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Showing posts from February 2, 2014

Afghan civilian deaths up in 2013 as war intensifies - UN

KABUL (Reuters) - War took an increasing toll on Afghanistan's civilians in 2013 as fighting intensified between the government and insurgents, the United Nations said in a report on Saturday, with total casualties rising 14 percent. The gradual withdrawal of foreign troops has left Afghan government forces more vulnerable to attack by insurgents, and the resulting battles helped account for last year's rise in casualties, according to the report. "The new trend in 2013 of increased civilian casualties from ground engagements, including the alarming increase in women and children casualties, reflected the changing dynamics of the conflict over the year," the United Nations said. Last year was the worst for women and children since 2009, with the number killed or injured by the conflict increasing by more than one-third from 2012. About 27 percent of all 2013 casualties stemmed from fighting between the government and insurgents, and most of these could not be attribut

Xi offers cooperation to Afghanistan to fight terror

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to step up cooperation with Afghanistan to fight terrorism, saying the war-torn country's fate will be more closely linked with the region after US troops withdraw.   China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Afghanistan in fighting the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism as well as trans-national crimes, Xi told Afghan President Hamid Karzai during their meeting on the sidelines of the winter Olympic Games at Sochi yesterday.  "The fate of Afghanistan will be more closely linked with that of the region after 2014, and China supports Afghanistan's integration into regional economic cooperation," Xi was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.  Noting that 2014 is a critical year for Afghanistan because US and NATO troops are set to withdraw, he conveyed the hope that Kabul will hold smooth presidential elections, achieve a stable transition and realise lasting stability and

Iraq governor gives Anbar militants one-week ultimatum

Baghdad: An Iraqi provincial governor Saturday gave militants controlling a city near Baghdad one week to surrender as government forces made steady progress in an effort to end a weeks-long crisis. The Anbar governor's ultimatum was directed at anti-government fighters who have held Fallujah for more than a month.  It comes amid a protracted surge in violence with security forces grappling with near-daily attacks nationwide in addition to the fighting in the western desert province.  Analysts and diplomats have called for the Shiite-led government to address Sunni grievances in order to undermine support for militants, but with April elections looming, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line.  "People of Anbar, criminals have kidnapped Fallujah," Governor Ahmed al-Dulaimi said in a statement.  "But, I swear to God, we will achieve victory against injustice and Fallujah will return to normal."  Dulaimi gave anti-government fighters a week to lay down

Syrian rebels breach truce

Damascus: Syrian rebels in the city of Homs breached a truce with government troops by firing multiple mortar shells at a police office building, media reports quoted Governor Talal Barazi as saying Saturday.   The attack at New Clock Square Saturday morning came only a day after the UN-mediated truce went into effect, Xinhua reported citing the official SANA news agency.  The truce was intended for evacuation of civilians from the old quarters of the city to government-run shelters.  The attack has apparently led to some material losses.  Barazi said orders of self-restraint were issued to the commanders on the ground to ensure the evacuation process.  In another report, Barazi told pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV Saturday that the Syrian authorities are ready to provide aid for people reluctant to leave their homes.  He also said part of the UN team mediating the truce was still inside the old city to secure the entry of aid trucks to the besieged people, adding the team was surprised to fin

Two injured in blast at Thai protest site

Bangkok: Two persons were injured on Saturday when a large firecracker was thrown at protesters demanding the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who said she would not quit and make way for a "neutral" interim government.   A protester and a security guard were injured in the blast caused by the firecracker on Chaeng Wattana Road, police said. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.  Police said they suspected the attack was carried out to incite unrest by opponents of the People's Democratic Reforms Committee, which has been protesting in Bangkok for months to pressure Yingluck to step down.  Protesters have been holding rallies across Bangkok and have blocked major intersections for the past three months, calling for the government to quit and an unelected People's Council to be formed to carry out reforms.  However, Yingluck rejected a call by former finance minister M R Pridiyathorn Devakula to step down and make way for a "neutral g

Jawan killed in ambush ahead of Modi's Manipur rally

- Rediff.com An Assam Rifles jawan was killed and three others were seriously injured when insurgents ambushed a paramilitary force party at Lambisa in Manipur's Ukhrul district on Saturday. Insurgents ambushed the security patrol minutes before the arrival of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to address a rally in Imphal. They exploded a powerful bomb and opened fire at the road opening party of 44th Assam Rifles battalion, killing one jawan and injuring three others, officials said. When the security forces returned fire, an encounter ensued lasting about an hour, they said. The injured jawans were taken to hospital. Charging that people of the state were being "suppressed" by central forces in the name of dealing with insurgents, militant outfit United Revolutionary Front had given a call for boycotting Modi's visit. Security measures have been tightened all over the state in view of Modi's visit. Thirty personnel from the Natio

UN reports rise in Afghan civilian deaths and injuries

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8 February 2014   Women and children were particularly badly affected, the UN says The number of civilians killed and wounded in the conflict in Afghanistan rose 14% last year, the UN says. Nearly 3,000 civilians were killed and more than 5,600 were injured in 2013. The report said the gradual withdrawal of foreign troops left Afghan government forces more vulnerable to attack by insurgents. It said this had led to intensified ground fighting, which had contributed to an increase in civilian casualties, particularly of women and children. The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (Unama) said 34% more children and 36% more women were killed and wounded in 2013 than in 2012. Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks to try to gain the upper hand as international troops prepare to withdraw by the end of the year, and Unama blames 74% of civilian deaths and injuries on "anti-government elements" . Most casualties in 2013 were a result of roadside bombs or getting caught in the

UK mosques sent handbook on combatting extremism

The killing of British soldier, fusilier Lee Rigby in May 2003 once again highlighted the threat of violent extremism poses in the UK. In the court case that followed, one of Fusilier’s murderers Michael Adebowale claimed he was a soldier of Allah and it was an act of war. Lee Rigby was hacked to death outside his army barracks in Greenwich. The guide published by a British right leaning think tank now suggests that there is an urgent need to provide a sound theological counter narrative to that of al-Qa’ida. Hannah Stuart is a Research Fellow with the Henry Jackson Society "It’s one of the most pressing issues of our time. The use of violence for religious purposes has a long past. We see it today, the theological arguments are really important for radicalised young Britons and the guide is for anyone who wants to engage in the most pressing issue of our time." I asked Hannah Stuart who the guide was intended for:  "We’re working with a european think tank to disseminat

Ukrainian president warns against fomenting extremism, radicalism,

 4 February 2014 Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Monday warned Ukrainians against fomenting extremism and radicalism in the society. "I urge to say 'no' to extremism, radicalism and fomenting enmity, which is based on the political struggle for power," Yanukovych was quoted by the presidential press service as saying during an international round table entitled "The democratic process and the threat of radicalism in Ukraine." On the recent confrontation between anti-government demonstrators and police officers, Yanukovych said radicalism and extremism occur in the Ukrainian society. He expressed regret over manifestation of tension in Ukraine and called on Ukrainians to unite against Nazism, racism and xenophobia. Earlier in the day, Yanukovych returned to work from four days of sick leave from acute respiratory disease. Anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine turned violent on Jan. 19, when protesters attacked police with sticks, fireworks and pe

Man arrested after bomb threat on plane

Police at  Arlanda  airport in Stockholm have arrested a man who attempted to enter the cockpit of a plane destined for Sweden claiming he had a bomb. The Emirates airline flight, which departed from Dubai, was due to arrive at  Arlanda before midday on Sunday. Not long after the plane left the United Arab Emirates, drama unfolded as the would be bomber rushed through the cabin screaming and shouting according to witnesses.  Passengers reported that he tried to break into the cockpit before he was apprehended by members of the crew. He was wrestled to the ground and had cable ties put around his arms reports the TT news agency. The man was kept stable for the remainder of the flight with passengers saying he was laying on the floor. "There was no chance he would have been successful in trying to get into the cockpit," Kenneth Knuts of the border police at Arlanda told TT. "We met at the flight a man from Sri Lanka who had caused a disturbance onboard and had been shackle

Rafsanjani: Despotism, colonialism and extremism are root-cause of bloodshed in the region

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 | Trend.Az Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Wednesday that foreign interference, despotism, colonialism and extremism are the root-cause of bloody incidents in the Middle East region, IRNA reported. Rafsanjani made the remarks in a meeting with the former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern in Tehran. Ireland is among victims of ideological disputes, said Rafsanjani. ˈYour people much better understand the status of people in the Middle East region as they are acquainted with the pain of ideological differences and fratricide.ˈ Rich natural resources, strategic geographical location have lured big powers to get fish in the troubled waters, Rafsanjani said. S ource http://iranian.com/posts/view/post/28017/jumpto/idcomment-44699

Islamic extremism on the rise in Sweden: study

 | 31 Jan 2014 Violent Islamic extremists in Sweden pose an increased threat to the public, a government investigation found on Friday, with the prime risks coming from those who have travelled to war zones for military training. The report, headed by investigator Doris Högne Rydheim and presented on Friday to Democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson , concluded that there was an increase in the risk of violence from Islamic extremists against Swedish society and individuals in Sweden. Sweden was found to be a "desirable target", with the prime target area being persons who were considered to have offended or insulted Islam. The report was based on an analysis of Sweden's extremist arena, which was divided into three sections in the report - the autonomous movement on the far left, the white power movement on the far right, and Islamic extremists with religious overtones. While the autonomous left was found to remain a threat to a democratic society and the white-power right t

Homophobia as extremism: the cost to freedom of choice

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By Amos N. Guior As has been repeatedly and thoroughly documented, Russian President Vladimir Putin is, for lack of a better word, a homophobe. Putin’s incessant drum-beating targeting homosexuals and lesbians led President Obama, Chancellor Merkel, and President Hollande to publicly announce that they will not attend next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi. Boycotts are tricky, raising legitimate concern regarding effectiveness and consequences. The Carter Administration’s decision to boycott the 1980 Moscow Games in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan failed to gather widespread international support, and the Soviet led boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Games seemingly served to only punish spectators and Eastern bloc athletes who had trained for years. However, the Sochi Games address a profoundly distinct paradigm: the decision by Obama, Merkel, and Hollande is directly related to Putin’s disturbingly homophobic statements, policies, and actions. Putin’s words have t

Kazakhstan’s mosques free of extremism teachings: Head of Kazakhstan’s Agency for Religion

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I 2014-02-07 22:57:07   Marat Azilkhanov, Head of the Kazakhstan’s Agency for Religion, assured that no extremism-related sermons or lectures take place in Kazakhstan-based mosques.  “At Kazakhstan’s mosques there is no room for radical teachings (…) the mosques are controlled by imams belonging to the Spiritual Authority of Muslims (…) they are specially trained to make sure [no radical teaching is allowed]” he told a briefing at the President’s Public Communications Service.  “Laymen come to mosques to pray on Fridays (…) the prayer is lead by an imam; apart from regular Friday sermons, no lectures or talks take place”, he assured. At the same time he emphasized that the country’s young are primarily indoctrinated by misleading religious groupings in Internet-based communities.  According to him, back in 2013 “no religion-related conflicts, clashes or disputes were seen”. Source  http://m.tengrinews.kz/en/industry_infrastructure/25878

Religious extremism and Punjab: Pakistan

Since more than a decade, Pakistan has been in the grip of religious extremism, which has now assumed the proportions of more than just a crisis. Pakistani society as a whole is occupied by chaotic conditions while the Pakistani state is facing the severest challenge to its authority, so much so that for the first time in 66 years, the guardians of Pakistan (read the military) have changed their security doctrine, replacing the external threat with an internal one as the number one challenge. This scourge of religious extremism, threatening both the state and society, is nowadays the most dominant issue in the Pakistani media, discussed and explored from different angles and aspects. One such aspect, which is increasingly acquiring more importance and space, is the position in/of different provinces regarding religious extremism and terrorism. It is the near-consensus view that Punjab is almost immune to this curse while the other three provinces have been made into a living hell by th

Are the French Anti-Semitic?

Here in France,  une quenelle  is a sausage-shaped dumpling made of creamed fish, chicken or some other meat. At least, it was until the comic, actor, polemicist and sometime candidate for political office Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala appropriated it. His version sprang from a vulgar joke about a dolphin's fin in a sketch he performed a decade ago, during which he touched his shoulder with one hand while holding the palm of the other hand outstretched toward the ground. Next, he talked about the "promised land" - a reference to Israel - saying it made him vomit. The comic's father was from Africa and Dieudonné is angry that France paid reparations to Jewish families after World War II but paid nothing to the families of black slaves. The gesture and the Israel jibe may not have been linked at the outset. But, they are now. Dieudonné incorporated it into his act and said he would like to shove a  quenelle  up the backside of Zionists. He invited a notorious Holocaus

Italians kidnapped near Derna released

The two Italian construction workers kidnapped three weeks ago near Derna have been released. A source close to Derna Local Council confirmed to the  Libya Herald  that the two Italians, Francesco Scalise and Luciano Gallo, were returned to the authorities today although the circumstances of their release had not been disclosed.  They were immediately flown to Rome on a chartered Falcon 900. The two were kidnapped near the town of Matouba, 25 kilometres from Derna on 18 January. They had been working with a construction company, General World,  for five months on a road building project. “I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the men and women of the Foreign Ministry and other institutions that have enabled it to reach a favorable outcome of the story in a difficult environment,” said Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino on hearing the news. Source  http://www.libyaherald.com/2014/02/08/italians-kidnapped-near-derna-released/

South Sudan war disrupts a theatre, inspires a dramatist

In an unruly country where disputes are often settled by young men with Kalashnikovs, one of the gentlest dissenters is a poet and playwright who prefers to make his points with Shakespeare. Two years ago Joseph Abuk directed an acclaimed South Sudanese version of  Cymbeline  at the Globe Theatre in London – a version that drew parallels between the invaders of imperial Rome and the authoritarian Khartoum regime that waged war on southern Sudan for decades. Today another brutal war is playing havoc with his theatre company. It’s difficult to stage plays when your actors and audiences are in refugee camps or silenced by military curfews. “War splinters and scatters people, and it takes time to reassemble them – or even to find out where they are,” says Mr. Abuk, a jovial intellectual who speaks six languages and helped write South Sudan’s national anthem when the country won independence in 2011. “Who will dare come to one of our shows now?” he asks. “This is not an atmosphere for drama

Taliban living in ‘fantasy world’: IISS defence expert

LONDON: The Taliban are living in a “fantasy world” and their chances of achieving their objectives after Western troops leave Afghanistan are extremely low, a military think-tank expert said on Wednesday. The Afghan security forces are “thoroughly in control” of counter-insurgency, said Brigadier Ben Barry, senior fellow on land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). They should be able to successfully protect the April 5 presidential election, though with 11 candidates, it is difficult to predict whether the transfer of power will be smooth, he said. The Taliban’s military offensive in 2013 failed, while their attacks in Kabul had political but negligible security impact, Barry said. “What we’ve got now is the Afghan security forces thoroughly in control of doing counter-insurgency and securing Afghanistan,” he told AFP at the IISS’s London headquarters after the launch of the think tank’s main annual report. He said government forces were holding the mi

Sri Lankan forces may have destroyed evidence of mass killings

The report by Australia’s Public Interest Advocacy Centre Ltd, a non-profit policy group, detailed witness accounts of potential war crimes such as deliberate artillery attacks on hospitals, rape, torture, sexual violence and the murder of Tamil Tiger fighters who had surrendered. “Although violations were committed by both sides, the evidentiary material indicates that members of the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SFs) perpetrated the vast majority of alleged crimes during the investigation period,” the report said. The new report comes as the United States plans to table a UN human rights resolution in March against Sri Lanka, putting new pressure on Colombo to address war crimes allegations. Sri Lanka’s military spokesman Ruwan Wanigasooriya said from Colombo that the report was baseless. He also cast doubts about the accuracy of the document’s eyewitness accounts, and claims that the military removed evidence of war crimes such as mass graves. “Do you think we could have unearthed ske

Taliban cleric sets preconditions for joining talks

- The Times of India ISLAMABAD: One of the negotiators of Taliban team for peace dialogue with the Pakistan government on Friday set a precondition for his joining the talks, demanding implementation of the Islamic law, Shariah. Also expressing skepticism was Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party chairman Imran Khan, who predicted the peace talks will probably fail and the ensuing military operation will lead to more terrorism.  "The most likely result is that the negotiations will start, there'll be about three or four big explosions, and terrorist attacks, and the negotiations will be called off," Khan told the Bloomberg news website in an interview. "There'll be people baying for blood and the operation will start."  Simultaneously, Maulana Abdul Aziz, the chief cleric of Islamabad's Lal Masjid, the site of the 2007 siege with the army, rejected the proposal of the government's team that negotiations should be held within the ambit of the country's c

Cracks appear in Taliban peace talks committee

ISLAMABAD: The government’s peace efforts suffered a major setback on Friday when Maulana Abdul Aziz, a member of the Taliban mediation committee, sought assurance that sharia would be implemented in the country, as a condition for continuing to be part of the negotiations.  Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday the cleric stated, “Until an assurance on enforcement of Islamic law, I will neither meet Taliban nor join the dialogue process.” The Lal Masjid khateeb said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) team of negotiators was constituted with the aim to hold negotiations, but the government’s demand that the negotiations be held within the limits of 1973 Constitution will delay the process. The maulana said that this condition should be withdrawn and suggested replacing the constitution with the teachings of the holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Aziz warned that he would distance himself from the peace process if the clause on implementation of sharia is not

2 Elite Force men killed in Khanewal suicide bombing

KHANEWAL: At least two security personnel were killed and several others wounded when a suicide bomber hit an Elite Force vehicle in Khanewal, on Friday.  The attack took place in a village on the outskirts of Khanewal. Rescue teams reached the scene and shifted the bodies to a nearby hospital. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a probe into the attack. According to sources, police have apprehended an accomplice of the suicide bomber. Sources said that the suicide bomber detonated his bomb near the vehicle of Elite Police force deployed close to the office of a sensitive agency in Chab Kalan area of Khanewal. Source  http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/08-Feb-2014/2-elite-force-men-killed-in-khanewal-suicide-bombing