(SomaliNet) After a seven-day standoff in the Indian Ocean, Somali pirates who hijacked a ship laden with tanks and heavy weapons stared down US warships and helicopters again Wednesday, making no move to withdraw their $20-million ransom demand or give up.
The hijacking of the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina - carrying 33 Soviet-made T-72 tanks, rifles, and heavy weapons that US defence officials have said included rocket launchers - was the highest-profile act of piracy in the dangerous waters off Somalia in 2008.
The US Navy says it wants to keep the arms out of the hands of militants linked to al-Qaeda in impoverished Somalia, a key battleground in the war on terrorism. To that end, it has surrounded the Faina, anchored off the central Somali town of Hobyo, with half a dozen ships, including USS guided missile destroyer USS Howard.
US officials said 40-50 pirates were involved in the hijacking, but only about 30 were on the ship itself. US Navy officials from the 5th Fleet said they have allowed the pirates to resupply the ship with food and water, but not to unload any of its military cargo.
Ukrainian news agencies have said the ship's operator is Tomex Team, based in the Black Sea port of Odessa. The US fears the armaments may end up with the militants who have been waging an insurgency against the shaky, UN-backed Somali transitional government since late 2006, when the Islamic fighters were driven out after six months in power. More than 9 000 people have been killed in the Iraq-style insurgency. American military officials and diplomats say the weapons are destined for southern Sudan, but Kenyan officials insist the weapons are bound for their country.
The Faina had a crew of 21, mostly Ukrainians, but a man who has been identified as the first mate, Vladimir Nikolsky, told The Associated Press on Sunday that one man died of hypertension. Russian media said it was the freighter's captain, Vladimir Kolobkov.
In a telephone conversation posted on the Web site Life.ru and apparently initiated by the news site, a man identifying himself as Nikolsky made what sounded like a coded call for help, repeating a Russian word for "seals" three times - an apparent reference to a possible amphibious rescue. The Russian guided missile frigate Neustrashimy (Intrepid) is travelling to the area, but was not expected for several days.
Most pirate attacks occur in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, north of Somalia. But recently pirates have been targeting Indian Ocean waters off eastern Somalia. Some 62 ships have been attacked in the notorious African waters in 2008. A total of 26 ships were hijacked, and 12 remain in the hands of the pirates along with more than 200 crew members. International warships patrol the area and have created a special security corridor under a US-led initiative, but attacks have not abated.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The way to stop pirates is not ransom, just rockets. Takes the profit out of the business.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/02/2008 4:56 Comments ||
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#2
Ah come on. It's not a 'ransom', it's...it's a bailout package. We'll give you your economy back after you agree to....
#3
Spent some time last night with Google trying to find how much money a T-72 is worth. Couldn't find it. There were, however, websites offering T-72s for sale. They just didn't put the price on the website. Presumably that means the price is negotiable. I'm just thinking, though, that if a T-72 is worth a million bucks and this ship is carrying 33 of 'em these pirates might wanna demand a little more. That is, assuming they live long enough to spend it.
#4
Let em keep negotiating. The Russians will be there soon enough. After which, the pirates might wish they had picked a different target. From what I understand, the Russians negotiate like Korben Dallas in Fifth Element.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/02/2008 20:01 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) According to a statement posted on the Internet on Wednesday, Al-Qaeda's north Africa wing said it was behind a deadly suicide bombing in Algeria on Sunday. On Sunday, a car bomb exploded in the Takdemt district near the coastal town of Dellys, 100 km east of Algiers, killing three people and wounding six.
The group, which calls itself al-Qaeda organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, identified the bomber as Abu al-Abbas Abd al-Rahman and said his car was laden with 600 kg of an unspecified explosive material.
The statement, posted on an Islamist website, said the bombing had targeted army barracks. "We bring (the Muslim Ummah) the glad tidings of the mujahideens' victories and their massacre of the apostate slaves of America," the statement said.
Since adopting the al-Qaeda name early in 2007, the group, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has claimed several attacks including twin suicide bombings of UN offices and a court building in Algiers in December 2007 which killed 41 people. It also claimed a suicide truck bombing against a coastguard barracks in Dellys in September 2007 that killed 37 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > docs indic that AL QAEDA HAS BEGUN SHIFTING FOREIGN FIGHTERS FROM IRAQ TO AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN [International Jihad]???
#3
STRATFOR > AL QAEDA AND A TALE OF TWO BATTLESPACES [Physical vs. Ideological], AQ has devol into 3 ea. distinct entities - AQ Prime [Osama + Zawi. etal], Affiliated and lessor Pro-AQ Aligned Islamist-JIhadist Groups, + General/World Jihadist Movement. WHILE AQ MAY NO LONGER BE AS POTENT STRATEGIC THREAT [war losses] TO THE US-WEST AS BEFORE 9-11 [or OPERATION IRAGI FREEDOM?], and thus is presently MARGINALIZED ON THE TACTICAL BATTLEFIELD = PHYSICAL BATTLESPACE, AQ IS WORKING HARD TO REMAIN RELEVANT AND INFLUENTIAL ON THE IDEOLOGICAL BATTLEFIELD/
BATTLESPACE IN ORDER TO ENABLE OR EFFECT A RETURN TO NEW PHYSICAL BATTLESPACE POTENCY???
The Amsterdam appeal court on Thursday jailed Samir Azzouz for nine years for membership of a terrorist organisation, plotting attacks on political targets and for recruiting people for the armed struggle against 'the enemies of Islam', NOS tv reports. The public prosecution department had called for a 15-year sentence.
Four others were sentenced to between six months and eight years. Soumaya Sahla, the only female member of the gang, was given four years for her 'marginal' role. She is currently the only woman in the high security prison in Vught.
The discovery of weapons and a video made by Azzouz in which he said he was willing to die for Jihad was among the main evidence used in the convictions, news agency ANP said. At the end of 2006, a lower court sentenced Azzouz to eight years in jail after finding him guilty of plotting attacks. But the court said he was not the central figure in a terrorism gang nor was he actively recruiting members. Both he and the public prosecution department appealed against the 2006 sentence.
Azzouz has twice before been found not guilty of membership to a terrorist organisation.
A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up as he tried to enter a house owned by a member of Pakistan's ruling coalition today, killing four people but missing the politician, officials said.
The bombing happened in the northwestern town of Charsadda, outside a separate guest room of the house belonging to Asfandyar Wali Khan, head of the Awami National Party (ANP), they said.
The politician was not hurt in the attack, which occurred as he was visiting a guest in the building as part of celebrations for the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Fitr, police and party officials said.
"Four people were killed in the suicide blast. The target was Asfandyar Wali but he is safe," Mian Iftikhar, the information minister for North West Frontier Province, told local television.
Provincial police chief Malik Naveed said guards shot the bomber before he blew himself up.
"The suicide bomber tried to pass from the security scanner avoiding a physical search. Two security guards grabbed him but he tried to get away," Mr Naveed said.
"Then he was shot and as soon as he fell on the ground he blew himself up."
He added: "We had made strict security arrangements and that is why the attacker could not cause more damage or casualties."
The ANP is a secular party supporting the rights of ethnic Pashtuns and Taliban militants have carried out several attacks on its political rallies and its leaders.
A senior party member said that one of Asfandyar Wali Khan's armed guards was killed in the latest attack.
"The incident happened outside the hujra (guest house). One suicide bomber was trying to enter, he was stopped but the bomber blasted himself. The guard was killed," the party member, Haji Adeel, told Dawn television.
The ANP joined Pakistan's coalition government, which is led by the Pakistan People's Party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, after beating allies of former president Pervez Musharraf in elections in January.
Asfandyar Wali Khan is the chairman of the Pakistani parliament's foreign relations committee.
#2
As i see it three countries remain troublesome-1.Iran and their Islamic World concept.2 Saudi and their funding of islamic terrorists and 3.Pakistan who play a double game but seem at last to target the Taliban/AlQ!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
10/02/2008 9:21 Comments ||
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AGARTALA: Four back-to-back terror strikes in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, which shares a 856-km porous border with Bangladesh, on Wednesday evening left at least four people dead and 76 others injured, several critically, according to hospital sources. The state police confirmed only one death but said the toll was likely to rise.
The first explosion took place around 7.30 pm at the Radhanagar bus stand. Minutes later, there was another blast at Maharajganj Bazar in the heart of the city. The two are about 2 km apart. Two live bombs were found at Motor Stand and Colonel Choumohany near the palace compound.
As the injured were being taken to Agartala Government Medical College hospital, another blast rocked GB Bazar, which is on the route of the ambulances taking the injured to the hospital. The fourth blast at 8.15 pm was near Kathiababa Ashram on the outskirts of the state capital. There was a heavy rush of puja shoppers at Radhanagar bus stand, Maharajganj Bazar and GB market, all in the heart of the city.
While Tripura has long been a conduit for smuggling and terror merchandise, most violence in the state had been related to insurgencies of tribal groups. But the blasts on Wednesday, security officials said, were likely to be the work of the Bangladesh-based Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), a terror group which has been frequently blamed for terror attacks in UP and Hyderabad.
Investigators are still probing the possible connection between HuJI and Indian Mujahideen, the SIMI splinter group, which has claimed responsibility for serial blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi in recent weeks.
As in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi, the news of the blasts triggered citywide panic and all telecommunication links were jammed with people calling to check if their family and friends were safe.
Quoting witnesses, police sources said two persons riding a motorcycle were seen moving suspiciously at Radhanagar bus stand. The blast took place there two to three minutes after they left the place. Tripura police chief Pranay Sahay rushed to the sites to monitor the evacuation but refused to go on record on suspects.
In recent weeks, there have been reports of Islamic militants using Tripura to enter India from Bangladesh. Reports also said that on September 25, central intelligence agencies had warned north-eastern states of an impending terror attack and Border Security Force officials in Agartala confirmed having received the input.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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AGARTALA: Four people, including one allegedly seen on a bike near a blast site, were arrested in connection with the serial explosions that rocked Agartala on Wednesday killing two people.
An official release said that four people, including one of those seen on a bike at the Radhanagar bus stand, one of the blast sites, were arrested late on Wednesday night.
However, the release did not say from where they were arrested.
Terrorists struck Agartala for the first time as two persons were killed and 100 injured in a series of of five blasts at crowded markets and bus stands in a space of five minutes this evening.
The low-intensity blasts took place at Agartala's main shopping area Maharaja Ganju Bazar, Gobind Ballah Pant market, busy Radhanagar bus stand, Agartala Motorstand and Abhay Nagar localities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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In recent weeks, there have been reports of Islamic militants using Tripura to enter India from Bangladesh. Reports also said that on September 25, central intelligence agencies had warned north-eastern states of an impending terror attack and Border Security Force officials in Agartala confirmed having received the input.
Meanwhile, Army sources from Kolkata suspect that Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh used National Liberation Front of Tripura (Biswamohan) in carrying out the serial explosions .
From what the Army has gleaned from its own sources, its officials say the bombs were sophisticated devices. ''Timers had been used in the bombs to carry out the explosions, the way the series of four blasts took place in intervals of five to seven minutes,'' an official said.
There were pellets inside the bombs to enhance the effects. ''Many of the injured have pellets embedded deep inside their bodies. That's why it is feared that the death toll may go up.''
Another army source said one of the unexploded bombs found at the Motor Stand had been kept in a tiffin box. As a safety measure, the police exploded it before the arrival of forensic experts. The forensic would now go into the details of the nature of the explosives.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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At least four people have been killed and scores of others injured in a series of bomb blasts in the north-east Indian state of Tripura.
The first of four blasts went off at 7:30 p.m. when markets in Agartala, the state capital of Tripura, were packed with shoppers during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Three more blasts went off at nearby markets over the next 90 minutes, a senior police official, who goes by the name Shreyesh, was quoted by AP as saying. The blasts killed two people and injured at least 100, Shreyesh said adding that 20 victims are in critical condition. Meanwhile some media reports said four people were killed in the attack.
The incidents come after Indian government recently unveiled new security measures to tackle what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described as 'vast gaps' in intelligence gathering on home-grown militancy.
Several other Indian cities - Jaipur, Bangalore and New Delhi - have been hit by serial bombings since May, also claimed by the Indian militants.
India has been hit by several waves of bombings in recent years. Targets have ranged from mosques and Hindu temples to trains and courthouses. More than 450 people have died in separate attacks since October 2005, according to an official count.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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(AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani police have arrested four brothers in a village in the centre of Punjab province in connection with the devastating bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
The men were arrested near Toba Tek Singh after returning from Dubai a few days ago.
The men were arrested near Toba Tek Singh after returning from Dubai a few days ago.
Source told the Pakistani daily, Dawn, the men were being investigated about their alleged involvement in the Marriott Hotel suicide attack which killed more than 50 people and injured 260 others on 20 September. The four have been identified as Imran Afzal, Hameed Afzal, Majeed Afzal and Kamran Afzal. Local police officials said they had no information about the raid or the arrests.
A little-known Islamist group calling itself the Fidayeen-e-Islam claimed responsibility for the bombing while calling for an end to US involvement in Pakistan. Soon after the bomb attack five other suspects were arrested by Pakistani police but it is unclear whether they have been charged.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
There is a new hotel opening in Dubai that has been threatened with extreme explodulation. It's possible these dudes were the case team, in to set up things for the killbots.
#3
Oh, great idea genius. Blow up a hotel in Dubai and get Sheikh Mo and his UAE co-horts bringing out the big guns. You'll never see your families again but you will add plenty of reinforcement to the foundations of new hotels. Some of you will be used as fertilizer for the new golf courses.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/02/2008 13:14 Comments ||
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#4
Works for me, Jack.
Anything I can do to help? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/02/2008 13:23 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Diplomatic staff in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, will be required to send their children back to the United Kingdom, the British Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday. Some 60 children are to leave Pakistan in the next few days.
The Foreign Ministry said the decision followed a review of security for British diplomatic staff in Islamabad after the deadly bombing there last month of the five-star Marriott Hotel. It advised British citizens against staying in hotels frequented by Westerners.
The attack on 20 September killed more than 50 people and injured 260 others at the Islamabad Marriott, a hotel popular with diplomats and foreign visitors, as well as the Pakistani elite. Nine people have been arrested connection with the bombing, which was claimed by a little-known Islamist group calling itself the Fidayeen-e-Islam.
The British Foreign Ministry said it was offering the spouses of diplomatic staff in Islamabad the opportunity to return to the UK if they wished. "A number of other diplomatic missions in Islamabad have recently taken similar steps," the Foreign Ministry stated, adding that London's move was not a reaction to any specific threat.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - A car bomb exploded in central Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring 30 others. "The explosive vehicle detonated near the shrine of Sayyed Mohammed in the Balad district, of southern Salah al-Din, leaving three civilians killed and 30 others injured," said Iraqi news agency Voices of Iraq, quoting security sources.
Salah al-Din is a Sunni-dominated province north of Baghdad and the capital city is Tikrit. According to media reports, the number of casualties could rise, because at the time of the explosion, many pilgrims were paying a visit to the tomb of Imam Mohammed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - Al-Qaeda has over the past two years used 24 children to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq, the director of military operations for the Interior Ministry, Abdelaziz Mohammed Jasim, told pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat. "Of the 24 children, five had a mental disability. From analysing the others' remains, we established that they were homeless," said Jasim.
American soldiers stationed in Iraq have reported that the insurgency has armed children as young as 11 to fight against them. Al-Qaeda is targeting orphans, street children and mentally disabled children as suicide bomber recruits as well as women, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
There have been at least 16 suicide attacks carried out by women in recent months in the volatile Al-Qaeda stronghold of Diyala province, north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi children in general make up 20 percent of the civilian victims of bomb attacks in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Remember this vignette of news the next time some looney starts tsk-tsking Gitmo and American policy, etc. These f**kers are even human, they are not even up to the level of whale s**t.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/02/2008 13:17 Comments ||
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The Iraqi government on Wednesday began assuming control of the U.S.-backed armed groups that have helped curtail violence here, in a high-stakes test for the American strategy to stabilize Iraq.
Iraqi authorities officially took command of about 54,000 so-called Sons of Iraq in the Baghdad area on Wednesday, and U.S. officials say they will transfer authority over additional members of the groups as conditions permit.
The Pentagon said in a report Tuesday that a smooth transition of the roughly 100,000 armed guards to Iraqi employment was "critical to providing stable security" in the country. Iraq's Shiite-led government has been wary of the largely Sunni forces, which include many former insurgents. Some have threatened to resume attacks if the government conducts widespread arrests or otherwise treats them harshly.
The handover of the armed groups was a low-key affair in Baghdad, where government offices are closed for a six-day holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The transition was largely symbolic, since the U.S. military plans to stay involved with the groups for several months as the Iraqi government begins paying their salaries and decides how to employ them.
Still, in the middle-class neighborhood of Zayouna, in southeastern Baghdad, the government's new role was evident as an Iraqi army commander handed out crisp $100 bills to Sons of Iraq members at a security compound.
Hovering over the shoulder of Maj. Abbas Kadim were U.S. soldiers who had given him the cash. "It's to get them used to paying the Sons of Iraq, instead of us doing it alone," said Army Staff Sgt. Aaron McDonough, 27, of the 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division. He had invited Iraqi military and police officials to make what are supposed to be the final U.S. payments to the 163 Sons of Iraq in the neighborhood.
Kadim, in camouflage fatigues and a maroon beret, sat at a table on a patio next to a Sons of Iraq supervisor who checked off members' names as they claimed their salaries.
"They are our sons. They are Iraqis," said Kadim, who jovially greeted the members of the armed groups, jokingly offering to marry off one of them to a female American soldier. "We have no differences with them. We like, we respect them very much."
But out of earshot of the commander, Sons of Iraq said they feared for their future.
Mohammad Idan, 42, a former shopkeeper in a button-down shirt and casual slacks, said he heard rumors about the Iraqi security forces kidnapping and "disappearing" a Sons of Iraq member. "We will never feel safe with them," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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(PTI) At least 26 Tamil Tigers and three soldiers were killed in fierce clashes as fighter jets hit LTTE targets in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka's embattled north, where special forces also detected an air strip being used by the guerrillas.
Troops operating north of Vannivilankulama in Mullaittivu yesterday located a 500m long airstrip, believed to have been used by the LTTE for emergency landing as late as yesterday afternoon, officials said today. According to military, the airstrip was located seven kms northwest of Mankulama and about 500m west of the A-9 trunk road in general area Pankikkankulama. "It is believed the airstrip could have also been used as an open parking space or a hangar," Army sources were quoted saying.
Separately, Sri Lankan Air Force supersonic fighter jets today carried out three simultaneous raids, targeting LTTE administrative and logistic bases located in Kilinochchi area. The raids included one on an LTTE gathering point located three kms northeast of Piramanthalkulama, Kilinochchi. The fighter jets raided two key LTTE facilities with precision in north of Thiruvaiaru in Kilinochchi. "A target engaged was identified as a major foothold of LTTE's 'Charles Anthony unit' while the other was described as a hardcore female cadre training facility," Air Force sources said.
The targets were successfully acquired on real-time ground and aerial reconnaissance information received, they said.
In ground clashes, troops destroyed two LTTE bunkers in Andankulam in northeastern Welioya yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said, adding one rebel was killed and six soldiers injured in the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 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.
The Amsterdam appeal court on Thursday jailed Samir Azzouz for nine years for membership of a terrorist organisation, plotting attacks on political targets and for recruiting people for the armed struggle against 'the enemies of Islam', NOS tv reports. The public prosecution department had called for a 15-year sentence.
At least four people have been killed and scores of others injured in a series of bomb blasts in the north-east Indian state of Tripura. 
(AKI) - Diplomatic staff in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, will be required to send their children back to the United Kingdom, the British Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday. Some 60 children are to leave Pakistan in the next few days.
(AKI) - A car bomb exploded in central Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least three people and injuring 30 others. "The explosive vehicle detonated near the shrine of Sayyed Mohammed in the Balad district, of southern Salah al-Din, leaving three civilians killed and 30 others injured," said Iraqi news agency Voices of Iraq, quoting security sources.
(AKI) - Al-Qaeda has over the past two years used 24 children to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq, the director of military operations for the Interior Ministry, Abdelaziz Mohammed Jasim, told pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat. "Of the 24 children, five had a mental disability. From analysing the others' remains, we established that they were homeless," said Jasim.
(PTI) At least 26 Tamil Tigers and three soldiers were killed in fierce clashes as fighter jets hit LTTE targets in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka's embattled north, where special forces also detected an air strip being used by the guerrillas.
