No image available
/ 18 January 2008
Pakistani forces killed up to 90 militants in two battles on Friday in the South Waziristan region on the Afghan border, the military said. The clashes came two days after hundreds of militants overran a paramilitary fort in another part of South Waziristan.
No image available
/ 18 January 2008
A few days ago a Pakistani newspaper published a cartoon of a political weather map forecasting bombs all across Pakistan. It is all too real. There has been no let-up in attacks in a country still reeling from the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide-bomb attack last month.
No image available
/ 16 January 2008
In 16 years of working at resorts along Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, hotel manager Mohamed Hersi has never seen it this bad. His five-star hotel in Mombasa is devoid of tourists who would normally be crowding its large, ornate dining area and its sunny beaches during the current high season.
No image available
/ 15 January 2008
Pakistani political leaders face a looming threat of attack and must get serious about their security and avoid unnecessary exposure in the run-up to a February general election, the government said on Tuesday. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on December 27.
No image available
/ 14 January 2008
The United States military said on Monday it had killed 60 militants during a week-long, US-led offensive in northern Iraq against al-Qaeda, a resilient foe that has resisted previous attempts to drive it from the region. The US military, which has declared al-Qaeda the single greatest threat to Iraq’s security, launched the offensive on January 8.
No image available
/ 14 January 2008
Pakistani security forces killed 23 Taliban fighters and lost seven of their own men during clashes on Monday, according to an army officer, while a Taliban spokesperson said 17 troopers were captured. Residents in Mohmand said the army had opened up with artillery and helicopter gunships after the Taliban ambushed a paramilitary troop convoy.
No image available
/ 12 January 2008
A suicide bomb attack that killed 19 people in Lahore, which had been a haven from violence, demonstrates an intensifying show-down with militants at a time when Pakistan is in a volatile political flux. The blast in the country’s political nerve centre on Thursday carried an ominous message ahead of February’s national election.
No image available
/ 11 January 2008
American planes on Thursday mounted the biggest recent air strikes of the Iraq war, pounding what the United States military called al-Qaeda ”safe havens” south of Baghdad. US spokespersons said 18 tonnes of explosives were dropped by B-1 bombers and F-16 fighters in 10 minutes on targets in Arab Jabour.
No image available
/ 10 January 2008
Morocco and Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement ended a third round of talks near New York City on Wednesday without narrowing differences on Africa’s longest-running territorial dispute. But United Nations mediator Peter van Valsum said the sides had agreed to meet again from March 11 to 13 at the same location in the town of Manhasset.
Suspected Islamist rebels killed five soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy east of Algiers on Wednesday, a security source said. The attack occurred near the town of Tizi Ouzou, 120km east of the capital, the source said, without giving further details.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday his government was committed to finding the truth behind the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and he vowed to punish her killers. Bhutto, twice Pakistan’s prime minister, was killed in an attack on December 27 as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi.
Nascar driver Robby Gordon says the cancellation of the Dakar Rally cost him approximately ,5-million, and he disagreed with the decision not to race at least a portion of the event. Gordon said his team had built two cars for the event and had more than -million invested in each vehicle.
Israeli officials in Jerusalem are to deploy more than 10 000 police officers in a vast security operation ahead of the arrival this week of George Bush, the first United States president to visit in a decade. Graffiti are being cleaned off walls, road markings are being repainted and hundreds of American flags are being put up across the city.
A suicide bomber killed nine people during celebrations to mark Army Day in the eastern Baghdad suburb of Karrada on Sunday, the latest in an upsurge of suicide bombings in Iraq. The blast took place outside the offices of an NGO called the Iraqi Unity Gathering, which had been hosting an event for army officers and tribal leaders from both of Iraq’s religious sects.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf conceded that a gunman may have shot Benazir Bhutto but said the opposition leader exposed herself to danger and bore responsibility for her death, CBS News said on Saturday. Musharraf was also quoted as telling the CBS 60 Minutes programme that his government did everything it could to provide security for Bhutto.
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki said on Saturday he was ready to form a government of national unity to end post-election violence that has killed hundreds of people and forced 250 000 to flee their homes. The development could be a breakthrough after a week-long stalemate between Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
A British police team flew into Pakistan on Friday to help probe the killing of Benazir Bhutto after President Pervez Musharraf admitted he was unhappy with his country’s handling of the investigation. The detectives from an elite anti-terrorism team at Scotland Yard flew in amid raging controversy over the assassination of the opposition leader.
A team of police from Britain’s Scotland Yard is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Friday to help probe the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as the controversy over her death rages on. On Thursday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf admitted he was ”not fully satisfied” with his own country’s handling of the investigation.
The Attorney General on Thursday called for an independent probe into Kenya’s election after a day of battles in Nairobi between police and demonstrators disputing the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki. The opposition called off a rally in a central park, saying it wanted to save lives, after a day of fighting during which police fired live rounds in the air.
More than 200 militants were killed in last month’s major operation to retake the southern Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Thursday. Seventeen Taliban commanders were among the dead following the military operation to drive out the rebels, who had held the small town for 10 months, the ministry said.
The death toll from political violence in Algeria jumped to 56 in December from six in the previous month, bringing to 491 the number of those killed in 2007, according to a Reuters count based on newspaper reports. A total of 37 people, including 17 United Nations staff, were killed in a double suicide bombing in the capital, Algiers, on December 11.
Kenyan police fired tear gas and water cannon on Thursday at thousands of anti-government protesters chanting ”Peace” and singing the national anthem as they tried to march to a banned rally. Nairobi became a battleground as shots rang around, crowds ran to-and-fro, riot police thronged the streets and plumes of smoke rose.
Oil prices dipped on Thursday, after leaping to a lifetime high of the day before, fuelled by expectations of thinning United States stockpiles, the falling dollar and geopolitical risks. US light crude for February delivery fell 32 cents to ,30 a barrel in Globex electronic trading by 5.24am GMT. US crude touched a barrel in the previous session.
Pakistan election officials were Wednesday poised to announce the date of crucial polls, thrown into chaos in the wake of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. A few hours later President Pervez Musharraf is to address the nation for the first time since her slaying at a campaign rally last week.
A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people and wounded 38 at a funeral in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday as the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital for months cast a pall over New Year celebrations. Baghdadis had greeted 2008 at family gatherings and parties impossible just months ago when travel across the capital at night was too dangerous.
Pakistan parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8 will be held in February, a senior election commission said on Tuesday. ”Elections will not be delayed beyond February. We expect it to be towards the later part of next month,” the official said. The commission was to make a public announcement later in the day.
No image available
/ 30 December 2007
The son of slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was chosen on Sunday to take the mantle of her party and immediately vowed to keep up what he called her struggle for democracy. At an emotional news conference where his father was named co-chair of the Pakistan People’s Party, 19-year-old Bilawal Bhutto said he was ready to lead.
No image available
/ 30 December 2007
Security forces were on alert on Sunday in the Sunni regions of Iraq where Saddam Hussein drew his most fervent support, as loyalists of the ousted dictator marked the first anniversary of his execution. Police and troops were patrolling the village of Awja, Saddam’s birthplace and where he now lies buried.
No image available
/ 29 December 2007
Benazir Bhutto’s party challenged official versions of the opposition leader’s assassination and accused the government on Saturday of trying to cover up failures just days before planned elections. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda-linked militants denied being behind the killing of the 54-year-old former prime minister.
No image available
/ 29 December 2007
Pakistan was on Saturday gripped by division and uncertainty following the burial of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as her supporters angrily rejected a government explanation of her death. Bhutto died on Thursday shortly after a suicide attack targeting her vehicle at a campaign rally in the northern city of Rawalpindi.
No image available
/ 28 December 2007
Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest next to her father in the family mausoleum on Friday after the opposition leader’s assassination plunged Pakistan into crisis and triggered violent protests across her native Sindh province. Thousands of mourners wept as Bhutto was carried from her ancestral home in Sindh to the mausoleum.
No image available
/ 28 December 2007
Pakistan pointed a finger on Friday at al-Qaeda for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, as her body was taken to her ancestral home for burial and anger at her death erupted into deadly unrest. The scale of the violence left the nuclear-armed Muslim nation shell-shocked, triggering alarm around the world.