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Showing posts from June 3, 2018

44 Killed, 60 Critical As 'Russian War Planes' Attack Syria's Idlib

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The death toll is expected to increase as some of the 60 injured in the strikes were in a critical condition. Rescue workers were still searching under the rubble for survivors. This is the highest death toll in a single attack on the region this year. Updated on:  June 8, 2018, 2:58 PM IST Beirut:  Air strikes likely by Russia on a village in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province killed at least 44 people overnight, inflicting the highest death toll in a single attack on the region this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday. "War planes, which are likely Russian, targeted the village of Zardana in northern rural Idlib overnight and caused the highest death toll in a single attack on the region including 11 women and six children," Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Britain-based war monitor said. The death toll is expected to increase as some of the 60 injured in the strikes were in a critical condition, he said. Rescue workers were still searc

Threats to PM Modi's life: 5 assassination plots over the years

Threat 1 (Oct, 2013) Six persons were killed and several others injured when a series of blasts rocked Modi's Hunkaar Rally in  Patna on October 27, 2013. Modi, then the CM of Gujarat, had helped avert mass panic and a stampede by exhorting the audience to maintain peace and unity at all costs.  Total nine bombs were planted at the Gandhi Maidan venue by terrorists owing allegiance to banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Ten were held and charged for their involvement in the blasts. Threat 2 (May 2015) A WhatsApp message threatening to blow up PM Narendra Modi’s stage ahead of a rally at the ancestral village of Pt Deendayal Upadhyay to mark the first year of the BJP government sent the entire intelligence and police force in a tizzy. Though police officials termed the threat an act of some "distorted mind", security in and around the venue was beefed up and extra vigil was mounted in the district.  UP police later identified the sender

Mumbai Attacks Mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Outfit To Contest Pakistan Elections

Lahore:  Hafiz Saeed's Jammat-ud-Dawah is fielding more than 200 candidates in the July 25 general elections on national and provincial Assembly seats across the country even as the Mumbai terror attack mastermind  has decided not to run for parliament. Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group that carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack, launched its political front Milli Muslim League (MML), but it has not been yet registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). With general elections approaching, the group decided to contest on the platform of a "dormant" political entity Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek (AAT) registered with the ECP. The JuD activists and sympathisers have taken the nomination papers from the ECP and are fielding their candidates on the platform of the AAT. "MML president Saifullah Khalid and AAT chief Ehsan Bari have agreed to field joint candidates on the platform of ATT in the upcoming elections. Under the seat a

Afghan Taliban announces Eid ceasefire for first time

The Taliban in  Afghanistan  has for the first time announced a three-day ceasefire over the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of this week, following a  ceasefire announced by the government . The armed group said on Saturday that the ceasefire would exclude foreign forces, and that it would defend itself against any attack. In a televised address on Thursday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced an unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban until June 20, coinciding with the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Ghani said fighting against other armed groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) will continue. The surprise move by the government came days after a gathering of Afghanistan's top religious leaders in the capital, Kabul, issued a fatwa - a religious edict issued by an expert in Islamic law - against suicide bombings and attacks. The religious gathering was  attacked  on Monday by a suicide bomber, killing at least seven peop

China puts fight against extremism on regional security summit agenda

China will seek to bolster the fight against extremism at a regional security summit this weekend with some of its closest diplomatic allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Jointly led by Russia and China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was launched in 2001 to combat radical Islam and other security concerns in their own countries and across Central Asia. It added two new members, India and Pakistan, last year and Iran has been knocking at the door. Tehran is now an observer rather than a full member of a bloc that also includes four ex-Soviet Central Asian republics. China’s Wang Qishan vows to deepen ties with Russia, takes veiled swipe at US “One of the pressing tasks facing the SCO is to continue fighting against militants of Islamic State who, following the extremist group’s defeat in Syria and Iraq, have returned to their native countries, some of which are SCO members or observers,” China’s official Xinhua news agency said this week. It said

UKRAINE UNDER THREAT FROM FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISM, REPORT REVEALS

Ukraine has a growing problem with far-right extremists, a new report revealed Wednesday. Far-right extremist groups have existed on the margins of society since Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. But  a new report  by Washington, D.C.-based think tank Freedom House suggests that these groups have recently become more active and are hurting the country’s fledgling democracy. Far-right extremists still lack the popular support needed to be a meaningful force in organized politics, but law enforcement officials in Ukraine are allowing them to threaten civil society groups and operate with impunity, according to the report.   source  http://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-under-threat-far-right-extremism-report-reveals-962062

Austria to close seven mosques, expel imams

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(CNN)  —  Austria's right-wing government plans to shut down seven mosques and expel up to 60 imams in what it described as "just the beginning" of a crackdown on "political Islam" and foreign-funded Islamic communities. The measures mark the first time the country's controversial  "law on Islam"  -- introduced in 2015 when current Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was foreign minister -- is being invoked.  The imams and mosques being targeted are suspected of breaching a rule that bans the foreign funding of Islamic communities.  "Austria is a land of diversity, where religious freedom is highly valued, but it is also clear that we are a constitutional state where statutory rules are needed to organize our coexistence," Kurz said Friday. "Parallel societies, political Islam and radicalization have no place in our country." Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, whose anti-immigrant, anti-Islam Freedom Party is currentl

Explosive: Secret IB Note Reveals Pakistan’s ISI Hired Masood Azhar’s Brother To Kill PM Modi, 7 Indian Leaders

Hack: After a chilling letter suggested a plot to assassinate PM Narendra Modi, now an intel note from the year 2017 has emerged which mentions the PM among other India leaders to be on the radar as targets The most explosive part of the note is that Pakistan’s ISI has been named in note as a mastermind of the plot After a chilling letter suggested a plot to assassinate PM Narendra Modi, now an intel note from the year 2017 has emerged which mentions the PM among other India leaders being on the radar as targets. The most explosive part of the note is that Pakistan’s ISI has been named in the note as the mastermind of the plot. The secret intel note names 8 Indian leaders. Ministers including PM Modi, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, Manohar Parrikar, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu are also on the hit-list. The secret note dated January 2018 reveals October 2019 plot as per which Pakistan’s rogue body ISI hired Masood Azhar’s brother to carry out

“Naxalites were planning to assassinate Modi in a Rajiv Gandhi like incident”

The Pune police has made a shocking revelation before a court in which it said that the naxalites were planning on assassinating Narendra Modi in a Rajiv Gandhi like incident. In a letter it was stated that inspite of big defeats in Bihar and West Bengal, Modi had successfully established BJP governments in more than 15 states. If this pace continues then it would mean immense trouble for the party on all fronts...Col Kisan and a few other senior comrades have proposed concrete steps to end the Modi-era, the letter also stated. Police had on Wednesday arrested Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, lawyer Surendra Gadling, activists Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson from Mumbai, Nagpur and Delhi, respectively, in connection with 'Elgar Parishad' held here in December and the subsequent Bhima-Koregaon violence in the district. All five were produced before the sessions court, which remanded them in police custody till June 14. A letter found in Rona Wilson's house in

Confine illegal Rohingya to designated camps: Centre to states

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NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked Jammu & Kashmir and other states to confine illegal  Rohingya  settlers to pre-identified locations within their respective jurisdictions, record their personal particulars, including biometric details, and not to issue them Aadhaar number or any other identity proof.  The meticulous preparation of their personal particulars has been sought so that these details can eventually be shared with  Myanmar for likely repatriation, said a government source.  This indicates the government’s intent to prevent a wider diffusion of Rohingya in India beyond the camps, and the Centre’s concern over possible presence of radical elements among them and their involvement in crime.  In a letter to the chief secretary of J&K government on Saturday, the  home ministry  highlighted the “  security risks posed by some of those Rohingya/foreigners who entered India illegally  and were involved in illegal activities such as fraudulent procurement and/or fabrication of

Jammu & Kashmir: Pak Militants attack Army camp in Bandipora

A group of militants hurled grenades at an Army camp in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Tuesday night. The Army camp is adjacent to Hajjan police station in the area. Police said the militants lobbed grenades using under barrel grenade launchers at the Army camp, said to be under 30 Rashtriya Rifles, around 8.30 PM. The militants hurled grenades at the camp, adjacent to the police station, from two sides, a PTI report said. A senior police official said the fire was retaliated “heavily and effectively”. He also confirmed that it was not a suicide attack. Meanwhile, the area has been cordoned off and combing operations have been started, the officer said adding more details were awaited. source  http://indianexpress.com/article/india/jammu-kashmir-militants-attack-army-camp-in-bandipore-firing-underway-live-updates-5205536/lite/