At least 13 killed in north Yemen clashes – security source
SANAA Sat Mar 1, 2014 1:24am EST
(Reuters) – At least 13 people died when Shi’ite Muslim fighters clashed with security forces in northern Yemen on Friday, government sources said, underlining the chaos still gripping the country two years after mass protests ousted its leader.
The fighters were from the Houthi movement which is seeking to strengthen its hold on the north – one of a string of challenges facing an interim government also battling southern separatists, al Qaeda-linked militants and an economic crisis.
Local authorities said two soldiers were killed in the attack and four others were wounded when Houthis attacked a security checkpoint in the northwestern al Jawf province, according to state news agency Saba.
An exchange of fire took place as a result of the attack and three of the Houthi attackers were killed and several others were then arrested, a statement by the local authorities said.
Gunmen kill Egypt policeman as 1 killed in protest
AP1:47 p.m. EST February 28, 2014
CAIRO (AP) — Gunmen killed a police officer Friday in northern Egypt who worked as a guard for a judge hearing a case against the country’s ousted president as his supporters held scattered demonstrations that saw one person killed, authorities said.
The police officer had been riding a motorcycle in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura when gunmen on another motorbike opened fire on him, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on its official Facebook page.
A security official said the slain officer guarded a judge in one of four trials facing toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The official said the officer was killed on his way from the judge’s home.
Officials also said they dismantled a homemade bomb on a main bridge in the north of Cairo.
5 cops killed in Afghanistan clashes
Friday, February 28, 2014 – Maimana, Kunduz—Five policemen, including a senior officer were killed in different clashes in northern Faryab and Kunduz provinces of Afghanistan, officials said Thursday. Abdul Qadir Qaderi, Pashtunkot district chief of Faryab, said police commander, Dastan, and three of his associates were killed in a rocket attack fired by Taliban. Their bodies were said to be in Taliban’s custody.
The insurgents’ group spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack. Separately, in northern Kunduz province, unidentified gunmen stormed the house of a police officer killing him and wounding his wife. Lt. Hakimullah Aimaq, fourth police district chief, said his department had started investigation to nab the culprits.
Brig. Gen. Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani, provincial police chief, in a ceremony of Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups Programme (DIAG), said around 20 big and small weapons had been collected in Shiberghan. “At least 400 illegally armed individuals have been active in the province who will be arrested soon,” he pledged.
3 militants killed in shootout in NW Pakistan
Three militants, including a key commander, were killed and three more injured in a fierce gun battle between extremists and security forces in the restive tribal belt of northwest Pakistan today.
The fighting occurred in Bara area of Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan.According to security sources, troops signalled some motorcyclists to stop in the area. However, the motorcyclists began firing and tried to flee.
The security forces retaliated, killing three militants and injuring three more. Two security personnel were injured in the shootout.
Syrian air strikes kill three near Lebanese border
BEIRUT Fri Feb 28, 2014 12:13pm EST
(Reuters) – Syrian air strikes near the Lebanese border town of Arsal killed three people and wounded seven on Friday, security sources said, in further spillover from Syria’s civil war that has raised tensions across Lebanon.
The sources said the dead were believed to be rebels involved in Syria’s conflict but their nationality remained unclear. Mainly Sunni Syrian insurgents and Sunni allies from Lebanon are fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad and they often use Arsal as a border crossing.
Rockets fired by Sunni militants inside Syria later in the day wounded a woman and her two children in the Lebanese town of Britel, a stronghold of the pro-Assad Shi’ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, 35 km (20 miles) south of Arsal.
Senior anti-al-Qaeda tribal leader killed in Iraq
A bomb explosion has killed a prominent anti-al-Qaeda leader along with six of his militiamen in western Iraqi town of Haditha, in troubled Anbar Province.
The incident occurred late on Thursday when a bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into the guesthouse of Sheik Saeed al-Osman, according to local police chief, Colonel Farouq al-Jughaifi.
Five civilians were also injured in the attack, the police official added.
Osman was a councilman and a top tribal leader in Haditha, which is located about 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
The bombing came on the heels of the latest string of deadly attacks, in which more than 50 people lost their lives across Iraq.
