Latest news with #militaryTensions
RNZ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Live: Donald Trump says Israel strikes on Iran were "very successful"
People gather outside a building that was hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran on 13 June, 2025. Photo: MEGHDAD MADADI / TASNIM NEWS / AFP An Israeli military official says Israel is prepared to continue striking Iran for days, after launching a sustained attack on "dozens" of Iranian nuclear and military facilities on Friday. Israel's air strikes killed Iran's three most senior military commanders and a number of its top nuclear scientists, and followed days of escalating tensions over Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons technology. A barrage of 100 drones launched by Iran towards Israel in response appeared to have largely been intercepted by Israeli air defences, however the IDF says it is anticipating further retaliatory strikes - possibly with ballistic missiles - over the coming days. Israeli authorities claim it acted out of self-defence, saying Iran is close to building a nuclear weapon. US President Donald Trump said he was aware of Israel's plans beforehand but has made it clear his country's military was not involved. He's also re-iterated his hopes that Iran will continue negotiations with the US this weekend on curbing its nuclear programme. - ABC/AFP
National Post
09-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
India suspends IPL cricket tournament for a week amid military tensions with Pakistan
India's biggest domestic cricket tournament was suspended for one week on Friday following the escalating military tensions with Pakistan. Article content The Indian Premier League, which features top players from around the world and attracts hundreds of millions of TV viewers, was halted with immediate effect, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said. Article content 'Further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in consultation with relevant authorities and stakeholders,' the BCCI said in a statement. Article content The decision comes after a night of artillery exchanges between Indian and Pakistani soldiers across their frontier in Kashmir, amid a growing military standoff that erupted following an attack on tourists in the India-controlled portion of the disputed region. Article content The IPL is the most popular cricket tournament in the world and runs between March and May. This year it has featured 65 international cricketers from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England and Afghanistan. Article content The 10-team competition still has 12 games to be played in the group stage before the knockout rounds. The final had been scheduled for May 25 in Kolkata. Article content The BCCI said the decision to suspend the tournament was made 'in the collective interest of all stakeholders.' Article content 'While cricket remains a national passion, there is nothing greater than the Nation and its sovereignty, integrity, and security of our country,' the BCCI statement said. Article content The suspension comes after the match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala in northern India was abandoned on Thursday evening when the power went out during a government mandated blackout. Punjab's next game against Mumbai Indians had already been moved from Dharamsala to Mumbai because of the closure of several airports in the Indian northwestern corridor. Article content Pakistan earlier said it was moving its own domestic T20 tournament to the United Arab Emirates because of the tensions. The PCB confirmed the relocation of the Pakistan Super League to Dubai in a statement released early Friday, citing growing concerns among overseas players and the need to prioritize their safety. Article content On Thursday, authorities said an Indian drone fell inside the complex of the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hours before the start of PSL game in which several foreign cricketers from New Zealand, Australia, West Indies, South Africa and England were due to compete. Article content
BreakingNews.ie
08-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
India and Pakistan trade fire and accusations amid fears of wider confrontation
India has fired attack drones into Pakistan, with one wounding four soldiers, the Pakistani military said. India, meanwhile, accused its neighbour of attempting its own attack, as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals. Advertisement India acknowledged that it targeted Pakistan's air defence system, and Islamabad said it shot down several of the drones. India said it 'neutralised' Pakistan's attempts to hit military targets. It was not possible to verify all of the claims. A resident stands next to a house damaged by Pakistani artillery shelling in Indian-controlled Kashmir (Junaid Bhat/AP) The back and forth came a day after Indian missiles struck several locations in Pakistan, killing 31 civilians, according to Pakistani officials. New Delhi said it was retaliating after gunmen killed 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir last month. India accused Pakistan of being behind the assault but Islamabad denies that. Advertisement The two sides have also traded heavy fire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir, and Pakistan claimed it killed scores of Indian soldiers. There was no confirmation from India. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to avenge the deaths in India's missile strikes, raising fears that the two countries could be headed towards another all-out conflict. Leaders from both nations face mounting public pressure to show strength and seek revenge, and the heated rhetoric and competing claims could be a response to that pressure. The relationship between the countries has been shaped by conflict and mutual suspicion, most notably in their dispute over Kashmir. They have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety. Advertisement With tensions high, India evacuated thousands of people from villages near the highly militarised frontier in the region. Tens of thousands of people slept in shelters overnight, officials and residents said on Thursday. About 2,000 villagers also fled their homes in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Rubble surrounds a building that was hit by an Indian missile attack, near Bahawalpur, a city in Pakistan's Punjab province (Asim Tanveer/AP) India fired several Israeli-made Harop drones at Pakistan overnight and into Thursday afternoon, according to Pakistani army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif. Pakistani forces shot down 25, he said. A civilian was killed and another wounded when debris from a downed drone fell in the province of Sindh. Advertisement One drone damaged a military site near the city of Lahore and wounded four soldiers, and another fell in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near the capital, according to Lt Gen Sharif. 'The armed forces are neutralising them as we speak,' Lt Gen Sharif said on the state-run Pakistan Television early Thursday afternoon. In Lahore, local police official Mohammad Rizwan said a drone was downed near Walton Airport, an airfield in a residential area about 16 miles from the border with India that also contains military installations. India's Defence Ministry said its armed forces 'targeted air defence radars and systems' in several places in Pakistan, including Lahore. Advertisement India, meanwhile, accused Pakistan of attempting 'to engage a number of military targets' with missiles and drones along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir and elsewhere along their border. 'The debris of these attacks in now being recovered from a number of locations,' it said. Pakistani investigators examine a cordoned off site, where Pakistan's air defence system shot down a suspected Indian drone (Fareed Khan/AP) Pakistani information minister Attaullah Tarar told parliament that so far Pakistan has not responded to India's missiles attacks, but there will be a response at an appropriate time. The Harop drone, produced by Israel's IAI, is one of several in India's inventory, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report. According to IAI, the Harop combines the capabilities of a drone and a missile and can operate at long ranges. The two sides have exchanged heavy fire over the past day. Mr Tarar, the Pakistani information minister, said that the country's armed forces have killed 40 to 50 Indian soldiers in the exchanges along the Line of Control. India has not commented on that claim. Earlier, the army said one Indian soldier was killed by shelling on Wednesday. Mr Tarar denied Indian accusations that Pakistan had fired missiles towards the Indian city of Amritsar, saying in fact an Indian drone fell in the city. Neither claim could be confirmed. India's Foreign Ministry has said that 16 civilians were killed on Wednesday during exchanges of fire across the de facto border. Pakistani officials said six people have been killed near the highly militarised frontier in exchanges of fire over the past day. Flights remained suspended at more than two dozen airports across northern and western regions in India, according to travel advisories by multiple airlines. Pakistan resumed flights nationwide after a suspension at four airports, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
