Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




THE STANS
India summons Pakistan envoy over civilian deaths in Kashmir
by Staff Writers
New Delhi (AFP) Aug 16, 2015


Air strikes kill 40 militants in NW Pakistan: military
Islamabad (AFP) Aug 16, 2015 - Air strikes Sunday killed 40 suspected militants in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border as part of a major operation against the Taliban and other insurgents, the military said.

The attacks took place in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan tribal region, where the army has been waging an offensive against militant hideouts since June last year.

"In precise aerial strikes, 40 terrorists were killed this afternoon in Shawal," the military said in a statement.

It said it had reports that several others were wounded, without giving details.

The conflict zone is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army's claims -- including the number and identity of those killed.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade.

The military says more than 2,800 militants have been killed since the launch of the latest offensive.

In a separate incident, three paramilitary soldiers and two militants were killed Sunday in a gunfight on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, at a post in Chaghi district of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, officials said.

A paramilitary force spokesman and a senior provincial security official told AFP that the attackers had crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

India summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi Sunday to protest against civilian deaths in recent troop firings along their disputed border, hiking tensions ahead of talks between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Six civilians died on the weekend in troubled Indian Kashmir after firing and shelling by Pakistani troops from across the border, according to Indian police.

Another two civilians were killed in shelling by Indian soldiers into the Pakistani side of the disputed Himalayan region, according to a Pakistani official on Saturday.

"We lodged a protest, and conveyed our anger, at the unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops since August 8" including "the systematic targeting of our civilian populations", an Indian foreign ministry statement said after the meeting.

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit sought to blame Indian troops for the uptick in firing incidents in recent months.

"There have been close to 70 ceasefire violations from this side of the LoC (Line of Control) and working boundary," Basit told reporters outside the foreign ministry office in Delhi where he had been hauled in.

India and Pakistan often accuse each other of violating a 2003 ceasefire agreement along their de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir.

Firing and shelling between troops has occurred on an almost daily basis for the past week along the LoC.

Top security officials of the two countries are scheduled to meet in the Indian capital from August 23 in what Pakistan last week described as "ice breaking" talks.

After months of stalemate and recriminations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif spoke for nearly an hour while visiting Russia in July.

Kashmir has been divided between the two countries since the end of British rule but is claimed in full by both. The neigbours have fought two wars over control of the Muslim-majority territory.

Firing resumed along their frontier on Sunday in India's Poonch sector, 320 kilometres (200 miles) south of the region's main city of Srinagar, said Indian defence ministry spokesman Manish Mehta.

Three civilians including a woman had died overnight on Saturday in hospitals from injuries sustained in firing, said Danesh Rana, inspector-general of police for the region.

Three others were killed late Saturday when a mortar bomb fired from the Pakistani side hit their car in the Balakote area of the sector, Indian officials have said.

"The number of dead civilians is now six," Rana told AFP.

The weekend incidents came even as the two countries celebrated the anniversary of independence from Britain in 1947.

Several rebel groups have for decades battled Indian forces deployed on the Indian side, seeking either independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan. The conflict has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
News From Across The Stans






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





THE STANS
Erdogan vows Turkey will attack PKK 'to last terrorist'
Istanbul (AFP) Aug 11, 2015
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed that Turkey would press on with its relentless campaign against Kurdish militants "until not one terrorist" was left, as Ankara launched new air strikes against the rebels. Turkey is currently pressing a two-pronged "anti-terror" offensive against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and PKK militants in northern Iraq and the southeast followi ... read more


THE STANS
ILS concludes Proton launch failure investigation

Intelsat 34 fueled for heavy-lift mission with Ariane 5

India to launch 9 US satellites in 2015, 2016

Payload checkout is advancing for Arianespace's September Soyuz flight

THE STANS
Salt flat indicates some of the last vestiges of surface water on Mars

New Online Exploring Tools Bring NASA's Journey to Mars to New Generation

Six scientists to spend 365 days in HI-SEAS simulated Mars trip

Buckingham astrobiologists to look for life on Mars

THE STANS
From a million miles away, NASA camera shows moon crossing face of Earth

Russia to conduct simulated flight program to Moon, Mars over 4 years

NASA Could Return Humans to the Moon by 2021

Smithsonian embraces crowdfunding to preserve lunar spacesuit

THE STANS
Flowing nitrogen ice glaciers seen on Pluto

New Horizons 'Captures' Two of Pluto's Smaller Moons

New Horizons Finds Second Mountain Range in Pluto's 'Heart'

10 year journey to Pluto achieves historic encounter

THE STANS
Scientists solve planetary ring riddle

Overselling NASA

Exoplanets 20/20: Looking Back to the Future

Study: All planetary rings governed by particle distribution principle

THE STANS
Mechanisms are Critical to Space Vehicle Flight Success

Ariane 6 and Vega C begin development

Robotic maker system will build biggest composite rocket parts ever made

Russia delivers 2 RD-181 rocket engines to US

THE STANS
China's space exploration potential has US chasing its own tail

China to deploy space-air-ground sensors for environment protection

Chinese earth station is for exclusively scientific and civilian purposes

Cooperation in satellite technology put Belgium, China to forefront

THE STANS
Celebrating a year at the comet

Comet 67P, robot lab Philae's alien host, nears Sun

Tracking A Mysterious Group of Asteroid Outcasts

Dawn gracefully descending into lower orbit above dwarf planet




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.