Naxals blow up police vehicle; 7 policemen killed

Raipur, May 20: Seven police personnel were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district today, police said.

The attack took place on a day when Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh is scheduled to arrive in the state.

Naxals carried out a landmine blast around 12 noon when a joint team of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) and the District Force (DF) was patrolling the Cholnar-Kirandul road to provide security to trucks carrying construction material for roadworks between Kirandul and Palnar villages, a senior police official said.

The intensity of the blast, which took place near a culvert, was strong enough to toss the police vehicle in a roadside ditch, he said.

Five personnel died on the spot and two were rushed to the National Mineral Development Corporation's hospital at Kirandul. One of them died during treatment at the hospital and another was airlifted to Raipur, where he died, the official said.

Those killed from the DF were identified as Head Constable Ramkumar Yadav, Constable Tikeshwar Dhruv and Assistant Constable Shalik Ram Sinha, he said.

The official said that from the CAF's 16th battalion, Head Constable Vikram Yadav and constables Rajesh Kumar Singh and Ravinath Patel were killed in the attack.

CAF Constable Arjun Rajbhar, who was airlifted to state capital Raipur, died during treatment, he said.

Naxals looted six automatic weapons -- two AK-47s and as many INSAS and self-loading rifles -- of the deceased personnel, he said.

Police sources believe that the attack was in retaliation to the recent encounters in Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Malkangiri (Odisha) and Bijapur (Chhattisgarh), where Maoists suffered major casualties.

Combing operations have been intensified in the area following the attack, the official said.

Condemning the attack, Chief Minister Raman Singh termed it "cowardly" and said it exposed the rebels' anti-people and anti-development mindset.

"Our police personnel have sacrificed their lives while guarding a road construction site. Their sacrifice will always be remembered," he said.

"This proves that Naxalites do not want villagers and tribal people of this district to have access to even basic facilities such as roads. Incidents like these cannot dampen the courage and determination of our police force and officials, employees and labourers associated with road construction," Singh said.

"We are committed to provide all-weather transportation facility by developing a network of roads in the entire Bastar division, including Dantewada," the chief minister said.

Earlier, Naxals had carried out a landmine blast in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on March 13 in which nine CRPF personnel were killed.

Rajanth Singh is scheduled to arrive in Surguja district this evening to attend the passing out parade of the CRPF's Bastariya battalion tomorrow.

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Israel broadens airstrikes in Lebanon, killing displaced families without warning

News Network

November 13,2024

Beirut: The Israeli army on Tuesday continued to launch attacks against civilians in Lebanon, targeting them in several areas without prior evacuation warnings.

However, 13 airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the space of only three hours were preceded by evacuation warnings.

The attacks caused no injuries but resulted in widespread destruction of residential buildings and commercial, medical and educational centers.

The airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Bekaa region, reaching Akkar in Lebanon’s far north, erased any hope of a near-term ceasefire settlement.

The strikes were accompanied by an announcement on Israel’s Channel 14 that “the Israeli army has expanded its operations in southern Lebanon to areas it had not reached since the beginning of the ground operation.”

About 50 days have passed since Israel intensified its hostile operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. The death toll from these confrontations and attacks has passed 3,200, with more than 14,000 wounded.

For the first time, an airstrike targeted a mountainous area between Baalchmay and Aabadiyeh on the road leading to Aley, destroying a building housing displaced people.

The mayor of Baalchmay, Adham Al-Danaf, confirmed that “the airstrike targeted a residential building in the Dhour Aabadiyeh area.”

The initial toll from the Ministry of Health showed “five people killed and two injured.”

The raids that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in the morning, unlike nightly raids before, caused huge destruction. Those who evacuated their homes after Israeli warnings, used their phones to record the collapse of empty buildings in Sfeir, Haret Hreik, Bir Al-Abed, Mrayjeh, Laylaki and Hadath.

Israeli warplanes also targeted Tyre, where a strike on a building killed three people and injured many others, while a raid on Tefahta killed a man identified as Kifah Khalil and his family.

Attacks were widespread, with Yater and Zebqine subject to artillery shelling, a civilian being killed in Hermel, and further attacks on Bouday and an area between the towns of Srifa and Arsoun.

A raid on the town of Siddiqin killed two people and injured several others, while an attack on the Mechref farm led to one fatality and multiple injuries.

The search for those missing after an Israeli raid on the town of Ain Yaacoub in Akkar, in the northernmost part of Lebanon, continued until dawn.

During the operation, 14 bodies were retrieved, identified as those of residents displaced from the town of Arabsalim in the Iqlim Al-Tuffah area of the south, along with members of a Syrian family, a mother and three of her children. Additionally, there were 10 people in critical condition.

The targeted residence belongs to a Lebanese citizen, Hussein Hashim, who is reported to be a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

An airstrike on the town of Saksakiyeh in the Sidon region on Monday night resulted in yet another tragedy.

It appeared that the intended target was the Shoumer family, who just days before lost Hussein Amin Shoumer and his two sisters in a drone strike near Al-Awali River.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued additional evacuation warnings for towns in the southern region along the Litani River, which, according to estimates from the mayors, are currently 90 percent uninhabited.

In the meantime, Hezbollah announced its continued efforts to “combat the intrusions of Israeli forces and to strike military installations and towns in the north.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that it confronted “an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in the airspace of Nabatieh and forced it to leave Lebanese airspace.”

The party also announced that it targeted “Kfar Blum settlement with a rocket salvo.”

On the Israeli side, air raid sirens sounded in areas of Upper and Western Galilee and in the town of Kiryat Shmona and its surroundings.

The Israeli army confirmed that “a drone exploded in Nesher, east of Haifa, without activating the air raid sirens,” and that “a drone launched from Lebanon crashed into a school in Gesher HaZiv, north of Nahariya.”

Israel’s Channel 13 reported the Israeli military’s assessment regarding Hezbollah’s military strength, claiming that the group currently possesses approximately 100 precision missiles, thousands of artillery shells, and hundreds of rockets. Additionally, it was highlighted that “there are around 200 Lebanese towns that remain unvisited.”

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