Afghan troops to lead security by 2014-communique

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – The international conference in Afghanistan will agree on Tuesday that Afghan forces should begin taking security responsiblity in some areas by the end of this year and should lead security operations in all provinces by the end of 2014, according to a copy of the final communique.

“Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) should lead and conduct military operations in all provinces by the end of 2014,” said the communique, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

(reporting by Jonathon Burch; editing by Andrew Quinn; via Kabul newsroom +93794354074)

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Afghanistan has enough funding for next 3 years-President

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai told an international conference on Tuesday that Afghans wanted to have responsibility for their own security by 2014.

“I remain determined that our Afghan national security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement

operations throughout our country by 2014,” he told the conference, called to discus how much more responsibility to give Afghanistan for its own affairs. (Reporting by David Fox; Editing by Michael Urquhart) (david.fox@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 284)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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Thai govt lifts emergency in more provinces

July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – Thailand’s government said on Tuesday it was lifting a state of emergency in three provinces but it would remain in force in others including Bangkok, after being imposed in April to help authorities cope with political unrest.

The government had lifted the emergency in five provinces on July 6 when the initial period came to an end, but extended it for another three months in other areas covering a quarter of the country because it said anti-government elements still posed a threat.

The state of emergency bans political gatherings of more than five people and gives the government powers to censor the media. It also gives broad powers to the security forces, including the right to detain suspects without charge. (Reporting by Pracha Harirasapitak; Editing by Alan Raybould)

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Burundi holds journalist for rapping govt on Somalia

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 18 (Reuters) – Burundi authorities have arrested a journalist over an article questioning security forces’ ability to respond to attacks by Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents, his relatives said on Sunday.

Al Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for twin explosions at a crowded restaurant and a rugby club in Uganda’s capital Kampala on July 11, during the last moments of the World Cup final, killing 73. [ID:nLDE66B00L]

The insurgent group has threatened more attacks unless Uganda and Burundi withdraw their peacekeepers from Somalia, where al Shaabab is fighting the government and control large parts of the chaotic country. [ID:nLDE66C033]

Burundian police arrested Jean Claude Kavumbagu — who runs the online news agency Net Press — on Saturday, relatives said.

He wrote in a July 12 article: “If Somali Islamists had to try something in Burundi, it would be easy since our defence and security forces are much better in looting and killing innocent people than defending the nation.”

“A judge who questioned him told me that he was being prosecuted for a story he wrote linked to the al Shabaab’s threats,” his brother, Jean Marie-Vianey Kavumbagu, told Reuters. “For us, the law was violated because he was not assisted by his lawyer during the interrogation.”

Burundi has said it will keep its 2,500 peacekeepers in Somalia despite al Shabaab’s threats. [ID:nLDE66D1DQ]

Kavumbagu has been arrested five other times for stories he has written critical of government authorities.

(Reporting by Patrick Nduwimana, editing by George Obulutsa and Mark Heinrich)

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India reimposes curfew in parts of Kashmir

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

India, July 10 (Reuters) – Indian authorities on Saturday re-imposed a curfew several hours ahead of schedule in some areas of Kashmir, including parts of the main city Srinagar, in response to protesters attacking security forces with stones, police said.

Authorities late on Friday had lifted a four-day long curfew that was introduced after some of the largest protests in two years against India rule. [ID:nSGE6682CY]

The curfew was to have come back into force later on Saturday evening, but was brought forward after police and protesters clashed in several places in the volatile region. In Srinagar, thousands of protesters led by separatist leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq marched the streets demanding freedom.

The violence in Kashmir could affect efforts by India and Pakistan to revive a peace process that India suspended after the attacks in Mumbai in 2008, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

India has blamed Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), of being behind the growing protests in Kashmir against Indian rule, but many locals believe the protests are mostly spontaneous.

The nuclear armed neighbours have fought two wars over the Himalayan region which they claim in full but rule in part. (Reporting by Sheikh Mushtaq; writing by C.J. Kuncheria)

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Death toll from Pakistan bomb attack reaches 102

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Pakistan (Reuters) – The death toll from a suicide attack in a volatile border region of Pakistan climbed to 102 on Saturday, showing the militants’ continued ability to stage deadly strikes despite losing ground in army offensives.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Mohmand, a Pashtun region on the northwestern border with Afghanistan, where security forces have stepped up operations against militants in recent months.

Friday’s attack is the deadliest Pakistan has suffered since an attack on a market in Peshawar in October last year that killed 105.

Five children, aged 5 to 10, and several women were among the dead, and the toll rose on Saturday as rescuers working throughout the night found more bodies in the rubble.

“We have recovered more bodies from the debris of dozens of shops that were razed to the ground by the blast and the number of dead has increased” to 102, said Rasool Khan, assistant political agent of Mohmand.

The bomber blew himself up outside Khan’s office. There were mixed reports that a car bomb was the source of a possible second blast.

Late on Friday, a TTP spokesman in Mohmand who identified himself as Ikramullah Mohmand, said anti-Taliban tribal elders from various peace committees who had come to Khan’s office were the target.

A senior elder and two others were killed in the attack.

Among nearly 80 wounded were several people displaced by fighting between security forces and militants, who were collecting relief goods near the blast side.

The latest militant attack underscored multiple security challenges facing nuclear-armed U.S. ally Pakistan, whose support is vital in attempts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan, where U.S.-led NATO troops are fighting a raging Taliban insurgency.

The military has made progress over the past year when they pushed militants out of the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad. In October the army began an offensive in the militants’ South Waziristan bastion on the Afghan border.

The offensive was extended to Orakzai in March as many of the militants who fled the South Waziristan operation took refuge there and in Mohmand. Hundreds of militants have since been killed in air strikes in the two regions.

Troops killed 20 militants in an overnight clash in South Waziristan after insurgents attacked a military checkpost in their previous stronghold of Makeen, intelligence officials said. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties.

Despite losing ground in military offensives, militants have proven their ability to bounce back, responding with a barrage of bomb attacks in towns and cities, killing hundreds of people.

Two suicide bombers killed at least 42 people in an attack on Pakistan’s most important Sufi shrine in the eastern city of Lahore last week.

While praising Pakistan’s efforts to fight homegrown militants, the unabated violence is a source of worry for the United States, which also wants Islamabad to go after Afghan militants who cross the border to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

In a separate incident in Afghanistan, suspected Taliban militants attacked a bus carrying Pakistani Shi’a tribesmen traveling from the Kurram tribal region and heading to Peshawar via Afghanistan, killing 11 and wounding one, residents and government officials said.

Pakistani tribesmen take a circuitous route through Afghanistan to travel between Kurram and Peshawar as the road linking the two regions is often closed because of militants and Pakistani Army operations.

(Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Jeremy Laurence)

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Death toll from Pakistan bomb attack reaches 102

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, July 10 (Reuters) – The death toll from a suicide attack in a volatile border region of Pakistan climbed to 102 on Saturday, showing the militants’ continued ability to stage deadly strikes despite losing ground in army offensives.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Mohmand, a Pashtun region on the northwestern border with Afghanistan, where security forces have stepped up operations against militants in recent months.

Friday’s attack is the deadliest Pakistan has suffered since an attack on a market in Peshawar in October last year that killed 105.

Five children, aged 5 to 10, and several women were among the dead, and the toll rose on Saturday as rescuers working throughout the night found more bodies in the rubble.

“We have recovered more bodies from the debris of dozens of shops that were razed to the ground by the blast and the number of dead has increased” to 102, said Rasool Khan, assistant political agent of Mohmand.

The bomber blew himself up outside Khan’s office. There were mixed reports that a car bomb was the source of a possible second blast.

Late on Friday, a TTP spokesman in Mohmand who identified himself as Ikramullah Mohmand, said anti-Taliban tribal elders from various peace committees who had come to Khan’s office were the target.

A senior elder and two others were killed in the attack.

Among nearly 80 wounded were several people displaced by fighting between security forces and militants, who were collecting relief goods near the blast side.

The latest militant attack underscored multiple security challenges facing nuclear-armed U.S. ally Pakistan, whose support is vital in attempts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan, where U.S.-led NATO troops are fighting a raging Taliban insurgency.

The military has made progress over the past year when they pushed militants out of the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad. In October the army began an offensive in the militants’ South Waziristan bastion on the Afghan border.

The offensive was extended to Orakzai in March as many of the militants who fled the South Waziristan operation took refuge there and in Mohmand. Hundreds of militants have since been killed in air strikes in the two regions.

Troops killed 20 militants in an overnight clash in South Waziristan after insurgents attacked a military checkpost in their previous stronghold of Makeen, intelligence officials said. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties.

Despite losing ground in military offensives, militants have proven their ability to bounce back, responding with a barrage of bomb attacks in towns and cities, killing hundreds of people.

Two suicide bombers killed at least 42 people in an attack on Pakistan’s most important Sufi shrine in the eastern city of Lahore last week.

While praising Pakistan’s efforts to fight homegrown militants, the unabated violence is a source of worry for the United States, which also wants Islamabad to go after Afghan militants who cross the border to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

In a separate incident in Afghanistan, suspected Taliban militants attacked a bus carrying Pakistani Shi’a tribesmen travelling from the Kurram tribal region and heading to Peshawar via Afghanistan, killing 11 and wounding one, residents and government officials said.

Pakistani tribesmen take a circuitous route through Afghanistan to travel between Kurram and Peshawar as the road linking the two regions is often closed because of militants and Pakistani Army operations. [ID:nSGE669GBL]

(Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Jeremy Laurence) (E-mail: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: augustine.anthony.reuters.com@reuters.net; Islamabad newsroom: +92 51 281 0017)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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Yemen accuses rebels of kidnapping oil workers

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 10 (Reuters) – Yemen accused Shi’ite rebels on Saturday of kidnapping five oil workers this week and said it had foiled an attempt to blow up an oil pipeline.

Yemen is struggling to curb a separatist movement in the south and cement a ceasefire with Shi’ite rebels in the north, and is under pressure to combat a resurgent al Qaeda wing.

The Interior Ministry said that five employees of a state oil company were kidnapped by the rebels on Thursday.

“The Houthis captured five staff from an oil company in Marib along with their car when they were inspecting fuel stations in the directorate of Barat in al-Jouf province,” it said in a statement.

“The security forces … are using all measures to ensure their release.”

A Houthi source denied any link to the incident, saying the kidnap was a result of a tribal dispute.

In a separate statement, the government said security forces had foiled an attempt to sabotage an oil pipeline in Marib in the northeast of the country. The pipeline is used to transport oil to ports on the Red Sea.

It said that “unknown people” were forced to flee by security guards during the incident. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Jason Benham; Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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REFILE-Death toll from Pakistan bomb attack reaches 102

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Pakistan, July 10 (Reuters) – The death toll from a suicide attack in a volatile border region of Pakistan climbed to 102 on Saturday, showing the militants’ continued ability to stage deadly strikes despite losing ground in army offensives.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Mohmand, a Pashtun region on the northwestern border with Afghanistan, where security forces have stepped up operations against militants in recent months.

Friday’s attack is the deadliest Pakistan has suffered since an attack on a market in Peshawar in October last year that killed 105.

Five children, aged 5 to 10, and several women were among the dead on Friday, and the toll rose after rescuers working throughout the night found more bodies in the rubble.

“We have recovered more bodies from the debris of dozens of shops that were razed to the ground by the blast and the number of dead has increased” to 102, said Rasool Khan, assistant political agent of Mohmand.

The bomber blew himself up outside Khan’s office.

Late on Friday, a TTP spokesman in Mohmand who identified himself as Ikramullah Mohmand, said anti-Taliban tribal elders from various peace committees who had come to Khan’s office were the target.

A senior elder and two others were killed in the attack.

Among nearly 80 wounded were several people displaced by fighting between security forces and militants, who were collecting relief goods near the blast side.

The latest militant attack underscored multiple security challenges facing nuclear-armed U.S. ally Pakistan, whose support is vital in attempts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan, where U.S.-led NATO troops are fighting a raging Taliban insurgency.

The military has made progress over the past year when they pushed militants out of the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad. In October the army began an offensive in the militants’ South Waziristan bastion on the Afghan border.

The offensive was extended to Orakzai in March as many of the militants who fled the South Waziristan operation took refuge there and in Mohmand. Hundreds of militants have since been killed in air strikes in the two regions.

But militants have proven their ability to bounce back, responding with a barrage of bomb attacks in towns and cities, killing hundreds of people.

Two suicide bombers killed at least 42 people in an attack on Pakistan’s most important Sufi shrine in the eastern city of Lahore last week.

Despite praising Pakistan’s efforts to fight homegrown militants, the unabated violence is a source of worry for the United States, which also wants Islamabad to go after Afghan militants who cross the border to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Alex Richardson) (E-mail: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: augustine.anthony.reuters.com@reuters.net; Islamabad newsroom: +92 51 281 0017)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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Suicide attack kills 3, wound 50 in NW Pakistan

July 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Pakistan, July 9 (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed three people and wounded nearly 50 in an attack outside the office of a senior government official in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, government and hospital officials said.

The bomber struck when dozens of people were gathered around the office in the Mohmand ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border, where security forces have stepped up attacks on Taliban militants in recent weeks.

“The bomber blew himself up outside the office of an assistant political agent, killing himself and wounding dozens others,” a government official, Mehraj Khan, told Reuters.

Hospital officials said three people were killed and nearly 50 were being treated for multiple wounds.

Pakistan launched two major offensives in the northwest last year against homegrown Taliban militants who have killed hundreds of people in retaliatory attacks across Pakistan, mostly in the northwest, but also in major cities. (Reporting by Izaz Mohmand; Writing by Augustine Anthony; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Ron Popeski) (E-mail: augustine.anthony@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: augustine.anthony.reuters.com@reuters.net; Islamabad newsroom: +92 51 281 0017)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

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FACTBOX-Security developments in Pakistan, June 27

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Pakistan at 1036 GMT on Sunday.

ORAKZAI – Warplanes targeted militants’ positions in the northwestern region of Orakzai, killing eight militants and destroying two hideouts, a government official said.

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN – Security forces killed four militants and wounded six in a clash after militants attacked them in the region of Makeen, 70 km (43 miles) north of the area’s main town of Wana, a military official said.

(Compiled by Kamran Haider; Editing by Chris Allbritton) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

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FACTBOX-Security developments in Pakistan, June 20

June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Pakistan at 0602 GMT on Sunday.

QUETTA – A car-bomb blast wounded four soldiers and four passersby on the outskirts of Quetta city, police said.

Quetta is the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province where Baluch militants have waged a low-level insurgency for decades for greater autonomy.

MOHMAND – Security forces battled Taliban militants near the Afghan border late Saturday, killing four militants and wounding 10, a paramilitary spokesman said on Sunday.

ORAKZAI – Four Taliban fighters, including a commander, were killed in an accidental explosion in a hideout in Orakzai tribal region, officials said.

(Compiled by Islamabad Bureau; Editing by Bryson Hull) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

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12 killed in bomb, gun battle at Iraq central bank

June 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 13 (Reuters) – At least 12 people were killed and 22 wounded on Sunday after a bomb attack on Iraq’s central bank and a subsequent gun battle between security forces and gunmen, officials said.

The attackers, who might have been attempting to rob the bank’s vaults, had ended up on the rooftops of some of the buildings within the Central Bank of Iraq’s compound, said a bank spokesman. (Reporting by Suadad al-Salhy; Writing by Michael Christie;

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Fighting kills at least 12 in Somali capital

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

MOGADISHU (Reuters)- Fighting between government forces and rebels, and a roadside blast Wednesday killed at least 12 people in the Somali capital and wounded 22 others, a medic and residents said.

World

The anarchic country’s U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government controls just a few blocks of the war-scarred coastal city and its security forces have been fighting to regain Mogadishu’s north.

Residents in the first incident said rebels attacked government forces between the president’s palace and the main Bakara Market, prompting an exchange of shells and machinegun fire.

“We have so far collected seven dead people and 22 others injured from around Bakara market,” Ali Muse, the coordinator of ambulance services, told Reuters.

“Among the dead is a mother. Most of the shells landed in and around the market. Death toll may rise because shelling is still going on.”

Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years and Western efforts to install one to guide the country back to stability have been greatly undermined by an insurgency by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents and another smaller group, Hizbul Islam.

In another incident, residents said at least five policemen on patrol died and another was wounded in a roadside blast targeting them.

“I could see five dead policemen and another seriously injured. The area was soon sealed off by the government forces. I was passing near the scene when the explosion happened,” Hussein Osman, one resident, said.

Government officials and rebels could not immediately be reached for comment.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters are trying to hold on to the city’s north which puts the presidential palace, known as Villa Somalia, within easy range of their crude mortar rockets.

Al Shabaab, and a second hardline group Hizbul Islam, have been fighting President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s Western-backed government since the start of 2007.

In the last two days, four ministers have resigned. Three stepped down Tuesday, including a defense minister who said he was quitting because the government had failed to fulfill its pledge to restore order.

(Writing by Abdi Sheikh, editing by George Obulutsa and Ralph Boulton)

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Fighting, blast kills at least 12 in Somali capital

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

MOGADISHU, JUNE 9 (Reuters)- Fighting between government forces and rebels, and a roadside blast on Wednesday killed at least 12 people in the Somali capital and wounded 22 others, a medic and residents said.

The anarchic country’s U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government controls just a few blocks of the war-scarred coastal city and its security forces have been fighting to regain Mogadishu’s north.

Residents in the first incident said rebels attacked government forces between the president’s palace and the main Bakara Market, prompting an exchange of shells and machinegun fire.

“We have so far collected seven dead people and 22 others injured from around Bakara market,” Ali Muse, the coordinator of ambulance services, told Reuters.

“Among the dead is a mother. Most of the shells landed in and around the market. Death toll may rise because shelling is still going on.”

Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years and Western efforts to install one to guide the country back to stability have been greatly undermined by an insurgency by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents and another smaller group, Hizbul Islam.

In another incident, residents said at least five policemen on patrol died and another was wounded in a roadside blast targeting them.

“I could see five dead policemen and another seriously injured. The area was soon sealed off by the government forces. I was passing near the scene when the explosion happened,” Hussein Osman, one resident, said.

Government officials and rebels could not immediately be reached for comment.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters are trying to hold on to the city’s north which puts the presidential palace, known as Villa Somalia, within easy range of their crude mortar rockets.

Al Shabaab, and a second hardline group Hizbul Islam, have been fighting President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s Western-backed government since the start of 2007.

In the last two days, four ministers have resigned. Three stepped down on Tuesday, including a defence minister who said he was quitting because the government had failed to fulfill its pledge to restore order. [ID:nLDE6571U4] (Writing by Abdi Sheikh, editing by George Obulutsa and Ralph Boulton)

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INTERVIEW – Thai PM says election possible early next year

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thai Prime Minsiter Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday that an emergency decree would remain in place for now, but the situation was calm and an election was possible early next year.

Abhisit, in an interview, also said economic growth in the second quarter could exceed 6 percent and full-year growth could be close to 6 percent. He expected no rush by the central bank to raise rates as that would depend on recovery and inflation.

The prime minister said he wanted a quick end to emergency measures, imposed on about a third of the country amid the most violent protests in the country’s modern history between security forces and “red shirt” anti-government protesters.

But they would remain in place for now.

“I think people understand that this is needed to make sure that we can curb some of the remaining activities as far as those who want to use violent means are concerned,” Abhisit told Reuters on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting.

Things were calm, he said, but “feelings could run high”.

“We want to do it as soon as possible,” he said.

“And what we’re waiting now is to make sure that everything’s in place, the police, the governors who’ll be the ones to tell us that they are confident to deal with the situation without added special power granted by the state of emergency.”

An early election, focal point of the protests, could solve problems and lead to reconciliation.

“If we pursue the reconciliation plan, if we get good cooperation, especially from people in the opposition, I think we could look at elections sooner rather than later,” he said.

The mostly poor rural and urban protesters, broadly allied with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, blame authorities for the violence during which 88 people were killed.

Protesters, camped out in Bangkok for six weeks, had demanded an early election, saying Abhisit had no popular mandate and had come to power illegitimately in a parliamentary vote.

On the economy, Abhisit 12 percent gross domestic product growth in the first quarter had been “very impressive”. Forecasts had been cut back, but he hoped to achieve 6 percent for 2010, exceeding a state planning agency projection of 3.5-4.5 percent.

Interest rates had been kept at a record low of 1.25 percent since April 2009 to help revive the economy and any central bank move to raise them, he said, would depend on annual inflation, which picked up to 3.5 percent in May from April’s 3.0 percent.

“I don’t think they will be in a rush to raise interest rates, but obviously that will depend on how strong a recovery we see and how much upward pressure there is on inflation,” he said.

(Editing by Ron Popeski)

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Dialogue and rights violations can’t go together: Mirwaiz

May 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, May 31 (IANS) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, said here Monday that ‘human rights violations and the dialogue process cannot go on together’ in Jammu and Kashmir, referring to the killing of three civilians in an alleged staged shootout last month.

Reacting to the alleged fake shootouts in Machil sector on the line of control (LOC) April 30 in which three local villagers were allegedly framed and killed as separatist guerrillas, the Mirwaiz told a media conference at his party’s uptown Rajbagh headquarters today that ‘Human rights violations and the dialogue process cannot go on together’.

‘If we have to talk about the future of the people, how can that happen once the very lives of the people are threatened here,’ the Mirwaiz said.

Three villagers — Shahzad Ahmad Khan, Riyaz Ahmad Lone and Muhammad Shafi Lone — were allegedly framed and killed as separatist guerrillas in a staged shootout April 30 in the Machil sector on the Line of Control (LOC).

An Indian Army major and four others, including a Territorial Army soldier, have been booked for the killings.

‘We will not tolerate the murders of innocent people through fake encounters. An international committee must probe these fake encounters to establish the facts,’ the Mirwaiz told reporters.

‘We have no faith in Indian investigating agencies and the local police. We have seen how the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) dealt with the Shopian double murder and rape case,’ he said.

Two women were found dead by the side of a stream in Shopian town May 29 last year, triggering a Valley-wide agitation with people alleging that the duo had been raped and subsequently murdered by the security forces.

The CBI report in December had ruled out rape and murder as no external injuries were found on their bodies. It said the two had died due to accidental drowning.

The Mirwaiz alleged that many local youths had been missing from their homes during recent months and that a probe by an international committee was needed to establish their whereabouts.

He also said that India was trying to dodge international pressure to begin demilitarization and the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

‘Development, progress and constructing bridges will serve no purpose as long as the future and lives of the Kashmiris are at risk,’ the Mirwaiz said.

‘Why are the so-called democratic and secular Indian political parties silent at the fake encounters,’ he asked.

He added that in future, separatist leaders would not announce their programmes as the authorities here were putting them under house arrest to scuttle their plans.

‘We will be undertaking surprise visits to meet the people and not announce our programmes ahead as the security forces here put us under house arrest to scuttle our programmes,’ the Mirwaiz said.

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South Africa games moved from Jamaica due to violence

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The violent situation in Jamaica has led cricket authorities to move a one-day international and the first test against South Africa to Trinidad, the West Indies Cricket Board said on Wednesday.

The fifth one-day international on June 3 and the opening test from June 10, both scheduled for Sabina Park in the Jamaican capital Kingston, will now be held at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Kingston has suffered four days of violence with security forces fighting armed supporters of a fugitive alleged drug lord in clashes that have killed nearly 50 people.

(Reporting by Simon Evans; editing by Kevin Fylan)

(To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Blast in south Russia: at least 4 killed, 39 injured

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

An explosion near a concert hall killed four people and injured 39 others in the southern Russian city of Stavropol today, with authorities saying they were probing the possibility of a terror angle into the blast.

The explosive device went off outside the House of Culture and Sports in the city, the capital of the region bordering the volatile North Caucasus.

According to the local authorities four women were killed in the blast, which took place near the hall where Caucasian dances were taught, a agency said.

The state-run Rossiya TV said that a terror angle was being probed, although the authorities have not ruled out that blast could have been triggered by business rivals as one of the cafe’s was badly damaged.

“A terrorist attack is being considered as one of the versions of what occurred,” city administration civil defense chief Boris Skripka was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti.

Stavropol lies on the north of the volatile Caucasus region, and borders on restive Chechnya and Daghestan, where frequent attacks are carried out by Chechen separatists against the security forces.

At least 50 people were killed and over 100 injured in March this year when two women suicide bombers blew themselves up at two different locations inside the Moscow Metro during the morning rush hour. The Metro bomers hailed from Daghestan.

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UP move to wean away tribals from Maoists

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lucknow, May 27 — In an attempt to wean away tribals from the influence of Maoists and gear up security in three-affected districts- Mirzapur, Sonebhadra and Chandauli- the state government has chalked out an elaborate action plan. The additional director general (law and) Brijlal would be on a tour of the affected region on May 26 and 27 to review the prevailing situation. Brijlal said both UP police/ PAC and CRPF had been deployed in the region to contain the menace. Brijlal told journalists in Lucknow on Tuesday that apart from reviewing the preparedness of the security forces, he would also take stock of community policing, which had yielded positive results in control the situation. In fact the state government is of the view that more than law and order problem the Naxal crisis is product of massive socio-economic disparity in the region. Chief Minister Mayawati also held the centre responsible for rising Naxal problems. Brijlal thus said that people’s involvement in controlling the situation had improved the situation. He said as a part of community policing the state police had also launched welfare schemes like organizing medical camps, distributing foodgrains, clothes, utensils and bicycles to the people. Brijlal said he would inspect all these works.

Mayawati said due to abject poverty, unemployment, lack of health and education facilities in Naxal affected areas, people felt ignored and they were forced to become the supporters of Naxalism. She said the faulty policies of centre and previous state governments were responsible for the growing menace of Naxalism.

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