Tajikistan/Insurgency: Court jails 10 suspected Islamist militants

Media reported that Tajikistan has jailed 10 members of a banned insurgent group in Khujand, the largest city in the north of Tajikistan, on Wednesday on charges of inciting anti-government activities.

The Supreme Court's Press Service stated that the accused were jailed from three to 15 years and that all of those sentenced, including a 70-year-old man, belonged to the Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) group.

It is worth mentioning that according to Supreme Court reports, this year alone 115 people have been jailed on charges of belonging to banned groups.

However, Hizb ut-Tahrir argues it uses only peaceful methods to achieve its goal of establishing a worldwide caliphate - a theocratic Muslim state.

United Kingdom/Terrorism: Bomb found under soldier's car in Bangor

The Police Service of Northern Ireland stated that a booby trap device was found today underneath the car of a serving soldier in Bangor, County Down, northeast of Belfast on Wednesday morning.

According to a police spokesman, between 20 and 30 houses in the Chatsworth area of the Northern Ireland seaside town had been evacuated and a controlled explosion has been carried out.

As a reminder, the attack came a day after a car bomb exploded outside a police station in Londonderry. No one was injured in the explosion but several buildings were damaged in the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities attributed it to dissidents backing the formerly terrorist Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Pakistan/Terrorism: Five killed in Peshawar suicide attack

Local Media reported that at least five persons, including a Commander of the paramilitary forces, were killed and 15 others were wounded in a suicide blast that took place at the usually crowded Deens Chowk commercial spot in the Pakistani northern city of Peshawar on Wednesday.

According to Police Official Qutrat Ullah Khan, the suicide bomber targeted the vehicle of Sifwat Ghayur - the head of the Frontier Constabulary - as Ghayur was leaving office, killing him and four guards. The explosion also injured seven other people and damaged at least three vehicles.

No group has claimed responsibility for the arrack so far.

Sudan/Insurgency: 21 die in south Sudan cattle raids

A South Sudanese Military Spokesman stated on Wednesday that at least 21 people have been killed in fighting in South Sudan's Lakes State after rustlers attacked a cattle camp.

South Sudan's Army (SPLA) spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol said raiders from Yirol West raided a cattle camp in Yirol East on Tuesday. Kuol said one youth from the East was killed and 20 of the attackers were killed because there was a fight back.

According to Kuol, Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) killed one person and wounded four others including a south Sudanese soldier in an ambush last week.

Reportedly, the attack took place in Western Equatoria state, where sporadic LRA attacks have displaced thousands of people.

Peru/Civil Unrest: Coca growers clash with police, one dead

Media reported that at least one farmer died and two other people were injured on Tuesday when police cleared a roadblock set by coca growers in the Padre Abad province of the region of Ucayali, 780 km east of the capital of Lima.

Reportedly, the farmers were demanding the government to halt efforts to eradicate coca plantations.

According to the statements made by Juan Zarate, the director of the eradication program in the area, police forcefully responded to protesters carrying guns.

It is worth mentioning that in Peru's main coca growing regions - the Alto Huallaga and the Ene and Apurimac valleys - security forces trying to catch drug runners fight periodically with remnant bands of leftist Shining Path rebels who moved into the cocaine trade after their leaders had been captured in the 1990s for waging a war against the state.

India/Insurgency: At least 70 police personnel missing in Maoist attack

Security Officials stated that at least 70 police personnel have been missing after Maoist rebels ambushed a security patrol in the southern Dantewada jungle area of Chhattisgarh state on Wednesday.

Reportedly, a group of over 200 Maoists laid ambush on a joint operation group comprising the Chhattisgarh Police and Special Task Force (STF).

According to police officials, the encounter between security forces and rebels is still continuing and additional forces and choppers have been dispatched to the area.

It is worth mentioning that, earlier on Tuesday, the insurgents had killed five people in the eastern Jharkhand state. However, it was not immediately clear why the Maoists carried the attack.

Iraq/Terrorism: Car bomb leaves 25 dead

Media reported that a bomb blast at an outdoor market in the southern city of Kut and a series of attacks around the Iraqi capital killed at least 25 people Tuesday.

Reportedly, the blast in Kut, 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, targeting a popular outdoor market that sells food and clothes, killed at least 15 people and wounded 60 others.

It is worth mentioning that the attack came hours after suspected Al-Qaeda fighters killed five Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint in Mansour district, leaving behind a black flag used to represent the Islamic State of Iraq - an umbrella group that includes a number of Sunni extremist organizations and has ties to Al-Qaeda.

Earlier on Tuesday, a traffic police officer was killed in a roadside bombing in central Baghdad and a soldier was killed in a bombing in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad.

Afghanistan/New Zealand/Terrorism: First New Zealand soldier killed in ambush

The New Zealand Defence Force announced on Wednesday that a New Zealand soldier has been killed in an ambush in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province, northwest of the capital Kabul on Tuesday.

The Defence Force named the dead man as Lieutenant Timothy Andrew O'Donnell from 2/1 Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Lt O'Donnell was part of a routine patrol in Bamiyan province on Tuesday.

According to defence officials, the patrol was attacked with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and then came under fire from two separate positions. Two other New Zealand soldiers and a local interpreter were seriously wounded in the attack.

New Zealand has 140 personnel carrying out reconstruction work in Bamiyan, and 70 elite Special Forces soldiers are believed to be deployed in Kabul.

Pakistan/Civil Unrest: Extra troops patrol Karachi after violence death toll reaches 62

Local Media reported on Wednesday that additional security forces have been deployed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi after 13 more people were killed in recent political and ethnic violence.

Karachi Police Chief Waseem Ahmed announced that four people were shot dead in one incident on Tuesday night, while six to seven trucks parked under a bridge were also burnt.

Later on Wednesday, unknown people set fire to several mobile phone shops in a main market in the city and separately in Hyderabad, gunmen opened fire on a train heading for the eastern city of Lahore, injuring the driver.

It is worth mentioning that according to the latest police and official reports, at least 62 people have now been killed since politician Raza Haider was gunned down on Monday night.

Iran/Terrorism: President Ahmadinejad’s convoy attacked, several people injured

Sources in the Presidential Office have confirmed the attack carried on the convoy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, mentioning that the official was unhurt, but that several other people had been injured in the incident.

Israel/Terrorism: Israeli shelling kills Gaza terrorist

An Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv stated that the Air Force launched a missile, killing a suspected Palestinian terrorist and wounding two others, in the town of Khan Younis, east of the southern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday.

Palestinian Officials said the terrorists belong to Homat al-Aqsa, a small military arm of the Fatah Movement and that they were suspiciously approaching the security fence on the Israel-Gaza border at the moment of the air strike.

Separately on Tuesday, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. Nasrallah said he would prove the claim at a press conference next week.

It is worth mentioning that the Hezbollah leader was speaking hours after a fire fight on the Lebanon-Israeli border left five people dead. Referring to the rare exchange of fire, he said his forces were ready to join the fighting.

United Arab Emirates/Japan/Terrorism: Al-Qaeda linked group claims attack on Japanese tanker

Media reported that a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda claimed on Wednesday that a suicide bomber from its organisation was responsible for the explosion on a Japanese super tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, last Wednesday.

Reportedly, in a statement posted on the Faloja Islamist website, a group using the name “Abdullah Azzam Brigades” claimed responsibility for the attack. The statement included a photo of the alleged suicide bomber, dressed in an Arab-style white robe and cap, pointing at a picture of a super tanker on a video screen. However, independent verification of the claim was not immediately available.

It is worth mentioning that the same group had also claimed attacks in Egypt and Jordan in 2005, while its Ziad al-Jarrah division claimed responsibility for firing two rockets into northern Israel last year.

Israel/Lebanon/Security: Five killed in Lebanese-Israeli border clash

Media reported that three Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and one Israeli officer have been killed during clashes between Israeli and Lebanese troops along the border on Tuesday.

According to a Lebanese army officer, the clash started when Israeli troops tried to remove a tree from the Lebanese side of the border.

The Israeli Military Spokesman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich stated that a senior officer was killed during the clashes and identified him as a 45-year-old battalion commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Moreover, Israel Defence Forces GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot said two Israeli officers had been very seriously hit during the exchange of fire.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman denounced the fighting and urged the army commander to confront any Israeli aggression whatever the sacrifices.

Spain/Somalia/Piracy: Spanish marines ward off Somali pirate attack, arrest seven

The European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) announced that Spanish marines captured seven suspected pirates on Tuesday, as they warded off an attack on the MV Bow Saga, a Norwegian chemical tanker, in the Gulf of Aden.

According to the EUNAVFOR, the tanker sent a distress call that it was under attack by a pirate skiff with seven people on board.

Reportedly, the pirates shot at the tanker's bridge, damaging the windows. But 10 minutes after the first distress call, the Spanish frigate SPS Victoria sent a helicopter and the pirates stopped the attack. Thereafter, the suspected pirates tried to flee, only stopping when warning shots were fired from the helicopter.

It is worth mentioning that pirates hijacked a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship with 23 crew onboard earlier on Monday.

Spain/Terrorism: Suspected Basque terrorists arrested 

Security Officials stated on Tuesday that Spanish police had arrested two suspected terrorists of the Basque separatist organisation ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna) in Hernani, near the city of San Sebastian in northern Spain late on Monday.

According to official sources, the man and woman are suspected of taking part in the killing of Police Officer Joseba Pagazaurtundua, 45, who was shot in the head at a bar in the nearby town of Andaoin on February 8, 2003.

Reportedly, the man, identified as Gurutz Aguirresarobe, was believed to be a member of the ETA, but the woman named Aitziber Ezkerra Segurajauregi was believed to have distanced herself from the group. 

India/Civil Unrest: Five more killed in Kashmir clashes

Media reported that five people were killed and several others wounded in clashes with the security forces in the Srinagar and Kulgam districts of Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday.

Reportedly, four of the protestors have been killed in separate locations from the Kulgam district, in Qamarwari, Idgah, Shalteng and Frisal respectively; while another person who had been previously wounded in firing in Khrew – a town near Srinagar - succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

With Tuesday's deaths, a total of 24 people have been killed in incidents of violence in the Valley since last Friday.

According to the police, curfew remained clamped in all of the ten districts of Kashmir as security forces maintained a close vigil to contain disturbances. Additional forces are being sent following a request for help made by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to the central authorities in order to tackle the situation in the Valley.

Yemen/Terrorism: Suicide bomber wounds eight in Dalea

Yemeni Security Officials stated that eight people, including six policemen have been wounded when a suspected Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in the southern Yemeni town of Dalea on Tuesday.

According to witnesses, a man sped up on a motorcycle to the office in the southern city of Dalea before stopping suddenly and blowing himself up.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, a senior provincial government official said that the blast bears the hallmarks of an AQAP attack.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Taleban suicide bombers attack a NATO military base in Kandahar

NATO Spokeswoman Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick in Kabul stated that two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the foreign military base in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, killing themselves and leaving one NATO soldier and two civilians injured.

Reportedly, the suicide bombers detonated their explosives after they had failed to gain access to the facilities. According to the statements of the Kandahar provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayobi, the two suicide bombers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies outside the base perimeter, aiming to clear the entrance for the rest of the group.

The Taleban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi later claimed responsibility for the attack.

It is worth mentioning that the Kandahar Air Field, 25 km outside of Kandahar city is the largest foreign military base in the country and hosting tens of thousands of troops and civilian workers.

Turkey/Terrorism: Four killed in PKK attack on Turkish police station

Turkey's Anatolia News Agency reported on Tuesday that a police officer was killed when suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a police station with a rocket launcher and automatic weapons in the town of Eruh in Siirt province, southeast Turkey on Monday.

Three PKK militants were reportedly killed in the following exchange of fire and 15 others were detained  by police on Tuesday for the attack.

Yemen/Insurgency: Houthi rebels release 100 soldiers

Sheikh Hassan bin Abdullah Al-Ahmar, a pro-government prominent tribal chief and mediator in the prisoners' release, stated on Tuesday that Yemeni Shi’ite rebels (Houthi) set free on Sunday 100 soldiers captured in recent fighting, days after announcing the release of 200 other troops.

Reportedly, the latest batch of soldiers released had been held by the Huthi rebels in the region of Al-Amishiya in northern Amran province. According to Al-Ahmar, the rebels promised to free another 128 soldiers in the next days.

Meanwhile, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Salam said the releases came on the occasion of (the Muslim fasting month of) Ramadan, and as a proof for their “seriousness in bringing peace and in creating the conditions for a resumption of mediation by Qatar”.