Archive for ‘claimed’

  |  
07/05/2020

Riyaz Naikoo: Hizbul Mujahideen Kashmir militant killed by Indian forces

Kashmir security forcesImage copyright GETTY IMAGES

Indian security forces have killed a prominent militant leader in disputed Kashmir, officials say.

Riyaz Naikoo had taken over command of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen group, succeeding Burhan Wani who was killed by security forces in 2016.

Wani’s death triggered massive protests in the region, which is claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan.

The region has seen an armed insurgency against Indian rule since 1989, which has flared following Wani’s killing.

Naikoo was shot dead in his home village of Beigh Pora in Pulwama district after militants killed eight security personnel in two separate attacks, part of a recent surge of violence in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Locals said the militant leader had been trapped in a joint siege laid by army, paramilitary and police forces. He had been on the run for eight years.

“At least 76 militants including Naikoo have been killed since January this year. But we also lost 20 soldiers including senior army and police officers,” a security official told BBC Urdu on condition of anonymity.

Under a new policy, militants who are killed are not identified and their bodies are not handed over to their families.

Officials had accused Riyaz Naikoo of plotting attacks against the security establishment in the valley.

Disputed Kashmir has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years, sparking two wars between India and Pakistan.

In August 2019, the Indian government stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status and split it into two federally-run territories.

Thousands of people were detained and the region remains under severe security restrictions.

Source: The BBC

Posted in 1989, 60 years, armed insurgency, army, attacks, August 2019, banned, BBC Urdu, claimed, command, detained, disputed, entirety, federally-run territories, flared, flashpoint, India, Indian forces, indian government, Indian rule, Indian-administered Kashmir, January, joint siege, Kashmir, killed, lost, massive, militant, militant leader, on the run, Pakistan, paramilitary, People, police forces, prominent, protests, Pulwama district, region, security establishment, security forces, security personnel, security restrictions, semi-autonomous status, senior, severe, soldiers, sparking, split, stripped, this year, Thousands, trapped, triggered, Uncategorized, Violence, wars | Leave a Comment »

14/02/2020

European diplomats check India’s loosening of Kashmir clampdown

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) – More than two dozen diplomats are visiting Indian-administered Kashmir, New Delhi said on Wednesday, as the country tries to reassure foreign allies following several months of unrest in the contested territory.

The group includes European diplomats, some of whom declined a previous invitation from New Delhi to visit the region. A proposed vote in the European Union parliament next month could chastise India for its actions in Kashmir.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is claimed by India and arch-rival Pakistan and has been in turmoil since New Delhi stripped it of special status and clamped down on communication and freedom of movement in August.

India has since eased those restrictions, and restored limited internet connectivity last month, ending one of the world’s longest such shutdowns in a democracy.

But many political leaders, including three former chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir state, are still in detention without charge six months after the crackdown, and foreign journalists have so far been denied permission to visit the region.

Representatives from countries including Germany, Canada, France, New Zealand, Mexico, Italy, Afghanistan and Austria are on a two-day visit to “witness for themselves the progressive normalisation of the situation,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Representatives from several countries, including Germany’s ambassador Walter Lindner, were pictured on a traditional wooden shikara boat on Dal Lake, in Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar.

“We are interacting with the traders, businesswomen and entrepreneurs in Srinagar about the status of business and tourism,” Afghanistan’s envoy Tahir Qadiry said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Sources familiar with the itinerary said the trip will also include meetings with the Indian army and government officials, as well as journalists and civil society groups selected by the security services.

Last month fifteen foreign envoys visited Kashmir – a trip participants characterised as tightly-choreographed with no room for independent meetings.

“Things looked calm, but we only had a very short time out the window of the car to assess the situation,” said a diplomat who attended the previous trip.

“They told the truth, but not necessarily the whole truth,” he added of his meetings with delegates.

Source: Reuters

Posted in Afghanistan, arch-rival, Austria, canada, check, claimed, clampdown, Dal Lake, diplomats, European, Foreign Ministry, France, Germany, India, India's, Indian-administered, Italy, journalists, Kashmir, loosening, Mexico, Muslim-majority, New Delhi, New Zealand, Pakistan, Srinagar, Uncategorized, wooden shikara boat | Leave a Comment »

08/11/2019

Jackie Chan cancels Vietnam charity visit after South China Sea backlash

  • Chan is accused of supporting Beijing’s so-called nine-dash line, which is its historical justification for its territorial claims in the resource-rich sea
  • Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei all have competing claims in the waterway that overlap with China’s
Film star Jackie Chan. Photo: Reuters
Film star Jackie Chan. Photo: Reuters
Martial arts film star Jackie Chan’s planned visit to Vietnam for a charity has been cancelled following an online backlash related to Beijing’s expansive claims in the disputed South China Sea.
The Hong Kong-born actor was set to visit Hanoi on November 10 to support Operation Smile, a charity that gives free surgery to children with facial disfigurements.
Jackie Chan says he wants to make films in Saudi Arabia
But the plans were scrapped after thousands of angry Facebook users flooded the charity’s official page when his visit was announced last week.
Some of their comments claimed Chan had spoken in support of China’s so-called nine-dash line – its historical justification for its territorial claims in the resource-rich sea.
A map showing claimant countries’ exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea.
A map showing claimant countries’ exclusive economic zones in the South China Sea.

However, Chan has not explicitly expressed public support for the controversial maritime assertion.

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei all have competing claims in the waterway that overlap with China’s – long a source of tension in the region.

Issuing a mea culpa on Friday for failing “to predict the reaction” of the Vietnamese public, the charity asserted that their work is “non-political”.

“We are very sorry … Operation Smile will not organise any activities with [Chan’s] involvement” in Vietnam, they said.

A Chinese coastguard ship sails by a Vietnamese vessel off the coast of Vietnam in 2014. Photo: Reuters
A Chinese coastguard ship sails by a Vietnamese vessel off the coast of Vietnam in 2014. Photo: Reuters

Vietnam is one of Beijing’s most vocal critics over the flashpoint South China Sea issue.

The foreign ministry on Thursday repeated its usual proclamation on the sea, citing the country’s “full legal basis and true evidence to affirm Vietnam’s sovereignty”, deputy spokesperson Ngo Toan Thang said.

Chan has in the past been accused of siding with China over Hong Kong’s democracy protests after calling the unrest in his hometown “sad and depressing”.

The comment sparked ire in Hong Kong but was warmly received by many in China where he has a massive fan base.

Abominable has been criticised for a scene showing the nine-dash line. Photo: DreamWorks
Abominable has been criticised for a scene showing the nine-dash line. Photo: DreamWorks
Earlier this month Hanoi pulled the DreamWorks film Abominable from theatres over a scene featuring a map showing the nine-dash line.
Beijing claims most the South China Sea through the vague delineation, which is based on maps from the 1940s as the then-Republic of China snapped up islands from Japanese control.
Abominable is not being shown in Malaysia either

after its distributor refused to cut the offending scene, while the Philippines also filed complaints.

The US this week accused Beijing of intimidating smaller countries in the South China Sea, a key global fishing route.
China has built military installations and man-made islands in the area, and for several weeks earlier this year sent a survey ship to waters claimed by Vietnam.
Source: SCMP

Posted in Actor, angry, “Abominable”, “nine-dash line”, backlash, Beijing’s, born, Brunei, cancels, charity visit, children, claimant, claimed, coastguard ship, complaints, countries, exclusive economic zones, Facebook, facial disfigurements, film star, films, free surgery, global fishing route, Hanoi, historical justification, Hong Kong, islands, Japanese control, Malaysia, man-made, martial arts, mea culpa, military installations, Operation Smile, Philippines, plans, Republic of China, resource-rich sea, Saudi Arabia, scrapped, snapped up, South China Sea, survey ship, Taiwan, territorial claims, Uncategorized, users, Vietnam, Vietnamese vessel, waters | Leave a Comment »

  |  
CCChang

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India