Southern Air Command’s area of responsibility increases

October 8th, 2009 Taliban claim Afghan bomb, say embassy was target KABUL — The Taliban have claimed responsibility for Thursday's suicide car bomb in the Afghan capital, saying their target was the Indian Embassy. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement posted on the group's Web site that the attacker was an Afghan man who blew up his a sporty utility vehicle laden with explosives just outside the embassy.

August 31st, 2009 KOCHI - The southern commands of the Indian Navy and Air Force based in Kerala were assigned new commanding heads on Monday. Vice Admiral KN Sushil took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command (SNC) from Vice Admiral SK Damle at a ceremonial parade held at the naval base in Kochi.

August 29th, 2009 India loses communication with lunar satelliteNEW DELHI — India's national space agency said communications with the country's only satellite orbiting the moon snapped Saturday and that its scientists were no longer controlling the spacecraft. Radio contacts with Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft were abruptly lost at 0130 Saturday (2000 GMT Friday), the Indian Space Research Organization said.

August 6th, 2009 Time Inc. shuttering Southern Accents magazineBIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Another part of the Birmingham-based Southern Progress magazine company is folding.

July 16th, 2009 Republicans vow to fight health care tax increasesWASHINGTON — House Democrats shouldn't expect votes from Republicans in passing a bill that increases taxes on the rich to pay for health care reform. Republicans opened a committee meeting Thursday morning vowing to fight a Democratic plan to impose a surcharge on families making more than $350,000.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Villagers in Saraikela region of Jharkhand have claimed that the government has been using the Maoist threat as an excuse for shirking away from initiating development projects in the region. "The government says that it is a Maoist affected area.

May 13th, 2009 MUMBAI - Bookies and punters see Prime Minister Manmohan Singh retaining power as the curtain rang down on the five-phased Indian elections and reports of exit polls started coming out Wednesday evening. So far, an estimated Rs.12,000 crore (Rs.120 billion) is at stake on various permutations and combinations that the punters are playing with, according to a prominent Mumbai bookie.

May 6th, 2009 KABUL - A district governor and three others were killed in a militant attack in northern Afghanistan, while seven police personnel were killed in a roadside blast in country's southern region, officials said Wednesday. Mohammad Muhsin, district governor for Dehna Ghori of northern Baghlan province, his son and two other government officials were killed when their vehicle was ambushed by Taliban militants in the district Wednesday morning, Jawid Basharat, spokesman for the provincial police chief said.

April 14th, 2009 KABUL - A female Canadian soldier serving with NATO forces was killed and four others were wounded by a roadside bomb in the volatile southern region, officials said Tuesday. Trooper Karine Blais was killed and four of her comrades were wounded when their armoured vehicle was blown up in Shah Walikot district of southern Kandahar province Monday afternoon, the Canadian defence ministry said in a statement.

April 2nd, 2009 KABUL - Twenty suspected Taliban militants were killed in an airstrike carried out by the US-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, officials said in a statement Thursday. The airstrike was prompted after Taliban militants attacked Afghan and international troops in southern Afghanistan.

March 30th, 2009 KABUL - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled vest inside a district headquarter in southern Afghanistan Monday, killing eight people including police and civilians and wounded six others, a government spokesman said. The bomber carried out the attack inside the Dand district in southern Kandahar province Monday morning, killing three policemen and five civilians, provincial spokesman Zelmai Ayoubi said.

March 16th, 2009 KABUL - Two British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, bringing the total number of foreign soldiers killed in the country over the weekend to nine, the British military said Monday. The soldiers were part of British forces stationed in Helmand province with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the British Defence Ministry said in a statement.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian Air Force will Wednesday commence a mammoth week-long air exercise 'Dakshin Prahar' in the southern peninsula to validate the concept of 'flexi-use of air space' and to showcase its ability to sustain operations for a prolonged period of time. 'The IAF is all set to carry out the second edition of exercise Dakshin Prahar to validate the concept of flexi-use of airspace.

February 1st, 2009 GAZA - Israel launched airstrikes Sunday night targeting the tunnels in Rafah in southern Gaza Strip. Witnesses said three bombs were dropped in the border area.

January 11th, 2009 KABUL - NATO forces killed a suspected suicide bomber as he was approaching their convoy in a central province near Kabul city, officials said Monday. The international troops opened fire on a vehicle packed with explosives in Sayed Abad district of Wardak province Monday morning, said Adam Khan Serat, spokesman for the provincial governor.