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Thread: Today's Top Islamic News (DAILY)

  1. #2101
    Powerful blast kills 3 in Kandahar
    Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:32:44 GMT

    The scene of a bomb attack in Kandahar, file photo
    A blast has rocked the southern city of Kandahar in Afghanistan, killing at least three people and wounding more than a dozen others.

    The blast happened when an explosive-laden vehicle was detonated near a hotel on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kandahar.

    Police say the bomber was apparently trying to target a convoy of NATO-led troops. Police fear a rise in the number of casualties.

    According to a UN report, violence in Afghanistan claimed more than 1,600 lives in 2009.

    The figure shows a 40-percent rise in casualties compared to a year earlier.

    JR/SAR/MMN

  2. #2102
    US far from winning in Afghanistan: McChrystal
    Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:05:44 GMT


    The commander of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, says the coalition forces are "not winning" the war in Afghanistan.

    McChrystal made remarks at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Turkey.

    He told reporters in Istanbul on Thursday that he does not believe the allied efforts in Afghanistan has "turned a corner."

    "I'm not prepared to say that we've turned the corner."

    "I still will tell you that I believe the situation in Afghanistan is serious
    ," McChrystal said on the sidelines of the Istanbul summit.

    While US President Barack Obama was considering a troop surge last October, McChrystal had warned that the situation in Afghanistan was deteriorating and the coalition risked failure if it did not send more troops.

    General McChrystal, however, claimed that US-led forces had made "significant progress" last year and set the stage for even more progress this year.

    He noted that success in the war-weary country is something that is difficult to measure.

    "This is all a war of perceptions. This is not a physical war in terms of how many people you kill, how much ground you capture, how many bridges you blow up," said McChrystal.

    "This is all in the minds of the participants. And I mean, the Afghan people are the most important, but the insurgents are another one. You're just convincing people," he explained.

    His comments came as the death toll of foreign soldiers fighting in Afghanistan under US and NATO command hit 44 in January; the is the highest for that month since the war began more than eight years ago and can be compared to 25 in January 2009.

    Foreign troops' casualties are expected to rise as the US and NATO send more soldiers to Afghanistan with the goal of quelling the Taliban militancy.

    Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan, allegedly to root out militancy in the country.

    The costly conflict is stretching into its ninth year as thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed both by acts of violence, including bombings and daily fighting, and US military operations in the country.

    JR/JG/DT

  3. #2103
    Afghan police say 7 civilians killed by accident AND I SAY ITS THE US TRAINING EFFECT"
    Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:44:47 GMT

    Newly graduated Afghan police officers are silhouetted as they participate in a parade during a graduation ceremony at a police academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010, AP photo.
    Afghan border police killed seven civilians in a "mistaken" barrage of fire, a police official said Friday, adding that the incident is under investigation.

    The head of the border police in Kandahar, Abdul Razzaq Khan, said the victims died on Thursday in the province's Shurabak district which adjoins Pakistan, a Press TV correspondent reported.

    The Afghan law enforcement has taken the bodies to their respected families, he said, and the culprits are being questioned in custody.

    Over the past 24 hours, some 60 civilians have died in two separate blasts in Kandahar and on its border in the neighboring Helmand province, despite the presence of some 100,000 foreign troops in the country.

    On Friday, the US-led forces lost an American trooper in an explosion in western Afghanistan. The death brings to 57 the number of foreign soldiers to die in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year based on the data offered by icasualties.org.

    HN/MD

  4. #2104
    Military not to solve Afghan problems: Turkey
    Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:56:12 GMT

    NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen (L) and Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrive for the NATO defense ministers meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.
    Turkey's president says Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people and that the country's problems cannot be solved solely through military strategies.

    Abdullah Gul told the 28 defense ministers of NATO member states, who have gathered for a two-day meeting in Istanbul, that foreign forces should not leave behind a devastated land out of Afghanistan.

    "International Security Assistance Forces and NATO did not go there to change the identity, culture, values and traditions of the Afghan people. If this reality is fully comprehended, it will be a lot easier to isolate the threat of terror and win the victory," he said.

    He also pointed out that nearly 15 million Afghan children need education, health services and employment opportunities.

    Gul also reiterated the need for training and equipping Afghan forces in their fight against terrorism and organized crime.

    Meanwhile, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen admitted that the alliance estimates the number of Taliban militants in Afghanistan has grown from fewer than 400 in 2004 to about 25,000 last year and nearly 30,000 now.

    This has led other officials and analysts to say that the Taliban are now waging a war of attrition against the international forces.

    The number of international forces in Afghanistan is expected to reach 140,000 with the US sending 30,000 troops and other allies 10,000 more. However, officials predict the violence will continue to increase, before stability can be restored.

    FTP/MMN

  5. #2105
    Taliban use modern anti-detective IEDs
    Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:34:16 GMT

    According to icasualties.org, in the past two months, more than half of the battlefield deaths suffered by US-led troops in Afghanistan were caused by IEDs.
    The Taliban in Afghanistan have built a new generation of improvised explosive devices which is not detectable, a Taliban statement has said.

    The new IEDs, called "Omar", have been made by the Taliban technical experts inside Afghanistan and cost only $85 each, the statement, released on Friday, said.

    According to the Taliban statement the new IEDs are not detectable by special mine-detector machines used by foreign forces based in the country.

    Taliban said they have made the new remote-controlled IEDs after the US and NATO forces entered into Afghanistan special modern devices that are able to detect and neutralize ordinary IEDs made by the Taliban.

    The Taliban say the new-generation IEDs have proved to be effective.

    The report comes as the United States promised on Friday to provide armored vehicles, ground penetrating radar and other equipment to NATO allies to help protect their troops in Afghanistan from increasingly deadly roadside bombs.

    "Today I told our allies that the United States will be able to offer them more intelligence, training and equipment including jammers, route clearance robots, surveillance systems and ground-penetrating radar," US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a news conference after a gathering of NATO countries in Istanbul.

    IEDs are the main killers of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan. More than 500 US-led troops have been killed in the war-torn country in 2009, including more than 310 Americans.

    Another report released on February 2, 2010 suggests that for British soldiers serving in Afghanistan expensive hi-tech weapons are not the problem, but it is the Taliban's IEDs that are costing British lives.

    The IEDs have become the deadliest of enemies to British troops in Afghanistan. Last summer British forces were dealing with a thousand incidents a month.

    "Although the Taliban still fights with small-arms, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices, they have increasingly focused the role of IEDs as antipersonnel devices," the report said.

    MVZ/DT

  6. #2106
    Varun wants BJP focus on the Ganga, cows and temples
    IANS, 6 February 2010, 07:04pm IST

    BULANDSHAHR (Uttar Pradesh): Contrary to new party chief Nitin Gadkari's campaign for development, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi Saturday said the party should focus on the Ganga, safety of cows and care of temples.

    "Price rise is an issue alright, but we should not forget what our party was formed for. We should not compromise on our self-respect," he said while addressing a rally at Shikarpur here.

    "If we don't fight for our self-respect, the Ganga (river), Gau mata (cows), our temples and the youth, then everything else will fall apart," he added.

    He said he has constructed around 200 temples in his parliamentary constituency of Pilibhit with his own money.

    "While I was coming here. I saw many minars on the way. But I don't have any problem with that. What I feel bad about is the poor condition of our temples today. They are the signs of our faith and we should do everything to take care of them," Gandhi said.

    Even as slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" raged on, Gandhi said: "I will ensure that no cow slaughter takes place here and if you hear of any such case, you can call me any time and I will be there. We will get our hands cut off, but won't let any cow get slaughtered".

    Gandhi said the country wants strong leadership today.

    "People want a completely new kind of politics. They don't want leaders to sit in their bungalows and not visit their constituency. Unlike others, even after I won the elections, I regularly keep visiting my constituency," he said.

    Gandhi also spoke about issues of land acquisition and the plight of farmers.

  7. #2107
    Russia unveils new nuclear doctrine
    PTI, 6 February 2010, 12:56pm IST

    MOSCOW: Lowering the threshhold for the use of nuclear weapons, Russia has said it reserves the right to hit back with nukes in case of and aggression, in a new doctrine which may be a veiled warning to China and rising NATO powers.

    "Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in response to the use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction against it and its allies, as well as an aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons jeopardising the very existence of the state," a military doctrine signed by President Dmitry Medvedev said.

    Speaking on the conditions of anonymity some foreign diplomats believe that the lowering of threshold for the nuclear weapons could be a veiled warning to China, which has an overwhelming numerical advantage over Russia with the total population less than 147 million.

    A retired three-star Soviet general, who wished not to be named, told PTI yesterday that after 1968 border conflict with China, the Soviet General Staff had virtually given up the concept of a conventional war with 'our great Asian neighbour', the new doctrine has publicly stated the stance.

    Expansion of NATO closer to the boundaries of Russia, deployment of missile shield elements on the perimeter of its land and maritime borders, international terrorism, proliferation of WMD and growing number of nuclear powers have also been identified as the external threats for the security of the nation.

  8. #2108
    94 Catholic sex abusers in Germany: Report
    AP, 6 February 2010, 05:59pm IST

    BERLIN: The German news magazine Der Spiegel reports that the number of sexual abuse cases in Germany by Catholic clerics and laymen is much higher than was previously thought.

    According to a poll by Spiegel, answered by 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany, more than 94 clerics and laymen have been suspected of sexual abuse since 1995. Only 30 have been prosecuted, due to the statute of limitations.

    Ten employees of the Catholic church are currently accused of sexual abuse in Germany.

    Germany has been shocked by revelations of serial sex abuse by Catholic priests in recent weeks. More than 20 alumni of Berlin's prestigious Canisius Kolleg have reported abuse by their former Jesuit teachers. Other students have also reported cases in cities across Germany where the priests also taught.

  9. #2109
    Visit to Mumbai was a huge success, says Rahul Gandhi
    IANS, 6 February 2010, 05:49pm IST

    |KOCHI: Congress party general secretary Rahul Gandhi Saturday told a gathering of student leaders near here that his visit to Mumbai was a huge

    "When 15 Shiv Sena activists waved black flags at me, thousands in Mumbai welcomed me. The visit was a huge success," said Gandhi, who surprised all in the state Congress unit here with his unexpected visit.

    On Friday, Gandhi rode a local train in Mumbai and withdrew money from an ATM near the station, winning over the people of the city. Shiv Sena activists waved black flags to protest his visit.

    Gandhi arrived here by a special flight around 11.10 am, and drove straight to the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student's wing of the Congress party, camp here.

    He asked three student leaders to speak first. After hearing them, the Congress leader said he would carry their message to Delhi.

    One of the suggestions that came up at the meeting was that the next time the Congress-led alliance rules the state, the education portfolio should be kept by the Congress party and not given to the allies.

    He assured the meeting that the next time he visits the state he will visit Kannur to address the students.

    He was at the meeting for more than an hour.

    On his way back to the airport, he gave the security people some anxious moments when he stopped and interacted with the waiting crowd. For 10-year-old Shaful, it was an exciting moment when he presented Rahul Gandhi with a flower and in return got his autograph.

    Later, when asked what Gandhi said to him, Shaful told reporters, "I was told that I should study well."

    Gandhi returned to Delhi in the afternoon.

  10. #2110
    Thanks All! Closing this thread for know! for more just log on to
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