SRINAGAR, India: Two suspected militants were killed in a firefight with soldiers in Indian-administered Kashmir, the defense ministry said Friday, following a spate of attacks in the disputed territory.
The two men were killed on Thursday while trying to cross the de facto frontier that divides the Himalayan region between Pakistan and India.
Troops saw the pair crossing over from the Pakistani side through thick foliage, a defense spokesman said in a statement.
“The infiltrating terrorists were challenged, following which they opened fire leading to an intense firefight,” he said.
Kashmir, particularly its southern Hindu-majority region Jammu, has seen a string of battles between insurgents and Indian security forces in the past two months.
Five Indian security personnel were killed on Monday during a firefight with gunmen in Doda forest.
Last month, nine Indian Hindu pilgrims were killed and dozens more wounded when a gunman opened fire on a bus carrying them from a shrine in Reasi district.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and each side claims it in full.
Rebel groups have waged an insurgency since 1989, demanding independence or merger with Pakistan, in fighting that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels.
New Delhi and Islamabad accuse each other of stoking militancy and espionage to undermine each other, and the nuclear-armed rivals have fought multiple conflicts for control of the region.
Indian soldiers kill two suspected militants in Kashmir
https://arab.news/vz6nt
Indian soldiers kill two suspected militants in Kashmir
- Kashmir has seen a string of battles between insurgents and Indian security forces in the past two months
- Five Indian security personnel were killed on Monday during a firefight with gunmen in Doda forest
UK export license suspension won’t have ‘material’ impact on Israel, minister says
“It will not have a material impact on Israel’s security,” he told Times Radio on Tuesday, the day after the suspension was announced.
Britain's chief rabbi criticised the government's decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel.
"It beggars belief that the British government, a close strategic ally of Israel, has announced a partial suspension of arms licences," Ephraim Mirvis said on X.
He said the move would bolster unfounded claims that Israel was in breach of international humanitarian law.
"Sadly, this announcement will serve to encourage our shared enemies," Mirvis said. "It will not help to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages, nor contribute to the peaceful future we wish and pray for, for all people in the region and beyond."
Britain's foreign minister David Lammy said on Monday that the government had suspended 30 of 350 British arms export licences with Israel due to a risk the equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.
New Zealand spy report calls out China for interference
- New Zealand’s spy agency said the country’s geographical position and role in the Pacific region made it “vulnerable” to other countries striving for greater influence
WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s spy service branded China a “complex intelligence concern” Tuesday and warned the Pacific nation was vulnerable to foreign interference.
In an annual threat report, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service said several countries were undertaking “malicious activity” on its shores, but called out China’s attempts as “complex and deceptive.”
In particular, Beijing was accused of using front organizations to connect with local groups to replace authentic and diverse community views with those approved by the ruling party.
In one example, a Chinese-language community news outlet parroted Beijing’s talking points, it said.
“These front organizations will often appear to be community-based... but their true affiliation, direction and funding sources are hidden,” the report said.
The unusually blunt language comes as New Zealand’s recently elected center-right government tilts the country’s foreign policy more closely toward traditional Western allies.
This comes after years of growing economic ties with China — New Zealand’s biggest trade partner.
In March, Wellington publicly said a Chinese state-sponsored group was behind a 2021 malicious cyberattack that infiltrated sensitive government computer systems.
China dismissed allegations of hacking and accused New Zealand critics of being puppets of Washington.
New Zealand’s spy agency said the country’s geographical position and role in the Pacific region made it “vulnerable” to other countries striving for greater influence.
That included Russia, which “likely monitors the public statements and social media accounts” of people.
In another case, an unnamed country contacted a local New Zealand council and offered to pay for a community event if they agreed to restrict a particular religious group.
Andrew Hampton, Director-General of Security, said the report aimed to be upfront about threats facing the country.
“The point is not to alarm anyone but to alert New Zealanders to the threats so that we can work together to manage them,” he said.
Earlier this year, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the country could no longer depend on the “splendid isolation” provided by its geography.
China remains New Zealand’s biggest trading partner — exporting diary, meat and wood products that exceeded NZ$21.39 billion ($13.2 billion), according to the most recent official data.
Luxon has warned that although China was “a country of undoubted influence,” different values mean “there are issues on which we cannot and will not agree.”
After brutal rape case, Sandip Ghosh, ex-head of India’s RG Kar college, arrested for suspected graft
- Ghosh, who resigned as principal of the college days after incident became public, was arrested on Monday on charges of financial irregularities
- Rape and murder case triggered widespread protests by doctors demanding greater safety for women at the workplace and justice for 31-year-old doctor
KOLKATA: India’s federal police said it had arrested the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata for alleged graft, after an investigation in the case of the brutal rape and murder of a young female doctor on the premises.
Sandip Ghosh, who resigned as principal of the British colonial-era college days after the incident became public, was arrested on Monday on charges of financial irregularities, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.
The CBI said it also arrested two vendors of hospital supplies and a close aide of Ghosh in connection with the case.
Reuters was not able to immediately reach Ghosh or his lawyer.
The rape and murder case triggered widespread protests by doctors demanding greater safety for women at the workplace and justice for the 31-year-old doctor, whose body was found over three weeks ago.
Although tougher laws were introduced after the 2012 gruesome gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi, activists say the incident in Kolkata has highlighted how women in India continue to suffer from sexual violence.
A police volunteer, designated to help police personnel and their families with hospital admissions when needed, was arrested last month and charged with the crime.
Ethiopian Airlines says flights to Eritrea capital suspended
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Airlines said Monday that it was suspending its flights to and from Eritrea’s capital Asmara from September 3, citing “difficult operating conditions.”
Air links between Ethiopia and Eritrea had resumed in July 2018 after a 20-year interruption because of longstanding conflicts between the two Horn of Africa countries.
However, in July Ethiopian Airlines said in a post on X that Eritrea had suspended its flights to the country from September 30, without providing a reason.
Late Monday Africa’s largest airline said on X that it “regrets to inform its valued customers traveling to/from Asmara that it has suspended its flights to Asmara effective September 3.”
It said the suspension was “due to very difficult operating conditions it has encountered in Eritrea that are beyond its control,” without giving further details.
Indirect flights to Asmara from Ethiopia beyond September 3 were still available on Ethiopian Airlines official website.
The Eritrean government, which is diplomatically isolated and does not allow any independent media, has not publicly commented on the July decision.
US seizes Venezuela leader Maduro’s plane
- US Justice Department said the plane was ‘illegally purchased’
MIAMI: The United States on Monday seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic and flew the jet to Florida, saying it acted over violation of US sanctions.
United States officials moved to take the aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900EX private jet used by Maduro and members of his government, with the Justice Department saying the plane was “illegally purchased.”
“The Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Aircraft tracking site Flightradar24 showed that the jet flew from Santo Domingo to Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning.
The US says that in late 2022 and early 2023, individuals affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal their involvement in the illegal purchase of the jet.
The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023.
Since May 2023, the plane has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela.
Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge at the Homeland Security Investigations Miami office, said “this plane was predominantly utilized by Nicolas Maduro on numerous state visits.”
The South American country was rocked by protests when Maduro was declared the winner of a disputed July 28 election, with dozens killed and more than 2,400 people arrested.
The opposition claims it won by a landslide and that it has the voting records to prove it.
The leftist Maduro government, brushing off accusations of authoritarianism, has resisted international pressure to release vote tally numbers to back up its claim of victory.
“Maduro and his representatives’ have tampered with the results of the July 28 presidential election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out wide-spread repression to maintain power by force,” a US National Security Council spokesperson said.
The seizure of the plane “is an important step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela,” they added.
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro as having won without seeing detailed voting results.
Violence that accompanied the protests left 27 people dead and at least 192 wounded.
Since 2005, Washington has imposed sanctions on Venezuela that target individuals and entities “that have engaged in criminal, antidemocratic, or corrupt actions,” according to a Congressional briefing document.
“In response to increasing human rights abuses and corruption by the government of Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, the Trump Administration expanded US sanctions to include financial sanctions, sectoral sanctions, and sanctions on the government.”
Caracas has not yet commented on the seizure.
