Security forces have been put on high alert across the Jammu region, particularly on the highway, after four heavily armed militants were gunned down on Wednesday, officials said.
The counter infiltration grid has been put on high alert and security has been tightened in the region’s border areas.
Four terrorists, travelling in a truck to Kashmir after infiltrating from Pakistan, were killed in a “chance encounter” with security forces here early on Wednesday morning. Seven AK assault rifles, one M4 rifle, three pistols and a large quantity of ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists.
Tight security arrangements have been put in place and vehicles are being checked to ensure fool-proof security in the Jammu and Kashmir winter capital, they said.
Security checkpoints on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway have increased vigilance and vehicles, particularly trucks, are being checked, they said.
All entry points to Jammu from the border areas have been put on vigil and vehicles entering the city are being thoroughly checked.
Sanjha Morcha & Indo-Can veterans Association observing 7th Day of Shaheedi Saptah
When the war began in Feb 2022, Ukraine was the underdog. Even ally NATO anticipated an early knockout. Still standing on its feet after 10 Months is itself, in a sense victory for Ukraine……….Realistically, however, is this winning really winning? With the ground offensives reduced to a tired slugfest, are they now simply wasting lives?
The scenery in and around towns like Bakhmut is no different to the trench warfare of France in World War I, a century ago. Russians are avoiding close combat and using massed artillery to bleed Ukraine.
“We want to shoot the enemy, but we don’t see him. An infantryman has nothing to do in an artillery war other than dig—and run.” – A Ukrainian Soldier.
The western world, honestly speaking hasn’t done anything exemplary to boost Ukraine’s military capability; their empty pretentiousness raises a question: How far is Ukraine from becoming a NATO member?
Answer: Nowhere near. As also for its 2014 Maidan uprising dream of becoming part of European Union (EU).
But why?
Answer: NATO and EU is divided:
Germany, in particular, regards Ukrainian membership of NATO dangerous in light of Russian opposition. Others fear that it would escalate the conflict with Russia, and, Europe would have to face the brunt, NATO may then run the risk of imploding.
Hungary, is upset with Ukraine about its oppressive policy towards Hungarian minority. EU politicians feel Hungary is blackmailing EU due to its dependence on Russian gas.
Any new member has to convince and lobby all 30 NATO members that it is worthy of joining the club……… all 30 unanimous. A Hungary “no” vote has the power to cancel the “yes” vote of 29; no half measures or exceptions.
Despite the courageous, resolute and dauntless voices, Ukraine’s National Power, the trinity of: Military, Economics, and Population is on the wane.
Military: Ukraine’s military hardware is mostly borrowed. They do not have soldiers to spare for training on them to make any difference. Additionally, volunteers who have joined the war do not have formal military training. Nationalism notwithstanding, most are of not much use on the battlefield which requires years of rigorous training; these brave lads are just cannon fodder in the ongoing conflict as are Russian conscripts.
Economically, Ukraine is just surviving. Black Sea blockade of Ukraine’s ports—Mariupol, Odesa, Kherson, and others—by Russia’s navy is preventing import of fuels and the export of grains. Ukraine loses $170 million every day it is cut off from access to the sea and the national export capacity had been more than halved. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Population: There are over six million refugees, mostly women and children. All may not want to come back to the poorest nation of Europe now further devastated by war; most will be waiting for their husbands and fathers to join them. The European hosts themselves experiencing an economic slowdown may not be too keen to keep them for too long.
Honestly speaking, Ukraine is already seriously and dangerously weakened. Notably, amongst Russia, NATO and Ukraine, all the damage is happening only on the towns and villages of Ukraine.
The western world besides being cheer leaders, now need to broker a PEACE and help Ukraine HEAL.
Days after the 1971 Indo-Pak War had ended, the Brachil Pass in Kargil and the nearby mountain features, including Wali and Malik, presented a gory sight. As the arena of many battles, these mountain features had witnessed the dance of death. Bodies of Pakistani soldiers strewn on bridle paths, in rocky crevices and on the slopes awaited an honourable repatriation.
My battalion, 18 Punjab, had emerged victorious after facing incredible hardships in Kargil. We had vanquished two foes — the Pakistanis and the extreme winter. The misty conditions had presented opportunities to the Pakistanis to spring surprises by stealthily launching counterattacks.
The ceasefire came into effect on December 17. The most severe winter, ‘chillai kalan’— 40-day period of the harshest winter of Kashmir — had set in. The snow fell intermittently.
Once we had cremated our brave-hearts, a suitable opportunity to repatriate the bodies of the Pakistani soldiers was awaited. On December 26, amidst the cacophony of shouts that alerted our listening posts, some Pakistani troops were observed downslope well within their territory, waving white flags signifying truce.
Being the Battalion Intelligence Officer, I was rushed to attend to this matter. Accompanied by a few armed personnel and having run for some distance, I halted, realising that the benumbing chill of the breezy, rarefied atmosphere of the high-altitude terrain was rendering us breathless and this may hamper our conversational ability. The others also slowed down their pace.
What greeted us were ear-to-ear grins of the chastened enemy soldiers. It seemed that their belligerence had vanished. A hefty figure saluted me. I returned his salute as smartly as I could in that freezing chill. And before we could question them, I was perplexed to notice the area within their territory. It was littered with used bandages and field dressings. Rocky patches still revealed bloodstains, indicating heavy casualties suffered by the Pakistanis. Breaking my reverie, the leader of the troops remarked, ‘Jenab, aap ki fauj ke afsar log mushkil mein apne faujion ke saath chalte hain (Sir, officers of your Army are always with their soldiers during difficult situations).’ I felt proud, and I still do, because that is the ethos of the Indian Army.
Pak security situation deteriorates as it seeks to revive economy
The security situation in Pakistan has suddenly plunged in the last few weeks leading to the US, followed by the UK, issuing travel advisories about an imminent terrorist attack in Islamabad.
The suicide bombing in Islamabad on December 23 missed its high value target but has shaken up the establishment as it was the first in the National Capital in nearly a decade.
But it is Balochistan which is at the vortex of the recent violence as some militant groups have merged and others have expanded their operations there. Bordering Afghanistan and Iran that have historically sheltered anti-Islamabad militant groups, Balochistan has been especially targeted by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after its cease fire with the Pakistan Army ended last month.
The TTP also received shadowy backing from the Taliban in Afghanistan which had freed all their imprisoned militants after seizing power in Kabul in August last year. But other groups are like the brutal ISIS (Khorasan Province) and indigenous groups are also active, targeting either their ideological rivals or Chinese investments in Balochistan. ISIS (KP) has been responsible for several of the attacks including of 11 Shia Hazara coal miners.
The attacks, however, come at an inopportune time for Pakistan. After being taken off the FATF’s watch-list, it was hoping for investments from the West to balance its dependence on Beijing. International cricket teams, including from the West, had also started playing regularly in the country.
Pakistan also needs breathing space to sort out the squabbles in its mainstream parties. While the ruling alliance wants to continue, Imran Khan, whom they had dethroned as PM, is pressing for the General Election.
1. (Dec 14) Suicide attack on Pakistan army convoy in North Waziristan.
2. (Dec 14) Fire at Diesel depot, Gwadar, Balochistan
3. (Dec 19) TTP took 10 Counter Terrorism personnel hostage in Bannu, KP
4. (Dec 19) Blast in Khuzdar, Balochistan
5. (Dec 19) Suicide attack on Frontier Corps in Miranshah, North Waziristan.
6. (Dec 19) Attack on Wana police station, South Waziristan
7. (Dec 23) Suicide bombing in Islamabad
8. (Dec 25) Five soldiers killed during clearance operation, Kohlu district, Balochistan
9. (Dec 25) Soldier killed near Afghan border in Zhob district, Balochistan
No mandatory hairstyle, but women cadets at National Defence Academy go for crew cuts
New Delhi : Women cadets at the Khadakwasla-based National Defence Academy (NDA) have chosen to sport crisp military-style crew cuts like their male counterparts for ease of training and to better fit into the armed forces, even though it isn’t mandatory for them to do so, officers familiar with the matter said on Monday.
NDA began inducting women for the first time in July 2022, and 18 are now at the academy, which allows them to keep “choice-based short hair”.
“The female cadets have opted for the crew cut as it’s easy to maintain There’s also an element of ease of training. NDA rules allow them to keep choice-based short hair or tie it in a bun (for Sikh trainees),” said one of the officers cited above. NDA was a male preserve until the Supreme Court passed a landmark order and opened the doors of premier tri-services academy to women.
Their entry required the creation of new infrastructure, separate physical training standards, and other gender-specific changes at NDA. The training of the first batch of women at NDA is progressing well, officers said.
Other training academies in the country have their own rules for how women are required to wear their hair. At the Chennai-based Officers Training Academy, short hair is compulsory for all except Sikh cadets who are permitted to keep a bun, said a second officer cited above. Like NDA, the Air Force Academy at Dundigal near Hyderabad and the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala allow choice-based short hair or bun.
“Despite the option of choice-based short hair, most women trainees at different academies have their hair cut to strict military standards. When you are training long hours and have tight schedules, they feel it just works better,” the second officer added.
The second batch of women cadets is expected to begin their training at NDA in early January. Of the 19 women cadets who joined NDA earlier this year, only one quit training for personal reasons, Hindustan Times has learnt. The first batch will graduate in 2025, and move to other single-service academies for further training depending on the service they have chosen — army, air force, or navy.
Woman officers said the choice by the cadets made sense because of its practicality. “When you are training, you are always short of time. Female cadets opt for crew cuts for effective time management, and the hair also fits well in the beret,” said Lieutenant Colonel Anu Randhawa, who retired last year after putting in 20 years in the army.
Three decades after the army commissioned its first batch of women officers in the short-service stream, the armed forces have come a long way and are now offering them a raft of opportunities that have given them new hard-earned identities, empowered them and helped bridge the gender gap significantly in a traditionally male-dominated field.
Women in uniform are now being assigned central roles on a par with their male counterparts — they are flying fighter planes, serving on board warships, being inducted in the personnel below officer (PBOR) cadre, and are eligible for permanent commission.
While the government and the armed forces have taken steps to promote gender-neutrality in the military system, the courts have also played an important role in pushing inclusion.
The air force and navy have allowed women to join their special forces units, the Garud commando force and Marine Commandos, respectively, to promote gender equality within their ranks provided they meet the criteria for selection, as previously reported by HT.
Physiological, psychological and cultural factors were earlier cited to deny more military roles to women. However, one of the turning points came in 2015 when IAF decided to induct them into the fighter stream. To be sure, tanks and combat positions in infantry are still no-go zones for women.
Taiwan extends compulsory military service to 1 year
Taiwan will extend its compulsory military service from four months to a year starting in 2024, President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday, as the self-ruled island faces China’s military, diplomatic and trade pressure.
Taiwan, which split from the mainland in 1949 during a civil war, is claimed by China. The decades-old threat of invasion by China into the self-governed island has sharpened since China cut off communications with the island’s government after the 2016 election of Tsai, who is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party and seen by Beijing as pro-independence.
China’s People’s Liberation Army in particular has stepped up its military harassment of Taiwan, sending fighter planes and navy vessels toward Taiwan on a near-daily basis in recent years. In response, the island’s military actively tracks those movements, which often serves as training for its own military personnel.
The longer military service applies to men born after 2005, and will start Jan 1, 2024. Those born before 2005 will continue to serve four months, but under a revamped training curriculum aimed at strengthening the island’s reserves forces.
“No one wants war,” Tsai said. “This is true of Taiwan’s government and people, and the global community, but peace does not come from the sky, and Taiwan is at the front lines of the expansion of authoritarianism.” The plan sets Taiwan up for increasing its defence capabilities but what remains to be seen is how well the defence ministry will carry out the reforms, said Arthur Zhin-Sheng Wang, a defence expert at Taiwan’s Central Police University.
Taiwan’s current 4-month military conscription requirement was widely panned by the public as being too short and not providing the training that professional soldiers actually need. The government had slashed it down from a year to four months in 2017 as it was transitioning the army into an all-volunteer corps.
Of Taiwan’s 188,000-person military, 90% are volunteers and 10% are men doing their required four months of service.
A poll from the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation in December found that among Taiwanese adults, 73.2% said they would support a one-year military service. That support was across party lines, the survey found, spanning the Democratic Progressive Party and the more China-friendly Nationalist Party.
“This is one of the basic steps that should have been done a long time ago,” said Paul Huang, a research fellow at the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation. Huang said the implementation period in 2024, when Taiwan will elect a new president, meant that Tsai was “passing the buck” to her successor.
Among the youngest demographic group of 20-24, however, 37.2% said they opposed extending the military service, and only 35.6% said they would support an extension..
Beijing has often used military exercises to respond to moves it views as challenging its claims to sovereignty. In August, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, and China responded with the largest-scale military exercises it’s held in decades, because it saw Pelosi’s visit as an official diplomatic exchange.
Although the US is the island’s largest unofficial ally, the two governments technically do not have diplomatic relations, as Washington does not formally recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state. AP
Pakistani boat carrying arms, narcotics worth Rs 300 crore seized off Gujarat coast; 10 crew members held
A Pakistani boat with 10 crew members carrying arms, ammunition and 40 kg of narcotics worth Rs 300 crore was intercepted off the Gujarat coast in the early hours of Monday, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said.
Based on specific inputs shared by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, the Coast Guard deployed its fast patrol ship ‘ICGS Arinjay’ for patrolling in the area close to the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL) on the intervening night of December 25 and 26, the ICG said in a release.
In the early hours of the day, the Pakistani fishing boat ‘Al Soheli’ was observed moving suspiciously in Indian waters. On being challenged by the ICG ship, the boat started evasive manoeuvring and did not stop even after firing warning shots, it said.
The Coast Guard eventually managed to intercept and stop the boat.
As per the release, arms, ammunition and nearly 40 kg of narcotics worth Rs 300 crore were found on the boat. The 10 crew members and boat are being brought to Okha port for further investigation.
This is the seventh joint operation by the ICG and Gujarat ATS in the last 18 months, and the first apprehension wherein arms and ammunition along with drugs were recovered.
A total of 346 kg of heroin worth Rs 1,930 crore has been seized and 44 Pakistani and seven Iranian crew have been apprehended in the last 18 months, the release said.
Sanjha Morcha & Indo-Can veterans Association observing 6th Day of Shaheedi Saptah
In the name of history, “concocted narratives” were taught to infuse inferiority and there is a need to break free from the “narrow views” of the past to move forward, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, underlining that new India is correcting the mistakes of the bygone decades by restoring its long-lost legacy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an event held on the occasion of ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Monday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui
Speaking at the first ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ event, Modi paid tributes to Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, Guru Gobind Singh’s sons who laid down their lives while defending their faith.
“On one hand, there were forces of lakhs while on the other, there were just ‘Veer Sahibzaade’ who did not budge at all,” he said referring to the two martyred children of the Guru.
“Aurangzeb and his people wanted to convert the religion of Guru Gobind Singh’s children with the force of a sword and that is why he decided to kill them. Imagine that era when against the terror of Aurangzeb, against his plans to change India, Guru Gobind Singh stood like a mountain,” he said.
Modi said in the name of history, people were being taught versions that promoted an inferiority complex among them. To move forward in the ‘Amrit Kaal’ and to take India to the heights of success in the future, “We have to break free from narrow views of the past,” he added.
The prime minister said the new India is correcting the mistakes of the bygone decades by restoring its long-lost legacy.
“Every year, Veer Bal Diwas will remind everyone about the strength of our young generation,” he said..
He added that while the Mughals were backed by an army of millions, the Veer Sahibzades of the Guru had their courage.
“They did not bow down to the Mughals even though they were alone. This is when the Mughals walled them alive. Their bravery has been a source of inspiration for centuries,” he said.
Modi said, ‘Rastra Pratham’- country first, was the unshakable resolve of Guru Gobind Singh and corroborated the point by recounting the immense personal sacrifice of his family.
“This tradition of ‘nation first’ is a huge inspiration for us,” Modi stressed.
At the event, Modi also listened to ‘Shabad Kirtan’ recited by about 300 ‘Baal Kirtanis’.
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