US F-16 fighter jet crashes in S Korea
Seoul, Dec 11: A US F-16 fighter jet crashed in western South Korea on Monday and the pilot was safely rescued after making an emergency escape, sources said. The jet crashed into the waters after taking off from the Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, 178 km south of Seoul, earlier in the day during a training exercise, Yonhap News Agency quoted the sources as saying. The pilot ejected from the jet and was rescued, they added. The fighter jet belonged to the US Forces Korea. A probe is underway to determine the exact cause of the crash. (IANS)
Osprey jet crash: Body of another crew found
Tokyo, Dec 11: The US military has recovered the remains of the seventh of eight crew members who was on board of the Osprey transport aircraft that crashed in the waters off southwestern Japan late last month, local media reported on Monday. The remains recovered on Sunday was that one of the two crew members still missing, Xinhua news agency reported citing Japanese public broadcaster NHK as saying. Navy divers are still trying to find the last missing airman,NHK said, citing a US Air Force Special Operations Command’s statement. The Air Force CV-22 Osprey went down on November 29 in waters off Japan’s south western island of Yakushima while carrying out routine training, killing all the eight US airmen aboard. The US military said last week that it is grounding its entire fleet of V-22 Osprey aircraft. (IANS)
Nine suspected terrorists held
in Pak’s Punjab
Lahore, Dec 11: Pakistani security agencies on Monday claimed to have foiled a “major terror plot” and arrested nine suspected terrorists of banned outfits including the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in the country’s Punjab province. In a statement, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police said that it conducted 70 intelligence-based operations in different districts of the province during the last week in which nine terrorists were arrested with weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials. The arrested terrorists belong to the banned organisations Daesh (Islamic State), Al-Qaeda, Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They were arrested from Lahore, Bahawalnagar, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Hafizabad. The CTD said that explosive materials, two hand grenades, one IED bomb, banned literature and cash have been recovered from the possession of the terrorists. The CTD early this month had arrested 14 terrorists mostly belonging to ISIS and TTP in Punjab. (PTI)
Dengue cases exceed 80,000
in Sri Lanka
Colombo, Dec 11: Total dengue cases reported in Sri Lanka so far this year surpassed 80,000, according to the latest statistics released by the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU). The NDCU said that 80,192 cases had been reported as of Sunday, 3,704 of which were reported in December alone, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the statistics, 47 people have succumbed to the disease. The Western province remained the most affected with 46.4 per cent of the cases reported. (IANS)
