40 die in Syria car bomb attack

Cairo: Forty people were killed Friday in a car bombing near a mosque in Damascus province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The dead include women and children and many of the dozens of injured are in serious condition, activists told the observatory. The scene of the explosion, a village called Suq Wadi Barada, is controlled by rebels, but Syrian government forces are deployed just outside the community, the activists said. The National Coalition, representing a wide range of opposition groups, blamed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad for the blast, which occurred just as worshippers at the mosque were concluding Friday prayers. Official news agency Sana attributed the attack to "terrorists". The United Nations estimates that Syria's internal conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives since March 2011, when violence erupted in the wake of harsh government repression of peaceful protests.

95 killed in operations against Boko Haram in Nigeria

Abuja: The face-off between Nigeria's Joint Task Force (JTF) in the country'S restive northern region and Boko Haram militants witnessed a bloody encounter in Borno and Yobe states with about 95 militants killed, military said Friday. Heavy gun battle continued as the JTF troops attacked the militants in different locations around Maiduguri and Damaturu, two strongholds of the deadly sect since 2009, Xinhua reported. This development came on the heels of security reports that the Boko Haram sect was planning a massive counterattack on strategic economic interests and JTF positions in Nigeria's northeast region. Borno and Yobe states are flash points of attacks by Boko Haram since 2009 when the sect launched its insurgency targeting churches, security facilities, schools and villages. The Nigerian military has been repelling the insurgents' attempts to launch coordinated attacks. Nigerian troops in Maiduguri, capital of the Borno state, said they destroyed more camps of Boko Haram Thursday during the ongoing offensive against the group. The camps were in Galangi and Lawanti villages within a Mainok General Area of Borno. The troops raided the camps and killed 74 suspected Boko Haram militants. Lt-Col Mohammed Dole, the new military spokesman, said the operations which involved ground and aerial assault by the Air Force destroyed identified terrorist camps, killing 74 suspected militants, while others fled with serious injuries. Two Isuzu tiger pick-up vehicles and five Hilux belonging to the militants were destroyed, he added. In another operation, the 3 Division Special Operation Battalion in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, confirmed Friday the killing of 21 insurgents in the state. A statement signed by Captain Eli Lazarus, spokesman of the battalion, said the insurgents were killed Thursday, while some weapons and ammunition were recovered during the operation. He said the insurgents attacked a military checkpoint close to the NNPC mega petrol station on Damaturu-Maiduguri road. A 24-hour curfew was imposed across the state to enable troops pursue the fleeing terrorists. Damaturu streets had remained empty with all business premises closed as residents stayed indoors. Boko Haram has caused thousands of casualties in Nigeria's northern states since 2009. With the escalation of conflicts between its fighters and the military, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared in May a state of emergency in the northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. In April, the Nigerian government tried to broker a ceasefire with the group but failed.

UN urges Saudi to boost women's rights ahead of driving

October 25: The UN urged Saudi Arabia to crack down on discrimination against women among other rights abuses today as the country braces for a weekend campaign that should see female activists defy a driving ban. The UN Human Rights Council adopted a report listing 225 recommendations for improvements earlier this week in Geneva during a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the oil-rich kingdom's rights record. The report follows Saudi threats this week of a crackdown on activists who are expected to go ahead with a plan to get behind the wheel tomorrow in the world's only country that bans women from driving. Activists have used social networks to call on Saudi women to join the campaign. Many of the UN recommendations called on Riyadh to abolish a system requiring women to seek permission from male relatives to work, marry or leave the country, and one urged it to lift the ban. Saudi Arabia has until the next regular session on the council in March 2014 to respond to the recommendations presented during the UPR, which all 193 UN countries must undergo every four years. Bandar bin Mohammad al-Aiban, who heads Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission and led the country's delegation in Geneva, insisted during Monday's review that the country had made progress on women's rights. He pointed out that Saudi Arabia had allocated a minimum of 20 percent of seats on its Shura Council -- an advisory body that can propose law changes to the king -- to women. Today's UPR report also urged Saudi Arabia to do more to protect migrant workers and expressed deep concern over the country's continued use of the death penalty, including for crimes committed by minors

13 killed in Iraq violence

Baghdad: At least 13 people were killed and 24 others wounded in violent attacks across Iraq Friday, police said. Two civilians were killed and six others were wounded when a roadside bomb struck a popular market in Yusufiya area, about 20 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Xinhua reported citing a police source. In Anbar province, a suicide car bomber attacked a checkpoint in Rutba, some 370 km west of Baghdad, killing two policemen and wounding three others, the source said. In another attack in the province, a policeman was killed and another got seriously injured when unidentified gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Ramadi city, the capital of Anbar province, the source added. Two school guards were killed when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in Heat, 45 km west of Ramadi, police said. During the past few days, Anbar province has witnessed a series of deadly attacks including coordinated suicide bomb attacks which targeted local government buildings and security forces, killing dozens of security forces members. A couple was killed when a roadside bomb targeted their car in Bahrez area, south of Baquba, some 60 km northeast of Baghdad, a police source said. Eight people were injured when five roadside bombs exploded near the homes of a number of policemen in Aslah area, just five km northeast of Baquba, capital of Diyala province, the source added. Another roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol in the Mazrah village south of the city of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, killing two members of the patrol, the police source said, adding that one civilian was killed and another seriously injured when a roadside bomb struck their car near Dujail area, some 50 km north of Baghdad. Unidentified gunmen killed an employee of the Iraqi Ministry of Justice near his home in the Amiriya district in western Baghdad, while five civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the Dora district in the southern part of the city, the source said. Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 6, 000 Iraqis were killed and over 14,000 others injured from January to September this year.

Car bomb at Syria mosque killed 40, including 7 children: NGO

October 25: The toll from yesterday's car bomb explosion at a mosque in Suq Wadi Barada near Damascus has soared to at least 40, including seven children, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Syrian government and opposition exchanged blame for the carnage in the town. Suq Wadi Barada is under rebel control and ringed by troops loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. "The toll from a car bomb explosion that detonated after Friday prayers in Suq Wadi Barada has risen to 40, including seven children and a woman," said the Observatory. "The number of dead is likely to rise because there are dozens of wounded, most of them in critical condition," it added. State news agency SANA had earlier reported the blast, blaming "terrorists", the term the Assad regime uses for forces fighting to oust it. The opposition National Coalition meanwhile blamed the Assad regime for the "massacre" caused by what it said were two car bombs placed outside the Osama Bin Zeid mosque in Suq Wadi Barada. "Bashar al-Assad's gangs detonated two car bombs at midday... That were planted in front of the Osama Bin Zeid mosque in Suq Wadi Barada," the Coalition said in a statement. "The regime's constant commission of massacres makes it the duty of countries of the free world, the friends of the Syrian people, as well as international human rights and humanitarian organisations to fulfil their responsibilities towards civilians," it added. They must "protect the lives of Syrians and uphold their rights." Car bombings have plagued Syria in recent months, killing scores across the country.

Chemical inspectors visit 19 Syrian chemical sites

Damascus : A day after experts visited a site in an undisclosed location, the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Friday said the inspectors have so far visited 19 of Syria's 23 disclosed sites. "The OPCW inspectors visited a site on Thursday and verified that all of its previous chemical weapon-related equipment has already been dismantled," reported Xinhua citing the OPCW. "This brings to 19 the total number of sites visited by the OPCW inspectors, out of 23 that have been disclosed by Syria," it added. In an earlier statement, the OPCW said that its teams were working with the Syrian authorities to prepare an initial declaration, which will include a general plan to destroy the country's chemical arsenal. The OPCW noted that inspectors are currently working in three teams with "good access" to sites thus far, adding that state parties are providing the OPCW with lists of former inspectors who are available and willing to be deployed in the Syria mission going forward.

Iraq violence kills 12

Baghdad, October 25: Ten bombings and a shooting killed at least 12 people and wounded 19 in Iraq today, officials said. Nine bombs exploded in and around the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, killing a total of seven people and wounding eight, a police officer and a doctor said. Three of the dead and two of the wounded were from the same family, the sources said. The deadliest single attack was in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, where a roadside bomb exploded near a market, killing at least four people and wounding 11, security and medical officials said. And in Baghdad itself, gunmen armed with silenced weapons killed a justice ministry employee in the Amriyah area. Violence in Iraq has reached a level unseen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict. More than 570 people have now been killed this month, and more than 5,250 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources. A study released this month by academics based in the United States, Canada and Iraq said nearly half a million people have died from war-related causes in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003.

Pak fatwa declares administration of polio vaccines Islamic

Islamabad, October 25: A council that issues fatwas in Pakistan has declared the administration of polio drops to children as Islamic. The Darul Afta of the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) has issued a fatwa saying that prominent scholars and experts of the Muslim world are convinced that polio drops do not contain anything that is harmful to health, or against Sharia law. According to the Daily Times, Pakistan is one of the three Islamic countries where polio still exists. Islamic scholars have also urged parents to administer polio drops to their children as per the commands of the holy Quran and Sunnah. (ANI)

Syrian troops ambush rebel groups

Damascus : Syrian troops have ambushed some radical rebel groups in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus, killing and injuring more than 50 of them, Xinhua reported Friday citing state-run SANA news agency. The ambush took place at al-Ataibeh suburb, SANA said, publishing a video footage purporting to show scores of rebels' dead bodies tossed and scattered on an unpaved road. "The armed terrorist groups are crumbling under the painful blow of our military heroes," according to SANA. It said the rebels belonged to the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the so-called Islam Brigade group. This new development came as the Syrian army has unleashed a wide-scale operation in the eastern countryside of Damascus, aiming to besiege and eliminate the rebel groups in the surroundings of Damascus to further protect the capital and prevent the rebels from unleashing indiscriminate mortar attacks against districts of the capital. The Syrian army has regained full control of the strategic Damascus suburb of Htaitet al-Turkman, thus completing a full siege against rebels east of the Syrian capital, according to SANA. The army regained control of Htaitet al-Turkman after a 48-hour operation that resulted in the killing of at least 100 rebels, SANA said. Meanwhile, military experts said the new victory is of great significance as the recapture means the road to the Damascus airport is secure and mortar attacks by the rebels against the capital should decrease. By the recapture, the rebels, who are entrenched in the eastern al-Ghouta suburb, are now besieged from all directions and severed from any source of reinforcement. The fresh military push also came as a first step toward regaining Damascus's northern al-Qalamoun area from the hands of the rebels, who have entrenched there due to its geographic importance as the northern entrance of Damascus. Media reports said the battle to recapture al-Qalamoun from the rebels is imminent, underscoring the significance of the upcoming battle there for both the government troops and the rebels. In Damascus itself, the military and security forces' presence has become thick over the past week, as the checkpoints have also increased their inspection measures, causing suffocating traffic jams during the rush hours. The increased inspection has been more noticeable in the countryside of Damascus, including the northern Qudsaya suburb, which has witnessed sporadic security incidents during the country 's long-standing crisis.

Former Maldives president Nasheed faces life threat

Male : Former Maldivian president and presidential election front runner Mohamed Nasheed is facing life threats from Al Qaeda agents, his office said Friday. In a statement, Nasheed's office said two Al Qaeda agents have been put on the job for an attack on the ex-president and they are currently in Male, Haveeru online reported. The office has requested the defence ministry's intelligence to launch an investigation into the matter and to share findings with the office. Nasheed, who served as the fourth president of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012, was ousted by then vice-president Mohammad Waheed in February 2012 in what the former president termed as a coup, Xinhua reported. Nasheed bagged 45.45 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential election Sep 7 but the results were annulled by the Supreme Court this month after two other candidates alleged vote rigging. However, international monitors said the vote was free and fair. A vote scheduled for Oct 19 was called off just hours ahead of voting after police refused to deliver ballot papers and boxes to some 200 islands, effectively stopping the election. A new vote has been set for Nov 9 but Nasheed has already insisted that he has "no faith" in the process and called for President Waheed to resign and hand over control to the speaker of the parliament to oversee a smooth transition of power. The Maldives heads for a constitutional void if a president is not sworn in by Nov 11.