Russian embassy in Libya attacked.

Russian embassy in Libya attacked.

Watch footage of the aftermath of the attack on the Russian embassy

04 Oct 2013 :: Gunmen have attacked the Russian embassy in Libya, according to the Russian foreign ministry.

The unidentified attackers shot at the Tripoli compound and tried to force entry, officials said.

A BBC journalist at the scene said the situation has now calmed down and security forces have arrived.

Officials said the attackers climbed the walls of the premises from three different directions.

The BBC understands the protesters were reacting to the recent alleged killing of a Libyan by a Russian woman.

"The group attacked the compound as an act of revenge," a security source told Reuters news agency.

Libya has been hit by many targeted killings of activists and security agents in recent months.

An attack last year on a US compound in the city of Benghazi killed four people, including the US ambassador.

In April, a car bomb outside the French embassy in Tripoli injured two French guards and a number of residents.

A car bomb was found outside the Italian embassy in June, while the UK withdrew some embassy staff in May over security concerns.(Courtesy:BBC News)

Somalia blasts hits Mogadishu's Village restaurant.

Somalia blasts hits Mogadishu's Village restaurant.

BBC News | 07 Sep 2013 :: Explosions at a popular restaurant near the parliament building in Somalia's capital Mogadishu have killed 15 people, police say.

The blasts hit The Village around lunchtime. The restaurant is popular with government workers and journalists and has been targeted before.

It was not clear who carried out the attacks, which appeared to tear much of the roof off the restaurant.

Somalia is battling an Islamist-led insurgency and high levels of crime.

The restaurant - near the presidential palace - was busy at the time of the attacks.

Local reports suggest a car bomb was detonated outside the restaurant, and that a suicide bomber then blew himself up among the crowd that gathered at the scene.

Earlier reports wrongly suggested a nearby hotel was also targeted.

The Village, about 1km (0.6 miles) from the presidential palace, is not within the city's security zone but is popular with journalists and those in political circles.

Run by Somali businessman Ahmed Jama, who returned to the country from the UK in 2008, it was targeted by two suicide bombers last September in attacks that killed 14 people(Courtesy:BBC News )

Missile strikes may lead to terror attacks on UK.

Missile strikes may lead to terror attacks on UK.

29 Aug 2013 ::  Britain risks sleep-walking into a full-scale war by launching missile strikes against Syria, former top brass warned last night.

Retired commanders cautioned that an ill-thought-out attack against President Assad’s brutal regime could provoke revenge attacks at home and abroad.

Lord West of Spithead, a former First Sea Lord, General Lord Dannatt, a former head of the British Army, and Major General , a commander during the first Gulf War, all warned of the ‘unintended consequences’ of a military campaign.

It also emerged that Israel was taking precautions against a possible Syrian attack, including bolstering missile defences and handing out gas masks to civilians.

A coalition spearheaded by the US, Britain and France is preparing to punish Assad for allegedly gassing to death hundreds of innocent people last week.

Defence chiefs favour a strike against important military installations, including airbases, arms dumps and communications hubs, using long-range cruise missiles fired from warships or submarines amassing in the Mediterranean. (Courtesy:Mail Online)

Egypt: Militants Kill 24 Army Troops In Ambush.

Egypt: Militants Kill 24 Army Troops In Ambush.

Militants have killed 24 army troops in an ambush in the wake of the military's brutal crackdown, according to Egyptian officials.

Egyptian army soldiers outside the Supreme
 Constitutional Court in Cairo

UK | 19 Aug 2013 :: Militants have apparently killed 24 military personnel in an ambush in northern Sinai, officials in Egypt have claimed.

It follows the brutal suppression of supporters of the ousted president Mohammed Morsi, in which 750 people were killed.

The military cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, raiding homes and making hundreds of arrests following scenes of bloodshed in Cairo.

In response the supporters have pledged days of protest.

It comes as European Union ambassadors are to meet today to discuss the crisis in Egypt amid international alarm at the growing death toll from unrest across the country.

The meeting comes as Egypt's interim military government cracks down on the supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy have issued a rare joint statement warning that the EU would "urgently" review its relations with Egypt over the coming days.

Prime Minister David Cameron and French president Francois Hollande have called for today's meeting of ambassadors in Brussels to be followed by an emergency session of EU foreign ministers.

Britain has condemned the "disproportionate use of force" by the Egyptian authorities and called on all sides to end the violence and to enter dialogue.

In their statement, Mr Barroso and Mr Van Rompuy said all political forces in Egypt must recommit to the country's democratic future and called on the army to support a move towards early elections and the establishment of a civilian government.(Courtesy:Sky News)

Free Syrian Army Killing Exposes Rebel Rifts.

Free Syrian Army Killing Exposes Rebel Rifts.

Jihadists and moderates in the opposition are increasingly turning on each other threatening a conflict within the rebel movement.

The Free Syrian Army has threatened retaliation over the killing

UK  13 Jul 2013 :: The assassination of a senior Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander by militants linked to al Qaeda is tantamount to a declaration of war, FSA rebels have said.

Kamal Hamami - better known as Abu Bassir al Jeblawi - of the FSA Supreme Military Council was killed by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a hardline Islamist group, on Thursday.

A senior FSA commander said the al Qaeda-linked militants had previously warned FSA rebels that there was "no place" for them in the northern Latakia province, where Hamami was killed.

He added that there would be retaliation for the killing.

"We are going to wipe the floor with them. We will not let them get away with it because they want to target us," he said on condition of anonymity

The statement is the latest sign of disarray in the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who has regained the upper hand more than two years into an insurgency that grew out of Arab Spring-inspired pro-democracy protests.

Opposition sources said the killing of Mr Hamami followed a dispute over control of a strategic checkpoint in Latakia.

"FSA rebels fired into the air, and subsequently, an ISIS fighter shot Abu Bassir dead and wounded two other fighters from his battalion," the opposition Syrian Observatory For Human Rights said

The Observatory for Human Rights added that the FSA and the Islamic State have had violent exchanges in several areas of Syria over the past few weeks, showing growing antagonism between Assad's foes.

"Last Friday, the Islamic State killed an FSA rebel in Idlib province and cut his head off. There have been attacks in many provinces," the Observatory's Rami Abdelrahman said.

FSA Supreme Command Political Coordinator Louay Mekdad said Mr Hamami and his brother were shot dead at the roadblock by Abu Ayman al Baghdadi, the Islamic State's Emir of the coastal region.

He said a fighter who was travelling with them was set free to rely the message that the Supreme Command was now an al Qaeda target.

"If these people came to defend the Syrian revolution and not help the Assad regime, then they have to hand over the killers," Mr Mekdad said.

Syria's conflict turned violent in the face of a crackdown on protests. Civil war ensued with disparate rebel groups taking up arms and the Observatory says more than 100,000 people have been killed.

The FSA and the jihadists have sometimes joined forces on the battlefield but the divisions have been highlighted as the West considers arming the FSA and some Gulf states have funnelled weapons to the Islamists.

US congressional committees are holding up plans to arm the rebels because of fears that such deliveries will not be decisive and the arms might end up in the hands of Islamist militants.(Courtesy:Sky News)

Egypt Coup: Three Killed As Army Opens Fire.

Egypt Coup: Three Killed As Army Opens Fire.

Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi are shot during a march in Cairo - but the army insists troops were firing blanks.

Protesters carry away an injured man in Cairo

UK |05 Jul 2013 :: Three people have been shot dead after Egyptian troops opened fire in a stand-off with demonstrators.

Violence erupted as supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi marched on the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard chanting "down with military rule".

Thousands of people streamed towards the barracks after a Muslim Brotherhood rally at the city's Rabea al Adaweya mosque.

Shots were fired as protesters hung pictures of Mr Morsi on a barbed wire barrier around the military complex, although a spokesman for the Egyptian army said troops were using only blank rounds.

Soldiers were pelted with stones and responded by firing tear gas into the crowd.

Sky's Middle East correspondent Sam Kiley, who is in Cairo, said shotguns had been used on the ground. He saw several people injured and said live rounds had "certainly" been used.

He spoke to one man whose clothes were apparently stained with the blood of a victim and said the atmosphere was "tense", with the headquarters likely to become a "magnet" for supporters of Mr Morsi.

He added: "The demonstrators know that their only chance to retain the high ground is to maintain the stance of non-violence.

"There are clearly hotheads within the crowd who did try it on with the Republican Guard."

Egypt's health ministry has confirmed three people were killed at the army headquarters.

It came after the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies called for protesters to take to the streets on the Muslim day of prayer for what it described as a "Friday of Rage".

The Egyptian army positioned its tanks and troops outside the presidential palace in Cairo, blocking access to protesters. There have been smaller-scale clashes way from the capital, with protesters taking on police in Alexandria.

The leader of the country's Muslim Brotherhood later vowed to restore Mr Morsi to power, saying the country will not accept "military rule" for another day.

General Guide Mohammed Badie was speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands of Morsi supporters in Cairo as a military helicopter circled low overhead.

Addressing the military, he said "your leader is Morsi" and demanded that they stick to their pledge of loyalty to the deposed president.(Courtesy:The Sky News)

Briton Dies In Taliban Suicide Blast In Kabul.

Briton Dies In Taliban Suicide Blast In Kabul.

The security contractor was among seven killed when a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into a Nato compound.

A Taliban truck bomb has killed at least seven
people in the Afghan capital, including a British man.

UK | 03 Jul 2013 :: a British man has died in a Taliban suicide bombing in Afghanistan, the Foreign Office has said.

Security contractor Mark Duffus, 41, was among seven people killed when a suicide bomber drove a small truck packed with explosives to the outer gate of a Nato compound in Kabul.

Mr Duffus was one of five security guards killed in the blast in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

"We are providing consular assistance to his family at this difficult time," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

Two truck drivers waiting to enter the compound also died along with the bomber, according to Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi.

After the blast, four gunmen stormed into the breach and engaged in an hour-long gunbattle with security guards and police.

The attackers were all killed, the interior ministry said.

The bomb left a large crater in the ground, and reduced walls and a guard post to a pile of rubble.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest in a series of bold attacks on high-profile targets in the Afghan capital.

The attacks have driven home that the Taliban have no intention of ending the violence, even though they have indicated they are willing to talk peace and have opened an office in Qatar for that purpose.(Courtesy:Sky News)

Iraq Bombing: At Least 24 People Killed.

Iraq Bombing: At Least 24 People Killed.

The latest attack near a Shi'ite mosque follows on from a wave of apparently coordinated bombings.

This car was wrecked in an explosion on Sunday

 UK |  18  June  2013 :: At least 24 people have been killed in a suicide bombing by a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad.

And 52 others were injured in the blast - the latest in a coordinated string of attacks on the country.

The first bomber detonated his explosives at a security checkpoint near the mosque in the middle-class, Shi'ite-majority area of the northern Qahira neighbourhood in an apparent attempt to distract the authorities, two police officers said.

Amid the commotion, a second bomber slipped into the mosque and blew himself up while worshippers were attending midday prayers, according to police.

A medic in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualties.

There was no immediate claim of who was responsible for the killings, but suicide bombings and attacks against Shi'ite worshippers are frequently the work of al Qaeda's Iraq arm.

The bombing has revived fears that the country is heading back toward the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed it to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

Violence has surged in Iraq in recent months, along with sectarian and political tensions. Insurgents frequently attack Shi'ites considered by Sunni extremists as infidels and non-Muslims.

The bloodshed in Iraq has risen to levels not seen since 2008. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of April, including more than 220 this month.

On Sunday, a wave of apparently coordinated bombings and a shooting killed at least 51 people.

Fifteen people were killed in bomb attacks on Monday, including one caused by a suicide bomber who set off his explosives-laden belt among a group of policemen in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.(Courtesy:Sky News)