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Showing posts from October 16, 2011

Blast hits supermarket in Zaporizhia, no injuries reported

Read more: kyivpost Zaporizhia, Oct. 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A blast hit a Silpo supermarket located at the Ukraina central department store in downtown Zaporizhia on Friday. Nobody was injured in an explosion in a Silpo supermarket in the Ukraina central department in Zaporizhia on Friday, the media liaisons department of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's main office in Zaporizhia region has reported. The police were informed at about 1630 on Friday that there had been an explosion in a supermarket on Lenina Avenue. "Several sections were damaged after the explosion of an unknown object in a locker. None of the shoppers and store personnel were injured in the explosion," the police said. The entrance to the supermarket has been surrounded by police officers. Sources at law enforcement agencies told Interfax-Ukraine that it could be possible that an explosive device controlled by a mobile phone was detonated in the locker. A theory

MILF kills more soldiers in Zamboanga

MANILA, Philippines - MANILA, Philippines - As calls for the suspension of peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) mount, separate ambuscades took place in Zamboanga Sibugay province last night, leaving four soldiers and three policemen dead. Philippine Army spokesman Col. Antonio Parlade and the local police said that MILF fighters are most likely involved in the latest attacks. In an interview on ABS-CBN News, Parlade said that the attacks were most likely carried by the MILF because "there are no other lawless elements in the area." MILF spokesman Von Al Haq, meanwhile, confirmed the military's suspicion. He said that the attacks were carried out as retaliation to the military's continuous mortar shelling of the separatist group's position in the province. "It's only retaliation. That's part of war. Soldiers have been indiscriminately pounding our position and civilian areas in Bayao town," said Al Haq.

Impediments To Yingluck’s New Approach For Southern Thailand – Analysis

By Panchali Saikia The violence of the ethnic separatist insurgency in the southern provinces of Thailand (Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat) continues unabated, raising the brutality to the level of international terrorism by targeting foreign tourists. The recent triple bombing attack in the Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat province on 16 September 2011 revealed one such purpose of the insurgents. An overview report of the last one year shows that although there is a considerable decrease in the number of attacks by insurgents in Thailand, the fatalities and lethality have increased. Violence has now become more retaliatory in nature and the attacks are professionally done; they are well planned and targeted. However, hope lies with the change in the political climate in Thailand. With the victory of the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) in the July 2011 elections, there is a lot of expectation from the new Prime Minster Yingluck Shinawatra towards bringing peace and s

4 killed in Baghdad bombings

Friday, October 21, 2011 Three bombings detonated on Thursday night in Al Habiba region, Sadr City killing at least four people near residential compounds. Ten others were wounded in the bombings, a security source reported. A bomb exploded near a police station in Ishreen Street, central Ramadi on Thursday. As security forces rushed to the incident site minutes later, another blast exploded killing a civilian and wounding two others including a policeman. Iraqi security forces arrested on Thursday night ten suspects including four wanted for terrorism charges, southwestern Kirkuk. A senior member of Al Qaeda Network from Diyala province was arrested in a security operation southern Kirkuk. Source: Alsumaria

Rs 9 crore insurance cover for Sunday's ODI

MUMBAI: Unseasonal showers and the July 13 serial blasts in Mumbai have forced the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to buy an insurance cover of Rs 9 crore for the India-England one-day international at Wankhede stadium on Sunday. Sources said MCA will shell out a premium of Rs 5 lakh for a special contingency policy for event cancellation from Oriental Insurance Company (OIC). The policy will protect MCA against financial losses owing to cancellation of matches due to bad weather, natural disasters, terrorism-related incidents or abandonment due to death of a prime minister or president. The cricket association cannot claim compensation if a ball is bowled before the match is called off. "The cover for the India-England ODI is higher by Rs 1 crore compared to the policy for the India-Australia bilateral series match at D Y Patil Stadium on November 11, 2009," he added. The India-Australia match was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to inc

Terrorism in Spain The end of ETA?

THE mise-en-scène chosen by the leaders of ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, for their video declaration yesterday was very familiar. Three people wearing floppy Basque berets and white silk masks with small eyeholes sat at a table in front of flags symbolising the independent country they want to create. Just like they have done in every announcement they have made in recent years. But the message was radically new. ETA, the spokespeople said, was giving up the armed fight. It wanted talks with the Spanish and French governments “with the aim of addressing the resolution of the consequences of the conflict and, thus, to overcome the armed confrontation.” Reaction in the Basque country was, generally, euphoric. “The nightmare is over,” said Iñigo Urkullu, leader of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the region's biggest political party. So is this the end of more than four decades of separatist violence in Spain's northerly Basque

Navy chief warns against piracy-terrorism nexus

Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma has made a pitch for putting in place pre-emptive measures to scuttle pirates from developing a nexus with terror groups. Speaking at an international symposium at New Port, Rhode Island, Verma on Thursday cautioned against the possibility of the "relatively benign" problem of piracy forging links with terrorism, which has a "cancerous potential." The symposium themed, "Security and Prosperity through Maritime Partnerships," is being organised by the US Naval War College. Verma highlighted the dilemma being faced by naval forces due to ineffective legal mechanisms to prosecute pirates apprehended by them. He said, "It is estimated that nine out of 10 apprehended pirates benefit from the 'catch and release' policy followed by most navies till now." India

Why is Turkey failing to fight terrorism?

For a country that has been fighting a terrorist organization for 30 years, it is really unacceptable to lose 24 soldiers in a single day to terrorism, as was the case in Hakkari’s Çukurca district on Wednesday.   Many years of fighting terrorism should mean an accumulation of enough knowledge and preparedness against terrorist attacks and enough lessons learnt from the thousands of previous attacks to eliminate any shortcomings. Yet, the killing of 24 soldiers in multiple simultaneous terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks indicates that Turkey is still far off from being a country that can skillfully combat terrorism and protect its soldiers. The Çukurca attacks have prompted many to question what went wrong in Turkey’s fight against terrorism, with some calling on the civilian authority to account for these deaths and the military’s negligence. Bugün’s Gülay Göktürk is of the belief that what Turkey should concentrate on

Gaddafi is Africa's latest "Big Man" to fall

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Muammar Gaddafi speaks at an event in Tripoli in this March 2, 2011 image from video. Credit: Reuters/Libyan TV via Reuters TV/Files By Mark John Reuters) - Libya's Muammar Gaddafi is just the latest name to be struck from the list of Africa's so-called "Big Men", the dwindling band of strongarm rulers who are finding it ever harder to keep their grip on power. But while the death of Gaddafi was at least partly the result of outside intervention, it is domestic pressure from Africa's increasingly demanding city-dwellers that is forcing the pace of wider political change on the continent. Recent African elections, while in many cases either flawed or tilted towards the incumbent, have shown they can replace the coup d'etat as the preferred way of ousting leaders who have outstayed their welcome. "It is

Gaddafi's death - who pulled the trigger?

(Reuters) - Disturbing images of a blood-stained and shaken Muammar Gaddafi being dragged around by angry fighters quickly circulated around the world after the Libyan dictator's dramatic death near his home town of Sirte. The exact circumstances of his demise are still unclear with conflicting accounts of his death emerging. But the footage, possibly of the last chaotic moments of Gaddafi's life, offered some clues into what happened. Gaddafi was still alive when he was captured near Sirte. In the video, filmed by a bystander in the crowd and later aired on television, Gaddafi is shown being dragged off a vehicle's bonnet and pulled to the ground by his hair. "Keep him alive, keep him alive!" someone shouts. Gunshots then ring out. The camera veers off. "They captured him alive and while he was being taken away, they beat him and then they killed him," one senior source in the NTC told Reuters. "He might have b

Turkey presses PKK hunt, Iran pledges cooperation

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The wife and the father of Turkish army officer Bilal Ozcan attend his funeral ceremony at a mosque in Istanbul October 21, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Murad Sezer By Jonathon Burch (Reuters) - Turkey and Iran pledged on Friday to cooperate in the fight against Kurdish militants, as thousands of Turkish troops pressed ahead with an air and ground offensive for a third day following an attack that killed 24 Turkish soldiers. The counter-insurgency operation against separatist fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was concentrated on both sides of Turkey's border with northern Iraq. Hundreds of Turkish soldiers were hunting PKK fighters around the Zab river areas a few kilometres inside Iraqi territory, security officials said. Turkey's reaction to one of the most deadly attacks on its security forces in a conflict tha

Gaddafi caught like "rat" in a drain, humiliated and shot

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By Tim Gaynor and Taha Zargoun (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi made his final dash for freedom shortly before dawn prayers. Libya's ousted leader, a few dozen loyal bodyguards and the head of his now non-existent army Abu Bakr Younis Jabr, broke out of the two-month siege of his home town Sirte and, forming a convoy of six dozen vehicles, raced through the outskirts to the west. They did not get far. French aircraft struck military vehicles belonging to Gaddafi forces near Sirte at about 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT), said officials. Images of the drama that followed were soon whizzing around the globe. Footage of a bloodstained and shaken Gaddafi dragged by angry fighters cuts away before what could have been the inglorious end, leaving open the question of how exactly the dictator died. Interviews conducted separately with those who say they were present build up a picture of Gaddafi's final hours, and together with t

China accuses Dalai Lama of 'terrorism in disguise'

BEIJING - Beijing on Wednesday accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of encouraging the self-immolations of Tibetan Buddhists in China and said this was "terrorism in disguise". China's foreign ministry said the "Dalai group" -- a reference to the Tibetan spiritual leader and his followers -- had "played up" the protests in southwest China, which have escalated dramatically in recent weeks. "In the wake of the incidents, overseas Tibet independent forces and the Dalai group did not criticise the cases," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told journalists at a regular briefing. "On the contrary, they beautified, played up such issues to incite more people to follow suit. As we know, such splittist activities at the cost of human lives is violence and terrorism in disguise." The Dalai Lama has in the past condemned the practice of self-immolation, which experts say goes against Buddhist ideas on the san

Kenyans feel the heat as war on terrorism begins

NAIROBI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenyans are bracing themselves for tough times as threats of terror attack on the country's interests by Somali's al Shabaab militants hang over nation. Most Kenyans have started to feel the heat of the terror-attack threats as police intensify security and a crackdown on suspected al Shabaab sympathizers in the country. For many Kenyans, the scenario that has started to play out, especially in Nairobi where al Shabaab vowed to bring down skyscrapers, is similar to what happened in America after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack. Now, in Nairobi, there is loss of tranquillity and sense of security as people go about their businesses. On the other hand, Kenyans have to endure all manner of surveillance as they walk around town, enter buildings and travel. Authorities at various skyscrapers in the central business district in Nairobi have intensified scrutiny of both motorists and pedestrians. Vehicles and people have to go through sensor

Roadside Bomb Rocks Somali Capital City

A roadside bomb on Wednesday struck Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu, following Tuesday's bombing killing four persons. The bomb explosion went off in a street, with one person slightly injuried. Witnesses said that the blast was apparently aimed at government vehicle that past the site minutes before the explosion. Reports say that the area around the town of Afmadow where advancing allied Kenyan and Somali government troops who have been battling with Islamist rebels have seen heavy exchange of shelling and Islamist fighters as well as local residents have been fleeing the town. Somali government officials blame Islamist group of Al Shabaab of being behind the Tuesday's suicide car bomb blast that killed at least five people and injured more than ten others. Al Shabaab who have previously took responsibility for similar attacks, have not so far commented on the suicide car bomb as well as the road side bomb explosion in the Somali capital. Source cri english

Afghanistan: Roadside bomb blast kills at least five soldiers

Kabul, 19 Oct. (AKI) - A blast by a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan on Wednesday killed at least five Afghan soldiers, according to news reports. The troops were killed in Herat province when their vehicle struck the bomb. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack that is similar to ones carried out by Taliban insurgents. Herat province spokesman Mohyaddin Noori told the Associated Press that four enlisted troops and one officer died in the blast. They were returning to their base when the explosion tore through their pickup truck, the report said. US-led Nato troops are training the Afghan military to take over responsibility for security by the end of 2014 when the foreign military presence is due to end. Source Andkronol

A bomb blast at Radio Station condemned by NUSOJ

MOGADISHU, Somalia, October 19, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns vehemently a bomb attack on privately owned radio Galkayo on 18 October 2011 by unknown assailants in Galkayo town in Puntalnd region in Somalia. Journalists working for the Radio Galkayo said the bomb, which frightened the staff exploded at the gate of the radio and harmed no body except damages to building of the radio. The journalists said the culprits escaped from the scene after throwing the bomb to the radio station. Their motive is still unknown and no one has claimed responsibility of the attack yet. Security forces from the semiautonomous administration region of Puntland conducted operations in the area, but did not arrest anyone for the attack. Journalist Farhan J. Abdulle of Radio Galakyo told NUSOJ that the bomb has not affected the operations of the radio. Violent attacks against journalists have been increasing in Puntland for the last five

Court releases all remaining jailed Hizbullah suspects

A Turkish court has released all the rest of remaining jailed suspects believed to be members of the outlawed Hizbullah organization, branded as the fundamentalist terrorist organization by the Turkish state.    The 14th İstanbul High Criminal Court has released six suspects, including Mehmet Bahattin Temel, who is believed to be chief of the terrorist organization’s Turkey branch and Hacı İnan. Jailed suspects Fikret Gültekin, Sait Şahin, Mehmet Şefik Temel Mehmet Eşin were also released pending trial by the court. The Turkish Hizbullah is a Kurdish, Sunni fundamentalist organization that arose in the late 1980s in southeastern Turkey. In the early 1990s, when the Turkish government's conflict with the PKK was at its most fierce, Hizbullah began attacking suspected PKK sympathizers. The group has mostly been inactive since the mid-1990s, when the group's top leaders were either killed or arrested in a major crackdown. It was broken up and its leaders were arrested in 2000 a

PKK planning attacks on medical staff

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has recently stepped up its violence on civilians and kidnapped 12 teachers in the southeastern provinces has chosen medical staff as its new target, intelligence reports have shown.   According to a PKK plan which was discovered by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), PKK members have plans to kidnap medical personnel working in Southeast, mainly in Bingöl. The MİT has alerted the gendarmerie and police teams in the region about the PKK’s plans. Security measures have been tightened in the area while medical staff have been told not to go to rural areas alone. The PKK kidnapped 12 teachers in Diyarbakır and Elazığ in September allegedly to draw attention to the Kurds’ demands for education in Kurdish. The PKK, which has been branded a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 to fight for Kurdish autonomy. More than 40,000 people have died in the conflict. Sour

2 FC men killed in bomb blast

QUETTA - Two personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and two others were injured in a remote controlled bomb attack in Tertaj area of Awaran district on Monday. An official of Levies Force Abdul Ghafoor Shah said, an FC convoy was travelling in Awaran City from FC camp near Drasi River when it came under attack. ‘An explosive device was planted alongwith road and it detonated by remote control when FC convoy comprising a vehicle and truck passed by’, he told the reporters. Consequently, two FC personnel died on the spot while two others sustained splinter wounds. The sources said the truck was badly damaged in the blast. Heavy contingent of FC and Levies officials reached the spot and threw a cordon in the area. The deceased and injured were shifted to hospital. The identities of the victims could not be ascertained soon. When contacted FC spokesperson Murtaza Baig, confirmed the incident and said a FC man died and two others were injured. Source Thenationpak

Bomb near Baghdad liquor store kills 7 people

MAZIN YAHYA, Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb blast near a Baghdad liquor store Monday evening killed seven people and injured another 18, Iraqi medical and police officials said. Three of the dead and five of the injured were police officers, the officials said. The information came from police in eastern Baghdad and the hospital where the dead and injured were taken. It was not immediately clear whether the liquor store was the target or the police officers. Police and Iraqi security officials are often targeted by Sunni militants trying to undermine the country's fragile security. Conservative Shiite militant groups have sometimes targeted liquor stores and cafes. Later in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing one civilian and wounding another four people, said hospital and police officials. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. Security has improved dramat

Kharotabad: A Taliban safe haven

ISLAMABAD:  People in Kharotabad are living in constant fear of possible drone attacks in their neighbourhood, considering that over the past six months, the Afghan and local Taliban seemed to covet this part of Quetta as a veritable ‘vacation spot’. Every four months, Taliban fighters return from war fronts in Afghanistan and rent out dozens of residential accommodations in this vicinity,  The Express Tribune  has learnt. Their presence is becoming a major concern for people living in adjoining areas, especially because this is the same area where the US alleges the Quetta Shura is hiding out. A few madrassahs in Kharotabad are also providing ‘free’ accommodation to these militants. They move freely as if to defy invisible observers, who they think are keeping a watch over them, making it obvious to them that Kharotabad is a safe haven for the Taliban. Creating an army Students from religious seminaries in the province are being recruited for the Afghan Taliban movement