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Showing posts from December 29, 2013

'Russian bin Laden' mastermind behind Sochi Olympics threat?

ANI    Washington, January 2, 2014 |  Two suicide bombings in Russian city of Volgograd just before the opening of Sochi Olympics have renewed fears that a Chechen terrorist known as the 'Russian bin Laden' may be behind the blasts.  The 'Russian bin Laden' is committing or inspiring more attacks on so-called soft targets, and possibly major international sporting events.  According to the Washington Times, such concerns came to light in April amid evidence that one of the two young Chechen immigrants who carried out two deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon drew inspiration from Doku Umarov.  Umarov is the 49-year-old leader of the regional terrorist network known as the Caucasus Emirate whose stated goal is to establish an Islamic state inside Russia. U.S. and Russian intelligence are trying to gather information on how and what active role Umarov may have played in plotting and ordering the two suicide bombings in Volgograd.  Nearly 29 people were killed in the two

Indian Mujahideen more lethal due to support from Pak: US report

PTI    Washington, January 3, 2014 |  The outlawed terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM) is more lethal and resilient because of the support it receives from Pakistan, according to a new report by an American thinktank. The report 'Jihadist Violence: The Indian Threat' by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars underlines that the Indian jihadist movement constitutes an "internal security issue with an external dimension." "The Indian jihadist movement formed organically and as a result of endogenous factors, specifically communal grievances and a desire for revenge, but is more lethal and more resilient than it otherwise would have been, thanks to external support from the Pakistani state and Pakistan and Bangladesh-based militant groups," said the 100-page report. The decentralized IM network has a loose leadership currently based in Pakistan, but moving between there and the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, said the report authored by not

Bomb in North Sinai kills Egyptian soldier, wounds two others

A bomb exploded under an armoured vehicle near the Egyptian North Sinai town of Areesh on Saturday, killing one army soldier and wounding at least two others, security sources told Reuters. Armed men planted the explosive device on the road used by army vehicles in Egypt's campaign against militant Islamists in Sinai, the sources said. It went off when the armoured vehicle drove over it. Egypt has struggled with security in the Sinai peninsula since the ouster of autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Hardline Islamists exploited the security vacuum after Mubarak's fall to launch attacks into Israel and on Egyptian targets. Violence surged in North Sinai, near the border with Israel, after the army overthrew the country's first elected Islamist leader Mohamed Mursi on July 3 last year, prompted by mass protests against his rule. Egypt has since launched a wide crackdown against Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, which it declared a terrorist group on Dec. 25. It has also step

Influential Syrian opposition bloc to reject peace talks

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An influential bloc within the Western-backed Syrian opposition is expected to vote on Saturday against participating in talks aimed at ending the nearly three-year conflict, members said. The Syrian National Council has opposed attending the January 22 negotiations because it says world powers have not done enough to force President Bashar al-Assad to cede power. Assad's forces have been gaining ground against the moderate rebel fighters backed by the opposition in recent months and he currently faces little pressure to make concessions. The council is part of a broader opposition coalition which is due to make its final decision on whether to attend the Geneva 2 talks on Monday. A vote by the council to stay away would put further pressure on the fractious coalition, which has said it is ready to attend Geneva 2 in principle, but would not necessarily force its hand. Syria was plunged into civil war after an uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and descended into armed in

Nearly million people displaced by CAR conflict - UN

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3 January 2014   As the number of displaced grows, there is also the threat of violence at some of the relief camps The number of internally displaced people in the Central African Republic (CAR) has more than doubled to 935,000 since December, the UN says. Around 500,000 have fled their homes in the capital Bangui alone - almost half the city's population. Some 60% of those displaced are children. The  UN also warned  the escalating violence was hampering efforts to reach "those in need of urgent assistance". The conflict has pitted Christian and Muslim militias against each other. The CAR is ruled by Muslim ex-rebel leader Michel Djotodia who seized power last March, forcing then-President Francois Bozize, who came from the majority Christian population, to flee into exile. The African Union has sent nearly 4,000 troops while France, the former colonial power, has also deployed 1,600 soldiers there. Many foreign governments have begun to evacuate their citizens. 'Hi

S Sudan Peace Talks Delayed; Need for Agenda Cited -

Peace talks between warring parties in South Sudan scheduled to be held in Ethiopia were delayed Saturday because the sides haven't yet agreed upon an agenda, an official said. Mahboub M. Maalim, the executive secretary of an East African bloc of states known as IGAD, confirmed the talks were delayed. Officials had hoped direct peace talks would begin Saturday after preliminary talks on Friday. The slow start to peace talks is a worrying sign for South Sudan, which has seen spiraling, ethnic-based violence the last three weeks. President Salva Kiir accuses the former vice president, Riek Machar, of an attempted coup. Machar denies the accusation, but forces loyal to him now control two state capitals, including the town of Bor, about 120 kilometers (70 miles) north of the country capital, Juba. A spokesman for Machar, Yohanis Musa Pouk, said that peace talks won't be held unless a clear agenda is set first. Pouk said preliminary talks Friday were good but he couldn't predic

One dead, dozens of voting booths hit in Bangladesh: police

A Bangladeshi opposition activist has died and dozens of voting booths have been attacked in Bangladesh on the eve of the country's elections. Police said the protester was killed in clashes with supporters of the ruling Awami League in the northern town of Patgram as the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) enforced a 48-hour nationwide strike to resist what its calls a "farcical" election on Sunday. "We don't know his identity but he is from either the BNP or Jamaat-e-Islami party," a police chief in Patgram said. Police and election officials said protesters had set fire to or attempted to torch 34 polling booths during the first day of the strike on Saturday. Officials said the attacks would not derail the election and that alternative arrangements had been made for voters to cast ballots in the affected areas. "There won't be any cancellation of polls in my region," Mohammad Abdullah, government administrator in the south-eas

17 killed in clashes as Morsi's supporters rally in Egypt

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PTI : Cairo |  Sat Jan 04 2014, 18:01 hrs More than 1,000 people, mostly Islamists, died in street clashes. At least 17 people were killed in clashes across Egypt during nationwide protests, demanding the reinstatement of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. The deaths of Muslim Brotherhood activists were reported in capital Cairo, Alexandria, the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, Fayoum and Minya, Egyptian health ministry said Friday. Since Morsi's ouster last year, his supporters have staged near-daily protests, particularly after Friday prayers, calling for his reinstatement. But their numbers have dwindled amid a violent government crackdown. More than 1,000 people, mostly Islamists, died in street clashes following his overthrow, and thousands have been imprisoned. Yesterday's protests came as a pro-Morsi National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy, which is spearheading the protest movement, called for demonstrations ahead of the resumption of his trial on Wednesday. He w

Yemen: Clashes in the north leave 17 dead

Yemeni security officials say renewed clashes in the north between rebels belonging to a Shiite-branch of Islam and ultraconservative Salafis backed by allying tribes have killed 17. The officials say Saturday's clashes were in Amran province, one of three fronts where battles are raging between Hawthi rebels and Salafis. Two other fronts with sporadic fighting are in the adjacent Saada and al-Jawf provinces, bordering Saudi Arabia. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is expected to send meditators. The fight over the northern region is taking a sectarian undertone as Salafis are accused of trying to spread their school of thought in a stronghold of Hawthis, who belong to the Zaydi sect. Source  http://world.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26264&external=2479266.proteus.fma

Central African Republic violence displaces nearly 1 millionUN says violence hampering aid efforts

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Violence in Central African Republic has uprooted nearly a million people, a fifth of the population, and is hampering aid efforts, particularly in the capital Bangui, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). A flare-up in violence between Muslim fighters and Christian militias has displaced more than 200,000 people in the past few weeks alone, leaving a total of 935,000 homeless. A Muslim rebel group, the Seleka, unleashed a wave of killing and looting after seizing power in March, and the deployment of 1,600 French and nearly 4,000 African Union peacekeepers has done little to contain the tit-for-tat violence between religious communities. In the riverside capital alone, more than 510,000 people are displaced — equivalent to more than half the city's population, UNHCR said. Just over half of them are children. 'It's a horrible situation. We have heard a lot about revenge attacks happening inside health centres, where armed elements have gone and attacked patients.'

Taliban attack kills 1 NATO soldier in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan –   Officials say a Taliban attack on a joint NATO-Afghan base in eastern Afghanistan has killed one NATO soldier. Spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai in Nangarhar province says the attack took place on Saturday morning when a suicide bomber struck outside the base in the province's Ghani Khail district. After that, five Taliban fighters on foot tried to storm the base. Abdulzai says Afghan and NATO troops returned fire, killing the attackers. NATO said a service member had died following a suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan. The alliance did not identify the soldier's nationality. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to the media. Afghan insurgents have intensified attacks recently in a campaign to regain territory as foreign forces prepare to leave at the end of 2014. Source  http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/04/taliban-attack-kills-1-nato-soldier-in-afghanistan/

11 killed in Karachi violence

Police officer, injured in firing, dies in hospital ians January 4, 2014 Islamabad: At least 11 people were killed in different incidents of violence in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi Saturday, a media report said. According to a Dawn online report, unidentified gunmen fired indiscriminately at a juice shop in the city’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area, killing the shop owner and two other people. Four people, who were injured in the attack, were shifted to hospital. In a separate incident, two brothers were shot in the same area Saturday. In Nipa Chowrangi area, two madrassa students were gunned down, following which protestors blocked roads and burned tyres. Meanwhile, a man was killed in the city’s Federal-B area whereas two people were killed in Gulshan-e-Hadeed and Golimar areas. A police officer, who was injured in a firing incident in Sachal Goth area earlier Saturday, died in a hospital. The largest metropolitan city of Pakistan, Karachi is riddled with targeted killings, gang wars, kidn

Islamists rally in capital to protest killing of two clerics

Victims were gunned down in apparent sectarian attack AP January 4, 2014 Islamabad: A Pakistani police official says more than 2,000 Islamists from a hard-line Sunni group have rallied in Islamabad to condemn the killing of two of their clerics, gunned down in an apparent sectarian attack the previous day. Police official Mohammed Shami says the protesters also held a funeral ceremony for the two on a street near the Parliament building on Saturday. Afterward, the clerics’ bodies were taken to a nearby graveyard for burial. Shami says gunmen ambushed and killed the clerics on Friday. The two were from the Ahle Sunnat Waljamaat group, which is linked to the outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba extremist group that has been accused of killing thousands of Shiites in recent years. No one claimed responsibility for the attack but the protesters blamed Pakistan’s minority Shiites for it. Source  http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/islamists-rally-in-capital-to-protest-killing-of-two-clerics-1.127382

Al Qaida takes city in Iraq, faces war in Syria

Iraq says it has lost Fallujah to Isil, while Syrian rebels form alliance for ‘revolution’ against it Gulf News Report January 4, 2014 Dubai: Iraq has lost Fallujah to Al Qaida-linked fighters, a senior security official said on Saturday, putting militants who repeatedly battled American forces for the city back in control. “Fallujah is under the control of Isil,” a senior security official in Anbar province said, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. “It has turned into a ghost town,” a resident said. “Everything is closed, and streets are empty except for gunmen, and gunfire is frequently heard.” The Iraqi army shelled Fallujah with mortar bombs overnight to try to wrest back control, killing at least eight people, tribal leaders and officials said on Saturday. Isil has been tightening its grip in the province, near the Syrian border, in recent months in a bid to create an Islamic state across the Iraqi-Syrian borders. In Ramadi, the other main city in Anbar, tribesm

Top Al-Qaeda suspect dies in Lebanese custody

The senior commander of an Al-Qaeda-linked armed group, which has killed 23 people in a November bomb blast in Beirut, has died days after he was arrested by Lebanese army. Lebanese army and judicial sources said Majid al-Majid, a Saudi citizen who was the senior leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, died on Saturday after suffering kidney failure. The man, believed to be responsible for attacks across the Middle East before focusing on Syria, was held at an undisclosed place in Lebanon. He was one of the 85 most-wanted individuals in his native Saudi Arabia. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed it carried out the November 19 twin suicide bombings that targeted the Iranian embassy in Beirut. The explosions killed at least 23 people and left more than a hundred injured. Nearly three years of violence in neighbouring Syria has exacerbated sectarian strife in multi-confessional Lebanon, as politicians sided with rival groups in Syria. Sunni radicals and the Shia group Hezbollah have engag

New Syria rebel alliance declares war on Al-Qaeda

A newly formed   Syria n rebel alliance has declared war on the powerful Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and joined other opposition groups in battling the extremists. "We, the Army of the Mujahideen, pledge to defend ourselves and our honour, wealth and lands, and to fight ISIL, which has violated the rule of God, until it announces its dissolution," said the new alliance of eight groups, in a statement published on Facebook Friday. The alliance demanded that ISIL fighters either join the ranks of other rebel groups "or hand over their weapons and leave Syria." The alliance accused ISIL of "spreading strife and insecurity... in liberated (rebel) areas, spilling the blood of fighters and wrongly accusing them of heresy, and expelling them and their families from areas they have paid heavily to free" from Assad's regime. The Army of Mujahideen also accused ISIL of theft and looting, and of "kidnapping, killing and to

French support for Central African intervention fast eroding - poll

PARIS (Reuters) - French public support for France's military intervention in Central African Republic is rapidly waning a month since Paris deployed troops to quell sectarian violence in its former colony, a poll showed on Saturday. Only 41 percent of those questioned were in favour of the operation, down from 51 percent shortly after Paris deployed 1,600 troops in the country, according to an Ifop poll. Paris sent troops to Central African Republic, a country the size of France, to disarm Christian militias and largely Muslim Seleka rebels who ousted ex-President Francois Bozize in March. However, the deployment of the French troops and nearly 4,000 African Union peacekeepers has done little to contain the tit-for-tat violence between the religious communities, which has displaced nearly one million people, according to the United Nation's refugee agency. The Ifop poll also showed that a majority of French people still support France's operation in Mali, launched in Janua

Iraq army, tribes join forces against al Qaeda

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Dressed in black and waving al Qaeda flags, Islamist insurgents battled tribesmen for control of the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Friday, while in Fallujah they grabbed loudspeakers after weekly prayers to call for support. The militants, who have been tightening their grip on the Anbar region near war-torn Syria for months, stormed police stations in both cities on Wednesday. The next day, the Sunni tribesmen made a deal with Iraq's Shi'ite-led government to fight them. Dozens of militants were reported killed on Friday. "There is no way to let al Qaeda keep any foothold in Anbar," said one tribal leader, who asked not to be named. "The battle is fierce and not easy because they are hiding inside residential areas." The turmoil, and recent deadly attacks in Lebanon, illustrate how the war in Syria, where mostly Sunni rebels are battling President Bashar al Assad, who is backed by Shi'ite power Iran, threatens to tear apart neighbouring co

Turkish court orders jailed Kurdish lawmakers be freed

By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court ordered the release from jail on Friday of two Kurdish lawmakers being tried for links to militants in a potential boost to a fragile peace process. Gulser Yildirim and Ibrahim Ayhan won seats for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in a 2011 election but have been held on remand for several years, accused of supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. A judge in the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir ruled in favour of freeing them after the constitutional court said their imprisonment infringed their rights as elected officials. The constitutional court ruled later on Friday that three other Kurdish deputies were also being held unjustly, paving the way for them too to be freed as their trials continue. Their release could see them take their parliamentary oaths, helping build confidence in peace talks between Ankara and the PKK aimed at ending a conflict in Turkey's mainly Kurdish sout

9 killed in Mexican jail shootout

CNN)   -- At least nine people were killed in a shootout between gunmen and inmates at a jail in a city about 120 miles southwest of Mexico City, officials said. The gun battle happened inside the Tuxpan jail in the city of Iguala on Friday in the early morning hours, the Guerrero state attorney general's office said in a news release. Six gunmen managed to enter the jail by pretending to be public officials bringing a new inmate inside, the office said. Once inside, the gunmen initiated a firefight with inmates and also with jail guards in the security towers, the office said. Five of the attackers and four prisoners were killed. The surviving attacker was hospitalized and was under police custody, the attorney general's office said. Another inmate who was shot was also hospitalized. The gunmen had arrived at the jail in a stolen pickup, the office said. State and local officials are investigating the incident and offered no further details. Source  http://edition.cnn.com/2014

Epidemic of separatism: who will win from division of Europe?

The January open-doors event will be a real breakthrough for Sofia and Bucharest, who have been waiting for this moment for six years, since their EU accession back in 2007. London has always enjoyed a reputation for being the staunchest Euro-skeptic, and its closed-door diplomacy with Bulgaria and Romania seems to be a weird backdrop for the current EU-Ukrainian deadlock on Kiev’s association with the Union: Brussels is inviting Kiev in while the pragmatic London is closing the door on migrants because there are already too many of them, as the Tories tend to argue. It’s a weird sort of a happy family where some are inviting you to come and feel at home, while others would rather have you close the door from the outside. Next in line to reign in labor flows with quotas are Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands, who are trying to protect their labor markets from nations that are half as big as Ukraine. There are estimated to be 19 million people in Romania and only 7.4

Will local government reform encourage separatism in Georgia?

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Agit Mirzoev, director of Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations. TBILISI, DFWatch–A draft law that will reform local government is causing controversy in Georgia, as some think it may encourage separatism and jeopardize the country’s integrity. This issue is problematic because the Soviet government created three autonomous  republics in Georgia and there are conflicts in two of them, while the third one used to be under threat of separatism for years. That’s why people are scared of strengthening local government. Even though the disputed passages were amended, the draft is still being criticized. DF Watch spoke with Agit Mirzoev about this issue. He is director of the non-governmental organization Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations – acicc.ge . A.M: The main thing is that we must understand correctly which threats we are talking about, because there are different groups, who use false threats at different times and places and pre