Page 801 - War Conflict
4 injured in ceasefire violation by Pak
Four people, including a BSF jawan, were injured after Pakistan violated ceasefire for the third consecutive day today in three districts of Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border, officials said. Pakistan rangers targeted villages along the IB from Chenab river (Akhnoor) to R S Pura throughout the night in heavy unprovoked shelling and firing, a BSF officer told PTI. The firing and shelling were still underway when the reports last came in this morning, he said. The officer said Pakistan was targeting civilian villages to cause death and destruction and added that the BSF was giving them a befitting reply. He said a BSF jawan in Pargwal sector was injured in the heavy firing and shelling and was later hospitalised. The Pakistan rangers continued to fire and launch shells along the IB in Arnia, Ramgarh, Samba and Hiranagar sectors till 5 am, a police official said. Two people were injured in Kanachak sector of Akhnoor, and a girl sustained minor splinter ...
India calls for changing Pakistan's 'mindset' that unleashes terror on India, Afghanistan
Pakistan's "mindset" that unleashes terrorist attacks on India and Afghanistan must change, India has told the Security Council.
US military's competitive edge 'eroded': Mattis
United States secretary of defence Jim Mattis has warned that the US military's competitive edge has eroded in every domain." Our military is still strong, yet our competitive edge has eroded in every domain of warfare - air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace - and is continually eroding," Fox News, reported, citing Mattis as saying."America has no pre-ordained right to victory on the battlefield," Mattis warned, adding at one point.Mattis's remarks came as he unveiled the Pentagon's vision for the future detailed in a document called the national defense strategy.The document also states that Islamic State (IS) no longer remains a top threat."Great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security. We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models."In addition to this, Mattis, a former Marine commander who has fought in Iraq and Afghanistan,
Pak Army chief ratifies death sentence of 10 terrorists
Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today confirmed death sentences awarded to 10 "hardcore terrorists" by military courts for their involvement in various acts of terrorism. The hardcore terrorists were convicted of killing civilians and soldiers and attacking law-enforcement agencies, armed forces personnel and education institutions of Pakistan, the army said in a statement. "In total these 10 terrorists were involved in killing of 41 personnel while injuring 33 others," it said. General Bajwa confirmed death sentence the terrorists, the army said. The military courts were set up in January 2015 for speedy trial of militants after the Peshawar school attack that killed about 150 people, mostly students. These convicts were tried by military courts which also awarded imprisonment of varying terms to three other militants.
2 civilians, 2 jawans killed in Pak shelling along IB, LoC
Two security forces jawans and as many civilians were killed and 35 others injured in mortar shelling by the Pakistani troops on civilian areas and BoPs along the InternationalBorder and the LoC in four districts of Jammu and Kashmir today, officials said. "The Pakistani Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by small arms, automatics weapons and mortarsfrom 1830 hours in Sunderbanisector (in Rajouri district) along the Line of Control (LOC). Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively," an army officer said. However, in the exchange of fire, Lance Naik Sam Abraham was grievously injured and succumbed later, he said. The 34-year-old Lance Naik belonged to Poonakam village of Allepey district in Keralaand is survived by his wife and a daughter, aged 1 year and 10 months. "LanceNaik Sam Abraham was a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," he said. Earlier today, the ...
Kataria visits Samrau village after violence in village
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria today visited Samrau in Jodhpur district to take stock of the situation after incidents of loot, vandalism, arson and killing of a liquor trader led to violence in the village. Kataria was accompanied by DGP O P Galhotra. Kataria said he had spoken to village residents and ordered the police to take appropriate action against people engaged in rioting. He also assured villagers of suitable package for people, who lost their valuables. "What had happened was very unfortunate. I have visited the village and have assured the affected people of suitable compensatory package for them once I receive a detailed report on the entire incident," Kataria said. Tension prevailed in the village due to rivalry between two groups engaged in illicit liquor trade. A trader had been shot dead. His killing led to violence in the village. Rioters had set ablaze a police vehicle and a fire tender. The police had to suspend Internet services and ...
5 Al-Qaeda terrorists killed in Afghanistan
At least five senior leaders of Al-Qaeda were killed in an operation by the Afghan security forces in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province on Friday.The Khaama press agency reported that five top leaders of Al-Qaeda were killed by the Special Forces of the Afghan intelligence directorate in a special anti-terrorism operation.According to an official statement by the provincial government, it said, "Five senior Al-Qaeda network leaders, hailing from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Chechnya, were actively involved in planning and coordinating suicide attacks in the country"."Out of the three killed, one hailed from Chechnya, one hailed from Afghanistan, and one of them was a Pakistani national", the statement added.The Afghan security forces found four Ak-47 rifles, a PKM machine gun, a pistol and some ammunition after the operations.No casualties were reported so far.The Taliban and Al-Qaeda affiliates have not yet given an official statement regarding the development.This comes days ..
Pak Army gives death sentence to 10 terrorists
Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed the death sentence of at least 10 terrorists, who were found guilty of carrying out suicide attacks in the country in the last few years.The punishment for the terrorists was announced by a military court today."The convicts were involved in terrorist activities, killing of innocent civilians, attacks on educational institutions, slaughtering of soldiers, attacking law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and the armed forces of Pakistan", the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.The terrorists were involved in the killing of 41 personnel while injuring 33 others. They have confessed their crimes before the magistrate and the trial court before the quantum of punishment was given by the military court."Arms and ammunition were also recovered from them earlier. Besides these 10 terrorists, another three of them have been awarded imprisonment for a varying period by the military court", the ISPR statement added.The ...
'close collaboration between police,security agencies needed'
Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today stressed the need for close collaboration between police and private security agencies in the Union Territory to curb crimes. Addressing a joint meeting of police officers and personnel of private security agencies at the Raj Nivas, the former IPS officer said there should be a comprehensive and collaborative security plan involving police and security personnel to ensure citizens remained safe. Bedi said it was mandatory for private security outfits to get licenses from the government to run their units. She recalled the interest evinced by students of a government higher secondary school at nearby Bahoor during her one of her week end visits to the school to take up career in police services and also in the armed forces. Members of rivate security agencies would be imparted training by police here and a joint meeting of police and the security agencies would be held at the Police Training school here on January 29, the Lt ...
Seven held over TMC groups' clash, ammunition seized
A day after two persons, including a young boy, were killed and at least five more were injured in a gunfight between two factions of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress, police on Friday recovered a large number of cartridges from the area and arrested seven persons.
Lebanon says foiled IS holiday attacks
Lebanon thwarted jihadist plans to attack places of worship and government buildings over the holidays after gaining rare access to an Islamic State group operative, the interior minister said today. Nuhad Mashnuq said at a press conference that an elite unit in Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF) had arrested an Iraqi IS commander in Beirut last June. The commander, known as Abu Jaafar al-Iraqi, had been tasked by the IS leadership to establish an IS network in Lebanon, according to information presented at the briefing. This network would not only carry out attacks in Lebanon, but could have potentially hosted top IS officials fleeing Iraq and Syria. Full details of the operation and the current whereabouts of Abu Jaafar were not revealed. But Mashnuq said that for five months after the Iraqi commander's arrest the ISF kept tabs on him through a mysterious "volunteer," who had gained his trust and rented a home for him that was bugged by Lebanese authorities. "This
Baby dies, 17 injured after car hits crowd on Rio boardwalk
Brazilian authorities say a baby was killed and 17 people were injured when a motorist drove into a crowded boardwalk along Copacabana beach. Rio de Janeiro's municipal health department confirmed today that an Australian was among those injured in the Thursday night incident and that the 68-year-old is breathing with the help of a respirator. Eight others remain hospitalized, many with broken bones. The state health department confirmed the death of a baby girl. The famous Brazilian boardwalk was crowded on a hot summer night when the car jumped the curb. Police have said it was not a terrorist attack and have arrested the driver. The driver told police he had not been drinking but lost control of his car. He also said that he has epilepsy.
Wanted militant commander arrested in Pak
A wanted militant commander who was involved in a number of attacks and carried a Rs five-lakh bounty on his head was arrested here today, police said. Sadiq Shah, belonging to the banned militant outfit of Lashkar-e-Islam, was apprehended by Khyber Pakthunkwa Police's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) near the main gate of Khyber Teaching Hospital. Shah was wanted in a number of terror attacks in Sarband and Pishtakhara areas of Peshawar district, police said. He carried a bounty of 5 lakh rupees, they said. The CTD shifted the militant commander to an unknown location for further interrogation, police said. Peshawar, the capital of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has seen many terror attacks, including the horrific 2014 attack on an army-run school in which nearly 150 people, mostly children, were killed on December 16. The terror activities intensified in the province when the Taliban began an unsuccessful attempt to seize the control of the province in ...
Eight cops injured in grenade attack by militants
Eight police personnel were injured today in a grenade attack by militants at Tehsil office in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. "Eight policemen were injured after some terrorists in a cowardly act, hurled a grenade at Tehsil office in Pulwama," a police spokesman said. The injured cops were shifted to the district hospital in Pulwama for treatment from where two of them -- ASI Mohammad Shafi and head constable Ghulam Nabi -- were shifted to 92 Base hospital of the Army at Badamibagh for treatment, the spokesman said.
Iraqi teen denies attempted bombing of London train
An Iraqi teenager today pleaded not guilty to allegations he was behind the attempted bombing of a London underground train last year which left 30 people injured. Ahmed Hassan, 18, is facing charges of attempted murder and causing an explosion over the September 15 attack at Parsons Green station. Wearing a purple jumper, Hassan appeared at the London court by video link from prison. The blast, which occurred during rush hour, inflicted flash burns on passengers, while others were injured in the subsequent panic to escape the packed London Underground train. Thirty people were treated in hospital following the explosion, which could have had a far more devastating impact but failed to detonate correctly. The device had been placed in a plastic bag and contained hundreds of grams of explosives, as well as metal shrapnel including knives and screws, a prosecutor said during an earlier court hearing. The bombing at Parsons Green, a quiet and wealthy neighbourhood, was ...
France's Macron pledges big increase in defense budget
French President Emmanuel Macron will boost defense spending in the coming years to guarantee his country's domestic security and maintain French military engagement abroad, as he repeated his wishes for an increased European military cooperation today. Addressing soldiers onboard the assault ship Dixmude off the naval base of Toulon, Macron promised to increase spending by 1.8 billion euros (USD 2.2 billion) this year to 34.2 billion euros (USD 42 billion). He also pledged to bring defense spending to 2 per cent of GDP from about 1.8 per cent currently by 2025, in a move aimed at "stopping the erosion of our military capacity." Six months after a crisis over cuts in the military budget led to the appointment of a new chief of staff of the armed forces, Macron said the financial effort was "unprecedented." Last summer, Gen. Pierre de Villiers submitted his resignation after a clash with Macron and was replaced by Gen. Francois Lecointre. De Villiers had resisted 850 ...
India becomes member of Australia Group
India today gained entry into the Australia Group (AG), an important non-proliferation regime which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons. After the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), the membership in another of the four major export control regimes is expected to give India a leg-up in its bid to secure a berth in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group, which has been blocked by China at the behest of Pakistan. China is not a member of the MTCR, the WA and the AG. "On 19 January 2018 India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG), the cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups," the AG said in a release. The AG is an informal forum of countries which, ..
WWII Soviet bomber parts found in lake near Auschwitz
A Polish carp breeder found fragments of a Soviet bomber aircraft from World War II when he drained his lake near the former German Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, local history buffs announced today. "The discovery was made just before Christmas... He contacted us immediately," said Dagmar Kopijasz from the Foundation of Memory Sites Near Auschwitz-Birkenau (FPMP), which collects items related to the camp to save them from oblivion. "It was really tough to recover the parts. We sifted through every square metre of the lake in the search for the smallest fragments, in mud during winter temperatures," he told AFP. He said the Ilyushin Il-4 aircraft had been shot down by a German anti-aircraft defence unit on January 19, 1945, just days before the Soviet army liberated the camp. Kopijasz believes the parts, which bear Cyrillic writing, only surfaced this year because of land movement in the mining region. Nazi Germany built the Auschwitz death camp after occupying ...
US says airstrike in Somalia kills 4 members of al-Shabab
The US military says it has carried out an airstrike in Somalia that killed four members of the al-Shabab extremist group. A statement from the US Africa Command says the strike was carried out Thursday about 50 kilometers northwest of the port city of Kismayo. The statement says no civilians were killed. The US military carried out more than 30 drone strikes last year in the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation after President Donald Trump approved expanded military efforts against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab. The extremist group was blamed for the October truck bombing in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, that killed 512 people. A US strike early this month killed two al-Shabab extremists and destroyed a vehicle carrying explosives, "preventing it from being used against the people in Mogadishu.
MP note printing press official held for stealing
The CISF on Friday held an official of the Bank Note Press (BNP) in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas city for pilfering currency notes, an official said.