Karnataka: Trekker falls into 200-ft gorge at Nandi Hill, rescued
Chikkaballapura, Feb 20: A trekker who fell at least 200 feet into a gorge at Nandi Hill, about 60 km from Bengaluru, was on Sunday rescued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the national and State disaster response forces, a police official said.
The 19-year-old victim from Delhi studying in an engineering college in Bengaluru fell into the gorge and got trapped, Superintendent of Police of Chikkaballapura G K Mithun Kumar told PTI.
"Nishank had come alone for trekking and fell into the gorge. After slipping, he fortunately got stuck. Had he slipped from there, he would have fallen into a cliff of about 300 feet below," Kumar said.
He said the youth messaged the police control room and shared his location. Soon, a police team, along with the SDRF and NDRF, went to the rescue but none could help.
"Then, we contacted the IAF which rushed to the rescue," the police officer added.
A statement from the defence said the Deputy Commissioner of Chikkaballapura contacted the Air Force Station, Yelahanka, with a 'Save Our Souls' (SOS) message about a young trekker stuck in Bramhagiri Rocks in Nandi Hills after slipping and falling 200 feet below.
A Mi17 helicopter was sent. After a search and guidance of the local police, the IAF was able to locate the stranded, immobile victim, the statement said.
The terrain being treacherous for a landing, the flight gunner of the Mi17 was lowered by a winch close to the trekker. The flight gunner helped him harness and lifted him up. The onboard air force medical assistant attended to the survivor while the helicopter flew him to Yelahanka from where he was taken to the nearest civil hospital, the statement said.
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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.
