By DPA,

Kabul : Afghan and coalition forces killed at least 24 Taliban militants in clashes and airstrike in eastern and southern parts of the country, officials said Sunday.

Twelve Taliban militants were killed in a US-led coalition airstrike in Sabari district of south-eastern province of Khost Saturday, Arsala Jamal, provincial governor said.

He said the combined forces targeted a compound where they had intelligence information that militants had gathered.

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,

Jaipur: The deadly virus directly affecting the sanctity of the Constitution, rule of law and fundamental rights of the accused is fast spreading as district bar associations, one after another, are denying legal services to and, in some cases, banning lawyers from representing Muslim terrorism suspects.

By IANS,

New Delhi : The Supreme Court has upheld that no bail will be given to those repeatedly committing offences under Maharashtra's anti-terror law, the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The apex court also upheld the constitutional validity of intercepting telephonic talks and using the intercepts as evidence in court.

However, the apex court ruled that a person out on bail in a criminal case under another penal law cannot be denied bail for an offence under the Maharashtra special law.

By IANS,

Lucknow : A Hindu priest shot a fellow priest in the Balia district in Uttar Pradesh, the police said Sunday.

The deceased, Kedar Sahni, went to visit the 'Udasin Panchayati Akhada' (a renowned Hindu organization of the Naga sect) Saturday in Balia district, some 350 km from here, but owing to differences with its head, Mayank Das, Sahni was asked to leave the premises.

"However, when Sahni refused to leave, Das got into a scuffle with him and later shot him," Balia superintendent of police, Shridhar Pathak, told IANS.

By IANS,

Patna : A police official was arrested and suspended on charge of alleged molestation of a woman flood victim in Bihar's Araria district, police sources said Sunday.

K.K. Choudhary, a sub inspector of the Bihar police, was arrested and later suspended by Araria superintendent of police following a complaint lodged by some flood victims taking shelter on Bathnaha railway station, some 300 km from here.

Police sources said that Choudhary was reportedly drunk when he molested the woman late Saturday night.

By Xinhua,

Kabul : Police backed by the US-led coalition forces killed 15 Taliban militants during a mop-up operation Sunday in the eastern Afghan province of Khost and arrested two.

Abdul Qayum Bakizai, the province's deputy police chief, told reporters that the combined forces engaged the militants in Sabari district of Khost province early Sunday morning.

"Fifteen militants were killed and two were arrested on the spot," Bakizai said, adding "twenty rifles were also seized by the joint forces during the operation."

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.

By NNN-KUNA,

Cairo : The hijacked cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia called "Mansoura," was identified on Saturday as owned by Red Sea Navigation, an Egyptian company owned by an Egyptian and several Gulf Arab nationals, said spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Husam Zaki.

Zaki told reporters that the 25-manned vessel was carrying a shipment of cement on its way from Pakistan to Djibouti when hijacked by Somali pirates before making a stopover at a Somali port.

By IANS,

Jammu : One soldier was killed and two were wounded in a gun battle that was underway Sunday morning between security forces and suspected militants in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The gun battle is on," an army source told IANS.

The deceased soldier was identified as Surya Babu and the two injured were shifted to hospital.

According to army sources, the gun battle began when a troop patrol in the militancy infested belt of Banihal in Ramban, about 180 km north of Jammu, came under heavy fire. The security personnel then returned the fire.

By Imran Khan, IANS,

Patna : Worried over reports of criminals looting abandoned homes and robbing those fleeing the swirling flood waters of the Kosi in Bihar, the government has deployed hundreds of security personnel to provide protection.

By Xinhua,

Kabul : Afghan police on Sunday morning backed by the U.S.-led Coalition forces in a clean-up operation in eastern Afghan province of Khost eliminated 15 Taliban militants and arrested two others, said a police official.

Abudul Qayum Bakizai, the deputy provincial police chief told Xinhua that the combined forces engaged with Taliban militants in Sabari district of Khost province early Sunday morning.