Assam Police open fire during eviction drive in Sonapur; Two reportedly dead, several injured
Guwahati: An eviction drive in the Sonapur area on the outskirts of Guwahati turned violent on Thursday, with Assam Police resorting to firing on protesters. Local activists have reported that at least two people were killed in the police firing, while several others sustained injuries, a report published in Maktoob stated.
The confrontation occurred as residents protested the demolition of their food grains and makeshift homes. During the clash, numerous protesters and police personnel, including the circle officer of Sonapur, were injured. Shahjahan, a local resident, told Maktoob that his son had been shot and that 17 to 18 dwellers were wounded in the police firing.
The evictions, which began on August 21, targeted Muslim residents accused of encroaching on government land. For three days, the process had been relatively peaceful. After their homes were demolished, the residents stayed near the remains of their homes in Ward 1 and Ward 2 of Kachutali village, despite warnings from Assam Police to vacate the area within two days.
Tensions escalated when bulldozers arrived to destroy the temporary shelters and food grains that had been stored nearby. The protest turned violent as residents resisted the destruction of their remaining possessions.
Shahjahan, whose family had moved to the area after erosion in their native Mayong Basbari village in Darrang district, said the residents had been living in the area for around a decade after being displaced by natural calamities. "We are neither illegal migrants nor encroachers," he said. "We bought small plots of land here after our village was washed away. I have my NRC, and no one here is a doubtful citizen."
The displaced residents had relocated to the village after being forced to leave an earlier settlement near a Ganesh temple. According to Shahjahan, many of the villagers had worked in Karnataka to save money and purchase the small plots where they built their homes.
Shahjahan also expressed deep concern over the whereabouts of his 18-year-old son, Tafiz Ali, who was shot near a railway line while returning home. "I don’t know where my son is," he said.
The injured were taken to Sonapur Civil Hospital and Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). Activists claim that as of the time of reporting, relatives of the wounded were not allowed to visit them due to heavy police deployment around the emergency ward at GMCH.
Efforts to contact officials from the Kamrup Metro district administration and Assam Police for a statement were unsuccessful, Maktoob added in their report.
50 people including DCP, Circle Officer, Police OC of Sonapur Thana grievously injured on attack of Miya Muslim, while they went to evict illegal encroachment in Kosutoli of Sonapur in Assam. Today was the 4th day of eviction. See the video how scary, thousands of Bangladeshi… pic.twitter.com/O80Ss7tBvL
— Oxomiya Jiyori 🇮🇳 (@SouleFacts) September 12, 2024
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
