At least 34 people were killed and 60 wounded in a double suicide attack in northern Iraq on Thursday, with women and children among the casualties, police and military officials said.
Two bombers blew themselves up just minutes apart in Tal Afar in an attack against a house used as a court annexe to interrogate suspects in “terrorist attacks,” police colonel Khaled Omar told AFP.
Another two bombs went off in a market in the mainly Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.
Tal Afar is a mostly Turkmen town has often been the target of attacks. In March 2007, it was hit by one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003 when a suicide truck bomb killed more than 150 people.
The spate of bombings comes just over a week after US troops left Iraq’s towns and cities on June 30 under an agreement that paves the way for a complete American military withdrawal by the end of 2011.
The petroleum product prices have been inflated again through president ordinance as the Petroleum Development Levy has been imposed on petroleum products with immediate effect, Geo news said early on Thursday.
Twelve militants killed and four hideouts were destroyed when security forces jets pounded militants’ positions in different areas of South Waziristan.
At least 34 people have been killed in a double suicide bomb attack in northern Iraq, police and medics say.
Outrage over the murder of a pregnant Muslim woman in Germany who has become known as the “hijab martyr” mounted Tuesday following her funeral and protests in her native Egypt over what Muslims see as European Islamaphobia and western media double standards.
US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that it was “very important” for the international community to pursue dialogue with Iran and North Korea “to persuade them to renounce nuclear weapons.”
The BBC has again been caught engaging in mass public deception by using photographs of pro-Ahmadinejad rallies in Iran and claiming they represent anti-government protests in favor of Hossein Mousavi.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister in Asia and Pacific Affairs Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday evening to talk with senior Pakistani officials. According to IRIB World Service, Akhoundzadeh arrived in Pakistan to follow agreements which had been reached in the last meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Palestinian Hamas Resistance movement on Wednesday said the fate of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was known only to those holding him, one day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the soldier was “fine.”
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, announced Tuesday that he has chosen the second most senior official in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to be the UN’s top envoy in Iraq. A UN Information Center’s press release, a copy of which was made available to IRNA on Wednesday, read that Ban had informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Ad Melkert.
Pakistani government and intelligence agency officials said that U.S. drones fired six missiles into a Pakistani Taliban training camp near the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing 10 people. According to Reuters, they said that the pre-dawn attack was in the South Waziristan region, in a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
Islamic Republic of Iran has called for establishment of a fact-finding committee to study the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon. In an interview with Al-Alam News Network on Tuesday, the political attaché of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Lebanon, Ali-Reza Ayati has said: “Iran has called upon the UN Chief Ban Ki Moon to establish a fact-finding committee to study and launch an investigation into the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut.”
Islamic Republic of Iran has called for establishment of a fact-finding committee to study the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon. In an interview with Al-Alam News Network on Tuesday, the political attaché of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Lebanon, Ali-Reza Ayati has said: “Iran has called upon the UN Chief Ban Ki Moon to establish a fact-finding committee to study and launch an investigation into the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut.”
IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address Iranian nation Tuesday night. President Ahmadinejad will give a live nationwide address from the TV channel one after 21 (1630 GMT) hours local time. He is expected to touch on various domestic and foreign issues, opportunities and challenges, the four-year performance of his cabinet and his future government’s plans.
American soldiers in Iraq’s Diyala province once again violated the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement by entering a city without prior coordination with the Iraqi government. “American soldiers entered Arab Jobour area and the villages of Sansal, Homais and Taiha, without any permission from related government offices,” al-Mashriq newspaper quoted a security source in the province as saying. American soldiers had also entered some towns of the province including Baladrouz, Kanaan, Miqdadiya and Wajihiya last week without prior authorization. According to the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, American soldiers who withdrew from Iraqi cities on June 30th, are not allowed to enter Iraqi cities and towns without a prior permission from the Iraqi government.
Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Qatar and his accompanying delegation met and conferred with IRI Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Mostafa Mohammad Najar. After the official welcoming ceremony of Qatari Chief of Staff, Mohammad Najar said the two countries’ historical, cultural, political and social commonalities are appropriate grounds for expansion of bilateral relations. “Defensive relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar could be considered as a symbol for expansion of regional defensive ties,” he added. “IRI is committed to ensure stability and security of the Persian Gulf and the Hormoz Strait,” Iranian Minister said reiterating that IRI defensive power is in the service of security and stability of the strategic waterway. “IRI officials believe that security of the region could be ensured only through regional cooperation,” he said. At the other part of his remarks, Mohammad Najar announced IRI’s readiness to expand its defensive relations with the Persian Gulf littoral countries and reaffirmed that security of the Middle East region could be ensured only by the regional countries. He described withdrawal of American forces from Iraq as the first step in this regard.
Police fired tear gas Tuesday to try to restore order as hundreds of Han Chinese armed with clubs marched through the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, smashing shops and knocking over food stalls. According to AP, the city, where rioting and ethnic clashes killed 156 people two days ago, was extremely tense, with security officials breaking up a separate protest by the train station. Also, women faced off with armed Chinese police, wailing for the release of their sons and husbands detained after the riots.
US missiles slammed into Pakistan’s south Waziristan region on Tuesday, killing at least 12 civilians in the latest in a flurry of cross border violations. If AP is to be believed, five foreigners were among the dead in the attack in South Waziristan close to the Afghan border.
Heartiest felicitations to you on a very auspicious day. Today, the 13th of Rajab is the day when the Holy Ka’ba in Mecca came alive with the birth in its sacred precincts of a person who continues to transcend history and all historical developments. He is the Commander of the Faithful, the Leader of the Pious, Imam Ali ibn Abil Taleb (PBUH), the dearest cousin, ward, son-in-law, and divinely-designated vicegerent of the Almighty’s Last Messenger to mankind, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).
US President Barack Obama’s diplomacy is about to get a stern test in Russia, home of a wary public, a two-headed leadership and a lingering bit of hard feelings. According to AP, Obama arrives in Moscow on Monday for a full-scale two-day summit, the first of its kind since the early part of the George W. Bush presidency. He is sure to emerge with tangible signs of progress – including another step toward the world’s two largest nuclear powers reducing their arsenals.
At least 140 people have been killed and more than 800 others injured as ethnic violence erupted in China’s restive Xinjiang region. According to Xinhua, a government spokesman confirmed on Monday that at least 140 people were killed, after hundreds of locals took to the streets of the regional capital Urumqi on Sunday evening — burning and smashing vehicles and confronting police and anti-riot troops.
The Iranian Navy has deployed two warships to join international efforts to preserve shipping security in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden. According to IRIB, Iran’s Deputy Naval Commander, Gholam-Reza Khadem, said Monday that the dispatched warships are set to replace aging vessels and protect Iranian merchant containers and oil tankers from Somali pirates in the volatile Gulf of Aden. The dispatch comes only a week after the Iranian navy saved one if its giant oil tankers from the grips of Somali pirates.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad must understand that Israel would not hand over the occupied Golan Heights on a “silver platter” so long as Damascus continued its ties with Iran and Hezbollah.
Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, extending heavy losses seen last week caused by poor jobs data in the United States, the world’s biggest energy-consuming nation, analysts said. Prices slumped despite a new pipeline attack in Nigeria, an important exporter of oil. In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August dropped 1.73 dollars to 63.88 dollars a barrel. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, shed 1.58 dollars to 64.05 dollars a barrel. “Prices are extending their losses from last week based on the poor jobs report in the United States,” said Tony Nunan, an energy risk manager with Mitsubishi Corp. “People are starting to wonder about the strength of the US economic recovery… This does not look good for oil demand because it means that consumer spending will remain weak.” A closely watched US Labor Department report last week showed US job losses had surged more than expected to 467,000 in June, pushing the unemployment rate to a new 26-year high of 9.5 percent. The report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, reversed the improvement seen the previous month when job losses fell to 322,000. Crude futures slid on Monday despite fresh unrest in Nigeria.
The Iraqi government said on Saturday that meddling in the process of national reconciliation in the war-torn country would complicate the issues rather than solving them. Iraqi government spokesman, Ali ad-Dabbagh in an interview said US Vice President, Joe Biden, should convey the Iraqis’ concern to the US president Barrack Obama in this regard.
Independence Day in the United States has turned bloody after a truck carrying fireworks exploded, killing two people and injuring three others. According to CNN, the incident happened in North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Saturday.
Five people were killed and at least 34 wounded in a suspected rebel bomb attack outside a Catholic church in the strife-torn southern Philippines. According to AFP, a lone suspect left a home-made bomb outside the Immaculate Conception cathedral in Cotabato city which exploded just as the congregation was leaving early morning mass.
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