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Showing posts from August 11, 2013

Erdogan says PKK fighters still in Turkey

ANKARA: Turkey's prime minister has accused the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of failing to withdraw its fighters from Turkey as agreed under a peace process, press reports said Saturday. The PKK agreed this year to withdraw its estimated 2,000 fighters to their bases in northern Iraq. In return, it is demanding wider constitutional rights for Turkey's 15 million Kurds. No deadline was set for the withdrawal, but a ceasefire agreement reached in March states that the peace process cannot proceed further until it is completed. "The promises made by the PKK to withdraw from Turkish soil have not been fulfilled." "Only 20 percent have left Turkey, and they are mostly women and children," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying Friday. Some 45,000 people have died in the Kurdish conflict since 1984. Under a roadmap to end the insurgency, in May the PKK began withdrawing its fighters in Turkey to safe havens in Iraq's autonomous

Qaida’s breast bomb threat at Heathrow airport

LONDON: Britain has credible intelligence that female suicide bombers with explosives concealed in breast implants are planning to blow up Heathrow airport. Security agencies have found that al-Qaida's chief bomb-maker Ibrahim al-Asiri has developed a method to conceal explosives from airport scanners in an implant or bodily cavity.  A large contingent of female suicide bombers have been recruited. "We have been told to pay particular attention to females who may have concealed explosives in their breasts," the airport authorities said Security checks have been beefed up at UK's Heathrow airport after intelligence reports surfaced that al-Qaida is plotting attacks on airlines flying out of London. Increased surveillance led to long queues at Heathrow on Friday.  The warning comes just days after the UK shut down some of its foreign missions following a warning from Interpol that a series of jailbreaks across nine countries in the past month, including in Iraq

Tungsten: From the FARC’s mine in Colombia to global supply lines?

It’s a sweltering day in March, and Javier Garcia slogs through the dense undergrowth in a remote stretch of the Amazon jungle in southeastern Colombia. He and a friend have hiked all day toward their goal, a mining site more than 60 miles from the nearest town, hacking through the thorny brush with machetes. Finally, the two arrive at a small clearing pocked with shallow holes gouged into the sandy red ground. A torrential rain starts to fall. Garcia, 30 and a Puinawai Indian, squats by a stream, takes a shovel out of his pack and scoops dirt into a sifter made from a rusty screen. Like gold prospectors, the men swish watery red mud around a flat wooden pan until pebbles containing a metal called tantalum appear. “It’s hard work but worth it,” Garcia says. Amazon Indians such as Garcia, who inhabit a Denmark-size region along the borders with Venezuela and Brazil, have for decades made a living exploring the rain forest for valuable rocks that contain tantalum and tungsten, b

Egypt: Brother of al Qaeda chief arrested

Cairo: Egyptian authorities have arrested the brother of al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, a security official said on Saturday. He said Mohammed al-Zawahiri, leader of the ultraconservative Jihadi Salafist group, was detained at a checkpoint in Giza, the city across the Nile from Cairo. Mohammed al-Zawahiri's group espouses a hard-line ideology but was not clandestine prior to Egypt's July 3 coup. He was allied with ousted President Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist, whose supporters are now taking to the streets to protest the killings of its supporters in a security crackdown last week. The official declined to give further details. Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/egypt-brother-of-al-qaeda-chief-arrested_869721.html

US Sends Warship to Bahrain amid Regime Crackdown

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, one of the largest warships in the world, has been stationed off the coast of Bahrain as the kingdom steps up its brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters. The warship moved towards Bahrain in recent days, with the USS Truman in close proximity as part of its fresh 9 month deployment to the Persian Gulf.  The Nimitz, with a crew of 5,000 sailors, arrived in Bahrain for a five-day port visit. The deployment came ahead of August 14 celebrations of Bahrain’s independence from the United Kingdom which unleashed a fresh wave of protests against the US-backed regime. At the US Navy base in Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet headquarters is located, US officials said operations were “normal and regular.” Source:  http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=18&frid=18&eid=106258

Seven wounded in blast in Philippine capital region

Beijing: Seven people were injured in a blast that took place in San Juan city of Philippine's capital area on Saturday, police said. The blast occurred at 1:10 am at a noodle house along Wilson street in San Juan. The wounded included three workers of the noodle house, the driver of a taxi that was passing by, two Pizza Hut workers and a security guard, said Eastern Police District head Miguel Laurel. The blast also damaged some nearby buildings including a Pizza Hut branch. The cause of the blast is still under investigation, Laurel said. "We cannot conclude the cause of the blast yet because the blast site is still being processed by the Scene of the Crime Operatives. We are still conducting investigation," Laurel said. Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/seven-wounded-in-blast-in-philippine-capital-region_869732.html

Maoist leader beaten to death in Jhargram

Jhargram: A prominent Maoist leader belonging to the Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) was on Saturday beaten to death by irate villagers in Jhargram police district of West Bengal. Hemanta Mahato (20) came to Nedabahara village to take part in a rally organised to protest against yesterday's arrest of Gram Panchayat member and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Sukumar Murmu. Following an altercation, irate villagers beat Mahato to death fearing violence during the rally, Jhargram superintendent of police Bharati Ghosh said. Murmu was arrested by the police yesterday after a landmine device was recovered from his residence. Mahato, a prominent Maoist, had three police cases pending against him, Ghosh said Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/west-bengal/maoist-leader-beaten-to-death-in-jhargram_869718.html

Iraq attacks kill 12 security personnel

Baghdad: Gunmen killed 12 policemen and soldiers while a truck bomb hit a port in Iraq on Saturday, the latest in a surge in violence that authorities have failed to curb. Security forces have in recent weeks carried out some of their biggest operations since the 2011 withdrawal of US forces, but analysts and diplomats have said authorities have not addressed the root causes of the violence. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has nevertheless vowed to press on with the campaign in a bid to combat Iraq's worst violence since 2008, and today the interior ministry's spokesman announced the killing of an alleged senior Al Qaeda-linked militant. In today's deadliest attack, gunmen opened fire on an army post in the town of Madain, just southeast of Baghdad, in a pre-dawn attack that left five soldiers dead and three others wounded, police and a medical source said. Among the dead was a lieutenant colonel. The gunmen fled the scene after the attack, and security f

Norway: Man detained for raising Syria money

Oslo: A man has been detained in Oslo on suspicion of raising money for Syria which could have gone to a terrorist group, Norway's domestic intelligence service said on Saturday. Martin Bernsen, a spokesman for the police security service, said the man was detained yesterday and released, though he remains a suspect and faces a preliminary charge of financially supporting a terror organisation. Preliminary charges are a step short of formal charges and a conviction on that charge carries a maximum prison sentence of six years. "We are worried that the money that is gathered and send to Syria could end in the hands of al Qaeda or al Qaeda- related persons," Bernsen said. "Every year, large sums leave the country. We are talking about millions." Police did not identify the suspect, but Norwegian broadcaster TV2 said he was Farid Bendriss of the Al Furqan Relief group. The organisation said on Facebook that police seized 300,000 kroner (USD 50,73

Peru’s beating the Shining Path, but needs a new strategy

A joint intelligence operation carried out by the Peruvian military and police has yielded major results in the country’s war against the Shining Path ( Sendero Luminoso , or SL), a narco-terrorist movement.  On August 11 , a firefight broke out between Peruvian security personnel and a group of Shining Path fighters, resulting in the death of two leaders of the terrorist movement: “Alipio” ( Alejandro Borda Casafranca ), “Gabriel,” (< Marco Antonio Quispe Palomino ) and “Alfonso,” Alipio’s second in command. The Shining Path is a terrorist organization that launched a so-called “people’s war” in the early 1980s. Its aim? To install a Maoist government in Peru, with its leader, Abimael Guzman, as the head of state (he was known among his cadres as Presidente Gonzalo or Comrade Gonzalo, after his self-applied nom de guerre). After a period of terror throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, during which the Shining Path utilized car bombs as its trademark modus operandi, the group l

Afghan forces kill 36 Taliban fighters in 24 hours

KABUL, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police in coordination with the national army and the NATO-led troops have killed 36 armed Taliban militants across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Saturday. During the operations which had been carried out in Nangarhar, Baghlan, Zabul, Logar and Paktia provinces, five more militants sustained injuries and four others made captive. Police have also discovered and defused 31 different types of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines placed by the militants for destructive activities in Parwan, Kandahar, Ghazni and Helmand provinces. However, it did not say if there were any casualties on the security forces. Taliban militants have not made any comments.  sOURCE: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/17/c_132639061.htm

Gunmen kill female politician in Pakistan

Gunmen shot dead a secular female politician from Pakistan's troubled northwest after breaking into her home at night, police said on Saturday. Najma Hanif, 35, was a senior member of the Awami National Party (ANP) which is known for its outspoken views against the Taliban and backed military operations against the insurgents while it ruled the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.     Police said the gunmen, who have not yet been identified, used a silenced pistol in their attack on Friday night.     "One or two attackers entered the house and killed her," said Mohammad Faisal, a senior police officer in the city of Peshawar where the shooting happened.     The motive was not immediately clear but Hanif's husband and son along with their bodyguard were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in November 2011.     The ANP led the province and was a member of the ruling coalition in the centre from 2008 until elections earlier this year.    

’Climate of Islamophobia’: Two Attackers Rip Veil off French Girl

A 16-year old girl was attacked in Paris suburb and had the Islamic veil she was wearing torn from her face. As anti-Islamic attacks in France soar, a French Muslim leader condemned what he called the ‘climate of Islamophobia’ and urged the government to act.  The teenager was leaving a friend’s house in Trappes at about 5:45 pm, when she was attacked by two “European looking” men, one of whom was also described as having a shaven head. Her assailants then shouted anti-Muslim and racist abuse at her, while brandishing a box cutter, before tearing off her veil, pushing her to the ground and hitting her. A third man intervened saving the girl and the attackers fled by car. The victim was driven to hospital in Trappes, the same blighted suburb of Paris that saw violent clashes between police and mainly Muslim youths last month. A source told the newspaper le Parisien that she was treated for “light scratch marks” on her face and throat. She reported the incident to the police on Tu

Indonesia arrests suspected terrorist financier

BANGKOK, Thailand – The anti-terror unit Detachment 88 on Friday (August 9th) arrested a suspect who allegedly raised funds to finance May's foiled plot to bomb the Burmese Embassy in Jakarta and the successful bombing of a Buddhist temple last week, local media reported. National Police spokesperson Ronny F. Sompie told reporters Sunday that police apprehended Muhammad Syaiful Sabani, alias Ipul, in a hotel parking lot in downtown Yogyakarta. "He amassed funds to finance the terror acts of Rohadi and Sigit Indrajit," a reference to two suspected terrorists arrested in late May in separate raids, The Bangkok Post quoted Ronny as saying. Those raids were conducted based on information supplied by accomplices who were arrested May 2nd while they were en route to the embassy carrying homemade bombs. They purportedly wanted to retaliate for the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma. Police also arrested an associate of Ipul's on Friday -- Bayu Dwi Ardiant

Analysts: Shining Path bruised, far from defeated

LIMA,  Peru  (AP) — The ambush killing of what Peruvian authorities say is almost certainly half the  Shining Path 's four-man leadership comes amid a territorial expansion by the cocaine-fueled insurgency and, analysts say, is not apt to cripple it. DNA tests were being done Tuesday seeking to confirm that among the dead were " Comrade Alipio ," the band's military chief, and " Comrade Gabriel ," the youngest of the three  Quispe Palomino brothers  who led an estimated 500-strong remnant of a rebel movement that terrorized Peru in the 1980s and 1990s. Shining Path "will now try to retool, because they always have young guys who want to advance," said Peru's armed forces chief, Adm.  Jose Cueto . He said an explosion apparently triggered by bullets during a firefight and an ensuing conflagration killed the two rebels Sunday night along with Alipio's security chief, a man in his mid-20s. The bodies were burned beyond recognition.

UK's media regulator fines Sikh channel for inciting violence

LONDON: Britain's media regulator has imposed a hefty fine of 30,000 pounds on a Sikh television channel for "seriously" breaching its code by broadcasting a programme inciting violence within the community against members of the Indian Army. Sangat TV, a Birmingham-based satellite channel which broadcasts in Punjabi and English, will have to pay the fine for breaching Ofcom's code by broadcasting a programme that incited Sikhs to take violent action against Lieutenant General KS Brar and other members of the Indian armed forces. The discussion programme aired in October last year following an attack here on Lieutenant General KS Brar, who led the Indian Army's Operation Blue Star against Sikh separatists at the Golden temple in Amritsar in 1984. Some of the panellists on the show said that Brar deserved to be attacked and congratulated the perpetrators. Last month, three men and a woman of Sikh origin were found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to