News in Brief

Modi's 'proxy war' remark tailor-made for armed forces
Our Correspondent, New Delhi

The Indian print media yesterday editorially came out with mixed response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark that Pakistan has lost the strength to fight a conventional war against India but continues to engage in a proxy war of terrorism.
The print media was unanimous in suggesting that Modi's remarks were tailor-made for their audience — a gathering of army and air force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir close to the de facto border with Pakistan.

Morocco busts jihadist Iraq, Syria recruitment network
Afp, Rabat

The Moroccan interior ministry said yesterday it has dismantled, “in close collaboration with Spain”, a network responsible for recruiting jihadists and sending them to fight in Syria and Iraq for the Islamic State group.
Morocco says it has dismantled many jihadist cells -- including 18 from 2011 to 2013 -- since a series of suicide attacks that killed 33 people in Casablanca in May 2003.

Yemen Qaeda chief praises Iraq jihadists
Afp, Sanaa

An influential Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen has praised Islamic State jihadists for their "victories in Iraq" but without pledging allegiance to their self-proclaimed "caliph" or leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"I congratulate all the mujahedeen on different fronts and all Muslims for the victories won by our brothers in Iraq against the puppets (of Shiite Iran)," ideological leader Ibrahim al-Rubaish says in a video posted online.

US drones strike jihadist target in northern Iraq
Afp, Washington

The US air campaign in Iraq against jihadist militants from the so-called Islamic State continued Wednesday with a drone strike on an armed truck west of the Yazidi town of Sinjar, the military said.
US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, said the vehicle was close to an IS checkpoint and that all US aircraft had left the area safely after it was destroyed.

Life sentence to Phoolan Devi killer
Times Of India, Online

A Delhi court yesterday pronounced life sentence, and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, to lone convict Sher Singh Rana for the murder of bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi in 2001.
The prosecution had sought death penalty for Rana, calling him a threat to society.