Pakistan/United States/Terrorism: US Intelligence official says Mehsud is dead

A senior US intelligence official stated on Wednesday that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a missile attack last month.
However, there were no reports from either Pakistani government or from the US government about the death of Mehsud.
Speaking on condition of anonymity an official from the Obama administration in Washington said intelligence reports over the weekend came close to a definitive conclusion that Mehsud had died from wounds suffered in a drone strike on January 14.
However, on Sunday, Taleban spokesman Azam Tariq denied the fresh reports of Mehsud's death and clarified that Mehsud was "alive and safe." He said the Taleban can provide proof that Mehsud is alive so anyone who states that he is dead should also provide proof. 

Nigeria/Insurgency: Defense minister defends amnesty process

Nigerian defence minister Godwin Abbe held on Wednesday media briefing on the amnesty programme initiated with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) rebels President Umaru Yar’Adua. Denying that the process programme was failing, he claimed that several stages would be needed to make it “fully mature”.

The amnesty program was launched in June 2009 and offered the rebels who surrender their weapons certain sum of money per month, training and job opportunities. A number of gunmen effectively surrendered, but President Umaru Yar'Adua’s long absence for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia has however raised tensions between the government and ex-rebels. The MEND has indeed recently carried out a series of warning strikes against oil facilities in the Niger Delta, highlighting the growing distrust with the government.

Egypt/Terrorism: armed Bedouin attack prisoner convoy on Sinai Peninsula,two policemen killed

According to Egyptian security sources, two policemen were killed near the northern city of Beir Al Abd on the Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday. The same sources indicated that four others sustained injuries as a group of Bedouin tribesmen ambushed a prisoner convoy carrying eight suspects to their court hearing.

Although it remains unclear who the prisoners are and what their crimes were, they have managed to escape. Government sources indicate that the Sinai region has been put on a high alert following the attack, adding that an operation to find the fugitives and the attackers has been launched.

Bedouin elders confirmed that several of their tribesmen have resorted to criminal activities following the harsh economic climate in the region, although it is not clear which group is behind the attack. 

Israel/Palestinian Authority/Security: Israeli fighters bomb tunnels used by terrorists

According to Palestinian security and medical sources, several smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip were bombed by Israeli fighter planes on Tuesday. The same sources stated that three people suffered injuries as the air strikes targeted tunnels near the town of Rafah in southern Gaza.

An Israeli military spokesman stated that Israeli forces launched the strikes "in response for the attempted naval attacks in southern Israel and recent rocket attacks”. The spokesman added that the Isareli army confirmed direct hits on both targets, which alleged included a tunnel used for smuggling weapons and a tunnel used by terrorists to carry out attacks Israel. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) warned Hamas that will respond in force if any disruption is caused.

The latest air raids came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared during a news conference alongside Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that Israel would respond to the explosives found on the country's Mediterranean beaches.

Sri Lanka/Civil unrest: 37 arrested over plot to assassinate president

Sri Lankan state media reported on Wednesday that 37 people, mainly army officials, have been arrested for allegedly being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Daily News, a state-run newspaper, said those being held included a brigadier, a colonel, several army deserters and four civilians. The newspapers added that most of them were arrested in a raid on the office of the defeated presidential contender, General Sarath Fonseka.

The opposition however, denied there was any plot and said the government has launched a witch hunt after Rajapaksa won the presidential election a week ago. Jayalath Jayawardena, an opposition politician, said it were “false, malicious and fabricated” accusations.

Meanwhile, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets in Colombo on Wednesday, to demonstrate against the results of the recent presidential elections, which they say was rigged. Later on they assembled in a field in central Colombo to listen to speeches from opposition politicians. One of those politicians, Anura Dissanayake, called them to reject the “corrupt election”.

According to official results of the January 26 poll, President Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated his rival Fonseka with a 17 percentage point margin.

Yemen/Security: security forces kill several Shiite Zaidi rebel leaders

At least 20 Shiite Zaidi rebels, including several key leaders, have been killed in separate clashes with government troops in de Saada governorate, a Defence Ministry's online newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper ‘September 26’, six rebels, including rebel leader Saleh Hebra, were killed when Yemeni forces raided their hideout in Saada’s Razeh district. In addition, rebel leader Houssain Al-Haqli, aka Abu Badr, was killed, along with nine other rebels, when security forces targeted his vehicle on al-Jradat road, south of Saada.

The state-run newspaper further said a rebel identified as Yusuf al-Fishi was killed, along with nine others, in clashes in Saada’s Heidan district, while another leader Ahmed al-Wahdi, was reportedly killed during a separate military raid. Yemeni troops also re-opened a blocked highway in the northern provinces and seized a number of farms that rebels had been using as hideouts, the newspaper report said.

These latest military offensives against the rebels come after the Yemeni government rejected a ceasefire offer from rebel leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi on Saturday, due to the absence of a promise to end attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Earlier on Tuesday, al-Houthi stated he would agree to a prisoner swap with neighbouring Saudi Arabia if Riyadh was committed to peace. “If there is intention of making peace, this file could be closed through a prisoners swap”, al-Houthi stated.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: bomb attack kills two American soldiers

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stated on Wednesday that two US soldiers have been killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, bringing the death toll of foreign troops in the country to 51 for 2010 so far.

The short statement said both soldiers died by an improvised explosive device (IED). No further details were given concerning the place of the attack and the identity of the soldiers.

According to government data 30 US servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan in the month of January. The figure was 14 in the same month of 2009.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Chairman, Admiral Michael Mullen, announced that Washington had planned to deploy about 18,000 new troops by late spring to reverse the “momentum” gained by the Taleban in recent months.

Mexico/Organised crime: seven suspects and one policeman killed in shootout

At least seven suspected drug traffickers and one federal police officer were killed in a gun battle in the northern Mexican city of Torreon, Mexican authorities said.

Federal Public Safety Department said the federal police acted on a tip on Monday night which said that suspected gunmen held two people hostage in a shopping mall in the city of Torreon. When the police arrived at the mall, they were fired upon. Later on, police chased them onto a highway and gunned down seven of the suspects. The two kidnapped victims, who suffered minor injuries, were later freed. According to security officials three federal officers were also wounded in the encounter.

Police suspect the gunmen involved in the shootout belonged to the Los Zetas drug cartel, which is involved in many drug related violence in Mexico.

In recent months, Mexican security forces have scored several high-profile victories against drug cartels, including the slaying of kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva in December, and the arrest of the notorious hit man Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo", in January.

Germany/Terrorism: large scale police action against Jihadist network

German police raided 43 houses throughout the country, most notably in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg on Wednesday, following an investigation that had begun in August 2008.

In a coordinated police action against radical Islamists, who are suspected of radicalising some 100 people and encouraging them to join the Jihad in other countries, 39 people were arrested. According to police sources, the suspects were charged for “criminal association” and “assembling of a foreign army”.

The same sources indicate that the suspects have been recruiting radicalised people, including new converts to the Islam, to follow an instruction in a religious school in Egypt linked with terrorist groups.

These arrests follow the heightened state of security in Germany, after several threats were issued towards Chancellor Angela Merkel by Al Qaeda. These threats were posted on Jihadist websites, stating that Germany will soon be surprised by the scale of the attack that will be carried out on its soil.

Russia/Insurgency: railway station in Ingushetia comes under fire, no casualties

Citing a police official, RIA Novosti news agency reported that unknown assailants lobbed grenades into a railway station in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia late on Tuesday, damaging the building.

Unidentified gunmen attacked the railway station of Nazran, Ingushetia's largest city. Reportedly, several shots were fired from rifle-mounted grenade launchers. “At least one round exploded inside the building”, the official said, adding that no one was injured as “the passenger terminal was closed for the night”. A similar attack in Nazran killed one police officer and injured at least five others on Monday.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

28 people were killed and 90 others injured on November 27 last year, when an explosion, claimed by Islamic terrorists, derailed the Nevsky Express train on its route from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

Iran/Security: Tehran successfully launches satellite rocket

Iranian media reported that Tehran successfully test-fired a domestically made satellite-carrier rocket on Wednesday.

Ahmad Vahidi, Iran’s Defence Minister, stated that the Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer) rocket, which was successfully launched, carried a mouse, a turtle and worms into space for research purposes.

Speaking at a ceremony that marks Iran’s “Space Technology Day” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed his country’s progress in space technology. Another domestically-built light booster rocket -- the Simorgh (Phoenix) -- and three new satellites -- Toloo (Dawn), Navid (Good News), and Mesbah-2 (Lantern) -- were also unveiled at the ceremony.

The international community is concerned that Iran will use its space technology for military purposes, but Teheran said the satellites would be used to monitor natural disasters and improve telecommunications.

Earlier on Tuesday, president Ahmadinejad announced that Tehran was willing to send its uranium abroad for further enrichment as requested by the UN. He said Iran will have “no problem” giving the West its low-enriched uranium. Ahmadinejad did not however, give details concerning the amount of uranium he was willing to ship out. The International Atomic Energy Agency gave no immediate comments so far.

Iraq/Terrorism: motorbike bomber kills 20 Shiite pilgrims in Karbala

At least 20 Shiite pilgrims have been killed and 110 others wounded when a bomb, planted on a cart pulled by a motorcycle, exploded early Wednesday in the outskirts of Iraq’s holy city of Karbala, officials said.

Reportedly, the bomb exploded at about 11 am local time near the eastern entrance gate of Karbala as pilgrims were making their way into the city for the Shiite religious rite of Arba'een.

In other incidents on Wednesday, two separate roadside bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad killed one and wounded seven others.

These attacks come two days after a female suicide bomber killed more than 40 Shiite pilgrims on Monday in north-eastern Baghdad.

Its is most likely that Sunni extremist are behind the attacks who try to incite sectarian violence ahead of March 7 elections.

Pakistan/Terrorism: school bombing kills 8, including foreigners, in Lower Dir

At least eight people, including four foreign aid workers, were killed in a bomb blast near a school in Pakistan's North-Western Frontier Province’s Lower Dir district on Wednesday, officials said.

Mumtaz Zarin, district police chief, told reporters the blast, which severally damaged the school building, killed “four foreigners, one security guard and three schoolgirls”.

Reportedly, the remote controlled bomb, targeting a security forces' convoy, exploded as it passed by. The security forces were escorting a group of foreign and local visitors who were on their way to attend the inauguration ceremony of a newly built school in Koto village, about 10 kilometres from Lower Dir's main town of Taimargara. According to the police 70 people, including four local journalists were also wounded in the blast.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps said the four foreigners “were working for an NGO” (non-governmental organisation) and are “from the international community.” According to media reports, the foreigners were US nationals working for USAID, but neither the nationality nor the identity of the victims have been officially confirmed so far.

It’s worth noticing that the school had just been rebuild after it was destroyed by a similar attack in January last year.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, US drone attacks killed more than 20 suspected Taleban terrorists and wounded 15 others in Pakistan's lawless North Waziristan tribal region. Reportedly 8 drones participated in a coordinated attack against Taleban hideouts and a training centre in the Datta Khel area.

Mexico/Organised crime: Seven people died in shootout between rival drug cartels  in Magdalena

(Robert King/Polaris/Photo News)

At least seven people have been killed on Monday in a gun battle between rival groups in Magdalena city in the Mexican border state of Sonora, state police said.
Reportedly, gunfight occurred early on Monday at the intersection of Niños Heroes and Jose Maria Durazo streets in downtown Magdalena. Police confiscated six AK-47 assault rifles, a shotgun and seven vehicles damaged in the shootout. The seven victims are yet to be identified.
Mexican media reported that Sonora is a battleground between the Sinaloa drug cartel, which has controlled the state since the 1980s, and the Gulf cartel, which is trying to hold smuggling routes into the United States.
Meanwhile, officials confirmed that the death toll from the attack over the weekend on people attending a birthday party in Ciudad Juarez, had risen to 15. The federal, state and local governments are offering a total reward of 1 million pesos (about $76,000) for information leading to the arrest of those involved in the massacre.
According to police and media reports gruesome drug killings have surged in Ciudad Juarez since President Felipe Calderon sent in 10,000 troops and federal police to crush warring cartels in March.

United States/Security: Defence Agency says missile test fails to hit ‘Iran target’

US' Missile Defence Agency (MDA) stated on Tuesday that the US Air Force’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defence System, which was tested on Sunday, failed to hit its target due to a radar malfunction.

According to MDA the target missile was fired from Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands, while the interceptor had been launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Both missiles performed without problems. The Sea-Based X-band radar, however, “did not perform as expected”, MDA said, adding that officials would investigate the cause of the failure to intercept.

Reportedly, the SBX radar is a major component of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defence System, the sole US bulwark against long-range missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.

Sunday's test over the Pacific Ocean, which costs $150 million, was the first attempt by the US to test their anti-missile system against a possible attack from Iran. It comes at a time when the Pentagon reported that Iran had expanded its ballistic missile capabilities and posed a "significant" threat to the US and allied forces in the Middle East region.

Yemen/Saudi Arabia/Insurgency: Shiite Zaidi rebels say open to Saudi prisoner swap

In a statement posted on News Yemen website, Shiite Zaidi rebel leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi said on Tuesday that he would agree to a prisoner swap with neighbouring Saudi Arabia if Riyadh was committed to peace. “If there is intention of making peace, this file could be closed through a prisoners swap”, al-Houthi stated.

Al-Houthi furthermore said his group would stick to the ceasefire, according to which they withdrew from Saudi territories, “as long as we do not come under attack”.

Meanwhile, Prince Khaled bin Sultan, Saudi Deputy Defence Minister, said Riyadh will not approve a truce with the Shiite Zaidi rebels unless they have good intentions, this includes the withdrawal of all snipers from Saudi territory and the release of six Saudi soldiers believed to held by the rebels.

Despite the previously declared cease-fire between the rebels and Saudi Arabia, both parties still blame each other of carrying out attacks. The Shiite Zaidi rebels accused Saudi Arabia on Monday of attacking rebel positions in northern Yemen while Riyadh said that rebel snipers continued to infiltrate Saudi territory.

Bosnia/Security: Bosnian police raids Wahhabi village

In a move to flush out suspected terrorists who pose a security threat to the country, Bosnian police on Tuesday launched a major raid in a village home to radical Islamists.

Reportedly, security officers blocked off the village of Gornja Maoca in northern Brcko district on Tuesday morning, which has the largest Wahhabi community in Bosnia. The operation, which included 600 police officers from both Bosnia's autonomous regions, the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation, forms the largest security operation since the end of the Bosnian 1992-95 war.

According to information by the State Prosecutor, the goal of the operation, codenamed ‘Light’, was “to locate and prosecute individuals suspected of undermining the territorial integrity and constitutional order and inciting ethnic, racial or religious hatred and intolerance”.

According to the Associated Press, among the residents of Gorjna Maoca village there are at least 100 Islamic fighters, who struggled against Serbs and Croats during the Bosnian war. After the war they established their own Wahhabi community in the village and attracted many young Bosnian Muslims over the last years.

The operation was still in progress on Tuesday afternoon, but a local television channel reported that police had already found a large cache of arms and ammunition during the raid.

Afghanistan/Terrorism: four NATO soldiers killed in separate attacks

In the latest terrorist attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan, four NATO soldiers have been killed on Monday in separate bomb blasts, defence officials said.

Britain's Ministry of Defence confirmed that two British soldiers had been killed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in the southern Helmand province. Both soldiers belonged to the 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment and were on foot patrol in the Malgir area in the centre of the province.

In another incident on Monday, a Spanish soldier was killed and six others wounded in north-western Afghanistan when their armoured vehicle hit a mine north of Qala I Naw. The Spanish troops, together with Afghan policemen, were escorting a food convoy of the World Food Program. The Spanish Defence Ministry confirmed the death of the soldier and identified him as John Romero Menesesm, a 21-year-old Colombian national who served in the Spanish army.

In addition, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stated that an American serviceman had been killed in a roadside bombing on Monday in southern Afghanistan. No details had been given on the location of the attack.