Two suspected Islamic militants have been killed in a battle with New Delhi police, while security forces have said they killed the mastermind behind the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
Police claimed Saturday to have killed Ghazi Baba, the alleged head of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e Mohammed militant group, during a fierce gun battle in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's portion of Kashmir. Jaish-e Mohammed is one of about a dozen Islamic militant groups fighting for Kashmir's independence or merger with Pakistan.
Security officials say Baba orchestrated several deadly terror attacks throughout India, including the December 2001 attack on Parliament. India blamed the assault on Jaish-e-Mohammed and Pakistan's spy agency. Both groups denied involvement.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan quickly massed troops on their border after the attack, but intense diplomatic efforts led by the US helped avert war.
In New Delhi, Saturday's gunfight occurred near a park after police intercepted a car in which the two militants were traveling, said Neeraj Kumar, deputy commissioner of police.
Kumar said the two men also belonged to Jaish-e Mohammed, which he said has been plotting attacks in the capital. The identities of the suspected militants could not be independently verified.
The gunfight came hours after police seized a truck carrying grenades at Sadar Bazar -- a trading hub in central New Delhi. The grenades and other weapons were hidden inside fruit boxes, Kumar said.
Three men in the truck were detained and later revealed during interrogation that the weapons were to be handed over later Saturday to the slain militants.
"Accordingly, we laid a trap. When we intercepted them, they tried to flee and were killed," Kumar said.
New Delhi has been on high alert since Monday, when twin bomb blasts rocked the country's financial center, Mumbai, killing 52 people and injuring 150. Those attacks were blamed on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, another Islamic militant organization.
Recent media reports have quoted police as saying that Islamic militants were plotting attacks in New Delhi, prompting tougher security checks for vehicles coming into the city.
Earlier Saturday, police on a routine patrol of the city's main train station found a bag that contained explosives weighing around 21 kg on a railway platform. It was safely disposed of.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but both nations claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese