Somali capital rocked as car bomb targets popular hotel
Mogadishu (AFP) – A car bomb went off on Saturday in central Mogadishu near a hotel popular with government officials and businessmen, police and witnesses said.
“There was a car bomb explosion near the rear gate of the Maka Al Mukarama hotel. It seems that the car was parked there loaded with explosives but we are still investigating casualties”, Mohamed Mire, a police officer told AFP.
Witnesses told AFP of casualties being carried from the scene of the blast, but it was not clear if they were injured or dead.
Police confirmed at least one person was injured in the blast, which appeared to target hotel, which is popular with government officials and businessmen who have returned home after years abroad.
The area around the hotel has been targeted several times in the recent past and the hotel itself was hit by a car bombing in November 2013 that left several people dead.
19 killed in two bomb attacks in Pakistan
Egyptian Soldier Killed in Cairo
- Maddy Fry @maddyfryabides March 13, 2014
The military has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for an attack on an army vehicle
Masked gunmen in Cairo shot dead a soldier Thursday after opening fire on an army bus.
Gunmen attacked the bus in the eastern district of Cairo, reportedly the first attack on Egyptian military in the country’s capital. Three journalists were also injured in the attack.
Although no militant group has claimed responsibility, the Egyptian military blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, reports the BBC. The army posted a message on its Facebook page accusing “armed men belonging to the terrorist Brotherhood group of targeting an armed forces company.”
5 Egyptian soldiers killed at checkpoint
Published on March 15, 2014 by pmnews
Gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint in Cairo Saturday, killing five Egyptian soldiers, state television reported.
The attack comes two days after gunmen attacked a military bus in the capital, killing a soldier. Militants have launched scores of attacks, mainly targeting security forces, since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.
Most of the attacks have taken place in the restive Sinai Peninsula, but in recent months militants have expanded their reach to the Nile Delta and the capital.
The government has blamed much of the violence on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which renounced violence decades ago and has denied any involvement.
The most prominent attacks, including a car bombing at a police headquarters in Cairo and the downing of a military helicopter in Sinai, have been claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), a Sinai-based jihadist movement.
The group has said the attacks are in retaliation for a brutal government crackdown on Morsi’s Islamist supporters, which Amnesty International says has claimed some 1,400 lives.
Shiite rebels, soldiers killed in Yemen firefight
March 13, 2014 07:43 PM
Tribesmen loyal to the Shi’ite Houthi group attend a tribal gathering to show support to the group in Amran province north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa March 13, 2014. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
SANAA: Six Shiite rebels and two soldiers were killed in a firefight near Sanaa on Thursday, as Huthis press on south towards the Yemeni capital, tribal and security sources said.
Eight of the Huthi rebels, also known as Ansarullah (Partisans of God), were wounded in the clash in Qaratel, a mountainous area 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of Sanaa, the sources said.
The firefight followed a rebel ambush, and came after days of bloody clashes between Ansarullah and tribesmen backing the influential Sunni party Al-Islah (reform) in which at least 22 people have reportedly been killed since the weekend.
The army had intervened to end the on-off clashes which continued despite conflicting reports on the withdrawal of rebels from seven positions near Hamdan which they had seized in their advance towards the capital.
Report: More Than 146,000 People Killed in Syrian Civil War
- Noah Rayman @noahrayman
The latest figure from the U.K.-based anti-government group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, helps quantify the massive toll of Syria’s three-year civil war, with about half of those reported deaths consisting of civilians
More than 146,000 people have been killed in Syria’s three-year civil war, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday.
The report from the Observatory, an anti-government group that tracks violence across Syria, offers an updated death toll since the United Nations said in July that at least 100,000 people had been killed.
12 killed, 18 wounded in violent attacks across Iraq
At least 12 people were killed and 18 others wounded in separate violent attacks across Iraq on Friday, police said.
Two people were killed and six others wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a market in Baghdad’s northwestern neighborhood of Shuala, a police source told Xinhua, adding that several shops were damaged in the blast.
Two civilians were injured when another roadside bomb exploded in Abutsheer of south Baghdad, he said.
A suicide car bomber targeted a checkpoint on the main road between Ana and Rawa areas in Iraq’s western Anbar province, killing two soldiers and one policeman and injuring six others, a local police source said.
