Karnataka observes 12-hour statewide Bandh by pro-Kannada groups amid tight security today
Bengaluru (PTI): A 12-hour statewide bandh called by the pro-Kannada groups to protest the alleged assault on a state-run bus conductor in Belagavi last month for not knowing Marathi began in Karnataka on Saturday morning amid tight security.
In several parts of the state, the pro-kannada groups took to the streets staging protests and they appealed to the shopkeepers to cooperate and extend their support for the cause. But most of the shops were open as usual.
In Bengaluru, the activists gathered at the Mysore Bank circle and raised slogans holding placards.
Some activists staged a demonstration at the BMTC and KSRTC bus stand at Majestic in the state capital.
The protestors appealed to the bus drivers and conductors to support the call for Bandh. As their agitation intensified, police took them under preventive custody.
In Mysuru, some pro-Kannada activists staged a sit-in protest by blocking buses at the suburban bus stand.
They staged a dharna near the exit gate to block buses heading to Bengaluru and other parts of the state.
Some members of pro-Kannada groups were taken into preventive custody after they attempted to stop a KSRTC bus in Mysuru.
In Davangere too, the protesters took to the streets.
Sources in Belagavi said the KSRTC buses were plying as usual but there was restricted movement of buses from Maharashtra to this border town in north Karnataka, which was at the centre of the linguistic row.
Besides the attack on a bus conductor at Balekundri, Panchayat officials were abused recently in Kinaye village in Belagavi for not speaking in Marathi.
Belagavi just at the border of Maharashtra has a substantial Marathi population where the border row flares up from time to time.
The accused in both the cases were taken into custody.
Elaborate security arrangements are in place across the state with senior officers overseeing the situation on the ground to prevent any untoward incident.
According to officials, police in various districts have deployed home guards along with the City Armed Reserve unit as a precautionary measure to ensure that the bandh is observed peacefully without causing inconvenience to the public.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda has warned that legal action will be taken against those found coercing people into taking part in the bandh.
He said that 60 Karnataka State Reserve Police platoons, 1,200 home guards and the entire civil and traffic police force have been deployed in Bengaluru City as a precautionary measure.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has urged people to maintain peace and abide by the law. "We will protect the interests of the state. Everyone should maintain peace and follow the law. However, I feel there is no need for a bandh," he told the reporters on Friday.
According to Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner Jagadeesha G., no holidays has been declared for schools and colleges.
On February 28, 'Kannada Okkuta,' an umbrella organisation representing various pro-Kannada groups, announced the statewide bandh from 6 am to 6 pm on March 22.
Some organisations and unions have either chosen to stay away from the bandh or have decided to offer only moral support.
A senior transport department official said that the State-owned public road transport corporations such as Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will remain functional. But depending on the situation on the ground, a decision will be taken.
According to sources, some autorickshaws, cabs and private drivers' unions, associations have extended support to the shutdown, while hotel associations, malls, bars and restaurants have only offered moral support.
Meanwhile, emergency services -- pharmacies, hospitals, and ambulance services, petrol pumps and metro services will remain operational amid the bandh.
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Trump says Islamic State group leader was killed in joint US-Nigerian mission
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump said US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Nigeria in a mission carried out Friday.
Trump announced the joint operation in a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second in command of the Islamic State group globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
The US viewed Al-Mainuki as the key figure in IS organising and finance, and believed he was plotting attacks against the United States and its interests, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to share sensitive information.
Born in Nigeria's Borno province in 1982, al-Mainuki took the helm of the IS branch in West Africa after the group's previous leader in the region, Mamman Nur, was killed in 2018, according to the Counter Extremism Project, which tracks militant groups.
Al-Mainuki was based in the Sahel area, the monitoring group said, adding that it is believed that he fought in Libya when IS was active in the North African nation more than a decade ago. He was sanctioned by the US in 2023.
Trump in December directed US forces to launch strikes against the Islamic State group in Nigeria, though he released little detail then about the impact.
Nigeria has been battling multiple armed groups, including at least two affiliated with IS.
The Friday night operation was the latest instance in a string of covert missions abroad that Trump has announced this year, starting with the stunning overnight raid in January to capture and remove Venezuela's then-leader Nicolás Maduro and whisk him to the US, followed nearly two months later by the launch of strikes that kicked off the war with Iran.
