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Showing posts from November 30, 2014

Secular culture the real evil: Hafiz

Says elections in IHK not an alternate to plebiscite | JuD’s two-day convention starts at Minar-i-Pakistan  LAHORE - Jamaatud Dawa’s (JuD) two-day convention started at Minar-i-Pakistan on Thursday with the call of party chief Hafiz Saeed to start a movement for transforming Pakistan into an Islamic state as dreamt by the founders of the country. Thousands of JuD workers including females from across the country are participating in the convention which the Dawa is describing a milestone to bring peace and harmony among the people of Pakistan.  A fine, disciplined and comprehensive security arrangements were seen during the whole day proceedings of the convention. The JuD has set up 15 camps for male and four separate camps for the female participants. More than 10,000 JuD workers have been deployed on security. No persons are being allowed to enter in Minar-e-Pakistan ground without proper security checkup. The meal is being served to the participants in the camps by the volunteers. D

Ten IEDs recovered from Maoist hideout in Munger

Press Trust of India  |  Munger Dec 05, 2014 02:52 PM IST The security forces have recovered ten Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) among other materials from a Maoist hideout in Bihar's Munger district, a police officer said today.  Acting on a tip off, the security forces comprising of CRPF and district police personnel launched a combing operation in Bhimbundh forest since yesterday and recovered ten IEDs, six SIM cards and as many pen drives from a Maoist hideout in Kumratali area, the Superintendent of Police (SP), Operations, Naveen Kumar said.  Kumar, who had led the security team during the operation, said four IEDs were destroyed on the spot as these explosives were found to be in bad shape, while six others have been brought to the headquarters.  No arrest has been made in this connection, the SP(Operations) said. Source http://wap.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/ten-ieds-recovered-from-maoist-hideout-in-munger-114120500528_1.html

Spain’s Terror Victims Express Outrage At Court’s Immediate Release Of Two Convicted ETA Terrorists

NEWS: Terror victims’ associations say they want to  see the two back in prison and the rule of law applied to all equally in Spain, as one of the terrorists is filmed enjoying his new-found freedom. Spain’s terror victims associations have released a  joint statement  condemning the decision yesterday by a tribunal at the national High Court in Madrid to order the immediate release from prison of two ETA terrorists; the court ruled that time served in a French jail should be taken into account in their Spanish sentences, following a Council of Europe framework decision on the accumulation of sentences across several EU countries. A spokeswoman for Spain’s Terror Victim Federation (FVT), which acts as an umbrella organisation for the country’s victims’ associations, told The Spain Report by telephone that reaching consensus on the statement condemning the ruling had been “very easy, because we are all worried and hurt by what has happened”. “The only thing we want is to live in a democ

LIBERATED COLOMBIAN SOLDIERS: FARC WANTED TO TAKE US TO VENEZUELA

In a significantly damning declaration against the socialist government of Venezuela, two soldiers who had been kidnapped in early November by the Marxist terrorist group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) claim the terrorists had hoped to smuggle their hostages into Venezuela to avoid military retribution. In a press conference  in the Colombian capital, Bogotá, soldiers Jonathan Díaz  and César Rivera detailed the horror of being kidnapped by the terrorist group, which made headlines in the event for not only capturing a number of troops, but  holding a general hostage . The kidnapping  suspended peace talks  between Bogotá and the FARC leadership, receiving sanctuary in state sponsor of terrorism Cuba, but  said talks resumed  upon the release of the soldiers. The soldiers' declarations make clear that Cuba is not the only terror-affiliated state which Colombian authorities should be wary of. "Their goal was to get me out of here, to Colombia," Díaz expl

String of Shiite car bomb attacks in Kirkuk, Baghdad kill 37, injure 21

A string of car bomb attacks across Iraq killed at least 37 people on December 4, Iraqi officials said. Three of the attacks targeted Shiite districts in the capital, Baghdad, while the fourth targeted a Kurdish neighborhood in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. Police officials said the first attack targeted a line of small restaurants in the Shiite district of Sadr City Thursday night, killing 11 people and wounding 25 others. Minutes later, a second car bomb blast near an outdoor market in the same district killed seven people and wounded 21 others. Later on, a bomb exploded near a restaurant in Baghdad’s Shiite northern neighborhood of Shaab, killing three people and wounding 12 others. In the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a car bomb attack near a cafe killed 16 people, said deputy chief of the Kirkuk police, Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman Youssef. The blast took place in a Kurdish district in the city, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad. Medics in a nearby hospital confirmed

ISIL burn banned cigarettes and alcohol on bonfires

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Images have emerged online showing ISIL militants burning piles of banned cigarettes and alcohol deemed illegal by the terror group. ISIL has banned drinking and smoking in their occupied territories in Iraq and Syria because it violates Sharia Law. In the photos - believed to have been taken in Tikrit, Iraq - armed jihadists wave the black ISIL flag while others load up blazing bonfires with whisky, beer can and cigarette packets. In April in Raqqa, Syria, ISIL militants seized a truckload of cigarettes and burnt them on a giant pyre. "Every smoker should be aware that with every cigarette he smokes in a state of trance and vanity he is disobeying god," a statement released by ISIL read. The consumption of alcohol violates Sharia Law. Last month a man who left France to join ISIL in Syria was jailed after returning home because he was unable to give up smoking. Flavien Moreau, 27, who moved to Syria in 2012 was jailed in November after returning to France because he could no

Kurdish fighters vow to go on fighting as long as the ISIL threat remains.

Video posted online purports to show Kurdish peshmerga fighters battling Islamic State militants in the town of Kobani on the Syrian border with  Turkey . The striking footage, although not as yet independently verified, shows Kurdish women fighting alongside men. The town appears to be devastated and the shooting intense. “Our morale is very high” said one young Kurdish fighter. “As long as the jihadist enemy is attacking us we will fight them.” But the siege of Kobani has now gone on for nearly three months and defending it comes at a cost. Hundreds of people have been killed and many more injured. Doctors are working in the most challenging conditions, improvising without essential drugs and other medical supplies. Kobani is now little more than a ruin. Not long ago it was home to over 100,000 people, now just a few remain, their lives in continual danger. “There’s nowhere to go” said one man with his family , “no underground shelter. We were sent back at the Turkish border and now

Top LeT commander killed in encounter with security forces

SRINAGAR: Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander was killed in the outskirts of the city by security personnel when he was making attempts to enter into the city.  Giving details of the incident, police said at least two militants travelling in a car tried to run away from a check point at Ahmadnagar in  Soura  area this afternoon.  The policemen chased the car and in the ensuing gun battle, one militant identified as   Qari Israr  was gunned down. One AK-47 rifle was recovered from him.  The area has been cordoned off as another militant had taken refuge in a house in the same locality.  Director General of   Jammu and Kashmir  Police   K Rajendra  told PTI that it was a "brilliant operation" by his men as the deceased militant was wanted in many cases.  Israr is a Pakistani national and had been active in this area.  Police had intensified random search of vehicles following intelligence inputs that militants might carry out a suicide attack in the city ahead of the elections and th

White Policeman Kills Unarmed Black Man in Arizona

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Rumain Brisbon, middle, was shot dead in Arizona by a white policeman.  Los Angeles:  A white police officer shot dead a black man in Arizona when he mistook some pills for a gun, authorities said on Thursday, amid protests in New York triggered by a string of similar incidents. The officer believed the 34-year-old suspect was reaching into his pocket for a gun in the flashpoint on Wednesday in Phoenix, in which the man was shot twice in the chest after a struggle. It was subsequently found that Rumain Brisbon had only pills in his pocket. The shooting occurred when the officer went to investigate reported drug-related activity outside a convenience store. Source http://m.ndtv.com/article/world/white-policeman-kills-unarmed-black-man-in-arizona-630202 Dec 05, 2014 07:38 IST

In Midst of Election, Massive Suicide Attack At Army Camp In Kashmir's Uri

Uri:  10 members of the security forces have been killed this morning in a suicide attack on an army artillery camp in Kashmir's Uri sector as militants step up violence in a state that is in the midst of elections. Uri, near the Line of Control, is around 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Srinagar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to campaign on Monday. Three policemen, seven soldiers and three militants are reported dead.   On Tuesday, the third phase of staggered voting will be held in Uri and neighbouring areas. Abdul Ghani Mir, a state police officer, said five police and soldiers were killed in this morning's terror strike. Three attackers were also killed, he said, but it was not yet known if more were involved. Separatists have called for a boycott of the election and militants have stepped up attacks after a lull of months, but voters have turned out in record numbers on the two days of voting held so far, braving freezing temperatures and long lines. Res

Pakistani Taliban squeezed by Afghan revolt, US drone strikes

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Picture used for representational purpose only. (Photo: AFP) Picture used for representational purpose only. (Photo: AFP) Peshawar : Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan are being squeezed by a series of U.S. drone strikes and a revolt against them, a trend that could disrupt the insurgents' capability to strike inside Pakistan. For years, Pakistani Taliban commanders fighting against the Pakistani state have been hiding in remote areas of eastern Afghanistan, planning attacks and recruiting fighters. But in recent weeks, officials say the insurgency has been weakened by a spate strikes by U.S. drones and a rebellion by tribesmen in Afghanistan's Kunar province. The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are allied and share the goal of toppling their respective governments and setting up a strict Islamist state across the region. Their presence on both sides of the border has long been a bone of contention between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the two trading accusation

Boko Haram raid two northeast Nigeria towns: residents

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This image taken from video released late Friday evening, Oct. 31, 2014, by Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, centre, the leader of Nigeria's Islamic extremist group denies agreeing to any cease-fire with the government and says more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls all have converted to Islam and been married off. (Photo: AP) This image taken from video released late Friday evening, Oct. 31, 2014, by Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, centre, the leader of Nigeria's Islamic extremist group denies agreeing to any cease-fire with the government and says more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls all have converted to Islam and been married off. (Photo: AP) Kano : Suspected Boko Haram gunmen on Thursday stormed two towns in northeast Nigeria, raiding banks and burning government buildings as well as political party offices, residents said. Scores of gunmen dressed in military uniform arrived in Bajoga, 60 kilometres from Gombe city in a convoy of 20 vehicles at about 7 am (0600 GMT). Troops managed

Ferguson, New York chokehold case force national conversation in U.S. over racial justice and police use of force

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Ferguson, New York chokehold case force national conversation in U.S. over racial justice and police use of force NEW YORK CITY — From the White House to the streets of some of America’s biggest cities, the New York chokehold case converged with the Ferguson shooting and investigations out of South Carolina and Cleveland to stir a national conversation Thursday about racial justice and police use of force. A day after a grand jury cleared a white New York City officer in the death of a black man, civil rights leaders pinned their hopes on a promised federal investigation. Demonstrators protested for a second night in New York, carrying replicas of coffins across the Brooklyn Bridge, and turned out in such cities as Denver, Detroit and Minneapolis. And politicians and others talked about the need for better police training, body cameras and changes to the grand jury process to restore faith in the legal system. “A whole generation of officers will be trained in a new way,” New York Mayo

5 Armymen, 2 policemen killed in ongoing Kashmir gunfight

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IndiaToday.in   Srinagar, Friday, December 5, 2014 Five Armymen and two police officers were killed on Friday during a gunfight between the security forces and terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district. A militant was also killed in the gun battle which is still on, police said. The gunfight started after a group of heavily armed terrorists attacked an Army camp in Mohra area near the Uri border town on Friday morning. "Two policemen - a head constable and a constable - and one militant have been killed in this encounter which is going on," a senior police officer said. "A group of two to three militants are believed to have entered the camp...," the officer added. The terrorists also fired at the guards of local police officers who rushed to the spot after hearing gun shots. There are reports of a fire from the camp but fire tenders are unable to go inside because of the ongoing gun battle. Source http://indiatoday.in/story/kashmir-gunfight-terrorists

Al Qaeda's Yemen branch issues video purporting to show U.S. captive

DUBAI  (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's Yemen branch published a video purporting to show an American hostage and threatened to kill him if unspecified demands were not met.  In the video, the man identified himself as Luke Somers and said he had been kidnapped well over a year ago. He was looking for "any help that can get me out of this situation". Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the video, which was posted on YouTube and social media late on Wednesday and carried by SITE, an organisation that monitors militant statements. The man in the video says he was born in the United Kingdom and holds American citizenship. Somers, a 33-year-old journalist, was kidnapped in Yemen's capital Sanaa in September 2013, joining several other foreigners including Westerners held by militant Sunni Muslim armed groups in the volatile Arabian peninsula country. In the video, a member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the militant network's Yemen arm, criticised th

Force alone will not work with Maoists

 - Hindustan Times They have been lying low for a while. But when the Maoists struck again, it was with venomous fury, killing 14 CRPF personnel and injuring more than 15 at Sukma in Chhattisgarh. This shows that the Maoist threat is clear and present. It was only the other day that Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh had said that the Maoists ‘would soon be finished’.  Monday’s attack was the second ambush in the area in the past 10 days and contrary to the government’s view the insurgents seem to be growing in confidence. In the last two years more than 70 people have been killed in Maoist ambushes, including the May 2013 attack in Bastar that killed 25 state Congress leaders. This attack comes at a time when there are reports that the Intelligence Bureau and the CRPF are at loggerheads over a botched-up operation to nab a top Maoist leader in early November. Clearly, there seems to be a lack of communication among various government departments and the attack in Sukma, which sha

Watchdog Says World Internet Freedom In Decline

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A U.S.-based rights watchdog says Internet freedom around the world has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive year, with the steepest declines in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey. In its "Freedom On The Net 2014" report, released on December 4, Freedom House says that Iran, Syria, and China are the world's worst abusers of overall Internet freedom. The report, which covers the period between May 2013 and May 2014, assesses the level of Internet and digital-media freedom in 65 countries, with each receiving a score from 0 for the most free to 100 for the least free. It says that of the 65 countries assessed, 36 have experienced negative trends since May 2013. Based on the scores, the report ranks countries as free (0-30 points), partly free (31-60 points), or not free (61-100 points). INFOGRAPHIC: World Map Of Internet Freedom Of the countries in RFE/RL's broadcast area that are covered by the report, only two are ranked as free: Georgia, with 26 points; and Armenia, with

Mystery Woman Arrested In Lebanon 'Not Baghdadi's Wife,' Says Iraq

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Islamic State militant leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Iraq's Interior Ministry has cast doubt on Lebanese reports that a wife and child of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been detained in Lebanon, saying that the arrested woman is not the militant group leader's spouse. The (rather murky and sometimes confusing) reports that Baghdadi's wife and son had been captured crossing into Lebanon from Syria dominated headlines on December 2. The source for the reports was Lebanon's "As-Safir" newspaper, which reported that the  Lebanese Army said it had detained the woman , reportedly Baghdadi's second wife, and their eight-year-old son near the Syrian border sometime in the past week. Lebanese security officials said they were confirming the "high-value catch" by verifying the boy's identity with DNA testing.  Other reports quoted Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby as saying that the arrested woman was thought to be Baghdadi&#

DNA test confirms child is IS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's daughter

BEIRUT: Lebanon's interior minister said that DNA tests have confirmed that a child held by authorities is the daughter of the Islamic State group's leader. Nohad Machnouk also says that the child's mother, who is also in custody, was married to IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi six years ago for a period of three months. He says they are no longer married. Machnouk told Lebanon's MTV television late Wednesday that Iraq sent Lebanese authorities DNA samples from al-Baghdadi to test against the woman, identified as Saja al-Dulaimi, and the girl. He said the girl and two other children detained with al-Dulaimi are being held in a child care center. ISIS jihadists seen here waving the Islamic State's trademark black flags and moving around on bikes and cars in Syria's Raqqa. Source http://m.timesofindia.com/world/middle-east/DNA-test-confirms-child-is-IS-head-Abu-Bakr-al-Baghdadi-daughter/articleshow/45374080.cms

19 Dead After Islamic Militants Attack Grozny, Chechnya’s Capital

MOSCOW — Islamic militants infiltrated Grozny, the capital of  Chechnya , overnight and early Thursday, seizing buildings and opening fire on security forces in a gun battle that killed 10 police officers and nine miltants, officials said. The attack came just hours before President Vladimir V. Putin delivered a state of the nation speech in Moscow, in which he made only a passing reference to the violence. The Russian state news media reported that the militants had seized an office building, which was then recaptured by security forces, and a school. Terrified residents of Grozny said they heard loud explosions and saw armed gunmen roaming the streets. Andrey Chatsky, a spokesman for Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee, confirmed in a statement broadcast on Russian television that 10 police officers had been killed and 28 injured in the armed clashes. Ramzan A. Kadyrov , the head of the Chechen Republic, said in a statement posted on his website, “We have the corpses of nine mi

Al Shabaab Insurgents Assassinate Ex-Somalian Lawmaker, Wound Another

Mogadishu:  Somalia's Al Shabaab insurgents said they had assassinated a former lawmaker and his bodyguard and wounded another MP in a drive-by shooting in Mogadishu today to show the government they remained a threat. Gunmen in a moving car opened fire as the lawmaker drove through the centre of the city, before racing off, witnesses said. MP Mustafa Mayow was wounded in the attack. "The government say they have eradicated the Shabaab from Mogadishu, but this is to show that we are here and active," Shabaab spokesman Abdiaziz Abu Musab told AFP. The Al Qaeda-affiliated Al Shabaab rebels are fighting to overthrow the country's internationally-backed government. At least five lawmakers have been killed in Mogadishu this year. The extremists say they are targeting MPs as they allowed the deployment of foreign troops on Somali soil. Recent Al Shabaab attacks in Somalia have targeted key government and security sites in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authoriti