Author: Himalaya Post

Srinagar – Four Army personnel including a Major lost their lives on Tuesday while foiling an infiltration bid in north Kashmir’s Gurez sector. The operation is still underway. The deceased have been identified as Major KP Rane, hawaldars Jamie Singh and Vikramjeet and rifleman Mandeep. There were eight terrorists who tried to infiltrate. Of the eight, the Army killed four terrorists and the rest escaped. The terrorists fired at the soldiers near the 36 Rashtriya Rifles post at Govind Nallah on the Line of Control. Reacting to the incident, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and senior National Congress (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah said that if the Army personnel have been killed then India should also respond accordingly. Expressing concern over the deaths, Abdullah said that India could have normal relations with Pakistan provided the neighbor stopped infiltration. “If Pakistan wants to maintain good relations with India, it is necessary that infiltration is stopped,” he said.  ...

PULE ALAM, Afghanistan – NATO is investigating reports that at least nine Afghan police officers were killed in a US air strike during heavy fighting with the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, its mission said Tuesday. Afghan officials have confirmed the deaths, with interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi saying nine police were killed and 14 wounded in the aerial bombardment in Azra district of Logar province. During the hours-long battle with insurgents overnight, police “called in air support but unfortunately foreign forces mistakenly bombed their positions”, Rahimi said. The Taliban also suffered heavy losses, he added. Provincial council chief Hamidullah Hamid told AFP “foreign forces” had mistakenly bombed two police checkpoints and killed “about 15 police”. Resolute Support, NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, confirmed US forces had conducted an air strike “in defense of Afghan forces” in Azra district but did not mention casualties. “We are looking into the matter further,” spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Martin O’Donnell told AFP. The US is the only international force known to be carrying out air strikes in Afghanistan. The Afghan air force also carries out some attacks. There are about 14,000 US ground troops in Afghanistan, making up the bulk of NATO’s mission to support and train local forces. Some of the US forces are involved in counter-terrorism operations, particularly against the Islamic State jihadist...

KANO, Nigeria – Boko Haram jihadists have killed seven villagers in a dawn raid in Nigeria’s restive northeast, local militia and a resident said Tuesday. Gunmen in trucks and on motorcycles late Monday attacked Munduri, a village 13 kilometres (eight miles) north of Borno state capital Maiduguri, firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades, according to resident Abdullahi Bunu. “The attackers seized seven people and beheaded them before setting fire to the entire village,” militia leader Umar Ari told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri. Those who were decapitated were the village chief and his wife, Bunu said. “We returned this morning and found the entire village burnt along with all our food supplies and livestock”. Boko Haram has intensified its armed campaign in recent weeks, including against military targets in which dozens of troops are believed to have been either killed or missing. The rebels have split into two groups, and it was not immediately clear which was behind the latest attack. A faction loyal to Abubakar Shekau is notorious for indiscriminate killings of civilians while the Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi faction — which is affiliated to the so-called Islamic State — largely focuses on attacking the military. Five people were killed in a similar raid last week in Gasarwa village, near the garrison town of Monguno. The attacks contrast with repeated claims by the military and the government that Boko Haram...