Four Killed in Taliban Attack in Kabul

An Afghan police officer runs for cover after shootings and explosions in Kabul, May 24, 2013.

At least four people have been killed in a new Taliban attack in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.

Taliban militants, backed by a suicide bomber, attacked a United Nations compound Friday evening and set off several explosions. In the ensuing gunbattle with security forces, at least one policeman was killed.  Kabul's police chief, General Mohammad Ayub Salangi, told VOA three of the attackers also were killed. At least 10 other people were wounded.

The blasts shook a busy area of Kabul, sending a plume of smoke over the city and causing chaos. 

The general said the violence began when militants attacked a house next to the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. The Taliban said the target was a compound used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

This was the second major attack in Kabul in a little more than a week. On May 16, a suicide car bombing killed 15 people, including six Americans and nine Afghan civilians. Two of the Americans were soldiers.

from VOA News
May 24, 2013
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ISAF condemns attack in Kabul

International Security Assistance Force HQ Public Affairs

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The International Security Assistance Force strongly condemns the suicide and direct fire attack today near a National Directorate Security-run hospital and the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force today. This is also an area where Non-Governmental Organizations and hotels are located.

"The insurgents have repeatedly shown little regard for innocent civilians and the future of Afghanistan as demonstrated by attacks such as these. Their actions fly in the face of their claim that they are looking to avoid civilian casualties," said General Joseph F. Dunford, the ISAF commander.

"I express my condolences to the victims and their families in today's attacks. I condemn in the strongest sense of the word the actions of the insurgents today. The attack, which was in close proximity to a children's hospital, shows the enemy's complete lack of morals and respect for human life," Dunford said.

"I also want to commend the professionalism of the Afghan security forces who responded to the incident. Their prompt and effective action saved the lives of other innocent Afghans and members of the international community," Dunford said.

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Five UN Peacekeepers, 7 Staff Killed in South Sudan

(BBC graphic)

The United Nations says about 200 armed men attacked one of its convoys in South Sudan, killing five peacekeepers and seven civilians.  At least nine other people were injured, some seriously.
 
The United Nations says the five peacekeepers, who were all Indian nationals, were killed trying to protect the convoy of about 18 civilians, when they were ambushed in the eastern state of Jonglei and an intense firefight ensued.

U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Kieran Dwyer said about 30 peacekeepers were escorting the convoy which was traveling on the main road to Pibor, moving from Gurumuk to Bor.

“It is clear it was a deliberate attack against the United Nations; there were no other organizations with them," he said.

Inter-communal violence has been on the rise in Jonglei, especially between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities, who raid each other’s cattle herds.

While the United Nations says it is too soon to know who conducted the attack, South Sudan’s army spokesman Philip Aguer blamed it on insurgents led by David Yau Yau, a rebel leader fighting government forces in the area.

U.N. spokesman Dwyer said the mission in South Sudan, which has about 6,500 troops, would have to be careful about future movements while the incident is investigated.

“We are going to have to reassess the safety procedures for any movements at all, while we try to determine exactly who attacked us, why, and work with the government in South Sudan to make sure this does not happen again," he said.

The U.N. secretary-general, Ban-Ki-moon, said through a spokesman that he is “appalled” by the attack and noted that the killing of peacekeepers is a war crime that falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The Security Council also condemned the attack urging the government of South Sudan to swiftly investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice.

from VOA News
by Margaret Besheer
April 09, 2013

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Men Wearing Explosives Arrested in Mali

Malian soldiers stand by a motorcycle used by a suicide bomber at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali, Feb. 8, 2013.

Malian officials say two men who were allegedly wearing explosives were arrested near Gao on Saturday, a day after a suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint near the northern city.

A Malian military spokesman and witnesses say the two men were detained on a road that leads into Gao.

Malian troops bolstered security after Friday's attack. A local journalist said the bombing occurred less than 10 meters from the military checkpoint.

The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) claimed responsibility for the Friday blast and vowed to carry out more attacks against Malian soldiers who sided with what it called "enemies of Islam."

MUJAO is one of several military groups that had strongholds in northern Mali before French forces intervened in January.

Radio France Internationale said Saturday that Malian authorities had issued arrest warrants for the leaders of MUJAO as well as Ansar Dine and the Tuareg separatist group MNLA. All three militant groups have been linked to unrest in the country's north.

Friday's violence overshadowed the arrival of 70 European Union military trainers. They were the first of 500 military instructors who are being deployed to help strengthen the Malian army.

The Mali crisis began in early 2012 when the Tuareg separatist group MNLA launched a rebellion in the north. The MNLA and Islamist militants seized control of the north after the March coup in Bamako, but the MNLA was soon swept aside as the militants imposed harsh Islamic law on the region.

At the request of Mali's government, France entered its former colony last month to drive back the al-Qaida-linked militants who had begun moving in the direction of the capital, Bamako.

France wants to begin handing over its four-week-old military operation to the Malian army and African forces.  But officials say any transfer will have to wait until Mali's security situation stabilizes.

France has proposed the United Nations establish a peacekeeping mission in Mali.  Diplomats have said privately that a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing the mission is not likely before the end of February.  It could take another two months after that to transition the African forces into U.N. peacekeepers.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

from VOA News
February 09, 2013

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Al Qaeda-linked group claims credit for kidnappings in Algeria

By Thomas Joscelyn & Bill Roggio January 16, 2013 - LWJ

Al Qaeda commander Mokhtar Belmokhtar. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group

A notorious al Qaeda commander named Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed credit for kidnapping more than 40 foreign nationals at a BP oil field in eastern Algeria today, according to multiple press reports.

A Frenchman, a Briton, and an Algerian security guard are reported to have been killed in the initial attack. Seven Americans, five Japanese citizens, and several Europeans are said to be among those who are being held hostage. The precise number of hostages remains murky.

According to Reuters, BP said that armed men still occupy the "facilities at the gas field, which produces 9 billion cubic meters of gas a year (160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day), more than a tenth of [Algeria's] overall gas output."

A spokesman for Belmokhtar's terrorist organization, the al-Mua'qi'oon Biddam (Those who Sign with Blood) Brigade, said the assault and kidnappings were retaliation for the French-led invasion of neighboring Mali.

"Algeria's participation in the war on the side of France betrays the blood of the Algerian martyrs who fell in the fight against the French occupation," the spokesman said, according to a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.

In a subsequent statement, also translated by SITE, the group demanded that France end its fighting in Mali. The group said that its "blessed invasion" was retaliation for the French trying to "to break the Islamic ruling system in" Mali, "while the Muslims are moaning under the butcher Bashar al Asad in wounded Syria, in the sight and ear shot of the whole world."

"This invasion comes in the global campaign of fighting the Jews and the Crusaders," the statement reads, echoing al Qaeda's many calls for global jihad.

Belmokhtar, who is also known as Khalid Abu al Abbas, long served as an al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) commander, but had a falling out with the group's senior leadership. Late last year, he formed his own splinter group, but that group still answers to al Qaeda's senior leadership.

In an interview with the Associated Press in December, one of Belmokhtar's confidants confirmed the move and explained his motivation.

"It's true," said Oumar Ould Hamaha, who has held positions in AQIM, Ansar al Din, and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad (MUJAO). Hamaha continued: "It's so that we can better operate in the field that we have left this group which is tied to the 'Maghreb' appellation. We want to enlarge our zone of operation throughout the entire Sahara, going from Niger through to Chad and Burkina Faso."

The AP added: "Hamaha said, however, that while he and Belmokhtar have left the North African branch, they remain under the orders of al Qaeda central."

Belmokhtar was designated an al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist by the United Nations in 2003. The UN described him as "a former Algerian soldier with experience in training camps in Afghanistan" and explained that he had belonged to the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), as well as its successor, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Belmokhtar has compiled an extensive dossier of illegal activity, according to the UN, including kidnappings, gunrunning, robbery, "forming terrorist groups," and murder. He also reportedly runs an extensive cigarette smuggling operation.

In March 2008, an Algerian court sentenced Belmokhtar "in absentia to lifetime imprisonment for the murder of 13 custom officers." In December 2008, he was involved in the kidnapping "of two Canadian diplomats working for the United Nations." Dozens of other kidnappings also have been attributed to Belmokhtar.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/al_qaeda_commander_c.php#ixzz2IE8qxSjk

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Explosions kill 83 at Syrian university as exams begin

A handout picture released by the Syrian Observatory Human Rights allegedly shows the scene of an explosion outside Aleppo University, between the university dormitories and the architecture faculty, Jan. 15, 2013. 82 people were killed and 160 others injured when a big blast rocked a university in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday. (Xinhua)

(Reuters) - Two explosions tore through one of Syria's biggest universities on the first day of student exams on Tuesday, killing 83 people and wounding dozens, a monitoring group said.

Bloodshed has disrupted civilian life across Syria since a violent government crackdown in early 2011 on peaceful demonstrations for democratic reform turned the unrest into an armed insurgency bent on overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 50 countries asked the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to refer the crisis to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes people for genocide and war crimes. But Russia - Assad's long-standing ally and arms supplier - blocked the initiative, calling it "ill-timed and counterproductive.

Each side in the 22-month-old conflict blamed the other for Tuesday's blasts at the University of Aleppo, located in a government-held area of Syria's most populous city.

Some activists in Aleppo said a government attack caused the explosions, while state television accused "terrorists" - a term they often use to describe the rebels - of firing two rockets at the school. A rebel fighter said the blasts appeared to have been caused by "ground-to-ground" missiles.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said 83 people were killed and dozens wounded, but it could not identify the source of the blasts.

"Dozens are in critical condition," the Observatory said in a statement, citing doctors and students.

State television showed a body lying on the street and several cars burning. One of the university buildings was damaged.

Video footage showed students carrying books out of the university after one of the explosions, walking quickly away from rising smoke. The camera then shakes to the sound of another explosion and people begin to run.

"A cowardly terrorist act targeted the students of Aleppo University as they sat for their mid-term examinations," Syria's United Nations ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, told the U.N. Security Council in New York. He said 82 students had died and 162 more were wounded.

If confirmed, the government's report of a rocket attack would suggest rebels in the area had been able to obtain and deploy more powerful weapons than previously used.

The nearest rebel-controlled area, Bustan al-Qasr, is more than a mile away from the university.

Activists rejected the suggestion that insurgents were behind the attack, however, and instead blamed the government.

"The warplanes of this criminal regime do not respect a mosque, a church or a university," said a student who gave his name as Abu Tayem.

GRINDING TOWARD STALEMATE

The rebels have been trying to take Aleppo - once a thriving commercial hub - since the summer, but have been unable to uproot Assad's better-armed and more organised forces.

International efforts to find a political solution to Syria's civil war have similarly resulted in stalemate, even as the conflict's death toll surged above 60,000.

The crisis has driven hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country, many to neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, where a fire at a camp in the country's southeast killed a pregnant Syrian woman and her three children on Tuesday.

Inside Syria, neither the military nor the insurgents have been able to sustain clear momentum.

The rebels remain poorly equipped and disorganised compared with Assad's forces, despite winning support from some regional powers like Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

The government also benefits from superior air power, used to pummel rebel-held areas around Damascus and elsewhere.

Rebel efforts to assault the capital also appear to have ground toward a stalemate. A witness in a rebel-controlled district of Damascus said on Tuesday the front line between the two sides was quiet.

The streets were still full of civilians, the witness said, despite the sound of shells hitting nearby buildings. He said people were walking around, buying sweets and sandwiches.

from REUTERS
By Mariam Karouny
BEIRUT | Wed Jan 16, 2013 2:07am GMT
(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut and Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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2 Jordanian Peacekeepers Freed After Kidnapping in Darfur

Jordanian peacekeepers Hasan Al-Mazawdeh (front) and Qasim Al-Sarhan are welcomed by officials as they arrive at Khartoum Airport, January 2, 2013, after 136 days of captivity in Sudan's Darfur region according to local media.

Two Jordanian peacekeepers abducted in Darfur four months ago were freed on Wednesday, the international force overseeing the conflict-torn region said.

A plane carrying the pair landed at Khartoum airport, the force led by the African Union and United Nations said in a statement that did not identify the kidnappers or say where the soldiers were released and whether a ransom was paid.

Conflict has raged in Darfur since insurgents took up arms against Sudanese government forces in 2003, complaining that Khartoum had neglected the vast, arid region.

The U.N. says as many as 300,000 people may have died in the fighting. Sudan's government has put the death toll at about 10,000.

The two Jordanians were kidnapped in Kabkabiya in northern Darfur in August. Both men were in good health after their release, the international force said.

from VOA News
January 02, 2013

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US Closes Embassy in Central African Republic; Evacuates Staff

The United States has temporarily shut down its embassy in the Central African Republic and evacuated the staff, because of a rebel threat to topple the government.
A State Department spokesman Thursday said Washington is urging all parties to begin peace talks to offer a new vision of security for the country. He said U.S. diplomatic relations with the C.A.R. are not affected.

The United Nations already has evacuated non-essential staff from the country because of the threat of violence.

Rebel fighters are about 300 kilometers from the capital, Bangui. They have said they have no plans to seize the city, but say they will not wait around if government forces make any moves against them.

The rebel coalition called Seleka has captured 10 towns since launching its offensive two weeks ago. It has threatened to overthrow President Francois Bozize, accusing him of failing to implement a 2007 peace accord that ended an earlier rebellion.

The C.A.R. won independence from France in 1960. About 250 French troops are in the country as part of a peacekeeping mission. Some in the C.A.R. want France to do more to counter the rebel threat.

French President Francois Hollande says France is in the C.A.R. to protect its interests and nationals, not to intervene in the country's business.

from VOA News
December 27, 2012

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A.U., Somali troops seize port of Marka from Islamists

African Union and Somali troops captured the key port of Marka from al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents on Monday, the latest in a string of bases to be wrested from the extremists, officials said.

“We have taken Marka, we entered alongside the Somali government forces this morning,” said Colonel Ali Houmed, the spokesman for the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

“There was some fighting, but not so heavy, most of the Shebab had fled.”

The loss of Marka, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, is another major blow for the insurgents, who have been on the back foot for several months.

A.U. and Somali troops have made significant gains in recent months against the Shebab, although the Islamists remain a major security threat. Ethiopian troops are also battling the militants from the south and west.

The loss of Marka leaves the Shebab with two major ports in southern Somalia -- Barawe and the key rebel bastion of Kismayo -- although an international naval blockade has already greatly squeezed maritime access there.

The Shebab abandoned their last fixed bases in Mogadishu a year ago, where they have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, claiming a series of suicide attacks and roadside bombs.

The latest defeat for the Shebab comes as candidates for Somalia’s powerful position of parliamentary speaker campaign a day ahead of the expected vote, a key step in setting up a new government for the war-torn nation.

Somalia has not had a stable central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which sparked rounds of bloody civil war.

The United Nations-backed process, which has already selected the majority of a new parliament and will culminate in a vote for president, is the latest bid to end two decades of instability in the Horn of Africa nation.

“We are facilitating the timely implementation of this important political step,” the U.N. political office for Somalia (UNPOS) said Monday, adding it was hopeful the already-delayed vote would go ahead on Tuesday as planned.

Secret ballots in parliament for the posts of speaker and two deputy speakers have been delayed several times.

Bitter arguments have begun between challengers for the top jobs, divided along Somalia’s notoriously fractious clan lines.

Six candidates are running for the post of speaker, including two former prime ministers, Hassan Abshir Farah and Ali Khalif Galayr, both from the Darod clan and the northern semi-autonomous Puntland region.

Mohamed Osman Jawari, a former minister under the regime of Siad Barre, from the Rahanweyn clan from the southern Baidoa region, is also running for the post.

The selection of speaker will impact the subsequent parliamentary vote for president, as Somali politics have traditionally tried to share out the seats between rival clans.

Around 260 of the new parliament’s 275 members have been selected by a group of 135 traditional elders under the U.N.-backed process. Most were sworn into office last week on the tarmac of the capital’s airport, protected by A.U. troops.


from AL ARABIYA
Last Updated: Mon Aug 27, 2012 19:16 pm (KSA) 16:16 pm (GMT)

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UNICEF official survives gun attack

KABUL CITY (PAN): The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) office head survived a gun attack that wounded another employee of the agency injured in northern Faryab province on Sunday, authorities said.

The incident took place in a health clinic in the Qaram Qul village, where UNICEF representatives -- involved in a polio vaccination drive -- came under attack from unidentified gunmen.

Sultan Sanjar, the town's administrative head, told Pajhwok Afghan that Dr. Fazal Ahmad, in charge of the UNICEF office, escaped unhurt in the attack. Another employee of the organisation was injured and their vehicle torched.

A provincial council member, who did not want to be named, accused local Taliban commander Qari Ahmad of plotting the gun attack.

from Pajhwok
by Qutbuddin Kohi on Jul 8, 2012 - 17:31

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Two killed, 20 injured by suicide bombing in Syria's Daraa

Image via Wikipedia

DAMASCUS, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and 20 others injured Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Syria's southern Daraa province, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

The suicide bomber was riding a car and carried out the attack at al-Masri intersection in the heart of Daraa.

The blast also caused damage to nearby buildings at the intersection, said SANA.

The incident came as part of many suicide bombings targeting governmental institutions and security agencies. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the attacks are proofs that it is being targeted by "armed terrorist groups," which it blames for the nearly one-year-old unrest.

Daraa, some 100 km south of the capital Damascus, was the birthplace of the anti-government movement that engulfed the country in March 2011.

The Syrian government said in December that "armed terrorist groups" killed more than 2,000 army and security personnel.

The United Nations said recently that "well over" 7,500 people have died in Syria's violence.

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About 100 Malian soldiers flee to Niger to escape from Touareg rebels' attacks

Image via Wikipedia

NIAMEY, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- About 100 Malian soldiers are taking refuge in Niger after fleeing from the attacks carried out by the Touareg rebels who are fighting under the banner of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).

These soldiers entered the Nigerien territory without weapons in company of their families, through the Nigerien military post of Chingor (about 200 km north of Niamey), following an attack on their barracks at Menaka in northern Mali.

On Saturday, Niger's National Defense Minister Karidjo Mahamadou visited these Malian soldiers.

A Nigerien military source said the visit "was meant to boost the morale of our Malian brothers, a few hours before they are returned to their country, in company of their families."

A source from the United Nations bureau for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that about 100,000 families have crossed the Niger-Malian border to take refuge in Niger's Ouallam and Tillabery villages due to the continued fighting in Northern Mali.

Most of them have fled from the Malian localities of Aderboukane and Menaka which have been targeted by MNLA attacks.

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11 people killed in fresh attack on a bus in central Syria

Image via Wikipedia

DAMASCUS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people were killed and another three were badly wounded Sunday when armed groups attacked their bus in Syria's central province of Homs, the private Sham FM radio reported.

The bus was transporting 14 passengers, including military personnel, when it came under fire, the report said, adding that three passengers managed to escape the gunfire and hide in a nearby storage, but were badly wounded.

The attack occurred at al-Fakhoura roundabout in Homs, when the bus was starting its trip to Damascus.

There has been no immediate official comment on the circumstances of the incident.

Homs, Syria's third largest city with a population of about 800, 000 people, has witnessed severe clashes between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and armed groups allegedly consisting of army defectors, raising fears that the region is sliding toward a civil war.

The attack came just one day after a deadly attack that claimed the lives of at least 14 people when unidentified gunmen targeted a vehicle transporting prisoners in northwest Syria.

The Syrian government has blamed the incident as well as many others on terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.

Damascus said some 2,000 army and security personnel have been killed since the unrest began in March 2011, while the UN has reported more than 5,000 deaths from the Syrian violence.

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Explosion Kills 6 People in Somali Capital

Image via Wikipedia

A bomb exploded in Somalia's capital Thursday, killing six Somalis, including two police officers, shortly after a group of international journalists was in the area.

United Nations officials said the bomb, believed to be a homemade explosive device, appeared to be targeting a police checkpoint close to a crowded area of makeshift shelters for refugees.

The journalists had just visited a feeding site near the shelters, during a U.N.-sponsored trip to observe international relief efforts. Drought and chronic violence have made Somalia one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.

Meanwhile, two Somali insurgents hurled hand grenades at the U.N. compound on Thursday in a separate attack in the restive capital. Officials say the grenades missed the compound.

In response to the worsening violence, the international aid group Doctors Without Borders says it is closing its two largest medical centers in Mogadishu. Two of its workers were killed in the capital last month.

The group said it is shutting down the 120-bed facilities in Mogadishu's Hodan district, where it has been treating malnutrition, measles and cholera.

The director of Doctors Without Borders, Christopher Stokes, said it is hard to stop those services in an area where the group is saving lives, but that the “brutal assassination” of its workers makes it impossible to continue.

Mogadishu is one of the world's most dangerous places for foreign workers.

Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991. The militant Islamist group al-Shabab is attempting to overthrow the U.N.-backed government and impose strict Sharia law over the country.




from VOANews

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