Hi there, !
Today Mon 03/17/2014 Sun 03/16/2014 Sat 03/15/2014 Fri 03/14/2014 Thu 03/13/2014 Wed 03/12/2014 Tue 03/11/2014 Archives
Rantburg
531690 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 57 articles and 129 comments as of 11:56.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Gaza Militants Say Truce Restored
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
6 20:28 Barbara [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
2 20:01 trailing wife [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
2 14:53 AlanC []
6 17:36 Charles []
0 []
6 10:24 Raj []
2 05:00 g(r)omgoru []
7 20:03 Procopius2k []
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 21:19 SteveS []
0 []
1 19:45 DarthVader []
2 20:30 Barbara [1]
4 16:32 swksvolFF []
3 17:29 Charles []
0 []
0 []
3 08:44 Glenmore []
0 []
11 17:09 Glenmore []
4 10:14 mom []
3 13:16 Grunter []
7 21:53 Frank G []
3 05:53 Shipman []
1 13:04 49 Pan []
0 []
4 16:02 AlanC []
4 15:07 3dc []
0 []
2 22:54 OldSpook []
Page 4: Opinion
0 []
1 19:20 Redneck Jim []
4 14:53 Bright Pebbles []
0 []
6 23:00 Unique Grundy7951 []
Page 6: Politix
5 23:03 OldSpook []
2 23:04 OldSpook []
3 22:23 Cheaderhead []
5 19:14 JohnQC []
15 18:51 swksvolFF []
3 19:28 trailing wife []
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Yet another chopping attack in China
CHANGSHA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- A group of knife-wielding assailants attacked civilians on Friday morning on a street in Changsha City, capital of central China's Hunan Province, according to local authorities.

Xinhua reporters saw at least one body lying on the ground at the crime site.
Update at 1000 CT: BBC reports five dead.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/14/2014 00:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obviously there a serious need for knife control in China. /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/14/2014 9:12 Comments || Top||

#2  IF you do not have a gun, this is how easy a man with a knife can work a group of people.

Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/14/2014 10:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Unfortunately for the intruder the owner had a gun.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/14/2014 13:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Unfortunately for the intruder the owner had a gun.

But, but the police were only minutes away...
Posted by: SteveS || 03/14/2014 15:45 Comments || Top||

#5  What happened to throat cut guy? I figured he would be about where ending phone call was made.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/14/2014 18:32 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 swksvolFF - According to the male newscaster (who could read Turkish and had read the newspaper story about it), he pulled off his shirt, wrapped it around his neck to slow the bleeding, and "somehow got himself to the hospital in 4-5 minutes."

He'd lost a lot of blood, but survived. The doctor said the guy was lucky he was fat, or the knife would have cut through the artery completely.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/14/2014 20:28 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Four election workers kidnapped in Afghanistan
[DAWN] An Afghan election commission official says four election coordinators were kidnapped in Afghanistan's restive Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province, which borders neighboring Pakistain.

Sareer Ahmed Barmal, a commissioner with the Independent Election Commission, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Thursday that the four men were taken a day earlier and no one has taken responsibility for their abduction or demanded a ransom.

Barmal says area elders have been meeting in an attempt to discover the identities of the kidnappers in order to negotiate the release of the men.

On Monday, the Taliban threatened violence ahead of Afghanistan's April 5 presidential elections, warning Afghans to stay away from the polls and promising attacks against election workers and Afghan cops protecting them.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Brotherhood members in Kharga Oasis sentenced to three months in prison for inciting riots
[Egypt Independent] The Kharga Oasis court in the New Valley governorate on Wednesday sentenced four Moslem Brüderbund members to three months in prison and 13 others to a week and an LE100 fine for inciting violent riots on 6 October last year.

The defendants did not attend the session, as they could not be moved from prison for security reasons.

Unless the public prosecutor appeals the verdict, the 13 defendants will be released in a few hours, as they already spent the time in detention, waiting for the court to convene.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Libya captures assassins in Sirte
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan troops in Sirte captured a gang allegedly responsible for looting, sabotage and high-level liquidations, officials confirmed on Monday (March 11th).

Among the operations allegedly carried out by the hit squad was the liquidation of Dr Hassan al-Droui, the industry ministry undersecretary and a former member of the National Transitional Council for the city.

The suspects also stand accused of assassinating Colonel Ramadan al-Tarooq, an official responsible for passports in Sirte.

According to a security source in Sirte who requested anonymity, this group is made up of 30 people and only four of them were nabbed
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
. They were transferred to the attorney-general to complete the procedures.

The gang was caught by members of the army's infantry battalion No. 136 on March 6th, according to Libya Herald.

Libyans interviewed by Magharebia were split on the news, with some applauding the security forces while others remained sceptical.

"I hope the news is not just a game in order to ease the anger and indignation of the street," commented Zahra Yasmeen, a 36-year-old lawyer. "I hope that the arrest of such bands is the first drop and the first of a series to be continued in Benghazi, Derna and other areas where security tension is high. Of course the news is thrilling, but there are still 100 question marks."

Fawzi Abu Zeid, a 41-year-old administrator for the Sirte local council, said that "cronies still pose a danger to security in Libya and in Sirte in particular. The roots of Qadaffy are in Sirte and the capture of such a gang will bring stability to the city and end organised crime."

Nargis Ghiryani, a 26-year-old news hound, said she thought the arrests would "send a message to all the followers of the deposed one who practice such acts that no matter what you do, the hand of justice will reach you".

News of the arrests came just days after Sirte residents rallied for more security. A number of people erupted into the streets March 2nd to demand action, setting tyres on fire and blockading roads.

That protest followed the killing of a militia commander known as Makhlouf bin Nasser. The liquidation was the third in the city during February alone. Prior to this, security forces found the bodies of two soldiers belonging to the Libyan army shot in the head 30 kilometres west of Sirte.

"Really, there is no security institution in the city due to the various ideologies on the ground," said Ali Ghemati, a 32-year-old Sirte local council employee. "There is the ideology of Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active...
, tribal ideologies, rebels, and militias."

Tahani, a 20-year-old high school student, said, "Libya in general entered a stage of security lapses more than before. I fear it is entering a more dangerous zone, civil war and struggle for power. As for Benghazi, I don't think the situation will abate."

"Force and rigor must be used during this chaos in the country," said Mehdi Redha, a 46-year-old lawyer.

For his part, Mohammed Aerichieh, a 50-year-old member of the General National Congress said that "the government to this moment did not put any strategy of security for the city of Sirte."

"We asked the government repeatedly to provide the necessary means to activate the security forces in Sirte and to reopen the courts' compound and the prosecution offices of the city that are idle since last July, but unfortunately there are no clear responses," said Abdel Fattah Siwi, the 36-year-old head of the Sirte local council.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Gunmen Kill at Least 69 in Northwest Nigeria
[An Nahar] Gunmen on cycle of violences in northwest Nigeria's Katsina state killed at least 69 people and torched several homes in attacks on four villages, a local politician told Agence La Belle France Presse Thursday, amid rising communal tension in the region.

The state's police chief, Hurdi Mohammed, who gave a lower toll of 30 dead, told AFP the violence was perpetrated by ethnic Fulani herdsmen who have been blamed for scores of deadly raids.

"So far, 69 bodies have been recovered from the attacks carried out by a large group of gunnies riding on cycle of violences," said Katsina politician Abbas Abdullahi Michika of the violence which first broke out late Tuesday.

"The victims include men, women and kiddies. Rescue teams are still combing nearby bushes in search for more bodies," he told AFP.

He specified that 47 people were killed in the village of Mararrabar Maigora while seven deaths were recorded in both Kura Mota and Unguwar Rimi.

Another eight people were killed in Maigora, according to Michika.

Fulani leaders have for years complained about the loss of grazing land which is crucial to their livelihood, with resentment between the herdsmen and their agrarian neighbors rising over the past decade.

Most of the Fulani-linked violence has been concentrated in the religiously divided center of the country, where rivalries between mostly Moslem herdsmen and mostly Christian farmers have helped fuel the unrest.

While there is no religion element to the conflict in Katsina, which is overwhelmingly Moslem, tensions between the Fulani and ethnically Hausa farmers have worsened in recent months. Residents have blamed the Fulani for several violent robberies this year.

Three people were killed earlier this month in Katsina when suspected Fulani gunnies shot up a checkpoint.

The police chief insisted the attacks were not linked to Islamist group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, whose insurgency has killed more than 500 people in the northeast already this year.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
19 get death for killing 12 people
[DAWN] GUJRANWALA: Anti-Terrorism Court No 2 on Wednesday handed down death sentence on 24 counts to 19 accused of killing 12 people including seven women and three children.

ATC Judge Muhammad Ittefaq Abbasi also awarded life term on 24 counts to an underage accused and issued arrest warrants for six absconders.

According to the prosecution, Arshad, Ahsanullah, Sufain, Luqman, Imran, Asghar, Zakaullah, Abdul Razaq, Ishaq, Ilyas, Ashraf, Mudassar, Khursheed, Ghulam Nabi, Waqar, Riaz, Imran and Shafqat had rubbed out and burnt bodies of Khushi Muhammad, Wali Muhammad, Hajra, Bisma, Abdullah, Tanzila, Maira, Ijaz, Arshad Bibi, Fajar, Mafia, and Bushra Bibi over a murder enmity on Dec 29, 2011.

Police had enjugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
the accused and submitted charge-sheet to the court. The judge announced the verdict amid tight police security. The convicts were shifted to the central jail.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


At least 14 killed in Lyari bloodshed
[DAWN] KARACHI: At least 14 people -- eight women, four children and two men -- were killed when a group of men armed with assault rifles and hand-grenades attacked a crowded commercial area in 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....
on Wednesday.

Over two dozen people were maimed. The assailants apparently wanted to avenge the death of one of their men in an alleged encounter with police and Rangers on late Tuesday night, officials and witnesses said.

Heavy contingents of police and Rangers personnel present in the area failed to prevent free movement of gunnies and attacks on women and schoolchildren, but officials claimed that eight suspected gangsters had been killed in several encounters. Six police and Rangers personnel were maimed, they said.

"It was not a typical case of gang war for the control of each other's turf and it was also not a targeted attack on supposed rivals, but an act of Dire Revenge™ for the killing of Sheraz Zikri, who was a brother of Ghafar Zikri, 'one of the ring leaders of a gang, in an encounter late on Tuesday night," said 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...
South DIG, Abdul Khaliq Sheikh.

He said Zikri, whose another brother Sattar Zikri was killed in an encounter in 2010, had recently joined hands with the leader of another gang, Baba Ladla, who were behind Wednesday's attack in Jhat Pat Market.

According to the DIG, Zikri-Ladla gangs had carried out indiscriminate firing in the market out of 'frustration' because law-enforcement agencies had killed 60 gangsters and jugged
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
over 400 others over the past three months.

He claimed that police chased the attackers, killed two of them and seized their weapons. They were identified as Adil and Naseeb.

A house-to-house search was conducted when some of the attackers had taken refuge in Phool Pati Lane. The suspects tried to escape, but three of them were killed in an exchange of fire, the DIG claimed.

On information that some other suspects were hiding in Gul Mohammed Lane, police and Rangers cordoned off the locality and killed another three gangsters in an encounter, Mr Sheikh claimed.

He said the operation was continuing at night and fresh contingents of police and Rangers had been sent to the area.

The DIG said Rangers sector commander Brig Basit Shuja was also supervising the operation.

Emotional and highly charged scenes were witnessed at the Civil Hospital where some of the dead and maimed had been brought.

"We received five bodies, including that of a woman and her daughter," said Dr Jalil Qadir.

He said 26 maimed people had been brought to the hospital and one of them died.

He said the bodies of five suspects killed in Garden and Kalakot areas had been brought for an appointment with Dr. Quincy.

Talking to newsmen outside the mortuary, relatives of Adil and Naseeb alleged that the two had been taken away from the Old Golimar area by police on Wednesday morning and were rubbed out in Garden.

A large number of people, mostly teenagers, protested against the killings outside the hospital's emergency department. Some of them carried banners inscribed with slogans "stop attacks on our homes and schools".

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
four Rangers personnel, two coppers and one civilian who suffered gunshot wounds during the alleged encounters were brought to the Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre. Dr Seemin Jamali, head of the hospital's emergency department, said their condition was satisfactory.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Woman, four kids injured in Jamrud blast
[DAWN] A woman and four children were maimed in a blast outside their house in Khyber tribal region on Thursday, officials said.

According to Levies officials, the incident took place at Ghandi village near Jamrud, the main town of Khyber agency.

The bomb was planted outside the house which went kaboom!, damaging the house and injuring the woman and her four kids.

Security forces arrived at the scene soon after blast. The maimed were shifted to Jamrud hospital.

According to initial reports, the exact nature of the blast could not yet be ascertained.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


'Gangsters avenged killing without any warning'
[DAWN] KARACHI: Usually before a shootout in 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....
an announcement is made through area mosques seeking closure of shops or asking residents to stay indoors, but on Wednesday there was no such announcement before a gun and grenade attack in the crowded Jhatpat Market in Chakiwara No 2 because gangsters were avenging the death of one of their own accomplices, residents told Dawn.

Police said that Sheeraz Zikri, a brother of Ghaffar Zikri who leads one of the several gangs in Lyari, was killed during a joint targeted operation by the law-enforcement agencies late Tuesday night.

Just hours later the Jhatpat Market, known for selling household items and accessories for women, was attacked at around 11am on Wednesday, instantly injuring dozens, many of whom eventually gave up the ghost.

The kaboom brought to the fore what they had been silently enduring for the past few months, the residents complained.

Minutes before the attack in the market, seven-year-old Amir Hussain was playing in a street, opposite the market, while Altaf Hussain was standing beside his fruit cart. Right next to him, Rehana Ghanchi and her teenage daughter Sabahat were standing in a tailor's shop.

"The area looked like a warzone," narrated Rehana, now sitting beside her daughter's bed at 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...
. Hit by shrapnel, Sabahat sustained an injury on her left arm. She said kabooms had become a matter of routine in the area. "It's only because today there were more casualties that most people got to see for the first time what we go through on a daily basis."

Thirty-year-old Altaf was surrounded by his relatives and brother in Surgical Ward 3. Surviving an injury caused by shrapnel in the chest, he spoke angrily about the continuing violence in the area. "We were visited by one of our MPAs, but what have they done? And what can they possibly do to protect us?"

Beside his bed, seven-year-old Amir was sound asleep with a huge plaster on his left foot. His elder sister, Asma, was understandably shaken. "We have lost count of the number of children who have been killed during this fight. I was scared that he might be one of those who were brought dead to the hospital," she said, adding that she's grateful he survived the incident with a minor injury on the back and foot.

Since the attack on the market was widely reported, ambulances made it to the spot in time, otherwise it was difficult to get an ambulance to visit the area during emergencies, the residents said.

After his mother suffered a stroke, a teacher working in the area had to wait for two hours to convince an ambulance driver to come to Lyari. "Eventually we walked towards Merewether Tower from where we got an ambulance. She was pronounced dead.
He's dead, Jim!
as soon as we reached the hospital," said a primary schoolteacher, requesting not to be named.

While back in Chakiwara No 2, the residents said that the empty streets still reverberated with gunfire in the evening. Requesting anonymity, a resident told Dawn over the phone that the apartments and colonies near Chakiwara were slowly turning deserted, as people were fleeing their homes. But, he added, many homes were taken over by gang members.

At present, the fight between gangsters is raging on in Kalri, Gul Mohammad Lane, Chakiwara, Rangiwara, Nawa Lane, Afshani Gali, Kalakot and Rexar Lane, among others. Usually before armed festivities announcements were made through local mosques asking traders to shut their shops and residents to stay indoors, the residents told Dawn. "But today they were avenging the death of one of their own, that's why no announcements were made," said Abid Ali, a teacher and resident of Chakiwara.

The Jhatpat Market attack was aimed at the rival gang members controlling the area, a resident told Dawn over the phone. "But minutes before the attack, gunnies, who usually sit around the market to collect extortion money, left quickly," the resident added.

Supported by political parties, the gangs are leaderless at the moment, the residents said. But with the death of Ghaffar Zikri's brother, Sheeraz Zikri, during a joint targeted operation by the law-enforcement agencies, the residents feared the violence in the area would only escalate in the coming days.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Iraq Executes Seven, including Saddam-Era Agents
[An Nahar] Iraq executed seven people Thursday, including three men convicted of the 1994 killing in Beirut of the father of a current MP, despite international condemnation over Storied Baghdad's use of the death penalty.

The executions, carried out by hanging, were the first to be confirmed since January 23 and brought to at least 44 the total number of people put to death so far this year.

Among those executed were three men -- Hadi Hassuni, Abdul Hassan al-Majid and Farukh Hijazi -- who were convicted in April 2011 over the April 1994 murder of Sheikh Taleb al-Suhail al-Tamimi, and termed agents of the ousted Saddam regime.

Tamimi's daughter, Safia al-Suhail, has been an Iraqi politician since 2005.

She was elected to the Council of Representatives in March 2010 polls as part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
's slate, but is now an independent MP.

Tamimi, head of the Banu Tamim tribe, fled to Beirut with his family after a Baath Party coup in 1968 and later attempted his own coup against Saddam Hussein, but was bumped off outside his home in the Lebanese capital on April 14, 1994.

Leb severed its ties with Iraq in the aftermath of the killing, and it tossed in the calaboose
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
five Iraqi diplomats and one Lebanese accomplice over the liquidation.

All but one of those arrested were released without charge, while one of the diplomats died in prison in Leb.

The other four diplomats later returned to Iraq only to flee after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam.

The four other people executed on Thursday were convicted on terror charges, the justice ministry said.

Iraq has faced widespread criticism from diplomats, analysts and human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
groups who say that due to a flawed justice system, those being executed are not necessarily guilty of the crimes for which they were sentenced to die.

U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
urged Iraq to halt executions on a visit to Storied Baghdad in January.

But he was publicly rebuked by Maliki who, while standing beside Ban at a joint news conference, said Iraq does not "believe that the rights of someone who kills people must be respected".

The country executed at least 169 people last year, according to an AFP tally based on statements from the justice ministry and reports from officials.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza Militants Say Truce Restored
Gazan rocket sex having been consummated, there will be quiet until the next arousal. Or in other words: Huuuuudddddnnnnaaaaaa!!!1!!
[An Nahar] Gazoo's Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
announced Thursday that an Egyptian-brokered truce had been restored following a brief but intense confrontation a day earlier when Israeli warplanes pounded the Strip after heavy cross-border rocket fire.

But the truce was being tested after the Israeli military reported than a rocket had been fired from Gazoo early in the evening, bringing to four the total over the course of the day.

Even so, that was sharply down on the more than 60 rockets that Israel said had been fired since Wednesday night, and the skies over the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-run Gazoo Strip were filled only with driving rain.

No one has yet grabbed credit for the latest rocket fire.

Over the course of 24 hours, Israeli warplanes struck Gazoo after bully boyz fired scores of rockets over the border in the worst confrontation since an eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas bully boyz in November 2012.

Although there were no casualties on either side, the violence was denounced by both Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
and British Prime Minister David Cameron
... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
at a news conference in Bethlehem.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton added her voice.

"I strongly condemn the recent rocket attacks on Israel, for which the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad, which is listed by the EU as a terrorist organization, has grabbed credit," she said in a statement

"There can be absolutely no justification for the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians, and I call for an immediate end to such acts."

Behind the scenes, Egypt worked to secure the renewal of a truce agreement to scale back the hostilities, officials in Gazoo said.

"An Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT)," Islamic Jihad front man Daud Shihab told AFP.

Earlier, Khaled al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad leader, said Egyptian officials had contacted Hamas to "restore the truce" with Israel in force since November 2012.

"The Egyptians are in contact with the movement to restore the truce and stop the Zionist escalation and attack on Gazoo," he told AFP.

But an Israeli defense official said he was "not familiar" with any ceasefire arrangement.

"They understand that if the fire continues, the Israeli reaction will be very harsh, and the last thing the Islamic Jihad and Hamas want now is an escalation and deterioration," he told AFP.

Despite the tit-for-tat violence, experts said Israel was not interested in a major confrontation in Gazoo.

The confrontation began Tuesday when Islamic Jihad bully boyz fired a mortar at Israeli troops allegedly trying to enter southern Gazoo, prompting a retaliatory air strike that killed three of them.

On Wednesday, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, began firing a coordinated barrage of rockets at southern Israel that continued into the night, with the group putting the number at 130.

Israel responded by hitting 29 targets across Gazoo overnight, including Islamic Jihad and Hamas bases. Another seven air strikes on the south followed during the morning.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad


Southeast Asia
Abu Sayyaf captives freed in Sulu
Gunmen thought to be Abu Sayyaf rebels have released the four people they abducted last March 3 in Sulu, a military official announced. Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela said that the victims were freed at around 4 p.m. Wednesday at the circumferential road in Patikul, Sulu.

Senior Supt. Abraham Orbito said the victims were seized last March 3 in front of a tailor's shop in Jolo, Sulu. They were kidnapped by seven armed men believed to be Abu Sayyaf militants dressed in tabligh attire who blocked their car.

Troops from the 2nd Marine Brigade in coordination with the Sulu police force are tracking down the suspects behind the abduction of the four victims, Muyuela said.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Child Killed, 10 Wounded in Tripoli Clashes
[An Nahar] A child was killed on Thursday in festivities that erupted in the northern city 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...
after the death of a local from injuries he sustained during a shooting in the morning, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Walid Barhoum died after he was shot at three times in the city earlier on Thursday.

MTV reported that Barhoum, a Sunni, is married to a Alawite and they both reside in Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen neighborhood.

Arab Democratic Party politburo chief Rifaat Eid
...secretary general of the Leb Arab Democratic Party, a Pencilneck regime front organization...
told LBCI television that the targeting of the Alawite sect in Tripoli "is a mark of shame on the foreheads of every politician and security official."

Over 22 assaults have taken place against residents of Jabal Mohsen, that has a majority Alawite population, prompting Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
to issue a warning over the issue.

Soon after the news of Barhoum's death broke out, gunshots were heard in the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

A ten-year-old girl, Fatima al-Ashi, was killed in the ensuing festivities.

Ten people were also maimed in the unrest.

The army has since responded to the sources of the gunshots and deployed heavily in the area.

Machinegun festivities erupted on the frontiers of Bab al-Tabbaneh, al-Riva and Jabal Mohsen while three shells have been fired until the moment, reported Voice of Leb radio (100.5).

It later said that sniper gunshots are targeting the al-Mallouleh area.

VDL (93.3) said that Salah Mishhawi, Huzaifa al-Ali, and Abou Ali Sahyouni were maimed in the festivities.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arrest Warrant Issued for Detained Suspected al-Nusra Member
[An Nahar] Military Investigative Judge Fadi Sawwan on Thursday interrogated the detainee Jihad H., who is accused of belonging to the jihadist group al-Nusra Front.

The man was charged with "belonging to an armed terrorist group (al-Nusra Front) with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts and providing cars that were supposed to be booby-trapped in Syria, as well as forging official documents and IDs," state-run National News Agency reported.

Al-Nusra Front in Leb -- believed to be the local branch of Syria's al-Nusra Front, a jihadist rebel movement -- had recently warned that attacks on Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
-controlled areas will continue until Leb releases Sunni Islamist prisoners and the party withdraws from Syria.

In January, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged detained holy man Sheikh Omar al-Atrash and 12 Lebanese and Syrian suspects with belonging to al-Qaeda and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
and with committing terrorist acts.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


3 New Rockets Hit Outskirts of Bekaa's al-Nabi Sheet
[An Nahar] Three Grad rockets
...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km....
fired from the Syrian side of the Eastern Mountain Belt landed Thursday in the hills of the Bekaa town of al-Nabi Sheet, state-run National News Agency reported.

The rockets which hit the al-Arid neighborhood did not cause any casualties, NNA said.

On Tuesday, three people were maimed when rockets fired from Syria struck the al-Qantara area in al-Nabi Sheet's outskirts, which prompted President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
to reiterate his call for "the warring parties in Syria to neutralize Lebanese border towns and villages and from their shelling."

On Saturday, rockets fired from Syria landed in the Bekaa regions of al-Hermel and al-Qaa.

The Qaeda-inspired groups al-Nusra Front in Leb and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
usually claim responsibility for such attacks, arguing that they come in retaliation to Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
's military intervention in Syria.
Posted by: Fred || 03/14/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  When Mo's biggest fans hit the Sheet,
Ol' man Musawi's goat gave a bleat:
"Baaallahu baaakbar!
Fetch me my scimitar
To avenge this un-Sethical feat!"

When Islamists have the effrontery
To rocket a non-Jooish country,
The Muslims abused
Are a little confused,
So their protests are merely perfunctory.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 03/14/2014 14:19 Comments || Top||

#2  *giggle*
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/14/2014 20:01 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
33[untagged]
7Arab Spring
5Govt of Pakistan
3TTP
2al-Nusra
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Iraq
1Islamic Jihad
1Palestinian Authority
1Taliban
1Commies
1Abu Sayyaf

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2014-03-14
  Gaza Militants Say Truce Restored
Thu 2014-03-13
  Drone Strike Kills 2 'Qaida' in Yemen
Wed 2014-03-12
  Breaking: IDF tanks attack terror targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire
Tue 2014-03-11
  Yemen upholds 10-year jail for 11 Somali pirates
Mon 2014-03-10
  Suicide Bomber Kills 37 at Crowded Iraq Checkpoint
Sun 2014-03-09
  Gaza Militant Killed, 6 Hurt in 'Bomb-Making Exercise'
Sat 2014-03-08
  Saudi Lists 'Terror' Groups, Orders Foreign Fighters Home
Fri 2014-03-07
  Niger Extradites a Son of Qaddafi to Libya, Saying He Didn't 'Stay Quiet'
Thu 2014-03-06
  Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen
Wed 2014-03-05
  Israel Seizes Iranian Ship Packed With Advanced Rockets Bound For Palestinian Terrorists In Gaza
Tue 2014-03-04
  Egypt bans Hamas activities in Egypt
Mon 2014-03-03
  A day after Taliban ceasefire: jets bomb Taliban hideout; five killed
Sun 2014-03-02
  Blasts targeting polio team kill 11 in Khyber agency
Sat 2014-03-01
  ISIL Jihadists Retreat from Parts of North Syria after al-Nusra Ultimatum
Fri 2014-02-28
  PTI ends Nato supply blockade

Better than the average link...



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.
3.235.180.245
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (10)    Non-WoT (21)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (6)