The Indian Army's Durga Battalion rescued a man stranded in the Betar river in Poonch on Sunday, July 17, 2022.
'The (Maoist) organisation is in visible decline. Their senior leaders are ageing. Forest life is unforgiving -- older leaders simply cannot cope physically.' 'Earlier, they attracted educated youth from cities. That stream has dried up. Today's recruits largely come from poor village backgrounds and lack ideological depth.'
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has announced the formation of a special CoBRA battalion for counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. This decision comes 17 years after the jungle warfare unit was established to combat Naxal insurgency. The new battalion, directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will be deployed in forested areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Jammu region, where recent terrorist incidents have occurred. CoBRA units are known for their specialized jungle warfare and guerilla tactics training, and the new battalion will be equipped with modern weaponry, communication, and surveillance equipment.
Amid heightened tension on the border, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire twice on Monday targeting Indian forward posts along the International Border in Poonch and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hindu temples in Bangladesh have been vandalised by some unidentified miscreants during Durga Puja celebrations, prompting the government to deploy paramilitary force in 22 districts after three people were killed and many others injured in riots, media reports said.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday mooted the idea of raising an all women battalion and stationing of women on warships besides opening the doors of the National Defence Academy and Sainik schools for them.
Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing amid rocket and mortar shell attacks on Line of Control posts injuring three army jawans and a civilian in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Army troops have foiled an infiltration bid by a group of militants along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistani troops on Wednesday violated ceasefire along the Line of Control by resorting to unprovoked firing for nearly 30 minutes in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are on a visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani troops on Tuesday violated ceasefire for the fourth time this month by opening firing on Indian posts along the Line of Control in the Poonch district.
Violating the ceasefire for the ninth time in the past four days, Pakistani troops targeted 16 Indian forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir resulting in heavy exchanges.
A key suspect and his accomplice accused of fanning communal hatred on social media and instigating the recent violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh have confessed to their crime in a pre-trial hearing, a court official has said.
At least 70 houses and shops of the Hindus were torched in attacks at Pirganj following Mandal's Facebook post on October 17.
Pakistani troops again violated the ceasefire at the border by firing on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday night, four days after five Indian soldiers were killed by specialist troops of the Pakistan Army.
A group of assailants has set on fire at least 29 homes of Hindus in Bangladesh over an alleged blasphemous social media post amidst protests by the minority community against temple vandalism incidents during the Durga Puja celebrations last week, media reports said on Monday.
The ambitious plan to deploy such a large number of women personnel in most challenging combat theatres.
CRPF DG K Durga Prasad said the terrorists were clean shaven and that "shows" that they were fidayeen attackers.
Cries of 'Jai Hind' rent the air as a large number of people bid a final adieu to Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife and five-year-old son, who were killed in a terrorist attack in Manipur two days ago, in their hometown Raigarh in Chhattisgarh on Monday.
Seven CRPF men were killed on Wednesday and their weapons looted after Naxals carried out a deadly landmine blast on their vehicle in the jungles of the worst Naxal-affected Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
This is one of the biggest casualties suffered by the elite COBRA unit that undertakes special jungle warfare ops.
Police had clashed with about 3,000 followers of obscure sect Azad Bharat Vidhik Vaicharik Kranti Satyagrahi which had encroached on 260 acres government land. Twenty-four people, including a superintendent of police and a station house officer, were killed in the violence which took place when police went to evict the sect from the land.
Bhatnagar is expected to take charge of the CRPF later this week as he is on an official assignment in Indonesia in the capacity of NCB DG.
The modified version of pellet guns will have a "deflector", an attachment on the muzzle end to prevent the pellets from going up.
The paramilitary had cut down the use of these vehicles for anti-Naxal operations drastically to a 'bare minimum' after they were targeted in improvised explosive device blasts in the Left Wing Extremism-hit areas.
"It is certain that the information about their movement was leaked. Somewhere or at some stage this has happened. The boys were doing a surprise non-operational movement and hence were in mufti. We are looking into it," CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad said.
Four personnel were also injured in the Naxal attack and two of them were stated to be critical.
An injured jawan said around 10-12 Naxalites must have got killed in the 'befitting' retaliation by the CRPF contingent.
Taki in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district is the last Indian outpost on the border with Bangladesh. It is one of hotspots for Bangladeshi infiltration into India. While most poor Bangladeshis cross over to look for work, terror groups take advantage to ferry their men and material into India. Indrani Roy/Rediff.com reports.
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