Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland forces are conducting security operation in Galkacyo town, headquarters of north-central Mudug region of Somalia on Monday, police and witnesses said.
Police officials said that its forces carried out jointly crackdown which was intended to arrest the perpetrators who masterminded the planed attack in which killed Kenyan teacher in the past weeks. The officials from Puntland authorities stated that they arrested dozens of people in suspect for being behind the killing against Kenyan schoolteacher in the town, adding that they are now being questioned at police station.
“The search operation is underway in Galkacyo neighborhoods in a bid to get rid of the insecurity activities who are hiding themselves into populated areas in the town” they added.
The operation came days after unidentified armed men hurled grenades into Yameys primary and secondary school in Galkacyo where at least 4 teachers were killed and dozens injured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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Libya National Army planes again attacked Misrata this morning. They also attacked targets at Al-Agarbiya near Al-Jmail in the west of the country.
According to pro-Libya Dawn media, the Misrata raid, the second in two days, saw LNA aircraft again targeted the LISCO iron and steel works but did no damage. However, General Staff spokesman Ahmed Al-Mismari told the Libya Herald that oil tanks in west Misrata had been hit in the operation. They had been targeted, he said, because one of the tanks contained aviation fuel used by Libya Dawn aircraft used in the attack on Sidra oil terminal.
The oil tank strike has not been verified.
LNA aircraft are also said to have again targeted the military aviation academy at Misrata airport. At least one commercial flight was cancelled as a result, an airport official said. However, the airport was otherwise operating normally, he added.
According to LNA sources, today’s air strike at Al-Agarbiya targeted a weapons store. However, pro-Libya Dawn media claim that one of the LNA bombs hit a primary school.
In any event, the operation suggests that fresh supplies of aviation fuel have been delivered to Wattiya airbase. There were no LNA airstrikes in yesterday’s clashes in the area between Libya Dawn units from Zawia attempting to move towards Wattiya airbase and Zintani forces linked to the LNA.
It is also reported that LNA aircraft today bombed a vessel heading to Derna harbour. One pro-Libya Dawn report claims that it was a tanker carrying fuel to Derna power station and that a Greek national was killed and two Filipinos wounded. Another report claims the boat was carrying weapons to Islamists in the town.
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An Iraqi professor Iraqi at the University of Sirte was kidnapped this morning. His three sons were also seized from their home in the town with him.
Falah Diwan is said to have been teaching at the university’s medical department for 15 years. One of his sons has been named as Ziyad Falah.
The kidnapping follows that yesterday in the town of 16 Egyptian Christians whose whereabouts are still unknown. Today’s kidnapping, however, is thought not to be directly related. The Egyptians are believed to have been taken by extremists because of their religion. Diwan is said to be a Sunni Muslim.
However, this is not the first time that an Iraqi national has been targeted in Sirte. Last March, an Iraqi lecturer, also at Sirte university’s medical faculty, was shot dead while on his way to work.
The killing was thought to be the work of militants targeting Iraqis because of Libyans being held in Iraq on charges of terrorism. Some have been executed.
If today’s kidnapping is in revenge for Libyans being held in Iraq, it is possible that those responsible are linked to those involved in yesterday’s abductions.
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Thirteen Egyptian Christians seized in Sirte are now in the hands of the local council and being protected by the local Ferjan tribe. They were abducted two days ago by unknown gunmen.
Officials would not say how they had been freed or who held them. A reporter in Sirte was told that they would be sent back to Egypt “as soon as possible” and that the 13 wanted to go.
He told the Libya Herald that the men had not been allowed to make a statement about their ordeal because of fears that the abductors would try to seize them again. A statement would, however, be made once they left.
However, the head of the local Shoura Council of Elders, Muftah Marzoug, has claimed that the 13 Egyptians were not been kidnapped by Islamist militants, as widely reported, but by people smugglers angry at not having been paid an agreed transportation price.
It is not clear if he is alleging that the 13 were illegal immigrants or that they were grabbed by smugglers as hostages for negotiations.
Meanwhile, there is no news of a number of other Egyptian Coptic Christians seized in Sirte earlier last week.
The town is seen as being increasingly in the hands of Islamist militias, including Ansar Al-Sharia.
[Ynet] Four Egyptian coppers were maimed on Monday by a bomb in the volatile Sinai Peninsula, security sources said.
The device was planted at the entrance to an apartment building in the bustling provincial capital of Al-Arish, the sources said.
Egypt, the most populous Arab country, faces a jihadist insurgency that has killed hundreds of soldiers and coppers since the army toppled President Mohammed Mursi of the Moslem Brüderbund in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
Most of the violence has been in the Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gazoo Strip. But some attacks have occurred in cities and towns.
[AnNahar] Libya's internationally recognized government said Monday that its aircraft bombed an oil tanker off the Islamist-held port of Derna, killing two crewmen and drawing condemnation from Greece.
A front man for the Libyan government's armed forces said the tanker was hit on Sunday after it refused to stop for checks on its cargo which had raised suspicions.
But the Greek government said the vessel was plying a longstanding route under contract to the Libyan state oil company and demanded prosecution of those responsible for the deaths of the Greek and Romanian crewmen.
Greek coastguards said the Liberian-registered Araevo vessel was at anchor two nautical miles off Derna and laden with 1,600 tonnes of crude oil when it was hit.
Libyan armed forces front man Colonel Ahmed Mesmari said the tanker had turned off its lights "in preparation for entering the port... and because of this it and its cargo were considered suspicious".
But the Greek government condemned what it called a "cowardly and unprovoked" attack on a vessel plying a regular service between two Libyan ports.
"According to the shipping firm, the vessel was operating under contract to the Libyan National Corporation and had been working the Marsa al-Brega to Derna route for many years without problem," a government statement said.
"This criminal act has caused the deaths of two crew members -- one Greek and one Romanian -- and maimed two others," it said.
"The Greek government will take all necessary steps with the Libyan authorities -- in spite of the unstable situation -- to help investigate the circumstances of this tragic event and identify and punish the attack's perpetrators."
Two other members of the ship's crew of 26 were maimed in the air strike.
Libya's internationally recognized government, which has been based in the remote east since Islamist-backed militia seized the capital last year, has been determined to prevent any oil exports without its authorization.
The jihadist Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group that has seized chunks of Iraq and Syria is thought to have gained a foothold in Derna amid the chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Qadaffy ... who had more funny outfits than Louis XIV...
More than three years after Qadaffy was toppled and killed in a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... -backed revolt, the country remains awash with weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments.
In mid-December, Islamist militias in Derna announced they had formed a new coalition, ahead of an expected assault by forces of the internationally recognized government.
Around the same time, the Islamist-backed Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... ) militia alliance launched an offensive to try to capture Libya's main eastern oil terminals of Al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf.
So far the offensive has been repelled by pro-government forces, who have hit back against Libya's third largest city Misrata, which is controlled by Fajr Libya.
News of the air strike came as the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... postponed peace talks it was hoping to hold Monday between Libya's warring factions.
The talks were originally slated for December 9 but have been repeatedly delayed.
#1
Libyan armed forces front man Colonel Ahmed Mesmari said the tanker had turned off its lights "in preparation for entering the port... and because of this it and its cargo were considered suspicious".
because that's standard practice, turning off your running lights before entering a port. Uh huh....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2015 9:15 Comments ||
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Three Border Guard officers were killed on Monday in a rare suicide attack by terrorists on the Kingdom’s border with Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.
Four attackers were also killed in the clash. Two died from detonating explosive belts, while the other two were shot by Saudi officers, the ministry said on Monday.
“A border patrol in Suwaif, in the northern Arar region, came under fire from terrorist elements at 4:30 a.m.,” said Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, the ministry’s spokesman.
As security forces killed one assailant, another “detonated an explosive belt he was carrying,” killing himself and two guards and wounding another, the ministry said.
In a later statement, the ministry said three guards were killed, including Brig. Audah Al-Balawi, commander of the Border Guard in the Northern Border Region.
Al-Turki said the four assailants were “trying to cross the Saudi border.” Saudi Arabia’s top religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, condemned the attack and reiterated its support for the government in its fight against extremist groups including Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.
The head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif Al-Zayani, also condemned the attack.
Saudi Arabia shares a 800-km border with Iraq and has recently stepped up efforts to secure the frontier.
“The infiltrators were surrounded at the site after security officers killed one of them,” a source said.
One of the other terrorists signaled his wish to surrender and that he would hand himself over to Al-Balawi, who had arrived at the site with his assistant Tariq Halawi and Col. Salem Al-Atisan.
As the terrorist came close to them, he blew himself up with the explosives belt hidden under his clothes, killing Al-Balawi and Halawi. Al-Atisan, who was injured, was airlifted to a hospital in Riyadh for treatment. His condition is reportedly stable.
Al-Balawi was appointed a month ago as the commander of the Border Guard in the region after he had the same position in the Haql area of Tabuk.
[AnNahar] A bomb maimed six Shiite faceless myrmidons in the Yemeni capital on Monday, a security official said, the latest in spate of attacks on the Huthi fighters who overran Sanaa in September.
The blast hit a post of the Huthis' police force in the Hayel district of Sanaa, the official said.
It came a day after a bombing claimed by al-Qaeda killed four people, including a journalist, at a Huthi gathering in the mainly Shiite city of Dhamar, south of the capital.
On Thursday, a jacket wallah killed 49 people at a religious celebration organised by Huthi supporters in the militia-held but mainly Sunni city of Ibb further south.
The Huthis have met mounting resistance from armed Sunnis, including al-Qaeda loyalists, since they swept south from the capital into Sunni-majority areas late last year.
Yemen has been dogged by instability since an uprising forced longtime strongman President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... from power in 2012, with the Huthis and al-Qaeda seeking to fill the power vacuum.
[AnNahar] A Bulgarian court ordered the extradition of three alleged would-be jihadists to Spain on Monday, including one aged 15.
The Brazilian man and two Moroccans are wanted on terrorism charges.
The three were allegedly on their way to join Lions of Islam in Syria when they were detained in mid-December at the southeastern Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint with Turkey on international arrest warrants.
Their names were not given at the time but the regional court in the southern town of Haskovo identified them on Monday as Kayke Guimaraes from Brazil, and Mohammed El Gharbi and Taoufiq Mouhouch from Morocco.
All three live in the Barcelona region. Interpol said they were aged 15, 18 and 27.
The three will now be transferred to Sofia and extradited shortly to Spain, the court said.
[ARABNEWS] A US judge on Monday began the process of selecting the jury that will hear the trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, telling the first of some 1,200 prospects to read no more news accounts about the deadly blasts..
Tsarnaev, a 21-year-old ethnic Chechen who is a naturalized US citizen, could get the death penalty if convicted of killing three people and injuring more than 260 others by detonating a pair of homemade bombs placed amid a crowd of thousands of spectators at the race?s finish line on April 15, 2013. He has pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to all 30 charges against him.
Despite giving an emotional presser just after the bombing in April 2013, Tsarnaev?s parents who live in Russia have remained silent since.
His father Anzor Tsarnaev has not answered his mobile phone.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
His dad says he is being targeted like his brother and that he is a misunderstood kid who had trouble adjusting to the Western way of life but I say STFU and FOESAD.
LAHORE: Police rounded up 40 suspects on Monday in connection with an attack on a vigil held by civil society to mark the death anniversary of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer on Sunday.
The arrests followed registration of an FIR under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Sections 365, 427, 183, 148 and 149 of the Pakistain Penal Code.
More than 35 activists of civil society had gathered with banners, portraits and candles at Liberty Chowk when a group of people attacked the gathering. Over a dozen baton-wielding men tore the banners, portraits and posters and thrashed the activists.
A senior police investigator told Dawn that 40 suspects had been nabbed Please don't kill me! for interrogation, all of them belonging to a banned ...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization.
Police have identified one attacker as Mumtaz Sindhi and are raiding different places to arrest him. He said the suspects taken into custody were not primary targets.
The investigator said police would send pictures to the National Database and Registration Authority for identification because the real attackers were yet to be detained.
An organiser of the vigil, Diep Saeeda, told Dawn that she had been hit by something heavy and it was hurting. According to her, the SHO contacted her at about 3pm to discuss matters related to security. A police van was there when the attack took place but coppers acted as silent spectators, standing on the other side of the road.
Journalist Rai Shahnawaz said he was attacked although he had introduced himself as a media person, adding that the suspects also tried to kidnap him and bundled him into a car in which two gunnies were sitting.
He said his right ear was maimed after he had been hit in the head with sticks.
Complainant Abdullah stated in the FIR that four gunnies who were in a white car tried to kidnap a media person. They also attacked DSNG vans of TV channels.
He told Dawn that the activists had been holding the vigil for four years and no-one ever attacked them.
He said the activists were lighting candles when a young man appeared there, pulled out a knife and tore the portrait of Salman Taseer. He also shouted slogans in favour of Mumtaz Qadri (the killer of Mr Taseer).
Abdullah said there were about 15 attackers who came on two bikes and two cars. They attacked the participants with sticks.
Humyun Faiz, a witness, said the attackers thrashed the activists and raised slogans of 'Long live Khatm-e-Nabuwwat and Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... '.
The attack sparked protests which were joined by members of Salman Taseer's family, including his son Shaheryar Taseer, daughter Shehrbano and daughter-in-law Maheen Taseer.
[Dawn] Suspected activists of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain kidnapped nine people, including government officials, in the past 24 hours.
"Nine people who were travelling in a passenger bus and a car have been kidnapped by gunnies near Zhob," Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said at a presser here on Monday.
Armed men intercepted a Zhob-bound passenger bus coming from Quetta on Sunday and took away five people with them.
Sources said the kidnappers checked national identity cards of the passengers and separated five people, including government officials and a student of Bolan Medical College, Quetta, from the others.
The home minister said security forces had launched a search operation in Zhob and Qila Saifullah areas to recover the kidnapped people.
Search operation launched in Zhob and Qila Saifullah
He said four other people, who were travelling to Quetta from Islamabad, were also kidnapped.
No organization has grabbed credit for the kidnappings, but Mr Bugti said the TTP was involved in both incidents. "The Taliban are behind the kidnapping of nine people," he said.
The minister said at least eight gunnies had been killed and over 15 placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! during a weeklong operation against the gunnies involved in kidnapping for ransom, attacking personnel of security forces and Frontier Works Organisation, murders and kabooms in Kalat and Panjgur districts. "Two camps of the gunnies were destroyed in the operation," he said.
He said an intelligence-based crackdown and search operations were going on in Bolan and other areas against holy warriors and other criminals.
Mr Bugti said security forces also conducted an operation in Ziarat, Sanjavi and Qila Saifullah against suspected TTP elements and arrested several people. They were being interrogated.
He said the elements killed and arrested during the operation belonged to banned bully boy organizations. Local administration, police and Levies conducted raids in Bolan district against highway men and kidnappers and arrested over 50 people, he added.
"There is zero tolerance of holy warriors and non-state lashkars and organizations involved in terrorist activities."
The minister said strict action was in progress against foreign-funded gangs under the National Action Plan.
Frontier Corps DIG Brig Tahir Mehmood told newsmen that digging of a trench along Pak-Afghan border was in progress. "We have completed around 500km of the trench so far and will dig out another 250km along Afghan and Iranian borders" to stop illegal influx of people and keep an eye on the border movement.
The home minister said the trench was being dug by the Frontier Corps through its own resources and the provincial government had not given any fund for this purpose.
KARACHI: Another Awami National Party founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism.... district west chief was killed in a targeted attack nearly two months after the party had lost its district leadership, said police and party sources on Monday.
They added that 40-year-old Saifullah Khan was believed to have been bumped off by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain as he had recently received threats from the myrmidons.
The ANP leader was targeted in front of his son at his fuel station on Jhangvi Road by armed pillion-riders on Sunday, the police said. He sustained three gunshot wounds and was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... where doctors declared him dead. He's dead, Jim! on arrival, the police said.
Baldia SP Ejaz Hashmi said: "It appeared to be a assassination case. One of the attackers was wearing a helmet, while the other identified Mr Khan before attacking him."
The police conducted targeted raids in different parts of Ittehad Town following the attack and picked up 11 suspects.
SP Hashmi said the police got some clues to the attackers from the victim's son. The raids were conducted on the information he provided to the law enforcers.
Initial findings indicated that the banned TTP was involved in the murder of the victim due to his political association.
The dear departed had become acting president of ANP district west following the murder of ANP district west president Dr Ziauddin Ismail in Orangi Town on Nov 23, 2014, said ANP spokesperson Abdul Malik.
He said Saifullah Khan had received threats from the TTP but he did not report the matter to the cop shoppe concerned.
The party spokesperson added that last year 18 leaders and workers of the ANP were bumped off in Karachi and they suspected involvement of snuffies in most of the cases.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe headed for second base. He almost made it. Then Sheila slapped him.... the family took away the body from hospital for burial in his native town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... . The victims relatives said they would lodge an FIR after their return, said Ittehad Town SHO Imtiaz Mirjat.
GHALANAI: A security official was killed and four others, including a civilian, were injured in three separate blasts of improvised explosive devices in parts of Mohmand Agency, officials said on Monday.
They said that the first explosion occurred in Soran area of Baizai tehsil, probably targeting the security personnel, including bomb disposal experts, who were on a routine duty there. As a result, a security man, identified as Rashid Khan, was killed on the spot.
Assistant political agent, Baizai, Arif Yousafzai, when contacted, confirmed the incident to Dawn, and said that security personnel were on duty in the area when the explosion occurred.
In the other incident, officials said, three security personnel were injured when an IED went off in Baidmanai area, also in Baizai on Sunday. The injured personnel were shifted to CMH Peshawar. The security forces launched a search operation in the area after the incident. However, no arrest was made till filing of this report.
Another IED planted along the road in Aliangar area of Safi tehsil went off, injuring a man passing by the spot.
Meanwhile, a boy was injured when unidentified men attacked the house of a worker of a local NGO in Miangan area of Haleemzai tehsil on the night between Sunday and Monday.
Local people said that the assailants attacked the house of NGO worker, Raham Sher, during the night, injuring his cousin, Haris Khan. He was shifted to the agency headquarters hospital, Ghalanai.
KARACHI: With a conviction rate of nearly 32 per cent, the antiterrorism courts in Sindh have disposed of 798 cases between September 2013 and November 2014 while around 2,700 cases are still pending, it emerged on Monday.
The statistics of 33 ATCs in the province showed that of the 798 disposed of cases, accused were acquitted in 543 cases and convicted in 255 cases.
Eight of the total ATCs had a cent per cent acquittal rate in the 15-month period.
Continued on Page 49
The Lahore High Court (LHC)’s Rawalpindi bench on Monday annulled the death sentences of four persons in a terrorist attack case and acquitted them of the charges citing lack of evidence.
The prosecution, however, said the verdict would be challenged in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
As many as 11 people were killed in the terrorist attack on Imambargah Shah-i-Najaf in the Khyaban-i-Sir Syed locality of Rawalpindi in February 2002.
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on December 9, 2004 handed down the death sentence and imposed Rs500,000 each on Fazal Hameed, Habibullah, Tahir Mehmood and Hafiz Naseer Ahmed for abetting the crime.
However, the division bench, comprising Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi and Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin, after hearing the appeals filed by the convicts also revoked the fine.
Malik Mohammad Rafique, the defence counsel, argued before the court that the ATC had convicted his clients on the basis of ‘weak evidence’. Pointing out flaws in the prosecution evidence, Advocate Rafique said the identification parade of the suspects was not conducted in accordance with the law. He contended that the prosecution witnesses did not know the accused persons but during the identification parade they not only claimed to have identified them but also linked them to the commissioning of the crime.
He said the police had arrested 10 suspects and the ATC during the course of the trial acquitted five of them — Mubarak Hussain, Mujibur Rehman, Faraz Ahmed, Mohammad Sohail and Mohammad Abdullah – against whom the same evidence was produced. According to him, the case of the convicts was not different from that of the acquitted ones. He requested the court to annual the death sentence awarded to his clients.
However, a deputy prosecutor general opposed the request and claimed that the prosecution had produced sufficient evidence against the suspects on the basis of which the ATC convicted them.
It may be mentioned that in 2004 the ATC declared 12 people - Qari Gul Mohammad, Aziz Ahmed alias Usman Chota, Karimullah, Qari Nazakat, Saifur Rehman, Abdul Wahab, Rashid Satti, Jamshaid, Mohammad Ajmal, Rashidullah, Sajjad and Akram Lahori – as the proclaimed offenders in the case.
A prosecutor privy to the case told Dawn that it was the ‘flawed investigation’ which resulted in the acquittal of the suspects. He said the investigators were responsible for collecting evidence and arranging witnesses while the job of the prosecution was to produce the evidence before the court.
He said the evidence and the witnesses in the case were not sufficient owing to which the prosecution failed to prove the case.
He, however, said the prosecution department had applied for the written order of the LHC division bench. After examining the order, an appeal against the acquittal would be filed with the Supreme Court.
[DAWN] Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) personnel resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling along the Working Boundary in Sialkot's Zafarwal and Shakargarh sectors on Monday killing four Pak civilians, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
?2 more civilians embraced martyrdom due to Indian unprovoked firing and shelling,? the Pak military?s media wing said.
The ISPR said Indian border forces had resorted to shelling ?on civilian population in Shakargarh sector in villages Sukhmaal, Bheke Chak and Bhurey Chak.?
?Exchange of firing continues. Pak troops [are] targeting Indian BSF positions which are firing in Pakistain area,? said the statement.
The latest casualties on Monday mounted the civilian corpse count on the Pak to four.
Earlier, two civilians, including a woman and an 18-year-old boy died as a result of the firing, the ISPR had said.
A Chenab Rangers man and a civilian also sustained injuries in the firing, sources in the Chenab Rangers had told Dawn.
Sources also said that Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, who were stationed at the Karole Karishna and Pansar posts in India, targeted Thakar pur and Karole posts on the Pak side.
Both sides continued to trade allegations, with the Indians blaming Pak forces of violating a ceasefire agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, a security source in Diyali province said, that one of the main explosive experts within the ISIS group has been killed in a kaboom in northeast of Baqubah.
The source informed IraqiNews, “An explosive expert within the ISIS group, named Yusef, and better known as Asfour al-Masri, has been killed along with one of his aides while planting an bomb on the road near the area of al-A’ali, located in the district of al-Maqdaneiya.”
Explosives are touchy things. Sometimes they decide to exolode on their own timing, not the chemist's.
[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, a security source in Salahuddin province said, that the ISIS group kidnapped dozens of civilians and executed 8 people including police elements in southeast of Tikrit.
The source stated, ?The ISIS group turbans kidnapped dozens of civilians as well as security elements from the district of al-Dour, located 25 km southeast of Tikrit,? pointing out that, ?The group drove the hostages to an unknown location.?
?The group has so far executed 8 hostages, including security elements within the police force,? the source added.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] On Monday, a security source in Diyali province said, that one of the main explosive experts within the ISIS group has been killed in a kaboom in northeast of Baqubah.
The source informed IraqiNews, “An explosive expert within the ISIS group, named Yusef, and better known as Asfour al-Masri, has been killed along with one of his aides while planting an bomb on the road near the area of al-A’ali, located in the district of al-Maqdaneiya.”
Explosives are touchy things. Sometimes they decide to exolode on their own timing, not the chemist's.
[IraqiNews.com] Security source stated to IraqiNews.com that a boom-mobile was defused of northern Babel coincided with increasing the security measures.
The source added to IraqiNews.com ?A security force of Babel Police Forces managed to defuse a boom-mobile and increase the security measures in Jibala district of Mahaweel district of northern Babel.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] Five gangsters were jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in Babel province.
The Head of the Security Committee within Babel Provincial Council, Falah al-Khafaji, declared in a statement received by Alforat News Agency ?The elements of Anti-Crime Directorate arrested a five member gang stole a IQD one billion from a citizen in Hamza area.??The detainees were referred for investigation to get their fair punishment,? the statement concluded.
[IraqiNews.com] A jacket wallah detonated his tanker bomb near the Iraqi-Saudi borders of western Ramadi.
Security source stated to IraqiNews.com ?A sucide bomber detonated his tamker bomb of western Ramadi in Anbar where he targeted Anaza checkpoint next to the Saudi borders where the number of the casualties is unidentified yet.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[IraqiNews.com] The security forces liberated Albu Hadeed area of eastern Ramadi from the ISIL terrorists.
Security source stated to IraqiNews.com ?The security forces managed to liberate Albu Hadeed area of eastern Ramadi and kill some of the ISIL terrorists.?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] An Iraqi military base in the country's western Anbar province is coming under frequent mortar fire from Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadists, but the attacks have caused no injuries to U.S. troops deployed there, the Pentagon said Monday.
The mortar attacks -- which began in recent weeks -- underline the risks of an expanding role for the U.S. military in Iraq, as hundreds of American troops deploy to train and advise the Iraqi army in its fight with the IS group.
About 320 troops -- mostly U.S. Marines -- started working with Iraqi army units in recent days at the sprawling al-Asad base, which officials insisted was facing no imminent threat from the IS myrmidons.
"It's fair to say al-Asad is coming under... regular harassment fires," front man Colonel Steven Warren told rseeporters.
The mortar and other indirect fire has been "wholly ineffective" so far, Warren said. "No U.S. personnel, no US equipment have been impacted in any way."
It was the first time the Pentagon reported the mortar fire, which began "over the past few weeks," a U.S. defense official told AFP.
U.S. warplanes have carried out a steady stream of air raids near the Asad base against the IS myrmidons, who have gained a firm foothold in the west. Anbar province is home to a mostly Sunni population that has become alienated from the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
American commanders have described the military training as focused on "bare minimum basics" for the Iraqi soldiers. The instruction covers several topics, including coordinating air strikes from Iraqi or coalition planes, Warren said.
President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... plans to send up to 3,100 US troops to Iraq to help build up the Baghdad government's army in its fight with the IS group. But Obama has ruled out a direct combat mission for the American forces.
About 2,140 U.S. troops are currently on the ground in Iraq, including the team at the Asad base -- one of five sites chosen for training efforts.
About 170 troops from the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division have deployed to Taji, a vast base north of Baghdad. The training effort at Taji, which involves a six-week program for four Iraqi army battalions, began on December 27, according to Warren.
In the coming weeks, two other training sites will be launched by the US-led coalition, one in Arbil in the north and another in Besmaya, south of Baghdad.
The American troop contingent in Iraq also includes 800 forces guarding American diplomats and facilities.
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01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AnNahar] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group has executed eight people, four of them coppers, in Iraq's Salaheddin province, according to a series of pictures posted online.
A message that accompanied the pictures, the authenticity of which could not be independently confirmed, said the eight men had reneged on a pledge to stop working for the Iraqi government.
It was not immediately clear when the photos were taken.
Seven of the victims can be seen wearing orange jumpsuits similar to those worn by journalists and aid workers killed by IS.
Captions identify them coppers, one is said to be a policeman and three are described as "secret informants".
The eighth victim is not identified.
Other pictures show the men blindfolded and marching towards what appears to be an area under a bridge across a river.
They are also seen lined up on their knees, with pistol-armed masked men wearing black uniforms standing behind them.
Another picture shows seven of the victims slumped forward with their hands bound, blood running from some of their heads, while the eighth is still upright, apparently as the holy warrior behind him fires.
IS spearheaded a sweeping holy warrior offensive in June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and also holds significant territory in Iraq and Syria.
The brutal holy warrior group has executed thousands of people in both countries, some of them in highly-choreographed videotaped sequences in which the victims are beheaded.
Iraqi security forces, backed by Kurdish troops, Shiite militias, Sunni rustics and a US-led campaign of air strikes, have managed to regain some ground from IS.
But significant territory, including three major cities, are still controlled by the brutal jihadist group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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They want to be a state? States have to pay their bills.
[Ynet] Israel Electric Corporation CEO warns security chiefs of possible disturbances as NIS 1.7 billion debt leads to decision to stop electricity to the Paleostinian Authority.
The Israel Electric Corporation CEO Eli Glickman warned Israel's security chiefs in a letter sent Sunday that the company would have to limit electricity to territories controlled by the Paleostinian Authority and the Jerusalem District Energy Company (JEDCO) ? which buys electricity from Israel and sells it to various cities in the West Bank ? because of a debt totalling NIS 1,700,843,315.
The letter was addressed to National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen, Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, Head of the Operations Directorate of the IDF Maj.-Gen. Yoav Har-Even, and Police Commissioner Maj.-Gen. Yohanan Danino.
Glickman requested that they raise alertness in the forces they led, on both an operational and intelligence level, out of concern that limiting the power supply could lead to various responses by the Paleostinian population.
letter, "the debt imposes a heavy burden on the company's cash flow. In light of the aforementioned facts, the Electric Corporation, with me as its chief, worked and will work as much as it can to collect the debt under discussion in order to preserve its financial stability.
"We therefore have no other choice, and the Electric Corporation, as a supplier of an essential service that is committed to all its customers, is obligated to begin working in the coming days to collect with the following methods: 1. limiting the power supply; 2. not connecting new customers in areas the of the JDECO and the PA."
The letter noted that as of December 31, debt owed by the Paleostinian Authority and the Jerusalem District Electricity Company amounted to more than NIS 1.7 billion, of which NIS 1,054,914,845 were from the JDECO, and NIS 645,928,470 from the PA.
The letter also stated that the electric company must act in accordance with the law that regulates government companies, which establishes that a government company should operate based on the same considerations as a non-government company, unless the government has decided otherwise.
"For this reason, as long as there is no other decision on the subject made by the government and approved by the committee, the company will act to collect the debt as described," wrote Glickman.
#1
Glickman requested that they raise alertness in the forces they led, on both an operational and intelligence level, out of concern that limiting the power supply could lead to various responses by the Paleostinian population.
[Ynet] Suspect ignored troops' instructions to identify himself, drawing a knife from his coat pocket; soldier hit the suspect with his weapon, neutralizing him.
Border Police fighters tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! a terrorist who tried to stab one of them on Monday night in Qalqilya.
The Judea and Samaria Border Police soldiers were setting up a barricade near their base when the Paleostinian, a resident of Qalqilya in his late twenties, approached them.
They ordered him to stop so they can conduct a security check on him, but the suspect ignored the soldiers' instructions to identify himself.
When he drew a knife from his coat pocket just a short distance from the troops, one of the soldiers hit the suspect hard in the upper body with his weapon, causing the Paleostinian to drop the knife and freeze in place.
The suspect continued ignoring the soldiers' instructions so the troops cocked their weapons in warning and ordered him to remove his coat and lie on the floor so they could search him.
At this point the fighters noticed the suspect was once against putting his hand in his coat pocket, leading one of the soldiers to fire a rubber bullet in the air in warning.
This act caused the suspect to obey the troops' instructions, and they searched him for more weapons. He was then arrested and taken to the Kedumim cop shoppe for questioning.
The commander of the Border Police's Judea and Samaria District, Uzi Levy, said: "We're witnessing repeated attempts to harm security forces. In this case, like in others, the soldiers' vigilance and professionalism prevented the incident from becoming worse and led to the arrest of the attacker before he could complete his mission."
[Bangkok Post] Two militants were killed in firefight with rangers on a highway in Narathiwat province Tuesday.
The chase and gun battle began in the early afternoon when a truck carrying several men sped past a checkpoint in Cho Airong district. Six rangers pursued the vehicle on three motorcycles.
The men in the pickup stopped in front of a hospital and opened fire at the soldiers. The soldiers took positions on the side of the road and returned fire. Following a brief clash, some of the suspects fled, leaving behind the bodies of two militants.
Those killed were later identified as Sama-ae Palamubing and Mayuti Etae, both from Narathiwat's Rangae district. Both were wanted in multiple security-related cases.
[AnNahar] Kurdish fighters have seized the security and government district of Syria's Kobane from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadist group and now control 80 percent of the border town, a monitoring group said Monday.
"The People's Protection Units (YPG) fighting the jihadists (IS) for nearly four months have full control of the security district," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britannia-based group said Kurdish fighters had seized control of the area after fierce festivities since Sunday night.
A U.S.-led coalition against IS also carried out at least three air strikes against the jihadist group in the town on the Turkish border, the Observatory said.
At least 14 IS members were killed in the fighting, it added.
IS began its assault on Kobane in mid-September and came close to overrunning the town, which is also known as Ain al-Arab.
But Kurdish fighters, backed by international air strikes, have been able to gradually recapture territory in the small town, which is strategic because of its location on the border.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Iran tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a "terrorist cell" accused of killing teachers in a flashpoint border area and detained in a separate incident three Afghans planning to fight in Iraq, media reported Monday.
An undisclosed number of cell members were caught near Sarbaz in the southeast, said a statement from Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) published by the official IRNA news agency.
The report did not give the date of the operation but said those detained had "committed a series of terrorist attacks, including the killing of teachers and Basij (Islamic militia volunteers)."
Sarbaz is in Sistan-Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province, which borders Pakistain and has a large Sunni community. It is plagued by violence involving Sunni holy warriors and drug smugglers.
Iran accuses members of the Sunni Death Eater group Jaish-ul Adl (Army of Justice) of carrying out frequent raids.
Three Iranian soldiers were killed last week in Sistan-Balochistan in an ambush by rebels who then fled into Pakistain.
In a separate incident, three Afghan nationals carrying explosives were arrested by border police close to Iraq, said the semi-official Fars news agency, considered close to the IRGC.
They crossed into Iran and intended to join the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in Iraq when they were detained, Brigadier General Qassem Rezayee of the Border Force told Fars.
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01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] U.S. and coalition aircraft on Sunday targeted a crude oil pipeline and collection depots in Syria held by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadists, the American military said, in the latest bid to undercut the group's oil smuggling.
Allied fighter jets and bombers carried out 14 air raids near the eastern city of Dayr-az-Zawr since Sunday morning, including six strikes on five crude oil collection points, a pipeline, armored vehicles and a shipping container, the U.S. military said in a statement.
The international coalition fighting the IS has sought to disrupt the group's crude oil supplies, repeatedly targeting refineries, oil tanker trucks and various makeshift depots in Syria.
The IS has made substantial profits from illegal oil sales, offering cheap prices far below the market rate. The group also relies on money from ransoms, smuggling of antiquities and extortion in areas under its control.
The U.S.-led coalition on Sunday also conducted eight bombing runs near the northern town of Kobane, targeting Islamic State (IS) troops that have waged a months-long battle to seize the area near the Turkish border.
IS began its offensive on Kobane in mid-September and came close to overrunning the town. But Kurdish fighters, backed by a steady campaign of air strikes, have been gradually recaptured territory in the small town.
Kurdish fighters now control 80 percent of the town, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.
In Iraq, American and allied fighter jets carried out six air strikes on Sunday against the IS group in the north and west, including two raids near the al-Asad air base where US military advisers are deployed.
As of mid-December, the American-led coalition against IS had carried out more than 1,300 air raids. Washington launched the air war in Iraq on August 8 and extended it to Syria on September 23.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/06/2015 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Three Border Guard officers were killed on Monday in a rare suicide attack by terrorists on the Kingdom’s border with Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.
LAHORE: Police rounded up 40 suspects on Monday in connection with an attack on a vigil held by civil society to mark the death anniversary of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer on Sunday.
No worries, we'll take care of the flatware and tidy up. 
[Bangkok Post] Two militants were killed in firefight with rangers on a highway in Narathiwat province Tuesday. 
