Somalia/Insurgency: 17 killed in clashes in Puntland

The Security Minster of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Northern Somalia stated that heavy clashes between security forces and terrorists left at least 17 people dead and seven others wounded.

According to the security minister, Yusaf Ahmed Kheyr, two soldiers were confirmed dead and seven soldiers reported wounded in the clashes that took place on Sunday.

Kheyr said the operation was carried out in response to an earlier assault by terrorists on an army post near the commercial capital. However, a spokesman for the fighters denied any involvements in the first attack.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said that for the first time over the past years, international staff from the United Nations will engage in operations in the war-ravaged country of Somalia.

Turkey/Terrorism: Five PKK terrorists killed in clashes with the army

Turkish Security Officials stated on Monday that the armed forces had killed five terrorists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in clashes in the south-eastern Batman province late on Sunday.

According to officials, the clashes between the army and the PKK fighters took place near the town of Besiri in a rural area of Batman province. Reportedly, the clashes also left two soldiers wounded.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the police in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish majority southeast, also seized some 90 kilograms of plastic explosives from the Kurdish rebels last week.

It is worth mentioning that earlier on Sunday, a roadside bomb, planted by PKK, killed three Turkish soldiers in the province of Mardin, which borders Batman.

Iraq/Terrorism: Car bombs hit cities of Ramadi, Falluja

Media reported that a series of car bombs killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens in the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Falluja on Sunday.

According to the police, three car bomb blasts -- two of them targeting police patrols -- killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others in Falluja. Separately, at least eight people have been killed and 50 others wounded when a bomb exploded near a restaurant on a busy main street in Ramadi, 100 km west of the capital Baghdad.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Mosul, a roadside bomb exploded on Sunday near a convoy transporting Atheel al-Nujaifi, the Governor of Nineveh province, from his home to work. Nujaifi and his staff escaped injury in the blast, but three officers were wounded. In the same city, nine people were wounded when a hand grenade was thrown into a crowd of civilians and four others were hurt when roadside bombs exploded near police and army patrols.

It is worth mentioning that these incidents followed a series of explosions at a busy market in the centre of Iraq's southern oil hub Basra late on Saturday that killed at least 43 and wounded 185.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Bomb kills NATO soldier in the south

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced that a US soldier was killed by a bomb in southern Afghanistan on Monday.

NATO did not provide more details about the incident and where it happened. The latest death brings to 11 the number of the US-led troops killed in the war-torn country in the past two days.

Separately on Sunday, the International Assistance Mission (IAM), an international Christian aid group providing help in the Badakshan province denied Taleban accusations that its team of foreign medical workers killed in Afghanistan's remote northeast had been proselytising. It is worth mentioning that amongst the 10 killed aid workers, six were Americans, two Afghan, one Briton and one German.

As a reminder, on Saturday, Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the killing, saying the medical workers had been carrying bibles in Dari - one of Afghanistan's two main languages - and were killed because they were promoting Christianity.

Afghanistan/Poland/Terrorism: Polish soldier dies in Ghanzi

The Polish Defence Ministry announced that one Polish soldier died and five were wounded in a roadside bomb attack and exchange of gunfire on a patrol in Afghanistan's eastern Ghanzi Province on Friday.

According to the defence ministry, terrorists prepared an ambush on a patrol of the operational forces of the Bravo battalion. There was an explosion and an exchange of fire. The explosion left Staff Sergeant Dariusz Tylenda dead and five other soldiers wounded.

Reportedly, the wounded soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital at a base in Ghazni. One was in serious condition.

Earlier on Thursday, nine civilians were killed by a remote-controlled bomb in the Bar Kunar District of Kunar Province. Three civilians were killed and others were wounded in a different blast Thursday in the Qarabagh District of Ghazni province.

Separately, Malak Janan, a tribal chief in Kandahar province's Dand District, and his son were killed Thursday night when gunmen entered their home and shot them.

Colombia/Insurgency: FARC attack leaves 15,000 without power

Colombian Media reported on Friday that an attack carried out by guerrillas belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on two electricity towers in the southern Colombian Caqueta department left approximately 15,000 inhabitants of the town of Cartagena del Chaira without power.

Reportedly, the attack occurred Thursday afternoon in a rural area several kilometres from the centre of Cartagena de Chaira.

Meanwhile, local authorities reported that the guerrilla had set up a roadblock and were not allowing vehicles to leave the area.

Iraq/Terrorism: Thee more traffic cops killed in Baghdad

Iraqi Police Officials stated that a drive-by shooting and a motorcycle-bomb blast claimed the life of three traffic policemen in Baghdad on Friday.

Reportedly, two traffic police were killed in a drive-by shooting in a western Baghdad neighbourhood in which gunmen used pistols fitted with silencers.

In a separate incident, a third policeman was killed in western Baghdad when a bomb exploded near a police patrol. Five others were wounded in the attack.

It is worth mentioning that earlier on Thursday, a bomb attached to a local health department pickup truck exploded in Ramadi, killing the driver and wounding three bystanders.

Philippines/Insurgency: Philippine governor says he was target of bomb

Military officials stated that Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan may have been the target of the improvised explosive device (IED) that exploded outside the arrival area of Zamboanga City International Airport late Thursday which left two people dead and injured dozen others.

Colonel Santiago Baluyot, commander of Task Force Zamboanga, said authorities are looking into the possibility of Tan being the target since there have been attempts on the life of the governor in the past.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. But a small terrorist group with ties to Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah is known to have detonated crude bombs in the past.

Yemen/Terrorism: Suspected AQAP gunmen kill three policemen in Zinjibar

Security Officials stated that suspected Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorists attacked a police patrol in Zinjibar city, the provincial capital of Abyan province in southern Yemen on Thursday, killing three officers and injuring another.

According to the officials, the attackers threw a hand grenade and opened fire at the patrol vehicle near a checkpoint in Zinjibar city and then fled on a pick-up truck. Reportedly, police forces have launched an extensive manhunt for them.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

It is worth mentioning that earlier on Tuesday, eight policemen were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the police headquarters in the southern city of Dalea.

Kyrgyzstan/Civil Unrest: Security forces foiled coup attempt in Bishkek

Media reported that Kyrgyz forces arrested the opposition party leader, Urmat Baryktabasov, on suspicion of plotting the overthrow of the government on Thursday. Troops had fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd trying to join mass demonstrations near the Parliament earlier in the day.

Reportedly, around 2 to 3 thousand demonstrators had gathered in front of Kyrgyz President’s residence to express their support for Meken Tuu party leader Baryktabasov. Kyrgyz security forces had stopped supporters of Baryktabasov on the outskirts of the capital Bishkek, which resulted in clashes.

Government Spokesman Farid Niyazov said some of the 27 protesters arrested are being investigated on suspicion of attempting to seize power.

United States/Somalia/Terrorism: Fourteen charged for supporting terrorist group

The US Attorney General Eric Holder stated that earlier on Thursday, Washington had charged 14 people with providing support for the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

According to Holder, the charges reflect a disturbing trend of increased support for terrorism and credited the leaders in Muslim communities of the United States who are helping law enforcement agencies to address the issue.

Reportedly, most of those charged were US citizens of Somali descent. Some supported the terrorist organization from the US and others had travelled to Somalia to join up with Al-Shabaab.

It is worth mentioning that the US Government designated Al-Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization in March 2008 and said it had ties to Al-Qaeda.

United Arab Emirates/Japan/Terrorism: Japanese tanker was damaged in a terror attack

The United Arab Emirates State News Agency WAM reported on Friday that experts investigating the blast on the Japanese super tanker near the Strait of Hormuz last week found remains of homemade explosives on the hull of the M Star and have therefore blamed the incident on a terrorist attack.

In Tokyo, Mitsui OSK said the company could not confirm the reports, while Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada also said that the government was aware of the report but was yet to confirm its details.

As a reminder, earlier on Tuesday, a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the explosion on the Japanese tanker.

Turkey/Terrorism: Soldier killed in clashes in Dogubayazit

Turkey's Anatolian News Agency reported that one Turkish soldier and six terrorists have been killed in clashes between the military forces and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Reportedly, the trooper was killed on Thursday in fresh fighting with PKK near the town of Dogubayazit in the eastern Agri province.

Another incident was reported when members of the PKK invaded a police station in Dicle town, near Diyarbakir, wounding another soldier.

In two separate events, three PKK terrorists were killed in clashes with Turkish security forces in a mountainous area in Hakkari province, while three others perished after they had opened fire at a local governor's office in the eastern city of Van. Two police officers sustained minor injuries in this last incident.

Somalia/Piracy: Pirates seize ship in Gulf of Aden

The European Union Naval Force in Somalia (EU NAVFOR) announced on Thursday that pirates had captured the sugar-laden cargo MV Syria Star and its crew of 24 in the Gulf of Aden.

According to EU NAVFOR sources, the 18,838-tonne cargo ship, flagged in Saint Vincent and Grenadines, reported an attack while it was sailing west in the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor through the Gulf of Aden. Pirates allegedly boarded the vessel and fired on the crew which included 22 Syrians and 2 Egyptians.

Reportedly, helicopter crews later found the ship stopped in the water, with a skiff containing fuel and ammunition abandoned nearby.

Mexico/Organised Crime: Car bomb explodes outside police station

Mexican Police stated that a car laden with explosives detonated outside the headquarters of the Tamaulipas State Public Safety Complex in Ciudad Victoria on Thursday, but no one was injured in the blast.

According to officials, two Rural Police patrol cars have been damaged in the blast but it was not known what kinds of explosives were used or how they were detonated. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far and no suspects were immediately identified, but it is worth mentioning that Tamaulipas is known to be a battleground between the rival Gulf and Zeta drug cartels.

As a reminder, this was the second car bomb set off in Mexico in less than a month, after an explosives-packed vehicle killed four people in northern Ciudad Juarez on July 15.

Meanwhile, federal police announced that three suspected drug-gang members who allegedly participated in the kidnapping of three television journalists last week were arrested in northern Mexico.

Iraq/Terrorism: Four killed in attacks in the north

Iraqi Security Officials stated that three members of the Sahwa or “Awakening Councils”, former militants allied now with the Iraqi Government, have been killed by unknown gunmen in the western part of Tikrit, northwest of Baghdad on Thursday.

The Sahwa regularly face attacks for their role in aiding the government and the US forces in clamping down on radical militant groups.

Separately, a terrorist was gunned down as he and other terrorists tried to attack an Iraqi Military Checkpoint outside the northern and ethnically diverse city of Mosul.

According to military officials, gun battles between soldiers and the armed group lasted over half an hour.

Kyrgyzstan/Civil Unrest: Kyrgyz troops block demonstrators bound for capital

Media reported that Kyrgyz Troops blocked a road on the outskirts of Bishkek on Thursday in order to prevent around 1,000 demonstrators from attending a rally in the capital.

Keneshbek Dushebayev, head of the Kyrgyz National Security Service, said the army was acting on information that some protesters at the roadblock were armed and could try to overthrow the interim government.

According to Dushebayev, the demonstrators planned to demand the installation of a local politician in a position of power within the interim government, and to demand the resignation of several members of the current leadership.

Reportedly, nearly 400 to 500 armed soldiers faced a crowd of around 1,000 people waving red flags and wearing traditional Kyrgyz felt hats. The army used trucks to block the road and several helicopters flew overhead.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said the situation in Bishkek was under control and that criminal groups were responsible for the latest unrest.

Belgium/Security: Most-wanted Italian mafioso arrested in Brussels

Media reported that Belgian Federal Police's Fugitive Active Search Team (FAST) in cooperation with Italian Police and Interpol agents apprehended Vittorio Pirozzi, a Neapolitan Camorra mobster, in an apartment in central Brussels late on Wednesday.

Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni praised Thursday the arrest of Pirozzi, who appears on the list of Italy's 100 most-wanted criminals. The Interior Minister said that Pirozzi's capture marks another great success by the State against the Camorra.

The 58-year-old Pirozzi, described in news reports as a top member of the Mariano Camorra family of Naples, had been on the run since 2003.

Pirozzi now faces serving a 15-year jail sentence for drug trafficking.

Philippines/Terrorism: Blast kills one person at southern airport

Philippine Authorities stated that one person was killed and at least 12 others, including Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan, were wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated outside the passenger arrival gate at the Zamboanga city airport on Thursday.

The Mayor of Zamboanga, Celso Lobregat, confirmed the death of at least one person and mentioned that the blast occurred just after a plane from Manila had landed and as passengers were leaving the terminal.

It is worth mentioning that Zamboanga is known as one of the strongholds of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, a group included on the US government's list of terrorist organisations.

Israel/Security: Netanyahu warns over harsh response to any attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel holds Lebanon and Hamas responsible for separate attacks on its territory this week and will continue to respond forcefully to violence.

In a televised speech, Netanyahu held Hamas and the Lebanese Government responsible for the recent violent provocation against Israeli soldiers.

As a reminder, four people, including a senior Israeli officer, died in a rare fire fight on the Israeli-Lebanese border on Tuesday.

Earlier on Monday, a suspected short-range rocket allegedly launched from the Egyptian Sinai, struck Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea ports, killing a man in Jordan. Netanyahu blamed the attack on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, but this one denied any involvement in the rocket strike.