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Showing posts from February 14, 2016

ISIS Increasingly Using Children In Suicide Missions

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An image from an Islamic State propaganda video shows a child saying good-bye to his father before proceeding on a suicide mission. (Photo obtained by The Washington Post) The boy appears to be no older than 12. He hugs his father, climbs into an armored vehicle packed with explosives and then kisses his father's hand before departing on a mission that ends in a fireball on the horizon. That attack in Aleppo last month was one of at least 89 cases over the past year in which the Islamic State employed children or teenagers in suicide missions, according to new research that indicates the terrorist group is sending youths to their deaths in greater and greater numbers. The father-son sequence was memorialized in propaganda photos released last month by the Islamic State, adding to an expanding collection of online eulogies that provides insight into how the organization uses children in combat operations and mass-casualty attacks on civilians in Iraq and Syria. "The Isla

India Has A History Of Airplane Hijacks, But These Are Among The Most Terrifying

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The friendly skies are not only the safest but fastest way to travel. But when there's a knock of danger, the feeling of helplessness rattles the soul of humanity. This very feeling still remains in the hearts of survivors of the 1986 Pan AM Flight 73 that was hijacked by heavily-armed terrorists in Karachi, who will be reminded of that unfateful day once again while watching 'Neerja,' the much-awaited biographical movie that is getting released tomorrow. However, Pan AM hijack was not just one of the hijacking events that took the entire nation by storm. India has also witnessed Kandhar hijack and others in the past. Here we take a look at the most terrifying hijacking events that took place in the history of India's air transportation. 1986 Pan AM Hijack The ​biographical movie Neerja is based on this hijack that happened in the 1986. While 20 of the passengers were killed during the hijacking, lives of 359 others were saved by the courage shown by the then Pa

ISIS 'beheads teenage boys for listening to pop music and missing Friday prayers'

The ISIS jihadist group has reportedly beheaded a teenage boy for listening to pop music and shot dead two others for missing Friday prayers, as part of a crackdown on personal freedoms in the group's Iraqi stronghold of Mosul. The incidents, reported by Kurdish media, come with enemy forces lined up within miles of Mosul and with the group having suffered repeated military setbacks across Iraq. According to ARA News, a 15-year-old boy named Ayham Hussein was caught during a patrol by Isis fighters, listening to music in his father's grocery store. A spokesman for the Kurdish Nineveh media center was quoted by ARA News as saying the boy was listening to "Western music". "He was referred to the Sharia Court, which issued a decision to execute him." The boy was reportedly publicly beheaded, before his body was handed to his family on Tuesday evening. It is impossible to verify the report, but Kurdish media seem to suggest the incident has led to rare public d

US warplanes strike Islamic State in Libya, kill 40 people

TRIPOLI: US warplanes carried out air strikes against Islamic State-linked militants in western Libya on Friday, killing as many as 40 people in an operation targeting a suspect linked to two deadly attacks last year in neighbouring Tunisia. It was the second US air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya, where the hardline Islamist militants have exploited years of chaos following Muammar Gaddafi's 2011 overthrow to build up a presence on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Pentagon said it had targeted an Islamic State training camp and killed a Tunisian militant linked to major attacks on tourists in Tunisia. The mayor of the Libyan city of Sabratha, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters the planes struck at 3.30am (0130 GMT), hitting a building in the city's Qasr Talil district, home to many foreigners. He said 41 people had been killed and six wounded. The death toll could not immediately be confirmed with other officials. Photos released by the mun

Neerja took bullets for us: Pan Am Hijack survivor

CANDIGARH: As Sonam Kapoor's upcoming film Neerja, a biopic on Neerja Bhanot of Chandigarh, India's youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra, hits the big screen on February 19, one of the survivors of the Pan Am Flight 73 flight hijack remembers the terror-filled moments and how the 22-year-old cabin crew member saved the lives of a bulk of the passengers. Artiste Dharamendra Shah from Gujarat, then 21, recalls how he escaped from the plane through the emergency door opened by the brave Indian stewardess even as two members of his troupe, Trupti Dalal and Rupal Desai, were killed by the hijackers. The aircraft, with 360 passengers on board, had just arrived from Sahar International Airport in Mumbai, India, and was preparing to depart from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi for John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, via Frankfurt Airport in West Germany when the hijackers struck. "Neerja was a senior flight purser, and from Mumbai to Karachi, she was movin

German opposition slams 'immoral and illegal' asylum proposals

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Speaking in the lower house of parliament at the initial consultation of the bills on Friday, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the planned regulations were "the difficult but right step in a long journey." The Christian Democrat (CDU) minister emphasized the importance of a controversial suspension of family reunification, which also applies to minors with limited protection under German law. "We do not want parents send to their children ahead of them, with the risk of them facing mortal danger," the interior minister said, before arguing that the introduction of new regulations would also simplify the deportation of foreign criminals. "Germany remains a country with heart and a country with rules," de Maiziere said, adding that those who come to Germany as refugees "have to behave decently and abide by laws." Despite defending the bill on Friday, de Maiziere admitted that the draft law "does not solve all the problems&qu

Kidnapped Red Cross staff freed in eastern Afghanistan

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© Provided by AFP  Aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly been casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years Five Afghans working for the Red Cross were released Friday after being kidnapped earlier this week in Ghazni, the aid agency said, in an incident that saw it suspend field activities across the eastern province. Aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly been casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years. "We can indeed confirm that all our five colleagues have been released unharmed this morning and have arrived in Ghazni," Olivier Moeckli, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Kabul, told AFP. "ICRC's office in Ghazni remains open. Field activities are still temporarily on hold in Ghazni province," Olivier said, adding that the aid organisation was reviewing security and hoped "to resume its activities as soon as possible". He said the five had been kidnapped by a

Europol chief warns of threat of new terror attacks in Europe

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© Provided by Deutsche Welle Speaking to the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung," Europol Director Rob Wainwright said "Islamic State" terrorists were planning new attacks on the continent. "One can expect IS or other religious terror groups to stage an attack somewhere in Europe with the aim of achieving many casualties among the civilian population," Wainwright said. Not only groups of militants, but also individuals could be expected to carry out strikes, he added. Wainwright spoke shortly after a terror strike in Ankara killed 28 people. According to the Europol, between 3,000 and 5,000 Europeans have returned to Europe after being trained in terror camps. "The growing number of these foreign fighters presents new challenges for EU countries," the Europol head said. However, the attackers were not coming with refugees currently making their way into Europe, according to Wainwright. "There are no concrete indications that terrorists ar

IS posts Internet pictures of Egypt 'spy' beheadings

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© Provided by AFP  Egyptian special forces man a checkpoint outside Sharm el-Sheikh airport where a Russian plane carrying holidaymakers crashed in an incident claimed by the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group The Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group has posted pictures online of what it says was the execution of two men caught spying for the army in the Sinai. One of those decapitated was presented by the IS offshoot Sinai Province as a "spy for the military intelligence" services, while it said the other was a "spy for the army".  The images which were distributed on Twitter on Thursday night were deemed authentic by US monitor SITE Intelligence Group. The IS affiliate is waging an insurgency in the restive peninsula that has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.  The jihadists say they caused the crash of a Russian passenger plane carrying holidaymakers over Sinai

UN-brokered Syria talks unlikely to resume next week

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Staffan de Mistura, the UN's special envoy for Syria, has reportedly told a Swedish newspaper that it would be unrealistic to resume talks to end Syria's war on February 25. De Mistura is believed to have told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that he cannot "realistically" get the parties in the civil war back to the table by next week, "but we intend to do so soon," he said. "We need real talks about peace, not just talks about talks," de Mistura reportedly said. De Mistura halted talks February 3 after expanded airstrikes by Russia and a broad ground offensive by Syria's regime made a swift, peaceful resolution unlikely. Government forces have recently recaptured villages and towns across Syria. "We need ten days of preparations and invitations," De Mistura reportedly told the newspaper. "But we will aim to do this soon." He added: "I cannot say when I will call for talks. We have been disappointed in

Five killed as gunmen attack UN base in South Sudan

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© Provided by Deutsche Welle The shooting at Malakal base in Upper Nile State began on Wednesday night and reports of gunfire continued into Thursday morning. One witness said at least seven people had been killed and 32 injured. DW spoke to Ariane Quentier the spokesperson for the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) about the attack. DW: Can you please bring us up to date as to what is happening at the base. Is the shooting still going on? Ariane Quentier:It is not from outside the shooting camp but it from within the compound. We have different communities who are protected by UNMISS in this compound. We have four to seven thousand people that found shelter. The fighting started on Wednesday night between the Shilluk and the Dinke youth. The fought each other using small arms machetes and other weapons. In the middle of the night five people had been killed and another 30 were injured. They were treated in the medical clinic of Médecins Sans Frontières. What UNMISS did is

Pathankot strike: India disappointed as Pakistan FIR omits JeM, MasoodAzhar

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New Delhi:  India on Friday expressed disappointment that neither terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed nor its chief Masood Azhar were named in an FIR registered in Pakistan to probe January's Pathankot terror strike.  "It is a small step in the right direction. But it is disappointing that neither the name of Jaish nor Masood Azhar was incorporated in the FIR," a senior government official said. Pakistan filed the FIR against "unknown persons" after weeks of probe into the attack on the air base on January 2 in which seven security personnel were killed. It was registered at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Gujranwala in the neighbouring country's Punjab province. "We have failed to understand why Jaish and its chief's names were not included in the FIR despite India giving adequate evidence about their involvement," the official said. According to Pakistan's CTD, the FIR is needed for starting police and judicial procee