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US forces continue strikes on Pakistan 'militants'
US forces in Afghanistan were today continuing to launch attacks on alleged militants across the border in Pakistan.
The strikes have been maintained despite vigorous complaints from Islamabad over a US special forces ground raid in which at least 15 villagers died on Wednesday.
Pakistani security officials said a drone aircraft was seen near Gurwak village, in the North Waziristan region of the tribal areas. Missiles were fired at a house, killing five alleged militants.
Major Murad Khan, an army spokesman, confirmed the explosion and said officials were investigating.
The US has used drones over Pakistani territory in the past, but Wednesday's incursion was the first time ground troops had crossed the border for an operation.
"There is no high-value target or known terrorist among the dead," the foreign minister, Shah Memood Qureshi, told the national assembly yesterday.
"Only innocent civilians, including women and children, have been targeted."
He said the attack "constitutes a serious escalation in the series of actions" by Nato and US-led forces on Pakistani territory.
Late on Wednesday, the US ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Paterson, was summoned to hear a "very strong protest" at the foreign ministry, spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said.
The prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, said Pakistan would not allow any foreign power to carry out attacks on its territory. US forces in Afghanistan were today continuing to launch attacks on alleged militants across the border in Pakistan. ... more -
Bomb explodes in bus in Philippines
Police said the number of fatalities in today's bomb explosion inside a passenger bus terminal in Digos City in Davao del Sur rose to five.
Senior Inspector Anthony Padua, chief of the Digos City Philippine National Police (PNP), said the fifth fatality died while being treated at a city hospital.
In a radio interview over Catholic-ran DXND, Padua said the explosive that went off around 2:45 p.m. today, was so powerful that it killed on the spot four passengers and injured 27 others.
Padua said the IED was left by one of the passengers who could have boarded the bus somewhere between Sta. Cruz town and Digos City in Davao del Sur.
The passengers onboard Metro Shuttle Bus, with body number 209, had just disembarked at the terminal when the IED exploded, the police officer said.
The bus is enroute to Malita, a town in Davao Del Sur, which is about two hours drive from Digos City.
The explosion was so powerful it ripped the rear and middle portion of the bus, Padua said.
The police hinted that extortion could be one of the motives behind the explosion.
The Metro Shuttle is one of the many bus companies plying the Davao-Cotabato highway that has received extortion threats from an extortion group operating in central Mindanao.
The casualties of the Digos City terminal bombing were rushed to different hospitals in the city.
This was the second worst bombing that hit Digos City since July this year.
Early in July, one passenger died and 35 others were hurt when an IED exploded inside a Metro Shuttle bus inside the public bus terminal. (PNA) Police said the number of fatalities in today's bomb explosion inside a passenger bus terminal in Digos City in Davao del Sur ros... more -
Al-Qaeda 'claims Algeria bombs'
A message purported to be from al-Qaeda's North African wing said it carried out bombs that killed about 60 people in Algeria this week. A message purported to be from al-Qaeda's North African wing said it carried out bombs that killed about 60 people in Algeria thi... more
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Crunch talks for Pakistan leaders
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said his party will pull out, unless judges sacked by ex-President Pervez Musharraf are immediately reinstated.
The other disagreement is over who should succeed Mr Musharraf, following his resignation on Monday.
The talks come a day after more than 60 people died in twin suicide attacks.
The party leaders failed to hammer out a deal when they met on Monday and Tuesday.
Most members of the biggest party in the coalition, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), want to nominate as president Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of their late leader, Benazir Bhutto. She was assassinated in December last year.
The president is chosen by the two chambers of the national parliament and the country's four provincial elections. The election will be held on 6 September.
But Mr Sharif, who leads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), prefers what he calls a consensus president.
The coalition was elected in February but analysts say it has failed to find solutions to Pakistan's economic crisis and to the militants in its north-western tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
The BBC's Charles Haviland in Islamabad says the politicians' squabbling is hindering any possible plan for tackling militant violence.
The Pakistani Taleban claimed responsibility for Thursday's suicide bombings on an ordnance factory in the town of Wah, near the capital Islamabad. It was the deadliest attack on a military site in Pakistan's history.
The militant group promised more attacks in Pakistan's major urban conurbations unless the army withdrew from the tribal areas.
On Tuesday, 32 people were killed in a suicide attack on a hospital in the northern town of Dera Ismail Khan.
Mr Musharraf, a key ally of President Bush's "war on terror", stepped down this week after nine years in power to avoid being impeached.
He sacked about 60 Supreme Court judges during a state of emergency in November to prevent them from overturning his re-election as president.
Analysts say that although the PPP and PML-N worked together to hound Mr Musharraf from office, there is a history of intense rivalry and mistrust between the two main parties.
The parties differ over the future of Mr Musharraf, who has been replaced by a caretaker president, the speaker of the Senate.
Mr Zardari's party has said it believes Mr Musharraf may have immunity from prosecution.
But Mr Sharif's party argues he should stand trial for, among other things, abrogating the constitution. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said his party will pull out, unless judges sacked by ex-President Pervez Musharraf are immedia... more -
Bomb Strikes Kill Shiite Pilgrims in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi police and hospital officials say a car bombing targeting Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad has killed six people and wounded 11 others.
The officials say the parked car exploded at about 9 a.m. Saturday near minibuses assembled to pick up pilgrims in the city's mainly Shiite district of Shaab.
The officials gave the casualty toll for the bombing on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.
Several bombings in recent days have targeted Shiites heading to Karbala for a major religious festival. U.S. and Iraqi troops have stepped up security measures for the pilgrimage but the hundreds of thousands of travelers remain vulnerable on the road. BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi police and hospital officials say a car bombing targeting Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad has killed six people and w... more -
Bomb hits Pakistan air force bus
At least 13 people have been killed and 10 wounded in a bomb attack on a Pakistani air force bus near the north-western city of Peshawar, police say.
The bomb went off as the bus drove over a bridge near Badaber, an air force base on the outskirts of the city.
Civilians were reported to be among passengers killed or injured. The bus was blown to pieces.
It is the first such attack in weeks and comes as Pakistani troops battle militants in parts of the north-west.
Pro-Taleban fighters operating along the north-west frontier with Afghanistan said they were behind the bombing. At least 13 people have been killed and 10 wounded in a bomb attack on a Pakistani air force bus near the north-western city of Peshaw... more -
Algeria city hit by suicide bomb
Eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in northern Algeria, the country's national radio is reporting.
Another 19 people were injured in the blast, which happened overnight in the northern city of Zemmouri, about 50km (31 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
The seaside city is a popular holiday destination, particularly during the hot summer months.
Explosives packed into a vehicle detonated outside a police station in the city, reports said.
The attack came a week after more than 20 people were injured when a police station in Tizi Ouzou, another northern city, was targeted by a suicide car bomber.
Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing claimed responsibility for that attack. Eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in northern Algeria, the country's national radio is reporting. ... more -
More explosions hit western China
At least five people have been killed and three injured in a series of bombings in the western province of Xinjiang. Following the explosions early this morning, witnesses reported sporadic gunfire. Police killed five people suspected of involvement in the blasts, which have been blamed on Muslim separatists.
The incident follows an attack on a border police station in the same province on Monday, which left 16 police officers dead.
Xinjiang, a vast area bordering Central Asia, has about 8.3 million ethnic Uighurs, many of whom express anger at what they say has been decades of repressive Chinese rule.
http://current.com/items/89167170_chinese_border_assaul... At least five people have been killed and three injured in a series of bombings in the western province of Xinjiang. Following the ex... more -
Car bomb in Iraq kills 25
BAGHDAD - At least 25 people were killed in a car bombing at a crowded market in the city of Tal Afar, officials in northern Iraq reported Saturday.
The blast was carried out by a lone Sunni Turkoman bomber, whose identity was confirmed after forensic tests. The bomber had been released from detention four months ago under an amnesty agreement passed by parliament earlier this year.
The bomber may have avoided detection at a checkpoint by having someone ride with him, officials said. The passenger apparently got out out after the checkpoint.
Suicide car bombers are known to ride alone. For that reason, Tal Afar has banned men from driving alone.
The bombing took place in a region where tensions have been growing among ethnic groups because of a dispute over control of the oil-rich area around Kirkuk. The city has now been placed under an indefinite curfew.
Note: The picture isn't from the car bombing mentioned above. BAGHDAD - At least 25 people were killed in a car bombing at a crowded market in the city of Tal Afar, officials in northern Iraq repo... more -
Bomb kills two on Russian beach
A bomb explosion has killed two people on a beach in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, police say.
Witnesses said a woman picked up a package which then blew up, killing her and a man with her. Four injured people were rushed to hospital.
The blast happened in Loo, in Sochi's Lazarevskoye district. The exact nature of the device is not yet clear.
Sochi is one of Russia's most popular beach resorts. It will also host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
The blast happened shortly after 1000 local time (0600 GMT). A police spokeswoman was quoted as saying there would have been more casualties if it had happened later, when the beach is more crowded.
One victim's leg was blown off.
Local officials evacuated people from the beach after the blast and investigators are now at the scene, trying to identify the device.
Sochi lies near Abkhazia, a breakaway region in Georgia where tensions have flared up recently. The volatile North Caucasus, where separatist rebels are active, also lies just east of Sochi. A bomb explosion has killed two people on a beach in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, police say. ... more -
US Embassy attacks commemorated (10 years)
Kenya and Tanzania are preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of deadly bomb attacks on their US embassies.
Ceremonies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam will remember victims of the co-ordinated attacks, which killed more than 200 and injured at least 4,000. The commemorations are due to start at 1000 local time (0800 BST), about the time that the bombs exploded.
In Kenya, a manhunt is currently under way for a member of al-Qaeda still wanted in connection with the attacks. It is believed Fazul Abdullah Mohammed evaded a police raid at the weekend in the coastal town of Malindi, where he was staying with friends.
Twin commemorations are being held in Nairobi - one at the US embassy and the other at a memorial park in the city, which Prime Minister Raila Odinga is expected to attend.
Read more... Kenya and Tanzania are preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of deadly bomb attacks on their US embassies. ... more -
Somalia bombing 'kills 15 women'
A roadside bomb has killed at least 15 people in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, reports the BBC.
The explosion hit a group of women gathered to clean the street, witnesses said. They told of bloody scenes with several dozen people injured.
One witness told the AFP agency most of the dead were female street cleaners.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but tensions are high in Mogadishu as Ethiopian troops battle Islamist insurgents.
"They were cleaning the street when this huge explosion rocked the entire neighbourhood," eyewitness Hasan Abdi Mohamed told the AFP news agency.
"I counted 15 bodies, most of them are women who were torn to pieces," he added.
The UN says 1.5 million people have fled after recent fighting.
Somalia's opposition groups, which include Islamists ousted from power in 2006, are opposed to Ethiopian troops remaining in Somalia.
According to one estimate, more than 8,000 civilians have been killed and one million forced from their homes since the start of last year by fighting between the interim government and the insurgents.
Has the rest of the world forgotten about Somalia? Is it any worse that civilian women simply cleaning the streets were killed in this attack? A roadside bomb has killed at least 15 people in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, reports the BBC. ... more -
Why Sunday's Bombings Could Help Erdogan
Sunday's terror attack in Istanbul hit Turkey at a particularly critical juncture. The country's highest court is expected to rule soon on the legality of the prime minister's Islamist-rooted AKP party. But Erdogan himself stands to profit if the bloodbath leads the judges to issue a ruling that fosters national unity.
Regardless who was responsible for the bombings on Sunday evening in Istanbul, the attackers could hardly have chosen a more sensitive time to hit the country. Just a few hours after the massacre in the district of Güngören, which killed 17 people and left more than 150 injured, the Constitutional Court in Ankara convened to deliberate the case seeking to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). A verdict is expected by the end of the week. It is possible that by next week the country could be without any political leadership at all.
Meanwhile another historic case was launched on Friday by a different prosecutor -- for the first time former generals were indicted on charges of plotting a putsch to overthrow the government. They are accused of having formed a shadowy organization called Ergenekon along with ultranationalist commandos, far-right lawyers, well-known business leaders and journalists with radical Kemalist sympathies.
Read more... Sunday's terror attack in Istanbul hit Turkey at a particularly critical juncture. The country's highest court is expected t... more -
Raids Conducted After Synchronized India Blasts
Anti-terror squads have carried out raids in the search for leads into the deadly synchronized bombings that killed at least 45 people in western India over the weekend, police said Monday. Anti-terror squads have carried out raids in the search for leads into the deadly synchronized bombings that killed at least 45 people... more
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Ahmedabad, India: 49 dead, 114 wounded in synchronized bombings
Synchronized bombings in Indian city of Ahmedabad killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 114.
Seventeen low intensity blasts went off within a span of 70 minutes Saturday night, all within a 6-mile (10-km) radius.
By 4:15 p.m. Sunday (6:45 a.m. ET), the death toll had climbed to 49. The official number of wounded is 114, according to Ahmedabad police, but Raghela said the number of injuries surpassed 200.
The serial blasts occurred barely 24 hours after nine similar explosions rocked Bangalore, known as the Silicon Valley of India. Two people were killed and six injured in those explosions.
In both cities, bicycles, bags and lunch boxes were repositories for the bombs, authorities said.
"It is a conspiracy to unsettle the country," Union Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal told CNN-IBN Saturday. Synchronized bombings in Indian city of Ahmedabad killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 114. ... more -
Istanbul bombs kill 15 on eve of political case
Bombs killed 15 people and wounded around 140 in Istanbul late on Sunday.
Just hours ahead of a court case over banning the governing party that has plunged Turkey into political turmoil.
Officials said one loud blast brought people into the streets of a busy shopping and eating area, then a larger bomb hidden in a rubbish bin exploded 10 minutes and 50 meters away, tearing through the crowds.
"This is a terror attack," city governor Muammer Guler told reporters at the scene, in a pedestrianized street where families gather in the evenings to dine, sip tea and stroll, well away from the city's tourist sites.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, the deadliest attack in Turkey since 2003.
Television showed ambulances taking away the wounded in the middle-class Gungoren district of Turkey's biggest city, near the main airport. Among the rubble and glass of broken shop windows, men carried away the wounded and children cried.
"First a percussion bomb exploded and then a bomb in a garbage container," Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici told reporters.
One witness said: "Tens of people were scattered around. People's heads, arms, were flying in the air."
"I condemn those who carried out this bombing, which shows us terrorism's inhumane desire for cruelty and violence without discriminating between men and women, young, old and children," President Abdullah Gul said in a statement. Bombs killed 15 people and wounded around 140 in Istanbul late on Sunday. ... more -
Istanbul bombs kill 15 and wound 140 on eve of political case
Bombs killed 15 people and wounded around 140 in Istanbul late on Sunday, just hours ahead of a court case over banning the governing party that has plunged Turkey into political turmoil.
Officials said one loud blast brought people into the streets of a busy shopping and eating area, then a larger bomb hidden in a rubbish bin exploded 10 minutes and 50 meters away, tearing through the crowds.
"This is a terror attack," city governor Muammer Guler told reporters at the scene, in a pedestrianized street where families gather in the evenings to dine, sip tea and stroll, well away from the city's tourist sites.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, the deadliest attack in Turkey since 2003.
Television showed ambulances taking away the wounded in the middle-class Gungoren district of Turkey's biggest city, near the main airport. Among the rubble and glass of broken shop windows, men carried away the wounded and children cried.
"First a percussion bomb exploded and then a bomb in a garbage container," Deputy Prime Minister Hayati Yazici told reporters.
One witness said: "Tens of people were scattered around. People's heads, arms, were flying in the air."
"I condemn those who carried out this bombing, which shows us terrorism's inhumane desire for cruelty and violence without discriminating between men and women, young, old and children," President Abdullah Gul said in a statement. Bombs killed 15 people and wounded around 140 in Istanbul late on Sunday, just hours ahead of a court case over banning the governing ... more -
In e-mail, Islamic group claims India blasts
"An obscure Islamic group claimed responsibility for a series of synchronized explosions that killed at least 45 people in western India, warning of "the terror of Death" in an e-mail sent to several television stations minutes before the blasts.
Another unexploded bomb was found and defused early Sunday, said the city's police commissioner, O.P. Mathur. He said police had detained 30 people.
"In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!" said an e-mail from the group sent to several Indian television stations minutes before the blasts began.
The e-mail's subject line said "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat," an apparent reference to 2002 riots in the western state which left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The historic city of Ahmadabad was the scene of much of the 2002 violence." "An obscure Islamic group claimed responsibility for a series of synchronized explosions that killed at least 45 people in wester... more -
29 killed, 100+ injured in new India serial blasts
AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — At least 29 people were killed and over 100 wounded Saturday in a string of more than a dozen coordinated bomb attacks in the tinderbox western Indian city of Ahmedabad, officials said.
"India television channels said as many as 30 people were killed, and reported that a little-known Islamist group calling itself the "Indian Mujahedeen" had claimed responsibility.
Ahmedabad is the communally-sensitive capital of the opposition Hindu nationalist-ruled state of Gujarat, where thousands were killed in Hindu attacks against Muslims in 2002.
The series of up to 17 bombings in the city, some of them targeting hospitals, came just a day after a similar wave of attacks in the southern technology city of Bangalore.
"Our information is that at least 15 people lost their lives and many, many others are injured," said Nipin Patel, Gujarat state's urban development minister.
Officials and medical staff put the number of injured at over 100, many of them hit by flying nuts, bolts and ball bearings packed into the bombs, which were clearly designed to cause maximum casualties.
The bombs were detonated with timer devices, federal experts said." AHMEDABAD, India (AFP) — At least 29 people were killed and over 100 wounded Saturday in a string of more than a dozen coordinated bom... more -
2 Killed, 12 Injured in Bangalore Blasts
A string of nine synchronised bomb blasts shook the IT hub during the busy lunch hour, leaving two killed and injuring 12 others—a chilling reminder of the over two-year old terror attack at the Indian Institute of Sciences in the Karnataka capital.
The crude bombs, concealed near refugee camps and roadside stuffed with nuts and bolts, exploded between 1.30pm and 1.45pm at Adugodi, Madivala, Nayandahalli, Mysore Road, Richmond Circle, Pantharapalya and Vittal Mallya Road.
Two persons were killed and 12 injured in the blasts, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi. A string of nine synchronised bomb blasts shook the IT hub during the busy lunch hour, leaving two killed and injuring 12 others—a chi... more
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