A suicide bomber severely wounded five Afghan policemen in an attack in the southern province of Kandahar on Monday, a provincial official said. Border police official Razaq Khan said the bomber had approached the vehicle on foot in the Spin Boldak area.
Two soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), meanwhile, were killed in a vehicle accident also in Kandahar, a military statement said on Monday. Two ISAF soldiers died ... when their vehicle rolled over during a move across difficult terrain in Zhari District, ISAF statement said. ISAF does not ordinarily release the nationalities of its casualties, but other sources said the two soldiers were Canadians serving with their countrys 2,000 strong contingent in Afghanistan. Some 74 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died since the Canadian mission began in 2002.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
01/08/2008 09:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
One civilian Sudanese driver was in a critical condition after being shot seven times, UNAMID said in a statement. Its forces were now at a "high state of alert" in Darfur.
Now at a high state of alert he says..
"The convoy came under fire from the Government of Sudan forces," said the diplomatic source in Darfur.
"It is not clear how it happened. The convoy was traveling after 10 p.m. in the dark. They could have mistaken them for rebels. There have been a lot of things going on in that area recently."
APC's and Trucks, painted bright white. Sounds like rebel equipment..
KHARTOUM - Chadian planes have bombed Chadian rebel positions near the capital of Sudans Western Darfur state, a UN report said of the second such reported cross-border incursion in two weeks. Six Chadian opposition members were killed in the attacks on villages in Darfur early Sunday, said the report seen by Reuters on Monday.
Rodolphe Adada, head of the African Union-United Nations force for Darfur, said he was watching growing tensions along the Chad-Sudan border with deep concern and said they could negatively affect the deployment of the long-awaited joint Darfur peacekeeping mission. In a statement Adada said he was concerned that if the situation is not immediately brought under control, great numbers of internally displaced persons and refugees will likely be the first victims of any further escalations.
The UN statement said on Jan. 6 at approximately 4:30 a.m. Chadian air carried out air attack on the villages of Goker and Wadi Radi 35 km south of Geneina. It has been confirmed that the Chadian air force bombed these two locations killing six Chadian opposition members and injuring four.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
Nine members of pro-government Taliban commander Maulvi Nazirs group were gunned down in two attacks on his offices in South Waziristan, triggering a backlash against Mehsud tribes, officials and local tribal elders said on Monday. Three members were killed in Wana office of Nazir and six others in an attack on the office of pro-Nazir commander Khanan in Shakai Valley, a senior government official told Daily Times. The attacks came after Nazir declined to join Baitullah Mehsud because of the presence of Uzbek militants, who were provided shelter by Mehsud.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Nine members of pro-government Taliban commander Maulvi Nazirs group were gunned down in two attacks on his offices in South Waziristan,"hey man, you become pro-govt, you cant be Taliban anymore, we dont tolerate betrayal. you die"
triggering a backlash against Mehsud tribes, officials and local tribal elders said on Monday.
They killed, our guys, we must take Dire Revenge!
Three members were killed in Wana office of Nazir and six others in an attack on the office of pro-Nazir commander Khanan in Shakai Valley, a senior government official told Daily Times. The attacks came after Nazir declined to join Baitullah Mehsud because of the presence of Uzbek militants, who were provided shelter by Mehsud.
Investigation agencies have identified the man who fired at former premier Benazir Bhutto on December 27 when she was leaving Liaquat Bagh and according to them the suspect is from Swabi district, ARY channel reported. The channel said the National Database and Registration Authority confirmed that the suspect hailed from Swabi. The channel quoted sources as saying that police had arrested several people after a raid at the home of the suspect. It said that authorities were reluctant to give details about the raid and names of those arrested. According to sources, it is feared that the suspect died in the explosion that took place after he fired shots at Benazir. Police sources said that this development could lead to key achievements in this case.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
"...confirmed that the suspect hailed from Swabi."
At least eight security personnel and four civilians were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car near a military facility in the troubled Swat valley on Monday. Security forces resorted to indiscriminate aerial fire in all directions after the incident, resulting in the killing of a college student named Imran Khan, residents told Daily Times. However, Col Nadeem, the head of the Media Information Centre, rejected the eyewitness accounts as baseless. Security forces had not killed a civilian, he said.
Nadeem said eight security personnel sustained minor injuries in the attack. The blast damaged a small portion of the boundary wall of the technical college located opposite the Frontier House, he added.
The suicide bomber made his way from the Sar Senai area to Kabal tehsil and detonated the explosives planted in his car in front of a security forces resthouse, the Frontier House Kabal, after he failed to penetrate the military facility. At 11:15 hours today, a suicide bomber in a single cabin pickup exploded himself on the gate of Technical College near Kabal Golf Course, the Inter Services Public Relations statement said, NNI reported.
It said that two civilians including the principal of the college were also injured seriously in the attack.
APP reported official sources as saying an explosive-laden Datsun parked close to the main gate was most probably detonated by miscreants by remote control. The agency quoted police as saying no evidence of a suicide attack had been found.
Militants followed up on the suicide attack by firing a rocket on the Kabal Golf Ground. However, no casualties were reported in the second attack. An indefinite curfew was imposed in Kabal after the incidents.
Troops consolidating, advancing: Meanwhile, troops targeted militant positions in the Totano Bandai and Manja areas on Sunday night, but no Taliban casualties were reported.
Nadeem said security forces were consolidating their positions at Venai Bridge and Chaparyal, where a junction point has been established to block the re-entry of militants in the areas. The military established security posts in the two areas after their advance on Sunday.
Security forces also engaged miscreants in a gun battle in areas close to Peochar last night. There are reports of heavy militant casualties and demolition of their hideouts, APP reported.
According to Col Nadeem, security forces are advancing towards the strongholds of rebellious cleric Maulana Fazlullah at Gat Peochar.
A curfew was in place in areas near Chaparyal and Venai Bridge. However, curfew hours were relaxed on Monday in areas between Mingora, Khwazakhela and Kalam.
Buner blast: In another blast in Buner district, miscreants blew up 18 shops in the Jorre area at 3:40am, causing substantial damages, official sources and witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
Five Christians were released on Monday after three days of their abduction owing to mounting pressure by the political administration of South Waziristan Agency (SWA), official sources said. Altaf Masih, Babar Masih, Emanuell, Sakhawat Masih and his son Imran Masih were kidnapped three days ago from the Wana-Tank road.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Takfir wal-Hijra
SARGODHA: Law-enforcement agencies have arrested five suspected terrorists involved in a suicide attack on Police Lines and Air Force bus in Sargodha. According to a private TV channels report, the suspected terrorists belonged to a defunct organisation and were arrested from the Darima area of Sargodha. Suicide jackets and explosives were also seized from the suspects possession. During the investigation, the accused confessed that they were involved in the suicide attack at Police Lines and the Air Force bus, and have also confessed that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had been on their hit list.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi
Administrative Judge (AJ) for Anti Terrorism Courts (ATCs) of Karachi division Justice Khawaja Naveed Ahmed remanded on Monday six accused to the custody of the investigation police of Murad Memon Goth Police Station, Gadap Town, till January 15.
Accused Muhammad Aslam, Munir Hussain, Muhammad Umer, Ali Sher, Muhammad Sudhir and Ghulam Rasool were booked and produced before the AJ by the police on charges of torching their station, looting official weapons, and damaging public and private property. Investigation Officer Inspector Dilawar Hussain stated in the remand papers that
The police officials who were present in the station kept a 2,000 to 2,500-men strong mob at bay for over an hour, fired tear gas shells and also resorted to aerial firing but had to vacate the station in order to avoid any casualties.
The counsel for accused denied these charges and drew the AJs attention to the contents of the FIR and the memo of recovery.
He submitted that the weapons that the police claimed to have recovered were not mentioned in the FIR and no recovery was attributed from three of the accused. The police claims to have fired more than eight rounds but no one was killed or injured, and the encounter story is fabricated.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
QUETTA: Two people died and eleven others, including six security personnel, were injured on Monday in two separate incidents of landmine explosions in Balochistan. Raz Mohammad and Tehlel Khan, employed at a coal mine in Bolan district, were killed and five others were injured on Monday when one of the men stepped on a landmine as they were returning home. The slightly injured were shifted to a local hospital while the rest, who were more seriously injured, were rushed to Quettas Civil Hospital. Local authorities said they had registered a case against unidentified persons. Six security personnel were injured in a second landmine explosion in Sibi district. Their vehicle hit a landmine district, injuring all six people, including the driver. No group has claimed responsibility for either of the blasts.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation to strike against al- Qaida in Iraq and other extremists, the U.S. military said Tuesday, hoping to build on a recent reduction of violence and push militants from their strongholds.
The division and brigade-level operation, dubbed Phantom Phoenix, will cover the entire country, the military said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces will "continue to pursue al-Qaida and other extremists wherever they attempt to take sanctuary," Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said in a statement announcing the start of the joint operation. "We are determined not to allow these brutal elements to have respite anywhere in Iraq."
Violence across Iraq has fallen dramatically in recent months, an improvement attributed to a combination of 30,000 extra troops sent into the Baghdad area; the work of U.S.-backed predominantly Sunni tribal groups who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq; and a cease-fire declared by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for his Mahdi Army militia.
Extremists have been pushed out of their former stronghold in Anbar province west of Baghdad to the east and north, and appear to be concentrated in the province of Diyala to the northeast of the capital and in Mosul to the north.
"Al-Qaida in Iraq is attempting to regain strength and establish new support areas in northern Iraq," said Lt. Col. James Hutton, a spokesman for the U.S. military.
Few details were given on the operation, which will go beyond military activities and focus as well on providing basic services and improving local governance and economic life for Iraqis, the statement said.
Despite the general reduction of violence, attacks against civilians, members of U.S.-backed armed groups mainly known as "awakening councils," and Iraqi security forces continue to kill scores.
On Monday, a double suicide bombing in Baghdad's northern Azamiyah district killed 12 people and wounded 28, including former police Col. Riyadh al-Samarrai, a key leader of the local awakening group.
That attack came days after Osama bin Laden condemned the new American allies in an audiotape released Dec. 29, and said they would "suffer in life and in the afterlife."
The switch of allegiance by insurgents in Azamiyah was one of the most significant in a series of similar moves across Baghdad's Sunni neighborhoods. Azamiyah is home to Iraq's most revered Sunni shrine, the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa, and many in the area served as officers in Saddam Hussein's army and security agencies.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said last week the recent attacks were the "clearest indication" that al-Qaida in Iraqbelieved to consist mainly of Iraqis but to have foreign leadershipwas worried about losing the support of its fellow Sunni Arabs.
Monday's bombing occurred at the entrance of a Sunni Endowment office, a government agency that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, and near an Awakening Council office in Azamiyah, which had been a stronghold of Sunni insurgents and a safe haven for al-Qaida in Iraq.
Sunni Endowment leader Ahmed Abdul Ghafur al-Samarraiwho is from the same tribe as the former colonelblamed bin Laden for the attack.
"Those criminal gangs fled from al-Anbar province to Azamiyah neighborhood for bloodshed and to abuse the dignity of the people," he said.
On Tuesday, banners erected by the local awakening council bearing words of condolence hung on walls and at intersections in Azamiyah. A three-day funeral was planned for al-Samarrai.
In a separate attack, police said on Tuesday that gunmen kidnapped eight members of a newly-formed U.S.-backed Shiite armed group in northern Baghdad's Shaab neighborhood, one of the capital's most dangerous areas and a center for outlawed Shiite fighters.
The men were manning a checkpoint when they were kidnapped Monday night, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information. Last Sunday, the head of the group, Sheik Ismaiel Abbas, was shot to death in Shaab.
Elsewhere in the capital Tuesday, the head of the municipality of Baghdad's primarily Sunni neighborhood of Yarmouk was killed when a bomb attached to his car exploded, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information.
To the south, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a checkpoint manned by police special forces in the Madain area, about 15 miles southeast of Baghdad, killing two members of the special forces and wounding five people, police said.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
01/08/2008 10:01 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
Masked gunmen abducted Monday members of the Awakening (Al-Sahwa) militia members in Al-Sha'ab area, east of the capital. A security source told KUNA that the abduction has occurred at Sahwa checkpoint in Al-Sha'ab area.
The source went on saying that the police were investigating the incident which could be consider the second operation targeting Sahwa members after less than 24 hours from the Al-A'adhamiya bombing which claim the lives of about 24 Iraqis and sent 47 others to the hospital for sustaining serious wounds.
Attacks against Sahwa members increase lately after Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called his henchmen to boost operations against Iraqi Sahwa militias.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
BAGHDAD - At least seven attacks using mortar shells, explosive devices and car bombs hit churches and monasteries in Baghdad and Mosul overnight Monday as orthodox Christians in Iraq were celebrating New Years Eve. At least six people were wounded, including two guards, Voices of Iraq news agency reported. The attacks happened during the New Years celebrations according to the Gregorian calendar still used by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Two steps forward, one step back.
On Monday morning, Iraqs Vice President Tariq Al Hashimi, a Sunni, condemned the attacks saying he sympathized with the Christian brothers. I stand with them against this brutal attack that turned happiness into misery and concerns, he said.
In one of the attacks, two explosive charges detonated near Saint Maskinta church in the afternoon, destroying the external wall of the church and creating a wave of panic among children and nuns. Bishop Faraj Raho in Mosul told VOI that the the two charges were planted in front of the bishopric adjacent to Saint Maskinta church. The bishopric was turned into an orphanage for girls, so the blast startled the 30 girls and the nuns living in the orphanage.
In Mosul, a monastery in western Mosul, a Catholic convent in the Jadida neighbourhood, the Saint Paul Church in Mohandiseen and the Virgin Mary Church of Assyrian Christians in Shohadaa were also attacked. The blasts smashed church windows and caused damage to nearby houses.
In Baghdad, a Roman Orthodox Church in the citys eastern part was hit by a mortar attack while a monastery in the Zafaraniyah neighbourhood in the south was also targeted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Two suicide bombers struck in a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 14 people including the leader of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood security patrol, police said.
The strikes were the latest in an apparent stepped-up campaign of suicide bombings that has seen major attacks nearly every day for the past two weeks, even as overall levels of violence in Iraq have fallen.
The U.S. military blamed al Qaeda and said the attacks provided "perhaps the clearest proof of the nature of this enemy that will destroy the very people and neighbourhoods of whom it claims to protect".
After nightfall, gunmen in five cars kidnapped between eight and 10 neighbourhood patrol volunteers in the northern Shaab district of Baghdad, police said. The volunteers had been manning a vehicle checkpoint.
Earlier, chanting mourners carried the bodies of Colonel Riyadh al-Samarrai and some of his slain bodyguards through the streets of the mainly Sunni Arab Adhamiya neighbourhood, where the colonel led volunteer patrols in the pay of U.S. forces.
"The martyrdom of the colonel is an inspiration to us now. All of us will become Colonel Riyadhs," said Abu Firas, another senior member of the "awakening" movement in the area, the Iraqi name for Sunni Arab tribes that have turned against al Qaeda.
Three separate police and security sources confirmed the death toll and said about 20 people were wounded. Baghdad security spokesman Brigadier-General Qassim Moussawi told Iraqiya state television six people were killed and 26 wounded.
One of the bombers detonated an explosive vest, the other struck with a car bomb.
Samarrai was also in charge of security at the Adhamiya headquarters of the Sunni Endowment, an institution that runs Sunni mosques and religious offices in Iraq.
The Endowment said the attack was part of "a conspiracy against this country, the blood of which continues to flow".
Other blasts in Baghdad killed five people, including a bomb hidden in a market cart that killed four in the central Karrada district and a pair of roadside bombs that killed a civilian and wounded two policemen in southern Jadiriya district.
Police said they found five bodies of men handcuffed, blindfolded and shot in the head in volatile Diyala province, and gunmen killed a member of a neighbourhood patrol working as a carpenter inside his shop in Samarra.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
This strikes me as extremely poor form for the media to provide this level of detail.
US snipers will take up positions on rooftops and local traffic will be barred from some downtown districts as part of unprecedented security precautions during US President George W. Bush's visit this week, Palestinian security officials said Tuesday.
Bush is expected to travel to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Ramallah headquarters, known in Arabic as the muqaata, by helicopter on Thursday.
Two alternate landing sites have been prepared; one in Abbas' compound and one in the parking lot of the nearby Quaker-run Friends' School. On Monday, helicopters practiced landing and takeoff at both sites.
During Bush's visit, a security cordon will be set up over a radius of some 300 meters around each landing site, said Palestinian police spokesman Adnan Damiri.
#4
I read in an article when this trip first came up, that after having been trained by them, the Palestinians are absolutely terrified of attracting negative attention from the Americans... whose bullets hit whatever they aim at (amazing concept, that!). I should think that allowing something to happen to anyone in President Bush's party would attract the Secret Service's negative attention.
#5
Several folks at AP need to be audited by the IRS every year for the rest of their lives. And their entire immediate family, too. This audit needs to include a strip search, and a body cavity search. To be done by the person with the largest knuckles that they can find. This audit could take severl months out of their lives. Each year. And their names need to show up on the no-fly list. Persistantly.
Two Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Monday night, an Israeli police spokesman said. Pay no attention! Just checking their shelf life!
It's the first time in more than six months that such a rocket has been fired from Lebanon into Israel.
Israeli munitions experts have examined the rockets, which landed in the northern city of Shlomi, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Yep, it's a missile alright! Got all the classic signs. Half buried, fins sticking out, and smoke. Want me to bang on it with this sledge and see if it will explode or something?
One rocket landed on a house patio and the other near a road, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Whew! For a minute there I was thinking a return barrage of cluster bombs would be necessary!
Katyusha rockets have a range of up to 25 km (15 miles) -- much longer than the more crude previous generation Qassam rockets, which are more commonly fired from Gaza into Israel. Don't you know? You can't reach Jerusalem from Lebanon with a Katyusha, you idiots! Try shooting it from the West Bank next time!
A spokesman for militant group Hezbollah said he could not confirm if his organization was responsible. He didn't condemn and deny it? He's responsible.
A spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon and a Lebanese Army spokesman both said they had conflicting information and could not confirm a rocket launch from southern Lebanon. Must have come from Atlit then.
Hundreds of Katyusha rockets pounded Israel during its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, which ended with a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
The last time Katyusha rockets struck Israel from Lebanon was last June. Hezbollah denied launching them. Were they snickering when they denied it?
The rocket launches come just ahead of President Bush's visit to Israel, which begins Wednesday morning.
#1
Oh my how times have changed, I remember when a nice apocalyptic group of Sunni warriors from Allah wouldn't stand for these rafidha Hezbollah to pollute the Levant.
By George they would have cast out these Safavid Organs from Iran to a man including Nasrallah!!
if only one could be grown then nudged..
/the Bosses work: "Omitting Dark Lord of the Faith1526" [nym generator]
Ma'an An activist within the military wing of the Islamic jihad, Al-Quds Brigades has been killed on Monday evening in armed clashes with the Israeli forces in the village of Al-Yamun near Jenin in the northern West Bank, Ma'an's reporter said.
Palestinian medical sources said that 20-year-old Fawwaz Fraihat was killed by Israeli forces in the area of Wadi Hasan between Burqin and Al-Yamun west of Jenin.
They added that the corpse of the deceased arrined to Khalil Sulaiman hospital in Jenin.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad
Ma'an Five Palestinians were injured on Monday when an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a house in the Ad-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources said. Mu'awiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the injured Palestinians have been transferred to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. He said they suffered burns. Witnesses in the area said they heard a deafening explosion in a house belonging to Al-Batsh family.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Ma'an The chief of the Palestinian negotiating team, Ahmad Qurai, was searched roughly by Israeli soldiers while returning from Jordan on Monday.
Sources in the former prime ministers' office said Qurai and his family were held up for over an hour at the Allenby Bridge border crossing knowing that he was scheduled to meet the Israeli foreign minister and the Israeli negotiating team.
Last November Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Jerusalem blocked Qurai from entering the city en route to meet Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni. That meeting was cancelled.
Monday's meeting went ahead as planned
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
Ma'an Israeli military vehicles invaded the An-Nada area north of Beit Hanoun, at the northern end of the Gaza Strip on Monday, seizing several Palestinians including farmers, witnesses said. The invading troops blindfolded 30 people and are holding them captive in a forested area, while releasing others. Among those captured then released was the Mukhtar, or elder of the Abu Khusa family, Abu Hafidh, who has been held prisoner since yesterday. Israeli said that Palestinians were in the area of Beit Hanoun, and that Palestinian medics could not reach them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
A Sri Lankan government minister, DM Dassanayake, has died in hospital after a roadside bomb attack on his convoy.
The minister for nation-building was travelling between Colombo and the international airport when the bomb went off. A bodyguard also died.
About 10 other people were wounded in the blast in the town of Ja-Ela, some 12 miles (19km) north of Colombo.
Tamil Tiger rebels have been blamed for the attack. Fighting between troops and rebels has worsened in recent months.
There has been no comment from the Tigers.
Later on Tuesday there was another explosion, this time in central Colombo. It is not clear what caused the blast, which police say caused no damage or injury.
Sri Lankan troops killed seven Tamil Tigers in the islands far north on Monday, taking the death toll from fierce fighting to 75, mostly rebels, since Saturday, the military said, as the 25-year civil war escalates.
Troops destroyed three rebel bunkers in the far northern Jaffna peninsula early on Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations along a shared border that separates government territory from the rebels de facto state in the north. Weekend clashes in the Jaffna peninsula, northern district of Vavuniya and northwestern district of Mannar killed 62 rebels and four soldiers, the military said.
Troops attacked three bunkers in Jaffna and killed seven LTTE terrorists, a spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security said, asking not to be named in line with policy. The military said a further two rebels had been killed in separate incidents in Vavuniya and another northern district, Polonnaruwa.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who seek to carve out an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment. There were no independent accounts of how many people had been killed or what had happened. Analysts say both sides tend to overstate enemy losses and play down their own.
President Mahinda Rajapaksas administration notified peace mediator Norway late on Thursday it was formally scrapping a six-year ceasefire pact that fell apart on the ground in early 2006. Well over 5,000 people have been killed since then. The government gave a 14-day notice period, meaning the paper truce officially ends on Jan 16. Its scrapping dashes hopes of resurrecting collapsed peace talks to end a conflict that has killed about 70,000 people since 1983.
The government has vowed to wipe out the Tigers militarily, setting the stage for what many fear would be a bloody battle for the north. Already there are near-daily air raids, and land and sea battles.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
A roadside bomb injured at least three UN peacekeeping soldiers on Tuesday, when it struck their patrol south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The peacekeepers are Irish, not Spanish as stated in initial reports, the state-run Lebanese national news agency said.
The blast occurred on a road between the towns of Rmaileh and the port city of Sidon, about 35 km south of Beirut.
The three Irish peacekeepers were taken to hospital in Sidon, reports said. Security forces closed off the area where the explosion occurred.
Islamist websites on Tuesday published an audio message from the fugitive leader of a Muslim fundamentalist group Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon, Shaker al-Absi.
In the message, Jordanian-born al-Absi called on fellow militants to resume attacks in Lebanon. He was believed to have been killed in an attack on the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli last year.
Tuesday's attack was the third on the 13,500 troop UN peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) since it was expanded after the so-called 2006 July war between Israel and guerrillas from Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.
A roadside bomb in July exploded close to a UNIFIL position, causing no casualties. On 24 June last year, three Spanish and three Colombian UN soldiers were killed in a bomb attack against their armoured vehicle in south Lebanon.
#1
Seeing the UN posts today I am reminded of that scene in 'Bridge too Far' - this case they need ammo and after getting to the supply crate they open it up and see a bunch of blue hats.
Israel Police confirmed Tuesday morning that a pair of Katyusha rockets were fired at northern Israel overnight by unidentified terrorists in southern Lebanon.
Both of the 122-mm missiles hit the northwestern Israeli community of Shlomi, near Rosh HaNiqra, slightly damaging a home and an electricity pole. Shlomi is located close to the Lebanese border.
Parts of one short-range Katyusha were found on the balcony of an apartment in the town, according to the HNN newsflash service. The second rocket damaged an electricity pole when it slammed into a street in the town. Timing---taken together with the yesterday's attack on US navy, recent Hamas/Iraq intensification---suggests Iran is welcoming Bush to ME in its own fashion
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.
A suicide bomber severely wounded five Afghan policemen in an attack in the southern province of Kandahar on Monday, a provincial official said. Border police official Razaq Khan said the bomber had approached the vehicle on foot in the Spin Boldak area. 
KHARTOUM - Chadian planes have bombed Chadian rebel positions near the capital of Sudans Western Darfur state, a UN report said of the second such reported cross-border incursion in two weeks. Six Chadian opposition members were killed in the attacks on villages in Darfur early Sunday, said the report seen by Reuters on Monday.
Nine members of pro-government Taliban commander Maulvi Nazirs group were gunned down in two attacks on his offices in South Waziristan, triggering a backlash against Mehsud tribes, officials and local tribal elders said on Monday. Three members were killed in Wana office of Nazir and six others in an attack on the office of pro-Nazir commander Khanan in Shakai Valley, a senior government official told Daily Times. The attacks came after Nazir declined to join Baitullah Mehsud because of the presence of Uzbek militants, who were provided shelter by Mehsud.
Investigation agencies have identified the man who fired at former premier Benazir Bhutto on December 27 when she was leaving Liaquat Bagh and according to them the suspect is from Swabi district, ARY channel reported. The channel said the National Database and Registration Authority confirmed that the suspect hailed from Swabi. The channel quoted sources as saying that police had arrested several people after a raid at the home of the suspect. It said that authorities were reluctant to give details about the raid and names of those arrested. According to sources, it is feared that the suspect died in the explosion that took place after he fired shots at Benazir. Police sources said that this development could lead to key achievements in this case.
BAGHDAD - At least seven attacks using mortar shells, explosive devices and car bombs hit churches and monasteries in Baghdad and Mosul overnight Monday as orthodox Christians in Iraq were celebrating New Years Eve. At least six people were wounded, including two guards, Voices of Iraq news agency reported. The attacks happened during the New Years celebrations according to the Gregorian calendar still used by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Two suicide bombers struck in a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 14 people including the leader of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood security patrol, police said.
Ma'an An activist within the military wing of the Islamic jihad, Al-Quds Brigades has been killed on Monday evening in armed clashes with the Israeli forces in the village of Al-Yamun near Jenin in the northern West Bank, Ma'an's reporter said.
Ma'an Five Palestinians were injured on Monday when an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a house in the Ad-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian medical sources said. Mu'awiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency services in the Palestinian Health Ministry said that the injured Palestinians have been transferred to Ash-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. He said they suffered burns. Witnesses in the area said they heard a deafening explosion in a house belonging to Al-Batsh family.
A Sri Lankan government minister, DM Dassanayake, has died in hospital after a roadside bomb attack on his convoy. 
