Headline
Dozens Killed As India, Pakistan Exchange Fire
Published
4 months agoon
By
Editor
India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier on Wednesday after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival, in the worst violence between the nuclear-armed neighbours in two decades.
At least 38 deaths were reported, with Islamabad saying 26 civilians were killed by the Indian strikes and firing along the border, and New Delhi adding at least 12 dead from Pakistani shelling.
The fighting came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir.
The South Asian neighbours have fought multiple wars since they were carved out of the sub-continent at the end of British rule in 1947.
The latest violence exceeds India’s strikes in 2019, when New Delhi said it had hit “several militants” after a suicide bomber attacked an Indian security force convoy, killing 40.
The Indian army said “justice is served”, reporting nine “terrorist camps” had been destroyed, with New Delhi adding that its actions “have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature”.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to “shore up” his domestic popularity, but said Islamabad had struck back.
“The retaliation has already started”, Asif told AFP. “We won’t take long to settle the score.”
READ ALSO: How Man Who Couldn’t Get Admission In Nigeria Bags PhD ‘On Scholarship’ From Indian Varsity
Military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian jets had been downed across the border.
An Indian senior security source, who asked not to be named, said three of its fighter jets had crashed on home territory.
– ‘Shelling raining down’ –
In Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, troops cordoned off streets around a mosque Islamabad said was struck, with blast marks visible on the walls of several nearby homes.
“There were terrible sounds during the night, there was panic among everyone,” said Muhammad Salman, who lives close to the mosque.
“We are moving to a safer place… we are homeless now,” added 24-year-old Tariq Mir who was hit in the leg by shrapnel.
Pakistan said 21 civilians were killed in the strikes — including four children — while five were killed by gunfire at the border.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Rema Performs ‘Calm Down’ At Indian Billionaire Ambani’s Son Wedding
India’s army accused Pakistan of “indiscriminate” firing across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in Kashmir.
“We woke up as we heard the sound of firing”, Farooq, a man in the Indian town of Poonch, told the Press Trust of India news agency from his hospital bed, his head wrapped in a bandage.
“I saw shelling raining down.”
AFP reporters in the town saw bursts of flame as shells landed.
At least 12 perople were killed and 29 others wounded in Poonch, local official Azhar Majid told AFP.
India had been widely expected to respond militarily to the April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir by gunmen it said were from Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organisation.
The assault in the tourist hotspot of Pahalgam killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men.
New Delhi has blamed Islamabad for backing the attack, sparking a series of heated threats and diplomatic tit-for-tat measures.
Pakistan rejects the accusations and called for an independent probe and on Wednesday Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called India’s strikes a “heinous act of aggression” that would “not go unpunished”.
READ ALSO: Indian Hemp Dealers Kill Colleague Over N65, 000 Theft
The two sides have exchanged nightly gunfire since April 24 along the LoC, according to the Indian army. Pakistan also said it has held two missile tests.
– ‘Maximum restraint’ –
“Escalation between India and Pakistan has already reached a larger scale than during the last major crisis in 2019, with potentially dire consequences”, International Crisis Group analyst Praveen Donthi said.
Diplomats have piled pressure on leaders to step back.
“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan,” the spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington he hoped that the fighting “ends very quickly”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to top security officials in both New Delhi and Islamabad since the strikes and said he was monitoring the situation “closely”.
Concern poured in, including from China — a mutual neighbour of both nations — as well as from Britain, France and Russia, while airlines have cancelled, diverted or rerouted flights.
Rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.
India regularly blames its neighbour for backing armed groups fighting its forces in Kashmir, a charge that Islamabad denies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected in New Delhi on Wednesday, two days after a visit to Islamabad, as Tehran seeks to mediate.
AFP
You may like
India Test-fires Ballistic Missile, Capable Of Reaching All Of China
25-year-old Nigerian Arrested With N1.8bn Drugs In India Risks 20-year Jail
21 Dead, 10 Hospitalized After Drinking Alcohol
India-based Nigerian Arrested For Defrauding Company $13,361
Nigerian Arrested For Smuggling Cocaine In Pakistan
Pakistani Who Tried To Set Up Country’s First g@y Glub Sent To Mental Hospital
Headline
Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region
Published
16 hours agoon
August 25, 2025By
Editor
The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.
Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.
READ ALSO:Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians
Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.
After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.
READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks
Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.
Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.
Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia
Headline
US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi
Published
16 hours agoon
August 25, 2025By
Editor
A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.
The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.
The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.
“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.
READ ALSO:US Defends New Social Media Vetting For Nigerian Visa Applicants
“The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.
The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.
Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.
“One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.
READ ALSO:Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians
“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.
“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.
The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”
Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.
READ ALSO:Leader Of UK Christian Group Convicted Of Sexually Abusing Women
He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.
In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.
The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.
Headline
US Defends New Social Media Vetting For Nigerian Visa Applicants
Published
16 hours agoon
August 25, 2025By
Editor
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria on Monday reaffirmed that the safety and security of the United States remain the cornerstone of its visa application and decision-making process.
The US said this following its directive last week that mandates Nigerians to disclose all social media usernames and handles used over the past five years as part of the visa application process.
US Mission said Nigerian visa applicants must provide a comprehensive list of their social media profiles on the DS-160 visa application form, and warned that omitting the information could lead to visa denials.
READ ALSO:US Ambassador To Paris Slams Macron Over Rising Antisemitism
Reacting to the development, the Federal Government said US citizens intending to visit Nigeria will be subjected to the same measures.
“The best we can do is to carry out reciprocal action. Some people from the US might want to apply for a visa, and we will adopt the same measures,” spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said last Monday.
However, in a statement released Monday on X, the US Mission said prospective visa applicants undergo careful vetting to maintain a safe and welcoming environment in the US.
READ ALSO:US Suspends Work Visas For Nigerian, Foreign Truck Drivers
It said, “The safety and security of the United States is at the heart of every #USVisa application and decision process.
“That’s why prospective applicants undergo careful screening to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.”
The Mission added, “These measures help protect American citizens and communities while supporting secure and responsible travel.”
- Sports Commission Boss Commends Team Edo Athletes For Continental Triumph
- Enabulele Confident Of Team Edo’s Success At 2025 NYG
- PHOTOS: Brazil Welcomes Tinubu With Full Military Honours In Brasília
- Tinubu Signs Direct Flight, Other Agreements With Brazil
- Four Die, Three Injured In Delta Crash
- PDP Zones 2027 Presidential Ticket To South
- NAFDAC Warns Of Fake Postinor-2 In Circulation
- Brazil Names Squad Without Neymar, Vinicius For World Cup Qualifiers [FULL LIST]
- OPINION: Death Of World’s Nicest Judge
- OPINION: ‘ADC Is A Mere Distraction’
Trending
- Metro4 days ago
Customs Seize N905m Rolls Royce, Other Contrabands In Ogun
- News4 days ago
BREAKING: FG, State, Local Governments Share N2.001trn July Revenue
- Headline5 days ago
JUST IN: Uganda Reaches Agreement With US To Take Migrants
- News5 days ago
JUST IN: Okpebholo Nominates Another 5 Persons As Commissioner-designates
- News5 days ago
Buhari Was Angel In Human Flesh – Bisi Akande
- Metro4 days ago
Village Youths Capture Bandit During Midnight Attack In Benue
- Metro4 days ago
Lagos Skit Maker Hacked To Death By Suspected Cultists
- News4 days ago
Benue Bans Nursery Graduations, Customised Textbooks In Schools
- News5 days ago
179 ASPs Disqualified As Police Promote 952 Officers
- Metro3 days ago
Edo Govt Demolishes Building Owned by Suspected Cultist