Tag: bombs

Russia accused of using phosphorus bombs in Ukraine war

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Kiev: Ukraine has accused Russia of attacking the besieged city of Bakhmut with phosphorus munitions, a media report said.
In drone footage released by Ukraine’s military, Bakhmut can be seen ablaze as what appears to be white phosphorus rains down on the city, BBC reported.
White phosphorus weapons are not banned, but their use in civilian areas is considered a war crime. They create fast-spreading fires that are very difficult to put out. Russia has been accused of using them before as well.

Russia has been trying to capture Bakhmut for months, despite its questionable strategic value. Western officials have estimated that thousands of Moscow’s troops have died in the assault.
Taking to Twitter, Ukraine’s defence ministry said the phosphorus attack targeted “unoccupied areas of Bakhmut with incendiary ammunition”.
Kiev’s special forces command added that Moscow’s forces continued “to destroy the city”.
It is unclear when exactly the alleged attack took place. But the footage shared by Ukraine – seemingly captured by a surveillance drone – showed high-rise buildings engulfed in flames, BBC reported.
Other videos posted to social media showed fires raging on the ground and white clouds of phosphorus illuminating the night sky.

Russia has been accused of using white phosphorus several times since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, including during the siege of Mariupol at the beginning of the war.
Moscow has never publicly admitted to using white phosphorus, and last year Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov insisted that “Russia has never violated international conventions” after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said it had been used.
White phosphorus is a wax-like substance which ignites on contact with oxygen, creating bright plumes of smoke, BBC reported.
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#Russia #accused #phosphorus #bombs #Ukraine #war
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 6, 2023
Russia jamming U.S. smart bombs in Ukraine, leaked docs say

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The Pentagon in December began sending Kyiv advanced equipment that could convert unguided air-dropped munitions into precision-guided “smart bombs” that can hit Russian targets with a higher degree of accuracy.
The guided bombs can be launched by a variety of aircraft such as bombers and fighters, and are called Joint Direct Attack Munitions or JDAMs. The longer-range version being sent to Ukraine is called a JDAM-Extended Range, or JDAM-ER.
But the weapons have experienced higher-than-expected dud rates and have missed their targets on the battlefield, according to a leaked slide prepared by the Joint Staff and confirmed by a U.S. official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
In some cases, the bomb fuzes were not arming when they were released, causing the weapon to fail to detonate. The Ukrainian air force put in place a fix to ensure the bombs are arming correctly, according to the slide and the official.
The document includes a diagram of the munition and lays out the technical issue the weapons are experiencing as well as the proposed fix. It also provides a detailed account of the weapon’s failure rate in several recent attacks, including the dates and the number of munitions it took to take out the target. However, POLITICO could not independently verify that information.
A larger problem is that Russia is using GPS jamming to interfere with the weapons’ targeting process, according to the slide and a separate person familiar with the issue who’s not in the U.S. government. American officials believe Russian jamming is causing the JDAMs, and at times other American weapons such as guided rockets, to miss their mark.
“I do think there may be concern that the Russians may be jamming the signal used to direct the JDAMs, which would answer why these munitions are not performing in the manner expected and how they perform in other war zones,” said Mick Mulroy a former Pentagon official and retired CIA officer.
A spokesperson for Boeing, which makes the guidance kits, referred questions to the U.S. government when asked for comment. Defense Department spokesperson Lt. Col. Garron Garn declined to comment on the content of the leaked documents.

“We have seen Ukraine use the security assistance the U.S. and our partners and allies have provided to great success in the defense of their sovereign territory,” Garn said. “We are not going to discuss battle damage or intelligence assessments due to operational security considerations.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 12, 2023
Congress activist bombs son’s house for supporting TMC, arrested

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Kolkata: A 62-year-old Congress activist was arrested in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Sunday for allegedly bombing the house of his son who is a TMC member, police said.
Zahiruddin Sheikh hurled crude bombs at the house of his son Anisur Sheikh (30), who is the TMC youth wing president of Raninagar 2 panchayat area, on Saturday night, they said.
The relationship between Zahiruddin and Anisur soured after he and his wife Sefali Seikh joined the TMC during the 2018 panchayat elections. Shefali was made the panchayat pradhan by the TMC, following which she and her husband started living separately from her in-laws, locals said.

No one was injured in the attack as Anisur and Sefali manage to escape but panic gripped the area, police said.
Anisur alleged that his father attacked his house to prevent him from fighting the next panchayat polls.
The Congress dismissed the charges, claiming that it does not believe in violence, “which is the hallmark of TMC”.
Zahiruddin also rejected the allegation, stating he was being framed by his daughter-in-law.
He alleged that Anirul himself bombed his own house to get sympathy from the people.

Police said Zahiruddin was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by his son, and an investigation was underway.
A police team was posted in the area to prevent a further flare-up.
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#Congress #activist #bombs #sons #house #supporting #TMC #arrested
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
Blasts took place in Sasaram during making of bombs: Bihar DGP

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Patna: In wake of the violence in Bihar’s Sasaram and Nalanda, Director General of Police Rajvinder Singh Bhatti on Sunday said the explosion in Sasaram’s Sherganj area occurred during the making of bombs.
He said that 6 persons were injured in the blast and were admitted to the BHU in Varanasi.
“There accused were manufacturing bombs when the explosion took place. Six persons were injured in this accident and it has nothing to do with the Ram Navami march. The forensic team has collected the samples of the explosive and analysis is currently underway,” Bhatti said.

The statement of the DGP came soon after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his rally in Nawada on Sunday, claimed that firing and bomb blasts took place in Sasaram.
The DGP said that the Bihar Police will arrest the accused after they are discharged from the hospital.
“We have arrested 109 persons who were involved in violence in Sasaram and Biharsharif. The process of recording video statements is on. We are taking the strongest possible action against the accused,” he said.
“The situations in both places are under control. There was a well-planned conspiracy to disturb law and order in these two places,” he added.
Chief Secretary Amir Subhani said that the Bihar government had held a high-level meeting in advance well before Ram Navami.

“We have directed all the SPs, DMs, DIGs, IGs and Divisional Commissioners of the respective zones. The law and order were intact in most places. We are taking the strongest possible action against the offenders,” Subhani said.
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#Blasts #place #Sasaram #making #bombs #Bihar #DGP
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 2, 2023
New U.S. aid package includes longer-range bombs for Ukraine

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Russian forces have moved some of their most sensitive command-and-control centers out of range of Ukraine’s current rockets, frustrating Kyiv’s military commanders, who have asked for longer-range munitions to stay on the offensive.
Specifically, they’ve asked for the U.S.-made Army Tactical Missiles Systems that have a range of about 190 miles. But the Biden administration has said the weapon is out of the question, citing concerns Ukraine would use them to attack targets inside Russia.
The new rockets announced on Friday, which can travel over 80 miles, will help Ukrainian forces “conduct operations in defense of their country, and to take back their sovereign territory in Russian occupied areas,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.
They will not be drawn from existing American stockpiles however, meaning it will take months for Boeing and the U.S. government to agree on the terms of the contract and get them to the battlefield. That timeline means they will likely not be available for the warm-weather offensives Ukraine is planning this year.
Another issue is that the bomb can’t be launched by any of Ukraine’s current equipment. Ukrainian engineers have been working on retrofits for ground launchers for several months.
Much to the disappointment of some in Kyiv, the last few tranches of aid have not included the weapon.
But there’s real appetite on Capitol Hill to provide Ukrainians with longer-range munitions, along with tanks and other weapons. A senior congressional aide argued the administration had been holding up the process of approving the bomb despite overcoming “the mental hurdle of the range and escalation dynamics” of a longer-range munition because of the need to retrofit it.
“It’s a timeline that’s measured in months,” the aide said of adapting the weapon to a ground launcher. The aide asked not to be named in order to speak candidly.

House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) had accused the Biden administration of dragging its feet on providing the system to Ukraine.
“GLSDB should have been approved last fall,” Rogers said in a recent statement. “Every day it’s not approved is a day it’s delayed getting it into the hands of a Ukrainian ready to kill a Russian.”
Lee Hudson and Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 3, 2023