Sunday, November 4, 2012

Nigeria: Gunmen Burn Police Station, Killed Two Cops, Destroy GSM Masts, Primary School

Damaturu — Unidentified gunmen on Sunday morning attacked and burnt a police station, killed two police officers, destroyed GSM masts and burnt a primary school in the headquarters of Fika Local Government Area of Yobe state.

Daily Trust gathered that the gunmen, close to thirty in number, stormed the town and unleashed terror on the affected areas when people are about to come out for morning prayers.

A resident told our correspondent on phone that the incident occurred at around 4:20am, around the time people were preparing for morning prayers (magrib)

"We heard multiple blasts and several gunshots some minutes to dawn prayers. We all stayed and pray indoors, later in the day light we discovered that the central police station was burnt, MTN and Etisalat masts were also destroyed along with a primary school that was reduced to ashes," he said

A security source told our correspondent that the gunmen carted away twenty rifles and other weapons from the Police station armory.

Yobe state police commissioner, Patrick Egbuniwe confirmed that, "...The two police men were killed in an effort to repeal the attack, and the assailants escaped with some weapons."

Movement was restricted in the town for over five hours to enable security agents carry out their investigation.

However, the police commissioner said he does not have details yet if the JTF reinforcement were able to make any arrest due to difficulty in contacting DPO in charge the area as a result of network problem.

Residents in the town have started fleeing the town, back to Potiskum town where many people migrated from in the last ten days for safety.

from allAfrica/Daily Trust
By Hamisu Kabir Matazu, 4 November 2012
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10 killed in attacks on Yemeni Shiites celebration

map by Evan Centanni (www.polgeonow.com)
SANAA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 10 people were killed Saturday night in two separate ambushes on Houthi followers during a Shiite religious celebration in northern Yemen, an official of the Interior Ministry told Xinhua.

At least nine people were confirmed dead and dozens of others wounded when tribal gunmen fired at a crowd walking through a Sunni-dominated al-Khalk district in al-Jouf province late Saturday, after they attended the annual celebration of Eid al- Ghadir in neighboring province of Saada, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Another one was killed and several others injured when rocket- propelled grenades hit a convoy of the Shiite celebrators on Saturday night near al-Ghail area in al-Jouf, the official said.

The celebration, which Shiites believe that Prophet Mohammad nominated his cousin Ali to be his successor, was organized by Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the leader of the Shiite-Houthi group based in Saada.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In 2010, the Sunni al-Qaida militants claimed responsibility for twin suicide car bombings on the Shiite followers in al-Jouf and Saada, which left more than 90 people dead, including the group's spiritual leader Bader al-Deen al-Houthi.

Last week, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said a drone strike killed at least three al-Qaida operatives, including two Saudi fugitives, in a desert valley in Saada.

Saada, bordering top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is also a stronghold of Shiite rebels known as Houthis, who have been controlling most parts of the province since they signed a cease- fire deal with the Yemeni government in August 2010 that ended an on-and-off war since 2004.

The Shiite then got involved in sectarian clashes with local armed Sunni tribesmen, which rocked the northern regions and forced thousands of Sunni local residents to flee the conflict to remote areas.

The well-armed Houthis have agreed to join a United Nations- sponsored reconciliation national dialogue planned by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi this month.

Rival Islamic militants exploited security vacuum during Yemen' s political upheaval last year and captured swaths of remote lands.


from XINHUA
Editor: Lu Hui
2012-11-04 15:59:34

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In Several Joint Operations, 13 Armed Taliban Killed (04.Nov.2012.)



Publish Date: Nov 04, 2012

In Several Joint Operations, 13 Armed Taliban Killed

Counterterrorism:
During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, NDS and Coalition Forces launched 10 joint clearance operations in Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Sar-e-Pul, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, Farah and Helmand provinces.

As a result of these operations, 13 armed Taliban were killed, one wounded and 25 others were arrested by Afghan National Security Forces.

Also, during these operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated five PKM machine guns, seven AK-47 assault rifles, five different types of weapons, two radio handsets, one rocket launcher, 11 different types of mines, 750 kilos of explosives and six motorcycles.

Additionally, Afghan National Police discovered and defused three remote control mines which were placed by enemies of peace and stability in the main road of Shirin Tagab District Faryab province, yesterday.
 
Crimes:
The 101 Kabul Zone National Police detained two suspects accused of murder and trafficking in the 2nd and 15th Districts of Kabul-City.
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Local police officers join Taliban group in Ghor province

According to local authorities in western Ghor province of Afghanistan, at least two Afghan local police forces joined the Taliban militants group in Qadis district in this province.

The officials further the two local police officers escaped from their security check post on Saturday and joined the Taliban militants.

Qadis district chief Mirza Ali Khan confirming the report said the two local police officers had connections with the Taliban militants before they escape the security check post.

Badghis province is relatively a safe province in western Afghanistan however Taliban militants have recently increased their insurgency activities in a number of its districts during the recent months.

A number of Afghan local police officers also joined the Taliban group earlier this year and Taliban group claim that more than 72 Afghan local police officers have joined their group so far which has created tensions among the Afghan security officials in thsi province.

Local security officials said this is the second time Afghan local police officers join anti-government militants during the past 2 months.

from KHAAMA
By Sadaf Shinwari - Sun Nov 04, 3:15 pm

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R.I.P. - Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Kantor

DOD Identifies Navy Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

            Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Kantor, 22, of Gillette, N.J., died supporting stability operations in Zabul, Afghanistan.  Kantor was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit in Virginia Beach, Va.

            For further information related to this release, please contact Naval Special Warfare Group Two Public Affairs Office at 757-763-2007.

---

Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Kantor, 22, of Gillette, died Thursday while supporting stability efforts in Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Saturday.

Kantor, a special warfare operator assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL team out of Fort Story, Va., perished in Zabul Province, officials said.

According to Lt. David Lloyd, spokesman for Naval Special Warfare Group Two, Kantor was killed by a gunshot wound sustained in combat during Operation Enduring Freedom.

In extending his condolences, Capt. Robert Smith, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, called Kantor "a true warrior."

"He has paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom," Smith said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and shipmates during this very difficult time."

According to media reports, Kantor is the 47th service member from New Jersey to die in U.S. military operations in Afghanistan since they began 11 years ago.

Kantor's family requested that no other information be released at this time, according to the defense department.
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Nov. 04., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Morning Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Haqqani senior leader during a security operation in Logar province today. He is tied to the Aug. 7 suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack on Forward Operating Base Shank.

During the operation, the security force also detained one suspected insurgent.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader and IED expert in Kandahar province today. The detained leader was an attack specialist who coordinated the movement and storage of IEDs, weapons and associated supplies to support the Taliban throughout the province. The security force also detained one suspected insurgent as a result of the operation.

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader in Helmand province today. The detained Taliban leader executed ambush and IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces while facilitating the movement of lethal aid throughout the province.

East

Afghan and coalition forces confirmed the arrest of a Haqqani leader during a security operation in Logar province Monday. The detained Haqqani leader has direct ties to mortar attacks against Forward Operating Base Shank and coordinated improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the province.

In Kunar province Friday, a Haqqani weapons facilitator turned himself in to Afghan and coalition forces. The detained former Haqqani member is believed to have engineered IED and other attacks targeting Afghan and coalition forces. According to a coalition official, the individual quit the insurgency out of concerns for his own safety and to protect his family.

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban courier in Logar province today. The detained Taliban courier served as a cross-border facilitator who passed messages and information between senior Taliban leaders.

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Nov. 04., 2012. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces detained two insurgents, found one weapons cache and cleared six improvised explosive devices during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours, Nov. 3.

Logar Province
Afghan Uniformed Police found and safely cleared three IEDs in Baraki Barak District.

Paktika Province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared two IEDs, one in Sar Rowzah District and one in Giyan District.

Paktya Province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces detained an insurgent while investigating a weapons cache in Chamkani District. The cache contained an IED manual, IED making materials and grenades.

Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces detained an insurgent in Gardez District. The detained suspect was transferred to a base for questioning.

Wardak Province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Sayyidabad District.

Operations in RC-East are still ongoing.

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Grenade Wounds Several at Kenyan Church

Français : Le comté de Garissa au Kenya et les...
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Officials in eastern Kenya say a grenade attack on a church Sunday has wounded at least eight people, some seriously.

The pastor of the Utawala Interdenominational Church in the town of Garissa is reported to be among the victims, along with several police officers. The attack took place at a church inside a police compound.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

Militants have targeted Kenyans since the country's troops were deployed to Somalia to help fight al-Shabab rebels linked to al-Qaida.  Two attacks at churches in Garissa in July killed nearly 20 people.

Authorities are investigating whether Sunday's attackers are linked to Somali militants.

from VOA News
November 04, 2012

---

from REUTERS:
Sun Nov 4, 2012 9:27am GMT
By Abdisalan Mohamed


Blast in Kenya's Garissa injures at least 11: Red Cross

GARISSA, Kenya (Reuters) - A suspected grenade attack on a church in the eastern Kenya town of Garissa injured at least 11 people on Sunday, the Kenya Red Cross and local media said.

Militants have staged several attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia a year ago to fight al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels following raids and kidnappings in the border region that threatened tourism and wider regional instability.

Of the 11 injured people at Garissa's district hospital, three were in need of air evacuation and the hospital urgently needed blood, the Kenya Red Cross said.

Mohamed Musa, superintendent of the hospital, told Reuters there had been no deaths reported.

Two television channels said the Utawala Interdenominational Church, in a police compound, had been attacked and that gunfire could still be heard at the scene of the blast. No one from the police was immediately available to comment.

In September, a grenade attack on a church in Nairobi by suspected al Shabaab sympathisers killed a nine-year-old boy. In July, attacks on two churches in Garissa killed 17.
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Nigeria security forces kill 13 in raid on kidnappers

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian security forces have killed 13 members of a gang suspected of abducting a Turkish man in a dawn raid on their hideout in oil-producing Rivers state, police said on Saturday.

A 20 million naira ransom was paid for the release of Bayram Karakus, who worked for the Rivigo Construction company, Rivers police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam told Reuters.

He gave no details of what happened to the Turkish man.

"A combined team of operatives ... stormed the militant camp of a notorious gang also responsible for kidnapping, armed robbery, killing of policemen and civilians in the recent past," Ugwuegbulam said.

"In the ensuing gun battle six of the hoodlums were fatally wounded ... seven of the wounded died on the way to hospital."

Ugwuegbulam said the police recovered 98,900 naira, the bags used to deliver the ransom, six AK 47 rifles and ammunition in the raid on Friday.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in the coastal Niger Delta region, which is home to Africa's largest oil industry. The majority of people abducted are Nigerians but foreign oil and construction workers are also targets.

Nigeria is one of the worst countries in the world for kidnapping, a major criminal enterprise worth millions of dollars a year. Abductions are most common in the oil-region and other southern states, including the commercial-hub Lagos.

Piracy off the coast is also on the increase.

Pirates released seven sailors last week - six Russians and an Estonian - seized after an attack on a ship operated by French firm Bourbon SA off the coast of Nigeria.

from REUTERS
Sun Nov 4, 2012 8:30am GMT

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Pakistani Taliban target female students with acid attack

Map of Pakistan
Map of Pakistan (Photo credit: Omer Wazir)
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- It's the latest cruel tactic in the Pakistani Taliban's battle to stop girls and women from getting an education: acid thrown in their faces to scar them for life and deter others from following in their footsteps.

A doctor who treated the victims of an acid attack on a college van in the city of Parachinar in northern Pakistan last month told CNN that two girls had been left with severe burns to their faces.

The Pakistani Taliban have taken responsibility for the attack in threatening pamphlets distributed around the city. They also warn local girls against going to school, Dr. Shaban Ali said.

"We will never allow the girls of this area to go and get a Western education," said Qari Muhavia, the local Pakistani Taliban leader, when contacted by CNN by telephone.

"If and when we find any girl from Parachinar going to university for an education we will target her (in) the same way, so that she might not be able to unveil her face before others," Muhavia said.

The Pakistani Taiban's violent campaign to stop girls from getting an education was brought to international attention early last month when gunmen in the Swat Valley attacked another van, this time carrying schoolgirl education activist Malala Yousufzai. She is in a British hospital recovering from a gunshot to the head.

Shahab Uddin, a local government official from Kurram Agency in Pakistan's northern tribal belt, said the acid attack was the latest method used to terrorize young girls and deter them from going to school.

Fifteen students, boys and girls, from Kohat University were on their way home to Parachinar when unknown "extremists" stopped the vehicle and threw acid at the girls and shot one of the boys, according to Uddin.

Two girls, Zahida and Nabila, and one more boy had suffered burns, Uddin said, while Mohammad Ali, a fourth boy, was the student who was shot.

"After throwing acid on the students the assailants opened fire on the van," Uddin said.

He said the girls who were targeted "are alive and out of danger now, but their faces are badly scarred."

Ali, of the district headquarters hospital, confirmed that four students were brought into the emergency room for treatment, three with acid burns and one with a bullet wound.

"We are all graduate students studying in the master's program, and we were coming back home after taking our exams," one of the girls who was targeted told CNN under condition of anonymity.

"We don't know who the attackers were, but when our vehicle reached Doranai they stopped us and threw acid on our faces ... now we are scared of going back to our studies," said another girl, who also asked not to be named because she didn't have permission from her family to speak.

"Other passengers who were sitting in the vehicle were also wounded, but they were not as serious as Zahida and Nabila," she said.

Acid throwing is frequently used as a weapon in Pakistan to punish women for acts that allegedly bring dishonor to the family, or just to enact revenge.

Another recent acid attack in Pakistan resulted in the death of a 15-year-old girl, Anwasha. She was allegedly attacked by her parents for engaging in illicit relations with a boy, according to Tahir Ayub, a senior police official.

The 15-year-old girl suffered severe burns on her face and chest, but her parents initially refused to get her medical help, Ayub said. She was eventually taken to a hospital a day later and died from her injuries.

"Her father said she wasn't coming to her senses so the parents threw acid on her to save their honor," Ayub told CNN.

Anwasha's mother claimed she had seen the boy and girl secretly meet and had seen her frequently speaking on a cell phone, Ayub said.

The parents, who live in a suburban village outside the Kashmiri city of Muzaffarabad, are in police custody, Ayub said.

The Taliban in Afghanistan also have used acid attacks against girls to discourage them from going to school. The victims are left to cope with a disfigurement that is shameful in their culture and is likely to impact their ability to have a husband and family.


By Shaan Khan, CNN
November 3, 2012 -- Updated 1528 GMT (2328 HKT)
Journalist Amir Iqbal contributed to this report.

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British-Somali Businessman's 2nd Restaurant Targeted

People assist a girl wounded in a suicide blast at popular restaurant in Mogadishu, November 3, 2012
Two suicide bombers in Somalia appear to have targeted a second restaurant owned by a British-Somali businessman.

Witnesses say that four people, including the two alleged bombers were killed on Saturday in twin explosions near the Village Restaurant in Mogadishu. A guard who stopped the bombers from entering the building was killed in the attack, along with a civilian.  A total of 10 people were wounded.

The restaurant is popular with government officials, journalists and politicians.

In September, two suicide bombers attacked another co-owned Village Restaurant in the capital, killing 15 people.  At least three journalists were among those killed, including the Somali National Television director.

The African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) said it suspected al-Shabab militants were behind the September attack.

The al-Qaida-linked group controlled parts of the capital until last year when it was driven out by Somali and AMISOM forces. However, the militant group has continued to launch attacks in the region.

from VOA News
November 03, 2012

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