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Military Power

Sudan war at critical juncture as military advances in key regions

The war in Sudan appears to be reaching a critical juncture after nearly two years of fighting that has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and seen bloody atrocities. For the first time, the military has been making steady advances against its rival, the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and it could soon wrest back control of the capital, Khartoum. The RSF responded by announcing at a gathering in Kenya that it and its allies will establish a parallel government. What's happening on the ground? The war erupted in April 2023 between the military and the RSF with battles in Khartoum and around the country. The leaders of the two forces had been allies who were meant to have overseen the democratic transition after a popular uprising in 2019, but instead worked together to thwart a return to civilian rule. However, tensions exploded into a bloody fight for power. Since then, at least 20,000 people have been killed, though the number is likely far

Updated On: 26 Feb 2025 | 8:05 PM IST

India key to UN peacekeeping, its women peacekeepers vital: Chief Lacroix

India remains a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping and its women peacekeepers have demonstrated that missions with greater female representation improve operational outcomes and contribute to lasting peace, the United Nations peacekeeping chief has said. UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix will visit New Delhi this week to attend the conference Enhancing the Role of Women in Peacekeeping: A Global South Experience' being organised by India on February 24-25. India remains a cornerstone of UN peacekeeping and Indian women peacekeepers are redefining peacekeeping itself," Lacroix told PTI in an exclusive interview here. Noting that it's a privilege" to attend the conference in India, Lacroix said the gathering would bring together women officials from about 50 countries in the Global South to discuss the evolving challenges in peacekeeping and the critical role women play in advancing peace and security. More women in peacekeeping means a more effective ..

Updated On: 23 Feb 2025 | 9:12 AM IST

Ex Winged Raider: Army conducts joint airborne ops training with Air Force

The training provided a valuable opportunity for troops to hone their expertise in operations, essential for rapid deployment and mission readiness

Updated On: 10 Feb 2025 | 8:52 AM IST

Peace prospects look bleak in Myanmar as civil war rages; tensions remain

Peace prospects look bleak in Myanmar as a civil war rages despite international pressure on the military four years after it seized power from an elected civilian government. The political situation remains tense with no negotiation space in sight between the military government and the major opposition groups fighting against it. The four years after the army's takeover on Feb. 1, 2021, have created a profound situation of multiple, overlapping crises with nearly half the population in poverty and the economy in disarray, the UN Development Programme said. The UN Human Rights Office said the military ramped up violence against civilians last year to unprecedented levels, inflicting the heaviest civilian death toll since the army takeover as its grip on power eroded. The army launched wave after wave of retaliatory airstrikes and artillery shelling on civilians and civilian populated areas, forced thousands of young people into military service, conducted arbitrary arrests and ...

Updated On: 01 Feb 2025 | 11:46 AM IST

Creating integrated theatre commands a key priority: CDS Gen Chauhan

Presenting a blueprint to the government on integrated theatre commands and creating them will now be a key priority, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said on Sunday, days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared 2025 as the 'year of defence reforms'. Gen Chauhan also said that making a joint planning and operation room to help enable the three services to conduct integrated operations will be another focus area for the military under organisational and structural reforms. In a podcast, the CDS said joint doctrines are being prepared on subjects like multi domain operations, airborne and heliborne operations, network centric warfare, joint communications, conventional missile force, space, joint staff work, joint logistic architecture, etc. Work is underway on a 'Vision 2047' roadmap for the armed forces and it will be released in middle of this year, he said. The defence ministry's aim on theatre commands assumes significance as it virtually indicated a resolve to unve

Updated On: 20 Jan 2025 | 3:32 PM IST

Taiwan demonstrates sea defences against potential Chinese attack

Taiwan on Thursday demonstrated its sea defences against a potential Chinese attack as tensions rise with Beijing, part of a multitiered strategy to deter an invasion from the mainland. The island's navy highlighted its Kuang Hua VI fast attack missile boats and Tuo Chiang-class corvettes in waters near Taiwan's largest port of Kaohsiung, a major hub for international trade considered key to resupplying Chinese forces should they establish a beachhead on the island. The Kuang Hua VI boats, with a crew of 19, carry indigenously developed Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles and displayed their ability to take to the sea in an emergency to intercept enemy ships about to cross the 44-kilometer (24-nautical mile) limit of Taiwan's contiguous zone, within which governments are permitted to take defensive action. China routinely sends ships and planes to challenge Taiwan's willingness and ability to counter intruders, prompting Taiwan to scramble jets, activate missile systems and dispatch .

Updated On: 09 Jan 2025 | 2:23 PM IST

Indian Army's assertive approach along LAC; focus on combat might in 2024

In a year bookended by intractable conflicts and geopolitical fragmentation, India focused on ramping up military prowess by broadly firming up defence procurement worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore even as Indian and Chinese militaries completed pulling back their troops from border face-off points in eastern Ladakh. The disengagement of frontline forces at the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following an understanding reached on October 21 marked a major thaw over four years after deadly clashes between the two nations' troops in the Galwan Valley severely strained the bilateral ties. At the same time, the Indian military guarding the nearly 3,500 km LAC maintained an assertive approach, and bolstered its overall surveillance mechanism to closely track activities by People's Liberation Army (PLA) on the Chinese side of the de-facto frontier. The year also saw India expanding its strategic heft in the key maritime domain with the Indian

Updated On: 31 Dec 2024 | 1:07 PM IST

Tejas Mk-1A to AMCA: Can IAF fix squadron woes or are delays here to stay?

Indian Air Force's active squadrons have fallen to 31 against the authorised 42, with an ageing fleet and delayed inductions exacerbating the issue

Updated On: 25 Dec 2024 | 3:05 PM IST

Burkina Faso's ruling military junta sacks prime minister, dissolves govt

Burkina Faso's ruling military junta issued a decree on Friday dismissing Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and announcing the dissolution of the national government. The military's leader, Ibrahim Traore, said officials in the dissolved government will continue to perform their duties until a new government is formed. No reason was given for the move. The junta in Burkina Faso seized power in September 2022 by ousting the military rule of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabor. The country is one of several West African nations where the military has recently taken over, capitalising on popular discontent with previous democratically elected governments over security issues. However, since its inception, the junta has struggled to end Burkina Faso's security challenges the very reason that it claimed had prompted it to take power. Growing attacks by extremists lin

Updated On: 07 Dec 2024 | 8:19 AM IST

Corruption in Chinese army continues to haunt Xi Jinping; PLA purge expands

Admiral Miao Hua, a member of China's highest military body chaired by Xi, is under investigation for 'serious violations of discipline'

Updated On: 29 Nov 2024 | 6:19 PM IST

China outpaces India in nuclear aircraft carrier race with new breakthrough

Reports of a prototype reactor in Sichuan shed light on Beijing's long-term ambitions to expand its naval power

Updated On: 25 Nov 2024 | 3:36 PM IST

Myanmar's military ramps up attacks including rapes, torture: UN expert

Myanmar's desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the UN independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report. Thomas Andrews, a former US congressman from Maine, said in the report to the UN General Assembly circulated Friday that the junta has responded to military defeats and the loss of territory by using sophisticated weapons against civilians and seeking to destroy towns that it cannot control. Calling Myanmar an invisible crisis because the world's attention is focused elsewhere, he said, Escalating atrocities against the people of Myanmar are being enabled by governments that allow, or actively support, the transfer of weapons, weapons materials, and jet fuel to junta forces. Andrews didn't name the governments. But he praised Singapore for cracking down on weapons transfers that has led to a 90 p

Updated On: 23 Nov 2024 | 7:53 AM IST

Militants unleash carnage in Pakistan, kill 19 troops in deadly attacks

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnesses fierce gunfights, a suicide bombing, and mortar fire as militants attack, leaving widespread damage and sparking calls for peace

Updated On: 20 Nov 2024 | 12:53 PM IST

India dispatches first Akash air defence missile battery for export: BEL

Akash surface-to-air missile system battery being exported to 'friendly foreign country', widely speculated to be Armenia, though not officially confirmed

Updated On: 12 Nov 2024 | 4:18 PM IST

China flexes naval might, reveals 2 new jets and dual-aircraft carrier ops

Indian Navy also conducted dual-aircraft carrier operations in June last year, involving INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant

Updated On: 01 Nov 2024 | 4:12 PM IST

UPSC CDS 1 final results 2024 released, here's how to check and download

UPSC CDS I 2024 Final Results have been released by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). A total of 237 candidates are named for various defence forces, in INA, IMA and Air Force

Updated On: 22 Oct 2024 | 10:56 AM IST

Taiwan urges China not to undermine its status quo through military threats

MOFA also thanked its allies for addressing China's provocations and showing concern for Taiwan in recent weeks

Updated On: 20 Oct 2024 | 6:34 AM IST

Xi Jinping inspects military brigade, calls for strengthening deterrence

Chinese President Xi Jinping has inspected a brigade of the military's strategic missile force that underwent a massive purge of officials for corruption in recent years, according to a media report on Saturday. Xi on Thursday visited at Hefei the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Rocket Force, a key arm of the military operating the missiles, including nuclear weapons, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He urged the strategic missile troops to strengthen their deterrence and combat capabilities and resolutely fulfil the tasks entrusted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people, the report said. The Rocket Force, established in 2015 as part of Xi's military overhaul, has been at the centre of the latest anti-corruption campaign targeting the military. Besides heading the ruling CPC and the Presidency, 71-year-old Xi also heads the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military. His visit to the Rocket Force, which operates

Updated On: 19 Oct 2024 | 4:17 PM IST

Major countries must lead in safeguarding global security: China's minister

Dong's remarks come as communications ease between the US and Chinese militaries

Updated On: 13 Sep 2024 | 9:46 AM IST

Taiwan reports increase in Chinese military activity near its borders

Total of 10 Chinese aircraft and 6 Chinese vessels were detected operating in proximity to Taiwan

Updated On: 15 Jul 2024 | 9:22 AM IST