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Showing posts from January 1, 2017

Gunmen kill eight Hazara miners in Afghanistan

Unidentified gunmen killed eight members of Afghanistan's Hazara minority who were working as miners in the northern province of Baghlan, a local government official said. Faiz Mohammad Amiri, governor of Taleh va Barfak district,said the eight dead and three other wounded, who all came from Daykundi province in central Afghanistan, had been pulled out of a vehicle and shot on Friday. He blamed the Taliban, which controls the district where the incident occurred but the insurgent movement denied any involvement. “The people working in this mine had our permission and we had good relations,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. “They hadn't created any problems.” He blamed “arbakis” or members of informal local militias,in the area for the killings. Hazaras are a Persian-speaking, largely Shia minority, whohave faced a long history of discrimination and violence inmainly Sunni Afghanistan. Last year, scores of Hazara were killed in a series of attacks in

Pentagon deploys 300 Marines to Afghanistan's Helmand

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US Marines flew out of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in October 2014. (File photo) The Pentagon will deploy a new task force of approximately 300 US Marines to Afghanistan’s restive Helmand Province, marking the return to a region where hundreds of troops were killed in fierce combat. The forces with a unit called Task Force Southwest will deploy this spring to advise the Afghan army and police, senior Marine officers said Friday. The deployment will last nine months and is expected to evolve into a series of similar rotations for the Marines, officials said. The Marines will largely operate from a sprawling Afghan installation known during earlier Marine operations as Camp Leatherneck, but will be based in other locations and could engage in combat. “We’re viewing this as a high-risk mission that really requires training that is going to ensure that our Marines are capable of countering a full-spectrum threat,” said Brig. Gen. Roger B. Turner, who will be in charge

When the Queen was ‘nearly shot’ by a palace guardsman

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II had a narrow escape during a late night walk in her palace gardens when one of her guardsmen “nearly shot” her thinking it was an intruder, a media report claimed on Thursday. The 90-year-old monarch was known for her fondness of long walks in the garden in the past and often when she struggled to sleep, she decided to take a stroll. However, on one occasion, a former guardsman revealed how he was caught unawares at 3 a.m. at Buckingham Palace in London. ''Bloody hell... I nearly shot you'' “Bloody hell, Your Majesty, I nearly shot you,” the anonymous guard is reported to have said. According to  The Times  diary column, the Queen replied in her well-known witty vein: “That’s quite all right. “Next time I’ll ring through beforehand, so you don’t have to shoot me.” Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the anecdote. It is believed the incident occurred several years ago and that the Queen is now unlikely to be fo

Car bomb kills at least 43 in Syria’s Azaz: monitor

Car bomb kills at least 43 in Syria’s Azaz: monitor A huge tanker truck bomb killed at least 43 people and wounded dozens more on Saturday in the Syrian rebel-held town of Azaz near the Turkish border, a monitor said. The blast ripped through a market area in front of a local Islamic courthouse, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Six rebel fighters were among the dead, but most of those killed were believed to be civilians, the group added. Identification tough Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said identification of the dead was being hampered by the fact that some bodies were completely burned in the blast. Video from the scene showed huge clouds of smoke rising from a street filled with debris and twisted metal, which bulldozers worked to clear. Raging fires were burning in several vehicles, and the fire brigade was battling to put them out with a giant water tanker and hoses. Civil defence workers, rebels and civilians picked through

Huge US military force in Germany to boost NATO presence in E Europe

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US Military vehicles are unloaded from a transport ship in the harbour in Bremerhaven, northwestern Germany, on January 6, 2017. (Photo by AFP) The US military has begun the deployment of hundreds of combat vehicles such as tanks as well as artillery guns along with 3,500 troops to Germany in an alleged bid to boost NATO’s deterrence force against Russia in Eastern Europe. US warships started unloading the military hardware, which includes 87 tanks and 144 Bradley fighting vehicles, in the northern German port of Bremerhaven on Friday for eventual transfer to member countries of the military alliance in Eastern Europe to enhance what was described as “deterrence against possible Russian aggression.” Nearly 3,500 American troops from the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Carson, Colorado, will join the military equipment over the next two weeks, marking the outset of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which provides for continuous presence of a US armored brigade combat team in Euro

Suicide Terrorism Across the Globe Hits Record High in 2016

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Abid Katib/Getty by   Simon Kent 6 Jan 2017 22 A total of 469 suicide bombings carried out by 800 perpetrators across 28 countries, causing the deaths of about 5,650 people made 2016 the worst year ever for this deadly form of terrorist atrocity. According to  figures  released by the Terrorism and Low Intensity Conflict Research Program at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS),  Islamic State continues to be the world’s leading perpetrator of these mass casualty attacks – and 2017 may be even worse. SIGN UP  FOR OUR NEWSLETTER In 2016, Islamic State attackers were directly or indirectly responsible (through organizations that swore allegiance to it and joined its ranks) for approximately 70 per cent (322) of suicide bombings. See INSS figures below: Rather than an indicator of strength, the report says increasing numbers of suicide attack represent a reaction by Islamic State to “territorial losses and the increasing internati

Fort Lauderdale shooting: 1 dead, multiple wounded after gunman opens fire at Florida airport

Friday 6 January 2017 Security personnel scrambled to deal with a shooting incident at a Florida airport amid reports that at least nine people had been shot and the gunman taken into custody. Reports said one person may have been killed. Ari Fleischer, the one-time press secretary to former president George W Bush, was among the first to alert people to the sound of shooting, as he passed through Fort Lauderdale International Airport. “I'm at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. Shots have been fired. Everyone is running,” he wrote. “The police said there is one shooter and five victims.” He later added: “All seems calm now but the police aren't letting anyone out of the airport - at least not the area where I am.” NBC said that nine people had been shot, with one of them killed. Reports suggested the incident had taken place in a baggage area. Source  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fort-lauderdale-shooting-shots-reported-florida-airport-late

Philippine security forces killed AKP's leader supporting Islamic State

Jan 6,  9:06 AM In Philippine, security forces have killed a leader of a terrorist group supporting Islamic State. The country's Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa announced the death of Ansar Al-Khilafah Philippines (AKP) group's leader, Mohammad Jaafar Maguid. Three AKP colleagues of Maguid were also arrested in a police operation shortly after midnight at a resort in the southern province of Sarangani. President Rodrigo Duterte recently cautioned against Islamic State taking root in the southeast Asian country, saying it needs to avoid contamination. The AKP and the Maute militant group, which has also pledged allegiance to Islamic State, are among a handful of small groups authorities blame for years of unrest in the Philippine south. Source  http://www.newsonair.com/news.asp?cat=International&id=IN14475

Al-Qaida chief denounces Islamic State 'liars'

WASHINGTON: Al-Qaida leader  Ayman al-Zawahiri  has denounced what he said was a dishonest propaganda campaign by rival jihadist group the  Islamic State against his organization, in an audio message released on Thursday.  In the message found and translated by US-based watchdog the SITE Intelligence Group, the Egyptian extremist accuses IS leader  Abu Bakr  al-Baghdadi of slandering his group.  Al-Qaida, founded by the late Osama Bin Laden, is locked in a battle with the so-called Islamic State — which sprang from its Iraqi faction — for the leadership of a global jihad.  In his message, the 65-year-old Zawahiri complained that Al-Baghdadi had alleged that al-Qaida opposes sectarian attacks on Shiites and was prepared to work with Christian leaders.  "The liars insist upon their falsehood, to the extent that they claimed we do not denounce Shiites," Zawahiri said, according to the translation of the message, which was released by al-Qaida's media arm.  Zawahiri denie

Masood Azhar is a terrorist, Beijing should 'adjust' its stand, says ex-Chinese diplomat

Masood Azhar is a terrorist, Beijing should 'adjust' its stand, says ex-Chinese diplomat BEIJING: In a rare case of dissent against official policy, a former Chinese diplomat who served in India has sought a change in China's repeated efforts to block India's bid to slap a UN ban on Jaish-e-Muhammad leader  Masood Azhar .  Mao Siwei - who previously served as China's Consul General in Kolkata - has argued that Azhar is a terrorist and Beijing should "adjust" its stand accordingly.  In his lengthy blog on social media WeChat public account about the India-China stalemate over Azhar, Siwei said China should take advantage of India's complaint against Azhar and "get rid of the passive diplomatic situation" between the two countries.  The blog was published on December 28, two days before China refused to lift its technical hold on India's application, allowing it to lapse, Siwei highlighted the history of Pakistan-based terror organisations

US adds Osama Bin Laden's son Hamza to its terror blacklist: 10 points

The United States today added Hamza Bin Laden, one of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden's sons, to its terrorist blacklist. Here's everything you need to know about the man who's been called the "Crown Prince of Terror", in 10 points 1 Hamza bin Laden poses 'serious risk': US Hamza bin Laden, who's now in his mid-twenties, has been "determined to have committed, or pose a serious risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security," the US State Department said. 2 Audio messages The State Department says the younger Laden - in a 2015 audio message - called for acts of terrorism in Western capitals. In an audio message last year, he threatened revenge against the U.S. and warned Americans they would be targeted at home and abroad. 3 Call for lone-wolf attacks Hamza bin Laden also has called for lone wolf, or solo-operative, attacks against US, French, and

In fact: To India’s east, an emerging sanctuary for al-Qaeda

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Myanmar’s brutal crackdown on the Rohingya is fanning an Islamist insurgency that could become a national security nightmare for India and region. In the last months of his life, as he was hunted by the US drones that would ultimately find him early in 2015, Ahmad Farooq, deputy emir of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), prepared a speech that did not at the time reach its intended audience. “They were given permission to go to war, those who are battling the disbelievers,” said Farooq from his sparse, mud-walled fortress in South Waziristan’s Wacha Dara, “because they are innocent, and without doubt, Allah will help them with all his power, for they were expelled from their homes only for saying: he is our master”. Three Al-Qaeda Operatives Nabbed, Police Say They Were Planning To Kill PM That day, Farooq’s mind was focussed far from the grim war raging around him — on the other side of the subcontinent, on a region he called “Assam-Burma”. There, he said,

Digital push: Demonetisation propels ramping up cyber safety

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A National Cyber Coordination Centre, A CERT-In’s Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre and the RBI’s circular to banks on phishing attacks are some of the key steps being undertaken to ensure safe and secured digital transactions. The rising proliferation of digital payments in India — with cumulative growth of electronic transactions among various instruments ranging between 95 per cent and 4,025 per cent from November 8 till December 27 — the concomitant dangers on the cybersecurity front have potentially opened up. The Centre, after its announcement of withdrawing high-value currency notes, has also come out with a slew of precautionary measures for any untoward event that might affect the country’s online financial systems. Has PM Narendra Modi's Demonetisation Move Failed Completely? On the one hand, the rollout of the first phase of the multi-stakeholder National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) involving the creation of a ‘Threat and Situational

Maoists kill two members of new Left faction

Ranchi: Two men were allegedly shot dead by CPI (Maoist) cadres in Pathal village in  Chatra  district. The duo's bodies were found near the Gaya-Chatra border by their family on Thursday.  Police said the two men, identified as Sanjay Singh Bhokta and Vijay Singh Bhokta, were picked up from their house and killed on Wednesday. An FIR was filed in FIR at Rajpur police station.  Chatra SP Anjani Jha said, "Family members knew Sanjay and his friend went missing at night but didn't go out looking for them because they were scared. Two men finally mustered the courage to search for the duo at 2am."  The SP said that a Maoist poster, in which the murderers claim to represent the banned Leftist faction, was found on the site of the incident. A total of four shots were fired, two on each of the victims, Jha added.  Jha said, "It has been verified that one of the victims, Sanjay Singh, was an active member of New SPM and was involved in activities which might have le