Iraq study estimates war-related deaths at 461,000
About half a million people died in Iraq as a result of war-related causes between the US-led invasion in 2003 and mid-2011, an academic study suggests.
University researchers from the US, Canada and Iraq based their estimate on randomised surveys of 2,000 households.
The toll includes not only violent deaths from the invasion and subsequent insurgency, but avoidable fatalities linked to infrastructure collapse.
It exceeds the 112,000 violent civilian deaths reported by Iraq Body Count.
The British-based organisation bases its tally on media reports, hospital and mortuary records, and information from official and non-governmental sources.
Minibus blast kills 21 in southern Syria: activists
BEIRUT | Wed Oct 16, 2013 5:41pm EDT
(Reuters) – Twenty-one people, including four children and six women, were killed when a minibus hit a mine in the southern Syrian town of Noa on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
Opposition activists told the Observatory the minibus drove over a mine planted by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. There was no immediate comment from the government.
The explosion was reported in rebel-held territory in Deraa province but army troops are also stationed in the nearby base of Tel al-Jumaa, which is besieged.
Pakistan bomber kills 8, including local official
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber shot his way into the residence of a provincial government minister in northwestern Pakistan, killing the official and seven others in an explosion, police said.
The blast Wednesday near the town of Dera Ismail Khan also wounded more than 30 people, senior police officer Mohammad Jan said. The minister of law for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Israullah Gandapur, was meeting with people at his house to celebrate the Muslim Eid holiday when the bomber struck, Jan said.
The attacker first shot dead the guard at the house before blowing himself up inside the guest room of the minister’s residence, the officer said. The minister died on the way to the hospital.
The suicide bomber got very close to the minister before the blast and carried about 8 kilograms (17 pounds) of explosives on his body, Jan said.
Fighting in Tunisia kills two
(CNN) — Two Tunisian national guard officers were killed and another was wounded Thursday in clashes between government forces and an “armed terrorist group” in the turbulent North African nation, a state-run news outlet reported.
The fighting occurred in Gbollat in the northern part of the country.
The Interior Ministry said forces are conducting searches and are working to arrest militants.
Iraq: Wave of Car, Suicide Blasts Kill at Least 61
A barrage of car bomb and suicide bomb blasts rocked Baghdad and two northern Iraqi communities Thursday, killing at least 61 people during a major holiday period and extending a relentless wave of bloodshed gripping the country.
The bulk of the blasts struck in mainly Shiite Muslim parts of the Iraqi capital shortly after nightfall, sending ambulances racing through the streets with sirens blaring. Authorities reported nine car bomb explosions across Baghdad, including one near a playground that killed two children.
It was the deadliest day in Iraq since Oct. 5, when a suicide bombing targeting Shiite pilgrims and other attacks left at least 75 dead.
Iraq is weathering its deadliest outburst of violence since 2008, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed it to the brink of civil war in the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraq’s resurgent branch of al-Qaida is believed to be behind much of the killing as part of its campaign to undermine the Shiite-led government.
2 Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Separate Incidents
A Pakistani military official says two soldiers have been killed in separate incidents.
The official says a Pakistani Ranger was killed Thursday by “unprovoked firing” by Indian troops along the disputed northwestern India-Pakistan border.
But an Indian Border Security Force officer, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, says their forces retaliated after being fired on by the Pakistani side.
The two countries often exchange gunfire and accusations along the tense boundary.
In the second incident, the Pakistani official says a soldier was killed by militants near the border with Afghanistan in South Waziristan.
Islamist Group Says It Killed Afghan Governor
Logar Province Governor Arsala Jamal sits in his office on September 25.
An Islamist group calling itself the Fidain (Sacrifice) Front of the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for this week’s killing of an Afghan governor.
In a statement e-mailed to RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on October 17, the group said the explosive that killed the governor of Logar Province, Arsala Jamal, had been planted under the stage of the mosque from which he was delivering a speech to mark the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday on October 15.
Attack on security checkpoint in Egypt thwarted, 6 militants killed
AL-ARISH, Egypt, Oct. 17 (UPI) — Six alleged militants planning an attack at a security checkpoint at the Al-Arish, Egypt, airport were killed by authorities, witnesses said.
Two residents were also injured in the attack and were transferred to a hospital, MENA said.
The suspects were preparing for the attack behind the airport when authorities opened fire.
MENA said that militants have increased the intensity and frequency of their attacks since former president Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July.
(TT NOTE: Defiling a koran is obviously no problem for the Muslim waging jihad in allah’s name)
Afghans Say Logar Governor Killed By Bomb In Koran
Security forces inspect the entrance to a mosque where Logar Governor Arsala Jamal was killed by a bomb blast on October 15.
October 16, 2013
KABUL — Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) says an investigation into an explosion in Logar Province that killed Governor Arsala Jamal on October 15 shows the explosive material was placed inside a Koran.
The blast occurred in a mosque as Jamal was delivering a speech to mark the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday. The governor was the only person killed, though 15 people were wounded.
The NDS said it is still trying to determine how the explosive device was smuggled into the mosque and who was behind the attack.
(File photo)
Iraq: Blasts Kill at Least 61 People
A barrage of car-bomb blasts and suicide bombings rocked Baghdad and two northern Iraqi communities on Thursday, killing at least 61 people, Iraqi authorities said.
The bulk of the blasts struck in mainly Shiite parts of Baghdad shortly after nightfall. The authorities reported nine car bomb explosions across Baghdad, including one near a playground that killed two children.
Fighting in Tunisia kills two
(CNN) — Two Tunisian national guard officers were killed and another was wounded Thursday in clashes between government forces and an “armed terrorist group” in the turbulent North African nation, a state-run news outlet reported.
The fighting occurred in Gbollat in the northern part of the country.
The Interior Ministry said forces are conducting searches and are working to arrest militants.
Top Syrian army general killed while on duty, state TV says
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Oct. 17, 2013: A view shows part of al-Bouydah suburbs ,south of Damascus, after soldiers loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad took control of it from the Free Syrian Army, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria’s national news agency SANA. (REUTERS)
BEIRUT – A top Syrian army general has been killed in fighting with rebels, state-run Syrian television reported Thursday, as the country’s deputy prime minister floated Nov. 23-24 as possible dates for talks on a political solution to the conflict.
The television report said Gen. Jameh Jameh was killed while on duty in eastern Syria. It said Jameh, who was the head of the military intelligence directorate in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, was killed by rebels in the provincial capital that carries the same name.
Jameh was one of the most powerful Syrian army officers in the country and played a major role in Lebanon when Damascus dominated its smaller neighbor.
