Car bombs, shooting kill 9 in Iraq as militants seize soldiers
Car bombings and shootings killed nine people across Iraq on Sunday, authorities said, as militants kidnapped soldiers in an embattled province where Al Qaeda-linked fighters hold portions of two major cities.
Kirkuk deputy police chief Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman Youssef said three car bombs exploded Sunday afternoon simultaneously in separate residential neighborhoods. Youssef said the blasts killed four people and wounded 14.
The northern city of Kirkuk is 180 miles from the capital, Baghdad.
In Baghdad, police and medical officials said gunmen shot dead a former army officer and his wife in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad’s northeastern suburbs. Police officers also found three bodies around the capital, their hands and feet tied, all killed by what appeared to be close-range gunshots to the head, officials said.
Fighting goes on in Syria, many militants killed
Fierce fighting is raging on between foreign-backed militants and Syrian government forces near the capital Damascus.
On Sunday, the Syrian army targeted militant strongholds in the valley of Ein Tarma as well as the towns of Zamalka and Arbin, killing a number of militants.
The army also captured a large number of weapons, including machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and mortar shells from militants.
Elsewhere in the Syrian town of Ras al-Ain near the Turkish border, over two dozen militants were killed in battles pitting a team of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against Kurdish fighters.
The Kurds have fought fierce battles against the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in recent months.
More here. (warning, Iranian propaganda rag, PressTV)
Clashes leave 88 dead in Libya
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Two weeks of ethnic clashes in Libya’s main southern city Sebha have killed at least 88 people and wounded more than 130, the city’s hospital director said on Saturday.
“Between the outbreak of the fighting on January 11 and Friday evening, the number of dead totalled 88,” Abdallah Ouheida told AFP.
He said the full death toll was almost certainly higher as casualties had also been taken to other hospitals in the region.
He said there had been sporadic clashes on Saturday but no immediate new casualties.
Clashes kill almost 50 on anniversary of Egypt’s revolution
CAIRO – Almost 50 people died in violent clashes in Egypt Saturday, as the conflict-torn country marked the third anniversary of the uprising that overthrew autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.
The country’s health ministry said at least 247 people were wounded and 49 killed in rival demonstrations between opponents and supporters of Egypt’s military-led government.
Security forces broke up several protests pitting Islamist and secular activists against each other.
Saturday’s clashes follow a common pattern of violence that has taken over the country since Mubarak’s ouster — one that was stoked in July, when the army deposed Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi.
Gunmen kill police officer guarding Hindu temple in Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — A police constable guarding a Hindu temple in northwest Pakistan was shot dead Sunday, authorities said.
Two assailants in a motorbike shot the policeman who was standing guard outside a temple in Peshawar, said Faisal Mukhtar, the city’s police superintendent.
Authorities do not have a motive for the attack.
Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim countries where other religions account for little more than 3% of the population.
South Sudan: More Than 30 Rebels Killed in Lakes On Way to Unity State, Official
Rumbek — Days after the South Sudanese government and rebels signed a ceasefire deal to end the 5-week-old conflict on Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, authorities in Lakes state say they have managed to push rebel forces out of areas along the west bank of the White Nile River.
Under the deal, the SPLM/A in Opposition and the SPLM government agreed to stop attacks and movement of the their forces. However, both sides exchanged accusations that the deal had been violated on Friday and Saturday, claiming that the other side was unable to control their forces.
The Lakes state government said the clashes occurred when soldiers who had defected from the South Sudanese army (SPLA) in Juba last month attempted to pass through Lakes to reach Unity state which has been a focus of the rebellion.
