Taliban

Dozen die in suicide attack in Afghanistan

Agencia EFE — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:02:01 +0000

Agencia EFE

Kabul, May 16 (EFE).- Six NATO personnel were among at least a dozen people killed Thursday in a suicide attack targeting a military convoy in the Afghan capital, officials said.

Two uniformed military personnel and four civilian advisers died, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said.

ISAF did not specify the nationalities of the dead, but the Pentagon and Virginia-based DynCorp International independently identified the NATO fatalities as two U.S. soldiers and four security contractors.

Suicide car bomb strikes NATO convoy in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 and wounding dozens

The Canadian Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:01:10 +0000

The Canadian Press

KABUL - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing at least six people in the explosion and wounding more than 30, officials said.

A Muslim militant group, Hizb-e-Islami, claimed responsibility for the early morning attack and said it had formed a special "martyrdom" unit to attack foreign troops. The announcement could mean a steep escalation for the movement, which is based in northeastern Afghanistan and which has fought against the American-led coalition but is also a fierce rival of the Taliban.

Kabul suicide bombing of NATO convoy kills 15

Agence France-Presse — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:45:19 +0000

Agence France-Presse

A suicide car bomb targeted a foreign military convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing 15 people including five Americans in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for nearly a year, officials said.

The powerful explosion, which struck at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) in the Shah Shaheed southeastern residential district, also injured about 40 passers-by including many children going to school, officials said.

Nine Afghans including two children died, along with two US soldiers and four NATO-contracted civilians who were travelling through the city's busy rush-hour traffic.

Canada officially declares Taliban and Haqqani network as terrorists

The Canadian Press — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:02:25 +0000

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - More than a decade after going to war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Canadian government has officially declared them a terrorist group.

The minister of public safety added the Taliban to the so-called list of entities earlier this month.

The government also added the Haqqani network, an Islamist group believed to be behind attacks on international coalition forces still in Afghanistan.

The two additions bring to 46 the number of groups on the terrorist list, which was set up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Roadside bomb kills 10 in Afghanistan

Agencia EFE — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:33:37 +0000

Agencia EFE

Kabul, May 13 (EFE).- Ten Afghan civilians were killed and a dozen others wounded Monday when a roadside bomb detonated as their vehicle was passing, the police chief in Kandahar province told Efe.

The blast occurred shortly after midday in the Maruf district and the fatalities include four women and three children, Abdul Raziq said, blaming the attack on the Taliban.

Efe was unable to reach any Taliban spokesman for comment.

Pakistani army vows to protect voters in landmark election

Thomson Reuters — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:30:04 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Michael Georgy

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's military said on Thursday it will send tens of thousands of troops to polling stations and counting centers to prevent the Taliban from disrupting Saturday's election after the insurgent group's attacks in the campaign killed over 100 people.

The election, already Pakistan's most violent, marks the first time that a civilian government will complete a full term and hand over to another administration.

Pakistan turnout 30% by midday: official estimate

Agence France-Presse — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:54:48 +0000

Agence France-Presse

Turnout in Pakistan's landmark elections on Saturday was around 30 percent by midday and is expected to rise to 60 percent before the polls close, the election commission estimated.

"The turnout is really encouraging. Now we are at 30 percent. We expect it will be close to 60 percent at the end of the day," spokesman Khurshid Alam told AFP, saying the rate was higher than at the same point in the last election.

Overall turnout was 44 percent during the 2008 polls.

3 Die in Pakistan bomb attack

Agencia EFE — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:30:26 +0000

Agencia EFE

Islamabad, May 10 (EFE).- Three people died and at least 10 were injured Friday in a motorcycle-bomb attack in the North Waziristan tribal area, Pakistani media said.

According to the daily Dawn, the attack took place at a market in the town of Miransha and was perpetrated with an explosive device detonated by remote control.

There was no indication of the target of the attack, though the Express Tribune said the explosion occurred just as a car drove by the motorcycle bomb.

Some of the wounded suffered serious injuries, according to Geo television.

Pakistan court upholds the country's right to shoot down U.S. drones

Kyodo News International — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:21 +0000

Kyodo News International

A provincial high court on Thursday upheld the right of Pakistan to shoot down CIA drones that have killed more than 1,400 civilians in the North and South Waziristan tribal areas in the last five years.

"The drone strikes in Pakistan are a blatant breach of the absolute right to life" and "naked aggression on the sovereign territory/airspace of Pakistan...carried out at the whim and will of the CIA," Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad said in a ruling.

Hashimoto clarifies remarks on "comfort women" after flak

Kyodo News International — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:30:16 +0000

Kyodo News International

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Wednesday sought to clarify his remarks on a system to recruit women into sexual servitude for Japan's soldiers during World War II, saying he personally does not condone the scheme.

Two days after he made controversial remarks that the so-called comfort women were "necessary to maintain discipline" in the Japanese military, Hashimoto told reporters he simply stated a fact that people at the time had that kind of view.

New jihadi magazine appeals for help against drones

Thomson Reuters — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:44:20 +0000

Thomson Reuters

By Myra MacDonald

LONDON (Reuters) - A new jihadi magazine set up by militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan has appealed to Muslims around the world to come up with technology to hack into or manipulate drones, describing this as one of their most important priorities.

The first issue of the English-language online magazine, called "Azan", was published on May 5, the SITE intelligence monitoring group said. It compared Azan to "Inspire" magazine, set up by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Bombs kill 15 on Pakistan campaign trail

Agence France-Presse — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:00:30 +0000

Agence France-Presse

Bombs killed 15 people and wounded dozens more including an election candidate in Pakistan on Tuesday, raising to more than 100 the death toll from attacks on the campaign for Saturday's polls.

The attacks took place in the northwestern town of Hangu, a flashpoint for violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and in the northwestern district of Dir, where Pakistani troops crushed a Taliban-led insurgency in 2009.

Suicide bomber kills five, wounds Pakistan poll candidate

Agence France-Presse — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:16:00 +0000

Agence France-Presse

A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded a Pakistani election candidate Tuesday as he campaigned in the restive northwest, raising the death toll in the nation's bloody poll campaign to 97.

The latest attack in the town of Hangu, a flashpoint for violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, comes a day after the deadliest bombing so far on the election campaign.

"At least five people have been killed and several injured," police official Tahir Khan told AFP, warning that the death toll could rise.

At least 15 people killed in explosion in Pakistan tribal area

Kyodo News International — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:15:21 +0000

Kyodo News International

At least 15 people were killed and 70 injured in a bomb explosion Monday in a public meeting in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, police and administration officials said.

They said a planted device went off during an election campaign meeting held by the Jamiat Ulema Islam-F party at a religious school in Kurram Agency bordering Afghanistan's Paktika Province.

The explosion occurred a few meters from the main platform as the participants were dispersing.

Bomb kills three at Pakistan election rally

Agence France-Presse — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:15:31 +0000

Agence France-Presse

A bomb tore through a Pakistani election rally Monday, killing at least three people and wounding 45 others in a town in the country's northwestern tribal belt, an official said.

The attack brings to 72 the number of people killed in attacks targeting politicians and political parties since April 11 ahead of Pakistan's general elections on Saturday, according to an AFP tally.