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Showing posts from April 17, 2016

Returning home is a mixed blessing for victims of Boko Haram

YOLA, Nigeria (AP) — "Bring Back Our Girls," say the placards in the park and the tweets read around the world. But for thousands of girls and women who've escaped Boko Haram's clutches, the message they've sometimes encountered at homecomings has been "Stay Away." As U.S.-backed African governments make military advances against the Islamic extremist group and rescue more and more of the kidnapped and enslaved, aid groups and activists say a new challenge is mounting: rehabilitation. Perhaps no group is as stigmatized as those abducted, raped, forcibly married or otherwise mistreated by the militants. Sometimes they are called "Boko Haram wives" or even "epidemics" in their native communities, and few organized services are available for their care. Sometimes even fewer people are willing to embrace them as survivors. "No one helped me, just one person who got me these clothes," said Maria Saidu, a 32-year-old wo

Acquitted Serbian radical bids for election comeback

Serbia votes in a general election on Sunday with the pro-European ruling party expected to return to power. But pro-Russian ultra-nationalists are also set to make a comeback in parliament after several years out in the cold. Leading the resurgence is hardliner Vojislav Seselj, buoyed by a recent war crimes acquittal. Source https://www.yahoo.com/news/acquitted-serbian-radical-bids-election-102811038.html?nhp=1

Syrian government bombing kills 13 in rebel-held town near Damascus:monitor

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus on Saturday, killing 13 people, while aerial bombings of insurgent-controlled parts of Aleppo in the north killed or wounded at least 17, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria's five-year-old war to honor a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce. The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the Syrian war through a network of contacts, said the death toll in Douma, northeast of the capital, was expected to rise because more than 22 others were injured, some critically. There was also fighting near Bala southeast of Damascus between rebel groups and government forces with deaths occurring on both sides, the Observatory said. In Aleppo, at least 17 people were injured or killed, including a child, by bombs dropped from planes in an ea

Officials: 5 people dead in 2 shootings in Georgia

APPLING, Ga. (AP) — A man who shot and killed five people during two separate shootings as part of a domestic dispute in Georgia was found dead in his home early Saturday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The body of shooting suspect Wayne Anthony Hawes, 50, was recovered Saturday by authorities in his northeastern Georgia home, Columbia County Sheriff Captain Andy Shedd said in a statement. Shedd said the Friday night shootings stem from a domestic dispute that left three men and two women dead. Sheriff deputies responded to a home on Johnson Drive about 7:54 p.m. Friday and discovered three victims - a man and two women. At 8:32 p.m., authorities responded to a second crime scene on Washington Road where two other victims, a man and a woman, also were found. The victims found at the home on Johnson Drive were identified as Roosevelt Burns, 75, Rheva Mae Dent, 85, and Kelia Clark, 31. Victims found at the Washington Road scene were identified as

Why Al Qaeda thinks ISIS has no future

Al Qaeda’s fundamentally different approach to winning the hearts and minds of the world’s Muslims – recently thrown into shadow by the bold moves of the Islamic State – is now showing signs of longer-term success. Al Qaeda has long espoused “strategic patience” to establish a global caliphate only after gradual persuasion of Muslims through a long war with the West. That approach contrasts starkly with that of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq months after breaking with Al Qaeda in 2014. Now, as ISIS faces mounting pressure from the outside with apparently scant support from the populations it dominates, Al Qaeda’s “patience” appears to be paying off. Recommended:  How much do you know about the Islamic State?  In Syria, Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra is solidifying both its place within the Syrian opposition and its hold on some pro-opposition communities.  In Somalia, fighters with the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab are making a comeb

Officials: Mayor killed in Mexico; gang links suspected

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in central Mexico say a mayor and two companions have been shot to death, and they say the mayor likely had links to a criminal gang. The chief prosecutor of Mexico state says Mayor Juan Antonio Mayen of the town of Jilotzingo was killed on a highway by an armed group traveling in a pickup truck. Prosecutor Alejandro Gomez says two other people were killed and another two were wounded in the attack on a pair of cars carrying Mayen, other local officials and bodyguards. He said over 100 spent shell casings had been recovered at the scene of Friday's attack in a rural area of Mexico state, west of Mexico City. Assistant prosecutor Martin Marin Colin said there is evidence that Mayen was linked to local gang whose leader had also been killed recently. "At this point we cannot rule out any line of investigation, including his (Mayen's) probable link to illicit activities," Marin Colin said. "Given the manner of the events

Prominent Sikh figure killed in Pakistan by Taliban

By Jibran Ahmed PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban gunmen shot dead a prominent Sikh figure and opposition party worker on Friday, authorities and the militants said, in the latest attack on a religious minority in the majority-Muslim nation. Soran Singh was a leading figure in Pakistan's tiny Sikh community and an adviser to a provincial chief minister, representing cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party. Singh was attacked by gunmen in his native village in the Buner valley in northwest Pakistan, local police officer Shaukat Khan said. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said the Taliban carried out the killing, and would continue attacks until their version of strict Islamic law was established in Pakistan. The PTI said Islam's laws and the Pakistani constitution provided for the protection of religious minorities. "The brutal killing of Soran Singh is extremely saddening,&qu

Two killed in Turkey by rockets fired from Syria: report

Ankara (AFP) - Three Katyusha rockets fired from neighbouring Syria landed in a Turkish border town Friday, leaving two people dead and four wounded, according to local media reports. The rockets hit Kilis, which has come under repeated fire from areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group in recent weeks. Six people were hurt in the attack, which happened at around 1600 GMT according to the Dogan news agency. Two of those wounded later died in hospital, it said. A government official was not immediately available for comment. Kilis is the only town in Turkey where refugees from the war in Syria now outnumber Turkish locals. On Monday, rockets killed four Syrians there, including three children. Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar and powerful intelligence chief Hakan Fidan made a rare public visit to the town last week while Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has also vowed to protect the town. The rocket fire has drawn retaliation from the Turkish army over the pas

Former al-Qaida hostage recounts bitter return to France

PARIS (AP) — The back of his shorn head still bears a deep scar of his al-Qaida jailers' beatings, although he has regained the weight that sloughed off during more than three years of captivity. Most of all, Serge Lazarevic is angry. Not so much anymore at the men who abducted him and his friend Philippe Verdon, but at the indifference of his own French government which, he says, has no idea how to cope with him or other victims of Islamic extremists. The Franco-Serb's homecoming in December 2014 was met with a joyful celebration, but that was largely the fruit of his daughter's own efforts. Lazarevic and Verdon were scouting to build a cement factory in Mali in November 2011 when they were abducted from their hotel. Verdon was shot to death in mid-2013, at the height of France's air-and-ground campaign to oust al-Qaida-linked extremists who had taken over a vast expanse in northern Mali. As the 54-year-old Lazarevic recounts in his book "From One Desert to Anothe

Bangladesh professor hacked to death near his home, fifth murder since 2015

A professor was hacked to death by unidentified attackers near his home in northwest Bangladesh this morning, the latest in a series of brutal attacks on intellectuals and activists in the Muslim majority country. Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee, 58, was murdered within 50 metres of his residence in the country’s northwestern city of Rajshahi, police said. Unidentified miscreants hacked the English professor with sharp weapons and left him to die at the Battala Crossing in Salbagan area around 7.30 AM, police officer Shahdat Hossain was quoted as saying by the Bdnews24.com. He taught English at the university. “His neck was hacked at least three times and was 70-80 percent slit. By examining the nature of the attack, we suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups,” Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told AFP. Nahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of police, said Siddique was involved in cultural programmes, including music, and

Islamic State mines kill dozens of civilians returning to Ramadi

By Stephen Kalin BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Explosives planted by Islamic State have killed dozens of Iraqi civilians who returned to Ramadi despite warnings that much of the western city remains unsafe nearly four months after its recapture from the militants. Tens of thousands of displaced residents have returned to the Anbar provincial capital in the past two months, mostly from camps east of the city where they took refuge prior to the army's advance late last year. A shortage of experts trained in dismantling the explosives has slowed efforts to restore security, but that has not stopped people from responding to calls from local religious and government leaders to go back home. The Anbar governor's office, which is overseeing much of the effort to restore Ramadi, declined requests for comment. But the United Nations said it had learned from the authorities that 49 people have been killed and 79 others wounded in Ramadi since the beginning of February. Those figure

At least 10 killed in airstrikes in northern Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — At least 10 people were killed Friday when airstrikes hit several rebel-held neighborhoods in Syria's contested northern city of Aleppo and neighboring Idlib province, anti-government activists said. Aleppo, Syria's largest city and former commercial center, has seen sporadic clashes since the February 27 cease-fire, as government troops advanced, boxing in opposition-held areas from all sides except for a corridor from the northwestern edge of the town. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 10 people were killed in the airstrikes in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood and other parts of the city controlled by rebels. The Observatory described the series of airstrikes as the most intense on the city since the cease-fire began. Two activist-operated media outlets, the Syrian Revolution Network and Azaz Media Center, said at least seven people were killed. The discrepancy couldn't immediately be reconciled, but diver

Lithuania govt websites hit by cyberattacks for 3rd time

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) -- Lithuanian officials say government websites have been hit by cyberattacks for the third time this month. The latest so-called denial-of-service attacks disrupted the websites of Parliament and the ministries of finance, defense, agriculture and others for about 30 minutes on Thursday. Police launched an investigation but couldn't immediately say who was behind the Thursday attacks and those earlier this month. The most intense attacks happened on April 11 during a meeting of Crimean Tartars in Lithuania. Arvydas Zvirblis, head of the Infobalt cybersecurity committee, said "these coordinated attacks are unpredictable and can cause serious damage." He said Lithuania needs to upgrade its cyber defense capabilities. Source https://in.news.yahoo.com/lithuania-govt-websites-hit-cyberattacks-123201184.html?nhp=1

IS terror suspect plotted beheadings in US from jail

Washington, April 22 (IANS) A Rhode Island man awaiting trial on terrorism charges plotted with others -- from behind bars -- to behead people in the US, federal prosecutors said on Thursday. A superseding indictment said Nicholas Rovinski, arrested last June and charged with plotting Islamic State-inspired attacks, "has attempted to recruit people to assist" in carrying out a plan "to commit violent attacks in the US and to decapitate non-believers". He was one of three New England men accused of plotting to behead a New York woman, Pamela Geller, who organised last year's Draw Muhammad contest in Texas. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said one of the men, Usaamah Rahim of Roslindale, Massachusetts, later changed his mind and decided to attack police in Boston. He was shot and killed last June as he prepared to board a bus armed with a long knife, NBC reported. The FBI said wiretaps picked up Rahim telling the third man in the plot, David Wrigh

Islamic State bomber kills nine at Baghdad mosque

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomb attack claimed by Islamic State killed at least nine people following Friday prayers at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in southwestern Baghdad, police and hospital sources said. A second suicide attacker at the mosque in al-Radwaniya district was shot and killed by security forces before he could set off his explosives, the police sources said. A separate bomb went off in the district of Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, killing two and wounding nine, security and medical sources said. Islamic State was behind the larger attack, which also wounded at least 25 others, according to Amaq news agency, which supports the group. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the second blast. The rise of the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim group, which is battling government forces over control of vast territory in northern and western Iraq, has exacerbated a long-running sectarian conflict, mostly between Shi'ites and Sunnis, that emerged after th

4 scholars on trial for criticizing Turkey's war with rebels

ISTANBUL (AP) — Four Turkish academics went on trial Friday in Istanbul accused of spreading "terrorist propaganda" as Turkey continues to clamp down on dissenting voices. The four academics were among a group of more than 1,000 scholars who in January signed a declaration critical of the government's military operations against Kurdish rebels. The declaration angered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and led to legal proceedings against some. They were arrested last month after holding a news conference during which they stood by the declaration. In a separate courtroom also Friday, a closed-door trial resumed for two prominent opposition journalists who are accused of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization for their reports on alleged government arms-smuggling to Syria. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the courthouse in Istanbul to show their support for Cumhuriyet newspaper's chief editor Can Dundar and Ankara representative Erdem Gul

Pakistan arrests al Qaeda operative named in U.N. sanctions list - police

By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI (Reuters) - Police in the Pakistani city of Karachi have arrested an al Qaeda operative who is on the United Nations sanctions list, a police official said on Friday. Pakistan has been under pressure to crack down on Islamist militant groups and launched a renewed operation against many of them in 2014, when al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced the formation of a new wing, al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. The region, stretching across countries including Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, is home to more than 400 million Muslims. Muqadas Haider, a senior police officer, said Abdul Rehman Sindhi was arrested in a joint operation between police and intelligence agencies late on Thursday. "Abdul Rehman Sindhi is an old veteran of al Qaeda," Haider said. "He had stayed in touch with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al- Zawahri and has worked with Harkat-ul Jihad Islami, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Al Akhtar Trust," he said. Sindhi was put on a U.N. S

Well-known ISIS operative instructed Americans to kill organizer ofMuhammad cartoon contest, prosecutors reveal

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The knife brandished by Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, a 26-year-old terrorism suspect, before he was shot dead by police. (Boston Police Department) The Justice Department on Thursday revealed that a well-known Islamic State operative instructed a Boston-area man to kill Pamela Geller, the organizer of a controversial Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas last year. In court documents, prosecutors said that Junaid Hussain, a British militant, had been communicating with Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, who along with two friends discussed beheading  Geller . Rahim, however, changed his mind and instead decided to target a police officer. He was shot and killed in June 2015 in Roslindale, Mass., after he attacked members of an FBI-led surveillance team while wielding a large knife, officials said. [ Boston terrorism suspect had planned to attack police officers, FBI says ]  Hussain, 21, was killed in Raqqa, Syria, in August 2015 in a drone strike. He was a well-known militant involved i

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Sent Peace Message To ISIS, Received Photo OfBeheaded Man

Agartala:  Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said on Thursday that he tried to open a dialogue with ISIS, but the terror group rejected it by sending him a photograph of a beheaded man. "I tried to initiate peace talks with the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) recently but they sent me a photograph of a beheaded body of a man. Thus, my effort for a peace dialogue with the ISIS ended," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said. "I think the ISIS does not want any peace talks," he told reporters in Agartala. "Hence, they should be dealt with militarily." Mr Ravi Shankar left for Kolkata after a three-day visit to Tripura. Holding a series of meetings across the state, he stressed on the need to bring peace to India's northeastern region. The 59-year-old said his aim was to unite all cultures, religions, faith and ideologies.   Story first published: Apr 22, 2016 09:52 IST Source http://m.ndtv.com/india-news/sri-sri-ravi-shankar-sent-peace-message-t

Obama Seeks Gulf Help Against IS Despite Strains

US President Barack Obama met Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia today to push for increased efforts against the Islamic State group, despite strains in their ties with Washington. Making what is likely his final presidential visit to historic American allies, Obama is seeking to overcome recent tensions with Sunni Arab Gulf states rooted in US overtures to their regional rival Iran. With IS suffering a series of recent setbacks in areas under its control in Syria and Iraq, Washington is seeking more help from the oil-rich Gulf monarchies to keep up the pressure. After bilateral talks with Saudi King Salman the day before, Obama posed today for a summit photo with six leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries before heading into four hours of talks at a royal palace. In a highly unusual move, Saudi state news channel Al-Ekhbaria did not broadcast the start of the meeting, just as it did not show Obama's airport arrival on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states belon