INDIA: A pair of ambushes by Indian government forces and Kashmiri rebels early Thursday killed two soldiers and two militants in the disputed Himalayan region.
Militants ambushed soldiers in southern Shopian area as troops raided a village on a tip that rebels were hiding there, said S.P. Vaid, the police director-general. Another soldier was critically wounded in the attack. One of the slain soldiers was an Indian army major, Vaid said.
He said that two Kashmiri rebels were killed separately as they walked into an ambush laid by government forces in southern Kulgam area. Both rebels belonged to the largest Kashmiri rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen.
Thousands of Kashmiris tuned up at the funeral of one of the slain rebels, chanting slogans in favor of Pakistan and rebels and also demanding an end of Indian rule over the region.
At least two militants appeared at the funeral in Tantraypora village and fired dozens of rounds in honor of their fallen comrades.
Authorities enforced a security lockdown in Kulgam and blocked mobile Internet in anticipation of anti-Indian protests.
Meanwhile, hundreds of villagers threw rocks at a raiding party of police and soldiers in Shopian area Wednesday night and helped at least two rebels to escape the security dragnet, police and witnesses said.
In recent years, Kashmiris, mainly youths, have displayed open solidarity with anti-India rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations against the militants. The anti-India protests and clashes have persisted despite the Indian army chief warning recently that “tough action” would be taken against stone throwers during counterinsurgency operations.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety. Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Indian-administered portion to become independent or merge with Pakistan. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population and most people support the rebels’ cause against Indian rule.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.
Rebel groups have largely been suppressed by Indian forces in recent years and public opposition to Indian rule is now principally expressed through street protests.
Ambushes by Indian troops, Kashmir rebels kill 4 combatants
Ambushes by Indian troops, Kashmir rebels kill 4 combatants
‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight over threats from nukes, climate change, AI
- At the end of the Cold War, the clock was as close as 17 minutes to midnight. In the past few years, to address rapid global changes, the group has changed from counting down the minutes until midnight to counting down the seconds
WASHINGTON: Earth is closer than it’s ever been to destruction as Russia, China, the US and other countries become “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic,” a science-oriented advocacy group said Tuesday as it advanced its “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds till midnight.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist members had an initial demonstration on Friday and then announced their results on Tuesday.
The scientists cited risks of nuclear war, climate change, potential misuse of biotechnology and the increasing use of artificial intelligence without adequate controls as it made the annual announcement, which rates how close humanity is from ending.
Last year the clock advanced to 89 seconds to midnight.
Since then, “hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation” needed to reduce existential risks, the group said.
They worry about the threat of escalating conflicts involving nuclear-armed countries, citing the Russia-Ukraine war, May’s conflict between India and Pakistan and whether Iran is capable of developing nuclear weapons after strikes last summer by the US and Israel.
International trust and cooperation is essential because, “if the world splinters into an us-versus-them, zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood that we all lose,” said Daniel Holz, chair of the group’s science and security board.
The group also highlighted droughts, heat waves and floods linked to global warming, as well as the failure of nations to adopt meaningful agreements to fight global warming — singling out US President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost fossil fuels and hobble renewable energy production.
Starting in 1947, the advocacy group used a clock to symbolize the potential and even likelihood of people doing something to end humanity.
At the end of the Cold War, it was as close as 17 minutes to midnight. In the past few years, to address rapid global changes, the group has changed from counting down the minutes until midnight to counting down the seconds.
The group said the clock could be turned back if leaders and nations worked together to address existential risks.
