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Kurds retake Iraq's main dam from jihadists
Kiev ‘raises’ flag over police station in rebel stronghold of Luhansk
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One shot, 7 arrested in riot-shaken US town
Gaza truce talks resume in Cairo
Hindus in Pak want temples renovated
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Kurds retake Iraq's main dam from jihadists
Irbil, August 17 The recapture of Mosul dam marks the biggest major prize clawed back from Islamic State (IS) jihadists since they launched their offensive in northern Iraq in early June when they swept Iraqi security forces aside. IS militants, who have declared a "caliphate" straddling vast areas of Iraq and Syria, also came under air attack in their Syrian stronghold of Raqa today, a monitoring group said. Syria's air force carried out 16 raids on the city of Raqa and several more on the town of Tabqa in Raqa province, killing at least 31 jihadists and eight civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Two months of violence have brought Iraq to the brink of breakup, and world powers relieved by the exit of divisive premier Nuri al-Maliki are sending aid to the hundreds of thousands who have fled their homes as well as arms to the Kurdish peshmerga forces. Buoyed by the air strikes US President Barack Obama ordered last week, Kurdish forces are fighting to win back ground they had lost since the start of August, when the jihadists went back on the offensive north, east and west of the city of Mosul, capturing the dam on August 7. Earlier today, US warplanes and drones pummelled the militants fighting against the Kurdish advance. The US Central Command reported that the military had carried out 14 air strikes during the day near the dam, which, located on the Tigris river, provides electricity and irrigation water for farming to much of the region. CENTCOM said the strikes destroyed 10 IS armed vehicles, seven IS Humvees, two armoured personnel carriers and one IS checkpoint. An AFP journalist saw towers of smoke rising from the area of the dam, apparently from the sites of strikes. In Syria's Raqa, the air strikes were the "most intensive" against the IS since the jihadists joined the anti-regime revolt in that country in spring 2013, the Observatory said. “The regime wants to show the Americans that it is also capable of striking the IS," said the Britain-based group's director, Rami Abdel Rahman. In western Iraq's Anbar province, security forces backed by Sunni Arab tribal militia, who announced a new effort against the jihadists on Friday, made gains west of the provincial capital Ramadi, the police said. — AFP Kurdish militants train Yazidis to fight Islamic State
Kurdish militants have trained hundreds of Yazidi volunteers at several camps inside Syria to fight Islamic State forces in Iraq, a member of the armed Kurdish YPG and a Reuters photographer who visited a training camp said on Sunday. The photographer spend Saturday at the training camp at the Serimli military base in Qamishli, northeastern Syria on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, where he saw 55 Yazidis being trained to fight the Islamic State. Dressed in green military fatigues, young and old men were taught how to use assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades by the Syrian Kurds, sweating in the 40 degree Celsius heat. Fight for strategic dam
British PM warns of military action
London: Britain may have to use its military prowess to tackle the threat posed by the "poisonous" brand of Islamic extremism in Iraq that could bring terror to the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Sunday as he described the fight against jihadists a "generational struggle". Significant victory
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Kiev ‘raises’ flag over police station in rebel stronghold of Luhansk
Kiev/Donetsk, August 17 Ukrainian officials allege though that the rebels are fighting a desperate rearguard action to hold on to Luhansk — which is their supply route into neighbouring Russia — and say the flow of weapons and fighters from Russia has accelerated. The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia were preparing to meet for talks on the conflict in Berlin on Sunday, though it seemed likely that the diplomacy could be overshadowed by fast-moving developments on the battlefield. Russia denies helping the rebels and accuses Kiev, backed by the West, of triggering a humanitarian crisis through indiscriminate use of force against Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine who reject the Ukrainian government's rule. Andriy Lysenko, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said government forces fought separatists in a neighbourhood of Luhansk city on Saturday and took control of the Zhovtneviy neighbourhood police station. "They raised the state flag over it," Lysenko told a news briefing. Separatist officials in Luhansk could not be reached by telephone, and a separatist spokeswoman in Donetsk, the other rebel strong-hold in eastern Ukraine, said she did not know what had happened in Luhansk. A photograph posted on Twitter appeared to show a Ukrainian flag on the front of the police station, but it could not be independently verified. If confirmed, the taking of the police station is significant because the city of Luhansk has for several months been a rebel redoubt where Kiev's writ has not run. Ukrainian troops have been closing in on the city from the outskirts, but had not previously been able to get forces inside the city limits. The separatists still control sections of the border linking Luhansk region to Russia. — Reuters Russia, Ukraine agree to start inspecting convoy
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One shot, 7 arrested in riot-shaken US town Ferguson, August 17 The police in the strife-torn Missouri community said the shooting victim was in critical condition after being shot by an unidentified attacker. The incident came as police used smoke bombs and tear gar to disperse around 200 demonstrators who had defied a curfew imposed by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. Violence has flared since the shooting death of Michael Brown on August 9 by a white police officer which has renewed a national debate about law enforcement and African Americans. The police in Ferguson also drew criticism for facing down protesters in military-grade armored trucks while brandishing high-powered weapons. Nixon told CNN today that tensions in Ferguson were likely to remain high, citing the community response as "raw and appropriate." "This is a horrific shooting, we're not to justice yet and there will be moments of energy and angst over the coming days and weeks," he told CNN's "State of the Union". Nixon had declared a state of emergency and a curfew starting at midnight yesterday until 5:00 am for the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, after looting and violence overnight Friday to Saturday. The governor said he would decide later today whether the curfew would continue. The latest violence began when riot police moved to break up a crowd of protesters who had gathered near where Brown was killed. — AFP |
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Gaza truce talks resume in Cairo
Cairo, August 17 The Egyptian-mediated talks have dragged since August 4, when both sides agreed a renewable temporary ceasefire to end a month of fighting that killed almost 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza. The latest such ceasefire, a five-day lull meant to give Egyptian mediators time to bridge the gaps in the negotiations, came amid mounting pressure on Hamas militants in Gaza who say they will resume firing rockets into Israel if their demands are not met. Hamas, the defacto rulers of the impoverished enclave, want a firm Israeli commitment to end the blockade of Gaza and demand an airport in the coastal strip. The talks started today in the headquarters of the Egyptian intelligence, who mediate the negotiations, in the absence of some Hamas leaders. — AFP |
Hindus in Pak want temples renovated
Karachi, August 17 The community leaders demanded their worship places, lying in a dilapidated condition, be widened and renovated so that they could perform their religious rituals comfortably, the Dawn reported. They also demanded their children be provided facilities for education, admission to higher educational institutions according to the Hindu quota system on reserved seats and construction of boundary walls around Hindu graveyards. The grievances were raised at a function by representatives of the Hindu community at the Bahawalpur Circuit House yesterday, it said. The event was to distribute cheques under the Holi package on behalf of the Chief Minister among deserving Hindus of Bahawalpur. — PTI |
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Two killed, 12 injured in knife attack in China Tens of thousands stage Hong Kong
pro-govt rally Indonesia boat with foreigners sinks, 15 missing |
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