Clashes kill 20 Iraqi security personnel

HILLA: Clashes between security forces and militants near the Iraqi capital killed 20 security personnel on Saturday, an army officer and doctors said.

The fighting in three areas southwest of Baghdad also wounded 22 members of the security forces.

Clashes kill 20 Iraqi security personnel

HILLA: Clashes between security forces and militants near the Iraqi capital killed 20 security personnel on Saturday, an army officer and doctors said.

The fighting in three areas southwest of Baghdad also wounded 22 members of the security forces.

Clashes with PAT workers leave 73 policemen injured

ISLAMABAD: At least 73 policeman were injured in clashes with Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) supporters in the twin cities of Islamabad early Monday morning. The clashes occurred ahead of Tahir ul Qadri's return to Pakistan to lead what he has called an anti-government "revolution".

Dr Tahirul Qadri, who drew tens of thousands of supporters to a sit-in protest in Islamabad in January last year, was due to arrive a week after ten people were killed in a previous clash with the police in Lahore.

Several security men belonging to Islamabad, Punjab and Azad Kashmir Police sustained injuries in the encounters with PAT supporters that broke out late on Sunday night in the adjoining areas of Islamabad airport.

The PAT workers also attacked the Koral police station and injured many policemen. Many others sustained injuries when the enraged activists of PAT pelted them with stones and used batons.

Many policemen suffered fractures and serious head injuries who were later shifted to different hospitals. Hospital sources told that 40 injured security personnel were brought to Poly Clinic, 11 to PIMS and 27 to DHQ Hospital, Rawalpindi.

More than 20 policemen were discharged after providing them the first aid, however, the remaining injured personnel are currently being treated at the emergency unit of the mentioned hospitals.

30 militiamen killed in Iraq clashes: police

BAQUBA: Militants attacked the town of Muqdadiyah northeast of Baghdad on Friday, sparking clashes that killed 30 militiamen, a police colonel and a doctor said.

The fighting began on Friday morning and eased later in the day with security forces still in control of Muqdadiyah, a key approach to Diyala provincial capital Baquba, and militants deployed in adjoining areas.

Militiamen have joined Iraqi security forces in fighting against a major offensive by militants that overran all of one province and chunks of three more in a matter of days.

Security forces performed poorly during the initial days of the assault, in some cases shedding uniforms and abandoning vehicles in their haste to flee.

While they seem to have recovered somewhat from the shock of the onslaught, retaking ground in certain areas, the militants have made gains elsewhere. (AFP)

 

30 militiamen killed in Iraq clashes: police

BAQUBA: Militants attacked the town of Muqdadiyah northeast of Baghdad on Friday, sparking clashes that killed 30 militiamen, a police colonel and a doctor said.

The fighting began on Friday morning and eased later in the day with security forces still in control of Muqdadiyah, a key approach to Diyala provincial capital Baquba, and militants deployed in adjoining areas.

Militiamen have joined Iraqi security forces in fighting against a major offensive by militants that overran all of one province and chunks of three more in a matter of days.

Security forces performed poorly during the initial days of the assault, in some cases shedding uniforms and abandoning vehicles in their haste to flee.

While they seem to have recovered somewhat from the shock of the onslaught, retaking ground in certain areas, the militants have made gains elsewhere. (AFP)

Syria clashes kill 21 rebels in Aleppo province

BEIRUT: Fierce fighting around Syria´s contested northern province of Aleppo killed at least 21 rebels on Monday as rockets slammed into a government-held district in the provincial capital, killing nine people.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that along with the 21 rebels, at least 30 soldiers were killed or wounded in Monday´s clashes in the province.

President Bashar Assad´s forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah and pro-government militias, have been trying to wrest as much territory in Aleppo from the opposition ahead of the June 3 presidential elections.

In the city of Aleppo, Syria´s largest and the provincial capital, government forces have been relentlessly shelling opposition districts with aircraft and artillery in recent months.

Aleppo has been divided between government- and opposition-held areas since rebels launched an offensive there in mid-2012, capturing whole neighborhoods and large sections of territory outside the city and along the border with Turkey. (AP)

20 more militants killed as clashes continue in Waziristan

PESHAWAR: Twenty militants were killed in three different incidents of violence as clashes between the fighters of two rival groups of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in South Waziristan and North Waziristan tribal regions continued on Friday.
The clashes began last Monday after unknown people killed two militant commanders, Kasheed Mahsud and Matiur Rahman, in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan along with three other fighters.

It seems the leadership of two militant groups has decided not to forgive each other though members of the Haqqani network and the TTP Shura intervened and tried to persuade the combatants to stop the fighting.

The Taliban and tribal sources said the fighters of the two groups had spread out to different places in South Waziristan, North Waziristan and settled districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to search and kill their opponents.

The fresh clashes started early in the day when a pickup truck carrying 10 fighters of commander Said Khan alias Sajna came under a rocket attack in the remote and mountainous Shawal Valley of South Waziristan.Taliban sources said all 10 militants onboard died on the spot. Beside others, two commanders of Sajna group identified as Nek Badshah and Nizam were also killed in the attack.

According to Taliban sources, the militants of Sajna group had decided not to bury their slain colleagues before avenging their killing.By Friday evening, the militants of Sajna group reportedly hit a double-cabin pickup truck, carrying the fighters of rival group headed by Commander Sheharyar, with a rocket and killed five people.

Some people said the death toll was higher but the Taliban sources confirmed the loss of five militants in the latest attack.According to source, fighting between the two major and powerful factions of the TTP had become a major cause of worry for the Taliban leadership and almost all its Shura members had suspended their activities to focus on securing a ceasefire.

“Some members of the Shura had gone two days ago and they convinced the rival factions to stop fighting but they have again started killing each other. Now almost all members of the Shura are in the conflict area to bring fighting to an end,” a senior member of the Taliban said.

Pleading anonymity, he said fighting between the two factions had damaged the ongoing peace talks with the government.“Members of the Taliban negotiations committee made several attempts to approach someone in the Shura and talk with them for an extension in the ceasefire but they couldn’t find anyone, as all of them are engaged in reconciliation efforts in Shawal and Shaktoi areas,” the Taliban commander said.

Commander Sajna belongs to the late Maulana Waliur Rahman group, who served as deputy to Hakimullah Mehsud. Both Waliur Rahman and Hakimullah Mehsud were candidates to become the TTP ameer when Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone strike in August 2009 and their differences increased following Hakimullah Mehsud’s elevation to the position.

Taliban sources said Sajna as successor to Waliur Rahman and Sheharyar Mehsud as Hakimullah Mehsud’s successor continued to be rivals. There are reports that Sajna is in favour of peace talks with the Pakistan government while Shehryar Mehsud wanted the government to first remove his reservations before he could join the peace process.

In the third incident that took place on Friday near the Afghan border in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan, five members of the Afghan Taliban movement were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED), planted by unknown people, hit their car.Three militants were initially killed and two others injured in the blast succumbed to their injuries before receiving medical help.

10 more killed as Taliban clashes rage in SWA

 

PESHAWAR: Ten more militants were killed and six others injured in clashes between two groups of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan Agency (SWA)
Taliban sources said that fighting between two militant factions started on Monday after militant leader Kasheed Mehsud, along with his four bodyguards, was gunned down by unknown armed men in Shaktoi.

According to sources, 10 militants were killed and six others injured in the fresh clashes between the fighters of the two groups. The injured militants were brought to hospitals in Mir Ali and Miranshah and were being treated for their bullet injuries.

The Taliban sources said the killing of Kasheed Mehsud had sparked the latest violence in the Taliban-controlled Shaktoi area of South Waziristan.Kasheed Mehsud, 35, was said to be the first militant commander killed for his anti-talks stance.

The Taliban said several militants in the TTP, including Kasheed Mehsud, were opposing the mechanism of talks with the government.Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani, who was a close aide to the TTP founder Baitullah Mehsud, was the first militant commander killed for supporting negotiations with the government.

According to sources, both the militant factions had developed serious differences over the ongoing talks with the government that finally led to a heavy gunbattle between the two sides.TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid confirmed the fighting between the two militant factions but denied that it was due to differences over negotiations.

“It happens and sometime people of one group develop differences over certain issues. But I want to explain that the fighting between the two groups was not over the peace talks,” Shahidullah Shahid insisted.

The Taliban sources said that a delegation comprising members of the TTP Shura or council had been sent to Shaktoi to convince the two warring sides on a settlement.“The delegation has reached there and is trying to resolve the issue between the two sides. I hope they will stop killing each other on the request of Shura members,” a senior Taliban commander said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed that people recently freed by the Pakistani security agencies were neither members of their network nor their names existed in the 800-member list of “civilian prisoners” delivered to the government.

He felt that it was disappointing as, according to him, the government had neither released their “non-combatant” prisoners nor arranged for them a “peace zone” in the tribal areas.“Instead of releasing our civilian prisoners, the government has been carrying out more operations and taking our people into custody. There is no positive signal coming from the government side and that’s very damaging for the peace process,” the TTP spokesman said.

AFP adds: Fresh clashes between two feuding factions of the TTP left 14 more people dead, security officials and militant sources said. A total of 34 people have so far been killed since the fighting broke out on Sunday in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) between the supporters of Khan Said Sajna and followers of Hakimullah Mehsud, they said.

Militant sources suggested that differences emerged after Sajna was rejected for the leadership of the TTP umbrella group, following the death of Hakimullah Mehsud. “At least 12 people have been killed in a firefight between the militant groups in the Shaktai area of South Waziristan. The fighting still goes on,” a security official told AFP in Miranshah, the main town in neighbouring North Waziristan.

In a separate incident, two militants from another faction, the Badar Mansur group, were killed when unknown attackers fired at a car in Miranshah on Monday night.A senior TTP commander said efforts were being made to resolve the differences between the Sajna and Hakimullah Mehsud groups but the former had refused to reach any agreement.