Terrorism Watch

BEIRUT  (Reuters) - Six Syrian government security personnel were killed by Druze gunmen in the south of the country, a monitor said on Saturday, after two car bomb blasts killed dozens of people overnight provoking angry protests. The two blasts, which occurred late on Friday, and ensuing violence killed a total of at least 37 people in and around the town of Sweida, a stronghold of Syria's Druze minority, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters. A Druze leader was killed in one of the car bombs, the Observatory said. (Reporting by John Davison; Editing by Alison Williams) Source  http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0R50EX20150905

A local politician has been killed after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Pakistan's volatile northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Police said the blast on September 5 injured three others travelling in the same vehicle with Haji Mumtaz Orakzai, a member of the Awami National Party (ANP) in the Hangu district. "It was a remote-control bomb attack that killed Mumtaz on the spot," police officer Subhan Khan told RFE/RL, adding that police "have cordoned off the whole area." No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast but the Pakistani Taliban has in the past claimed numerous similar attacks on members and leaders of the ANP, known for its stance against terrorism. The ANP says more than 800 of its members and officials have been killed in recent years in militant attacks and suicide bombings across the country.

Calls are getting louder for the oil- rich Gulf states to take in more Syrian refugees. In the Arab world itself, the opinion that they are not doing enough is widespread. Those countries, however, may not really be suitable destinations for the asylum seekers -- precisely because of their often deceptive cultural closeness to most of the Syrians fleeing the conflict. The widely held opinion that Saudi Arabia, the biggest of the Gulf nations, hasn't taken in a single refugee may well be incorrect. Nabil Othman, acting regional representative to the Gulf region at the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, told Bloomberg there were 500,000 Syrians in that country. Saudi Arabia, like all of the Gulf states, is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention, so these displaced people are not officially designated as refugees. One could still argue, however, that even Othman's figure isn't enough relative to the Saudi population of almost 31 million, especial

WASHINGTON: Russia has sent a military advance team to Syria and is taking other steps the United States fears may signal that  President   Vladimir Putin  is planning to vastly expand his military support for President   Bashar Assad of Syria, administration officials said Friday. The Russian moves, including the recent   transport of  prefabricated housing units for hundreds of people to a Syrian airfield and the delivery of a portable air traffic control station there, are another complicating factor in   Secretary of State  John Kerry's repeated efforts to enlist Putin's support for a diplomatic solution to the bloody conflict in Syria. The Russians have also filed military overflight requests with neighboring countries through September. US officials acknowledge that they are not certain of Russia's intentions, but some say the temporary housing suggests that Russia could deploy as many as 1,000 advisers or other military personnel to the airfield near the Assad fami

A fghan officials say unknown gunmen have dragged 13 male passengers out of two vehicles and shot them dead in northern Balkh Province. "The gunmen, who wore national security forces uniforms, stopped the vehicles heading from Zari district to Kishin Deh district," the Zari district governor, Jafar Haidari, said on September 5. Haidari said the attackers "did not bother" the only female passenger, who later "came back safely" to Zari. According to Haidari the passengers belonged to the Shi'ite Hazara minority. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the September 5 attack in Balkh, a relatively peaceful province. The Hazara ethnic group makes up about 22 percent of Afghanistan's mostly Sunni Muslim population. Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-13-hazara-killed/27228435.html

BEIRUT: A battle between Islamic State group jihadists and rebels for control of an opposition stronghold in northern Syria has killed at least 47 fighters, a monitor said today.  Twenty Islamist and other rebel fighters were killed in the clashes in Aleppo province throughout yesterday, along with 27 IS jihadists, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.  The fighting centred on the town of Marea, a key rebel bastion that IS has been trying to capture for months.  The Observatory said fighting was ongoing around the town, which rebel forces still control, as well in villages in the surrounding area.  Marea is one of the most significant rebel-held towns in northern Aleppo and lies on a key supply route running to the Turkish border.  IS has targeted the town for months, seeking to expand westwards from territory it already holds in Aleppo province.  Last week, IS advanced in the area, seizing five villages from rebel forces around Marea after allegations it had

  UAE pounds Yemen rebels after coalition's deadliest day :  The UAE bombarded Yemeni rebels with air strikes today as it mourned 45 soldiers, among 50 killed in the deadliest day yet for a Saudi-led coalition fighting the insurgents.  Emirati officials vowed that the deaths in a missile attack in the battleground eastern oil province of Marib would not sap their commitment to the coalition's mission to restore exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

  Thai police seek 10th suspect in Brahma temple bombing :  Thai police today said they were seeking an arrest warrant for a 10th suspect - a foreigner - in Thailand's deadliest bombing at a Brahma temple as a court approved to extend the detention by 12 days for a man who was arrested after a massive raid with bomb-making materials.  Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said authorities were seeking an arrest warrant for a 10th suspect, who was a foreigner but declined to reveal his nationality, the Bangkok Post reported.

DAMASCUS, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 26 people were killed and 22 others wounded on Friday when two explosions rocked the predominantly-Druze city of Swaida in southern  Syria , the state news agency SANA reported. The first blast took place at the Daher al-Jabal area in Swiada, said the report, giving no more details. It added that the second explosion was caused by a booby-trapped car that went off near the National Hospital of Swaida. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hammoud Hinnawi, one of the most prominent Druze Sheikhs in Swaida, told Xinhua that the Daher al-Jabal blast was caused by an explosive device that tore through the car of Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, a Druze spiritual leader and outspoken critic of the Syrian regime. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists said al-Balous, who is also a critic of the Islamist militia groups, was killed along with Sheikh, Fadi Naim. Al-Balous enjoyed a rising popularity in Swaida recently despite his outspoken criticism o

Representational Image   dna Research & Archives Thirteen militants were killed on Saturday in Tajikistan, a day after an armed group allegedly carried out deadly attacks on police, the interior ministry said. The operation by both the army and police follows on Friday attacks that saw eight policemen and nine militants killed and which the government said were orchestrated by former deputy defence minister Abduhalim Nazarzoda. "At this time, 32 members of Nazarzoda's criminal group have been detained, 13 of whom have been eliminated," the ministry said in a statement. Four policemen were killed in a shootout with militants on the outskirts of the capital Dushanbe yesterday and another four officers were killed in an attack in the town of Vahdat just outside the capital, the interior ministry said. A large-scale security operation was underway to find the assailants, who seized a "large amount of weapons and ammunition" during yesterday's attacks, the mi

The UAE bombarded Yemeni rebels with air strikes on Saturday as it mourned 45 soldiers, among 50 killed in the deadliest day yet for a Saudi-led coalition fighting the insurgents. Emirati officials vowed that the deaths in a missile attack in the battleground eastern oil province of Marib would not sap their commitment to the coalition’s mission to restore exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The missile hit an arms depot, triggering huge explosions that the exiled government said also killed five Bahraini coalition troops. The UAE denounced the attack as “cowardly” but the Shiite Huthi rebels hailed it as “revenge” for six months of deadly coalition air strikes. The coalition launched its air war when Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia in March after the rebels entered his last refuge, Yemen’s second city Aden. After his loyalists recaptured the southern port city in July, the coalition launched a ground operation which has seen the rebels pushed back from five southern provinces, although

ENLARGE The bodies of some of the 45 U.A.E. soldiers killed in an attack in Yemen arrive at Al Bateen Airport in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.   Photo:  European Pressphoto Agency By Rory Jones  in Dubai and  Ahmed Al Omran  in Riyadh Sept. 5, 2015 5:53 a.m. ET Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels were behind a rocket attack that killed 45 soldiers from the United Arab Emirates, Emirati officials said Saturday, as the country increased airstrikes against the militants in retaliation. The deaths constitute the largest single-day toll absorbed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition of mostly Sunni Arab states that has been fighting the Shiite group since March. Saturday’s airstrikes targeted Houthi positions in the provinces of Al Bayda and Mari’b, where state news agency WAM said a U.A.E. ammunition depot exploded Friday after being hit by a surface-to-surface missile, killing the military personnel. Dozens of coalition soldiers were killed using a Tochka ballistic missile, the Houthis said on their o

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong case for religious freedom in the world, stressing that radical elements trying to force their own ideologies on others gave rise to conflicts.   The Prime Minister’s comments come in the backdrop of growing religious and cultural intolerance in the world, highlighted by violent acts of fanatical groups like the Islamic State.     Modi was speaking at the concluding function of a Hindu-Buddhist conclave on ‘conflict avoidance’ which was attended by delegates from nearly 50 countries.   “On the issue of conflicts, most of which are driven by religious intolerance, participants have agreed that while there is no problem about the freedom to practice one’s religion, it is when radical elements try to force their own ideologies on others that the potential for conflict arises,” Modi said.   He also quoted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, one of his closest friends among all world leaders, “who the other day highlighted the importanc

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed on Saturday that Balous died in Friday's blasts. "Sheikh Wahid al-Balous was killed in a car bomb attack as he was driving on the outskirts of Sweida city," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The suicide attack was carried out near the National Hospital in the predominantly Druze stronghold. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings. Syria's official news agency reported on Saturday that the death toll from the blast had also risen to 26. Sheikh Wahid Balous was one of the strongest opponents of President Bashar al-Assad among the Druze minority sect which dates back to the 10th century. Prior to the ongoing war, the offshoot of Shiite Islam accounted for around 5 percent of Syria's population of 23 million people. Despite being divided during the war, the sect has largely avoided any involvement in the conflict. Tensions were mounting in Swe

The chilling photo of a drowned Syrian boy has brought a spike in donations to refugee charities. But the World Food Program has had to cut the amount of food aid given to displaced Syrians in neighboring countries. Charities working to ease Europe's refugee crisis said on Friday that "the tide of indifference is shifting," following the publication of a distressing photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body, washed up on Bodrum beach in Turkey. "There is an enormous response from the public," said Christian Peregrin, spokesman for the Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), who told news agency AFP that, by Friday, they had received a record 1 million euros ($1.1 million), compared to 10,000 euros on a usual day. The charity regularly provides search and rescue operations to pick up thousands of refugees from the Mediterranean Sea. Christian NGO World Vision told the "LA Times" that its donations had tripled in one day after the photo was

Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck government buildings controlled by Houthi fighters in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday night and army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh after at least 50 coalition soliders were killed on Friday. Among the targets, the Defence Ministry building in Sanaa was very heavily damaged, residents said. Strikes hit the command of the special security forces and camps of Saleh as well as the presidential complex. At least 50 soldiers from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were killed in Yemen on Friday in the deadliest attack on Gulf Arab troops in the Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi forces. Source http://m.hindustantimes.com/world-news/saudi-led-coalition-planes-hit-houthi-controlled-government-buildings/article1-1387639.aspx

A photograph of late brothers Alan, left, and Ghalib Kurdi is displayed outside the home of their aunt Tima Kurdi, in Coquitlam, B.C. Alan, his older brother Ghalib and their mother Rehanna died as they tried to reach Europe from Syria. (DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS) The photo of a dead Syrian toddler washed ashore on a beach in Turkey galvanized the world’s attention on a humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding before our eyes for months now. The fact that the backstory of that child’s despicable fate had a Canadian connection brought the horror of what is happening in the Middle East and Europe into sharp relief in this country. It was impossible to listen to Tima Kurdi of Coquitlam, B.C., detail what happened to her brother Abdullah’s wife, Rehenna, and their two sons – one being three-year-old Alan, the boy photographed face down in the sand, and the other Ghalib, who also died – and not be furious and broken-hearted at the same time. All three drowned when the tiny boat they

The mayor's office in the northern city of Rostock announced that the refugee girl and her father had received a limited residency permit until March 2016. The office could not immediately clarify what would happen after that date but said that the rest of the family would not be deported so that they could remain together. Rostock's city Finance and Administration Senator Chris Müller said that he was pleased that the city had "provided some promising prospects within the framework of the legal guidelines." He added that Reem was a good example "of successful integration in our Hanseatic city." 'Merkel strokes' Merkel was criticized in July after she told Reem  during a televised discussion  forum that Germany could not admit everyone who wanted to live there. Merkel then put an arm round Reem and  stroked her cheek  when the girl started crying. The video clip of the exchange went viral, starting the hashtag #merkelstreichelt ("Merkel strokes&

NEW DELHI: Thirty-one-year-old Lance Naik Goswami hailed from Indira Nagar village in Haldwani Tehsil, and joined the elite Para Commandos in December 2002. Soft spoken, but considered to be one of the toughest commandos, he always volunteered for operational missions undertaken by his unit. He was a part of numerous successful counter terrorists operations undertaken by his unit in Jammu and Kashmir. Lance Naik Goswami was actively involved in the Khurmur operations, which were launched on August 23, 2015 in Handwara and resulted in the elimination of three hardcore Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists of Pakistani origin. He was involved in the Rafiabad operations on August 26 and 27, and the fierce gunfight resulted in the elimination of three more LeT terrorists and the apprehension of one terrorist who was identified as Sajjad Ahmad alias Abu Ubed Ullah, a resident of Muzzafargarh. The Rafiabad operation established proof of Pakistan's complicity in abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashm

IndiaToday.in    New Delhi, Thursday, September 3, 2015 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks The basic definition of Terrorism is an act designed to cause terror in the hearts of people. India and many other countries have been attacked many times by various terrorists groups. There have been many and if we start counting these attacks, the counting might never stop. Let's look at 10 of the most dreadful terror attacks: Wall Street Bombing The Wall street attack in the Financial District of New York, happened on September 16, 1920. The attack killed over 30 people and injured more than 400. The attack also resulted in resulted in 2 million dollars in damages. A horse-drawn wagon containing 45 kilograms of dynamite with 230 kilograms of slugs detonated and instantly killing the brokers, clerks, messengers and stenographers working in the area and also destroyed the interior of the JP Morgan building. The crime was never solved. King David Hotel Bombing The attack on the King

Sevil Erkuş - ANKARA European Union Affairs Minister and chief negotiator Ali Haydar Konca has made a call to “silence arms” and said “arms should be buried,” stressing the resolution for the Kurdish peace process should be found through dialogue.  “It’s vital to get out of a spiral of violence… immediately. Silencing arms and ending violence is the will of all our people,” the minister said, speaking at his first press conference on Aug. 31. Konca is one of the two ministers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who was named to participate in the interim Turkish government. The minister signaled his priority would be resuming the Kurdish peace process to end three decades of conflict, saying it would also pave the way for Turkey’s membership to the European Union.   Konca stressed the first agenda of the election government was to carry out concrete policies which would maintain social peace and provide thorough election security. The EU minister underlined current violence