India/Civil Unrest: Two protesters killed in police firing
 
Witnesses said on Friday that two protesters were killed when Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers opened fire on a mob of anti-India demonstrators in the north Sopore town, some 50 kilometres away from Srinagar, the main city of India administered Kashmir.
 
The recent fatalities added to a string of deaths that have fuelled a continuing series of violent protests across the city in the past two months.

Earlier this week, the Kashmir state government had issued orders to start a judicial probe into the recent spate of shootings during protests and the subsequent deaths that followed. As a reminder, at least 18 people have been killed in police firing during protests since early June.
 
Meanwhile, the government is blaming separatists and militant groups for instigating the latest unrest. However, many locals consider the protests as a reaction to the abuses of security forces, the economic stagnation and the political deadlock in the valley.

China/Security: Three Uighur webmasters jailed
 
The Uighur American Association (UAA) activist group announced on Friday that a Chinese Court in Xinjiang has sentenced three ethnic Uighur webmasters for 3 to 10 years in prison.

Reportedly, the court found that the contents of the websites were ethnically-provocative and could have triggered communal tension.
 
Nijat Azat who managed the Shabnam website has been sentenced for 10 years, Dilshat Perhat, owner of the Diyarim website, will serve 5 five years, while webmaster of Salkin, known by his single name Nureli, was sentenced to 3 years.
 
It is worth mentioning that the trial was held behind closed doors and no government official could be reached for any comment.

Sudan/Civil Unrest: Eight killed in refugee camp clashes
 
Officials announced on Thursday that violence in refugee camps in a Sudanese western region have left eight people dead and dozens other injured.
 
Reportedly, the UN-African Union Peacekeeping Mission (UNAMID) has confirmed the deaths of three people on Wednesday night in Zalingei, West Darfur. The casualties allegedly came from a clash between refugees who supported the Darfur peace talk with the ones who opposed it.

Moreover, accounts given by residents claimed that fighting erupted again in the Kalma camp in South Darfur on Thursday, killing five people.
 
It is worth mentioning that meanwhile, the Qatar-based talks regarding the Darfur peace process have made little progress in the absence of the two main rebel groups – the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Bangladesh/Civil Unrest: Garment workers protest against pay package
 
Media reported on Friday that thousands of garment workers have taken the streets, destroying vehicles and blocking the traffic in Dhaka as a protest against a government’s decision regarding the increase of wages that still fell far short of their demands.
 
Rejecting the pay increase, angry workers broke into violence in the heart of Dhaka and vowed to continue their protest. Law-and-order officials stated that a group of protesters pelted factories with stones, while others looted shops and set fire to the buildings.

Reportedly, police had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob.
 
It is worth mentioning that garments are Bangladesh's biggest export, making accessories for many international brands, and it accounts for more than 80 percent of the country's annual earnings of $16 billion.

Sri Lanka/ Civil Unrest: Armed men attack private TV station
 
Media reported on Friday that a group of unidentified armed men barged into the premises of Voice of Asia Network in Colombo and set ablaze the offices of the privately owned Siyatha Television and Radio Stations.

Reportedly, the men were carrying assault rifles and had also assaulted a security guard and an employee.
 
A spokesman of the company said the station's control room, studio and library were damaged and therefore the TV station had to be shut down.
 
As Siyatha mainly focused on entertainment and education, the reason for the attack could not be explained based on the content of its programs. However, it is worth mentioning that the company's owners supported in the presidential election earlier this year Sarath Fonseka, the main opposition candidate and former Army Chief, who now faces a court-martial for allegedly planning his political career while in the army, while many of his supporters were arrested.

Mexico/Organized Crime: Top gang leader killed in clash
 
The Mexican army announced on Friday that they have killed Ignacio Coronel, one of the top three leaders of Sinaloa cartel, during a gun battle yesterday in the western city of Guadalajara.
 
An Army General said troops had raided one of Coronel's hideouts, but he tried to escape and fired shots on military personnel. Reportedly, a soldier was killed, while another one was injured, during the ensuing clash.
 
In a separate incident, police have recovered 15 dead bodies, many bearing marks of torture and bullet wounds, from a highway leading from Ciudad Victoria to Matamoros – near the U.S. border city of Brownsville, Texas.
 
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Ciudad Juarez has announced yesterday that the consulate will remain closed until a security review is complete. It has not given any reason as to why and what prompted the review. It is worth mentioning that drug gangs had executed three people associated with the consulate a few months ago.

Thailand/Terrorism: One injured in grenade attack
 
Police Officials reported on Friday that one person has been critically injured in a grenade attack near a shopping mall in the Rangnam road in Bangkok.

Reportedly, the bomb was put inside a rubbish container. The latest incident follows the bombing attack last Sunday at a Bangkok bus station, which killed one person and wounded 10 others. No one has claimed responsibility of these bombing attacks and it has certainly revived tension in the city that has suffered two months of bloody street protests.
 
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister said that the grenade attacks could have been politically motivated. He further added that such incidences show the need to maintain the ongoing emergency rule in Bangkok and ten other provinces.

India/Terrorism: Four CRPF troopers killed in landmine blast
 
Police Officials announced that four paramilitary troopers from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed on Friday in a landmine attack in the Holmari village of Assam's Goalpara district. At least 30 others were also injured in the attack carried out by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
 
Further reports from the police said the terrorists triggered the remote-controlled landmine when the troopers were returning from a training session.
 
Meanwhile, a joint force of police, army and the CRPF has launched a massive security operation in the area to hunt down the attackers.

It is worth mentioning that the latest attack is the second biggest attack on security forces this week.

Armenia/Civil Unrest: Five killed in shooting at army barracks
 
A statement from the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office has declared on Friday that five servicemen were killed in a clash within one of the Armenian military barracks.

Reportedly, the incident occurred when four officers caught some soldiers sleeping while on night duty. They waked them up and started bullying them, following which one of the soldiers picked up his Kalashnikov and executed the officer before shooting himself to death.

The report has been confirmed by the Defence Ministry, but no further details have been yet.

Iraq/Terrorism: Security forces suffer heavy blows from separate terrorist attacks
 
Security Forces announced on Friday that a series of shootings and bombing attacks carried across the country on Thursday have killed at least 12 people and injured 31 others.
 
Reports from Baghdad said unidentified gunmen hurled a grenade at an army vehicle in the Adhamiya district, killing three soldiers. In the ensuing actions, the attackers detonated three more grenades, killing three policemen. An Interior Ministry source further reported that 14 people, including seven policemen and civil defence workers, were wounded in the incident.
 
In the western city of Falluja, two separate roadside bombing attacks killed three soldiers and injured nine others.

Meanwhile, in the city of in Shirqat, a suicide car bomber attacked Iraqi army base, killing three soldiers and wounded eight.

Russia/Civil Unrest: Environmental activists riot, throw smoke bombs
 
Russian Officials stated on Thursday that the protest of environmental activists against the felling of the Khimki forest broke into a riot, while they hurled smoke bombs and smashed windows of the town’s administration buildings.

Reportedly, around 500 activists had gathered at the scene and started shouting slogans in support of the forest. Further reports on the Kommersant daily said that most of the people involved in the riot were from "anti-fascist" and anarchist groups.
 
Meanwhile, police have arrested nine activists, including the organizer of the protest, Yevgenia Chirikova. However, she said her group had nothing to do with the violent riots, further pointing fingers on extremist groups.

Earlier last week, police had briefly detained and released Yuri Timofeev, a photographer for RFE/RL’s Russian service; and Elena Kostyuchenko, a correspondent with the independent daily Novaya Gazeta.

Indonesia/Terrorism: Indonesian woman gets 3 years for harboring terrorists
 
Media reported on Thursday that Putri Munawaroh, a Muslim woman has been sentenced by South Jakarta District Court for three years in prison for providing refuge to terrorists.

Reportedly, the court declared the verdict after finding her guilty of violating the country's Anti-Terror Law.
 
Munawaroh was arrested after police raided her house in Central Java in September 2009. During the police operation, a shootout had broken out that ended with the death of four terrorists, including Noordin Top, a leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah.

Noordin was wanted for his alleged connection with a series of bomb blasts in the country-including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. He is also was accused of planning the suicide attacks at the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels in Jakarta last year.

 

Somalia/Terrorism: Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab warns African countries
 
According to Media reports on Thursday, the Somali Al-Qaeda-linked terror group Al-Shabaab has warned its neighbouring countries against sending additional troops to the war-torn country. They have also threatened to "annihilate" the troops, like those 6,000 who are already "suffering" from their attacks.
 
The terrorist group had claimed the responsibility for the twin bombing attacks in the Ugandan capital on July 11 and since then, African leaders and US Officials are looking forward to deploy more troops in Somalia.

Leaders had thus pledged during the African Union Summit held in Uganda that 4,000 more would be deployed to help the 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers now stationed in Mogadishu.

Greece/Civil Unrest: Truck drivers clash with riot police
 
Media reported on Thursday that Greek Police fired tear canister in an attempt to disperse a mob of protesting fuel-truck drivers. The clash broke out after some 500 protesters gathered outside the Ministry of Transport in Athens.

The action follows the government’s emergency decree to force the drivers back to work. The truck drivers are protesting government’s plans to liberalize their tightly regulated profession-which means the drivers will no longer be able to sell their business licenses privately.

The recent unrest in the country has hit the tourism industry and the shortage of fuel, food and medicine in the city.

 

Paraguay/Insurgency: Rebel leader killed in shootout
 
The Paraguayan Interior Ministry has declared that police forces have killed Severiano Martinez, leader of the banned Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) group, during a gun battle in the Chaco region on Wednesday.

The statement further added that police had tracked down the rebel leader and asked him to surrender, in which he responded by firing at the officers. He was then reportedly killed in the ensuing shootout.
 
With five arrest warrants issued against him, Martinez was one of the most wanted fugitives in the country and has allegedly been accused of kidnapping and murdering the daughter of former President Raul Cubas in 2004.

The latest incident follows a drive started by President Fernando Lugo to hunt down members of the EPP.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: Two Italian soldiers killed in IED explosion

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has confirmed the death of two Italian soldiers in a bomb explosion that occurred in an undisclosed western region on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the explosion came from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), a weapon used mostly by Taleban terrorists.

According to sources of the Italian Defence Ministry, the two bomb disposal experts had just defused an IED before getting killed by another one.

With 3,300 troops, Italy has been contributing a great deal to the ISAF in its fight against terrorism. It is worth mentioning that another two Italian soldiers with the 327th Engineer Regiment were killed in a bombing attack near the western city of Herat earlier this May.

Sudan/Insurgency: Rebels accuse Army for raiding camp
 
The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), a rebel group in Darfur, has accused the Army for raiding a refugee camp in Zalingei on Wednesday.

A rebel commander further described the attack, saying that troops had attacked the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp and killed two civilians.

Meanwhile, account given by a resident indicated that there had been clashes in the camps surrounding the town and that two people had been killed. However, he could not confirm whether government forces were involved.

An army spokesman has declined to comment on the report. Also, no representatives of the joint UN-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping force were immediately available for comment.

Ukraine/Terrorism: Bomb explosion at church kills one and injures 11
 
Spokeswoman of Ukraine’s Emergencies Ministry has declared that one person has been killed, while 11 others were injured in a bombing attack on an Orthodox church in Ukrainian southern city of Zaporozhye on Wednesday.

It has been reported that the homemade explosive device went off near the entrance to the church. No party had claimed for the responsibility so far.
 
Incidentally, the attack took place on the day the country marks the anniversary of its conversion to Christianity.

 

Mexico/Organized Crime: Drug gang kidnaps four journalists
 
Media reported on Thursday that drug traffickers had kidnapped four journalists from the northern Laguna region earlier on Monday.

The four reporters, including two employees of the Televisa network, have apparently been seized while covering a story on last week's arrest of Margarita Rojas – the Gómez Palacio prison director in Durango who has been allegedly accused for supplying arms to prisoners and instigating to mass murders.
 
Meanwhile, police have declared on Wednesday that they have arrested Rogelio Segovia Hernandez, a suspected drug cartel lieutenant, from the border state of Chihuahua. It is worth mentioning that Hernandez has been carrying a quarter-million-dollar reward on his head.

Somalia/Turkey/Piracy: Pirates release Turkish vessel
 
Turkish broadcaster NTV reported on Thursday that the Somali pirates have released the MV Frigia, the Malta-flagged Turkish ship, after being hijacked for about four months ago.

There has been no confirmation for any ransom paid to release the ship.

Meanwhile, an official from the shipping company has confirmed that the ship is en-route to meet a Turkish navy ship in the Gulf of Aden. The Frigia was hijacked off the Indian coast along with 21 crewmembers, which includes 19 Turkish nationals and 2 Ukrainians, on March 23. It was reportedly transporting fertilizer from Israel to Thailand when it was seized.