United News of Bangladesh

Gunmen ambushed a Syrian police patrol in a coastal town Thursday, leaving at least 13 security members dead and many others wounded, a monitoring group and a local official said. The attack came as tensions in Syria ’s coastal region between former President Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite sect and members of Islamic groups escalate. Assad was overthrown in early December in an offensive of insurgent groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the ambush in the town of Jableh, near the city of Latakia, killed at least 16. It added that security forces killed 28 Assad loyalists as well as three civilians. Rami Abdurrahman, head of the monitoring group, said the gunmen who ambushed the police force are Alawites. He added that on Thursday night, pro-Assad gunmen were in full control of the former president's hometown of Qardaha. “These are the worst clashes since the fall of the regime,” Abdurrahman said. A local official in Damascus told The Associated Press that 13 members of the General Security directorate were killed in the ambush. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release security information to the media. Conflicting casualties figures are not uncommon in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria’s 13-year conflict that has killed half a million people. The Observatory gave the death toll on both sides, while the official only gave the numbers of policement killed. Syria arrests 3 linked to Tadamon massacre executions The pan Arab Al-Jazeera TV broadcaster said its cameraman Riad al-Hussein was wounded while covering the clashes. State media reported that authorities imposed a 12-hour curfew in the nearby city of Tartus where people were urged to stay at home and avoid any gatherings in public places. The SANA state-news agency reported that large reinforcements were being sent to the coastal region to get the situation under control. The Syrian Observatory said helicopter gunships took part in attacking Alawite gunmen and Jableh and nearby areas. It added that fighters loyal to former Syrian army Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, also known as Tiger, took part in the attacks against security forces. Tensions have been on the rise in Syria with reports of attacks by Sunni militants against Alawites who had led the rule in Syria for more than five decades under the Assad family. These incidents have occurred despite the fact that officially the new authorities have said they are against collective punishment or sectarian vengeance. Sajed al-Deek, a security official, was quoted by local media as saying the situation is under control, adding that Alawites have nothing to do with the gunmen who attacked security forces earlier Thursday. “We call for abstaining from raising sectarian sentiments,” al-Deek said. On Thursday, the state-owned news agency reported that security forces arrested former senior intelligence official Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Hweiji, who was blamed for supervising the 1977 assassination of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Joumblatt. 15 dead in northern Syria car bomb blast Joumblatt's son and successor, Walid, posted on X when the news broke out: “God is great.”

In the Indian state of Assam, police officials are being told they either need to lose weight over the next few months or find another profession. A senior member of the state police has said that beginning in the middle of August, all officers' BMIs will be “professionally recorded,” the BBC reports. Those officers who are deemed “obese” will be given until the end of the year to either lose weight or retire willingly. GP Singh, the director general of police in Assam, has stated that anyone with legitimate health concerns will be excused. Read More: 10 Energy Healing Methods: Which One is Right for You?  Singh tweeted that he will be the first police officer to have his body mass index (BMI) taken. Assam's chief minister said a few weeks ago that roughly 300 police officers in the state will be compelled to retire early due to being “habitual drinkers” and “physically unfit.” According to research, Indian police personnel frequently work overtime without receiving adequate rest or meal breaks. Doctors, health care providers, and insurance companies all around the world utilise Body Mass Index (BMI; computed by dividing a person’s weight by the square of their height) to classify individuals as either healthy, overweight, or obese. Read More: Zumba: Dance Your Way into Fitness Nevertheless, it is also very contentious, with many experts arguing that BMI is an unreliable indicator of health because it was developed primarily with white European males in mind.

Field level police officers have been  instructed to regularly monitor markets to prevent any abnormal increase in prices during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. They have also been instructed to take necessary steps to ensure that no one creates any untoward situation by spreading rumors about price hike, short supplies, etc. The directives were given from a virtual meeting on monthly crime review held at the police headquarters on Tuesday with Additional IGP (Crime and Operations) Md. Atiqul Islam in the chair. All Metropolitan Police Commissioners, Range DIGs and District Superintendents of Police (SPs) of Bangladesh Police participated in the meeting virtually. Among others, DIG (Operations) Md Haider Ali Khan and concerned officials of police headquarters were present at the virtual meeting. Also Read: Govt orders DCs to strictly monitor markets during Ramadan Information regarding the overall crime situation of the country in the month of January 2023 was also presented in the meeting, says AIG (media) of the police headquarters Md Manzur Rahman. During the meeting, importance was given on taking precautionary measures and increasing police activity so that no group can create any kind of conspiracy by exploiting the communal issue. District and highway police were instructed to jointly perform their duties to prevent all types of extortion to ensure the transportation of essential goods during the month of holy Ramadan. In his address,  Additional IGP (Crime and Operations) Md. Atiqul Islam gave instructions to make preparations from now on to make the Eid journeys of the homebound people smooth during the coming Eid. He also directed the field level police officers to remove illegal structures on both sides on the highway and take necessary action against unfit vehicles. The meeting review of the statistics of various cases placed in the meeting shows that in the month of January 2023, there was a decrease in the total number of registered cases, robbery cases, murder cases, rape cases, women and children abuse cases compared to the previous month of December 2022.  

Seven police officers, including Superintendents of Police of Feni and Rangpur districts, have been transferred. The Public Safety Division of the Home Ministry issued a notification in this regard on Monday. Read:Three senior police officers transferred to new postings According to the notification, Biplob Kumar Sarkar, Superintendent of Police of Rangpur district, has been made Deputy Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) while Md Ferdous Ali, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Superintendent of Police in Rangpur. Besides, Khandaker Nurnnabi, Superintendent of Police of Feni District, has been made Assistant Inspector General of Police, while Assistant Inspector General of Police Md Abdullah Al Mamun has been made Superintendent of Police of Feni district. Read: Reshuffle in DMP once again: 8 OCs transferred Deputy Commissioner of Police of Chattogram Metropolitan Police Bijoy Basak has been made Superintendent of Police at Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Dhaka while Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police Sanjay Sarkar has been made Superintendent of Police of Range DIG’s Office in Chattogram and Assistant Inspector General of Police Md Sohail Rana has been made Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP).

Seven senior police officers in the rank of Superintendent of Police (SPs) have been given promotion to the position of Additional Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) on Sunday. Public Security Division under the Home Ministry has already issued a notification signed by bits deputy Secretary (Police-Section-1) Dhononjoy Kumar Das on Sunday. According to the Notification, the newly promoted officials are—SP of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Md Syful Islam, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Sayed Nurul Islam, DC of the DMP Md Anisur Rahman, DC of the DMP Biplob Bojoy Talukder, DC of the DMP Md Harun ur Rashid,  SP of the Special Branch (SB) Md Moniruzzaman and AIG of the Police Headquarters Shiekh Rafiqul Islam. Meanwhile, the Public Security Division of the Home ministry also promoted 105 police officers in the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to the position of Additional  SP. A notification, signed by the DS (Police Section-1) Dhononjoy Kumar Das was also issued on the same day.