At least eight killed as gunmen storm hotel in Libyan capital

At least eight killed as gunmen storm hotel in Libyan capital Tue, Jan 27 17:06 PM EST image 1 of 2 By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Two heavily armed gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Tripoli favored by Libyan officials and visiting delegations on Tuesday, killing at least eight people including four foreigners before blowing themselves up with a grenade. Officials said shooting erupted inside the five-star Corinthia Hotel and security forces evacuated guests, including Tripoli's prime minister and an American delegation, after the gunmen blasted through the building's security and reception. It was one of the worst assaults targeting foreigners since the 2011 civil war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi and fractured the oil-producing North African state into fiefdoms of rival armed groups with two national governments both claiming legitimacy. A militant group associated with Islamic State insurgents in Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for the attack as revenge for the death of a suspected Libyan al Qaeda operative in the United States, according to the SITE monitoring service. But Tripoli officials who have set up their own self-proclaimed government blamed Gaddafi loyalists bent on killing their prime minister, who was at the hotel, and said he was rescued without injury. "The attackers opened fire inside the hotel, killing four foreigners, two men and two women, who are believed to be from East Asian countries," Omar Khadrawi, head of Tripoli security, told Reuters. "When the attackers were completely surrounded by the security forces, one of them detonated a grenade, but we don't know if it was deliberate." Tripoli security spokesman Essam Naas told Reuters later that an American and a Frenchman were among those killed. He said other foreigners in the line of fire in the hotel were Asian but gave no nationalities. Two U.S. officials earlier said they were investigating whether an American was killed in the attack. A security officer was also killed in the clashes and three guards died when the attackers set off a car bomb in the car park outside the hotel. Libya is caught in a conflict between two rival factions, one allied with the internationally recognized government, the other with "Libya Dawn" forces who took over the capital Tripoli in the summer and set up their own government. But in Libya's post-revolution chaos, armed groups, from brigades of former rebels to federalist fighters and Islamist militants, have grown in power and control more territory. Islamist militants, some who claim loyalty to Islamic State, operate in pockets of Libya, especially eastern Benghazi and Derna. Foreigners and embassies have been targeted in shootings, kidnappings and bombings. In 2012, militants attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, killing the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. U.S. officials blamed a Libyan Islamist group, Ansar al Sharia, for orchestrating that attack. "GADDAFI LOYALISTS" Most foreign governments closed their embassies and pulled staff out of Tripoli after factional fighting erupted last summer. But some diplomats, business and trade delegations still visit the capital. Envoys from the United Nations, which is holding talks in Geneva with some of Libya's warring parties to try to end hostilities, also visit Tripoli. Khadrawi said security forces had spirited the Tripoli government's premier, Omar al-Hassi, from the 22nd floor of the hotel where he was staying. "The attackers were attempting to assassinate him," he said, blaming Gaddafi loyalists. But SITE monitors, citing social media, said a militant group had claimed the attack as revenge for the death of Abu Anas al-Liby, a suspected al Qaeda member accused of helping plan the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Liby died in a New York hospital this month ahead of his trial. The Libyan national was snatched by U.S. special forces from Tripoli in 2013. Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Gaddafi, Libya has struggled to find stability and a conflict has gradually emerged between two loose confederations of politicians, armed groups and regional factions. Tripoli is controlled by a faction that is allied to the city of Misrata and their powerful armed forces, but also includes some Islamist-leaning former rebel fighters and politicians allied to the Muslim Brotherhood. They are faced by the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and the elected parliament who now operate out of the east of the country. (Writing by Patrick Markey and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Heinrich) ================================= You are here: Home » Security » National Security » Officials confirm Baghdad airplane shooting Officials confirm Baghdad airplane shooting Officials confirm Baghdad airplane shooting An Iraqi Airways plane lands at Baghdad International Airport Jan.27, 2015. Airlines from at least three countries suspended flights to Baghdad on Tuesday after bullets hit an airplane operated by Fly Dubai as it was landing on Jan. 26. Company officials said Iraqi Airways and Iran's Caspian Airlines were operating flights to Baghdad on a normal schedule. (THAIER AL-SUDANI/Reuters) By Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, January 27th, 2015 One child was injured in a surface-to-air machine gun shooting of a Fly Dubai flight as it descended toward Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) late Jan. 26, the Transportation Ministry said on Tuesday. The acting head of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) denied the incident altogether both Monday and Tuesday, despite the confirmation by the Transportation Ministry, to which ICAA belongs, and BIAP officials and workers. "Yesterday evening, an aircraft of Fly Dubai was hit while ... ==================================================== UPDATE 1-Leader of Libyan Islamists Ansar al-Sharia dies of wounds Fri, Jan 23 09:40 AM EST (Adds details, quote, background) BENGHAZI, Libya, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The leader of Libyan Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia has died of wounds suffered when fighting pro-government troops several months ago, his family and officials said on Friday. Mohamed al-Zahawi, who founded a brigade of Ansar in Benghazi after helping to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, had been in hospital since he was hurt, members of his family told Reuters. Fadhl al-Hassi, a Libyan military commander, said Zahawi had died from wounds sustained in an ambush in September. "I saw myself how he got wounded in his car," he said. There was no immediate statement from Ansar al-Sharia. There had been speculation for months over Zahawi's fate, after he disappeared from public view. The United States blames Ansar al-Sharia for an assault on a diplomatic compound in Benghazi in 2012 which killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Former army general Khalifa Haftar declared war on Ansar al-Sharia in May, pushing it out of much of the eastern city. Fighting is still going on between Haftar's troops, which have now merged with regular army forces, and Islamist fighters in the port area and other districts of Benghazi. The struggle is part of a wider conflict between former rebel groups who helped topple Gaddafi and are now competing for control of the major oil producer. Libya has two rival governments and parliaments. The internationally-recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has been forced to work out of the east since a faction called Libya Dawn seized Tripoli in August. (Reporting by Libya staff; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Roche) ======================

U.S. servicemember killed in hostage rescue in Afghanistan: White House

inShare0Share this Email Print Related NewsAfghan leader says to raise spy attack with Pakistan Sat, Dec 8 2012 Bomber posing as peace envoy wounds Afghan spy chief Thu, Dec 6 2012 Suicide bombers attack U.S. base in Afghanistan Sun, Dec 2 2012 Two killed in suicide bomb attack near Kabul NATO base Wed, Nov 21 2012 Pakistan starts Afghan Taliban prisoner release: official Wed, Nov 14 2012Analysis & OpinionAfghanistan: a long war, and still in search of a strategy Fighting the Filibuster Sun Dec 9, 2012 5:48pm EST (Reuters) - WASHINGTON - A U.S. service member was killed in Sunday's rescue mission that freed a doctor kidnapped by the Taliban, White House officials said. "Yesterday, our special operators in Afghanistan rescued an American citizen in a mission that was characteristic of the extraordinary courage, skill and patriotism that our troops show every day," the White House said in a statement. "Tragically, we lost one of our special operators in this effort. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, just as we must always honor our troops and military families." Dr. Dilip Joseph, the American rescued on Sunday, was abducted on Wednesday in the Sarobi district of Kabul province in Afghanistan, according to NATO-led forces. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and Paul Eckert) ================== 3,000 US troops secretly return to Iraq Sun, 09 Dec 2012 18:36:52 GMT Over 3,000 US troops have secretly returned to Iraq via Kuwait for missions pertaining to the recent developments in Syria and northern Iraq, Press TV reports. According to our correspondent, the US troops have secretly entered Iraq in multiple stages and are mostly stationed at Balad military garrison in Salahuddin province and al-Asad air base in al-Anbar province. Reports say the troops include US Army officers and almost 17,000 more are set to secretly return to Iraq via the same route. All US troops left Iraq by the end of 2011, after nine years of occupation, as required by a 2008 bilateral security agreement between the two countries. The troops left Iraq for the neighboring Kuwait. Washington decided to pull out all its troops from Iraq after Baghdad refused to grant legal immunity to the remaining US soldiers. Washington claims that the only US military presence left in Iraq now is 157 soldiers responsible for training at the US Embassy, as well as a small contingent of marines protecting the diplomatic mission. US-led forces attacked Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein on the pretext of possessing weapons of mass destruction. But no WMD was ever discovered in Iraq. At the peak of the US-led military operation in Iraq, there were 170,000 US troops and more than 500 bases in Iraq. More than one million Iraqis were killed as the result of the US-led invasion and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored. == AP/ December 9, 2012, 6:00 PM U.S. special forces member killed during Afghan rescue 12 Comments / 1 Shares/ 2 Tweets/ Stumble/ Email More + . . . WASHINGTON A member of a U.S. special operations team was killed during a weekend rescue mission in Afghanistan that freed an American doctor abducted by the Taliban outside of Kabul five days ago. President Barack Obama praised the special forces on Sunday, saying the mission was characteristic of U.S. troops' "extraordinary courage, skill and patriotism." A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said Dr. Dilip Joseph of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was rescued early Sunday, local time, in eastern Afghanistan. Joseph, a medical adviser for Colorado Springs-based Morning Star Development, was rescued after intelligence showed he was in imminent danger of injury or possible death, according to the U.S. military. The U.S. did not immediately identify the special forces soldier killed in the mission. "He gave his life for his fellow Americans, and he and his teammates remind us once more of the selfless service that allows our nation to stay strong, safe and free," Obama said in a statement. In a separate statement Sunday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, "In this fallen hero, and all of our special operators, Americans see the highest ideals of citizenship, sacrifice and service upheld." Morning Star, a relief group that helps rebuild communities in Afghanistan, said in a statement that Joseph was uninjured and would probably return home in a few days. The group also said two of his co-workers were freed by their captors about 11 hours before the rescue, after hours of negotiations were conducted over three days. Morning Star said the three workers were abducted by a group of armed men while returning from a visit to one of the organization's rural medical clinics in eastern Kabul province. The group said the three workers were taken into mountains about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Pakistan border, The relief group said it would not reveal the identity of the other two men because they live and work in the region. The group said it did not pay ransom to obtain their release. Morning Star praised those who helped get their workers back unharmed, singling out "courageous members of the U.S. military who successfully rescued Mr. Joseph as they risked their own lives doing so." The group also offered thanks to local Afghan elders "who made visits and appeals to the captors advocating for the release of the hostages." Joseph was captured by Taliban insurgents on Wednesday in the Sarobi district of Kabul province. The rescue operation was ordered after intelligence showed that the doctor was in imminent danger of injury or possible death, according to a statement by the U.S.-led military coalition. "This was a combined operation of U.S. and Afghan forces," said 1st Lt. Joseph Alonso, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "Information was collected through multiple intelligence sources, which allowed Afghan and coalition forces to identify the location of Joseph and the criminals responsible for his captivity." Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the joint force planned, rehearsed and successfully conducted the operation. "Thanks to them, Dr. Joseph will soon be rejoining his family and loved ones," Allen said. © 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.