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| September 09, 2007 | Sunday | Sha'aban 26, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan troops kill 10 militants WANA, Pakistan, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships killed at least 10 Islamic militants who ambushed an army convoy in a tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said Sunday. The clash in the lawless frontier district of South Waziristan was the latest incident in a wave of violence sparked by a deadly government raid on the pro-Taliban Red Mosque in Islamabad. It happened overnight in the town of Pash Ziarat, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said. “The militants attacked a military convoy in the area and troops retaliated. Ten militants were killed and many wounded, while seven soldiers suffered minor injuries,” Arshad told AFP. The militants then retreated and took up positions in nearby hills and started firing at security forces checkposts, where US-built Cobra gunship helicopters targeted them until early Sunday, Arshad said. Casualty details were not available for the second part of the fight, he said. (Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Yasin Malik’s 'journey for freedom' SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Sept 09 (AFP) JammuKashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik Friday led hundreds of pro-freedom marchers through Srinagar as women showered petals and men garlanded him. “I am here to seek your support, support for freedom and to take forward the mission of martyrs,” he told the crowds who turned out to greet him in the city, urban hub of a nearly two-decade revolt against New Delhi's rule. The march was part of Malik's ongoing “journey for freedom” that he launched on May 20 from southern Anantnag district, aimed at winning “a place at the negotiation table with India and Pakistan.” The JKLF chief has already covered nearly 1,600 villages and major towns since the march started. He set out on his march to Srinagar's centre on Friday from the suburban Batamaloo area as this place has suffered the most, said Malik, as he read out the names of more than 300 people, including women and children, who have died in insurgency-related violence in the area. En route, the JKLF leader stops to address roadside gatherings. “It definitely reminds me of the early 1990s when we used to be out on the streets demanding freedom,” said Khatija Begam, who garlanded Malik in Srinagar under the glare of torchlights as security forces looked on. After completing his tour of the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, Yasin Malik will head to the southern Hindu-dominated Jammu region. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Afghan suicide attackers coming through Pakistan: UN KABUL, Sept 9 (AFP) The spiralling number of suicide attacks in Afghanistan are often carried out by young Afghan men who pass through religious schools in Pakistan, a United Nations report said Sunday. Some attackers appeared driven by anger at the presence of international forces and the civilians being killed in their anti-Taliban operations, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) study said. Others were motivated by religious zeal or were young boys who had been abducted and forced into the task or somehow persuaded they would survive and earn rewards such as cash, a motorcycle or a cell phone, it said. “They appear to be young (sometimes children), poor, uneducated, easily influenced by recruiters and drawn heavily from madrassas across the border in Pakistan,” the report said. The “majority of those who came from Pakistan are Afghan, but not all, either refugees or coming in and out of Afghanistan,” UNAMA head Tom Koenigs told reporters ahead of the document's release. There are more than two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The report, however, cited a “senior” Taliban commander, who was not identified, as saying that more than half were not Afghan citizens, with some coming from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Arab countries. He also said 80 percent of suicide attackers passed through recruitment centres, training facilities or safe houses in Pakistan's Waziristan area. “The tribal areas of Pakistan remain an important source of human and material assistance for the insurgency generally but suicide attacks in particular,” the report said. Nonetheless, Afghans were also providing “necessary support to suicide cells within Afghanistan such as safe houses, training facilities and in many cases explosives.” (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
US soldier killed in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Insurgents killed an American soldier and wounded two others on Sunday during combat operations in Baghdad, the US military said. An Iraqi interpreter was also wounded in the attack which occurred in the west of the city, it said. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
At least 20 feared killed in collapse of overpass in southern India HYDERABAD, India Sep 9 (AP) - At least 20 people were believed dead after a highway overpass collapsed Sunday in southern India, police said. Several people were believed still trapped in the rubble after the accident in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state, local police chief Balwinder Singh told reporters. Cranes and ambulances were rushed to the accident site, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Man shoots dead eight people in Turkey ANKARA, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - A man shot dead eight people dead on Sunday with a hunting rifle in a small village in southwest Turkey before fleeing, Anatolia news agency reported. The shootings took place in the hamlet of Karaadilli in Afyon province, 300 kilometres west of Ankara, the report said. Police were hunting the man, identified only by the initials O.T. (Posted @ 20:15 PST)
Al-Qaeda militant behind deadliest Iraq attack killed: US BAGHDAD, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - A US air strike killed the Al-Qaeda militant who masterminded Iraq's deadliest bomb attacks which killed more than 400 people on August 14, a US military spokesman said on Sunday. “On September 3, a coalition air strike killed the terrorist responsible for the planning and conducting of the horrific attack against the Yazidis in northern Iraq on August 14,” Rear Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Nuclear program not negotiable says Iranian president TEHRAN, Sept 9 (AP) – Iran Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that his country would not negotiate with anyone over its disputed nuclear program, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. ''Iranians are a nation of logic and dialogue but it will not negotiate about its rights with anybody,'' the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. ''Enemies of this nation should known that Iran is not about to retreat.'' (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Taliban attack WFP convoy, 13 rebels killed: official KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept 9, (AFP) - A group of Taliban on motorbikes ambushed a World Food Programme convoy in Afghanistan, sparking a gunfight that left 13 militants and two police dead, a provincial governor said Sunday. The convoy, escorted by highway police, was attacked on Saturday in the remote western province of Farah by rebel fighters on motorbikes and in station wagons, the governor of neighbouring Nimroz province said. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Afghanistan's Karzai led to safety after gunfire scare KABUL, Sept 9 (REUTERS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai broke off from a speech and was hustled safely away from a ceremony at Kabul's sports stadium on Sunday after what sounded like gunshots in the vicinity, witnesses said. State television showed Karzai, who has survived several assassination attempts in recent years by suspected Taliban members, being led from the stadium by his U.S.-trained bodyguards.The ceremony was held to mark the sixth anniversary of the killing of Ahmad Shah Masood, (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Thousands flee homes as fresh floods hit Bangladesh DHAKA, Sept 9 (REUTERS)Large swathes of Bangladesh were underwater again on Sunday after heavy rains, adding to the misery of millions hit by flooding that has killed more than 830 people since late July. Weather officials said that nearly 20 of the country's 64 districts were flooded after three days of rain swelled major rivers flowing through India into Bangladesh. The rains have also triggered fresh floods in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, the officials said.(Posted @ 14:20.PST)
5 Iraqi policemen killed in insurgent raid on station BAGHDAD Sept 9 (AP),Scores of gunmen raided a police station in predominantly Sunni village in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing five policemen before they were driven off with the help of residents, police and eyewitnesses said. The attackers drove in 10 vehicles from the west into Hajaj, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, and opened fire on the police station at about 10 a.m., according to an eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.(Posted @ 14:10 PST)
Three killed in Russian Caucasus clashes: reports MOSCOW, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) -A soldier and two insurgents died overnight in Russia's troubled North Caucasus province of Ingushetia, Russian media reports said Sunday.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Third international soldier killed in Afghanistan weekend KABUL, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) -An international soldier was killed in action in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, the US military said, becoming the third foreign soldier to die in anti-Taliban operations at the weekend. The soldier died after being struck by an improvised bomb that wounded four other troops in volatile Helmand province, the US-led coalition said in a statement. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
27 killed in bus accident in Tanzania ARUSHA, Tanzania, Sept 9 (AP) - At least 27 people were killed in a bus accident on Saturday in southwestern Tanzania, police said. A bus tried to overtake a car and crashed into a truck about 50 kilometers from the town of Mbeya, it said adding that 43 people were seriously injured.
Moroccan nationalists in suprise election win RABAT, Sept 9 (AFP) Morocco's oldest political party Istiqlal emerged Saturday as the biggest in parliament after an election marred by the lowest turnout ever recorded in the North African nation. The nationalist Istiqlal won 52 seats, five more than the moderate Justice and Development Party (PJD), according to preliminary results quoted by Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa. The Union of Socialist Popular Forces (USFP) trailed in third place with 36 seats. Benmoussa said the turnout was just 37 percent of the 15.5 million electorate, down from 52 percent in the last election in 2002. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Tennis: Federer and Djokovic set up US Open final NEW YORK, Sept 9 (AFP) Roger Federer will go for his 12th Grand Slam title in Sunday's US Open final, while his opponent, Novak Djokovic, will play in the final of one of the four majors for the first time. Both came through their semi-finals on Saturday in straight sets, top seed Federer defeating fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1, 7-5 and third seed Djokovic beating Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
30 suspected militants killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Sept 09 (AFP) – International military war planes bombed apparent rebel hideouts in Garmser area of Helmand province, killing more than 30 suspected militants, the US-led coalition said Sunday. The strikes were in the same area and at roughly same time that two British soldiers were killed in action early Saturday.(Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Tennis: Henin proves all with greatest Slam win NEW YORK, Sept 09 (AFP) - Justine Henin beat Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 to win the year's final Grand Slam title, completing a fantastic fortnight in which she never dropped a set and beat Venus and Serena Williams. “This one is maybe the most important one. The quality I played in the last few matches is amazing,” Henin said. “I've been so consistent for two weeks and so calm, so relaxed. It's just great what I did and I'm really proud of it.” The 25-year-old Belgian added to a Grand Slam haul that also includes the US Open crown she took in 2003, her 2004 Australian Open victory and French Open titles in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.(Posted @ 09:20 PST)
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