| 20 Salafists arrested as Gaza group pushes into W.Bank Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:37 PM PST  Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian security forces arrested 20 Salafists, a senior source said Sunday after a Gaza-based group affiliated with Al-Qaeda confirmed it was operating in the West Bank for the first time. But the Ramallah-based source denied that any of those arrested in a series of recent raids in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank had ties to the global jihadist group set up by the late Osama Bin-Laden. Some Salafists advocate Al-Qaeda's brand of global jihad while others are not involved in militancy. "There are no Al-Qaeda affiliated groups operating in the West Bank, but there are a few Salafist jihadist groups," he said.
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| UN in Iraq worried about uptick in bodies found Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:48 PM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — The number of Iraqis slain "execution-style" surged last month, the U.N. said Sunday, raising fears of a return of the death squads that killed thousands during the darkest days of sectarian violence that followed the U.S.-led invasion.
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| Karzai accuses U.S. of cutting Afghan military supplies Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:14 PM PST  By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused his U.S. ally on Sunday of withholding military supplies to press him to sign a bilateral security deal that will shape the U.S. military presence after most foreign troops leave in 2014. "The cutting of fuel supplies and support services to the Afghan army and police is being used as a means of pressure to ensure Afghanistan ... signs the Bilateral Security Agreement," a statement from Karzai's palace said. Karzai said last week he might refuse to sign the deal until after Afghanistan's presidential election in April 2014. "There has been no stoppage in the delivery of requested fuel and we continue to process all orders as soon as they are received," the NATO-led force in Afghanistan said in a statement.
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| 28 killed in Iraq bloodshed after deadly month Posted: 01 Dec 2013 11:22 AM PST  Attacks in Iraq including a suicide bomb at a funeral killed 28 people Sunday as figures showed nearly 950 died last month in spiralling violence despite ramped up security measures. Iraq's worst protracted period of unrest since it emerged from gruesome Sunni-Shiite violence in 2006-2007 has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian bloodletting that killed tens of thousands of people. Officials have adopted an array of measures aimed at halting the attacks -- focusing their efforts on resurgent Al-Qaeda front groups emboldened by the war in neighbouring Syria -- but their efforts have thus far failed to curb the daily violence. Mudher al-Shallal al-Araki, the 27-year-old who was being buried, had been a fighter in the Sahwa, the Sunni tribal militias that from late 2006 sided with US forces against their co-religionists in Al-Qaeda, helping to turn the tide of Iraq's insurgency.
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| Iraq cafes advised how to stop a suicide bomber Posted: 01 Dec 2013 11:19 AM PST  As violence in Iraq has worsened with attacks hitting a wider array of targets, security officials have held an unusual seminar for cafe owners -- how to stop a suicide bomber. From employing private security guards to reducing the number of open entrances, officials gave tips on spotting and deterring militants, hoping to curb the country's worst wave of violence since 2008. Shootings and bombings have struck all manner of targets in Baghdad and elsewhere, but cafes -- where football-mad Iraqis often gather to watch the latest European games -- have been badly hit. Nearly 50 cafes have been bombed nationwide since unrest surged in April -- 25 in Baghdad alone.
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| Clowns help Syrian camp children smile for moment Posted: 01 Dec 2013 10:07 AM PST  ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan (AP) — At this sprawling desert camp in Jordan, home to thousands of children who fled Syria's civil war, a few found a moment to smile Sunday watching a troop of clowns.
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| Iraq monthly toll drops; uptick in bodies found Posted: 01 Dec 2013 08:56 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — The monthly death toll in Iraq dropped by nearly a third to 659 last month, the U.N. said Sunday, but a recent spike in the number of bullet-riddled bodies found on the street has raised fears the country is facing a return to all-out warfare between Sunni and Shiite factions.
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| Suicide bomber kills 10 at funeral in northern Iraq Posted: 01 Dec 2013 06:02 AM PST A suicide bomber in northern Iraq blew himself up at a funeral procession on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 25, as the country suffers its worst spate of violence for at least five years. No group claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack but suicide bombers linked to al Qaeda frequently target local Sunni Muslim leaders and followers considered supportive of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government. |
| UN says 659 Iraqis killed in November Posted: 01 Dec 2013 04:55 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations mission to Iraq says that at least 659 Iraqis have been killed during violence in November, a drop by almost a third compared to the group's figures for last month. |
| Funeral bombing, other attacks kill 14 in Iraq Posted: 01 Dec 2013 03:12 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A triple bombing struck the funeral of the son of an anti-al-Qaida tribal leader northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, one of several attacks across the country that left 14 people dead, Iraqi officials said. |
| Triple bombing kills 9 mourners in Iraq Posted: 01 Dec 2013 12:50 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say a triple bombing at a funeral has killed nine mourners in a town northeast of Baghdad. |
