News Story: At Least One Civilian Killed In Ongoing Rocket Attack In Kabul

At least one civilian has been killed and four wounded in a string of rocket attacks on the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul city center on Wednesday.

The attack started shortly after 11am (27-Sep-2017) and at least two explosions were heard at about 2.30pm followed by a much bigger one about 15 minutes.

Reports indicated that anywhere between 30 and 40 explosions had been heard in the vicinity over a three hour period.

Airport officials have said all flights into Kabul have been diverted and flights out of the city have been cancelled until further notice.

However, the officials said no damage has been caused to the runway but that it is being cleared of shrapnel.

The ministry of interior confirmed that at least one civilian has been killed.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

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• Rocket Attack On Kabul International Airport

News Story: Rocket Hits Indian Ambassador’s House In Kabul

A rocket fired off in Kabul city Tuesday morning reportedly landed on the tennis court of the Indian ambassador’s house in the city.

The incident happened at about 11:15am. The house is in the heavily fortified diplomatic quarter, in Kabul, which houses a number of embassies, guesthouses and Resolute Support headquarters.

According to a source, no casualties were reported.

This comes amid extremely tight security in the capital following last week’s deadly explosions and the launch on Tuesday of the Kabul Process meeting.

Representatives from at least 23 countries are in Kabul for a meeting aimed at establishing peace in the country.

Streets in the city center, especially around the Presidential Palace, the Green Zone and Wazir Akbar Khan have been largely closed off by security forces who are preventing almost everyone from entering the areas.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: Rocket lunchers, guns among huge arms cache found in Bangladesh

DHAKA, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A huge cache of arms and ammunition including two rocket launchers and scores of guns was recovered Friday from Purbachal on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka, official said.

"We've recovered two rocket launchers, 61 SLRs (self loading rifle) and five boxes loaded with ammunition from a canal in the area," said Ismail Hossain, officer-in-charge of Rupganj Police Station in Purbachal.

Acting on a tip-off, he said, law enforcers searched the spot on Thursday night and arrested three persons.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Security forces kill 4 militants in east Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Security forces have killed four militants and arrested another 12 in Pakistan's east Punjab province during the past 24 hours, officials said on Thursday.

Colonel Amjad Iqbal, the spokesman of paramilitary troops Rangers in Punjab, said the forces launched a search operation in Dera Ghazi Khan district of the province on an intelligence tip-off.

The spokesman said a soldier also got injured during the clash of firing with the militants during the operation.

He said the operation was carried out under Radd-ul-Fasaad, the ongoing combat to eliminate terrorists and their networks from the country.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: 18 Taliban militants surrender in eastern Afghan province

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen members of Taliban renounced violence and surrendered to the government in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, said the provincial government on Monday.

"Following efforts by National Directorate of Security, or national intelligence agency, to convince a group of Taliban to join peace process, the 18-member group renounced the violence and joined national reconciliation process," it said in a statement.

Among them, who handed over their weapons to security authorities during a ceremony hold in provincial capital Jalalabad city, was their commander named Bakhto Khan, according to the statement.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: India Media: New Delhi Buys $3B Worth of Weapons, Ammo From Russia, Israel

India has reportedly acquired some $3 billion of weapons after quietly purchasing ammunition, tank engines, anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers from Russia and Israel.

Israel furnished a few thousand missiles and advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to India, while Moscow supplied New Delhi with tank parts, a few thousand anti-tank missiles and engines for the T90 tank, Indian’s chief battle vehicle. India also received multi-barrel rocket launchers from Russia.

The exact number of weapons has not been made public, but is said to be enough to arm both the Indian Army and Navy, and includes anti-personnel grenade launchers, high-explosive bombs, and armour for troop-carrying vehicles.

Under the leadership of senior officials, two "empowered committees" were dispatched to Israel and Russia toward the end of 2016 to make quick buys, known as "off-the-shelf purchases." The committees have the ability to negotiate and can make immediate buying decisions.

News Report: India Approves $45Mln Plan to Add Teeth to Elite Forces for Surgical Strikes

The limited availability of resources has diluted the combat capabilities of Indian Special Forces currently operating in different parts of the country. In anticipation of a limited war scenario, India has started modernizing its most elite forces.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — After much dilly-dallying, the Indian government has approved a purchase plan to equip its small unit of commandos specialized in carrying out operations deep within enemy territory. 

The $45 million purchase plan will include over 1,100 automatic assault rifles, 20 light machine guns, rocket launchers and more than a thousand of freefall parachutes. All these weapon systems will be procured under the fast track procedure.

According to sources, the Special Forces will be equipped with the latest version of Carl Gustaf rocket launchers that are much lighter than the current version. The new launchers will have intelligent-sighting system and programmable ammunition. Rocket launchers will be made in the Indian Ordnance factory and delivery may start next year.

India's Special Forces constitutes approximately 18,000 armed personnel including support staff which is almost equal or higher in number to those of special commandos of US, UK and Russia. It is said that India had gone in for rapid expansion of the Special Forces unnecessarily, resulted in massive dilution of combat potential of the forces. A total of 15 battalions have created a scenario where they forced to be operational with limited training, arms and equipment.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Story: Police kill key Taliban commander in E. Afghan province

KABUL, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban commander was killed together with five militants after Afghan police launched an ambush in eastern province of Ghazni on Monday, the Interior Ministry said.

"A top Taliban commander named Mullah Firoz Jahadi along with five other armed Taliban were killed in Aab Band district of Ghazni province in an Afghan National Police (ANP) ambush Monday morning," the ministry said in a statement.

The statement noted that nine other armed Taliban were wounded and two rocket launchers, two heavy machine guns and one vehicle were seized by the ANP after the attack.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Indian Commando Across Pakistan Border to Receive Lethal Weapon

Carl Gustaf Recoilless Rifle (Image: Wiki Commons)

Despite the lack of latest arms and equipment, India’s Special Forces have conducted two successful surgical strikes in Pakistan and Myanmar. India now wants to make them more lethal.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India's Special Forces will be getting more teeth as the Defense Acquisition Council's (DAC) December 23 meeting may approve the purchase of the latest assault rifles and lightweight long range machine guns equipped with night sights. The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) is India's highest decision making body for defense purchases and is headed by the Minister of Defense. The DAC may also approve the purchase of more M4 automatic rifles from the US.

The new equipment will be earmarked for the Special Forces that carried out `surgical strikes' across the Line of Control (the de facto border between India and Pakistan). According to the proposal, Special Forces will be equipped with sniper rifles and automatic general purpose machine guns along with approximately 1,000 personal automatic rifles. Apart from this, the purchase plan includes two dozen lightweight rocket launchers and 500 pistols. 

According to sources, the Special Forces will be equipped with latest version of Carl Gustaf rocket launchers that are much lighter than the current version. New launchers will have intelligent-sighting system and programmable ammunition. Rocket launchers will be made in the Indian Ordnance factory and delivery may start next year.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.