Sunday, April 22, 2012

Another major Kabul strike foiled, 3 rebels held (Video)

KABUL (PAN): Afghan security personnel on Saturday foiled a plot to carry out another massive attack in capital Kabul, seizing 10 tonnes of explosives and arresting three Pakistani nationals, alleged deployed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said officials.

The militants and an explosives-laden truck were detained during a special operation by the intelligence staff, Shafiqullah Tahiri, a spokesman for the National Directorate of Security (NDS) briefed reporters today.


He said the three -- Asghar Khan, Majid Rahman and Qemat Khan -- with strong allegiance to Pakistani Taliban and two of their Afghan facilitators Abdul Qayyum and Jan Agha, residents of central Kapisa, were arrested in the capital.

from Pajhwok



Afghan forces arrest five men with 10,000kg explosives

Read more: http://sgt-jim.blogspot.com/2012/04/afghan-forces-arrest-five-men-with.html
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Fresh air raids by Yemeni warplanes kill 12 al-Qaida militants

ADEN, Yemen, April 21 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 militants of the al-Qaida terrorist group were killed and five others injured on Saturday evening in air strikes by Yemeni air forces in the southern province of Abyan, a government official said.

Two fighter jets raided a location of the al-Qaida insurgents on the outskirts of Lauder town, about 150 km northeast of Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, killing at least 12 militants and injured five others, the local government official told Xinhua anonymously.

"This was a planned air bombing attack by our air forces against the al-Qaida fighters in Jabel Yaswf area in Luader town," the official said.

On the same day, the government troops, with support of counter- terrorism units, managed to regain control of large parts of the neighborhoods of Zinjibar city that had been under the al-Qaida's control for almost one year, according to military officials.

During the fighting, up to 25 al-Qaida militants attacked an army post of the 39th Armored Brigade on the outskirts of Zinjibar in Abyan, sparking a fierce battle that killed eight soldiers and injured 13 others, an army officer told Xinhua anonymously.

U.S. drones and Yemeni warplanes have regularly targeted al- Qaida insurgents in southern Yemeni regions, which were seized by the group in May 2011 following a surge of violence, killing and injuring scores of terrorists.

In recent months, hundreds of militants from the Yemen-based al- Qaida branch, locally known as Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), are attempting to expand their foothold and take control over the county's southern regions where central authority has nearly no presence.

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3 killed, 17 injured in bomb attacks in Iraq


BAGHDAD, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and 17 others injured Saturday in separate bomb attacks in Iraq, the police said.

In the morning, two roadside bombs went off almost simultaneously near two minibuses at the Shiite neighborhood of Chikook in northwestern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 12 others, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In eastern Iraq, Hisham al-Hiyali, governor of Diyala province, survived a roadside bomb explosion near his convoy while travelling near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a source from Diyala's operations command anonymously told Xinhua.

Three of Hiyali's bodyguards were wounded by the blast, which also damaged one of his convoy's vehicles, the source said.

In the western province of Anbar, two policemen were injured when a sticky bomb attached to their car detonated near the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua.

The attacks came two days after a series of deadly bomb attacks, reportedly believed to be carried out by Qaida militants, which mainly targeted Iraqi security forces in six Iraqi provinces, killing up to 43 people and wounding some 155 others.

Violence and sporadic high profile attacks are still common in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease of violence over the past few years.
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Kidnapped Spanish doctor released in Nigeria

MADRID, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish doctor kidnapped in Nigeria on April 4 has been released, Spanish diplomatic sources confirmed on Saturday.

Jose Manuel Machimbarrena, who is 58 years old, was released on Friday and is reported to be back at home in the Nigerian state of Enugu in the southwest of the country.

He is said to be tired, but in good health after an ordeal lasting two and a half weeks.

It is still unknown whether a ransom was paid for the doctor, who has worked in Nigeria for over 30 years. Police are still searching for the kidnappers, who took Machimbarrena away from his car as he was returning home from the hospital where he works.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo expressed his satisfaction at Machimbarrena's release and highlighted the cooperation between Spanish and Nigerian authorities.

The kidnapping had been for economic rather than for political motives, he said.
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