Boko Haram plans 'to eradicate Christians' from areas in Nigeria

By Bill Roggio - March 4, 2012 - LWJ

Boko Haram, the radical Islamist terror group that has been linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb as well as Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in East Africa, is intent on turning their insurgency in the north of Nigeria into a full fledged war between Christans and Muslims. The terror group has bombed numerous churches in the country in the past two years, including a suicide attack at a church in Jos at the end of February. Leadership, a Nigerian news outlet, interviewed a Boko Haram spokesman who said that the group will "eradicate Christians from certain parts of the country" while fighting to establish "a proper Islamic state."

A Nigerian spokesman for the Islamic militant group Boko Haram told Bikyamasr.com on Sunday that they are planning a "war" on Christians in the next few weeks. According to the spokesman, speaking via telephone from northern Nigeria, the group "will launch a number of attacks, coordinated and part of the plan to eradicate Christians from certain parts of the country."
Boko Haram have taken responsibility for a number of bomb attacks on Christian churches across the country since a Christmas Day bombing left dozens of people killed.
The government has promised to crackdown on the group and has deployed military units across the country in an attempt to curtail the Islamic group's activities, arresting and killing a number of members in recent weeks.
But the spokesman said the government "cannot be prepared for what is to come."
He said, without giving specific details, "we will create so much effort to end the Christian presence in our push to have a proper Islamic state that the Christians won't be able to stay."
On Friday, the group reportedly killed three of its own members late on Friday in the northeastern state of Maiduguri, police and military sources confirmed.
"This was part of our planning and it is unfortunate," said the spokesman.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/03/boko_haram_plans_to_eradicate.php

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Mar.04., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Evening Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – A combined Afghan and coalition security force discovered cache of explosive materials during an operation in Behsud district, Nangarhar province, yesterday.

The cache consisted of approximately 19,842 pounds (9,000 kilograms) explosive making compounds.

Security forces secured and confiscated all materials for destruction at a later date.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

North

One insurgent was killed and two suspects were detained yesterday in Kunduz district, Kunduz province during a combined operation conducted by Afghan Provincial Response Company and coalition forces. Security forces confiscated multiple firearms and ammunition.

South

A combined Afghan and coalition security force discovered an improvised explosive device cache during an operation in Musa Qal’ah district, Helmand province, Friday. The cache consisted of approximately 500 feet of detonation cord, 60 pre-built pressure plates and two chest rigs. Security forces confiscated all IED components to be destroyed at a later date.

East

A combined Afghan led and a coalition supported security force discovered a drug cache during an operation in Achin district, Nangarhar province, Friday. The cache consisted of approximately 29 pounds (13 kiligrams) of opium, approximately 44 pounds (20 kiligrams) of hashish and approximately 220 pounds (100 kiligrams) marijuana seeds. The security force destroyed a portion of the drugs on site and confiscated the remainder for destruction at a later date.

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Local Taliban leader killed in Afghan Kunduz province

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A local Taliban leader was killed Sunday during a joint Afghan forces and NATO-led coalition troops operation in northern Afghan province of Kunduz, a police source said.

"Based on intelligence, a joint unit of special operation force of Afghan army and international forces killed a local Taliban leader namely Seyd Gul during an operation in surrounding area of provincial capital Kunduz city early this morning," a provincial police spokesman Seyd Sarwar Houssaini told Xinhua.

He said that the deceased Taliban leader was responsible for several attacks on security forces and directed the emplacement of roadside bombs and provided weapons and funds to the insurgents across in the province.

The joint forces also found and seized a handful of weapons during the raid, he said.

Taliban militants have yet to confirm the death of their local leader in Kunduz province some 250 km north of capital city of Kabul.

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40 soldiers held hostage by al-Qaida in southern Yemen

ADEN, Yemen, March 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 40 soldiers of the Yemeni army forces were held hostage by al-Qaida militants after it overran an army post in the war-torn southern province of Abyan on Sunday, a military official said.

After fierce fighting with the government troops, al-Qaida militants managed to take control of an army post of the 115th Armored Army Brigade positioned in the al-Kud area, south of Abyan 's provincial capital Zinjibar, capturing 40 soldiers along with their heavy weapons, tanks and armored vehicles, the local military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In the fighting west and around the entrances of Zinjibar, at least 15 al-Qaida militants were killed and dozens of others injured, the official said.

"Two local al-Qaida leaders were killed," he added.

An army soldier said "up to 40 soldiers went missing after the battle... we lost communications with them."

Yemen's military sent tanks and other reinforcement from the neighboring port city of Aden to Abyan, trying to regain the army post seized by al-Qaida operatives, witnesses told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, an army officer involved in the battles said anonymously that hours after many soldiers were taken captive by the terrorists, warplanes bombed al-Qaida militants, who quickly fled the army post.

"Army troops managed to regain control of the outpost," he said, adding that "al-Qaida militants retreated from the whole region for fear of intensified air raids."

A local medic at the Bashuib military hospital in Aden told Xinhua that "more than 36 army soldiers wounded in the fighting with al-Qaida were brought for treatment this afternoon."

Earlier in the day, twin suicide bombing attacks targeted two military bases of the Yemeni army forces in the suburbs of Zinjibar, killing at least eight soldiers and injuring dozens of others, an army official told Xinhua.

Taking advantage of the one-year-long anti-government protests, resurgent AQAP, known locally as Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), has taken control of several cities across the restive southern provinces.

The Yemeni government forces have been battling AQAP militants in the south, leaving hundreds of people killed and thousands displaced.

AQAP, entrenching itself mainly in Yemen's southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, is on the terrorist list of the United States.

Newly-elected Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has vowed to strengthen the security and intelligence cooperation with the United States in combating AQAP, which has threatened the daily oil shipping routes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

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3 killed, 7 wounded in Iraq's violence

BAGHDAD, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and seven others injured in separate gunfire and bomb attacks in central and northern Iraq, the police said on Sunday.

In Baghdad, an official of the Iraqi Ministry of National Security was gunned down in a drive-by shooting by armed men using silenced weapons when he was driving on a high way in Baghdad's western district of al-Adil, an interior ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Also in western Baghdad, two civilians were wounded when a sticky bomb attached to their car exploded in Khadraa district, the source said.

In northern Iraq, gunman threw a hand grenade on civilians in a commercial street in central Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, killing a woman and wounding four people, a local police source said.

In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, an employee working for the provincial council was injured when a sticky bomb attached to his car detonated in central Salahudin's capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua.

In a separate incident, gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead a brother of a police officer late on Saturday night in front of his house in a village in south Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, the source added.

Iraqi cities have been plagued by several attacks, including suicide bombings, since the U.S. troops pulled out of the country late last year.

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Eastern Kunar provincial governor escape militants attack

Provincial governor for eastern Kunar province Syed Fazlullah Wahidi escaped militants attack on Sunday afternoon. The incident took place at Noor Gul district on Jalalabad and Kunar highway.

Syed Fazlullah Wahidi said, a number of unknown gunmen opened fire him while he was on his way towards Jalalabad city on Sunday afternoon.

He also added, there were no casualties as a result of the incident and the assailant militants managed to flee the area.

According to Mr. Wahidi, several bullets hit the vehicle of his bodyguards but his bodyguards and driver did not suffer any casualties.

No group including the Taliban militants have so far claimed responsibility behind the incident.

This is the first assassination plot against Kunar governor Fazlullah Wahidi despite several insurgents surrendered to Afghan government and joined peace process in this province.

from KHAAMA

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• Eastern Kunar provincial governor escape militants attack (khaama.com)

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Afghan soldiers injured at southern Kandahar province

Afghan Defense Ministry following a press release on Sunday announced at least 5 Afghan National Army soldiers were injured while performing their duties in southern Kandahar province

The source further added, Afghan National Army soldiers also seized some weapons and ammunnitions following military operations at Arghandab and Panjwai districts in this province.

In the meantime provincial intelligence officials in southern Helmand proivnce said Afghan security forces curbed a missile attack on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in this province.

An Afghan Intelligence official speaking on the condition of anonymity said, Afghan intelligence forces discovered and seized a vehicle at Bolan area in Lashkargah city of southern Helmand province.

The source further added, militants were looking to carry out a suicide bomb blast using the vehicle.

According to provincial intelligence officials, the vehicle was prepared by Mullah Mustafa a Taliban commander and wanted to carry out suicide bomb blast at Laskargah city.

The officials also said, Afghan intelligence forces managed to discover and seized weapons and ammunitions in separate operations at Marjah, Laskargah and Nad-e-Ali districts of southern Helmand province.

Afghan security forces have doubled their military operations to crackdown militants across the country.

In the meantime militants activities have been rampant at Lashkargah city and its neighboring regions during the past few months.

In the latest of insurgents attacks, a NATO convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber at Lashkargah city which injured at least 7 Afghan civilians.

from KHAAMA

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• Afghan soldiers injured at southern Kandahar province (khaama.com)

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Yemen fighting kills 30 troops, 14 militants

Image via Wikipedia

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Intense clashes erupted on Sunday between Yemeni soldiers and al-Qaida fighters in the southern province of Abyan, killing at least 30 government troops and 14 of the militants, military officials said.

The officials said the fighting was taking place west of Abyan's provincial capital of Zinjibar, held by militants since May.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The violence in Abyan highlights the challenges facing Yemen after a year of political turmoil that has allowed al-Qaida to seize several towns in the lawless south and withstand repeated army offensives to retake them.

A Defense Ministry statement said the fighting began when militants detonated "booby trapped vehicles" at an army base in the region of Koud near Zinjibar. The statement suggested that the base was overrun by the militants before army forces regrouped and took it back.

It said there were casualties on both sides but gave no figures.

Newly inaugurated President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi meanwhile said in a televised speech that fighting al-Qaida in Yemen and restoring security in the impoverished Arab nation were among his top priorities.

Last month, President Hadi succeeded longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, who during his more than 30 years in power tolerated radical Islamic groups as part of a delicate balancing act that kept at bay threats to his authority in the fractured nation.

There has been a surge in attacks blamed on al-Qaida after Hadi's inauguration.

from AP

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Several militants killed and detained in Afghan operations

Officials in the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan on Sunday announced, several insurgents were killed and detained during military operations across the country.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan, at least 2 militants were killed and 12 others were detained during joint military operations by Afghan and coalition security forces.

The statement furhter added, the operations were conducted at Nangarhar, Kandahar, Baghlan and Helmand provinces of Afghanistan.

Taliban militants group yet to comment regarding the reports.

In the meantime Afghan Army officials at 205 Attal commandment said anti-government armed militant groups are struggling for the infiltration of their fighters among the Afghan security forces.

Gen. Abdul Hamid commander of the Afghan National Army for 205 Attal commandment quoted by Reuters News Agency said, adequate intelligence information should be obtained while the recruitment the Afghan security forces.

This comes as an Afghan security officer recently shot dead two US military advisers inside the Afghan Interior Ministry complex.

The incident was followed by a similar one in southern Kandahar province after an Afghan National Army soldier shot dead two US service members.

from KHAAMA

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• Several militants killed and detained in Afghan operations (khaama.com)

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Congo arms depot blast kills some 200

BRAZZAVILLE: Around 200 people were killed on Sunday when an arms dump exploded in Brazzaville, capital of the Congo Republic, a senior official in the presidency said, citing hospital sources.

A plume of smoke can be seen over Brazzaville from across the Congo River in Kinshasa, capital of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. -AFP Photo

Hundreds more were injured by the blasts which rocked the riverside capital of the oil-producing nation early in the day, flattening houses near the scene and sending a plume of smoke high above the city.

“According to sources at the central hospital we’re talking of around 200 dead and many injured,” Betu Bangana, head of protocol in the president’s office in Brazzaville, told Reuters by telephone.

“Some people are still (trapped) in their houses… They’re saying the entire neighbourhood of Mpila has been destroyed.”

Defence Minister Charles Zacharie Bowao dismissed any talk of a coup attempt or mutiny, and told state radio that the explosions had been caused by a fire in the arms depot in the Regiment Blinde base in the riverside Mpila neighbourhood.

Panic also spread to Kinshasa, across the Congo River which separates the former French colony from the larger Democratic Republic of Congo, where windows were shattered by the force of the blasts around 700 metres (770 yards) away. Both governments called for calm.

A Reuters witness in Brazzaville said residents fled the blast area, which is near a heavily populated neighbourhood and was blocked off by the security forces as a military helicopter flew overhead. Fleeing residents said houses in the area had been flattened.

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• About 200 killed in explosions in the Republic of Congo (theglobeandmail.com)
• Hundreds dead in Brazzaville arms depot blasts (guardian.co.uk)
• Congo Official: 200 Die In Arms Depot Fire (news.sky.com)
• Congo's Brazzaville hit by blasts (bbc.co.uk)

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