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Showing posts from August 18, 2013

Islamist militants slit throats of 44 in northeast Nigeria

Suspected Islamist insurgents have killed 44 people in a village in northeast Nigeria by slitting their throats, officials said today. The pre-dawn attack occurred on Tuesday but the information did not become public until yesterday as phone lines in the region were cut and the village is located in a remote area. An official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the attack took place in Dumba village in Borno state, where an Islamic uprising led by the radical Boko Haram militant group has its roots. The NEMA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attackers slit the throats of their victims, contradicting an earlier claim by the military that the victims were shot. He said the strategy was adopted to avoid sound from gunfire which attracts security forces. According to him, some survivors' eyes were gouged out by the suspected Boko Haram attackers. Earlier this week, a military spokesman announced the death of Boko Haram chief Ibrahim She

Six killed in Bhakkar sectarian clash

BHAKKAR: Six people were killed in a clash between two sects here on Friday.Activists of the defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan took out a rally to protest the murder of their office-bearer by unidentified assailants. The rally was going to Darya Khan from Bhakkar when some people opened fire on the participants at Kotla Jam. The rally participants also retaliated. As a result, six people – three each of the two sects – were killed on the spot while six others were injured. The dead included Khan Muhammad, Kazim Hussain, Imran Sherazi, Abdur Rehman and Ghulam Mustafa. The injured people were shifted to the DHQ Hospital. The situation was tense in the area after the incident. Meanwhile, Rangers and police of Mianwali, Sargodha and Khushab districts have been called to the area to control the situation. Source:  http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-24962-Six-killed-in-Bhakkar-sectarian-clash

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan eject top leader for welcoming peace offer by Nawaz Sharif

Differences emerged among Taliban factions over talks with the government after the main militant group expelled a top commander on Saturday for welcoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's offer to end violence through dialogue. Punjabi Taliban chief Asmatullah Muawiya, who had on Thursday said Sharif had shown maturity by asking rebels to join peace efforts, was expelled by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). A spokesman of the TTP, an umbrella group of over a dozen factions, said Muawiya had no authority to respond to the government's offer as such decisions are solely the domain of the high powered 'Shura' or council. "We have nothing to do with Muawiya from today and we will appoint a new chief of the Punjabi Taliban," said spokesman Shahidullah Shahid. The TTP is headed by warlord Hakimullah Mehsud, a hardliner who has so far rejected all peace moves by the government. Muawiya is also head of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the largest militant

Roadside blast: Bomb jolts Frontier Corps vehicle

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PESHAWAR:  A vehicle of the Frontier Corps (FC) was slightly damaged in a remote-controlled bomb attack on PAF Canal Road in Badhaber on Friday afternoon. An FC convoy was passing through the area when the tyre of one of the trucks burst as a result of the explosion’s impact. There was, however, no loss of life. FC personnel surrounded the area after the blast and fired shots in the air to keep people at a safe distance. The bomb disposal squad (BDS) inspected the site and collected evidence. BDS officials said the device had been strapped on to a motorbike and weighed around one kilogramme. “It was a small homemade device, which is why the convoy escaped unhurt,” said Abdul Haq, a BDS official. He added no ball bearings were used in the attack and the device was detonated via a remote control. Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/594299/roadside-blast-bomb-jolts-frontier-corps-vehicle/

At least 42 die in twin bomb blasts at Lebanon mosques

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TRIPOLI, Lebanon -- Twin explosions outside two mosques killed at least 42 people and wounded hundreds in apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday, a senior health official and witnesses said. The blasts, the biggest and deadliest in Tripoli since the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, struck as Friday prayers ended in the largely Sunni Muslim city. They came a week after a huge explosion killed at least 24 people in a stronghold in Beirut of the Shi'ite Muslim militant movement Hezbollah. A recent resurgence of sectarian violence in Lebanon has been stoked by the war in adjacent Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad is fighting a largely Sunni-led rebellion and Hezbollah has sent fighters into combat on his side. "I see seven bodies inside several burned cars," said a Reuters witness in Tripoli, speaking from the site of the first blast outside the Taqwa mosque that is frequented by hardline Sunni Islamists

‘What’s wrong with Pakistan?: New book lauded for its journey into uncharted waters

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ISLAMABAD:  Religion was exploited during the creation of Pakistan by the ruling elite to strengthen their economic and political rights. This was general consensus of speakers at the launching ceremony of the book, “What is wrong with Pakistan?” at the South Asian Free Media Association on Thursday. Authored by veteran journalist Babar Ayaz, the book investigates key points wherein Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s idea of a secular and liberal Pakistan became obscured by a wave of religious fanaticism. In his book, Ayaz has explored why Muslims came together to demand a separate country and has raised questions no one else has ever dared to ask before. A panelist and renowned journalist Nusrat Javeed lauded the research that went into writing the book, calling the effort a product of patience, time and devotion. “To me the most important part was the extra effort in academic pursuits in the way the Indian Muslim middle classes started a separatist movement,” he said. He

Violent Video Draws Messages Of Intolerance On Russian Social Network

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A video appearing to show four Russian men brutally beating a transgender woman is spreading on Russian social networks. It's the latest known case in a string of so-called vigilante attacks on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Russia. The three-minute clip , posted to a group page on VKontakte, a popular Russian social network, begins with a man using a vulgarity to describe the violence he intends to inflict on the victim. He and three other men then punch and kick her multiple times, before stripping her pants off and attempting to force her to sit on a glass bottle. After the victim breaks the bottle on the ground and runs away, the men chase after her and the video stops. Human rights advocates claim that a recent law banning the "promotion of nontraditional sexual relations" has created an environment that tacitly accepts hatred and even violence against LGBT Russians. Groups calling themselves Occupy Pedophilia and

Tatarstan Deems Manuscripts Of 'Catacomb' Islamic Sect Leader Extremist

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Faizrakhman Sattarov, organizer of a radical Muslim sect in Tatarstan K AZAN, Russia -- A court in Kazan, the capital of Russia's republic of Tatarstan, have designated as extremist the manuscripts of the leader of an underground Islamic sect. The court ruled on August 22 that the writings of Faizrakhman Sattarov "incite interreligious hatred and contradict traditional Islamic teachings." The sect established and run by Sattarov, 84, was officially banned in Tatarstan earlier this year. In August 2012, police found 27 children and 38 adults living in catacomb-like cells that had been dug out eight levels under Sattarov's home. Some children were born underground and had never seen the light of day. The sect was discovered in a suburb of Kazan during an investigation into attacks on Tatarstan's Muslim clerics. The sect, dubbed Faizrakhmanists, does not recognize Russian law or the authority of Tatarstan's mainstream Muslim leaders. Sourc

Does Egypt Chaos Signal Death Of Arab Spring?

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A year ago, Egyptians were voting in their country's first free presidential election. Today, that fleeting glimpse of democracy has been obliterated by a toppled president, military killings of civilians, and increasing talk of civil war. Egyptians are far from the only Arabs who successfully revolted against their rulers during what became known as the Arab Spring and are now living with insecurity and violence . Tunisians and Libyans are enduring bitter power struggles, rampaging militias, and deepening poverty. Syrians face the choice of fleeing abroad or staying behind to risk getting killed in a brutal civil war. In Yemen, a fragile government is struggling with a hostile military, widespread malnutrition, and lawlessness. The lack of democratic progress, and now Egypt's backslide into military rule, has prompted some observers -- including Tawakkul Karman, the Yemeni democracy activist who shared the Nobel Peace prize -- to ask whether the death knel

Saudi Arabia fights extremism to the last Egyptian

Watching Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf states line up behind the bloody counter-revolution in Egypt, you can’t help suspect that these conservative monarchies are ready to fight to the last Egyptian against the Muslim Brotherhood – waging what amounts to a proxy war against the regional threat of Islamist extremism. The events of the past few weeks have been the culmination of a trend building since February 2011, when President Hosni Mubarak was pushed from power in what many influential Saudis saw as American abandonment of a traditional ally. Ever since then the Saudis and other Gulf states have been arguing, publicly and privately, that American power is waning and that they must take more responsibility for their own security. Leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have been disappointed that the United States hasn’t joined them in embracing the military government in Egypt that toppled President Mohammad Morsi. They see this

Hezbollah activist, policeman killed in Syria-related shootout

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TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Three people, including a Hezbollah activist and a policeman, were killed in a gunfight in Tripoli at dawn Thursday, in the latest incident linked to the war in Syria, security sources said. Gunmen from the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood rode motorcycles and fired at Husam al-Mouri, a supporter of Hezbollah, and his two brothers in the Zahrieh area, the sources said. Mouri died instantly, while a Bab al-Tabbaneh resident, identified as Abboudi Akkari, and policeman Fayyad Abdullah were also killed. They said Mouri’s brothers – Anwar and Hashem – suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Witnesses said the gunmen attacked the Mouri brothers after learning that they were trying to reopen a Hezbollah office in the area that had been closed by the Lebanese Army. Also, a bitter dispute had erupted between the Mouri family and members of the pro-Future Movement Afyouni family during violence that had gripped Tripoli, linked to the war in Syria. The Lebanese

German agency warns Windows 8 PCs vulnerable to cyber threats

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FRANKFURT: A German government technology agency has warned that new security technology in computers running Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system may actually make PCs more vulnerable to cyber threats, including sabotage. Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, or BSI, said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday that federal government agencies and critical infrastructure operators should pay particular attention to the risk. The warning comes after weeks of public indignation in Germany over leaks related to U.S. surveillance programs. The spying scandal has become a headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a Sept. 22 election. The problem, according to the BSI, is with the use of a computer chip known as the Trusted Platform Module, or TPM 2.0, which is built into Windows 8 computers. TPM 2.0 is designed to better protect PCs by interacting with a variety of security applications. But the BSI, which provides advice on t

Taliban senior commander killed in east Afghan air raid

ASADABAD, Afghanistan, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Four Taliban militants, including a key commander, have been killed in airstrike in eastern Afghan province of Kunar, an army source said Thursday. "A Taliban high-ranking commander named Qari Zia-u-Rahman along with three other local insurgent leaders was killed in an airstrike carried out by the NATO-led coalition forces. The attack took place in Marawar district Wednesday afternoon when the leaders were holding a meeting there," an army spokesman Mohammad Haroun Yousufi told Xinhua. The Taliban, which has intensified attacks since they launched annual rebel offensive late April, has yet to make comments. The Afghan security forces, supported by the coalition troops, have also intensified operations against Taliban and other militant groups recently. Earlier on Thursday, one child was killed and 15 people were wounded in a suicide bombing in Farah city, the provincial capital of western Farah province. Source:

Daghestan's Kumyks Launch New Attempt To Gain Control Of Ancestral Lands

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S even decades later, the repercussions of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's deportation of entire North Caucasus nations to Central Asia in 1944 continue to be felt. Two people were hospitalized on August 21 in the wake of violent clashes in the district of Karaman, north of Makhachkala, between Kumyks, who say the land is historically theirs, and Laks resettled there over the past 20 years to enable Chechens deported to Central Asia in 1944 and their descendants to return to their homes in what is now Daghestan's Novolak district. Senior Daghestani government officials sent to defuse the tensions pledged to create a commission to seek to reconcile the two peoples' conflicting demands. The estimated 1,000 Kumyks, some of whom converged on Karaman from other parts of the republic, reportedly refused to disperse , however. The Kumyks are a Turkic people who constitute the third-largest ethnic group in Daghestan, after the Avars and Dargins: at the time of the

UN agency rejects anti-Semitism allegations in Israeli film

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN agency for Palestine refugees on Thursday "categorically rejected" allegations made in a film released by an Israeli filmmaker that the agency promoted anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in its summer camps, a UN spokesman said here. "The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said it conducted a lengthy and detailed investigation into the film, called 'Camp Jihad,' which it said is grossly misleading," UN deputy spokesperson Eduardo del Buey told reporters at a daily briefing. "The agency said that the filmmaker concerned has a history of making baseless claims about UNRWA, all of which it has investigated and demonstrated to be patently false," del Buey said. The UNRWA expressed its regret at the damage the film has caused to the UNRWA and the UN. The UN agency is committed to fostering human rights and tolerance, and teaches these values th

'One million' Syrian child refugees

UN agencies say the number of children forced to flee Syria has reached one million, describing the figure as "a shameful milestone". The UN's refugee agency and Unicef say a further two million children are displaced within the country. More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He has also called for an investigation "without delay" into the recent alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus. Activists say hundreds were killed in Wednesday's attack, and Mr Ban is sending disarmament chief Angela Kane to Damascus to press for an investigation, his spokesman Eduardo del Buey said on Thursday. 'Traumatised' The UN says children now make up half of all refugees fleeing Syria. About three-quarters of those children are under 11. "The youth of Syria are losing their homes, their family members and their futures," said UN high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres. "Even

Kenya issues terror alert in port city Mombasa

MOMBASA, Kenya, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police on Thursday issued a major terrorism alert in the tourism resort city of Mombasa after intelligence reports indicated that Al-Qaida linked Al-Shabaab may be planning an attack next week. Regional police commander Robert Kitur told journalists they have received information that the militants plan a major attack on the anniversary of the late Muslim cleric Sheik Aboud Rogo. "Security apparatus have been put on higher alert. From today, there will be concentrating at crowded areas which are most prone to terrorism attacks," Kitur said and reaffirmed that security agencies have been beefed up. Kitur said that the information has been widely shared among key security agencies to curb the planned attack and appealed to residents to be extra vigilant, especially in crowded areas, and share information with security agencies. Mombasa, the country's second largest city and a major tourist spot, is one of the

Rights of minorities: ‘Ahmadis not allowed to do business in Muslim areas’

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LAHORE:  A man was forced to abandon his woodworking business and flee Gujranwala with his family after his erstwhile friends and neighbours discovered that he was an Ahmadi, The Express Tribune has learnt. Imran Ahmed, 35, started out as a daily wager at a woodwork shop in Gujranwala. He saved up money for three years, then invested Rs100,000 in machinery and setting up his own workshop. As his business grew, he hired two carpenters to work for him. “Things were going really well, but nobody knew I was an Ahmadi,” he said. Ahmed said that his was the only Ahmadi family in Rana Colony in Gujranwala and he kept this a secret as he feared being victimised. He got along well with his neighbours and one day, when he was injured in a motorcycle accident, they came to ask after him. Inside his house, they saw pictures of Ahmadi personalities. “Their mood totally changed and they left without even having tea,” he said. Things changed dramatically for Ahmed. He said some

War Within A War: Kurds, Arabs Battle In Northern Syria

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I slamist and Kurdish militias are fighting a war within a war in Syria that is not just creating tens of thousands of new refugees. It's also increasingly becoming an ethnic-based conflict between Arabs and Kurds that gives new reasons to worry Syria will break apart. A glimpse of the increasingly ethnic dimension of the combat in northern Syria comes as tens of thousands of mostly Kurdish refugees have crossed into Iraq since fighting broke out in the middle of last month. One of the refugees told RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq that Arab Islamist groups regarded killing Kurds as "halal," or religiously condoned. "There is violence and killing and kidnapping in the Kurdish areas. They made Kurdish blood 'halal,'" he said. The man, who did not give his name, is among the tens of thousands of people who have crossed into Iraq since August 15. One young woman said she had personally seen the killings of Kurds in Qamishli, a mixed city of

Karachi attack: Bomb targeting army truck kills two

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KARACHI:  A Pakistan Army soldier and a civilian were killed and over a dozen others, mostly army troops, were wounded in a bomb blast targeting a military truck in Karachi late Thursday. The blast took place around 10:00pm at Korangi No. 5 outside the Rangers Headquarters Wing 84 when a truck carrying Pakistan Army troops cruised past, police said. Two persons were killed and 18 others, including 11 army troops, were injured. The fatalities were identified as Lance Naik Tariq and passerby Kashif. Law enforcers threw a security cordon around the areas after the blast. They also fired gunshots into the air after they discovered another bomb weighing over 10kgs at the site. Explosive experts were called in to defuse the second device. “It was a remotely-detonated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and the apparent target was the army truck,” DIG District East Captain (retd) Tahir Naveed said of the first bomb. He added that the bomb weighed around 6kgs and it was pl

Bomb blast: Taliban commander, five colleagues killed in Wana

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DI KHAN:  A Taliban commander and five of his colleagues were killed in a bomb explosion near a border village of Wana in South Waziristan. Commander Ghulam Jan, accompanied by his bodyguards, was returning from Shah Alam Bazaar and heading towards his home in Manra at the time of the attack. Jan and his colleagues died on the spot. It was not clear whether the explosion was caused by a landmine or his vehicle was booby-trapped, a security official told The Express Tribune . No one has so far claimed responsibility for the killing. Ghulam Jan, 44, was a member of the Ghani Khel tribe, a sub-clan of the Zale Khel Wazir, and a resident of the most backward area of Wana, called Shah Alam. He was largely unlettered and had reportedly been involved in robberies and other crimes before al Qaeda and Taliban groups gained ascendancy in the area. Jan had neither participated in the Afghan jihad against Soviet occupation (1979-1989) nor had he ever been associated with the d

37 killed, 64 wounded in attacks across Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Separate attacks across Iraq killed at least 37 people and injured 64 others on Thursday, the country's police said. Nine people were killed and 27 others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded during a wedding ceremony of a Shiite family in Dujail, 60 km north of Baghdad, on Thursday evening, a local police officer said. Dujail is a Shiite Muslim town surrounded by Sunni areas. Tensions between the two Islam branches have escalated because the Sunnis feel increasingly marginalized by the Shiite-led government in Iraq. Unknown gunmen opened fire at a woman and killed her on the spot in front of her house in Zahra neighborhood, east of Mosul, the police said, adding that eight people, including two soldiers, were wounded when a car bomb exploded in Tal Afar, 70 km west of Mosul. Also on Thursday, a car bomb went off at a parking lot of a government office in the city center of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, wounding two policem

Belmokhtar's militants 'merge' with Mali's Mujao

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An al-Qaeda-linked group led by Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar says it has merged with another group to take revenge against France for its military campaign in Mali. Belmokhtar's Masked Men Brigade and the Mali-based Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) have formed Al-Murabitoun, a statement said. In July, the US offered a $5m (£3.2m) reward for Belmokhtar's capture. He is accused of masterminding a deadly siege at an Algerian plant in January. The US has charged him with hostage-taking, kidnapping and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. Three US citizens were among at least 37 hostages killed when Algerian troops stormed the Tigantourine plant to end the siege. In May, Mujao and Belmokhtar's group jointly carried out twin suicide attacks in Niger on a military camp and a French-run uranium mine, killing 25 people. 'Routing France' "Your brothers in Mujao and Al-Mulathameen [Masked Men Brigade] announce thei

Baloch journalist Abdul Razzaq killed in Karachi

The mutilated body of journalist Haji Abdul Razzak has been identified by his family, a day after it was found in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. The Balochistan-based journalist had been missing since 24 March. He was tortured to death. His body was discovered on Wednesday alongside another mutilated body in Karachi's Surjani Town area. It is not clear who killed Mr Razzak. Pakistan is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists. It took Mr Razzak's family 24 hours to identify him because only his arms and legs were sufficiently intact to enable identification. "After kidnapping him, he was severely tortured to death," his sister Saeeda Sarbazi told the BBC. The BBC's Ahmed Wali Mujeeb in Karachi says Mr Razzak worked for the daily Balochi-language newspaper Tawar where he was a senior sub-editor. Reports say he was also linked to a Balochi political party. "Journalists in Balochistan and the Tribal Areas are con

German MPs warn of neo-Nazi threat after ethnic Turk deaths

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Beate Zschaepe (centre) is the main defendant in the trial in Munich German MPs have demanded much tighter surveillance of neo-Nazi activities, after investigating a notorious series of murders targeting ethnic Turks. MPs said Germany's police and justice officials must exchange intelligence on neo-Nazis, improve training and recruit more ethnic minorities. Their report condemned "major failures" by security services who had not suspected a violent neo-Nazi cell. An alleged member of the cell, Beate Zschaepe, went on trial in May. The cell is accused of 10 murders in Germany, spanning seven years. The mishandling of the case triggered much criticism, focusing on the failure to explore a racist motive and the initial suspicions about the victims' relatives and friends. It also emerged that the police had used unreliable undercover informers. The MPs in a cross-party special committee made 47 recommendations, highlighting lessons to be learnt from the bl