international Malaysia on alert to prevent militant influx
Nagaland Post, Dimapur wednesday, october 19, 2016
Mosul offensive: Territory recaptured from ISIS; 75 square miles retaken
KHAZIR (IRAQ), OCT 18 (AGENCIES): Iraqi Kurdish forces advancing toward the northern city of Mosul paused Tuesday on the second day of a long-awaited offensive after the Islamic State mounted tough resistance in villages east of the strategic city. The front lines were largely quiet after fierce fighting as Kurdish forces pushed to retake a string of villages on the edge of their territory and turn them into new footholds closer to Mosul. The city is the last main stronghold for the Islamic State in Iraq and represents a critical showdown for both sides. However, the Iraqi military made some gains. The army’s 9th Division broke into the district of Hamdaniya, also on the eastern front, closing in on the Christian town of Qaraqosh, commanders said. The intense fight for hamlets some 30 miles from the city suggested that the militants could fight for every inch outside the city, but also that they are unlikely to be able to hold on in the face of a coordinated advance and close air support from a U.S.led coalition. Residents who have recently fled the area and Iraqi officials with contacts inside Mosul say the Islamic State has been digging in for a fight, erecting concrete barricades and filling trenches full of oil that can be set on fire to slow
A peshmerga convoy drives towards a frontline in Khazer, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Mosul, Iraq, Monday. (AP/PTI) advancing forces. The Islamic State claimed to have carried out 12 suicide attacks on the first day of the offensive, according to its affiliated news agency, Amaq. Jabbar Yawar, a spokesman for Kurdish peshmerga forces, said eight Kurdish soldiers were killed Monday and 16 injured. The struggle for Mosul — which involves U.S. air power and an array of Iraqi ground forces — is the largest and most complex so far in the battle against Islamic State militants. It has brought an unprecedented level of military cooperation between Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government in northern city of Irbil, which have
long feuded over oil and land. But some small cracks in that alliance appeared Tuesday, as Kurdish and Iraqi commanders traded blame for delays in some operations in the east. These villages were small and simple, so we were expecting them to be easy,” said Brig. Gen. Haider al-Obaidi, an Iraqi special forces commander. He said military planners had thought the Islamic State would abandon them and reinforce elsewhere “Right now we are waiting for the peshmerga to finish their job,” said Obaidi. “We are waiting for them to reach the areas they were supposed to reach under the military plan, so that we can move.”
By late Monday, Kurdish officials claimed to have retaken 75 square miles of territory — an area slightly bigger than the District of Columbia — although their degree of control over the territory remained unclear. Demining teams were working to clear roads laced with booby traps and explosives. A military agreement between Baghdad and Irbil gives the Kurds the task of retaking villages on the edge of their territory, before Iraqi forces move past them to Mosul, a large Sunni Muslim city where many worry about possible efforts by Kurds to expand their authority.
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Agencies): Malaysia has stepped up security at its borders in case Malaysian militant fighters try to return home after Iraqi forces launched a major offensive to take back the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Tuesday. Iraqi government forces launched a US-backed offensive on Monday to drive Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, the group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. Around 4,000 to 8,000 militants, a mix of Iraqi and foreign fighters, are estimated to be in the city. Ahmad Zahid told a news conference that Malaysian airport and border security had been increased, while illegal routes commonly used by smugglers were being monitored. “We have been exchanging intel with international intelligence agencies, and we have a suspect list which includes names of those we believe have ties with Daesh,” he said, using an alternate name for Islamic State. Ahmad Zahid did not state how many Malaysians were currently in Mosul but police figures released last month showed that 90 Malaysians had joined Islamic State in Syria and Iraq since 2013. In August, Malaysia revoked the passports of 68 Malaysians who had been identified as leaving the country to join Islamic State.
Several missing, injured in German chemical plant blast Ludwigshafen (Germany), Oct 18 (Agencies): Several people were missing and others were injured after an explosion Monday at a chemical plant at BASF’s headquarters in western Germany, the firm said, advising local residents to stay indoors. The blast, which occurred around 11.30 am (0930 GMT) and triggered a huge fire, happened during work on a pipeline, the global chemicals giant said in a statement. “Several people were injured. Some people are missing,” BASF said. A large fire and a huge column of grey smoke could be seen rising from the site, a vast industrial complex with a harbour on the Rhine river. Firefighters were still trying to extinguish the flames by 1330 GMT, while police had blocked off nearby roads, an AFP reporter at the scene said. “Emergency services from the whole region are on the scene to prevent the fire spreading to other parts of the plant,” Ludwigshafen city authorities said in a statement. The company said residents in Ludwigshafen and nearby Mannheim should remain inside and shut doors and windows. Local authorities have also asked nurseries and schools to keep children indoors, but no evacuations have been ordered. “We are still investigating the precise cause. The relevant authorities have been
informed,” BASF said. The site’s steam cracker units -- used in a chemical procedure to produce lighter hydrocarbons -- have been shut down for safety reasons, it added. Ludwigshafen is a city of some 160,000 people located around 80 kilometres (50 miles) southwest of Frankfurt. City authorities said fire engines as well as a fireboat had been deployed to the scene. On its Twitter account, Ludwigshafen added that some residents had complained of respiratory irritations. An emergency hotline has been set up as well as an information tent. The Landeshafen Nord site where the explosion took place is a harbour used for the transportation of combustible fluids and liquefied gases. On its website, the company describes the site as a “very important for BASF’s supply of raw materials”, where more than 2.6 million tonnes are handled each year. The goods are unloaded from ships into the production plants via a system of pipelines. The company employs 36,000 people in Ludwigshafen. BASF was also grappling with a second, smaller incident at its nearby Lampertheim plant where four people were injured in a gas explosion and had to be taken to hospital, DPA news agency reported.
9 Belgium charges four people after terror raids Brussels, Oct 18 (AFP): Belgium today charged four people with involvement in terrorism after 15 early morning raids in the northern cities of Ghent, Antwerp and Deinze, the federal prosecutor’s office said. “Those persons have been indicted for participation in the activities of a terrorist group,” a statement said. “Some of them are suspected of recruiting people with a view to departing to Syria and joining Islamic State there,” it added. The prosecutor said no arms or explosives were found and the raids had no immediate connection with the deadly IS-claimed attacks on the Brussels airport and metro which left 32 people dead in March. In all, 15 people were taken in for questioning initially, the statement added. Some of them, who grew up in central Brussels and were known to the authorities, also took part in the November Paris attacks, which claimed 130 lives and left hundreds injured. Belgium has been on its second highest terror alert since the Paris and Brussels attacks. There has been a series of incidents since March despite a much increased security presence on the streets, the latest early this month when two police offers were stabbed in the Schaerbeek area of Brussels.
Hillary may face questions on WikiLeaks revelations New York, Oct 18 (PTI): Republican nominee Donald Trump is likely to continue personal attacks on his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the final presidential debate tomorrow while the former secretary of state could face questions on the fresh WikiLeaks revelations, an expert has said. “I think we should probably take Trump at his word that he is going to continue the torrent of personal abuse in this debate,” David Birdsell, Dean of the Austin Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College, said at a session by the New York Foreign Press Centre yesterday on what to expect in the final debate. He said the 70-year-old real estate tycoon is clearly hoping that by pulling both candidacies into the same level of allegations of personal misconduct, it will either
Bill Clinton has to “reduce litany of attacks” from Trump, turnout overall or to boost including his questioning of turnout among his base to a the entire electoral process, point where it becomes dis- the media, election coverage and campaigning in the US, positive”, he said. In Clinton’s case, he said Birdsell said. “And he is trying to sugher strategy will be the line that she quoted from First gest that it is all corrupt and Lady Michelle Obama in all bad,” he said, adding in the second debate, which is the final debate tomorrow, to “when they go low, you go be held at the University of high”. The 68-year-old former Nevada in Las Vegas, Clinton secretary of state will have to clearly wants to sound differdefend additional WikiLeaks ent from and look different Hillary Clinton revelations, to answer ques- from Trump. depress voter turnout or fire tions about email, personal “She does not want to up his natural base, which probity and face the “extended get mired in answering charge tends to be less educated white males. Birdsell, however, said NLAN ECHON YI. that Trump is targeting perA shompo Shungchungo Jami head GB Changpang village sonal misconduct that prena tsungon 13/10/2016 lo merapani towni na LLRPO thyutasanta dominantly Clinton’s hus- khitathung ana hochilo eramoe mying yikrachio late N. L.Odyuo, band, Bill, made and not her, late M. Kithan shompo eramo T. kikon, former minister elani madam who is the candidate in the R.L kinghen steering committee member NSCN (IM), To shiang ntia race. Nlan nliv lona omying phyophia nlan pia nsamoji ana onte osi onte Tr ump’s strategy by wopan jiang elani okho jiang topvu thungi nlan asiyile to erantsung making character attacks kako shi yakchia jonjiala. against the former president Shungchungo Jami, Head GB Changpang Village DP-8196
FELICITATION
after charge after charge… We might see a Hillary Clinton that looked a little bit like the Hillary Clinton in the second debate, speaking directly to the people on a number of occasions,” Birdsell said. Clinton would like to play up her positives and not the vulnerabilities, he said, adding the final debate is the last known opportunity for the nominees to make a big difference.
K-3810
OFFICE OF THE
AKUK EKHUNG DIMAPUR DIMAPUR : NAGALAND.
Christian Higher Secondary School, Dimapur
Akuk Ekhung Dimapur Nzontsu Ekhum ji tsungon 22th October 2016 lo Dimapur Lotha Hoho Ki na 10:00 AM, lo khiala. Hoji tsukona Akuk kyon Dimapur lo kvuta vanchosana topvu na randanta vantasi myanta oro thetala to ntsitala.
This is to inform all the HSLC/HSSLC Private/ Repeater Candidates to report to the Examination Centre to fill up the Individual Application Form (IAF) Examination for 2017 from 18 Oct. 2016 to 8 Nov. 2016 (9:00 to 12:00)
Samuel General Secretary Akuk Ekhung Dimapur.
S. Moatemsu Walling Principal Christian Hr. Sec. School
NTSITA YI
DP-8191
DC-2299
The Forest Department, Wokha would like to express our heartiest congratulations and appreciation to Ms. N. Nyamok Konyak (Forester Grade-I), daughter of Late Ngumpal Konyak for securing the post of E.A.C during the recent NPSC Examination 2015. The department wishes her all success in her future endeavour. DC-2322
Forest Department Wokha : Nagaland
APPRECIATION
The Old Aree Baptist Church conveys and extend its heartiest congratulations and felicitates the following members for their success. 1. Miss. Glory Ngullie, D/o. Mr. Aris Ngullie & Mrs. Toribeni Ngullie for securing the Top 1 in MA Economics (NU). 2. Miss. Renchilo Kikon, D/o. Mr. Nlumo Kikon and Mrs. Nchumbeni Kikon for securing the Top 1 position in M. Com (NU). The OABC further pray and wishes them ‘All the Best’ in their future endeavours. God Bless. W. Kikon, Pastor DC-2325
OFFICE OF THE MANGMETONG STUDENTS’ UNION
DC-2321
DP-8217
FELICITATION
The Mangmetong Students’ Union with great exaltation applauds the following individuals for their achievements in different spheres. 1. Miss. Aoienla Pongen, daughter of Lt. Wathy Pongen for achieving Block Project Manager, Young Professional Rajathan Grameen Ajeevika Vikahs Parishad, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Rajasthan. 2. Miss. Chubamenla Jamir, daughter of S. Lanu Jamir & Mrs. I. Alila Lkr for achieving Gold medal in M.Sc. (Physics) from Nagaland University. 3. Miss. Putusenla Imchen, daughter of Temendangba Imchen for securing 3rd rank in M.Sc (Chemistry) from Nagaland University, Lumami 4. Miss. Ajungla Jamir, daughter of Mr. Imtimeren Jamir for securing 9th rank in M.Sc (Zoology) from Nagaland University, Lumami. The Union further wishes the very best for your future endeavours and may the almighty Lord bless you all. Sd/Sd/(Ayimmeri) (Moasenla Imchen) President MSU General Secretary MSU