Pakistan must stop supporting terrorism for talks to succeed: Farooq Abdullah

June 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 4 (ANI): Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah has asked Pakistan to stop supporting anti-India militant groups if it wants the Indo-Pak dialogue to succeed.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday, Abdullah said: “Controlling terrorist activities by Pakistan would benefit both countries immensely, as militant infiltration is on the rise since the beginning of the year.

“The biggest thing is to stop terrorism first. Only then will any talk with India become successful. Unless terrorism is stopped, all talks will be ineffective,” he added.

He also expressed happiness over the resolution of the Baglihar Dam dispute.

“There was a lot of commotion regarding the Baglihar issue which has been resolved now. They have agreed to Uri project (River projects). The other project, which we are making at Kargil, they have accepted that as well. Gradually, things will become better,” he said.

Members of India- Pakistan Permanent Indus Water Commission recently held talks on issues relating to the distribution of Indus waters, as Pakistan had earlier raised objections to India”s Baglihar and other water storage projects. (ANI)

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China stymied eight terror threats before Beijing Olympics

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 19 (ANI): China averted as many as eight terror attacks before its spectacularly executed Beijing Olympics got underway.

The potential terrorist attacks involved subway and airport bombings and bioterrorist attacks on Olympic venues during the five months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Beijing Evening News reported Tuesday.

The information was given in a book released by the World Health Organization and mentioned how China had set up a sound anti-terrorism medical-aid system as well as detection techniques for terrorism sources before the Beijing Games started, the China Daily reports. (ANI)

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Home ministers to set stage for foreign minister talks: Qureshi

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 11 (IANS) The home ministers of India and Pakistan will meet here next month on the sidelines of the SAARC meet to lay the groundwork for talks between the foreign ministers of the two countries July 15, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Tuesday.

Chidambaram will visit Islamabad June 26 for the meeting of the home ministers of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Qureshi said after a nearly 30-minute telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna that ‘all outstanding issues of mutual concern’ will be discussed when the foreign ministers meet in Islamabad July 15.

Before that, the home ministers of the two countries will hold talks on the sidelines of the SAARC home ministers’ meeting to lay the groundwork for the foreign ministers-level talks.

‘We will not allow terrorism to impede the peace process,’ Qureshi said, adding that both sides should try to make the peace process irreversible.

During the telephonic conversation, Qureshi invited Krishna to visit Islamabad for talks July 15.

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Militants gun down four policemen in NWFP

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Peshawar, May 8 (ANI): At least four policemen were killed and one seriously injured in a militant attack on a checkpost in Ghazi Kot town of North West Frontier Province’
(NWFP) Mansehra District.

According to senior officials, militants opened fire on policemen, who had taken refuge inside the checkpost to protect themselves from heavy rains, killing four security officials on the spot.

“Four policemen were killed on the spot, while the injured policeman is still unconscious,” The Daily Times quoted a senior police official, Zulfiqar Jadoon, as saying.

“This is a clear act of terrorism,” Jadoon added.

The militants, who had arrived in a car, fled the scene soon after the attack.

Mansehra is considered to be a relatively peaceful district in the highly disturbed NWFP. This was probably the second big terror strike in the region since March when armed militants had killed six officials during a raid on a US charity office.

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Shahzad’s links to Pak terrorists will bring bad name to country, admits ‘worried’ Malik

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 6 (ANI): Admitting that Faisal Shahzad’s statement that he received bomb-making training in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal region of Wazirstan would a bring a bad name to the country, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said he is worried about he repercussions of the failed New York bombing plot.

Describing the incident as ‘unfortunate’, Malik said the terror plot was part of a campaign being run against Pakistan by the extremists.

“This unfortunate incident, having been done under the name (of Pakistan) or by a Pakistani will definitely bring a bad name to Pakistan, for which we are worried,” BBC quoted Malik, as saying.

Malik, however, said that since Shahzad was a naturalised US citizen, it was the responsibility of America to investigate the case.

Earlier, Malik had said that Islamabad is yet to receive any formal request from Washington to probe the case.

He termed the bombing plot as a ‘conspiracy against Pakistan’, but added that the government would take stern action against all those involved in the terror plot.

“Pakistan would extend its full support to the US authorities in probing the matter. No one would be allowed to use Pakistan’s territory for any act of terrorism,” he added. (ANI)

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No arrests made in Pak over botched Times Square bombing plot: Malik

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 6 (ANI): Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has contradicted media reports over arrests being made in the country in connection with the foiled New York’ Times Square bombing plot.

Talking to reporters before leaving for Beijing, Malik clarified that none of the friends or relatives of Faisal Shehzad, who has been accused of masterminding the bomb attack, have been arrested in Pakistan.

Malik said Islamabad is yet to receive any formal request from Washington to probe the case, The Nation reports.

He termed the bombing plot as a ‘conspiracy against Pakistan’, but added that the government would take stern action against all those involved in the terror plot.

“Pakistan would extend its full support to the US authorities in probing the matter. No one would be allowed to use Pakistan’s territory for any act of terrorism,” Malik said. (ANI)

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Muslim women stage a march against terrorism in Agra

April 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Agra, Apr 19 (ANI): Hundreds of Muslim women took to streets in Agra on Sunday against the terror menace.

The rally was a part of the three-day National Women Muslim Conference, which concluded at Mathur Vaishya Bhavan in Agra.

carrying banners and placards with messages against terrorism, the participant said that the aim of this march is to create awareness among women especially Muslim women against the terror menace.

Shahzad Khan, organiser of the event, said that this was a three-day campaign to create awareness among the educationally backward sections of the society.

“This campaign was to create awareness among the Muslims who are educationally backward. National Muslim Front has begun this door-to-door campaign today along with Muslim women to guide children towards education,” said Khan. (ANI)

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Female suicide bomber kills one in Russian Caucasus

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A suicide bomber blew herself up on Friday after approaching a group of police officers in Russia’s restive North Caucasus region of Ingushetia, killing one, officials said.

The attack came after a wave of bombings, including strikes on the Moscow metro, killed more than 50 Russians and raised fears the women were part of a larger brigade of so-called Black Widow suicide bombers.

The young woman Friday targeted police officers carrying out a special operation to detain alleged militants on the outskirts of Ingushetia’s main city of Nazran, officials said.

“A young woman walked up to them. She shot our officers who were standing by the police barrier tape, wounding one. After that, her suicide belt exploded,” a police source told AFP.

The officer later died in hospital, a police spokeswoman said. The special operation was still ongoing in the district.

The new attacks come amid fears that the suicide bombings are all connected to one Islamist brigade of female suicide bombers that is prepared to carry out further strikes.

The women are known as Black Widow bombers because they have lost male relatives in clashes between militants and federal forces.

Ingushetia is a predominantly Muslim province of Russia’s North Caucasus which neighbours war-torn Chechnya and has been troubled in recent years by a violent Islamist insurgency.

Russian authorities have sought to tighten security and boost efforts to hunt down insurgents since a pair of suicide bombers attacked the Moscow metro last week, killing 40 people.

That was followed by suicide bombings in Dagestan that killed 12 people, including a local police chief.

The so-called “Caucasus Emirate,” an Islamist group led by Chechen rebel warlord Doku Umarov, has claimed responsibility for the metro attacks.

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Qatari diplomat released after shoe bomb scare

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A Qatari diplomat has been released from custody in the US after an incident on a flight from Washington to Denver yesterday.

Two F-16 jets were scrambled to intercept the United Airlines plane and escort it to land safely at Denver airport.

Investigators were told Mohammed al-Madadi had been found smoking in the plane’s toilet and made a joke that he had been trying to light his shoes – an apparent reference to “shoe bomber” Richard Reid.

Qatar’s ambassador says the incident was a “mistake”.

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Australia becoming ‘breeding ground’ for Tamil rebels

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Sri Lankan government says Australia could become a breeding ground for Tamil separatism if more Tamil asylum seekers are allowed into the country.

Sri Lankan foreign affairs minister Rohitha Bogollagama says Tamil separatists have no need to leave Sri Lanka and will “spoil” Australian soil.

He says the asylum seekers could turn Australia into a breeding ground for separatism.

“This is a breeding ground if you are providing the passage through asylum-seeking avenues,” he said.

“Therefore we should discourage, and I call on the Australian Government not to recognise, the asylum seekers under any circumstances from Sri Lanka.

“I don’t want Australian soil to be once again spoiled with the type of asylum seekers who are seeking [asylum] for political purposes,” he said.

Mr Bogollagama has made the remarks as Sri Lankans prepare to go to the polls later today in the country’s general elections.

The ruling alliance is expected to win a large majority.

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India in shock after Maoist jungle massacre

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Indian government has expressed its shock after more than 75 police were killed in an attack by Maoist rebels, the deadliest such attack on security forces.

Almost an entire company of paramilitary police was wiped out after hundreds of rebels opened fire on the officers on a jungle road in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Reinforcements sent in to retrieve the dead and injured were ambushed by landmines and automatic gunfire.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh called the attack “barbaric”.

Home affairs minister P Chidambaram said he was deeply shocked by the violence and said the police operation went very wrong.

The government has urged the rebels to surrender their weapons and hold peace talks, but the Maoists say they will not stop their campaign until the government is overthrown.

The Indian government has ruled out using military aircraft to hunt down the rebels.

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Russia names second metro bomber

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Russian investigators have formally identified the second Moscow metro suicide bomber as a woman in her late 20s from the volatile, mainly Muslim province of Dagestan, officials said.

“Mariam Sharipova, born in 1982 … set off an explosive device at the Lubyanka metro station,” the investigative committee of the prosecutor general’s office said in a statement.

The announcement was issued four days after officials confirmed the identity of the other attacker in the March 29 double suicide bombing, naming her as 17-year-old Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova.

The dual morning rush hour attacks on the Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations, around 40 minutes apart, left 40 people dead and more than 80 injured and marked the deadliest violence in the Russian capital since 2004.

The investigative committee said Sharipova was a native of the Dagestani village of Balakhani.

A spokesman for the FSB security service said Sharipova was the wife of Magomedali Vagapov, an Islamist fighter whose whereabouts are unknown but who is believed to be alive and active.

Rasul Magomedov, also a resident of Balakhani, told the opposition daily Novaya Gazeta in an interview published Friday that Sharipova was his daughter. He specified her age as 28.

“My wife and I immediately recognised our daughter” after photographs of the severed heads of the two suicide bombers were published in Russian media, Mr Magomedov told the paper.

Abdurakhmanova was also from Dagestan and the widow of an Islamist militant who officials said had been killed by security forces on December 31.

The Islamist group Emirate of the Caucasus, which is waging an insurgency to impose an Islamic state based on sharia law in Russia’s North Caucasus region, claimed responsibility for the metro attacks.

Mr Magomedov told Novaya Gazeta that Sharipova graduated with honours from a local university in 2005 and since 2006 had taught computer science in Dagestan.

Mr Magomedov told another Russian newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, that his family, including Sharipova’s two brothers, had been under pressure from the authorities for several years.

His eldest son, Anvar, was once found abandoned in the woods after having been tortured for hours after he was detained by police, Mr Magomedov told the paper.

His younger son, Ilyas, was detained in a special operation and was given a nine-month jail sentence, Komsomolskaya Pravda said.

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Krishna urges China to help India in fight against terrorism

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Beijing, Apr 6 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today urged China to come forward to help India in combating terrorism

Addressing intellectuals here, Krishna said China should think seriously on the issue of terrorism, as this menace is not confined to any particular country or a region and can spread anytime or anywhere Krishna said he has taken up this issue at the United Nations and has asked China to join this bandwagon.

He said that in view of the multi-dimensional threats posed by terrorism, it has become necessary to step up the fight against the menace under the United Nations umbrella.

Referring to the recent terrorist attacks, including the one in Pune Maharashtra, Krishna said terrorism was no more confined to a particular country or region, and hence there was a need to guard against “imported” terrorism.

“Terrorism has spread to very many countries, which have not heard of terror, (in the past). Hence, it is necessary for every country to guard itself against terrorism, which emanates from within, and terrorism which is imported from outside,” he said.

Later speaking Indian businessmen based in China, Krishna said last year had been year of recession and the time has come that we should recover from it through our innovative efforts and ideas.

“The last few years have been good for Indo-China trade, as before last year, trade between India and China was close to 50 billion dollars,” he added.

He advised businessmen to work on the import or export of those items or commodities that can give better returns.

To strengthen relations further and on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of Indo-China diplomatic relations, the Indian Government is going to organize various cultural events throughout China. The main idea is to penetrate the minds of Chinese through cultural exchange. By Lokendra Singh(ANI)

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Deadly blasts rock Baghdad

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

At least 35 people have been killed after six bombs rocked the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

It is the second time the capital has come under attack in three days, fuelling fears insurgents are making a return due to a political impasse.

The explosions destroyed residential buildings in mostly Shiite neighbourhoods, with Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta saying four of the bombs detonated inside the buildings.

Ambulance sirens were heard across the city as emergency service workers rushed to the scenes of the blasts, and a large plume of smoke rose from near a bombed restaurant in the neighbourhood of Allawi, central Baghdad.

Dozens of passers-by gathered at the site of the blast, close to a secondary school, to sort through the rubble in a bid to rescue survivors as military helicopters flew overhead.

Along with the Allawi blast, which destroyed two buildings, two bombs struck Shurta Rabiyah, west Baghdad, while one detonated in Chikouk, which houses a camp for internally-displaced persons in the north of the capital.

Bombs also hit Shuala, north Baghdad, and Al-Amil in the south.

The latest explosions come after three suicide vehicle bombings minutes apart targeting regional and European embassies killed 30 people and wounded more than 200 on Sunday.

Gunmen also attacked a village south of Baghdad and killed 24 people on Friday.

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Karzai ‘threatens to join Taliban’

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The United States and Afghan president Hamid Karzai traded fresh recriminations after failing to put a lid on a row over election fraud that is tearing at their uneasy alliance.

Mr Karzai reignited the controversy in a reported meeting with Afghan politicians and refused to back down from claims during an interview with the BBC that foreigners helped rig the Afghan elections.

“The remarks are troubling and the substance of the remarks is simply not true,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said following the latest of Mr Karzai’s outbursts, which came a week after president Barack Obama’s surprise visit to Kabul.

Another senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr Obama’s administration was struggling to understand the motivation behind Mr Karzai’s recent comments.

“Up to a point, we understand that there are things that leaders will say in their own countries for domestic consumption,” the official said.

But as for Mr Karzai’s latest remarks, “it was a head-scratcher”, the official said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Mr Karzai had told politicians the US was interfering with Afghan affairs and that the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance movement if it did not stop.

The paper said that in the private meeting, the Afghan president even suggested he could join the Taliban himself if parliament did not support his efforts to take control of the country’s election commission.

The Afghan leader meanwhile told BBC television in an interview that his claims last week of meddling and intimidation by overseas embassies and organisations in the disputed vote were “all true”.

“That is exactly what happened,” he said, dismissing suggestions that already strained diplomatic relations between his government and the international community would be affected.

“This should not affect trust,” he said in the strategic southern city of Kandahar, where he has spent two days shoring up support from local tribal leaders before an expected US-NATO push against the Taliban in coming months.

Mr Gibbs said Mr Karzai’s defiance would not yet cause the US to cancel his visit to the White House next month and would not effect funding requests pending in congress for the US Afghan war effort.

“The remarks are genuinely troubling,” Mr Gibbs said. “The substance of the remarks, as have been looked into by many, are obviously not true.”

In his meeting with lawmakers, Mr Karzai criticised those rejecting his efforts to wrest control of the country’s Electoral Complaints Commission from the United Nations.

Five of the legislators gathered at the presidential palace told the Wall Street Journal that the Taliban’s revolt would “change to resistance” if the US and its allies kept dictating how its government should run.

Mr Karzai was declared the reelected president in November by his own officials after his challenger Abdullah Abdullah abandoned a run-off.

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Taliban fighters launch assault on US consulate

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on the US consulate in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Three security guards and four militants died in the attack, which saw two suicide car bombs explode as heavily armed men wearing the uniforms of a government paramilitary force tried to break into the consulate.

The blasts were followed by heavy exchanges of fire between security forces and the militants, who were armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

Several nearby buildings in the heavily-fortified neighbourhood were destroyed. No US casualties were reported.

The Taliban said the attack was in retaliation for strikes by US drones in Pakistan’s tribal belt.

Peshawar itself has a very high level of security because it has been hit by so many attacks, particularly towards the end of last year, and the consulate is heavily fortified.

Earlier, at least 43 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a political rally in Lower Dir district in north-western Pakistan.

The rally was organised by the largely secular Awami National Party which strongly opposes the Taliban and other Islamist militants.

Pakistani police believe the terrorist attacks were coordinated.

These are the most deadly attacks this year and given the heavy loss of life towards the end of 2009, there are fears the level of violence is increasing yet again.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says she is outraged and deeply saddened by the attack on the consulate.

She says the Pakistani people have suffered grievous losses, but that the US stands with them in the face of intimidation.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, has rejected suggestions his country is not doing enough to stop suicide bombings.

“If somebody is determined to kill and get killed in the process, it’s very limited what you can do,” he said.

“We have deployed 150,000 troops on the western border.

“We are doing our utmost, but this is a challenge that Pakistan cannot face alone.”

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Amedisys Acquires Alabama Hospice Agency

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

BATON ROUGE, La.–(Business Wire)–
Amedisys, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMED), one of America’s leading home health and hospice
companies, today announced that it has acquired a hospice agency located in
Killen, Alabama, a Certificate of Need state, from Bluewater Healthcare Inc. The
agency covers seven counties in northwest Alabama, six which are new to
Amedisys. Bluewater had annualized revenue of $900,000 in 2009. The acquisition
is not expected to add materially to Amedisys earnings in 2010.

“We welcome the new employees from Bluewater into the Amedisys family and look
forward to serving the hospice needs of the patients and families in northwest
Alabama,” stated William F. Borne, Chief Executive Officer of Amedisys, Inc. “We
believe that this acquisition provides a good platform for the continued
expansion of our hospice services as we strive to become the largest hospice
provider in the U.S.”

Amedisys, Inc. is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its common stock
trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “AMED.”

This press release includes statements that may constitute “forward-looking”
statements, usually containing the words “believe,” “estimate,” “project,”
“expect,” “anticipate” or similar expressions.Forward-looking statements
inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from the forward-looking statements.Many of the factors that
could cause or contribute to such differences are described in the Company`s
periodic reports and registrations statements filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, and include, but are not limited to the following: general
economic and business conditions, changes in or failure to comply with existing
regulations or the inability to comply with new government regulations on a
timely basis, changes in Medicare and other medical reimbursement levels,
ability to complete acquisitions announced from time to time, and any financing
related thereto, the ability to meet debt service requirements and to comply
with covenants in debt agreements, adverse changes in federal and state laws
relating to the health care industry, demographic changes, availability and
terms of capital, ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, ongoing
development and success of new start-ups, ability to successfully integrate
newly acquired agencies, changes in estimates and judgments associated with
critical accounting policies, business disruption due to natural disasters or
acts of terrorism, and various other matters, many of which are beyond
management`s control. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company
undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes
after the date of this release.

Our company website address is www.amedisys.com. We use our website as a channel
of distribution for important company information. Important information,
including press releases, analyst presentations and financial information
regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible on the “Investor
Relations” subpage of our website, which is accessible by clicking on the tab
labeled “Investors” on our website home page.We will also use our website to
expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the Company in
advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) disclosing the same information.In
addition, we make available on the Investor Relations subpage of our website
(under the link “SEC filings”) free of charge our annual reports on Form 10-K,
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, ownership reports
on Forms 3, 4 and 5 and any amendments to those reports as soon as practicable
after we electronically file such reports with the SEC. Further, copies of our
Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws, our Code of Ethical Business Conduct
and the charters for the Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance
Committees of our Board are also available on the Investor Relations subpage of
our website (under the link “Corporate Governance”).

Additional information on the Company can be found at: www.amedisys.com.

Amedisys, Inc.
Kevin B. LeBlanc, 225-292-2031
Director of Investor Relations
kleblanc@amedisys.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Parents identify second Moscow attacker: report

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A young computer science student has been identified by her parents from a photograph of one of two suicide bombers who killed 40 people on the Moscow metro, a Russian newspaper has reported.

The other woman behind the March 29 attacks has already been identified as the 17-year-old widow of an Islamist militant from the troubled Dagestan region in the North Caucasus.

Rassoul Magomedov, whose family is also from Dagestan, recognised his 28-year-old daughter from a photograph published on the internet and sent to him by friends via his mobile phone, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.

“My wife and I immediately recognised our daughter Mariam,” he said.

Russian prosecutors confirmed Friday that teenager Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova had blown herself up at the Park Kultury metro station, named after Moscow’s iconic Gorky Park.

They said investigators were trying to identify the second woman, who blew herself up at the Lubyanka station just below the headquarters of Russia’s FSB security service, the successor to the Soviet KGB.

Mr Magomedov said his wife had seen their daughter for the last time a day before the attacks when she went with her to a market in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.

Mariam had told her mother that she was going to visit a friend before returning home, the father said. The couple had not heard from her again, he said.

In the internet photograph, the young woman has the same red scarf that she was wearing when her mother last saw her, the father said.

Mariam lived with her parents in the village of Balakhani and since 2006 had been studying computer science in Dagestan, he said, adding he had never noticed her express extremist views or show unusual behaviour.

Two days after the attacks in Moscow, two suicide bombings in the town of Kizylar in Dagestan killed 12 people including nine police.

On Sunday a bomb blast derailed a goods train in Dagestan without causing casualties.

Militants have stepped up attacks in recent months throughout Russia’s Caucasus region, where Islamist fighters have been battling pro-Kremlin local authorities and Russian security forces in a sporadic insurgency.

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Karzai blasted by frightened elders

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been criticised by tribal leaders during a visit to the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

Tribal elders shouted as they accused the president of failing to do enough to improve security and stop corruption.

Some said they were too afraid to speak freely because of threats from the Taliban.

Coalition and Afghan forces are preparing for a major operation against insurgents in Kandahar.

But Mr Karzai promised the crowd that tribal elders would be consulted before the offensive escalates.

The southern city is regarded as a Taliban stronghold and the key to defeating the insurgency.

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Landmine kills Indian police

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A landmine attack by suspected Maoist rebels in India has killed 10 police officers and injured another 15.

The powerful blast ripped through a bus carrying police officers in the eastern state of Orissa.

The attack happened in the Koraput district, more than 500 kilometres south-west of the state capital Bubaneshwar.

Troops searched the area but found no sign of the rebels responsible for the explosion.

Maoist violence has increased in the past month in response to an offensive by police and paramilitary units.

Security forces are now on alert amid concerns the rebels may try to target a large Indian city.

Home affairs minister P Chidambaram says the Maoists are “cowards”.

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