Lashkar-e-Taiba high alert Ayodhya, other religious places in UP

Ayodhya, other religious places in UP put on high alert.

Ayodhya | 05 Oct 2013 :: Security has been tightened in Ayodhya and other religious places in Uttar Pradesh following Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal’s revelation that a most wanted terrorist, Tahseen Akhtar, was planning to target religious places in UP.

“Name of Tahseen Akhtar figured in interrogation with Yasin Bhatkal after which district police chiefs have been alerted and his sketch has been provided to them,” IG (Law and Order) of Uttar Pradesh RK Vishwakarma told reporters in Lucknow.

Security agencies, during interrogation with Bhatkal, have come to know about Akhtar’s plan to target Ayodhya and other religious places, sources said.

Akhtar, wanted in connection with Hyderabad and other blasts, is an IM operative and carries Rs 10 lakh reward on his head.(Courtesy:NITI Central)

 

Muslim Rebels Attack Another Philippine Town in Mindanao.

Muslim Rebels Attack Another Philippine Town in Mindanao.

Philippine security forces on Monday battled a small splinter group of Muslim extremists in the southern region of Mindanao.

Government troops patrol to secure the city streets on Sept.
 21 in Zamboanga city in the southern Philippines.

23 Sep 2013 :: Philippine security forces on Monday battled a small splinter group of Muslim extremists in the southern region of Mindanao, raising concerns about the stability of the resource-rich region as an earlier hostage standoff in the commercial hub of Zamboanga City appeared to inch closer to an end.

Rebels belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a small group of militants that broke away from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front to protest peace talks with the government, attacked government volunteers in Midsayap town and took more than a dozen hostages after military troops arrived. Some of the hostages either escaped or were released.

The Philippine government is now negotiating with the Islamic Front, the largest Muslim rebel group, to forge lasting peace in Mindanao, whose development has been stalled by decades of separatist conflict.

In the other rebel fight, now in its third week, security forces are battling rebels from the Moro National Liberation Front faction of Nur Misuari in Zamboanga City, which is around 300 miles from Midsayap. That rebel faction, which had a peace deal with the government in 1996 and is against the current peace talks, attacked Zamboanga City on Sept. 9 to declare its independence from the Philippines. Zamboanga City is 1,160 miles south of Manila, on Mindanao island. The two rebel groups aren’t believed to be connected.

The Bangsamoro Fighters had been planning Monday’s attack on Midsayap town for some time and took advantage of the standoff in Zamboaga City to launch their offensive,Army Capt. Antonio Bulao, spokesman of the 602nd infantry brigade based in North Cotabato, told The Wall Street Journal.

“Authorities and residents have prepared for this attack,” Capt. Bulao said.

The attackers failed to reach the town hall, the captain said, and were confined to villages in marshlands of the town in North Cotabato, a province 283 miles west of Zamboanga City, where several people have been “trapped” by the encounter and being used human shield by the rebels to protect their escape.

Capt. Bulao said three soldiers and two Bangsamoro Figthers were killed in the early morning attack. He said negotiations are ongoing for the release of the seven hostages.

In Zamboanga City, Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, a spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said sporadic gun battles continued Monday. He said, however, that the skirmishes aren’t as frequent, likely an indication that the National Front rebels still holed out in two villages are running low on ammunition.

He said government forces continue to clear houses and other structures of rebels and unexploded munitions.

Lt. Col. Zagala said around 105 rebels have been killed since the fighting erupted, while 176 hostages have been freed.

The military estimates there are still 40 rebels holding out in the two villages and that they are holding around 20 hostages.

The standoff in Zamboanga City has forced more than 100,000 residents from their homes.

On Sunday, President Benigno Aquino pledged to bring National Front leader Misuari before the courts to answer for the standoff in Zamboanga City, which the government estimates will cost around $90 million to rehabilitate.(The wall Street Journal)

Three Nato troops killed in Afghanistan insider attack.

Three Nato troops killed in Afghanistan insider attack.

Three US special forces have been killed by an Afghan wearing a security forces unfiorm, in the first apparent "insider attack" in months.

 Three foreign special forces have been killed by an
 Afghan wearing a security forces unfiorm Photo:
AFP/Getty Images

The Telegraph | 21 Sep 2013 :: Since last year, attacks by Afghan soldiers on their allies in the NATO-run ISAF force have become a serious problem, threatening to further undermine waning support for the war among Western nations sending troops here.

"Three International Security Assistance Force service members died when an individual wearing an Afghan National Security Forces uniform shot them in eastern Afghanistan today," ISAF said in a statement.

A US defence official confirmed to the AFP news agency that the three victims were from the United Sates.

US forces provide the bulk of ISAF troops in the east. The attack was the seventh reported insider attack this year, and 12 ISAF personnel have been killed.

The last reported insider attack was on July 9, when an Afghan soldier at a military base in Kandahar shot dead one soldier and wounded three others.(Courtesy:The Telegraph )

6 killed as bombs hit Egyptian security HQ in Rafah.

6 killed as bombs hit Egyptian security HQ in Rafah.e

17 wounded when suicide attacks destroy two-story military building near Gaza border

Egyptian army soldiers stand guard on the border with
 Egypt in Rafah. (photo credit: Hatem Moussa/APFile)

EL-ARISH | Egypt | AP | 11 Sep 2013 ::  A pair of suicide bombers rammed their explosives-laden cars into military targets in Egypt’s volatile Sinai on Wednesday, killing at least six soldiers and wounding 17 people, security officials and a military spokesman said.

One of the two bombings in the town of Rafah brought down a two-story building housing the local branch of military intelligence, while the other struck an army checkpoint.The near-simultaneous attacks nudged the violence in the strategic Sinai Peninsula closer to a full-blown insurgency, compounding Egypt’s woes at a time when the country is struggling to regain political stability and economic viability more than two years since longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising.

The attacks also came less than a week after a suicide car bombing targeted the convoy of Egypt’s interior minister, who is in charge of the police, shortly after he left his home in an eastern Cairo district. Mohammed Ibrahim, the minister, escaped unharmed, but the blast caused extensive damage in the area. An al-Qaida-inspired group based in Sinai claimed responsibility for that bombing.

Wednesday’s attack on the intelligence building in Rafah collapsed the entire structure and buried an unspecified number of troops under the rubble, two security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The second attack targeted an armored personnel carrier deployed as part of an army checkpoint not far from the intelligence headquarters, the officials added. The officials said the remains of the two suicide bombers have been recovered.(Courtesy:Times of Israel)

1 security man killed, 6 injured in militant's attack on district court Kohat.

1 security man killed, 6 injured in militant's attack on district court Kohat.

The Nation | 09 Sep 2013 :: One security man was killed and six injured when armed militants attacked office of DPO Kohat located in the premises of district court on Monday.

According to DPO Kohat office, eight to ten militants attacked district court with hand grenades and heavy arms. 

Exchange of fire took place between the attackers and security forces within the court premises as four security men were reported injured.

Two attacking militants were also killed as the security forces retaliated the attack, informed an official of DPO office. While remaining attackers escaped from the scene.

Presently Police has surrounded the area and evacuated people from the court and offices.

Officials of Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) is checking the court premises and after clearance it will be opened for general public.(Courtesy:The Nation)