Car bomb kills at least 34 in Syria’s Hama

 

DAMASCUS: A car bomb claimed by rebels killed at least 34 people on Friday in a government-controlled village in the central Syrian province of Hama, state news agency SANA reported.

More than 50 people were wounded in the attack in Al-Horra, SANA said, blaming the attack on rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

The Islamic Front, a rebel coalition, claimed responsibility. It said on Twitter that a radio-controlled bomb had targeted a "gathering of Assad militia.

"The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 37 people were killed, including civilians as well as security personnel, and more than 40 wounded.

On Thursday, a car bomb exploded in the city of Homs, to the south of Hama, killing at least six people in a neighbourhood populated by Alawites, the Islamic sect to which Assad belongs.

No one claimed responsibility for what was the second attack in Homs -- Syria´s third largest city -- in less than a week, but state television blamed it on rebels.

Gunmen kill at least 26 in Kenya attack: official

MOMBASA: At least 26 people were killed when some 50 insurgents flying black flags swept into a Kenyan coastal town firing guns in an unprecedented attack, a local government official said Monday.

"So far we have collected over 26 bodies and taken them to the mortuary, but we are still looking for more," Benson Maisori, deputy commissioner for the district told.

Gun battles began Sunday evening and continued into the early hours of Monday morning, but by dawn, the town of Mpeketoni was reported calm.

The insurgents were reported to have been from Somalia´s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab.

"There were around 50 attackers, heavily armed in three vehicles, and they were flying the Shebab flag," Maisori added, speaking from the town, where several buildings including hotels, restaurants, banks and government offices were razed to the ground.

"They were shouting in Somali and shouting ´Allahu Akbar´", he added, meaning "God is great", in Arabic.

Cafes and bars were reportedly packed with people watching the World Cup on television when the gunmen attacked.

The town of Mpeketoni, a trading centre on the main coastal road, lies on the mainland some 30 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of Lamu island, a popular tourist destination whose ancient architecture is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir described how the gunmen had stormed the town, overwhelming local police officers, and firing from vehicles "shooting people around in town".

Chirchir also said the attackers were "likely to be Al-Shebab," although there was no immediate claim of responsiblity from the Islamists themselves.

Attackers tried to storm a police post including an armoury, but Maisori said officers had defended the building and fought the gunmen off.

It was the latest in a series of attacks or bombings to hit Kenya -- most usually blamed on the Shebab or their supporters -- but the reported scale and nature of this attack is rare.

Kenyan troops crossed into southern Somalia in 2011 to fight the Shebab, later joining the now 22,000-strong African Union force battling the insurgents.

The Shebab vowed revenge, carrying out attacks, including one on Nairobi´s Westgate mall in September 2013 in which at least 67 people were killed.

 

At least 22 killed in fighting in east of C. Africa: police

BANGUI: Fighting between mainly Muslim ex-rebels and the largely Christian "anti-balaka" militia has killed at least 22 people in eastern Central African Republic, security officials said Thursday.

"At least 22 people have been killed and more than 30 were wounded in clashes that broke out last Monday and Tuesday in Liwa village, 10 kilometres (six miles) from Bambari," a source in the local gendarmerie told AFP, asking not to be named.

He said the fighting was between former rebels of the Seleka alliance and the mainly Christian militia.

At least 22 killed in fighting in east of C. Africa: police

BANGUI: Fighting between mainly Muslim ex-rebels and the largely Christian "anti-balaka" militia has killed at least 22 people in eastern Central African Republic, security officials said Thursday.

"At least 22 people have been killed and more than 30 were wounded in clashes that broke out last Monday and Tuesday in Liwa village, 10 kilometres (six miles) from Bambari," a source in the local gendarmerie told AFP, asking not to be named.

He said the fighting was between former rebels of the Seleka alliance and the mainly Christian militia.

Bombing at northeast Nigeria football pitch kills at least 40: police

KANO: A bombing at a football pitch in Nigeria's restive northeast killed at least 40 people on Sunday in an area previously attacked by Boko Haram, a police officer and a nurse said.

The blast hit the town of Mubi in Adamawa state, one of three in the northeast which has been under a state of emergency for more than a year as Nigeria's military has tried to crush Boko Haram's five-year extremist uprising.

"There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 40 people have been killed," said the officer in Mubi who requested anonymity.

The policeman's account was confirmed by a nurse at the Mubi General Hospital, who also requested anonymity, as the health worker was not authorised to discuss the attack with the media.

Adamawa has been hit by far fewer Boko Haram attacks than other parts of the northeast, but the town was the site of a gruesome October 2012 massacre at a post-secondary technical college.

Scores of students were killed in their dorms, including many whose throats were slit.

Mubi is just a few kilometres from Nigeria's border with Cameroon and near the area where two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were seized by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in April.

The three were released earlier on Sunday and flown out on board a military aircraft from the town of Maroua, heading for the Cameroon's capital.

The policeman in Mubi said the bomb exploded at roughly 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) at the pitch in Mubi's Kabang area and targeted fans who were trying to leave the field after watching a local club match.

It was not immediately clear if players were among the casualties, but the officer and the nurse said it appeared most of the victims were fans.

Muhammad Hassan, a Mubi resident who was at the match, said the blast appeared to come from within the crowd of people who were walking across the pitch and heading home after the final whistle.

"Women and children were caught up in the blast," he said. Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks on targets it says are a product of Western influence, including sports venues and schools teaching a secular curriculum.

The group has killed thousands during its battle against the government since 2009, but the conflict has received unprecedented global attention over the last six weeks following the group’s mass kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls.

The girls were seized on April 14 from Chibok in Borno state, which shares a border with Adamawa.

Nigeria's response to the kidnapping has been fiercely criticised as inept and the crisis has piled intense pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan's government to do more to end the uprising.

Invisible govt least cares about court orders: Hamid Mir

 

ISLAMABAD: Senior anchorperson of Geo Hamid Mir on Friday said that verdicts and orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan are nothing for the invisible forces that are governing the country.
Addressing an event organised by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) at the National Press Club in connection with the ‘Hamid Mir Week’, the Geo anchor said that there are two types of governments that are ruling the country at the same time; one is the government that is visible while the other one is invisible. He said the invisible government wants that it should not be named even if it attacks you. If you name it, you will have to apologise. The invisible government considers itself above the law and the SC orders are not being implemented on it.

Speaking to a large number of audience through a video few black sheep in the media were engaged in defaming journalism.However, the senior journalist, who narrowly survived when attacked by unknown assailants last month in Karachi, told the media persons: “You are being tested even today and your presence here in large numbers shows that bid to split journalists has failed. On 19 April the attack was not only on Hamid Mir but was on the freedom of media. Unity is a must.”

Hamid Mir said that journalists are being harassed and bullied but they will remain united and in no way be deterred from doing their job as they had stood their ground in the past. He said that some unscrupulous people are fanning hatred using the name of religion.

Hamid Mir maintained that the government had not been able to ensure implementation of the Supreme Court order with regard to the Geo and Jang.The ace anchorperson lamented that the government was building the metro bus and motorways but was unable to get implemented the apex court decision on Geo and Jang.

Later, a rally, comprising mostly of media persons was staged from the National Press Club to the Jang Plaza here as a mark of solidarity with Geo and Jang Group’Senior journalists expressed concern over the prevailing situation with regards to the media and feared a campaign had been launched against the free media.

They contended that if the government or the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) had not shut down Geo then who had done so, saying it was a matter of grave concern.

Senior journalists while speaking to the rally, charged that the Pemra had not acted with neutrality on Geo issue and they made it clear that Geo would not be allowed to be shut down come what may.

About the unfortunate incidents of torching of Jang van and copies of ‘The News’ and Daily Jang, PFUJ President Afzal Butt pointed out that by resorting to these actions, sacrilege of the Holy Quran verses, Ahadees and sacred names was being committed.

He challenged those, who had issued fatwa against Geo, to now do the same against those, who were setting ablaze copies of newspapers and thus indulging in sacrilege of the divine and sacred content.

Afzal Butt urged owners of media houses to ensure implementation of labour laws and lamented the media houses in Pakistan were like ‘labour camps’.He said if the Jang Group was ready to give all rights to its workers, then a massive campaign would be launched from Khyber to Karachi in support of it.

Noted media persons called on the government to play its mediatory role to resolve the Geo and Jang issue. They also emphasised for reconstitution of the Pemra. They warned against any action against the Jang Group and said that it would render some 50,000 media workers jobless, which they would never let happen.

Speakers said that the electronic media was just a ten-year-old baby and one could not expect it to behave like a 50-year-old mature person. The rally was informed that the PFUJ had formed a committee of senior journalists to thrash out code of conduct, consulting the stakeholders.

They pointed out that in the past, mistakes were made, but no one asked about it, and today, there was a wish to close down a television channel (Geo).Those who spoke on the occasion, included senior journalist Mazhar Abbas, Akbarfarosh Union President Tikka Khan, National Press Club President Shaharyar Khan and anchorperson Kashif Abbasi.

Car bomb kills at least 10 in central Syria

BEIRUT: A car bomb struck a pro-government neighborhood in the central Syrian city of Homs on Sunday, killing at least 10 people, setting cars on fire and sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky, activists and a government official said.

The blast in the Zahra district, sent tremors through Homs, where rebels and the government have struck two cease-fire deals this month that have restored at least a semblance of peace to the shattered city.

The provincial governor, Talal Barazi, said the attack targeted such reconciliation efforts.

An official in the Homs governor´s office said 10 people were killed in Sunday´s explosion and more than 40 were wounded.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group, Rami Abdurrahman, put the death toll at 12. He also said more than 40 were wounded.

Casualty figures frequently vary in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria. (AP)

Passenger train derails in India; at least 10 dead

NEW DELHI: A passenger train derailed in western India on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 57 others.

The engine and four coaches jumped the tracks near Roha station, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Mumbai, said police officer Ankush Shinde.

The rescuers used gas cutters to open the derailed coaches to reach those trapped inside. Big cranes were deployed to remove these coaches from the rail track, Shinde said.

Two of the derailed coaches tilted on one side, said railway spokesman Anil Kumar Saxena.

Shinde said that 57 injured passengers, some of them in serious condition, were taken to a hospital.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

Train movement in the area was suspended as the derailed coaches and the rescue operation blocked an adjacent track as well.

Railway accidents are common in India, which has one of the world´s largest train networks and serves 20 million passengers a day. Most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error. (AP)

At least 25 dead in Mexico bus crash: official

XALAPA: A bus burst into flames after slamming into the back of a parked trailer-truck in southeastern Mexico, killing at least 25 people and injuring four others, an official said Sunday.

The death toll could rise to 33 but the fire made it difficult to identify all the bodies, Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte told Milenio television.

"The trailer-truck was on the shoulder of the highway at kilometer 135 (mile 84) ... when the bus hit the back of the trailer, which caused this regrettable accident," he said.

"In addition to crashing, the bus caught fire, which makes the investigative work to identify bodies more difficult."

The accident took place between 0630 GMT and 0700 GMT as the bus took passengers from the southeastern Tabasco state city of Villahermosa to Mexico City.

The tragedy occurred as Mexicans are set to begin Holy Week in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.