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| October 28, 2007 | Sunday | Shawwal 15, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Fighting in Swat leaves 10 militants dead: military ISLAMABAD, Oct 28 (AP): Security forces backed by helicopter gunships exchanged gunfire with militants in Swat, a volatile area in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 10 fighters, the military said. The military's public relations department said in a statement that the fighting occurred in Swat where supporters of Maulana Fazaullah, a pro-Taliban cleric have been fighting with security forces since Friday. (First Posted @ 17:22 PST Updated @ 17:36 PST)
Army gunships pound militant hideouts in Swat SWAT, Oct 28 (AFP): Army gunship helicopters on Sunday pounded the hideouts of militants loyal to Maulana Fazlullah, a radical cleric after several days of clashes with troops in troubled northwest Pakistan, officials said.They were targeting militants holed up near villages in Swat valley. The helicopters were backing paramilitary troops and police in their attempts to drive the militants out of villages and other areas in Swat. “The NWFP has army helicopters at its command and they use these whenever there is a need,” top military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. (Posted @ 15:35 PST)
3 rockets hit Peshawar city; Bilour’s house hit but no casualties Peshawar, Pakistan, Oct 28 (AP) Three rockets hit Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, before dawn Sunday, one striking a politician's house across the road from the U.S. Consulate, but no one was hurt, police said. One of the rockets hit the house of Awami National Party leader Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a former provincial governor, which lies about 20 meters from the American consulate, his secretary Gul Mohammed Khan said.“We heard an explosion and went on the roof and saw the remains of the rocket. It caused some damage but everyone is safe,” he said. Police official Imitiaz Khan said another rocket hit an empty house and yet another landed in a street, causing no significant damage or injury. The rockets were fired between 3:15 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. (2215GMT and 2300GMT) It was not clear from where or by whom. Imitiaz Khan said police were investigating and explosive experts were examining the rockets. Peshawar is about 50 kilometes from scenic Swat Valley where cleric Fazlullah’s supporters are defying the law enforcement agencies. (Posted @ 09:15 PST)
Militants guard domain of cleric's seminary in northwest Pakistan SWAT, Pakistan, Oct 28 (AP) Long-haired militants with assault rifles and walkie-talkies guard the approach to a sprawling seminary, the stronghold of radical cleric, Maulana Fazlullah. Inside is a mosque and a maze of dozens of rooms, many still under construction, and a shop selling audio cassettes of speeches by Fazlullah, who has earned the nickname “Mullah Radio” for his pirate FM broadcasts While scores of militants lurked outside the seminary, the concrete-built complex near the village of Imam Dheri was largely empty after Friday's fighting when militants traded rocket and gunfire across the river with security forces backed by helicopter gunships. At least three people died in the clashes. In a back room, Fazlullah's spokesman Sirajuddin said: “He is here and we are in contact,” he told the AP and two local journalists in an interview. He was constantly interrupted by calls on two cell phones. “If a military operation starts against us there will be suicide attacks as well as a guerrilla war,” he said. Sirajuddin laid out Fazlullah's demands. Hostilities would cease if Shariah, or Islamic law, was adopted and the government released Sufi Muhammad, Fazlullah's father-in-law who was jailed in 2002 for having sent thousands of volunteers to Afghanistan during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. “The situation in the whole country, particularly here, has changed because of Lal Masjid,” Sirajuddin said, referring to the Red Mosque in Islamabad. “This situation is the reaction to Lal Masjid.” (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
80 Taliban killed near Taliban controlled Musa Qala town KABUL, Oct 28 (AP) U.S.-led coalition forces killed about 80 Taliban fighters during a six-hour battle outside the Taliban-controlled town of Musa Qala in Helmand province, _ the world's largest poppy growing region, officials said Sunday. The battle is at least the fifth major fight in the area since Sept. 1 with more than 250 Taliban casualties in NATO forces bid to wrest the area back from Taliban militants. (Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February). The latest fight began Saturday when Taliban fighters attacked a combined U.S. coalition and Afghan patrol with rockets and gunfire, prompting the combined force to call in attack aircraft, which resulted in “almost seven dozen Taliban fighters killed,” the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement early Sunday. The coalition said that four bombs were dropped on a trench line filled with Taliban fighters, resulting in most of the deaths. The coalition said it killed about 50 militants in two days of fighting in Musa Qala Oct. 19-20, and that it killed more than 100 fighters there on Sept. 26. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Benazir visits bomb blast victims in Larkana LARKANA, Oct 28 (AFP): Benazir Bhutto on Sunday visited a family whose son was killed in the October 18 suicide blasts. The mood was more sombre as Benazir called on the bereaved family in their two-room mud house in Larkana before moving on to the home of a party worker who was injured in the blasts. Hundreds of people climbed onto rooftops and gathered in lanes of the impoverished neighbourhood to try to catch a glimpse of Bhutto. Security was once again very tight, with large numbers of private guards and paramilitary officers, armed with machine guns, surrounding the houses and keeping supporters at bay. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Iraq draws 0-0 with Pakistan in World Cup qualifier DAMASCUS, Syria, October 28, (AP) - Iraq advanced to the second qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup after drawing 0-0 with Pakistan on Sunday. (Posted @ 23:48 PST)
Israel cuts fuel shipments to Gaza GAZA CITY, Oct 28, (AFP) - Israel cut fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Israel reduced the amount of fuel it provides for Gaza's main power plant from 360,000 liters a day to 273,000, according to an official from the EU, which is responsible for delivering fuel to the power station. (Posted @ 23:04 PST)
Fire breaks out at Radio Pakistan in Karachi KARACHI, Oct 28 (APP): A fire broke out in the historic building of Radio Pakistan Karachi Station located on M.A. Jinnah Road here on Sunday. An official of the Central Fire Brigade said the fire started from the studio. Eight fire tenders were used to put out the fire. The cause of the fire and the extent of damage could not be ascertained immediately, the official added. All the 14 studios of Radio Pakistan on the first floor of the building and engineering equipment including Master Control Room were destroyed, said a PBC press release issued here. The sound library of Radio Pakistan having precious collections since independence as well as office record remained safe. (First Posted @ 15:25 PST Updated @ 22:30 PST)
Ethiopian forces kill three civilians in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Oct 28 (AFP): Ethiopian forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting against their presence in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing three, witnesses said, as fresh violence engulfed the Somali capital. A crowd of hundreds of protestors chanting “Allahu Akbar” and wielding sticks were marching in the streets of southern Mogadishu to protest against the latest Ethiopian crackdown. A young boy and two other civilians died when Ethiopian forces in Suqaholaha area opened fire, a witness told AFP. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
14 migrants dead off southern Italian coast ROME, Oct 28 (Reuters): At least 14 migrants died in the waters off southern Italy in two separate incidents overnight, coastguard officials said on Sunday. Six of the victims died when their 23-metre-long vessel sank near the Calabrian coast. More than 113 others on board survived, swimming to shore. The second incident involved a shipwreck off Sicily in which another eight migrants died. (Posted @ 19:56 PST)
Japanese boats fire water cannon at Chinese protesters in disputed territory HONG KONG, Oct 28 (AP): Japanese patrol vessels fired water cannon Sunday at a boat carrying Chinese activists who were protesting Japanese claims to territory in the East China Sea, the activist group said. A boat carrying the protesters arrived near the disputed islets known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and Senkaku in Japan on Sunday evening. “The Japanese used water cannon to disperse the boat to around 12 nautical miles away,” a Japanese official said. (Posted @ 19:48 PST)
Thousands rally in New York against Iraq war NEW YORK, Oct. 28 (APP): Thousands of protestors took to the streets Saturday along Broadway in New York City to demand an end to the Iraq war and prevent another on Iran. Organized by the United for Peace and Justice coalition, almost 75,000 protestors braved rain to march from Union Square to Foley Square, chanting slogans like “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!” (Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Europeans offered Chad children sweets to leave home ABECHE, Chad, Oct 28 (Reuters): Europeans offered sweets and biscuits to encourage poor African children to leave their homes, children said on Sunday, as Chad probed an operation to ship out young children to live with families in Europe. Aid workers were caring for the children in the eastern city of Abeche, where authorities detained nine French nationals on Thursday as they prepared to fly 103 children to France. (Posted @ 19:24 PST)
11 Sunni tribal chiefs kidnapped in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Oct 28 (AFP): Eleven Sunni tribal leaders from the restive province of Diyala were kidnapped in Baghdad on Sunday after meeting a top official in the prime minister's office, a security official told AFP. (Posted @ 18:46 PST)
Explosion hits anti-PKK rally in Turkey ISTANBUL, Oct 28 (Reuters): An explosion hit a demonstration against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Turkish city of Izmit on Sunday, slightly injuring three people, state news agency Anatolian reported. (Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Saudi king to begin European tour in Britain RIYADH, Oct 28 (AFP): King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is to travel to Britain on Monday at the start of a four-nation European tour, the royal court announced on Sunday. The tour, which will also take the king to Italy, Germany and Turkey. (Posted @ 18:16 PST)
Lawson says Pakistan cricket players need to get fitter LAHORE, Oct 28 (Reuters): Pakistan's cricketers need nine to 12 months of work to get to the fitness level expected of professional players, Australian coach Geoff Lawson said on Sunday. “They are really a group of good people besides being good cricketers. They want to do well and work hard,” Lawson said in an interview with Reuters. (Posted @ 18:02 PST)
Turkish troops kill 20 Kurdish militants TUNCELI, Turkey, Oct 28 (Reuters): Turkish soldiers killed 20 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in clashes in eastern Turkey on Sunday, army sources said. There was no information on any army casualties. Earlier, army sources had said an 8,000 troop-strong operation had been launched in central-eastern Turkey. (Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Car bomb kills eight in Kirkuk KIRKUK, Oct 28 (Reuters): A car bomb exploded outside a bus terminal in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing eight people and setting shops and cars ablaze, police said. A police official said 28 people were also wounded. Some 25 shops and 10 cars were destroyed in the blast. (Posted @ 17:38 PST)
Bangladesh university reopens after student unrest DHAKA, Oct 28 (Reuters): Dhaka University, Bangladesh's biggest, reopened on Sunday, with cheerful students thronging the campus, shut down following student violence over two months ago. The violence in late August was triggered by the presence of army troops at a campus football match, and later spread to other universities across the country. University officials said they were still negotiating with law enforcement authorities to secure the release of teachers and students detained after the August 22 unrest. (Posted @ 17:02 PST)
Bus crash kills 23 in Cameroon YAOUNDE, Oct 28 (Reuters): A head-on crash at night between two buses killed 23 people and injured 36 others in Cameroon, state radio reported Sunday. A third bus crushed two people on a motorcycle and plunged into a ditch after swerving to avoid the collision, which happened on Saturday evening around 70 km north of the commercial capital, Douala. (Posted @ 16:52 PST)
4 killed as farmers, communists clash over land in eastern India CALCUTTA, Oct 28 (AP): Farmers and government supporters clashed over land seizures in West Bengal, leaving four people dead, police said Sunday. Violence has plagued Nandigram area, where farmers have fiercely resisted efforts by authorities to force land sales at cheap rates to set up an industrial zone. At least 29 people have died in Nandigram since January over plans to build the industrial zone. (Posted @ 16:36 PST)
Polls open in Argentina's presidential election BUENOS AIRES, Oct 28 (AFP): Polling stations opened across Argentina Sunday as the country's 27 million voters were called on to select a new president and half the seats in parliament. Fourteen candidates are vying to succeed President Nestor Kirchner -- with his wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, considered the favourite, according to voter surveys. (Posted @ 16:24 PST)
At least five killed in Philippine landslides MANILA, Oct 28 (AP): At least five people, including three children, died and three others were missing in landslides set off by heavy rains in the central Philippines, officials said on Sunday. The landslides hit five towns in Catanduanes province, about 360 kilometers southeast of Manila, on Saturday, killing two adults and three children in two villages. (Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Indian troops' partial pullout from occupied Kashmir by Nov. 30 NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (APP): Indian troops partial pullout from schools, hospitals and other public places in occupied Kashmir and relocation within the state will be carried out by November 30 this year, the daily newspaper “The Asian Age” reported from Srinagar. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
India's poorest march on Delhi for land rights NEW DELHI, Oct 28 (AFP): Thousands of poor farmers, landless workers and indigenous people reached the Indian capital Sunday after a month-long protest march to highlight the plight of those marginalised by India's economic boom. Men, women and even children from India's neglected hinterlands walked in orderly lines waving green and white flags or carrying photographs of freedom icon and revered “untouchable” leader Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar. Their demands -- the right to land and water -- compete with India's aims of turning rural land into industrial zones and attracting foreign investment to maintain its scorching growth of more than nine percent. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Israeli foreign minister to lobby China over Iran JERUSALEM, Oct 28 (Reuters): Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni flew to China on Sunday to lobby for tougher international sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme. Livni's visit to Beijing comes as political directors from China and the four other permanent Security Council members as well as Germany prepare to discuss a possible new resolution this week. Iran has shrugged off the sanctions, insisting its nuclear programme is peaceful. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Battles rock Mogadishu for second day MOGADISHU, Oct 28 (Reuters): Fighting raged for a second day in the Somali capital on Sunday as Ethiopian troops clashed with militants in the heaviest battles for weeks. A Reuters correspondent said gun and artillery duels that began in Mogadishu before dawn on Saturday had resumed in force. At least 15 people have been killed including seven Ethiopian soldiers, local media said. Fearful residents cowered behind closed doors as the forces of the government, installed by Ethiopia and the US, tried to crush the militants. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)
China bus accident kills nine, injures 20 BEIJING, Oct 28 (Reuters): Nine people were killed and at least 20 others injured when a bus crashed through a guard rail and tumbled off a highway in northwest China's Gansu Province, Xinhua said on Sunday. The crash was heard by local traffic police whose station was only 200 metres from the scene. The police said they administered first aid immediately, but the casualties are still severe. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
North Korean nuclear talks focus on energy aid SEOUL, Oct 28 (AFP) North Korea and the five other nations involved in disarmament talks will this week resume negotiations on energy aid for Pyongyang in return for its promised nuclear shutdown, officials said Sunday. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Sri Lanka says 29 rebels die in northern clashes COLOMBO, Oct 28 (Reuters) Sri Lankan troops killed 29 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers also died in clashes in the north, the military said on Sunday. Troops fought four separate battles with LTTE)in the northern district of Vavuniya on Saturday, and killed 29 terrorists and wounded many in series of attacks in Vavuniya on Saturday,” said a spokesman. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Over 520 foreigners arrested in crack down QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 28 (PPI): More than 520 foreign nationals, mostly, Afghans have been arrested in Balochistan provnce during the past two days but no Ferrari or accused involved in serious cases was rounded up. Security forces and police rounded up 275 foreigners mostly Afghans on borders of Chaman and Dalbandin while entering Pakistan illegally. One hundred and fifty Afghans were arrested for staying unlawfully in Turbat and Taftan. No passport or valid travelling document was found with these persons. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
US to transfer security of Karbala to Iraqis KARBALA, Iraq, Oct 28 (AFP) The US military will hand over control of the Shiite province of Karbala to Iraqi security forces next week, the province's governor Akhil al-Khazali said Saturday as violence claimed another 29 lives across the country. Meanwhile, Iraqi troops found 17 decomposed bodies of unidenfied men near Baquba as 12 other people were also killed in the country on Saturday. In another incident gunmen wearing military uniforms abducted Colonel Amer Nsaif, the police chief of the town of Muqdadiyah in Diyala, and his seven bodyguards, security officials said. Insurgents also killed 12 people in Iraq on Saturday, including five in Diyala. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Niger rebels kill 12 soldiers in ambush NIAMEY, Oct 28 (Reuers) N iger's Tuareg-led rebels said on Saturday they had killed at least 12 soldiers and destroyed two army vehicles in the desert north of the central African country, but the military denied this.The rebels demand greater regional autonomy and want a larger share of revenues from major uranium mines in the region to be spent on local development. Niger's uranium provides around a quarter of France's electricity and French state-run utility. Chinese investors hope to start production soon. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
At least three die in Colombia bombing before vote BOGOTA, Oct 28 (Reuters) Two Colombian marines and at least one civilian were killed when guerrillas bombed a military patrol in the country's main Pacific port city less than two days before elections, authorities said Saturday. Nine people were also wounded in the blast on Friday night outside a restaurant. The attack came before Sunday's vote for governors, mayors and local councils that analysts say will be a test of how far President Alvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed security policies have curbed the violence and political influence of armed groups. At least 21 candidates have been killed during the run-up to the elections. (Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Protesters in U.S. cities call for end to Iraq war NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) Anti-war demonstrators marched in a dozen U.S. cities on Saturday to call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq and a cut-off of funding by Congress. The “national day of action,” sponsored by the United for Peace and Justice coalition, attracted throngs of protesters in cities from Boston and New Orleans to Chicago and Los Angeles on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Senate's vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq. Wet weather dampened the turnout in New York, but thousands braved the rain for the anti-war event in Manhattan. In Chicago, an estimated 10,000 people gathered at Union Park for the march to Federal Plaza. Democratic Reps. Danny Davis and Rep. Jan Schakowsky both told a rally before the march they would oppose any further funding for the war in Iraq without a formal withdrawal date. Organizers said demonstrators in San Francisco were expected to number as many as 100,000. Protests were also slated for Seattle, Salt Lake City, Orlando, Philadelphia and even Jonesborough, Tennessee, home to a company that is the largest producer of weapons that use depleted uranium. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
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