Monday 10 November 2014

Suicide bomber kills 48 students in Nigeria.

Suicide bomber kills 48 students in Nigeria.

POTISKUM | Dwan | AP | 10 nov 2014 : : A suicide bomber disguised in school uniform detonated explosives at a high school assembly in the northeast Nigerian city of Potiskum on Monday, killing at least 48 students, according to survivors and a morgue attendant.
Soldiers rushed to the scene, grisly with body parts, in the capital of Yobe state, but they were chased away with stones and calls by people angry at the military's inability to halt a five-year-old Islamic insurgency that has killed thousands and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes.
A suicide bomb attack in the same city killed 30 people one week ago, when suspected Boko Haram fighters attacked a religious procession of moderate Muslims.
Some 2,000 students had gathered for Monday morning's weekly assembly at the Government Technical Science College when the explosion blasted through the school hall, according to survivors who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.
“We were waiting for the principal to address us, around 7:30 am, when we heard a deafening sound and I was blown off my feet, people started screaming and running, I saw blood all over my body,” 17-year-old student Musa Ibrahim Yahaya said from the general hospital, where he was being treated for head wounds.
Hospital workers said dozens are being treated including people with serious injuries that may need amputations.
A morgue attendant said 48 bodies were brought to the hospital and all appeared to be between the ages of 11 and 20 years old. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to give information to reporters. (Courtesy : Dawn.com)

Saturday 6 September 2014

Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief

Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban chief.

DUBAI | Msn News | 06 Sep 2014 : :  Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent.


In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy.

Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression.

Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda's aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanized young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border.

Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a "caliph" or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims.

The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions.

As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation.

However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge. (Courtesy : Retures, Msn News )

Wednesday 3 September 2014

910 'terrorists', 82 soldiers killed in North Waziristan.

Army says 910 'terrorists', 82 soldiers killed in North Waziristan.


ISLAMABAD | Dawn | 03 Sep 2014 : : A statement issued by the military on Wednesday put the official number of “terrorists” killed in Operation Zarb-i-Azb at 910 and added that 82 Pakistani soldiers had also lost their lives during the North Waziristan offensive.

The death tolls and their breakdowns could not be independently verified as journalists have limited access to the restive tribal region.

The statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) added that 27 explosives and arms making factories have also been destroyed and the operation in North Waziristan was on track and going according to plan.

The army says it has taken over complete control of major towns of Miramshah, Mirali, Dattakhel, Boya and Degan, which were previously considered militant strongholds.

The statement said the 88-kilometre-long Khajuri-Mirali-Miranshah-Dattakhel road and the Ghariom-Jhallar road have been cleared.

"Huge caches of arms and ammunition, communication equipment, and other logistics facilities used by terrorists have been destroyed; uprooting their ability to attack as a coherent force," the ISPR said.

"A total of 2,274 intelligence-led coordinated operations across the country have been carried out to avert any blowback of the operation and 42 terrorists have been killed and 114 hardcore terrorists detained in these operations." It further said that since the start of the operation 82 Pakistani soldiers have lost their lives and 269 were injured.

The ISPR said relief operations for those “temporarily dislocated” due to Zarb-i-Azb were continuing, adding that so far 19,376 tonnes of rations had been distributed among 97,570 displaced families at six relief delivery points in Bannu, Dera Ismail khan and Tank.

Military operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched on June 15 following a brazen militant attack on Karachi's international airport and the failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators.

Nearly a million people have fled the offensive in North Waziristan and taken shelter at camps for the displaced. ( Courtesy : Dawn )

Friday 29 August 2014

Terrorists waiting to cross into Rajasthan from Pakistan, alert issued.

Terrorists waiting to cross into Rajasthan from Pakistan, alert issued.

Jaipur: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS )of Rajasthan Police has issued an alert over the possibility of a group of terrorists looking to enter Rajasthan from across the international border with Pakistan.
The alert has put the number of possible intruders at 15. Following the alert, the Border Security Force (BSF) has intensified patrolling in border areas, especially in Bikaner, Jodhpur, Barmer.
Strict vigil is being maintained to thwart any attempt to push in terrorists into India.
The ATS has also written to all SPs and IGs, warning them of the threat.
Infiltration bids from across the border remain a challenge for India given the long - 3,323 km - border we share with Pakistan.
Traditionally Jammu and Kashmir frontier has been the most active route for infiltration but with the Indian armed forces stepping up pressure there, Rajasthan has emerged as the new worry area.
Last week, the BSF had said it has spotted armed terrorists very close to the IB on at least three occasions. The BSF chief said the continued ceasefire violations are an attempt to help terrorists into India. ( Courtesy : Zee News )

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Suspected Israeli revenge killing of Palestinian triggers clashes.

Suspected Israeli revenge killing of Palestinian triggers clashes.


JERUSALEM | Reuters | 02 July 2014 : :  The body of an abducted Palestinian youth was found in Jerusalem on Wednesday, raising suspicions he had been killed by Israelis avenging the deaths of three abducted Jewish teens.
News of the discovery of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khudair, who was last seen being bundled into a van earlier in the day, triggered clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli police in the city.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Jewish settlers of killing Abu Khudair and demanded that Israel "mete out the strongest punishment against the murderers if it truly wants peace".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged police "to swiftly investigate who was behind the loathsome murder and its motive." He called on all sides "not to take the law into their own hands."
The United States also condemned the killing, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling it a "despicable and senseless abduction and murder." He urged both Israeli and Palestinian officials "to take all necessary steps to prevent acts of violence and bring their perpetrators to justice." Police said they had found a body in the wooded outskirts of Jerusalem. Abu Khudair's father told Reuters the force had told him the body was his son.
An Israeli security source said Israel suspected the youth had been kidnapped and murdered, possibly in retribution for the killings of the Israeli teens, whose corpses were discovered on Monday, nearly three weeks after they were abducted in the occupied West Bank. Israel says Palestinian Hamas militants killed them. The Islamist group has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation.( Courtesy : F World )

APHC calls for strike on Modi's visit to India-held Kashmir.

APHC calls for strike on Modi's visit to India-held Kashmir.

All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman Mirwaiz
 Umar Farooq. — File photo
ISLAMABAD | APP | 02 July 2014 : :  Following Narendra Modi's visit to India-held Kashmir on Friday, All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) has called on Kashmiris to observe a complete shutdown.
According to the Kashmir Media Service, APHC Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that issues surrounding Kashmir were not economic but political and no economic packages would serve until the dispute was resolved.
Future of one billion people was associated with the issue and it should be resolved as per the aspirations of the people, Farooq said.
The APHC Chairman alleged that India had turned Kashmir into a military garrison where human rights violations were taking place every now and then.
“This shutdown will be a protest against Narendra Modi's visit to Kashmir as Prime Minister. India claims to be the largest democracy in the world, but its democratic credentials become questionable when it comes to the present situation of Kashmir,” Farooq said adding that in this freedom struggle, tens of thousands of people have been martyred and thousands subjected to enforced disappearance.
“By observing shutdown on Modi's visit, the Kashmiris will reiterate the pledge that the sublime cause for which people have sacrificed their lives and property cannot be compromised with economical and financial grants,” Farooq maintained.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples' Movement, a constituent of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference, has also extended their support for the strike call. ( Courtesy: Dawn )

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Militants capture northern Iraqi town.

A man checks a weapon as Iraqis volunteer to fight
 along side the Iraqi security forces against Jihadist
 militants who have taken over several northern
 Iraqi cities,on June 15 2014. — Photo by AFP

Militants capture northern Iraqi town.

BAGHDAD | AP | 18 june 2014 : : Militants captured the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar early on Monday, its mayor and residents said, the latest blow to the nation's Shia-led government a week after it lost a vast swath of territory in the country's north.

The town, with a population of some 200,000 people, mostly ethnic Shia and Sunni Turkomen, was taken just before dawn, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul told The Associated Press.

The ethnic mix of Tal Afar, 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, raises the grim specter of large-scale atrocities by Sunni militants of the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, who already claim to have killed hundreds of Shias in areas they captured last week.

A Tal Afar resident reached by phone confirmed the town's fall and said militants in pick-up trucks mounted with machine-guns and flying black jihadi banners were roaming the streets as gunfire rang out.

The local security force left the town before dawn, said Hadeer al-Abadi, who spoke to the AP as he prepared to head out of town with his family.

Local tribesmen who continued to fight later surrendered to the militants, he said. “Residents are gripped by fear and most of them have already left the town to areas held by Kurdish security forces,” said al-Abadi.

The fall of Tal Afar comes a week after militants captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in a lightening offensive. The town is some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the border with Syria, where ISIL is fighting against President Bashar Assad's government and controls territory abutting the Iraqi border.

The capture of Tal Afar came just hours after Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, addressing volunteers joining the security forces, vowed to recapture every inch of territory taken by the militants. “We will march and liberate every inch they defaced, from the country's northernmost point to the southernmost point,” al-Maliki said.

The volunteers responded with Shia chants. Fighting in Tal Afar began on Sunday, with Iraqi government officials saying that ISIL fighters were firing rockets seized from military arms depots in the Mosul area. They said the local garrison suffered heavy casualties and the main hospital was unable to cope with the wounded, without providing exact numbers.

Over the weekend, militants posted graphic photos that appeared to show their gunmen massacring scores of captured Iraqi soldiers. Iraq's chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed the photos' authenticity and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by ISIL.

He told the AP that an examination of the images by military experts showed that about 170 soldiers were shot to death by the militants after their capture. Captions on the photos showing the soldiers after they were shot say “hundreds have been liquidated,” but the total numbers could not be verified.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the militants' claim of killing the Iraqi troops “is horrifying and a true depiction of the bloodlust that those terrorists represent. “ She added that an ISIL claim that 1,700 were killed could not be confirmed by the US

The grisly images could sap the morale of Iraq's security forces, but they could also heighten sectarian tensions.

Thousands of Shias are already heeding a call from their most revered spiritual leader to take up arms against the Sunni militants who have swept across the north in the worst instability in Iraq since the US withdrawal in 2011.

ISIL has vowed to take the battle to Baghdad and cities farther south housing revered Shia shrines.
( Courtesy : Dawn )

Sunday 8 June 2014

Terrorists Attack Airport in Pakistan, Killing 13.

Terrorists Attack Karachi Airport in Pakistan, Killing 23.

KARACHI | Pakistan | 9 June 2014 : : In a ferocious terrorist assault that stretched into Monday morning, suspected Islamist militants infiltrated Pakistan’s largest international airport in Karachi, waging an extended firefight against security forces that resulted in 23 deaths and shook the country’s already fragile sense of security.

Explosions and gunfire rang out across the airport through the night as police and security forces battled with attackers, and passengers waited anxiously in a nearby terminal and in airplanes stranded on the tarmac. Just before 5 a.m., after five hours of siege, the military reported that the last of 10 attackers had been killed.

The chief minister of Sindh Province, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, told reporters that in addition to the 10 attackers, 13 other people had died, including 10 members of the Airport Security Forces and a flight engineer with Pakistan International Airlines, the state airline. “They were well trained,” he said of the assailants. “Their plan was very well thought out.”

There was no claim of responsibility for the assault, which was the most ambitious of its kind in Pakistan since Islamist militants attacked a navy air base in central Karachi in 2011. Initial suspicions fell on the Pakistani Taliban and related Islamist groups that have become increasingly strong in the past two years in the city, a sprawling megalopolis of 20 million people and a major commercial hub.

Although elite commandos moved quickly to counter the assault, many Pakistanis expressed shock that militants could penetrate such a prominent target so thoroughly and raised questions about why the attack had not been prevented by the military’s powerful spy service, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate.

The attack began late Sunday night, when the gunmen made it past security checkpoints near the airport’s old terminal, which is mostly used for cargo or private flights for senior government officials and business leaders. Some news reports said the men wore identification saying they were members of the Airport Security Force.

Hurling grenades and unleashing automatic weapons fire, the attackers at least initially moved toward the nearby web of runways as they fought, according to news and witness reports.

News images showed a major fire blazing in the airport complex that filled the night sky with an orange glow and appeared to be near parked jets. But a senior spokesman for the Pakistani military, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, denied news media reports that two planes had caught fire. He also denied reports that the gunmen had been trying to hijack an airliner.

All flights to Karachi were diverted to other airports. Television pictures showed ambulances racing from the airport, which is named after Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, ferrying casualties to the hospital.

Some of the attackers were wearing suicide vests, and at least one blew himself up when police officers approached, senior police officials told reporters at the scene.

Although the fighting took place away from the main terminal that is used by commercial airlines, some passengers were stranded on airplanes that had been about to take off when the assault started. Among them was Farooq Sattar, a senior leader with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement political party, which has dominated Karachi politics for almost three decades. Others posted updates on Twitter and other social media.

At one point, Syed Saim A. Rizvi, a Twitter user who said he was on a flight, reported that commandos from the army’s elite Special Services Group had taken control of his plane. Moments later, he reported a “huge blast” and heavy firing outside and said there was a “full panic” on the flight.

Two hours later, he said that the Pakistani military had safely evacuated all passengers from the plane. ( Courtesy : The New york Times )

Saturday 24 May 2014

China launches crackdown after bombing kills 43.

China launches crackdown after bombing kills 43.

Armed paramilitary policemen stand guard next to their armoured
 personnel carrier parked near the People's Square in Urumqi,
 China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, May 23, 2014. — AP
URUMQI | AP | China | 24 May 2014 : :  Chinese authorities launched a yearlong anti-terrorism crackdown Saturday in China's Muslim northwest after a bombing in the region killed at least 43 people, while also announcing the first arrest in the attack.
Police announced names of five people blamed for Thursday's attack in a vegetable market in the city of Urumqi, and accused them of forming a ''terrorist gang'' at the end of 2013, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Four of the suspects were killed and the fifth was captured Thursday night in an area about 250 kilometres south of Urumqi, Xinhua said.
The group ''took part in illegal religious activities, watched and listened to terrorist violence video and audio materials'', according to the news agency.
It said an anti-terrorism campaign with Xinjiang ''as the major battlefield'' started Friday. Authorities would target religious extremist groups, gun and ''explosive manufacturing dens and terrorist training camps''.
''Terrorists and extremists will be hunted down and punished,'' Xinhua said.
In Beijing, the national capital, police announced they were cancelling vacations for officers and would step up patrols at railway stations, schools, hospitals and markets.
A measure under which passengers at stations in central Beijing are required to undergo security checks will be extended to three additional stations, the city government said.
Passengers at all stations already are required to submit handbags and parcels for X-ray examination under measures imposed ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Chinese authorities have blamed most recent attacks on radical separatists from the country's Muslim Uighur minority.
Xinjiang is home to the native Turkic-speaking Uighurs (pronounced WEE'-gurs) but has seen large inflows from China's ethnic Han majority in recent decades.
Uighur activists contend that restrictive and discriminatory policies favoring the Chinese migrants are fueling the bloodshed. The knowledge that Muslims elsewhere are rising up against their governments also seems to be contributing to the increased militancy.
Urumqi was relatively calm Friday, with heightened security around the scene of the attack. The market itself was closed and dozens of police armed with automatic rifles and wearing body armour guarded access points.
Police banned parking within 100 metres of schools in Urumqi and said drivers can stop only briefly outside hospitals and bus and train stations.
The violence was the deadliest in Xinjiang since riots in Urumqi in 2009 between Uighurs and Hans left almost 200 people dead, according to an official death toll.
Thursday's attack also was the bloodiest single act of violence in Xinjiang in recent history.
Recent attacks show an audaciousness and deliberateness that wasn't present before. Attackers increasingly target civilians rather than police and government targets.
A bomb attack at an Urumqi train station as President Xi Jinping was visiting the region last month killed three people, including two attackers, and injured 79. Security has been tightened since then.
In response to Thursday's attack, Xi pledged to ''severely punish terrorists and spare no efforts in maintaining stability'', Xinhua reported.
China's top police official, Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun, was dispatched to Urumqi as the head of a team to investigate the attack.
Prior to last month's train station attack, Urumqi had been relatively quiet since the 2009 ethnic riots amid a smothering police presence. The sprawling metropolis' population of more than three million people is about three-fourths Han Chinese.
In March, 29 people were slashed and stabbed to death at a train station in the southern city of Yunnan. The attack was blamed on Uighur extremists. ( Courtesy : Dawn )

Indian Consulate in Afghanistan attacked, 4 gunmen killed.

Afghanistan's National Army soldiers walk out of the Indian
 Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, after a clash between
 insurgents and security forces on Friday that
killed four militants.

Indian Consulate in Afghanistan attacked, 4 gunmen killed.

The Hindu | AP |24 May 2014 : : The Indian consulate in Herat in Afghanistan was attacked on Friday by four heavily armed gunmen who tried to enter the complex. All four attackers were killed, officials said, adding that the Consulate staff were safe.

The attack began at 3.15 a.m. when the four gunmen tried to break into the consulate, located 600 km from Kabul. Earlier reports had indicated the involvement of three gunmen.

The audacious attack comes ahead of the May 26 swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as India’s next prime minister. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that he will attend the oath-taking ceremony.

Modi tweeted: “I condemn the attack on our consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Closely monitoring the situation. I have spoken to the Ambassador as well.”

Syed Akbaruddin, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, told IANS in New Delhi: “All the staff of the Indian consulate are safe.”

“The attempt was thwarted by the staff of the (ITBP) Indo-Tibetan Border Police, who were joined by the Afghan security forces,” said Mr. Akbaruddin providing the latest update on the situation.

He said that Mr. Modi had spoken with Indian Ambassador Amar Sinha and bolstered the morale of the Indian staff there.

Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh is monitoring the situation and is in touch with her counterpart in Afghanistan, said Mr. Akbaruddin.

Mr. Akbaruddin tweeted: “Firing continuing. Situation remains uncertain. But staff at our consulate safe. India monitoring situation.”

“We are glad to tell that all Indian personnel remain safe. We have rechecked that while the situation remains uncertain, there is no threat to the Indian staff,” he added.

Shaida M. Abdali, the Afghan Ambassador to India, told TIMES NOW TV channel in New Delhi that all four gunmen had been killed.

Mr. Abdali described it as a terror attack.

Asked if the Taliban were behind the attack, Mr. Abdali said: “There is no doubt that it is a terror attack, an attack on the friendship of India and Afghanistan.”

“This attack can only embolden our determination that we will keep this friendship at all costs,” he said.

An ITBP official told IANS in New Delhi: “One of the attackers was killed at the entry point only, while three others managed to flee and enter the adjoining building.”

“But in the meantime, Afghan forces joined the operation and gunned down the other three attackers,” the official added. The area has been cordoned off.

The attack in Herat has surprised many as the city, which lies near Afghanistan’s border with Iran, is considered one of the safest in the country. ( Courtesy : The Hindu )

Friday 16 May 2014

New attacks in Iraq kill 5 Sunni militiamen.

New attacks in Iraq kill 5 Sunni militiamen.

Iraqi boys look inside of a destroyed vehicle the day after a car bomb
attack near an outdoor market in Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, Iraq, Friday, May 16, 2014. Bombings and shootings
BAGHDAD | AP | 16 may 2014 : :  Separate attacks in Iraq killed five members of an anti-militant Sunni militia on Friday as an al-Qaida splinter group claimed responsibility for a spate of Baghdad bombings that killed at least 19 people the day before.
Insurgents frequently attack members of the Sunni militia, also known as Sahwa, which joined forces with U.S. troops at the height of the Iraq war to fight al-Qaida.
In one of Friday's attacks, gunmen opened fire from a speeding car, targeting a security checkpoint manned by anti-al-Qaida Sunni fighters near the town of Balad, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad. Three Sunni fighters were killed and four were wounded in that attack, police officials said.
Hours later, a roadside bomb targeted a patrol of Sunni militiamen just north of Baghdad, killing two fighters and wounding four.
Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to media.
Also Friday, in a statement posted on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant said it had carried out attacks in the Iraqi capital the day before in retaliation for the military operations against the city of Fallujah in western Anbar province. Fallujah has been in the hands of the Islamic State and other Sunni insurgents since last December.
Thursday's violence included bombings near several government offices and an outdoor market in Baghdad.
The statement's authenticity could not be independently verified but it appeared on websites commonly used by the group.
"We tell the spiteful Shiites and their government... that our lions are craving the taste of your flesh and blood," it said.
Iraq has seen a spike in violence since April 2013, with the death toll climbing to its highest levels since the worst of the country's sectarian bloodletting in 2006-2008. The United Nations says violence killed 8,868 people in 2013. ( Courtesy : Yahoo News ) 

Four Libyan soldiers killed in Benghazi attacks.

Islam around us
AFP/AFP/File - Libyan security forces are seen advancing during clashes with anti-government forces following an attack on a Benghazi police station, early on May 2, 2014

Four Libyan soldiers killed in Benghazi attacks.



Yahoo News |AFP | 16 May 2014 : : Four Libyan soldiers were shot dead on Sunday in separate incidents in the restive eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 uprising, security and medical sources said.

"Unidentified gunmen killed four soldiers and wounded another in Benghazi, while another was wounded in an assassination attempt," a security official told AFP.

A spokeswoman at the city's Al-Jala hospital, Fadia al-Barghathi, confirmed the soldiers' deaths. The security official said they had been killed in separate attacks.

An officer died in a hail of bullets in the city centre district of Al-Hadaek. His son, who was with him in his car at the time, escaped unscathed.

The same source said three more soldiers were killed and one wounded in two attacks in the Assalem neighbourhood.

It was in Benghazi that the 2011 uprising which ended dictator Moamer Kadhafi's four-decade rule began.

The city has since been plagued by violence that has killed dozens of members of the security forces, judges and foreigners.

A suicide bombing targeting a security post near the city in December killed 13, and on May 2 five soldiers and a policeman died in clashes between jihadists and army special forces.

Libya's central authorities have struggled to assert their control over the vast, mostly desert country, which is effectively ruled by a patchwork of local militias and awash with heavy weapons.

In March, the authorities acknowledged for the first time the existence of "terrorist groups" in v, particularly in Benghazi and in Derna, an eastern city with a history of Islamist militancy. ( Courtesy : Yahoo News )

Wednesday 7 May 2014

More chaos as Kashmiris boycott India polls.

More chaos as Kashmiris boycott India polls.

SRINAGAR | The Nation | 07 May 2014 : :  A bomb blast near a polling booth in Kashmir injured a policeman today, amid further stone-throwing protests and a widespread boycott of India's general election in the mainly Muslim region.

Separatists have called on voters to shun the election in India's northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, holding staggered voting in its six parliamentary seats to allow 700,000 army troops and police to mount a mobile security operation.

That has failed to prevent a string of killings of village elders, blamed by police on militants seeking to intimidate voters. In the most serious incident, three insurgents and one army officer were killed in a clash on April 27.

The bomb exploded outside a polling station at a village in the Baramulla constituency, one of two voting today in northern Kashmir, injuring a police reservist, police said.

There were numerous reports of protesters throwing stones at police and election officials in the valley. A bomb was also thrown at a police station the Baramulla district, but no one was injured.

Only a quarter of voters have turned out in Jammu and Kashmir so far in the five-week election, in a show of passive resistance to rule from New Delhi and concern over a likely victory by Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Kashmir has been a source of strife since British India was divided into independent India and Pakistan in 1947, with many Kashmiris, and Pakistan, saying the region should have been part of Muslim Pakistan, not Hindu-majority India.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over Kashmir. India says Pakistan supports the separatist militants. Pakistan denies this, saying it only offers moral support to the Kashmiri people.( Courtesy : The Nation )

Thursday 1 May 2014

Taliban leaders establish new political movement.

Former Taliban leaders establish new political movement.

KABUL | The Nation | 01 may 2014   : : A new political movement was established by a number of former Taliban group leaders and members in Afghanistan, with a motive to form an independent Islamic government in the country.
The political movement - Rah-e-Nejat Afghanistan 'Ways to Save Afghanistan' announced its establishment during a gathering in Kabul city, which was attended by a number of Taliban group members. The movement is led by former Taliban leader Syed Akbar Aqa, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for abducting three UN officials in 2004. Syed Akbar Aqa was released from the prison by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2010.
Addressing the gathering Akbar Aqa called on foreign forces to return to their homes and promised the neighboring countries of Afghanistan that theY shared and mutual interests of each other would be considered. He said the Ulemas, former Mujahideen members who were not involved in civil war, students, teachers and members of the civil society can obtain membership of the political movement. A statement was also released by the political movement which stated that the bilateral security agreement between Kabul and Washington was proposed in a situation where only a few cities and areas were in control of the current government. The political movement in its statement also criticized the government of Afghanistan for growing corruption.( Courtesy : The Nation ) 

Twin blasts hit train at Chennai station.

1 killed and 14 injured after twin blasts hit train at Chennai station.

The blasts damaged three coaches, S3, S4 and S5. The train finally left the station at 12:15 pm.
Chennai Police have detained a suspect in connection with blasts while
an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been ordered.
(Reuters)
The Indian Express | 02 may 2014 : : A 24-Year-old woman software engineer was killed and 14 people injured when two low-intensity bombs went off in quick succession in two coaches (S4, S5) of the Bangalore-Guwahati superfast express train at the Chennai Central railway station on Thursday morning. Officials said all the injured, including two who underwent surgery, are in a “stable” condition.
The train was running an hour-and-a-half late when it pulled into platform 9 at Chennai Central at 7.05 am. The first blast occurred about 10 minutes later. It was followed by a second blast just minutes after, triggering panic among the passengers.
Tamil Nadu intelligence chief DGP Anoop Jaiswal told The Indian Express that “low-intensity IED fitted in pipes, triggered by a timer device” was suspected to have been used. Officials pointed to the use of an ammonium nitrate-based explosive.
“Chennai may not have been the target because the train was running late. Some other location could have been the target,” said Tamil Nadu DGP K Ramanujam. Jaiswal said there were no alerts about a possible terror strike, adding that any speculation at the moment was “premature”.
Sources said a passenger was detained on suspicion as he had provided a false name and address while booking his ticket. A senior Bangalore Police officer said CCTV footage showed the suspect  roaming around in the Bangalore station on Wednesday.
The victim has been identified as Swathi Parachuri, 24, a software engineer with TCS Bangalore. Swathi, who was in the S5 coach, was on her way home to Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
Two of the injured, Sumanto Devanath, 37, and an unidentified passenger, are said to be “serious but stable”. Barring one passenger who had injuries on his neck, the rest suffered injuries on their legs. One of the injured, A Anjaneyalu from Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, a software engineer working in Bangalore, said he was lying down on his berth when the explosion hurt both his legs.
All the injured were rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital which is near the station. “We have specialists attending to the patients. The condition of all the injured is stable,” said Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan. The blasts damaged three coaches — S3, S4 and S5. The train finally left the station at 12:15 pm. “We have CCTV footage which will be checked by investigators,” said zonal general manager Rakesh Mishra.( Courtesy : The Indian Express )

U.S.: Qaeda affiliates surge, attacks on the rise.


U.S.: Qaeda affiliates surge, attacks on the rise.


The State Department in its Wednesday report counted
9,707 terrorist attacks around the world in 2013, resulting
 in more than 17,800 deaths and more than 32,500
 injuries. (File photo: Reuters)

Al arabiya | 01 may 2014 : : Terrorist attacks have increased more than 40 percent worldwide between 2012 and 2013, the State Department said Wednesday in its annual global terrorism report, adding that a surge in aggressive al-Qaeda affiliates in the Middle East and North Africa poses a serious threat to U.S. interests and its allies. 

Losses in al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan have “accelerated” the network’s decentralization. That has resulted in more autonomous and more aggressive affiliates, notably in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, northwest Africa and Somalia, it said.( Courtesy : 
Al arabiya )

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Chappals with symbol of 'OM' sold in Pakistan market.

Chappals with symbol of 'OM' sold in Pakistan market.

Chappals with the symbol of 'OM' on them were available in one of the markets of Pakistan. Om or Aum is of paramount importance in Hinduism.

The chapplas were sold in Mirpur Sindh where large number of Hindu pop live.
However, many journalist in Pakistan have condemned the circulation. 

Link :- http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/chappals-with-symbol-of-om-sold-in-pakistan-market/1/356268.html

Monday 21 April 2014

Taliban inmates break out of Afghan prison.

Taliban inmates break out of Afghan prison.


KABUL | AP | 21 April 2014 ::  An official says three Taliban insurgents escaped from a prison in northern Afghanistan using weapons smuggled into the facility in a jailbreak that killed three police guards.
A spokesman for the Faryab provincial government, Ahmad Jawad Dedar, said on Friday that the breakout took place the previous night. A fourth inmate who was also trying to escape was killed in a shootout with security forces.
Dedar says the fugitives are low-level Taliban operatives who were jailed for planting roadside bombs. The four inmates launched their breakout during the nightly count of prisoners, throwing several grenades and shooting guards with at least one pistol.
Dedar said authorities have launched a search for the three fugitives and are investigating how the weapons were smuggled into the prison.( Courtesy : Dawn )

Friday 28 March 2014

Jammu: 3 terrorists killed in twin terror attack.

Jammu: 3 terrorists killed in twin terror attack.

Security personnel in Dayalachak (ANI Photo)
Jammu | Hindustan Times | 28 March 2014 : : Three terrorists dressed in army uniforms on Friday struck at two places in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing a civilian and a soldier and injuring three others, not far from the spot where Lashkar-e-Taiba militants gunned down 10 security personnel last year.

A lesser-known militant outfit 'Al Shohada Brigade', believed to be a shadow outfit of Lashker-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the twin attacks.

A 'spokesperson' of the outfit called some news organisations in Srinagar and claimed the responsibility for the attack.
In the first attack at Dayalachak in Hiranagar, 60km from Jammu city, three terrorists stopped an SUV and asked the occupants to get down.

The passengers who survived the attack said the terrorists separated the driver and sprayed bullets over the rest of them, killing Ajit Ram, a Jammu resident. Three other passengers, followers of Radha Soami sect, on their way to Punjab after attending a religious function here, were injured in the firing. The body of driver was found in the evening.

The SUV, hijacked by the terrorists, was then intercepted 7km away near the camp of the army's 111 Rocket Regiment in Janglote area. In the first burst of fire, the terrorists killed a soldier, V Anthony, who was guarding the rear gate of the camp and injured another jawan.
In the gunfight that ensued and lasted about 12 hours, the three terrorists were killed.

"Three AK-47 rifles, three pistols and ammunitions were recovered from them. They were also carrying grenades and food items," said Jammu inspector general of police Rajesh Kumar.

The terrorists had probably crossed the nearby international border. Chief minister Omar Abdullah, expressing concern over infiltration, tweeted: "The ease with which militants exploited gaps in the fence to cross the international border is a matter of grave concern. The BSF needs to take a look at vulnerable areas and plug these gaps because these militants haven't given up and we can't let them succeed."

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had addressed an election rally in Hiranagar on Wednesday. The state security agencies have warned of possible militant attacks during the elections.

In September last year, three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists stormed a police station and an army camp in Hiranagar, killing six soldiers, including a colonel and five others.( Courtesy : Hindustan Times )

Friday 21 March 2014

Suicide attack in Baghdad cafe kills 12 people.

Suicide attack in Baghdad cafe kills 12 people.

BAGHDAD | 21 March 2014 : : A suicide bomber struck inside a Baghdad cafe overnight where customers were watching a football game on TV, killing at least 12 people and wounding 38, Iraqi officials said Thursday.
The attack in the western Washash neighborhood took place late on Wednesday night, two police officers said. The bomber had mingled with the cafe crowd and set off his explosives-laden belt as they watched the game.
A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.
Iraq has been struck by a surge in violence unseen since 2007, relentless attacks that have become the Shiite-led government's most serious challenge.
Violence has spiked since last April, when security forces cracked down on a Sunni protest camp north of Baghdad in clashes that left 45 dead.
Scores of people have been killed in the Iraqi capital, in recent attacks that have targeted busy areas, restaurants and other public places.
On Tuesday, a series of bombings struck both commercial streets and security forces in Baghdad and its surroundings, killing 15 people.
No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, but they bear the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda breakaway group that frequently uses car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas such as cafes, restaurants, mosques and markets to undermine the government's efforts to maintain security in the country.
According to the UN 8,868 people were killed in Iraq last year the country's highest death toll since a peak of sectarian bloodletting in 2007. ( Courtesy : Dawn )
                 

Thursday 13 March 2014

Six arrested for molestation of teenage girl on Mumbai road

Six arrested for molestation of teenage girl on Mumbai road.

Mumbai | Mar | 13 March  2014 | PTI : : Police today arrested three more persons accused of molesting and almost stripping an 18-year-old girl on a street in suburban Kandivali (West) in broad daylight, taking the total number of arrested so far to six.

The three accused nabbed today were Habib (19) and two minors, police said.Police had yesterday arrested Fayyaz Ahmed Khan, Saroj Khan and Naushad Khan, all in their twenties, and booked them under section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code.

On Monday, the girl was allegedly groped and almost stripped by a group of a dozen young men near Hindustan Naka in Kandivali in broad daylight.

Shockingly, when the girl, trying to escape the molesters, entered a restaurant, the people there drove her out before she was finally rescued by a police constable on patrolling duty and some passersby.


According to the girl, she and her friend had come from Bandra to Hindustan Naka in an auto. While getting off, they realized that they did not have enough cash to pay the fare."The victim's friend, whose relative stays nearby, went to the house to borrow some cash while the victim waited in the rickshaw," said a police officer.

However, when her friend did not return for quite some time, she wanted to go out and check on her, but the rickshaw driver insisted on payment right then. "The girl handed over her mobile phone as security, but the driver started arguing with her loudly," the officer said.

Some young men who were playing cricket nearby went to the spot and started teasing the girl. When the girl began to walk away, they chased her, caught her and tried to strip her, according to the officer.

She ran to a nearby restaurant, but the management drove her out. She later also tried to enter another autorickshaw, but was dragged out by the accused, police said.

Her ordeal ended when some motorists stopped and rescued her by driving off the men. A beat marshal constable also reached the spot and took one of the youths into custody.Initially, the girl was reluctant to lodge the complaint but was convinced by police. ( Courtesy : Deccan Herald )