Baghdad: More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since US troops withdrew in December 2011.
The attacks increased the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to more than 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Iraq has a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, which has targeted Shi'ites in a bid to kindle a wider sectarian conflagration.
Nine people were killed in one of two car bombings in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite city 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police and medics said. "I was on duty when a powerful blast shook the ground," said a police officer near the site of that attack in the Hayaniya neighbourhood....
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06:07 AM, May 21, 2013
Baghdad: At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombs in mainly Shiite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said. Scores of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shiites who now lead Iraq have reached their highest level...
02:59 PM, May 20, 2013
"Tensions along the Line of Actual Control don't give leverage unless you stay there," said a senior diplomat with long experience of China. And China didn't stay on at Raki Nulla in eastern Ladakh during the face off last month, raising the question as to why it happened in the first place. "I don't buy the theory of discord between the civil and military establishment. That's a Western argument," said...
11:50 AM, May 20, 2013
Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir state police and army troops in a joint operation unearthed a large cache of arms and ammunition from a location close to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan in Poonch district on Saturday evening. A defence spokesman in Jammu said the cache was a "war-like store". "Based on specific intelligence inputs about cache, a joint search operation was launched by the army and Jammu...
05:48 AM, May 13, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan Army will deploy 70,000 troops and 50 helicopters for aerial surveillance across the country to ensure security and maintain law and order during the landmark May 11 polls, marking the first democratic transition in the nation's history. Details about the deployment of troops and the army's role in providing security to the election process, threatened by banned groups like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, were provided today by chief military spokesman...
02:25 AM, May 03, 2013
The Chinese intrusion into Depsang Bulge in East Ladakh, approximately 19 km inside our perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on April 15, has raised temperatures both militarily and politically on either side. A series of border personnel meetings between the militaries of the two sides have not been able to resolve the issue so far and the standoff continues till date. It would not be incorrect to...
05:50 PM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday discussed ways of resolving the Chinese incursion issue with the top security brass of the country and emphasised that India will take every step to safeguard its interests there. Addressing the Unified Commanders' Conference, he said the current situation in Ladakh where Chinese Army troops have camped for over two weeks is "not one of our creation" and India wanted a peaceful...
10:35 PM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: Observing that deployment in counter-insurgency operations was straining the resources of the Army, a Parliamentary panel on Monday said the force should be relieved from these tasks to focus on undertaking its regular conventional duties. In its report tabled on Monday, the Standing Committee on Defence expressed concern for saving lives of soldiers in counter-terrorist operations and slammed the Defence Ministry for its "lackadaisical attitude" for doing away...
06:50 PM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: Government appears to be banking solely on the diplomatic option to to resolve the deadlock at Rakki Nullah in Daulat Beg Oldi with the high level China Study Group comprising the NSA, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and service chiefs driving thinking on the issue. Sources indicate there were no plans for a third flag level meeting. Sources also admitted they haven't yet figured out what China's intentions were...
12:47 PM, Apr 26, 2013
Beijing: Toning down its rhetoric on incursion, China on Thursday counselled patience saying favourable conditions should be created for the two countries to solve the issue through friendly consolations. At separate media briefings, both the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Defence Ministry maintained that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had not intruded into India and had not caused any "provocation". Urging the media to be patient, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua...
09:06 PM, Apr 25, 2013
Beijing: Claiming that its troops or choppers have not caused any "provocation" or violated the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, China today said the incident will not affect bilateral ties or disrupt peace at the borders as both sides are trying to resolve it in a friendly manner. "I do not agree with your allegation that it is the Chinese side that has caused the provocation between the...
07:40 PM, Apr 25, 2013
New Delhi: With China sticking to its stand that its troops have not violated the Line of Actual Control, Army has told the Government about various military options that can be exercised to deal with the situation arising out of the intrusion in Ladakh. The Army has given its inputs on the incursion by Chinese troops to the National Security Advisor-headed China Study Group which includes the Secretaries of the...
09:50 PM, Apr 24, 2013
New Delhi: There is no let up in tension at the India, China border with China violating Indian airspace and incursions into Ladakh. Army sources said that two Chinese helicopters violated the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on April 21. The Chinese choppers entered the Indian airspace on April 21 and hovered over the area for quite sometime and returned after dropping some food cans, cigarette packets and notes written...
09:27 PM, Apr 24, 2013
New Delhi: India and China appear deadlocked on the issue of Chinese troop incursions in Ladakh and after two failed flag meetings, India is trying for another one. Meanwhile, Beijing wants Delhi to stop infrastructure development in the area. China has pitched its demands high insisting that India dismantle fortified positions in Ladakh and stop what it calls aggressive patrolling. India says dismantling infrastructure is not an option and there...
07:20 PM, Apr 24, 2013
New Delhi: Terming the government's approach towards China as "very weak", BJP on Tuesday asked the Centre to spell out steps being taken to tackle the danger arising out of the Chinese troops' incursion in Ladakh. It said the government should tell the nation the truth about the issue and take the opposition also into confidence. "China's interference in India is very serious. The nation should be told the truth....
02:55 AM, Apr 24, 2013
New Delhi: Indian and Chinese military commanders held a flag meeting in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh, according to the reports. India wants the Chinese to withdraw their troops from Depsang, where they have been present for the last one week. Sources have told CNN-IBN, that Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) Joint Secretary heading the India China joint mechanism spoke to his Chinese counterpart over the issue. India...
02:05 PM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: India will take "every step" to protect its interests to resolve the situation arising out of deep incursion by Chinese troops into Indian territory in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister AK Antony said on Monday. "We are taking every action to protect our interest. ...We will take every step to protect our interest," he told reporters outside Parliament House. He was asked the government's response to the Chinese incursion...
01:35 PM, Apr 22, 2013
Leh/New Delhi: In a deep incursion, Chinese troops have entered the Indian territory in Daulat Beg Oldi(DBO) sector in eastern Ladakh and erected a tented post, setting the stage for a face-off with Indian troops. A Platoon-strength contingent of China's People's Liberation Army(PLA) came 10 km inside the Indian territory in Burthe in DBO sector, which is at an altitude of about 17,000 feet, on the night of April 15...
11:40 PM, Apr 19, 2013
The bombs that made Boston look like a combat zone have also brought battlefield medicine to their civilian victims. A decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has sharpened skills and scalpels, leading to dramatic advances that are now being used to treat the 13 amputees and nearly a dozen other patients still fighting to keep damaged limbs. "The only field or occupation that benefits from war is medicine," said...
06:14 AM, Apr 18, 2013
US special operations forces handed over their base in a strategic region of eastern Afghanistan to local Afghan commandos on Saturday, a senior US commander said. ...
06:34 PM, Mar 30, 2013
