Five European tourists killed in attack in Ethiopia - The Guardian

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The foreigners who normally venture into the Afar region are researchers, aid workers and adventure tourists visiting geographical wonders such as the Danakil depression. Photograph: Alamy

Gunmen in northern Ethiopia have attacked a group of European tourists, killing five, injuring two and kidnapping four people, according to a government official.

Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian communications minister, said the attackers struck before dawn on Tuesday.

The dead were two Germans, two Hungarians and an Austrian; two Germans and two Ethiopians were kidnapped, and an Italian and a Hungarian were wounded in the attack.

Simon blamed rebels trained and armed by neighbouring Eritrea, which remains a bitter foe. "The attack occurred at 5am on Tuesday, in which Eritrean-trained groups also kidnapped four," Bereket told Reuters. "Two of them are foreigners; one is a driver and the other a policeman."

Eritrea dismissed the allegation as an "absolute lie".

The tourists were visiting the volcanic Afar region, which is one of the hottest places in the world and a known haunt of rebels and bandits from Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Simon said the attack occurred 12 to 15 miles from the Eritrean border. A German media report said the group of tourists had been close to the Erta Ale volcano, one of Ethiopia's most active.



The Afar region is a known haunt of bandits from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Photograph: Reuters

Ethiopian state television reported that there were eight tourists in the targeted group, but Simon suggested the party was bigger.

An Austrian foreign ministry spokesman, Peter Launsky-Tiefenthal, said two groups totalling as many as 22 people may have been attacked, though he said the numbers were unconfirmed.

Girma Asmerom, Eritrea's ambassador to the African Union (AU), said Ethiopia's allegations were "fabricated" and the attack was an internal Ethiopian matter. "This is pathetic, an absolute lie," he told Reuters. "Eritrea has nothing to do with any of these movements."

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 but the two countries soon became embroiled in border disputes.

The east African countries fought a war from 1998 to 2000, which claimed the lives of about 80,000 people.

Tension grew last year when a UN report revealed that Eritrea was behind a plot to attack an AU summit in Ethiopia in January.

"It has become a trend for Ethiopia to fabricate sensational news against Eritrea whenever the summit is nearing," Girma said.

In 2007, five Europeans and 13 Ethiopians were kidnapped in Afar. Ethiopia accused Eritrea of masterminding that kidnapping but Eritrea blamed an Ethiopian rebel group. All of those hostages were released, though some of the Ethiopians were held for more than a month.

In 2008, Ethiopia foiled a kidnapping attempt on a group of 28 French tourists in the area.

Foreigners who venture into Afar usually include researchers, aid workers and adventure tourists visiting geographical wonders such as the Danakil depression and ancient salt mines.

Launsky-Tiefenthal said an Austrian foreign ministry travel warning had been in effect for the region since 2007 "because of several incidents involving attacks on tourist groups ... in some cases politically motivated, in others criminally motivated".

He added: "The problem is, there is no infrastructure in the area. No telephone lines; satellite phones barely work."

He likened Afar to "the surface of Mars".

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Ethiopia official says foreign tourists killed in attack

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia –  Austrian, Belgian, German, Hungarian and Italian nationals are among the foreign tourists attacked by gunmen in the country's north, an Ethiopian official said Wednesday.

Bereket Simon, the country's communications minister, said officials could not yet say with certainty which among them were killed and which were injured. Bereket said rebels trained and armed by the tiny nation of Eritrea shot five tourists dead and wounded two during an attack Monday.

Bereket also said a "few" tourists are missing. It was not immediately clear if that meant they had been kidnapped. Ethiopian state television reported on Tuesday that there had been eight tourists in the targeted group, but Bereket suggested Wednesday that the group was larger.

Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tiefenthal said late Tuesday that two groups totaling as many as 22 people may have been attacked, though he said the numbers were not confirmed. He said that unconfirmed reports said that some tourists were killed, others wounded and some taken hostage.

The tourists were visiting the volcanic region in Ethiopia's northern Afar region when "some groups trained and armed by the Eritrean government attacked them," Bereket said. He said the attack occurred 12 to 15 miles from the Eritrean border.

Eritrea's ambassador to the African Union Girma Asmerom said Ethiopia's allegations are "fabricated" and an "absolute lie" and that the attack is an internal Ethiopian matter.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, which claimed the lives of about 80,000 people. Tension between the neighboring East African countries rose last year when a U.N. report revealed that Eritrea was behind a plot to attack an African Union summit in Ethiopia in January.

Launsky-Tiefenthal said there was an Austrian Foreign Ministry travel warning in effect for the region since 2007 "because of several incidents involving attacks on tourist groups ... in some case politically motivated in others criminally motivated."

"The problem is, there is no infrastructure in the area, no telephone lines, satellite phones barely work," he said, describing the remote area as akin to "the surface of Mars."

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Twelve killed in Syria despite peace plan monitors - National Post

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A member of the Free Syria Army with an assault rifle stands guard during a patrol in the western border town of Zabadani in this undated still image taken from amateur video obtained by Reuters January 16, 2012.

By Alistair Lyon

BEIRUT – Twelve people were killed on Monday in Syria, where a peace plan monitored by Arab observers has failed to douse a 10-month-old struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his foes.



National Post Graphics

Click to see interactive map of Syria showing the locations of major events.

Arab foreign ministers meet on Sunday to discuss the future of the mission sent last month to check if Syria was abiding by the accord it accepted on November 2. The mission ends on Thursday but the monitors may extend their stay to January 22.

The Arab plan required Syria to halt the bloodshed, withdraw the military from cities, free detainees and hold a dialogue.

Hundreds of people have been reported killed in Syria even since the monitors deployed on December 26 as pro-Assad forces try to crush peaceful protests and armed resistance to his rule.

Random gunfire by pro-Assad militiamen killed five people, including a woman, and wounded nine in the restive city of Homs, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A sniper later shot dead a 16-year-old girl there, it added.

It said five soldiers were killed when they tried to change sides during a clash with rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib, adding that 15 soldiers had succeeded in defecting.

The state news agency SANA said an “armed terrorist group” had shot dead Brigadier-General Mohammed Abdul-Hamid al-Awad and wounded his driver in the countryside near Damascus.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated a call for Assad to “stop killing, and listen to his people.”

During a visit to Abu Dhabi, he said: “I hope the U.N. Security Council handles Syria in a coherent manner and with a sense of gravity,” but did not recommend any specific action.

“The casualties have reached such an unacceptable stage we cannot let the situation continue this way,” Ban said.

The harsh response to the uprising by Assad’s security forces has killed more than 5,000 people, by a U.N. count. The Syrian authorities say 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed. The deaths of 32 civilians and soldiers were reported on Sunday.

The head of the Arab monitoring mission is due to report to an Arab League committee on Thursday before Arab foreign ministers gather on Sunday to consider their next step on Syria.

Adnan Khodeir, head of the monitoring mission’s operations room, said the observers might stay in Syria until January 22 while waiting for the outcome of the foreign ministers’ meeting. Their mission officially ends on Thursday.

Qatar, which heads the committee, has suggested Arab troops step in, an idea that is anathema to Damascus and which Arab nations such as Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria are likely to oppose.

The League could refer Syria to the Security Council if it concludes that its own peace effort has failed.

RUSSIA, CHINA OPPOSE ACTION

The council has been paralyzed so far because Russia and China oppose any resolution that could lead to U.N. sanctions or Western military action against Syria.

There is little Western appetite for any Libya-style intervention. The United States, the European Union, Turkey and the Arab League have announced economic sanctions against Syria.

On Sunday Assad proclaimed the latest of several amnesties for “crimes” committed during the uprising. Some prisoners were released the same day and more on Monday, activists said.

Mohamed Saleh, an activist in Homs, said about 185 people had been freed there, though some had been freed on bail and would still face trial. Many more were expected to be released.

Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory, also said some activists had only been freed on bail. Many more were still held because the authorities had brought new, more serious charges against them that were not covered by the amnesty.

Kinan al-Shami, of the Syrian Revolution Coordination Union, said hundreds of detainees appeared to have been released, but they represented only a fraction of at least 40,000 people he said had been jailed without charge since March, many of whom have been held in secret police buildings or makeshift prisons.

The movement to end more than four decades of Assad family rule began with largely peaceful demonstrations, but after months of violence by the security forces, army deserters and insurgents started to fight back, prompting fears of civil war.

Assad, who retains the support of core military units, is backed by his own Alawite minority as well as some minority Christians and some majority Sunni Muslims who fear chaos, civil war and the rise of Islamist militancy if he is toppled.

The northern commercial city of Aleppo, like central parts of the capital Damascus, has mostly escaped the turmoil, but security forces stormed Aleppo University campus overnight in pursuit of students who staged an anti-Assad protest on Friday.

Activists said dozens of students were beaten in the raid, in which students belonging to a pro-Assad militia took part.

Aleppo residents say that big Sunni merchants in the city still support Assad and that the authorities have recruited Sunni tribesmen from the countryside to patrol the streets.

The president, 46, who appeared in public twice in as many days last week, is eager to show that his people love him.

SANA, the state news agency, reported on Sunday that a 10 km (six mile) long letter, which it billed as the world’s longest, was being written and signed by Syrians across the country as a “message of loyalty to the homeland and its leader.”

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Iraqi policemen killed at checkpoint in Anbar - BBC News

Five policemen have been killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Iraq, close to the Jordanian and Syrian borders.

Gunmen in the western province of Anbar targeted policemen who were guarding a highway that links Iraq to Jordan just after midnight on Tuesday.

One report said an attacker was killed in the ensuing clash.

The attack, in the town of Rutba, came two days after gunmen stormed a government compound killing seven in the provincial capital of Ramadi.

Violence in Iraq has been steadily on the rise in the past few months. Security forces have been one of the main targets of recent attacks, in addition to Shia religious processions.

There has also been a marked deterioration in Iraq's fragile political process since the withdrawal of US forces from the country at the end of last year.

An arrest warrant was issued for Vice-president Tariq Hashemi, the country's most prominent Sunni politician, on terrorism charges. He fled to the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq, and denied the accusations against him.

But the warrant triggered a political crisis, as the biggest bloc in parliament accused Prime Minister Nuri Maliki of using the law to consolidate his grip on power.

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24 killed as apartment block collapses in Beirut - ABC Online

By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker and staff

Updated January 17, 2012 07:21:23

The death toll from the collapse of a six-storey Beirut apartment block rose to at least 24 people, as rescuers combed the rubble for more bodies.

One witness in the Ashrafiyeh district of the Lebanese capital told local TV that the sound of the building collapsing was "like an earthquake".

The apartment block was home to about 50 people - many of them Sudanese and Egyptian labourers.

Red Cross official Georges Kettaneh said 12 people had been injured and at least eight escaped when the apartment block suddenly collapsed.

Among the dead was a 15-year-old girl.

One witness said debris began falling from the building in the early evening before the entire block came crashing down.

A resident who escaped with her mother said the building was extremely run-down and the owner had warned tenants not to remain there shortly before it disintegrated.

She told local television that she and her mother managed to escape as the building came tumbling down but her father and three brothers remained trapped.

The owner has since been detained for questioning.

Anxious relatives stayed at the site overnight weeping and praying as rescue workers with bulldozers sifted through the rubble.

President Michel Sleiman rushed to the site on Sunday evening (local time) as did interior minister Marwan Charbel and other officials.

Mr Charbel told reporters it was essential to carry out a survey of similar buildings throughout the country, many of which were built illegally or had several storeys added without proper permits.

Anxious relatives stayed at the site overnight weeping and praying as rescue workers with bulldozers sift through the rubble.

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Pakistan Taliban Leader Reportedly Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

Monday, January 16, 2012

ISLAMABAD –  Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent U.S. drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said Sunday. A Taliban official denied that.

The report coincided with sectarian violence — a bomb blast in eastern Pakistan that killed 14 people in a Shiite religious procession.

The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed on Jan. 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area. Some militants confirmed Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Asimullah Mehsud denied the group's leader was killed and said he was not in the area where the drone strike occurred.

In early 2010, both Pakistani and American officials said they believed a missile strike had killed Hakimullah Mehsud along the border of North and South Waziristan. They were proved wrong when videos appeared showing him still alive.

The Pakistani Taliban is linked to attacks against U.S. targets. They trained the Pakistani-American who tried to detonate a car bomb in New York City's Times Square in 2010 and is tied to a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents at an Afghan base in 2009.

There was no claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing that killed 14 people during a Shiite observance in Punjab province in the east — the latest of a series of sectarian attacks in volatile Pakistan.

Hundreds of Pakistani Shiites gathered in the town of Khanpur in Punjab province for a traditional procession to mark the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered seventh-century figure.

The explosion went off as the mourners left a mosque, said District Police Chief Sohail Chatta. The bomb appeared to have been planted ahead of time in the path of the procession, he said.

The Pakistani Taliban and other Sunni extremist groups have in the past claimed responsibility for the bombings of Shiite religious sites and ceremonies. Many Sunni extremists in Pakistan regard Shiites as heretics.

The Taliban and other groups have carried out hundreds of bombings over the last five years that have killed thousands of Pakistani troops and civilians as part of a campaign to install a hard-line Islamist government.

The attacks are so common that the country's interior minister in December actually thanked the Taliban for acting on what he said was a "request" not to stage attacks during the Shiite rituals of Ashoura that month.

Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah said police investigators were still examining the area of Sunday's bombing for clues. Security was provided for the procession, but it was breached, Sanaullah said.

The continuing strikes by presumed religious extremists come during a political crisis that pits the Pakistani civilian government against the military, sparking rumors of an impending coup.

Last week the military warned the government of possible "grievous consequences" ahead, and President Asif Ali Zardari took a one-day trip to Dubai that renewed speculation that he might flee the country.

Analysts say the military may be looking for the Supreme Court to push out Zardari rather than risk an outright takeover.

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Afghan official: 3 killed in helicopter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan –  A civilian helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing all three people on board, an Afghan official said.

Marjan Haqmal, police chief of Nad Ali district in Helmand province, said the Russian-made aircraft probably went down because of a technical malfunction.

NATO confirmed that a civilian helicopter crashed Monday in southern Afghanistan. It said the site of the crash has been secured and that coalition forces are trying to gather more information about what happened.

The alliance did not provide information about casualties.

Dozens of Russian-built cargo helicopters are used by contractors working for the NATO-led coalition.

The coalition relies heavily on helicopters or airdrops to deliver food and other supplies to remote outposts in order to avoid using roads that are frequently mined by the insurgents. Transport aircraft are also frequently used for airdrops to isolated bases.

The Taliban have few dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, but they have damaged or destroyed dozens of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft using automatic rifles and other infantry weapons. In August, militants shot down a U.S. Chinook transport helicopter, killing 30 U.S. special operation troops, a translator and seven Afghan commandos.

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Pakistan Taliban Leader Reportedly Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban may have been killed in a recent U.S. drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said Sunday. A Taliban official denied that.

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Iraqi police: 15 killed in attacks on stations

At least 15 people were killed and 26 others wounded in attacks targeting police stations in Iraq Sunday, authorities said.

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