Asia Pacific
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Jun- 2020 -17 June
Taliban Raids on Afghan Security Posts Kill 18
Taliban fighters killed at least 18 Afghan security personnel Wednesday in two attacks on checkpoints in the north.
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17 June
North Korea Threatens to Beef up Military Presence Around DMZ
North Korea threatened Wednesday to bolster its military presence in and around the Demilitarized Zone, a day after blowing up its liaison office with the South, prompting sharp criticism from Seoul.
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16 June
Indian and Chinese Troops in Deadly Border Clash
Three Indian soldiers were killed in a violent face-off on the Chinese border, the Indian army said Tuesday, following weeks of rising tensions and the deployment of thousands of extra troops from both sides.
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11 June
Freed Taliban Prisoners Eye Return to the Battlefield
Afghan authorities are opening prison doors for thousands of Taliban inmates in a high-risk gambit to ensure the insurgent group begins peace talks with Kabul.
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8 June
Four Rebels Killed in Second Indian Kashmir Clash in Two Days
Four suspected rebels were killed by government forces in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday just hours after five militants died in a firefight in the same area.
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5 June
US Launches First Taliban Air Strikes Since Afghan Ceasefire End
The US launched its first air strikes against the Taliban since a rare ceasefire between the insurgents and Afghan forces ended more than a week ago.
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2 June
Roadside Bomb Kills 7 Civilians in Afghanistan
Seven civilians were killed by a roadside bomb linked to the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, even as authorities pressed for peace talks with the militants. Overall violence across much of Afghanistan has dropped, however, since May 24 when the Taliban announced a surprise three-day ceasefire to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The latest blast struck a small truck carrying a group of laborers late Monday in the volatile district of Khan Abad, in the province of Kunduz. No group claimed responsibility, but Kunduz provincial spokesman Esmatullah Muradi pointed the finger at the Taliban. “The Taliban usually plant roadside bombs to target security forces, but their bombs usually kill civilians,” he told AFP. Two of six others wounded in the blast were in critical condition, said district chief Hayatullah Amiri. President Ashraf Ghani had welcomed the Taliban ceasefire offer and authorities responded by announcing around 2,000 Taliban prisoners would be released in a “goodwill gesture” with a view to kickstarting peace talks. Afghanistan’s former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who has been appointed to lead the talks, said his team was ready to begin negotiations “at any moment.” Late on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been …
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1 June
Indonesian Policeman Killed by Sword-Wielding Militant
A sword-wielding militant killed an Indonesian policeman and critically injured another on Monday in what authorities described as a suspected Islamic State-linked attack. The attacker was shot dead during the early morning raid at a police post in South Daha district on Kalimantan — Indonesia’s section of Borneo island. Indonesia’s national police initially said there were two attackers, but local authorities later said only one militant was directly involved. “One police officer was killed and the attacker also died,” South Hulu Sungai police chief Dedy Eka Jaya told AFP. “We’re still investigating possible links” to IS, he added. The militant — identified as a 19-year-old local named Abdurrahman — initially set a car on fire outside the police post, Jaya said. “When it exploded, one of the officers came outside to check and that’s when the initial attack started,” he added. Images from the scene showed an apparently deceased man lying on his back inside the police station. Authorities said they confiscated his sword, a Koran, a handwritten letter calling for jihad, and a flag bearing the “tauhid” — which expresses the belief in Allah as the one and only god. Images of the black and white-lettered flag showed it resembled one commonly used …
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May- 2020 -29 May
14 Afghan Security Force Members Killed in Attack Claimed by Taliban
Taliban fighters stormed an Afghan border post Friday, killing at least 14 security force members, the insurgents and officials said, the latest in a series of attacks since the end of a brief ceasefire. Despite the clashes, Afghan authorities have vowed to press on with efforts to help reduce violence following the temporary pause in fighting. “Last night the mujahideen carried out attacks against the newly established posts of the enemy in Dande Patan district of Paktia province,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter. “The enemy has been recently trying to expand its rule in mujahideen territories,” he said, adding that two Taliban fighters were also killed. Afghan officials confirmed the attack in the early hours of Friday had killed 14 Afghan security force members. Dande Patan district governor Eid Mohammad Ahmadzai told AFP that 15 security force members and 20 Taliban fighters were killed in the fighting. Officials had also accused the Taliban of carrying out two other raids on separate checkpoints on Thursday, killing 14 Afghan security force members, but the Taliban have not commented on those attacks. A three-day truce offered by the militants officially ended late on Tuesday, with the overall lull in the country’s grinding violence largely holding, officials and experts have said. The country’s National Security …
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28 May
US Troop Pullout From Afghanistan Ahead of Schedule
The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is considerably ahead of schedule, an official told AFP on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump reiterated calls for the Pentagon to bring troops home. The developments came as questions loomed over the next phase of Afghanistan’s long war following a historic, three-day ceasefire that led to a major drop in civilian casualties. The truce, which the Taliban called to mark the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr, ended Tuesday night, leaving Afghans anxious about whether it would be extended, or when the war might come raging back. Violence levels remained low even after the end of the ceasefire, but Afghan security forces conducted airstrikes in the south that killed 18 “militants,” police said. Under a deal the US signed with the Taliban in February, the Pentagon was to bring troop levels down from about 12,000 to 8,600 by mid-July, before withdrawing all forces by May 2021. But a senior US defense official said the troop number was already at approximately 8,500, as commanders accelerate the withdrawal over fears of the coronavirus. “The drawdown was accelerated due to COVID-19 precautions,” the official told AFP, noting that the departure of anyone with health concerns or over a certain age …
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