Defence
UK optimistic about listing of Masood Azhar as global terrorist at UN
Britain remains optimistic about the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist even as it has been prodding Pakistan to take “irreversible action” against terrorists working from its soil, UK high commissioner Dominic Asquith said on Friday. The Easter Sunday suicide attacks in Sri Lanka, which shot eight British nationals, had brought …
Navy officer killed dousing fire on INS Vikramaditya got married last month
A 30-year-old navy officer died on Friday morning as he valiantly fought a blaze onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya when India’s largest and most expensive warship was pulling into Karwar harbor in Karnataka, a navy spokesperson said. Lieutenant Commander DS Chauhan courageously led the firefighting efforts in the affected compartment of India’s only aircraft carrier …
The two millionaire brothers behind Sri Lanka’s suicide attacks that killed 359
Sri Lankan housewife Fathima Fazla thought of her neighbours in the grand three-storey home across the street as the wealthy celebrities of her humble Colombo suburb. She had no idea how infamous they would become. Two brothers who lived at the white house on Mahawela Gardens have emerged as key players in suicide attacks on …
Post-Balakot, Pakistan scrambled jets from 8 bases
“The strategic-surprise” of the Balakot airstrikes by the Indian Air Force in the Khyber Phaktunwa region of Pakistan on February 26 was “complete and total” despite Pakistan being on high alert, according to a report on “the lessons learnt” from the operation, which also mentions that five of the six designated targets were hit, the …
Blast in Sri Lanka’s Pugoda town, 40 km from capital Colombo
An explosion occurred in a town east of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, on Thursday but there were no casualties, a police spokesman said. Spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said police were investigating the blast on empty land behind the magistrate’s court in Pugoda, 40 km (25 miles). “There was an explosion behind the court, we are …
Suspected suicide bombers walk into elevator of Colombo hotel
A CCTV footage reportedly shows two of the suspected suicide bombers inside an elevator of the Shangri-La Hotel in Sri Lanka’s Colombo moments before they blew themselves up on Easter Sunday. The latest footage comes after another suspected suicide bomber was seen entering St Sebastian’s church in Negombo, where 200 people were killed in the …
10 days before Sri Lanka bombing, there was clear intel about church attacks
The warning in the April 11 letter was plain: A local group was planning a suicide terror attack against churches in Sri Lanka. Priyalal Disanayaka, the deputy inspector general of police, signed the letter addressed to the directors of four Sri Lankan security agencies. He identified Mohammed Zaharan as the leader of “National Thawheek Jaman” …
Saudi Arabia executes 37 citizens convicted of terrorism
Saudi Arabia said it executed 37 of its citizens on Tuesday after they were convicted of “terrorism” in the kingdom, which is one of the world’s top executioners. The sentences were carried out in Riyadh, the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, central Qassim province and Eastern Province, home to the country’s Shiite minority. …
Some people with explosives on the run, more attacks possible
Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday that some people with explosives were on the run and that more attacks are possible. He said he believed the Easter day attacks had links to Islamic State after the militant group claimed responsibility for the bombings in which more than 300 were killed. Ranil Wickremesinghe …
Second team of NTJ terrorists ready for bombing, Indian officials tell Lanka
The National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ), the little known group blamed for the bombing of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Sunday, appears to have been inspired by Islamic State (IS) through direct links between the two are yet to be established, people familiar with developments said on Monday. India is helping Sri Lanka probe …
Sri Lanka top cop had warned of attacks on Indian high commission too
Sri Lanka’s police chief made a nationwide alert 10 days before Sunday’s bomb attacks in the country that suicide bombers planned to hit “prominent churches”, according to the warning seen by AFP. Police chief Pujuth Jayasundara sent an intelligence warning to top officers on April 11 setting out the threat. “A foreign intelligence agency has reported that …
207 killed, 450 injured in Sri Lanka serial blasts; 7 suspects arrested
At least 207 people were killed and hundreds more injured in eight blasts that rocked churches and hotels in and just outside Sri Lanka’s capital on Easter Sunday, officials said, pitching the South Asian island nation into the worst chaos it has seen since a bloody civil war ended a decade ago. Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena, …