Latest news with #rebels
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
India claims to have killed all suspects of Kashmir's Pahalgam attack
India's Home Minister Amit Shah has said three suspected rebels killed in Indian-administered Kashmir were responsible for the April killings of tourists in the disputed region's Pahalgam that led to an intense military conflict with Pakistan. The minister's comments came on Tuesday, a day after the heavily-armed suspects were killed in a joint operation by the military, paramilitary and police on the outskirts of Kashmir's main city of Srinagar. 'I want to tell the Parliament, those who attacked in Baisaran were three terrorists and all three have been killed,' said Shah, referring to the area near the Kashmiri town of Pahalgam where 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, were shot dead on April 22. India accused Pakistan of backing the attackers, a charge Islamabad denied, leading to an intense four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals in May that killed more than 70 people on both sides. Shah said all three were Pakistani nationals and identified two of them as members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based armed group. 'Indian security agencies have detailed evidence of their involvement in the attack,' Shah said in a speech in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. Monday's operation took place in the mountains of Dachigam, about 30km (18 miles) from Srinagar, the army said in a statement. Shah said a security meeting was held immediately after the attack, and it was decided that the attackers should not be 'allowed to leave the country and return to Pakistan'. Investigators relied on witness accounts and forensic evidence to establish that the rifles found on the men were the same ones that were used in the April attack, he said. 'It was confirmed that these three rifles were involved in the killing of our innocent civilians,' said Shah. Retracted claim of responsibility All those killed in the April attack were listed as residents of India except one man from Nepal. Survivors said the attackers had separated the men from the women and children and ordered some of them to recite the Muslim declaration of faith. Another armed group called The Resistance Front (TRF) initially claimed responsibility for the attack. But as public criticism mounted over the killings, it retracted the claim. Earlier this month, the United States designated TRF as a 'foreign terrorist organisation'. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and the neighbours – who both claim the region in full – have fought two wars and several conflicts over its control. Since 1989, Kashmiri rebels have been fighting against Indian rule, demanding independence or the region's merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of backing the violence, but Islamabad says it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiris' struggle for self-determination.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Indian army kills 3 suspected rebels in contested Kashmir
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, SRINAGAR : Indian security forces killed three suspected armed rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir today during a clash in a wildlife reserve, the army said. The incident occurred in the mountains of Dachigam, around 30km from the disputed region's main city of Srinagar. 'Three terrorists have been neutralised in an intense firefight,' the Indian army said in a statement on social media. 'Operation continues,' it added. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and the neighbours – which both claim the region in full – have fought two wars over its control. The incident took place near the major Hindu shrine of Amarnath, to which more than 350,000 people from across India have travelled as part of an ongoing pilgrimage. The army did not immediately identify those killed, but a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity that they were all 'foreigners'. Rebel groups have waged an insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, demanding Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. The clash comes more than three months after gunmen attacked tourists in Pahalgam, a popular resort town in the restive territory, killing 26 people, mostly Hindus. Security forces have been hunting for the attackers but they remain at large. India accused Pakistan of backing the attackers, a charge Islamabad denied, sparking an intense four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals in May that killed more than 70 people on both sides. Clashes between rebels and government forces have drastically reduced during the last five years but many local militants have been killed since the Pahalgam attack.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
An attack on a Congolese church killed nearly 40 worshippers. Here's what to know
Nearly 40 people were killed Sunday in eastern Congo's Ituri province when rebels stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshippers, including many women and children. At least 38 people were confirmed dead in the church while another five were killed in a nearby village. The victims included 19 men, 15 women and nine children. The attacks in Komanda town in the conflict-battered region were carried out by the Allied Democratic Force, a rebel group backed by the Islamic State that has mostly targeted villagers in eastern Congo and across the border in Uganda, the Congolese army said. The ADF arose from tensions in neighboring Uganda The ADF has roots in Uganda in the 1990s. Following the overthrow of long-term dictator, Idi Amin, a coalition of various discontent groups saw the new government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni as anti-Muslim. Since then, the group has grown into a potent force but has been pushed out of Uganda's territories and now operates in the borderlands between Uganda and Congo, often targeting civilians in remote villages. ADF leaders pledged allegiance in 2019 to the Islamic State and have sought to establish an Islamic caliphate in Uganda. Rebels complicate conflicts in eastern Congo Eastern Congo has been beleaguered by protracted conflicts for decades, dating back to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. The conflicts have involved more than a hundred armed groups, according to the United Nations. The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group is the most prominent and launched a blitz of attacks in January in a major escalation culiminating in its capture of two key cities in the region. The Congolese and Ugandan armies have targeted the ADF in a joint military effort but analysts say it has done little, even as the rebels attack civilians. 'These joint operations have only succeeded in dispersing the ADF without really protecting civilians from their wrathful reprisals,' said Onesphore Sematumba, the Congo analyst at the International Crisis Group. This presents complex headaches for the overstretched Congolese army, which is occupied with advances by M23 and other rebel groups in the mineral-rich region. 'The ADF is taking more or less the advantage of the Congolese army's and international diplomacy's focus on the M23 further south without attracting too much attention,' Sematumba said. Attack targeted worshippers at midnight The church attack Sunday was the latest in a series of deadly ADF assaults on civilians, including earlier this month when the group killed 66 people in Ituri province. The attack happened July 11 around 1 a.m. during a vigil at a Catholic church in Komanda, civil society leaders and survivors. It followed an attack a few hours earlier in the nearby village of Machongani, where five people were killed and houses razed. The attackers were believed to have come from a stronghold about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Komanda and fled before security forces arrived. Attack expected to worsen situation The attack Sunday has sent shockwaves around the Central African country, which is currently embroiled in numerous conflicts. The Congolese government condemned it as 'horrific" while the military described it as a 'large-scale massacre' carried out in revenge for recent security operations targeting the ADF. However, M23 used the attack to accuse the governemnt of 'blatant incompetence' in attempts to protect citizens. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO, said the chuch killings will 'exacerbate an already extremely worrying humanitarian situation in the province.'
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Washington Post
An attack on a Congolese church killed nearly 40 worshippers. Here's what to know
LAGOS, Nigeria. — Nearly 40 people were killed Sunday in eastern Congo's Ituri province when rebels stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshippers, including many women and children. At least 38 people were confirmed dead in the church while another five were killed in a nearby village. The victims included 19 men, 15 women and nine children.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Three suspected rebels killed in firefight in India-administered Kashmir
Indian security forces have killed three suspected rebels in India-administered Kashmir during fighting in a national park, the military says. The incident occurred on Monday in the mountains of Dachigam, about 30km (18 miles) east of the disputed region's main city of Srinagar. 'Three terrorists have been neutralised in an intense firefight,' the Indian army said in a statement on social media. 'Operation continues.' Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947, and the South Asian nuclear powers, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought three wars over its control. Since 1989, Kashmiri rebels have been fighting against Indian rule, demanding independence or the region's merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of backing the rebellion, but Islamabad says it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiris' struggle for self-determination. Indian media reports said the three men killed on Monday were suspected to be behind the April 22 attack in India-administered Kashmir's resort town of Pahalgam, which killed 26 people. Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the involvement of the men in the April attack, which sparked a four-day military conflict with Pakistan that killed more than 70 people on both sides. The Indian military did not immediately identify those killed on Monday, but a police officer told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that they were all 'foreigners'. This month, the United States designated The Resistance Front (TRF), the group accused of being behind the Pahalgam attack, as a 'foreign terrorist organisation'. Monday's incident took place near the Hindu shrine of Amarnath, to which more than 350,000 people from across India have travelled as part of an annual pilgrimage that began on July 3. Fighting between rebels and Indian government forces in India-administered Kashmir has drastically declined during the past five years, but many local fighters have been killed since the Pahalgam attack, according to officials. India denies US claims In a related development, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said New Delhi had ended its military conflict with Pakistan in May as it had met all its objectives and had not responded to any outside pressure. Singh's remarks during a discussion in parliament on the April 22 attack effectively rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that he brokered the truce between the two neighbours. 'India halted its operation because all the political and military objectives studied before and during the conflict had been fully achieved,' Singh said. 'To suggest that the operation was called off under pressure is baseless and entirely incorrect.' New Delhi has said Pakistani nationals were involved in the Pahalgam killings. Pakistan denied involvement and sought an independent investigation. In their military conflict in May, the two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and other munitions, killing dozens of people, before Trump announced they had agreed to a ceasefire. Pakistan thanked Trump for brokering the agreement, but India said the US had no hand in it and that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed between themselves to end the fighting. Indian opposition groups have questioned what they say is the intelligence failure behind the Pahalgam attack and the government's inability to capture the assailants – issues they are expected to raise during the parliament discussion. They have also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for coming under pressure from Trump and agreeing to end the fighting, along with reports that Indian jets were shot down during the fighting. Pakistan claimed it downed five Indian planes in combat, and India's highest ranking general admitted suffering 'initial losses in the air,' but declined to give details.
