Posts

Showing posts from March 15, 2015

120 000 flee Philippines violence

Geneva - More than 120 000 people have fled their homes in the impoverished southern Philippines since fighting broke out between government troops and Islamic militants in late January, the UN refugee agency said on Friday. "UNHCR is concerned about the safety of civilians as the conflict spreads into local villages," spokesperson Babar Baloch told reporters. The Philippines military launched an offensive earlier this year against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a rebel group fighting for an independent Muslim homeland in the south. The offensive, including attacks with artillery and helicopter gunships, has taken place in poor farming areas on Mindanao island, where Muslim rebels have for decades fought for independence. Baloch said an estimated 13 municipalities in Maguindanao and North Cotabato had been affected by the eight weeks of clashes. More than 120 000 had been displaced and sought shelter in schools, public buildings and madrasas, he said. But he

To lure recruits, ISIS uses pics to glamorize group

Much attention is paid to the extreme, distressing and sadistic propaganda disseminated by ISIS, who go to great lengths to circulate images and videos of the atrocities it commits. Yet little attention is paid to what could arguably be considered the most dangerous propaganda emerging from the group — the pictures and videos that attempt to normalize and even glamorize life within ISIS — and are used as a recruiting tool for the extremist group.  This week, a Western 'jihadi bride' found herself being chastised by fellow ISIS supporters for going off message with a picture of women posing around a luxury BMW. The same woman also posted a picture of a group brandishing guns in a similar pose often struck by their male counterparts.  This image suggests power and a sense of parity with male militants, but it is undermined by the recent ISIS document unearthed and translated by the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam telling women their position would be confined solely to the

Army probes alleged ‘Racial Thursdays’: What is military's diversity record?

Washington The Army is investigating allegations that an  Alaska  unit took part in what it called “Racial Thursdays,” a weekly event in which troops were allowed – and in some cases encouraged – to make racial slurs. It had become something of a “tradition,” a black soldier told the Army Times. He had contacted the media because he thought the practice was wrong. “It’s degrading to soldiers,” said the staff sergeant, who requested anonymity. “We’ve had soldiers almost fight over the crap that’s going on here.” The  US military  has long been considered at the forefront of racial integration. In 1948, President Truman signed an executive order calling for “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services.” Despite “undeniable successes, however, the Armed Forces have not yet succeeded in developing a continuing stream of leaders who are as diverse as the nation they serve.” This was the conclusion of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, which was cre

US First Lady urges Cambodian girls to hold leaders accountable

SIEM REAP, Cambodia: Michelle Obama called on schoolgirls to stay in school to push for equality and hold their leaders accountable on Saturday during the first trip by a sitting US president's wife to Cambodia.   The First Lady is visiting Cambodia - ruled by strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen for the last thirty years - to highlight what she has described as a "crisis" in women's education with 62 million girls around the world denied schooling, primarily for economic or cultural reasons.  "When girls get educated, when they learn to read and write and think, that gives them the tools to speak up and talk about injustice and demand equal treatment," she said in a speech to Peace Corps volunteers in Siem Reap.  "It helps them participate in the political life of their country and hold their leaders accountable," she added.  Earlier in the day Obama - herself a Harvard-educated lawyer from a modest background - visited a school with the Cambodian pre

Warning over 'victory' claims against Boko Haram

Lagos - Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said the military hopes to recapture towns seized by Boko Haram within a month, in what would be a swift victory after six years of bloody conflict. But experts warned against any premature declaration of victory, with the militants still proving capable of carrying out deadly hit-and-run strikes and indications of coalition lapses. Jonathan, who is seeking re-election on 28 March, said Boko Haram was "getting weaker and weaker every day". "I'm very hopeful that it will not take us more than a month to recover old territories that hitherto have been in their hands," he told the BBC. Nigeria has claimed major gains against the Islamists with the help of coalition partners Cameroon, Chad and Niger, achieving in just over one month what for years it had failed to on its own. Two out of three of the worst-hit northeast states - Yobe and Adamawa - have been declared "cleared" while the third, Borno

Chinese Korean War soldiers buried

SHENYANG, March 21 (Xinhua) -- With the air filled with the national anthem, China held a ceremony Saturday to bury 68 soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War, whose remains were returned by the Republic of Korea. Covered by the national flag, the caskets were carried into a martyrs' park in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, in a ceremony attended by chrysanthemum-holding government and military officials, Korean War veterans, their families and members of the public. "Over 60 years have passed since their sacrifice, the images of the 'most beloved people' still stay in our hearts. The country and the people will always remember them," said Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Dou Yupei in his memorial speech. Coffins of 68 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War are carried into an underground tomb in a martyrs' cemetery at a burial ceremony in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, March

Islamic State in Yemen: Why IS is seeking to expand

Image
21 March 2015   Last updated at  10:09   By Barak Mendelsohn Haverford College Hundreds were injured in the bomb attacks in Sanaa The bombing of two mosques in Sanaa, which killed close to 140 people and injured 350, represents another stage in Yemen's spiralling violence. But the significance of the bombing, which was claimed by Islamic State (IS) militants, goes beyond the horrendous human loss. If IS indeed stands behind the attack, it would not only further complicate the situation in Yemen, but also have implications for the broader struggle against IS. IS's need continuously to expand is a central feature in its strategy since its blitzkrieg in Iraq and Syria last year gave it control over vast territory and facilitated the announcement that it is a caliphate. Viewing itself as the rightful leader of Muslims everywhere and as mandated by God to rule over all territories once under Muslim control and beyond, IS must spread. Expansion is also a mobilisation tool for IS. It

Chinese military denies role in reported US hacking

Image
- China’s Defense Ministry on Friday denied that it had anything to do with a cyber attack on Register.com, a unit of Web.com, following a report in the Financial Times that the FBI was looking into the Chinese military’s involvement. “The relevant criticism that China’s military participated in Internet hacking is to play the same old tune, and is totally baseless,” the ministry said in a fax to Reuters in response to a question about the story. According to the Financial Times, hackers apparently have had access to Register.com’s network for about a year, but the attack did not disrupt or result in theft of client data. It is not clear what the Chinese military would be looking for or what it would gain from Register.com’s data. Register.com says on its website it manages more than 2.5 million domain names, and also provides web management and design services. China and the United States regularly accuse each other of hacking attacks. State news agency Xinhua, citing a report from th

New Global Grouping Meets to Counter Islamic State Finances

Image
- File Photo: Members of Islamic State terrorist group. (Associated Press) WASHINGTON:   Officials from the United States, Italy and Saudi Arabia led talks in Rome this week among a group of countries seeking to combat the financial activities of Islamic State militants, the US Treasury said on Friday. Officials held an inaugural meeting on Thursday and Friday of the Counter-ISIL Finance Group (CIFG), which countries will use to exchange information and develop countermeasures. ISIL is an acronym often used for the militants, who control swaths of Iraq and Syria. The next meeting of the CIFG is scheduled for May in Saudi Arabia, the Treasury said in a statement. The CIFG includes Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Qatar, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The European Union also participates.   © Thomson Reuters 2015 Source http:

Suicide Bomber Kills 20 at Syria Kurdish Festival

- Beirut:   A suicide bomber killed more than 20 people celebrating Kurdish new year in northeastern Syria Friday and dozens were wounded in another blast at a separate feast, a monitor said. "More than 20 people were killed when a kamikaze bomber detonated his explosives at a gathering in Hasakeh on the eve of (Kurdish new year) Nowruz," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. Dozens more were wounded, he added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Abdel Rahman said the suicide bomber could have been a member of the Islamic State group (IS). He said a second bomb exploded at another Nowruz celebration, wounding dozens of people. Hasakeh is a strategic province in northeastern Syria near its borders with Iraq and Turkey. IS controls several parts of the province while fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) hold the provincial capital, which is also called Hasakeh. The YPG are sworn enemies of IS, which they expelle

More Than 70 Syria Regime Forces Killed in Islamic State Attacks

Image
- File Photo: Members of the Islamic State militant group. Beirut:   More than 70 regime forces have been killed in attacks by the Islamic State group in central Syria over the past 24 hours, a monitor said Friday. The attacks in Homs and Hama provinces targeted checkpoints and positions manned by government loyalists, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP "most of the dead, around 50, fell in the Hama countryside." Several jihadists were also killed when clashes broke out, he added without giving a toll. The regime controls most of Homs and Hama, where IS has few positions in the eastern parts of the provinces. "IS has faced setbacks recently in the provinces of Aleppo and Raqa and in Hasakeh in confrontations with Kurds on the one hand and regime forces on the other, and are now trying to score military points, even limited ones, to offset their losses," said Abdel Rahman. Source http://www.ndtv

100 Bodies in Nigeria 'Mass Grave' in Town Taken from Boko Haram

Image
- File photo: Members of the terror group Boko Haram. (Agence France-Presse). N'Djamena:   Around 100 bodies were found Friday in a mass grave on the edge of a town in northeast Nigeria after it was freed from Boko Haram Islamists, a Chadian army spokesman told AFP. Soldiers discovered the bodies - some decapitated - under a bridge just outside Damasak, which was retaken from Boko Haram on March 9 by troops from Chad and Niger. "There are about 100 bodies spread around under the bridge just outside the town," said Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna, adding that he had visited the scene himself close to the border with Niger. He claimed the massacre probably occurred about two months ago and said: "This is the work of Boko Haram." It was, however, impossible to verify the claim independently. Colonel Bermandoa Agouna said several of the victims had been decapitated while others had been shot. "There are heads here and bodies there, the mass grave has become like

Deadly Ethnic Clashes in Sudan's North Darfur

- Khartoum:    Clashes between two ethnic groups in Sudan's Darfur have left several people dead, their leaders told AFP on Friday, with both sides giving conflicting accounts of the clashes. The Arab Zayadiya tribe and the Berti, a non-Arab group, have been battling with heavy weapons around the Mallit area north of El Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur. The Zayadiya said six of their men were killed and the Berti said they suffered 13 dead, with both sides claiming the other attacked first. "The Berti attacked Zayadiya areas" mounted on Land cruisers, leaving six members of the Arab tribe dead, their chief Abdallah Jezu told AFP by phone. "This was yesterday, Thursday, and today they renewed the attack again," he said. Berti leader Al-Mak Ahmedaye said his people's area had come under attack first on Tuesday. "They burned several villages and killed 13 of our men," he told AFP by phone. Neither said why the fighting had taken place but Dar

Jihadists Could Enter EU Posing as Refugees

Image
- File Photo: Members of the Islamic State militant group. Vienna:   European Union counter-terrorism chief Gilles de Kerchove on Friday called for greater vigilance by EU borders agency Frontex, saying jihadists could infiltrate posing as refugees. The warning came as more than 50,000 people sought political asylum in Europe in 2014, a 44 percent hike over the previous year. Twenty percent of those applicants were Syrians, the Eurostat agency said. "We must be vigilant. It is relatively easy to enter into the European Union when one joins an influx of refugees," de Kerchove said on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Vienna. De Kerchove, a Belgian, said although Europe was currently being targeted for attacks by individuals claiming to act on behalf of Islamic State, it was also not safe from attacks by Al-Qaeda seeking to "show that they are still out there." Source http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/jihadists-could-enter-eu-posing-as-refugees-748415

UK Court Seizes Girls' Passports Over Syria Fears

Image
- File Photo: Members of the Islamic State militant group. London:   A British judge on Friday barred five teenage girls from travelling abroad amid concerns they would go to Syria to join Islamist fighters, in the second such ruling this week. High Court judge Anthony Hayden made the girls from east London - two aged 15 and three aged 16 - "wards of court", a legal move that prevents them leaving England and Wales. He confiscated their passports and also those of a number of adults involved in caring for them, noting that in at least one other case a young girl travelled on a relative's passport. In a ruling prompted by an application by the local authority, Tower Hamlets in east London, Hayden said that despite signs the teens were becoming more radical, their relatives were not cooperating with social services. "It seems to me that that must have been known to the parents and they deliberately did not share it with the authorities who were keen to protect these vu

Maoists raising money via illegal marijuana plantations : experts

Image
-   Bhubaneswar, Mar. 21 - Security experts have stated that Maoist forces are raising money for arms and ammunition from illegal marijuana plantations. According to reports, teams of the police and excise department have found many such plantations in forest regions with strong left wing extremist (LWE) presence. The Odisha government has also stated that the Angul, Boudh, Deogarh, Gajapati, Malkanagiri, Kandhamal, Rayagada and Sambalpur districts have huge cannabis plantations. Police, excise, revenue and forest department officials have reportedly destroyed marijuana worth Rs. 2,500 crore since 2011. (ANI) Source http://www.topnews.in/law/maoists-raising-money-illegal-marijuana-plantations-experts-2181352

Pakistan’s Nuclear programme prone to security risks: US Report

Image
- NEW DELHI: A report on Pakistan's tactical nuclear programme by a prominent Washington-based think tank raises questions on the country's ability to secure warheads even in peacetime, concluding that the introduction of mini nuclear weapons in the subcontinent has substantially increased the risk of a confrontation with India getting out of hand. The report comes even as Pakistan's   Strategic Plans Division  (SPD) that oversees its nuclear programme has admitted to having fired several people with "negative tendencies". Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper has quoted   Brig Tahir Raza Naqvi  as saying that those sacked were "incorrigible" and could have affected national security. The US report titled 'Pakistan's Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Operational Myths and Realities' has, however, raised the larger question of the implication of battlefield nuclear weapons in the subcontinent. Unlike strategic warheads that are capable of obliterating a large

Rise of far-right in Europe: ‘We are heading to new Third Reich’

Image
We are witnessing historical flashback to Nazi Germany as a new generation of white extremists is seeking supremacy and a purer Europe, spreading anti-Islamic sentiment across the region, political analyst Catherine Shakdam told RT. Clashes broke out in the German city of Wuppertal on Saturday as Salafist Muslims, right-wing extremists and the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement simultaneously held rival protests. RT:   PEGIDA marches are now fairly common in Germany. How worrying is that for society? Catherine Shakdam:  I think it is a worrying development especially since we are kind of witnessing a historical flashback. It looks like the 1930’s Germany, when the Third Reich was getting momentum, and that is what we are witnessing currently not just in Germany, but across Europe. RT:   What is driving these far-right movements, and causing them to target Islam, especially in Europe? CS:  I think you have to go back to 9/11 and the type of narrative that came out of Washington. And

3 US Policemen Fired, 1 Resigns Over Racist Texts, Video

-   Miami:   Three Florida police officers have been fired and a fourth resigned following an exchange of racist texts and an offensive video, officials said Friday. The episode comes at a critical moment in the United States as officers across the nation have come under fire for use of excessive force and allegedly targeting African Americans. "All four officers' conduct involved racist text messages exchanged among themselves and former police officers" Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley said. The offending materials included text messages with racist slogans and a pretend "movie trailer" made by one of the agents. The clip featured a person wearing the white-robed outfit of a white supremacist Ku Klux Klan member and a photomontage of US President Barack Obama shown with gold-capped teeth. An investigation was first initiated in October, at which point the four officers were dismissed from their normal duties. Since then, one resigned and the other t

Over 100 Killed as ISIS Affiliate Strikes in Yemen

Image
Yemeni armed men inspect the damage following a bomb explosion at the Badr mosque. (Agence France-Presse) Sanaa, Yemen:   An affiliate of the Islamic State that had not previously carried out any major attacks claimed responsibility for coordinated suicide strikes on Zaydi Shiite mosques here that killed more than 130 people during Friday prayers, bringing to Yemen the kind of deadly sectarian fighting that has ripped apart Syria and Iraq. The bombings, apparently carried out by Sunni extremists against Shiite places of worship, threatened to propel the conflict toward the kind of unrestrained sectarian bloodletting that Yemen had so far avoided. It also showed how drastically the situation has deteriorated in Yemen after Houthi rebels seized power, galvanizing Sunni militants who opposed them at a time when Washington's ability to conduct counterterrorism operations was greatly reduced. Western counterterrorism officials fear a security vacuum resembling Somalia's would draw e