GENEVA: At least 47 people were killed and 181 others were wounded in clashes between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and militias countering its advance on the capital, Tripoli.
It was announced was by the UN’s health body on Tuesday.
The LNA, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, started the operation to cleanse Tripoli of terrorists and criminal gangs last week. The UN agency warned that the renewed fighting could deplete medical supplies.
BEIRUT: At least 13 people died on Sunday in shelling by government and rebel forces in northwestern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It said nine persons died in government shelling of the insurgent-held towns of Saraqeb and Nerab, while four people died in insurgent shelling of the government-held town of Masyaf. (Agencies)
QALA-E-NAW: Over 50 militants were killed and scores of others injured in Bala Murghab district of Afghanistan’s western Badghis province over the past 24 hours, said a statement released by the army on Saturday.
Government forces in the crackdown against militants, according to the statement, have used aircraft and artillery since Friday. So far 51 armed insurgents were killed. The statement did not provide more details and Taliban militants have not commented yet. Meanwhile, local news agency Pajhwok reported that the Taliban had tightened the noose around Bala Murghab district.
HANOI: President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dove into the details of nuclear negotiations Thursday amidst speculations about what Kim will give up what and Trump may demand.
Trump is not in a mood to make decisions in haste. “Speed is not important,” Trump said. “What’s important is that we do the right deal,” Trump said.
Accompanied only by translators, the unlikely pair — a 72-year-old billionaire and a 35-year-old reclusive autocrat — displayed a familiarity with one another as they began the day’s negotiations.
After a 40-minute private meeting, the leaders went for a stroll on the Hotel Metropole’s lush grounds, chatting as they walked by a swimming pool before being joined by aides to continue talks, reported news agencies.
Possible outcomes could include a peace declaration for the Korean War that the North could use to eventually push for the reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea, or sanctions relief that could allow Pyongyang to pursue lucrative economic projects with the South.
Skeptics say such agreements would leave in place a significant portion of North Korea’s nuclear-tipped missiles while robbing the United States of its negotiating leverage going forward. Asked if this summit would yield a political declaration to end the Korean War, Trump told reporters on Wednesday: “We’ll see.”
(Agencies)
KATHMANDU: There has been an escalated tension between the two nuclear powers – India and Pakistan—after both the countries have claimed of shooting down one another’s aircraft on Wednesday, reports have said.
Pakistani army has claimed they have shot down two Indian aircraft on Wednesday.
Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of the Pakistan Armed Forces tweeted that Pakistani army shot down two Indian aircraft inside Pakistani airspace. According to him, one of the aircraft fell inside AJ&K while other fell inside IOK.
Ghafoor claimed that one of the aircraft fell in Pakistan-controlled territory while the other fell in the Indian side, according to India media.
Meanwhile, India has claimed of shooting down Pakistan F-16 that violated the Indian space on Wednesday.
India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh is holding a high-level meeting in the Indian capital of New Delhi to discuss row between the two countries.
According to reports, two pilots are feared dead when an Indian Air Force helicopter – Mi-17V-5 — crashed in Budgam of Jammu and Kashmir this afternoon.
Tensions have escalated after Indian fighter jets crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and carried out “pre-emptive air strikes” targeting terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s camp in Pakistan.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is currently in China, said the objective of the pre-emptive attack on the terrorist camp was based on attack on terrorism. India attacked the camp after Pakistani government refused to acknowledge and act against terror camps in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA). It is a body that controls Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Indian army official said the Indian air-force jets intercepted three Pakistani warplanes that crossed into the Indian side of Kashmir. (Agencies)
Also read: Pak. claims of shooting down two Indian aircraft; India follow-suits
HANOI: American President Donald Trump says North Korea could thrive economically if it would give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
North Korea could thrive very quickly as the other developed countries if it would denuclearize, Trump tweeted before sitting down with Kim later Wednesday in Hanoi.
“North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. The potential is awesome, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong-Un,” Trump tweeted.
Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize. The potential is AWESOME, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong Un. We will know fairly soon – Very Interesting!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 27, 2019
Meanwhile, he asked the democrats in Washington why they did not tell North Korea to denuclearize during the eight years of the Obama Administration.
American Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un are holding their second nuclear summit with a one-on-one discussion in the capital city Hanoi as the world is watching on curiously what negotiations will take place between the two.
The two leaders first met last June in Singapore, a summit that was long on historic pageantry but short on any enforceable agreements for North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal.
(With inputs from Agencies)
KATHMANDU: Indian fighter jets have carried out surgical strikes on a terrorist camp across the Line of Control in Balakot, a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, on Tuesday, reported a news agency.
According to the report, a group of 12 Mirage 2000 jets of Indian Air Force dropped 1,000 kilograms of bombs on the major terrorist camp and destroyed it completely.
However, major general Asif Ghafoor of Pakistan, in a tweet, said Indian fighter jets violated an agreed border between the two countries. Balakot is about 50 kilometers from the LoC.
The attack comes 12 days after Pakistan-based terror group JeM carried out the deadly attack in Pulwama which left 40 Indian soldiers dead.
Major General Asif Ghafoorn Pakistan army spokesperson, has alleged that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had violated the Line of Control (LoC).
Pakistan’s claim came amid escalated tension between the two nuclear giants following the February 14 attack by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad that claimed lives of at least 40 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Amid heightened tension, Prime Minister Naredra Modi had said the security forces were given a free hand to retaliate the evil attack.
Payload of hastily escaping Indian aircraft fell in open. pic.twitter.com/8drYtNGMsm
— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) February 26, 2019
The terrorist attack by the Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed Pulwama in India’s Jammu and Kashmir has heightened a sense of regional terrorism in South Asia.
On the 14th February, the militant group launched a suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convey killing over 40 security personnel.
Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) apparatus is still providing shelter to the anti-American Taliban group even as it had joined US-led allies on the war against terrorism.
What might be the Indian punitive action against Pakistan over the terror attack in Kashmir is still a matter of speculation. However, Pakistani-backed terrorism threat in the South Asian region is getting serious. Pakistani intelligence establishment still uses terrorism as its tool. Pakistan is a safe haven to terrorist outfits such as Jaish-e-Mohammed Lashkar-e Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, among others.
Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) apparatus is still providing shelter to the anti-American Taliban group even as it had joined US-led allies on the war against terrorism.
It should not be forgotten that the ISI had used Haqqani Network to launch vicious attacks on the U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan as well as in the US Embassy in Kabul.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh, which has suffered from Pakistani-based terrorist outfits, has been cracking down on the ISI-backed terror groups, including Harkat-ul Jihad Islami in its territory.
What is even more worrying is that Pakistan uses the third-country ground for their hostile acts against its neighboring countries.
Pakistan has been using its proxy terrorist outfits against neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, India or even Iran. Pakistani intelligence facilitates the entry of Maldivian nationals in Afghanistan who are trained to become Jihadists in Afghanistan.
In fact, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) faces an uncertain future with one of its members Pakistan, pampering various terrorist outfits.
What is even more worrying is that Pakistan uses the third-country ground for their hostile acts against its neighboring countries.
Defeating terrorism is not possible without a decisive action against Pakistan. One option would be a direct counterterrorism target on the Pakistani soil. But these need to be more than the U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Abbottabad raid that had killed al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden.
The question now is how Nepal engages with Pakistan and how it can play a key role in contributing to the security of neighboring India and the SARRC region.
We cannot afford to damage our relations with India at the cost of Pakistan. Nepal should remain alert on Pakistan’s activities and it should bolster counterterrorism cooperation with India, regional nations and the United States.
It is an open secret that Pakistan for long has been active in Nepal especially on the Indian border area. It has often come to fore how Pakistan used Nepal to transport fake Indian currency to India.
Prime Minister KP Oli telephoned Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and condemned Thursday’s terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. In a tweet, PM Oli stated he also conveyed ‘our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims’.
Pakistan’s ties with radical extremists remain a threat to Nepal as well. Pakistan should be held accountable for its terrorist tactics throughout the region. Nepal also should take a firm stand in forcing Pakistan in not harboring terrorist groups and protecting them or sponsoring terrorist activities against India or other countries.
Pakistan is reported to have inclined to operate from Nepal in launching terrorist acts against India. That is why it wants to maintain close diplomatic ties with Nepal. After two decades of Benazir Bhutto’s diplomatic visit to Nepal in 1994, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaquan visited Nepal on March 5, 2018.
Prime Minister KP Oli telephoned Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and condemned Thursday’s terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. In a tweet, PM Oli stated he also conveyed ‘our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims’.
However, a mere expression of condolences at the hour of crisis is not enough. Nepal needs to take concrete action in cooperation with India to force Pakistan in renouncing terrorist activities.
CAIRO: A joint force of U.S.-Libyan army raided an al Qaeda site in Ubari, a Libyan city, agencies have said.
Spokesperson for Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Presidency Council, said that a site with a number of al Qaeda members in Ubari has been raided. He, however, gave no details.
The joint work between the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and the US Government, according to Spokesperson Mohamed El Sallak, coincided with the meeting of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala at the Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State meeting last week. (Agencies)
QAMISHLI, Syria: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has begun an assault against the Islamic State (IS) enclave in eastern Syria. This has been aimed at wiping out the last vestige of the group’s “caliphate” in the SDF’s area of operations, according to agencies.
US President Donald Trump had on Wednesday said that the U.S.-led coalition operating in support of the SDF had reclaimed almost all territories earlier held by the jihadist group. (Agencies)