar police. An FIR has also been lodged at Bodh Gaya police station in connection with the recovery of the two bombs," they said. The bombs were found after an explosion-like sound was heard amid stringent security measures in view of the Dalai Lama's stay. "The bombs had been kept in the Niranjana river bed, submerged with sand. These were deactivated by means of a controlled explosion this afternoon by the bomb disposal squad of NSG which arrived here earlier in the day", Inspector General of Police N H Khan told PTI. According to Khan, a controlled explosion is one of the safest ways to deactivate an explosive device which is why ..
Kabul hotel attack: Death toll at 18, may cross 40
The official death toll in the Saturday's attack at central Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel was 18, according to government sources.Out of the 18 people, 14 of them were foreigners, while the remaining of them were Afghan nationals.However, a survivor of the hotel attack said the number of casualties was much higher than revealed by government sources.Meanwhile, an unconfirmed source said that the death toll could be as high as 43.Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior (MoI) had earlier confirmed that the death toll was five. At least six people were injured in the attack.All the three terrorists, who attacked the Intercontinental Hotel here, were killed by the Afghan security forces after a 13-hour siege.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday condemned the attack and called for regional and international cooperation against terrorism.Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also condemned the attack and commended security forces for saving people trapped inside the hotel during the attack."I ...
One dead in rocket attack on Turkish town near Syria: official
One Syrian refugee was killed and 32 people were wounded today in rocket fire on a Turkish town close to the Syrian border, a local official said, a day after the Turkish army began a new operation against Kurdish militia in Syria. Two of those hurt were badly injured, Huseyin Sanverdi, the mayor of Reyhanli, a small town situated in Hatay province on the Syrian border, told NTV television. Earlier, several rockets hit the Turkish border town of Kilis without causing fatalities. The Dogan news agency said that three rockets had hit the centre of Reyhanli, damaging buildings and parked vehicles. Turkish forces yesterday began a major new operation aimed at ousting the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) Kurdish militia from Afrin, pounding dozens of targets from the sky in air raids and with artillery. Turkey accuses the YPG of being the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has waged a rebellion in the Turkish southeast for more than three decades and is
Mortal remains of Sepoy Mandeep Singh consigned to flames
The mortal remains of Sepoy Mandeep Singh, who was killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops, were consigned to flames in Alampur village today. Mandeep's father Gurnam Singh and his brother Jagdeep Singh lit the pyre. Rich tributes were paid to the martyr who was also accorded a gun salute. His body, wrapped in the tricolour, was brought to his native village. He had joined the 22 Sikh regiment about two and half years ago. He was killed in unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops in Krishnagati sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday. A large number of people including former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, local MLA Parminder Singh Dhindsa and senior officials of police and district administration paid their last respects to the martyr.
Taliban attack on Afghan hotel ends after 13 hours, 18 dead
A Taliban assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan's capital killed at least 18 people, including 14 foreigners, and pinned security forces down for more than 13 hours before the last attacker was killed today, with the casualty toll expected to rise. The heavily-guarded luxury hotel is popular among foreigners and Afghan officials. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the 18 killed included 14 foreigners and a telecommunications official from the western Farah province who was attending a conference. "11 of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline," said Danish. KamAir also put out an announcement saying some of their flights were disrupted because of the attack. Ukraine says one of its citizens was killed in the attack. Vasyl Kyrylych, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, announced the death of the Ukrainian citizen in a brief statement on Twitter, without providing further details. Afghan officials ...
One killed by gang of dacoits in UP
One person was killed allegedly by a gang of unidentified dacoits in Katauli village, a police officer said today. The incident took place last night when around four to five dacoits attacked a few houses in Baniakheda and Katauli villages with the aim to loot them, the police officer said. "The dacoits also fired at the villagers. In the firing, son of the pradhan of Katauli village was serioudly injured, and was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to injuries," he said. Police have registered a case in the matter and a probe is underway, he added.
Pak again violates ceasefire, heavy shelling in Rajouri,
Pakistan troops violated ceasefire for the fourth consecutive day today by resorting to heavy shelling along the Line of Control (LoC) in Noushera, Rajouri and Akhnoor sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, an Army jawan, injured in Pakistani shelling, succumbed to injuries last night, raising the death toll in the border firing since Thursday to 11, police said. "Pakistan has resumed heavy shelling along LoC in Bhawani, Karali, Said, Numb and Sher Makri areas of Rajouri district this evening," DC, Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. In Akhnoor, Pakistan resorted to firing along the LoC, police officials said. Indian troops were retaliating, they said. Sepoy C K Roy, posted in a forward post in Mankote sector of Poonch district, was injured in Pakistani firing yesterday and succumbed to injuries at a military hospital last night, a police official said. His death raised the number of persons killed in the Pakistani firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and ...
Two boys killed in grenade explosion in Manipur
Two minor boys were killed on Sunday and one boy seriously injured when a hand grenade exploded in Manipur's Imphal East district, police said.
18 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan
At least 17 members of public uprising forces and a local police commander were killed when the Taliban stormed a party hall in northern Afghanistan's Balkh province on Saturday evening, according to local officials.Sarajuddin Abid, Sholgara's district governor was quoted by Tolonews as saying, "The incident happened on Saturday night when a group of Taliban militants attacked a party in Buzboi village in the district in Balkh province and shot dead eighteen people."According to Abid, a person who was also present at the party had alleged links with the Taliban. It was also suspected that the person left the scene before the militants attacked the party hall.Abdul Raziq Qaderi, the head of security department of Balkh police, also confirmed the incident and casualties.This comes hours after a suicide attack had taken place in Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, where 18 people died, including three terrorists.The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack as well.
Kabul hotel attack: Death toll rises to 18
The death toll in the Saturday's attack at central Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel has risen to 18, according to government sources.Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior (MoI) had earlier confirmed that the death toll was five. At least six people were injured in the attack.All the three terrorists, who attacked the Intercontinental Hotel here, were killed by the Afghan security forces after a 13-hour siege.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday condemned the attack and called for regional and international cooperation against terrorism.Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also condemned the attack and commended security forces for saving people trapped inside the hotel during the attack."I commend the Afghan Forces for their bravery and professional action of rescuing over 100 civilians and killing all terrorists in the insane attack on Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. I condemn the attack and condole with the victim families," Abdullah wrote on Twitter.According to the MoI spokesman Najib