The Indian Panorama

Month: December 2014

  • Pakistan must live in Peshawar

    Pakistan must live in Peshawar

    “The school was targeted because it was a symbol of everything the Taliban are opposed to: enlightenment and freedom.”
    By Reem Wasay – The pestilence of extremism must be purged,we must say this freely now, we must never think twice. Pakistan must live in Peshawar until this war is won”, says the author.

    For the last decade or so, Pakistanis seemed to have lost the ability to be easily moved by news of tragedy and misfortune – so frequent have been the numbers of dead, injured and displaced. However, what transpired on Tuesday, December 16, in Peshawar has shaken this country more than any earthquake, attack or battle ever could. The massacre of 132 children, who must have thought they were safe in the impenetrability of their school, by Taliban militants, has left a gaping wound that continues to splutter the rancid blood of our collective failure to protect the most vulnerable among us.

    Storming the Army Public School (APS) and Degree College premises in a hail of gunfire and explosives-laden suicide vests, the militants did not enter to take hostages and negotiate with power brokers and members of the government; they came to kill and strike a fatal blow to the last remaining vestiges of humanity left in this Pakistan, and they succeeded. Every passing minute, with the death toll rising and red tickers on television screens changing their statistics, left onlookers gasping for air, parents wailing for their trapped angels, newscasters fighting back tears and Special Services Group (SSG) commandos at the ready wondering how things could have gone so horribly, bloodily wrong.

    Brave teachers evacuated panicked students and were pumped full of bullets and the principal was burned alive in front of the children to instill maximum terror. Dressed as paramilitary personnel, the militants duped the children to reveal who among them were from army families; they naively shot up their little hands, thinking they were going to be rescued, but were instead shot between the eyes. Others played dead and cowered under desks and behind chairs only to be dragged out and gunned down. More than a dozen explosives rang out during the eight- hour-long siege – say that to yourself again: eight hours of defenseless children ambushed without the protective cover of a mother or father’s undying love, shielding their darlings from any and all harm. There is no greater human tragedy.

    Not a ‘blowback’ attack

    Running parallel to this calamity was the gloating statement from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claiming responsibility for the carnage, justifying it as revenge for army operations against them and their families. They were talking about Operation Zarb-e-Azb, a Pakistan military offensive being waged in North Waziristan since June this year, after the same militants attacked Karachi International Airport, killing some 36 people.

    Such excuses will simply not do now; this is not a ‘blowback’ attack for the deaths of militants’ families in drone attacks and military operations; it is an ideology that must be realized by the entire nation and eliminated.

    Some may argue that Pakistan was created in the name of Islam, and that debate will rage on for many more years to come, but what stands as clear as the pools of unblemished blood in the grounds of APS Peshawar is the fact that Islam is being used to destroy this country corner to corner, person to person. These militants did not fly in here overnight nor did they scale the walls of ironclad fortresses committed to the preservation of the Pakistani nation in a surprise attack. No, they have been allowed to fester and rot at the very core of what should have been a National Security Policy, a policy that only resulted in the limp bodies of this nation.

    No effective counterterrorism measures have been taken to root out a terror of our own making: a proxy scourge that has penetrated every city, every mind. It is the mindset in Pakistan that is the problem. From shrinking space for moderate voices on every platform to the public outpouring of sympathy we see for the killers of those accused of blasphemy, from minorities and anyone with secular, liberal leanings to the infantile projections of “my sect is bigger than your sect,” Pakistan is not surprised by the horror that unfolded in Peshawar -it has finally been numbed and struck down by the chilling awareness that this is a monster of our own making, the culmination of our Machiavellian pact with the primitive and the poisonous.

    We can lay blame on the TTP all we want, but the real criminals are those who apologies for their ideology by footing the blame on “foreign hands”; who seek excuses when they should have sought retribution; who move on when Ahmedis and Shias are ruthlessly burned, beaten, murdered for their faith; who offer media space to orthodox clerics to air their views for public consumption; and who allow the communal gathering of the likes of Jamaat-ud-Dawa Chief Hafiz Saeed riding in on a white stead, like some sort of repugnant messiah of the people, at a symbol of Pakistan’s newly found hope and pride all those years ago (Minar-e-Pakistan) that are to blame.

    For too long now, journalists like me have been urged to self-censor, to throw in the towel lest extremist ire is sparked, to tremble at the mere mention of change, repeal or amendment of the current mindset where sectarian differences cancel out universal convergence on humane notions of good and evil.

    Why a school was targeted
    The school was targeted because it was one where military officers sent their offspring and because it was a symbol of everything the Taliban are opposed to: enlightenment and freedom. Where their lies and propaganda brainwash ignorant minds, schools liberate future generations from their draconian claws. Malala Yousafzai (you either love her or hate her in Pakistan) was shot in the face by the same mentality in 2012 and many here sneered at her, calling her a U.S. agent. Were all 141 fatalities in Peshawar agents and were they 141 reasons to give up our misguided notion of strategic assets and proxy panhandling?

    Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted the moratorium on the death penalty the day after the attack, after widespread public backlash and media frenzy demanded that all terrorists on death row be executed immediately. This is a fragile first step; it is a belated response to a plague that runs woefully deeper. Battered, bruised, bleeding and gone are our children – their hands shown grasping their copies and bags in photographs splashed all over social and other media. It is a harrowing vision, but it is necessary. We have, time and again, moved on and forgotten about the dead, swept away the fragments of their bodies by our own apathy and forgetfulness. Not this time Pakistan; do not forget this time. The pestilence of extremism must be purged, we must say this freely now, we must never think twice. Pakistan must live in Peshawar until this war is won.

    (Source: Daily Times. Reem Wasay is Op-ed Editor of Daily Times, Pakistan.)

  • National counter to terror

    National counter to terror

    Bipartisan security policy is of paramount importance

    The Indian government’s seasoned response to the horrific killing of students in Pakistan has been commendable; it’s not the time to score points or point fingers. Expressing deeply-felt sorrow over an unspeakable tragedy next door was the need of the hour. Pakistan will do what it has to for dealing with the terror knots it has tied itself in. Realism now calls for New Delhi having a serious look within. The Peshawar attack, coming a day after the Sydney cafe siege, is a grim reminder of the dangers that lurk at just an arm’s length. A national bipartisan security policy thus should become a priority of utmost importance and urgency. A knee-jerk undocumented reaction to any activity that threatens security just won’t do anymore.

    Reaching out to the states and making them partners in countering terrorism for firming up internal security can no longer be ignored by the Centre. If the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre needs changes, deal with it and get it running. An all-India institution like this is imperative for the national security management system. The country’s security apparatus planning and working in one voice and direction and not at cross purposes is no more a fancy idea; unitary, with all in it together, is the only approach that can work.

    The United States of America may falter in how it gets on with the world, but the way it handles security on its own soil is a lesson for all. Just hours after the Taliban attack, President Barack Obama convened a meeting with his National Security Council to review potential threats to the US homeland personnel and those overseas ahead of the busy travel season and public gatherings expected during the holidays. Such is the planning that goes into making America secure. Given the vast economic and social challenges that India faces, a national security doctrine is the essential step forward, its contours shaped by a holistic construct of strengthening the country.

  • Why this massacre of the innocents?

    Why this massacre of the innocents?

    It was a massacre of the innocents. Every report must admit this – because it’s true. But it is not the whole truth. The historical and all-too-real connections between the Pakistan army, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) security police and the Taliban itself – buoyed by the corruption and self-regard of the political elite of the country – may well explain just how cruel this conflict in the corner of the old British Empire has become. And the more ferocious the battle between the military and the Islamists becomes in Waziristan, the more brutal the response of the Islamists.

    Miltary barbarity

    Thus when stories spread of Pakistani military barbarity in the campaign against the Taliban in Pakistan – reports which included the execution of Taliban prisoners in Waziristan, whose bodies were left to lie upon the roads to be eaten by animals- the more certain became the revenge of the Taliban. The children of the military officers, educated at the army school just down the road from the famous Edwardes College in Peshawar – were the softest and most obvious of targets. For many years, the ISI and the Pakistani army helped to fund and arm the mujaheedin and then the Taliban in Afghanistan.

    Saudis & weapons

    Only a few months ago, the Pakistani press was reporting that the Saudis were buying weapons from the Pakistani army to send to their rebel friends in Syria. Pakistan has been the tube through which America and its Arab allies supplied the anti-Russian fighters in Afghanistan, a transit route which continued to support the Taliban even after America decided that its erstwhile allies in that country had become super-terrorists hiding Osama bin Laden. Turkey is today playing much the same role in Syria.

    David Gosling, who was the principal of Edwardes College for four years until his return to Britain in 2010, believes that while individuals in the Pakistani army may wish for revenge after the Peshawar schoolchildren atrocity, the military may well now
    “soft-peddle their activities in Waziristan”. The Taliban, he says, “has always reacted to the army’s campaigns in Swat and Waziristan with bombs. The Pakistan army is going to be very disturbed by all this. Attacking civilian targets has a powerful effect on the population. These are soft targets. The army is going to be furious – but you have these close links between the ISI, the army and the Taliban…”

    Old loyalties

    For years, the Pakistani authorities have insisted that the old loyalties of individual military and security police officers to the Taliban have been broken – and that the Pakistani military forces are now fully dedicated to what the Americans used to call the “war on terror”. But across the Pakistan-Afghan border, huge resentment has been created by the slaughter of civilians in US drone attacks, aimed – but not necessarily successfully targeted – at the Taliban leadership. The fact that Imran Khan could be so successful politically on an anti-drone platform shows just how angry the people of the borderlands have become. Pakistani military offensives against the Taliban are now seen by the victims as part of America’s war against Muslims.

    But if the Pakistan security forces regard the Taliban as their principal enemy, they also wish to blunt any attempt by India to destroy Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan; hence the repeated claims by the Afghan authorities – if such a term can be used about the corrupted institutions of Afghanistan – that Pakistan is assisting the Taliban in its struggle against the pro-American regime in Kabul. The army hates the Taliban – but also needs it: this is the terrifying equation which now decides the future of Pakistan.

    It may well be that the Taliban, knowing the dates of the American withdrawal in Afghanistan, now wishes to extend its power in Pakistan. More seriously, the greater the extension of Islamist rule in the Muslim Middle East – in Algeria and Libya, as well as in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, even in Lebanon – the more encouraged the Taliban becomes. As Sunni Muslims, they have often inflicted enormous carnage on their fellow Shia citizens in Pakistan -although without the headlines devoted to yesterday’s massacre.

    “You must remember,” Gosling says, “how enraged people were with the Israeli attacks on Gaza this year. People in Pakistan were furious at the casualty toll – more than 2,000 people, many of them children.” Needless to say, the phrase “massacre of the innocents” was not used about those children.

    Eight deadly years

    2014

    2 NOVEMBER: Taliban suicide bomber kills 60 people in an attack on a paramilitary checkpoint close to the Wagah border crossing with India.

    8 JUNE: A suicide bomber in the country’s south-west killed at least 23 Shia pilgrims returning from Iran.

    2013

    22 SEPTEMBER: Twin suicide bomb blasts in a Peshawar church kill at least 85 people.

    3 MARCH: Explosion in Karachi kills 45 Shia outside a mosque.

    10 JANUARY: Bombing in Shia area of Quetta kills 81 people.

    2012

    22 NOVEMBER: A Taliban suicide bomber struck a Shia procession in the city of Rawalpindi, killing 23.

    5 JANUARY: Taliban fighters kill 15 Pakistani frontier police after holding them hostage for more than a year.

    2011

    20 SEPTEMBER: Militants kill at least 26 Shia on a bus near Quetta.

    13 MAY: A pair of Taliban suicide bombers attack paramilitary police recruits in Shabqadar, killing 80, in retaliation for Osama bin Laden’s killing.

    2010

    5 NOVEMBER: A suicide bomber strikes a Sunni mosque in Darra Adam Khel, killing at least 67 during Friday prayers.

    1 SEPTEMBER: A triple Taliban suicide attack on a Shia procession kills 65 in Quetta.

    9 JULY: Two suicide bombers kill 102 people in the Mohmand tribal region.

    2 JULY: Suicide bombers attack Pakistan’s most revered Sufi shrine in Lahore, killing 47 people.

    29 MAY: Two militant squads armed with hand grenades, suicide vests and assault rifles attack two mosques of the Ahmadi minority sect in Lahore, killing 97.

    1 JANUARY: A suicide bomber drives a truckload of explosives into a volleyball field in Lakki Marwat district, killing at least 97 people.

    2009

    28 DECEMBER: Bomb blast kills at least 44 at a Shia procession in Karachi.

    9 OCTOBER: A suicide car bomber hits a busy market area in Peshawar, killing 53.

    2008

    20 SEPTEMBER: A suicide bomber devastates the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad with a truck full of explosives, killing at least 54.

    2007

    27 DECEMBER: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and 20 other people are killed in a suicide bombing and shooting attack in Rawalpindi.

  • Pak political class shows division and denial over Peshawar massacre

    Pak political class shows division and denial over Peshawar massacre

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The division and denial in Pakistan’s political class on terror was evident once again when former PPP minister Sherry Rehman said those engaged in the apologist narrative on terrorist attacks would be considered terrorists as well, and former president Pervez Musharraf and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed blamed India for the horrific killing of 132 children in Peshawar’s Army Public School.

    This was soon after a leading Pakistani security analyst Zahid Hamid tweeted, “India, we will NOT forgive you for this atrocity! You chose the day of December 16th to rub it in. We stand firm, united & will crush you!”

    Joining Zahid Hamid’s tirade, Musharraf told media, “The Taliban commander was supported by Afghanistan and India to carry out the attack,” Musharraf told TV channels, adding that the perpetrators were trained by India. “Taliban’s commander was supported by Afghanistan and India to carry out terrorist attack in Pakistan.”

    Saeed said in Lahore that India was behind the massacre and threatened to send terrorists to create havoc on the Indian soil. “If India can send troops to Afghanistan to help the US, then Mujahideen have every right to go to Kashmir and help their brethren. Kashmiris are clamouring for help and it’s our duty to respond to their call,” Saeed said.

    A fortnight back, Twitter had suspended Hafiz Saeed’s account. He had then urged Pakistanis to help Kashmiris get “freedom” from India. Saeed’s JuD was declared terrorist organisation by the UN in 2008 and Saeed himself is a designated terrorist, and has a bounty of $10 million on his head. However, he roams free. And his Twitter account is back under a new account.

  • Indonesia’s new president causes buzz by flying economy

    Indonesia’s new president causes buzz by flying economy

    JAKARTA (TIP): Indonesia’s new president Joko Widodo caused a stir this weekend by opting to fly economy class to watch his son’s high school graduation in Singapore, drawing both praise and criticism online.

    Skipping the usual heavy security protocol for heads of state, Widodo and his wife Iriana queued for check-in at Jakarta airport like ordinary passengers before taking their economy seats.

    Widodo is known for his common touch, and his family have maintained a modest lifestyle since he became leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy last month.

    The presence of the president, known by his nickname Jokowi, caused a buzz at Jakarta’s airport as passengers shouted and clamoured to shake his hand, with some taking selfies on their phones.

    Some, though, thought it was a publicity stunt. “Why should he go through the metal detector, join the queue, etc? Sir, stop polishing your image, just act natural,” Rangga Aditya commented on news portal Detik.com.

    Harry Azet tweeted: “Living a fake life is difficult: Jokowi went to Singapore flying economy but slept in an expensive hotel.”

    Widodo stayed in a five-star hotel on Orchard Road, Singapore’s shopping mecca, an Indonesian embassy spokesman in Singapore told media.

    But his choice to fly economy also won widespread praise, with many urging other government officials to follow suit.”Jokowi sets a good example by flying economy. Hopefully other officials can follow in his footsteps,” tweeted Anita Tobing.

    Widodo said he did not use the presidential private jet or the VIP terminal because he was travelling for personal reasons.”I am going for family matters, a private agenda, not a state visit – so why should I use the facility?” Widodo told reporters.

  • Hang 3,000 terrorists in 48 hours: Pak army chief to Sharif

    Hang 3,000 terrorists in 48 hours: Pak army chief to Sharif

    KARACHI (TIP): Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif, arguably the most powerful man in Pakistan, tweeted on Wednesday, “Asked PM Nawaz Sharif to hang all terrorists. More than 3,000 terrorists should be hanged in next 48 hours.” A day later, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s commander Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi was out on bail.

    Gen Sharif, who has frontally taken on the Taliban, is credited to have changed the army’s approach towards extremist groups, from one of using them as allies — as “strategic assets” against “enemies” like India — to launching an uncompromising offensive against them.

    Gen Sharif’s Twitter profile makes for interesting reading. Overcome by the sheer horror of the Peshawar attack, he announced, “Enough is enough, now strict action should be taken against those who speak in favour of terrorists.” Even as his soldiers were battling the terrorists in the school, Gen Sharif announced on Twitter that the army “has launched massive air strikes in Khyber on the intelligence reports. More than 10 air strikes have been carried out in last 1 hour.”

    Threatening strong retribution against Taliban, Sharief tweeted,
    “#PakArmy will come at you #Taliban & will destroy you. And they will not target women & children. They are not coward like you.” Promising to go after terrorists, Sharief asked for popular support. “Dear people of #Pakistan stand & support #PakArmy in ops #ZarbeAzb & #Khyber1 & We will surly eliminate #TTP from our homeland InshaAllah!”

    Both these military campaigns in North Waziristan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were launched without political approval.

    In another tweet, Gen Sharif threatened Tehrik-i-Taliban, saying,
    “Message to TTP. You kill our child. Now you will see the deadly consequences and (be) ready to pay the price. Pak Army will revenge (sic) each & every single drop of blood of little departed angels. It’s my promise.”

  • Afghan couple given 100 lashes for pre-marital sex

    Afghan couple given 100 lashes for pre-marital sex

    KABUL (TIP): An Afghan man and his girlfriend were each given 100 lashes in public for having sex outside of marriage, officials in the eastern Afghan province of Kapisa told media persons.

    Dozens of people witnessed the punishment of the couple, aged 19 and 21, according to governor of Kohistan region, Mohamed Osman Haqyar Ahmadi. They were arrested a month ago and sentenced after a lengthy trial, he said Tuesday.

    “The punishment was applied to both in accordance with the rules of Islamic Sharia law, because they are of legal age to be punished,” Ahmadi said.

    He stressed that both the guilty parties accepted the sentence imposed on them and declined to file an appeal. After submitting to their court-ordered punishment, they got married to legalize their relationship.

    The Afghan constitution includes provisions for the strict interpretation of Islamic law, which allows for the prosecution and sentencing of persons having relations outside of marriage. Lashings and public executions were common punishments in Afghanistan under the hardcore fundamentalist Taliban regime, which was ousted during the US invasion of 2001.

  • Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa alleges Norway funded LTTE

    Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa alleges Norway funded LTTE

    COLOMBO (TIP): Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa demanded that the Norwegian government must probe the funding of the LTTE during the island’s three-decade civil war, alleging that Norway financed the ethnic Tamil militant group.

    “They gave money to the LTTE. The Norwegian government must investigate. We have evidence on how they funded the terrorists,” Rajapaksa said addressing a political gathering in the northwestern town of Kurunegala.

    He specifically blamed former Norwegian minister and peace facilitator Erik Solheim for backing the LTTE.

    “This man Solheim is now planning to give evidence against us in Geneva,” Rajapaksa said referring to the ongoing UN Human Rights Council’s investigation on war crimes committed by both the LTTE and government forces during the final phase of the civil war that ended in 2009.

    Norway brokered peace between the government and the LTTE during the time of Rajapaksa’s predecessors.

    The Norwegian-backed peace initiative between 2000 and 2008 was branded as a betrayal of the island by nationalist groups who opposed the LTTE.

  • Indonesia’s new president causes buzz by flying economy

    Indonesia’s new president causes buzz by flying economy

    JAKARTA (TIP): Indonesia’s new president Joko Widodo caused a stir this weekend by opting to fly economy class to watch his son’s high school graduation in Singapore, drawing both praise and criticism online.

    Skipping the usual heavy security protocol for heads of state, Widodo and his wife Iriana queued for check-in at Jakarta airport like ordinary passengers before taking their economy seats.

    Widodo is known for his common touch, and his family have maintained a modest lifestyle since he became leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy last month.

    The presence of the president, known by his nickname Jokowi, caused a buzz at Jakarta’s airport as passengers shouted and clamoured to shake his hand, with some taking selfies on their phones.

    Some, though, thought it was a publicity stunt. “Why should he go through the metal detector, join the queue, etc? Sir, stop polishing your image, just act natural,” Rangga Aditya commented on news portal Detik.com.

    Harry Azet tweeted: “Living a fake life is difficult: Jokowi went to Singapore flying economy but slept in an expensive hotel.”

    Widodo stayed in a five-star hotel on Orchard Road, Singapore’s shopping mecca, an Indonesian embassy spokesman in Singapore told media.

    But his choice to fly economy also won widespread praise, with many urging other government officials to follow suit.”Jokowi sets a good example by flying economy. Hopefully other officials can follow in his footsteps,” tweeted Anita Tobing.

    Widodo said he did not use the presidential private jet or the VIP terminal because he was travelling for personal reasons.”I am going for family matters, a private agenda, not a state visit – so why should I use the facility?” Widodo told reporters.

  • Pak political class shows division and denial over Peshawar massacre

    Pak political class shows division and denial over Peshawar massacre

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The division and denial in Pakistan’s political class on terror was evident once again when former PPP minister Sherry Rehman said those engaged in the apologist narrative on terrorist attacks would be considered terrorists as well, and former president Pervez Musharraf and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed blamed India for the horrific killing of 132 children in Peshawar’s Army Public School.

    This was soon after a leading Pakistani security analyst Zahid Hamid tweeted, “India, we will NOT forgive you for this atrocity! You chose the day of December 16th to rub it in. We stand firm, united & will crush you!”

    Joining Zahid Hamid’s tirade, Musharraf told media, “The Taliban commander was supported by Afghanistan and India to carry out the attack,” Musharraf told TV channels, adding that the perpetrators were trained by India. “Taliban’s commander was supported by Afghanistan and India to carry out terrorist attack in Pakistan.”

    Saeed said in Lahore that India was behind the massacre and threatened to send terrorists to create havoc on the Indian soil. “If India can send troops to Afghanistan to help the US, then Mujahideen have every right to go to Kashmir and help their brethren. Kashmiris are clamouring for help and it’s our duty to respond to their call,” Saeed said.

    A fortnight back, Twitter had suspended Hafiz Saeed’s account. He had then urged Pakistanis to help Kashmiris get “freedom” from India. Saeed’s JuD was declared terrorist organisation by the UN in 2008 and Saeed himself is a designated terrorist, and has a bounty of $10 million on his head. However, he roams free. And his Twitter account is back under a new account.

  • WASHINGTON WEIGHS RESPONSE TO SONY HACK; OPTIONS LIMITED

    WASHINGTON WEIGHS RESPONSE TO SONY HACK; OPTIONS LIMITED

    WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES
    (TIP): The US government on December 18 said it was weighing the proportional response to the sophisticated perpetrator of a cyberattack that crippled Sony Pictures, exposed its executives and led to the cancellation of the film “The Interview.”

    Spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House is not in a position to confirm that North Korea is responsible for the hack at Sony, after a US official said Wednesday that Washington may soon formally announce the involvement of the Pyongyang government. The effect of any response, such as cyber retaliation or financial sanctions, could be limited, US experts said.

    More than three weeks after the attack by hackers identifying themselves as “Guardians of Peace” brought down the computer network at Sony Pictures Entertainment, one of Hollywood’s biggest studios grappled with the losses to its operation and reputation through sensitive leaked emails.

    Sony decided on Wednesday to scrap its big Christmas Day release of “The Interview,” a comic film that culminates in the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Movie theater chains said they would not show the film citing security concerns after hackers made threats against cinemas and audiences.

    A senior North Korean UN diplomat declined to comment on accusations that Pyongyang was responsible for the hacking attack on Sony Pictures. He also declined to comment on the delay of the release of the film.

    After the cancellation, Sony began pulling promotion of the $44 million film, dismantling the giant promotional billboard on Hollywood’s famed Sunset Boulevard on December 18.

  • Islamic State militants release pictures of mass execution

    Islamic State militants release pictures of mass execution

    BAGHDAD (TIP): The Islamic State (IS) group on Monday, December 15, released pictures of the execution of 13 men described as anti-jihadist Sunni tribal fighters near the northern city of Tikrit.

    Three pictures published on a jihadist forum and pro-IS social media accounts show the execution of the men wearing orange jumpsuits.

    Local residents confirmed that a mass execution had taken place on a large roundabout four miles east of the city of Tikrit at around 3:30 pm (1230 GMT).

    The first picture shows 11 men kneeling, heads bowed, with one black-clad and masked gunman behind each one and black IS flags in the background.

    Residents said the roundabout is at an intersection for roads leading to Tikrit, Kirkuk and the town of Al-Alam.

    They said the men who were executed were members of an anti-IS group of Sunni tribal fighters known as the Knights of Al-Alam who were captured by jihadists in Tikrit and Al-Alam around 10 days earlier.

    The city of Tikrit has been under IS control since the beginning of the jihadists’ major offensive in Iraq six months ago.

    Iraqi government forces, backed by Shiite militia and in some areas by Sunni tribal fighters have inflicted a string of defeats on the jihadists in recent weeks.

  • Air India bags “Best airline of Central/South Asia and India” Award

    Air India bags “Best airline of Central/South Asia and India” Award

    LOS ANGELES (TIP): Air India received Global Traveler corporate segment magazine “Best airline of Central/South Asia and India” award on December 16th night at Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel at Los Angeles.

    This is the second reader selection award received by Air India.

    Earlier this month on December 4th, Air India bagged Premier Traveler corporate travel magazine Award for “Best airline to India”.

    Recently Air India also won the Quality Diamond award at London.

    Air India regional Manager Rishikant Singh said,
    “Our message of nonstop to India from US, UK, Europe and most global markets, the convenient timings, good service and membership into Star Alliance is reaching discerning audiences.”

  • Boston suspect makes rare court appearance

    Boston suspect makes rare court appearance

    BOSTON (TIP): Shaggy-haired, bearded and attentive, accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made his first public appearance in 17 months on December 18, at a brief court hearing before his trial next month.

    Tension was high at the US federal court in the northeastern city where the April 15, 2013 attack killed three people and wounded 264 — the worst such incident in the United States since 9/11.

    A woman yelled out support for Tsarnaev in Russian at the end of the hearing. On the way into court, one of the victims angrily showed his artificial leg to demonstrators proclaiming the suspect’s innocence.

    Dressed in a black sweater and gray pants, a skinny 21-year-old Tsarnaev with unruly curls sat between two female lawyers in the packed court room to hear preparations for his January 5 trial.

    He answered questions from Judge George O’Toole calmly and quietly in the brief session that lasted less than half an hour. “Very much so,” he said when asked if he was satisfied with his representation.

    Tsarnaev is accused of carrying out the attacks with his brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police, and faces the death penalty.

    He pleads not guilty to 30 charges. The attacks plunged Boston’s world-famous marathon into mourning and revived fears of terrorism in the United States more than a decade after the alQaida hijackings.

    Thursday’s hearing was the first time he has been seen in public since entering his not guilty plea in July 2013.

    At the time he was suffering from injuries from his time on the run. On Thursday he seemed in good health.

    At the end, Elena Teyer, whose son-in-law Ibragim Todashev was shot dead by an FBI agent while being questioned in May 2013 about his friendship with Tamerlan, cried out in Russian.

    “You have a lot of supporters. We all pray for you, we all know you’re innocent,” she said. “Stop killing innocent people!” she added in English before being forced out.

    Families of the victims, with drawn faces, were separated from the rest of the public in the gallery.

  • US sues former MoneyGram exec, seeks $1 million civil penalty

    US sues former MoneyGram exec, seeks $1 million civil penalty

    NEW YORK (TIP): US authorities said on Thursday they had sued a former chief compliance officer of money-transfer firm MoneyGram International, seeking to collect a $1 million civil penalty from him for failing to stop fraudulent telemarketers from using the firm’s services.

    The US departments of justice and the treasury said in a statement that under Thomas Haider, who left MoneyGram in 2008, the firm failed to put in place an effective anti-money laundering program and failed to file timely suspicious activity reports with law enforcement. The government’s lawsuit also seeks to bar Haider from participating directly or indirectly in the affairs of any financial institution in the United States, according to the statement.

  • Bail to Lakhvi: India conveys to Pak strong concerns

    Bail to Lakhvi: India conveys to Pak strong concerns

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India has conveyed toPakistan its “strong concern” on grant ofbail to key Mumbai attack handler ZakiurRehman Lakhvi, saying the release willmake a mockery of Pakistan’s commitmentto fight terror groups without hesitationand without making distinctions.”Despite repeated assurances that havebeen received, we have seen both theprosecution of the seven accused in theAnti-Terror Court in Islamabad, as also theinvestigation by the authorities into thelarger conspiracy surrounding the Mumbaiattack case, proceeding at a glacial pace.”The story of repeated postponements,adjournments and unavailability ofconcerned law officers or witnesses is welldocumented and does not requirerepetition. The move to grant bail to ZakiurRahman Lakhvi yesterday has taken thissaga to another level,” official spokesman inthe External Affairs Ministry SyedAkbaruddin said.”We have, therefore, forthwithcommunicated to Pakistan throughdiplomatic channels our strong concerns onthis matter and the sentiments across thespectrum of Indian society that that thiswill make a mockery of Pakistan’scommitment to fight terror groups withouthesitation and without makingdistinctions,” the spokesman said.Lakhvi is among the seven Pakistaninationals accused of planning and abettingthe brazen terror attack in Mumbai onNovember 26, 2008 that left 166 dead,including foreigners.In a sharp reaction to the bail granted to54-year-old UN-designated terrorist by aRawalpindi court, New Delhi had yesterdaytold Islamabad that there could be noselective approach to terrorism,emphasising that it should realise that nocompromise can ever be made withterrorists.

    Lakhvi was involved in every stage of 26/11

    Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operationscommander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, whogot bail from a Pakistani court onDecember 18, was involved in every stageand aspect of the 26/11 terror attacks inMumbai.Right from recruiting and planning toselecting targets, overseeing and executingthe carnage from November 26 to 29, 2008,Lakhvi handled the whole operation.Intelligence agencies and the CrimeBranch-CID of the Mumbai Police havepieced together his role. Mohammed AjmalKasab, the lone terrorist who was caught,had also revealed the role of his “mentor”in his confessional statements.Lakhvi’s name figures second in the listof 35 wanted, after Hafeez MohammadSaeed alias Hafiz alias Hafiz saab, thefounder of Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Lakhvi is thechief operations commander of the LeTknown to be one of the “best trainers” inthe field of terrorism.He has a team of sharpshooters, mapreaders, communication experts andphysical trainers. His main trainers areZarar Shah, Abu al Qama Abu Qahafa, AbuHamza, Muzammil alias Yousuf andIbrahim alias Ali. They were involved intraining the 10 terrorists who carried outthe attacks.Another of his key aide and trainer isAzam Cheema alias Babaji, who was thekey plotter of July 11, 2006 serial trainblasts in Mumbai. He is the BahawalpurbasedLeT commander, who doubles up asan ISI operative. He, too, has close linkswith the Pakistani army.Kasab had stated in his confession:“There were 32 trainees in the camp.Sixteen were selected for a confidentialoperation by one Zaki-ur-Rehman, aliasChacha, but three of them ran away fromthe camp. Chacha sent the remaining 13with a person called Kafa to the Muridkecamp again.”On training, Kasab said: “‘Amir HafeezSaed told us that all Mujahideen has tofight for freedom of Kashmir. Then Zakiur-Rehman Lakhvi told us that time hascome for jihad. For the last 15 years, we arefighting in Kashmir.

  • GOVT DECLARES BIRD FLU IN CHANDIGARH

    GOVT DECLARES BIRD FLU IN CHANDIGARH

    CHANDIGARH (TIP): The Central Governmenton December 18 notified the outbreak of AvianInfluenza in captive ducks and geese at SukhnaLake in Chandigarh, putting into operation the birdflu prevention and surveillance plan to sanitise theaffected area and prevent the infection fromspreading.The UT Administration late on December 18evening began culling and destroying around 150ducks and geese on the island in the lake after theAnimal Husbandry Division of the Ministry ofAgriculture confirmed H5N1 (highly pathogenicavian influenza) and instructed the administrationto cull the birds.Culling was restricted to the lake, where at leastone sample of the dead geese tested positive for birdflu at the National Institute of High SecurityAnimal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal.Migratory birds in and around the lake will not beculled, officials said.The operation was jointly launched by theAnimal Husbandry Department, Forest and WildlifeDepartment and Chandigarh Tourism DevelopmentCorporation (CITCO) under the supervision ofPrince Dhawan, Director, UT Animal HusbandryDepartment.Rajbir Singh Rana, Joint Secretary (LivestockHealth), Animal Husbandry, and the nodal officerfor the animal disease outbreaks in the country, saidthe lake would have to be sanitised for three monthsas part of the surveillance plan to end the infection.“We have notified the outbreak of H5N1 incaptive ducks and geese at Sukhna Lake and theculling operations are on.We are also sending analert on avian influenza in Chandigarh to the WorldOrganization for Animal Health. The next step afterthe culling operations will be to sanitise the areaand undertake active surveillance for threemonths,” Rana said.“The movement around the lake will remainrestricted for a month to begin with and possibly forthree months, which is our normal drill as part ofthe surveillance programme. The idea is to sanitisethe area,” he said. The Animal HusbandryDepartment said samples of the lake water will alsobe screened to rule out infection. “Teams from ourBhopal lab will be sent for environmental samplingof water and droppings of infected birds at SukhnaLake. The future course of action will depend on theresults of those samplings,” Rana said.Around 60 samples taken from migratory birdshave come out negative at a Jalandhar laboratory.The samples of around 25 ducks at Golf Club inChandigarh were also negative.Anup Kumar Thakur, secretary, AnimalHusbandry, said there was no reason to panic sincethe infection was localised around the Sukhnaisland. “The scale of the problem in Chandigarh isnot the same as was reported recently in Kerala.Weare keeping a close watch,” Thakur said.Dr Lovelesh Kant Gupta, Joint Director, UTAnimal Husbandry Department, and nodal officerfor the operation, said the island would have to bekept out of bounds for people for a year. Onconsumption of eggs or poultry products, he saidthe avian influenza virus vanished if the food wascooked at 70 degree heat. “Once you cook yourchicken or eggs properly, there is no problem,” hesaid. The UT Administration will send its report onculling to the Centre on December 19. The Ministryof Health dispatched a central team to assess publichealth consequences of the culling operations andbird flu in and around Sukhna. The central teamwill assist the team engaged in culling and watchout for respiratory tract infections in the populationwithin a 3-km radius of the lake

  • RS LOGJAM CONTINUES AS GOVT, OPPN STICK TO STAND

    RS LOGJAM CONTINUES AS GOVT, OPPN STICK TO STAND

    New Delhi (TIP): The deadlock in the Rajya Sabha seems to have no end in sight with both the government and opposition on December 18 unrelenting from their stand on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sreply on a debate on religious conversions. While the proceedings of Rajya Sabha were stalled for the fourth consecutive day, the government refused to accede to the opposition demand for Modi’s reply.The prime minister was in Rajya Sabha for about an hour after the Question Hour started, as it is a day when questions related to the portfolios held by the prime minister are listed for reply.The day also witnessed angry exchanges with each side accusing the other of arrogance. Opposition did not let the debate get going even as HomeMinister Rajnath Singh said he will replyto them and, if necessary, Modi mightintervene. As the din continued duringthe morning session, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley chided the opposition: “Ifthe fact is that out of two Houses, one(Lok Sabha) is functioning normally andthe other is not being allowed to functionnormally, then, it is the arrogance ofnumbers and not the arrogance of thegovernment.”To this, CPM’s Sitaram Yechuryretorted, “I want to tell the Leader of theHouse (Jaitley)…if he is accusing ussaying, ‘arrogance of numbers’, I wouldsay, the other House is functioningbecause of the tyranny of majority.”Jaitley said the government was readyto debate the issue immediately butasserted that Opposition cannot dictatewho will reply from the government sideand what will be the terms andconditions. Ruling out a reply by theprime minister, Parliamentary AffairsMinister Venkaiah Naidu said as per therules the home minister will reply afterthe debate. When the House reassembledat 2 pm after the adjournment an hourearlier, it again witnessed protests, as theprime minister was not present. Then amotion moved by CPM MP P Rajeeve forstarting the debate was adopted but hisinsistence on the presence of Modi led toa heated exchange of words.

  • Govt taking steps for security ahead of Obama’s visit: Rajnath

    Govt taking steps for security ahead of Obama’s visit: Rajnath

    New Delhi (TIP): In the wake of terror attack in Peshawar, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on December 18said the government is taking allpossible steps for security during theensuing visit of US President BarackObama.”Whatever high preparation isrequired, we are doing it. We have sentalerts too,” Singh told reporters here.His comments came when askedabout the steps taken for security afterthe Peshawar terror attack in which 148people, including 132 children werekilled.Asked about the possibility of terrorattacks in the capital, the HomeMinister said all possible action isbeing taken as “nothing can be ruledout”.The Home Ministry yesterday alertedthe states to the heightened possibilityof terror attacks ahead of the USPresident’s visit to India next month.In a country-wide advisory, the HomeMinistry has asked the law enforcementagencies to take all measures towards”target hardening” of vulnerable placesand installations.”This includes public places withhigh footfalls, public transportincluding railways and schools inparticular. “In the light of the attack ona school in Pakistan, there appears tobe an immediate requirement to scaleup security around schools and othereducational institutions which areconsidered more vulnerable due to avariety of factors,” the Home Ministryadvisory said.Also in another related advisory, theHome Ministry said there have beenreports that LeT is looking for targetingtwo unspecified hotel in New Delhi andan unspecified highway between NewDelhi and Agra.

  • LN Mishra murder: 4 convicts get life imprisonment

    LN Mishra murder: 4 convicts get life imprisonment

    NEW DELHI (TIP): In a show of mercy, aDelhi court on December 18 said the menconvicted of murdering railway minister LNMishra in 1975 should not be condemned todeath and sentenced the four to lifeimprisonment instead.The “crime was committed by themduring prime of their youth about 40 yearsago…there is every possibility of theirreformation,”said district judge Vinod Goelas he sentenced Ranjan Dwivedi,Santoshanand, Sudevanand and Gopalji tolife in prison. The court also imposed a fineof Rs. 25,000 each on Santoshanand, andSudevanand, both in their late seventies,while a fine of Rs. 20,000 each was slapped onDwivedi, 66, and Gopalji,73 — all of whomhave been undertrial for nearly forty yearsnow. It has directed Patna legal services toinquire into and disperse the compensationto the victims’ families. The judge had, onDecember 8, found all four guilty of thepremeditated murder of the then Unionminister in a blast at the Samastipur railwaystation on January 2, 1975. The court notedthat the accused had been in the “prime oftheir youth, “thus susceptible to beingmotivated by “false ideas” and belief in acorrupt ideology when the crime wascommitted. The court also observed thatsufficient proof existed that one of CBI’s keywitnesses Vikram — who is absconding —was tortured while in the custody ofDanapur jail by its “jailor, jailsuperintendant, jail doctors, CID Biharofficers and high officers of theestablishment.”

  • Accused of molestation, MP judge loses powers

    Accused of molestation, MP judge loses powers

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The SupremeCourt on December 18 sked theChief Justice of Madhya PradeshHigh Court to divest one of hiscolleagues, accused of sexuallyharassing a woman AdditionalDistrict and Sessions Judge(ADSJ), from undertaking alladministrative and supervisoryfunctions. The apex court alsorestrained Chief Justice AMKhanwilkar from handling thecomplaint of sexual harassment ofthe woman. A Bench comprisingJustices JS Khehar and ArunMishra ruled the Chief Justice“having assumed a firm position inrespect of certain facts containedin the complaint filed by thepetitioner ought not to beassociated with the in-houseprocedure” meant for such cases.The Bench noted that under the“in-house procedure” the CJ’sauthority was limited todetermining the requirement for adeeper probe in such cases.

  • HINDU MAHASABHA WANTS GODSE BUSTS ACROSS INDIA

    HINDU MAHASABHA WANTS GODSE BUSTS ACROSS INDIA

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Akhil BharatHindu Mahasabha wants to installNathuram Godse’s bust at public places incities across India, the far-right politicalparty’s national president ChandraPrakash Kaushik said on December 18.Social scientists feel the move might notonly be a ploy to catch eyeballs but alsoan indicator of the radically alteredpolitical scenario of the country.”In a day or two we will write a letter tothe Union government asking for space.In India, we have named roads afterAurangzeb who killed so many Hindus.Why can’t we have Godse’s statues? If thegovernment refuses, we will install thebusts at Hindu Mahasabha bhavans indifferent states. There are 17-18 suchbhavans,” Kaushik said.One marble bust already adorns acorner of his office in Mandir Marg,central Delhi. Kaushik, however, pointsout it has not been installed yet (pratisthanahi hui hai). “It was made to order fromKishengarh, Rajasthan, and cost us aboutRs 17,000,” he says.Godse gunned down Father of theNation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi,on January 30, 1948. But for Kaushikand his party, he is a “martyr”.”Unlike Gandhi who played a veryminor role in our freedom struggle,Godse was a patriot who sacrificed hislife for the country,” says the right-wingpolitician sporting a neatly trimmedbeard.Kaushik said the idea to installGodse’s bust came after BJP politicianSakshi Maharaj’s retracted hisstatement on the killer of MahatmaGandhi.Last week, the MP from Unnaon saidthat Godse was as much a patriot asMahatma Gandhi. Following an outrage,he changed his stance in Parliament, “Idon’t consider Godse a patriotic person.I take back my words if I had saidsomething by mistake.””We were extremely hurt on hearingthis and decided to highlight Godse. Forthe past 65 years, the Congress haspushed our revolutionaries (krantikari)into the background. People don’t knowthat he was a nationalist,” says Kaushik.Historian Mridula Mukherjee saysthere is nothing new in what HinduMahasabha has said on Godse. “What isnew is they are feeling emboldenedenough to voice their views publicly in anew political atmosphere created byBJP’s victory,” says Mukherjee, whoteaches modern Indian history in JNU.

  • SC dismisses plea onMaratha reservation

    SC dismisses plea onMaratha reservation

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Supreme Court on December 18declined to interfere with a Bombay High Court orderwhich stayed the Maharashtra government’s decisionproviding 16 per cent reservation to Marathas in jobs andeducational institutions.A bench presided over by Chief Justice H L Dattupointed out that it was just an interim order passed by thehigh court which would be taking up the matter forfurther consideration on January 5.“What is questioned here is only an interim order. Wedecline to entertain the special leave petition. We directthe high court to dispose of the matter expeditiously,” thebench said. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi contendedbefore the court that an extraordinary case of stay wasmade out in the instant case as the high court, through aninterim measure, passed a detailed order against the moveinitiated for the welfare of the people of the state. “This isa sensitive issue as the people vying for jobs andadmission are denied the benefit,” he pleaded.The court, however, refused to entertain the plea sayingwhat may be going into the mind of the judges at the highcourt could be known only in the final judgment.

  • ASSETS CASE: SC EXTENDS BAIL OF JAYALALITHAA BY FOUR MORE MONTHS

    ASSETS CASE: SC EXTENDS BAIL OF JAYALALITHAA BY FOUR MORE MONTHS

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The Supreme Court on December 18extended by four months the bail of former Tamil Naduchief minister J Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assetscase and asked the chief justice of Karnataka high courtto constitute a special bench to decide her pleaexpeditiously within three months.A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu ordered thatthe hearing in the high court on the appeal filed by theAIADMK chief challenging her conviction and sentence inthe case, be conducted on a day-to-day basis.”Keeping in view the facts of the case, we request thechief justice of Karnataka high court to constitute aspecial bench for hearing of appeal on day-to-day basis.The hearing should be completed within three months,”the bench, also comprising Justice A K Sikri, said.”The bail granted by this court on October 17 isextended by another four months, that is, till April 18,2015,” the bench said.It also asked senior advocate KTS Tulsi, appearing forJayalalithaa, who was awarded four years jail term alongwith a fine of Rs 100 crore in the DA case, to provide acopy of documents of the case to BJP leader SubramanianSwamy.Swamy, during the brief hearing, raised the issue of lawand order in Tamil Nadu, saying the posters of the slainLTTE chief Prabhakaran are being pasted across the state.”We gave you (Swamy) the liberty that if there isanything against you, you just mention that before us. Wewill take a call,” the bench said.On October 17, the apex court had granted conditionalbail to Jayalalithaa, who was sent to jail by a trial court onSeptember 27, saying that hearing on her appeal againstconviction in high court should be completed in fivemonths from now.The apex court, which had also granted bail to theAIADMK chief’s close aide Sasikala and two of herrelatives, had refused to dispose of the bail plea whileposting the case for hearing on December 18.The 66-year-old politician, who had moved the SupremeCourt for bail on October 9 after she was denied bail bythe Karnataka high court, had submitted that she hadbeen sentenced to only four years jail in the case and shewas also suffering from various ailments, as grounds forher immediate relief.The special court had held Jayalalithaa and three othersguilty of corruption. The court had also slapped a fine ofRs 100 crore on the AIADMK chief and Rs 10 crore fine oneach of the three other convicts.

  • Boko Haram kills 32, kidnaps 185 in northeastern Nigeria

    Boko Haram kills 32, kidnaps 185 in northeastern Nigeria

    MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA (TIP): Boko Haram militants killed 32 people and kidnapped 185 of others, including women and children, in a brutal attack on a village in the northeast area of Nigeria, officials and a witness said on December 18.

     

    In neighbouring Cameroon, the Islamic extremists launched a raid on army base in the border town of Amchide, but were repelled in a fierce gun battle with troops that left 116 insurgents dead, according to Cameroon’s defence ministry.

    Separately, a Nigerian court martial late Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny after they refused to deploy for an operation against Boko Haram, blaming a lack of weapons and other equipment.

    The court martial underscored the struggles Nigeria’s military has faced in containing the five-year Islamist uprising. Civilians complain that they are left defenceless by troops who are often absent when the militants attack.

    The insurgents, fighting to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, have seized large swathes of territory in the northeast, while cross-border violence has spread in recent months, forcing more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes.

    A convoy of heavily armed Boko Haram gunmen stormed Gumsuri in Borno state on Sunday, throwing petrol bombs into buildings and leaving much of the village destroyed, two local officials and a witness said.

    Both officials with the municipal government, who requested anonymity, put the death toll at 32.

    They said local people were still counting the number of those abducted by the jihadists and warned that the figure could pass 100.

    Details of the attack took four days to emerge from the isolated village, roughly 70km (43 miles) south of Borno’s capital Maiduguri, because the mobile phone network has largely collapsed and many of the roads are impassable.

    “After killing our youths, the insurgents have taken away our wives and daughters,” said Mukhtar Buba, who fled Gumsuri to Maiduguri.

    Gumsuri is located on the road that leads to Chibok, where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls from a school in April.

    One of the local officials said the village had previously been protected against Boko Haram by a strong vigilante force, but that they were overpowered in Sunday’s attack.

    “For the past one year, the insurgents have made several attempts to attack Gumsuri but were resisted by the gallant youths of the village,” he told AFP.

    “It is sad that on Sunday, the village was subdued,” he added.

    The military and police were not immediately available for comment. Boko Haram has increasingly used kidnappings to boost its supply of child fighters, porters and young women who have reportedly been used as sex slaves.

    Borno state is the epicentre of the Boko Haram conflict but the militants have tried to spread their uprising and want to introduce hardline Islamist rule in neighbouring Cameroon.

    The defence ministry in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde said Wednesday’s raid in Amchide was carried out by several hundred Islamist extremists who ambushed a column of military vehicles with explosives and simultaneously attacked the army base. Cameroonian troops retaliated instantly, the ministry said, killing 116 insurgents while one soldier has been confirmed dead and another was missing.