Sunday, September 2, 2012

AMISOM forces kill 36 Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia

NAIROBI, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) killed at least 36 Al-Shabaab militia late Friday as the troops took over Miido town in a fierce exchange of fire that last several hours in southern Somalia.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said on Saturday that five KDF soldiers are missing in action while three sustained injuries and have been flown to Dhobley to receive treatment.

"AMISOM forces together with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia soldiers in Sector 2 captured Miido town and neutralized at least 36 Al-Shabaab militants," Chirchir said in his official Twitter account.

Chirchir said that during the battle with the insurgents, AMISOM forces comprising of Kenyan and Somali soldiers also managed to destroy seven Al-Shabaab technical vehicles and logistic supplies while other assorted weapons and ammunitions were recovered.

The development came as the military has stepped up security along Kenya's common border with Somalia following an outbreak of fighting between AMISOM forces and the Al-Shabaab militia.

The Kenyan forces currently under the command of AMISOM are dealing with specific targets against the Al-Shabaab, but security had been reinforced on the Kenyan side of the border.

Sources said that during the battle, the Kenyan fighter jets and helicopter gunships fired bombs at the militants inflicting heavy injuries on the militants.

The sources said hundreds of the insurgents blamed for bomb and grenade attacks on the Kenyan soil including abduction of foreigners had left the strategic port city of Kismayo to prevent Kenyan and Somalia forces from deriving them from their last stronghold.

The AMISOM forces have been very active this week after killing more than 40 militants earlier in the week as they stepped up their onslaught to rid off the Horn of Africa from Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab has vowed reprisal attacks in Kenya, mainly targeting security forces in border towns of northern Kenya where dozens of people have been killed in landmine and grenade attacks blamed on the militant group.

Al-Shabaab has said it views the presence of Kenyan troops in southern Somalia as an act of war.

The group which has teamed up with global terror network al Qaida is now vowing an all-out war in Kenya, in protest against the military incursion "against our brothers in Somalia."

Kenya has seen several hit-and-run grenade attacks in recent months in the capital, Nairobi, and in northern Kenya and in the port city of Mombasa. The Kenyan authorities often blame such attacks on al Qaida-affiliated Al-Shabaab rebels from neighboring Somalia.

The east African nation launched cross-border incursion into Somalia last October in pursuit of the militants blamed for a series of grenade and landmine attacks in Nairobi, Mombasa and northern region.

The authorities have called on Kenyans to be vigilant over terror attacks because of higher numbers of foreign fighters who sneaked into the country.

from XINHUA
2012-09-01 23:25:2

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10 Taliban insurgents killed in Afghanistan within 24 hours (02.Sep.2012.)

KABUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Up to 10 Taliban insurgents have been killed and 32 others detained in operations in different Afghan provinces within the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Sunday morning.

"Afghan National Police (ANP), army, NDS or intelligence agency and NATO-led coalition forces launched seven joint cleanup operations in Takhar, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Ghazni, Paktika, Paktia and Helmand provinces, killing 10 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 32 others over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

They also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without saying if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

The Taliban insurgent group, which launched in May this year spring offensive against Afghan and NATO forces, have yet to make comments.

Afghan forces and some 130,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified operations against Taliban and other militants recently but the insurgents responded in retaliation by carrying out suicide attacks and roadside bombings.

A total of 16 people were killed and 90 others, including two U. S. soldiers with the coalition wounded in two suicide bombings in eastern Wardak province on Saturday morning.

Separately, Taliban shot and killed Hajji Hamidullah a member of district council in Nawa district of southern Helamnd province earlier Saturday, a provincial police spokesman Farid Farhang told Xinhua.

from XINHUA
2012-09-02 13:11:21

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Sep. 02., 2012. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed nine insurgents, detained eight, located a weapons cache and cleared three improvised explosive devices during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours, Sept. 1.

Ghazni province
Afghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces detained an insurgent while investigating a weapons cache in Andar district. The cache contained homemade explosives. The detained suspect was transferred to a base for questioning.

Afghan National Police and coalition forces killed two insurgents during an engagement in Ajiristan dstrict.

Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces killed six insurgents, wounded one and detained four during engagements in Giro district. The wounded received medical care and was transferred to a base for questioning along with the detained insurgents.

Logar province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Baraki Barak district.

Nangarhar province
Afghan Uniformed Police and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Behsud district.

Paktika province
Afghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces found and safely cleared an IED in Jani Khel district.

Paktiya province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces detained two insurgents during an engagement in Lajah Ahmadkhel District. The detained suspects were transferred to a base for questioning.

Wardak province
A coalition airstrike killed an insurgent in Sayyidabad District in response to an imminent threat towards Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces.

Operations in RC-East are still ongoing.

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Islamic Extremists Seize Town in Northern Mali

Islamic extremists have seized a town in northern Mali, close to government-controlled territory.

Witnesses in Douentza say members of the group calling itself the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa entered the town early Saturday morning and disarmed a local militia.

No violence was reported, but one Islamist leader tells the Associated Press that the group has holding the militia members in custody.

Douentza is about 180 kilometers from the city of Mopti, which is the unofficial border between the Islamic-held north and the government-controlled south.

Islamists took over much of northern Mali in April after rebel soldiers overthrew the democratically-elected government.

Mali is also struggling with a long-running drought and famine, which has affected more than 4 million people.

from VOA News
September 01, 2012

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Explosion kills five Boko Haram in northern Nigeria

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Five suspected Boko Haram bombers on Saturday died while two soldiers and a teenager were injured following a bomb explosion in the Nigeria's northeast city of Maiduguri.

Military sources told Xinhua that the five bombers were killed by the security forces in the city when the fuel-propelled explosion went off.

Spokesperson of the Military-led Joint Task Force (JTF) Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said in a statement that the bombers attacked a patrol team of the task force at Ruwan Zafi, along Dikwa-Gamboru Road of the metropolis on Friday night.

"Fuel Propelled Improvised Explosive Device was used by the terrorists during the attack which resulted to fire outbreak that burnt some adjoining shops," Musa said, adding "five of the bombers were killed" while two soldiers and a teenager were wounded as a result of the encounter.

from XINHUA
2012-09-02 06:18:06

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