At least three were killed Friday in explosion near the U.S. consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province. The attacks in the western city near the border with Iran began around dawn Friday, and included a gunfight between militants and security forces.
The Taliban told the BBC that a suicide bomber had set off explosives outside the building. An Afghan military spokesman said the initial blast damaged the outer defenses of the U.S. consulate and that the attackers later breached the perimeter and opened fire.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf was quoted as saying a truck carrying the attackers sped toward the front gate of the consulate and its occupants began shooting assault rifles, which led to a gunfight with Afghan security forces.
Harf said the truck exploded, causing a great deal of damage to the front gate of the consulate, forcing consulate personnel to take shelter inside while U.S. security forces also responded to the attack.
Harf said there were no U.S. casualties. She said, "Full details are not known of the extent of the attack at this point, but the attack is currently over."
A hospital spokesman said nine wounded people were taken to his facility in Herat.
A local security force reported at least three people died in the attack and another 10 were wounded.
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James B. Cunningham said,"Many Afghan civilians were killed in the attack, along with others who work for the Consulate as contractors. We are deeply saddened by this senseless loss of life."
[Al Ahram] Security forces have jugged Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! a number of Moslem Brüderbund supporters on Friday in several Egyptian cities following festivities between the Islamist group's supporters and opponents , state news agency MENA reported.
In Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, army vehicles were deployed in several districts after Brotherhood supporters were chased by local residents near Al-Qaed Ibrahim mosque, which has been a flashpoint for demonstrations since the 2011 January uprising.
Clashes also erupted in Alexandria's Corniche sea-front road, prompting police to fire tear gas. MENA said a number of "rioters" were arrested in the city shortly afterwards.
The agency also said "a large number" of Brotherhood supporters were apprehended in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura after festivities broke out between protestors and locals, which left several injured.
In the industrial city of Mahalla, 11 Brotherhood supporters were arrested for wielding sticks, gas masks, and the well-known logo bearing the four-finger "Rabaa" salute, Al-Ahram's Arabic website reported.
There were similar skirmishes in the northern province of Sharqiya, where ousted president Mohamed Morsi was born.
In Cairo, two Brotherhood marches reached the outskirts of Rabaa El-Adawiya mosque and Ittihadeya Presidential palace in the early evening hours but were prevented from entering the areas by barbed wire manned by police and army soldiers.
Protest marches were called by the Moslem Brüderbund for Friday and Saturday in Cairo and other cities to mark the one-month anniversary of the violent dispersal by the police of two pro-Morsi sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adawiya and Nahda, which left 600 dead and more than 40 officers killed.
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[FoxNews] Highly sensitive U.S. military equipment stored in Libya was stolen over the summer by groups likely aligned and working with terrorist organizations, State Department sources told Fox News -- in raids that contributed to the decision to pull Special Forces personnel from the country.
The stolen equipment had been used by U.S. Special Forces stationed in the country. Lost in the raids in late July and early August were dozens of M4 rifles, night-vision technology and lasers used as aiming devices that are mounted on guns and can only be seen with night-vision equipment.
The overnight raids happened at a military training camp run by American Special Forces on the outskirts of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , in the weeks before the team was pulled from the country in August.
That U.S. team was funded by the Department of Defense Section 1208, which provides support to assist and stand up foreign counterterrorism forces in other countries. And in the case of Libya, the trainers were also tasked with hunting down the Benghazi attack suspects that killed four Americans one year ago. As Fox News previously reported, members of that team are leaving Libya.
#1
IMO I would think the theft would've justified the US SpecFors, etc. staying in Libya, NOT departing Libya, in order to search for the stolen weapons, albeit wid properly augmented manpower???
#4
..."...and lasers used as aiming devices that are mounted on guns and can only be seen with night-vision equipment (aka "Passive Lasers"-UP)."...and cellphones...
[An Nahar] Three friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be arraigned on Friday on charges of lying to Sherlocks and conspiring to obstruct justice.
Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both 19-year-olds from Kazakhstan, had previously pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to charges of impeding the investigation into the April 15 attack that left three dead and scores injured.
The latest arraignment comes from a superseding indictment which combines the two men's case with that of Robel Philippos, 19, another college friend of Tsarnaev's.
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to 20 years in prison and the prospect of deportation from the United States if convicted. Phillipos faces up to 16 years in jail if he is found guilty.
In the wake of the Boston Marathon blasts, police carried out a massive manhunt for Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who allegedly planted two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line.
The indictment alleges that after the FBI released photographs of the suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sent Kadyrbayev a text message suggesting that he go to Tsarnaev's "room and take what's there."
The three young men then went to Tsarnaev's dormitory room and removed a laptop and a backpack containing fireworks and other items, prosecutors allege.
Later that night Kadyrbayev is accused of putting the backpack in a garbage bag and placing it in a dumpster outside their apartment.
During later questioning, Phillipos hid these events from police and "in so doing, he made numerous false and misleading statements to the agents," according to the indictment.
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[Dawn] A Frontier Corps soldier killed a young man in Bacha Khan Chowk area of Quetta -- the capital of violence-ridden 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 -- on Friday night.
A front man of FC, who preferred not to be named, told Dawn.com that the young man, identified as Saleem, attempted to snatch a gun from the FC personnel deployed at Bacha Khan Chowk, Quetta city's busiest area.
"The FC soldier resisted when the young man made failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! to snatch rifle," he claimed. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... the widow of victim denied the charges.
Jia Saleem, the widow of young man said her husband was a peaceful citizen and had no link with any terror group. "Alas, they linked my husband with terrorism," she told Dawn.com with burst of tears.
Saleem was living in a one-room small house on Sirki road in a poor neighborhood of Quetta.
Jia Saleem has registered a FIR against FC personnel in the City Police Station. Murder charges were framed against the FC personnel in the complaint. A passerby was also injured by the FC personnel and was soon rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta for medical treatment.
"I want justice," said the widow. Saleem was the resident of Bahawalpur and left two sons and a widow behind him.
Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has taken notice of the firing incident and ordered the authorities to file a swift probe report.
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[Dawn] A man was rubbed out in a suspected sectarian attack in Orangi Town on Thursday, according to the police.
They said that Syed Shahid Ali Zaidi, 50, was bumped off near the Raees Amrohi roundabout by armed motorcyclists.
He sustained two bullet wounds and was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where doctors declared dead.
Iqbal Market SHO Amjad Kiani said the victim had been a salesman and supplied cigarettes etc to shopkeepers in Sector 11½. "The victim had left his home in Sector 10 to provide goods to the shopkeepers when he was targeted," he said.
Body found in Gutter Baghicha
A young man was found rubbed out in Benazir Park, popularly known as Gutter Baghicha, in Old Golimar, according to the Pak Colony police.
They said the victim, in his early 20s, wore jeans and a white T-shirt and had a single bullet wound to the head. Pak Colony SHO Bilal Raza said that the suspects had dumped the body in the park from a white car. The victim's identity could not be ascertained immediately.
Prisoner escapes from hospital
A prisoner, who had been convicted of committing a street crime, managed to escape on Thursday from 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... (CHK) where he had been undergoing treatment, said jail officials.
They said that Wazir Masih had been sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for mobile snatching and had been kept in the Central Jail where his health deteriorated on Wednesday. Doctors in the jail hospital examined Masih, who had been bleeding, and then referred him to the CHK for further treatment. According to a jail official, Naseer Shah, the prisoner had to be taken to hospital on a stretcher. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... he said, Masih managed to escape from the hospital when he was taken for a medical test.
The official said that two coppers, Haroon and Asif, had been tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... on charges of negligence of duty and were handed over to the Eidgah police for further legal proceedings.
'Extortionist' arrested
The Rangers while conducting targeted action near Murshid Hospital on Hub River Road arrested two extortionists who had been demanding Rs3 million from a businessman.
The criminals had asked the businessman to send his wife with the protection money to a spot near Murshid Hospital. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... Rangers' troops acted swiftly and arrested the two men and seized weapons from them.
182 men held
The Rangers while conducting raids on different areas in the city, including Naseerabad Pipri, Ghafoor Basti, Mehran Town, Dawood Goth and Shoe Market on Wednesday night, caught 30 alleged criminals who include anti-social elements and extortionists affiliated with political groups and Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... gang-war, according to the Rangers spokesperson. Weapons were also recovered from these men, he added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... the Karachi police conducted 129 raids in different parts of the city and jugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! 152 more suspects including an alleged terrorist and two alleged murders.
The spokesperson for Karachi police said that 41 detained suspects were absconders/proclaimed offenders, 38 were tossed into the calaboose on charges of possessing illegal weapons and while 15 were involved in narcotic cases.
Around 39 different types of weapons, five improvised kaboom and narcotics were also recovered from the men, he added.
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[Al Ahram] Twin bombings against a joint Sunni-Shiite prayer session at a mosque north of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Friday killed 30 people and maimed 24 others, Iraqi officials said, updating an earlier toll. The blasts at the Al-Salam mosque in Baquba, 60 kilometres (35 miles) from the capital, struck as worshippers were leaving following midday prayers, according to an army major and Ahmed al-Azzawi, a doctor at the city's main hospital.
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[Ynet] A Paleostinian opened fire on an IDF force securing worshipers at Joseph's Tomb near Nablus. The forces returned fire, moderately wounding the shooter.
According to the IDF, the shooting was preceded by riots, which the force managed to quell.
[An Nahar] Shells fired from the Syrian side of the border fell on the outskirts of the Akkar towns of al-Noura and al-Dabbabiyeh on Friday, prompting residents to flee the area en masse, state-run National News Agency reported.
"A state of fear and anxiety is engulfing these border towns and some residents have fled to safer places," NNA said.
"A major gunbattle involving the use of all sorts of heavy weapons is currently taking place near the Grand River," the agency added.
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The Russian Navy intends to build its presence in the Mediterranean Sea - particularly in the area close to Syrian shores - to up to 10 battleships, announced Admiral of the Fleet Viktor Chirkov.
Currently there are seven warships deployed in the area: landing craft carriers Aleksandr Shabalin, Admiral Nevelskoy, Peresvet, Novocherkassk and Minsk from Russia's Black and Baltic Sea Fleets, as well as the escort vessel Neustrashimy, and large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev.
On May 1, 2013 all Russian battleships operating in the area were assigned to a single task force under special offshore maritime zone operation command. Upon the arrival of the Moskva, its commander, Sergey Tronev, will assume operative command of the task force. According to previous reports, the missile-carrying cruiser Moskva is expected to arrive at its final destination in eastern Mediterranean on September 15 or 16.
#5
Lemme see....Russia expanding in the Med. (along with playmates of convenience China and Iran), Putin in Nuke talks with Iran, and Obama painted into a tight corner with Syria...don't really like how this is a-lookin.
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.
[Dawn] A man was 
