Posts

Showing posts from March 22, 2015

Red alert up ahead of NPA anniversary

  THE military and police under Eastern Mindanao have raised red alert ahead of the 46th anniversary of the New People’s Army (NPA) today, March 29. Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesperson Colonel Romeo Brawner, in an interview earlier, said though there were no major threats monitored, it has been routine to place the region under red alert. After the previous atrocities perpetrated by the communist rebels around, Brawner said the armed forces have never stopped intensifying their security measures in their areas of responsibility. He said the government troops and police authorities, including the barangays, have been briefed to be more cautious for NPA activities. Brawner also assured a 24/7 random checkpoints and choke points in all entry and exit points, particularly here in Davao Region and nearby areas. "We have also deployed additional troops in most of the provincial police stations to prevent the incident that happened in Mati City Police Station last month,&q

NPA gun down Army corporal, attack militia outpost in Cotabato

MAKILALA, North Cotabato - New People's Army members gunned down an Army corporal while a rebel band tried but failed to overrun a militia outpost in Cotabato province on Thursday. Lieutenant Colonel Jose Rustia, commander of the 57th Infantry Battalion, said Corporal Ricardo Paghubasan, head of the unit's peace and development outreach program, was riding a motorcycle with a companion headed to Barangay Temporan in Magpet town when two men, onboard another motorcycle, overtook them and opened fire. Paghubasan, said Rustia, was not in uniform and armed only with a .45 caliber pistol, which the killers took along with the slain soldier's motorcycle. The battalion commander said the killers belonged to the NPA’s Front 53, led by a Commander Jazmin, and had targeted Paghubasan for his peace and development work among villagers in rebel-infiltrated communities. Late Thursday afternoon, about 20 rebels attacked the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit in Barangay Villaflores,

Maoist activities on decline: Odisha CM

BHUBANESWAR: Maoist activities are on the wane in the state, chief minister Naveen Patnaik told the assembly on Friday even as a white paper tabled in the House said the extremists killed 20 people last year.  Taking part in the discussion on expenditure of home department, Naveen said, "There has been substantial improvement in the overall containment of Maoist situation in state. The intensity of Maoist activity is on the decline."  The CM said there was improvement in the situation in districts such as Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati, Ganjam, Nabarangpur, Sambapur, Deogarh, Sundargarh and Nayagarh in 2014. He said 99 rebels surrendered in the state in 2014 while police arrested 71. Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh leader Nachika Linga surrendered last year while most-wanted Sabyasachi Panda was arrested. A record 143 weapons, including 34 advanced weapons, were recovered from the rebels.  Naveen said proactive action taken by security forces to deal with Maoist

Ghost of 2009 Maoist attack haunts Chahala

BHUBANESWAR: Chahala, which is located on the border of the core area of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district, is still struggling to get back on its feet after a Maoist attack in 2009.  The forest personnel live in fear in the dense forest, where solar light is the only means to light up their offices and barracks.  Being close to the core area of STR, animal sightings are more common in Chahala. Elephants too are seen more here. But tourists are afraid of going there because of the 2009 incident. Maoists blasted a beat house, a tower and a forest rest house there that year. The rebels asked tourists, who were staying in the rest house, and the staff, to come out of the house and then used detonators to blow up the structures.  With the ruins still visible, tourists are afraid to go there. Four forest personnel, including a senior ranger-rank officer, are in charge of guarding the place. Recently, they have been supplemented by 10 protection assistants, who have been a

College Katta to Golden Corridor: The story of ‘Maoist’ couple arrested in Pune last year

Image
Arun Bhelke’s brother shows a photograph of the arrested ‘Maoist’ at their Ambedkar Ward residence in Ballarsha, Chandrapur. (Source: Express Photo by Chandan Haygunde) In Chandrapur, people remember Arun Bhanudas Bhelke (38) and Kanchan Nanaware (31) as influential youth leaders of the Deshbhakti Yuva Manch (DYM), which was later branded as a “front organisation” of the Maoists. Arrested in Pune by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in September 2014, the “Maoist” couple is now lodged in Yerawada jail. The ATS recently filed a chargesheet against them in Shivajinagar court. Background According to the ATS, both Arun and Kanchan are graduates. Arun’s family lives in a small house in Ambedkar Ward, Ballarsha, in Chandrapur district. His father teaches in a private school, while brother Ajay is an autorickshaw driver and another brother Abhay is a masonry worker. Speaking to The Indian Express, Ajay Bhelke said: “Arun had been fond of singing, oratory since childhood. He did social work, rai

ATS chargesheet: ‘Urban youths were introduced to us in jungles as Maoists’

Image
Krushna (left); Gopi BY CHANDAN HAYGUNDE Two surrendered ‘Maoists’ — Gopi alias Nirangsai Darbarsingh Madavi (30) and Krushna alias Birju Dorpate (28) — both from Gadchiroli district have told Pune Newsline that youths from Pune whom they met in the jungles were introduced to the duo as ‘Maoists’.The ATS has included the statements of Gopi and Krushna —who surrendered in 2014—in the chargesheet filed against alleged “Maoist” couple Arun Bhelke and Kanchan Nanware. The three were arrested in September 2014. The chargesheet states that Gopi was the area secretary of 3K Dalam operating in Korchi, Kurkheda, and Krushna was divisional committee member of company 4 of the “Maoists” in Tipagad jungles of Gadchiroli. On being shown photographs of Arun, Kanchan and the artistes of Pune-based Kabir Kala Manch—Sheetal Sathe, her husband Sachin Mali, Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and Santosh Shelar—the two arrested youth identified them, though there was a mismatch in the names. Gopi identified She

6 Maoist, PLFI rebels held in Bokaro, Dumka

DUMKA: Pakur police arrested one of the top Maoists David Marandi from Amrapara police station area of the district on Tuesday. Marandi, a native of Junju Village, under Gopikandar police station of neighbouring Dumka district has been involved in four cases including the sensational murder of Sister Valsa, a Christian nun, who was involved in anti-displacement movement against Panem coal mining company and was brutally murdered in November 2012 at Pachuara village. Pakur SP Anup Birthary said Marandi was also involved in the loot of a rifle from the constable of the district, ahead of the last assembly election and torching stone crusher units. "David Marandi has been one of the active members of the armed squad of the CPI (Maoist) active in Pakur and other parts of Santhal Pargana who used to provide strategic support to rebels," SP said. Meanwhile, Bokaro police arrested two Maoists in raids conducted at two different places in Gomia and Petarwar blocks of the district in

Nigeria’s presidential vote marred by prospect of violence

KADUNA, Nigeria —  Voting began here Saturday morning in the most divisive election since Nigeria emerged from military rule 16 years ago. But hovering over the polls were fears that violence could come from two disparate sources: Boko Haram insurgents and voters angered by the defeat of their candidate. By early afternoon, a car bomb had exploded in southern Enugu state, and voting irregularities raised concerns about a timely and accurate result. But mostly, Nigerians waited in long lines to participate in an election that has enormous implications not just for Africa’s most populous country but for much of the continent. In this northern state, which experienced violence after 2011’s presidential election, voters came out in droves to vote for the opposition candidate, former military dictator Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. His supporters expressed a commitment to a peaceful poll this time but also a certainty that Buhari would defeat the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan. “If Jon

Boko Haram gunmen kill six voters in northeast Nigeria

DAMATURU, Nigeria (Reuters) - Islamist Boko Haram insurgents launched two deadly attacks on voters in northeast Nigeria on Saturday, police and a security source said, killing six people in an election in which insecurity is a major issue. One attack was in Ngalda, Yobe state, state police commissioner Danladi Marcus told Reuters by telephone. The other was in an ethnic Fulani village called Woru in Gombe state, a security source said. In both attacks gunmen opened fire on voters as they trekked to their polling stations, killing three in each. Source http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0MO0KK20150328?irpc=932

Chad Strongman Says Nigeria Is Absent in Fight Against Boko Haram

NDJAMENA, Chad —     Chad ’s president, Idriss Déby, speaks in a soft mumble, wears spectacles and an immaculate white robe, and is to be found in the quiet inner recesses of a gilt-edged, marble presidential palace — under crystal chandeliers and vaulted arches that seem part Renaissance, part Vegas — at the dusty center of his country’s capital. Yet he is undeniably one of Africa’s most formidable strongmen. His men once whipped Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fighters in a desert battle, and he has survived numerous rebel assaults and coup attempts. More recently, his forces have successfully battled the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram and Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate,  Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb , or AQIM, shoring up his credentials as the West’s favorite African autocrat. Still, in discussing his military’s victory in the Boko Haram stronghold of Damasak, in  Nigeria , Mr. Déby showed no hint of triumphalism. Instead, he was frustrated, impatient: His men were stuck, still awa

'Islamist insurgents take parts of Syria's Idlib city'

Image
Representational Image   File Photo Islamist groups including al Qaeda's Nusra Front have seized major parts of Syria's city of Idlib for the first time since the conflict in the country began, fighters and a monitoring group said on Saturday. Idlib, a city of 100,000 people, is close to the main strategic highway linking Damascus to Aleppo and is also close to the coastal province of Latakia, a stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "They have entered the city from several sides but the major push was from the northern and western sides," said Rami Abdelrahman from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group which monitors the conflict. If the insurgents seize Idlib, the capital of a northwestern province of the same name, the province would be the second after Raqqa to be fully under the control of rebels. Raqqa is a stronghold of the hardline  Islamic State  group and has been a target of US-led air strikes. Syria's state media said

Bombing in Yemen intensifies; Arab League to discuss military operation

Image
U.S. assistance offered for Saudi-led strikes in Yemen Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) In just a few weeks' time, good relations with neighbors have become a matter of survival for Yemen's President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. On Saturday, he rallied regional allies in Egypt, while they bombarded his enemies in his country. After Houthi rebels occupied the capital Sanaa weeks ago, Hadi's government fled. When the President called for military intervention to beat back their attempt to overthrow him, adjacent countries answered this week   with a grand airstrike operation. Amid turmoil in Yemen, can an Iran deal be reached?   05:37 In the darkness of early Saturday, their jets increased the hail of ordnance on Sanaa, as Saudi-led operation Determination Storm went into its third day. And Hadi was in Sharm el-Sheikh to meet with the region's leaders at the Arab League summit. Yemen has been plunged into chaos since the Houthi rebels -- Shiite Muslims who have long felt marginalized in the