Underground Stories 04-20-14

Algeria: AQIM militants 'kill 11 soldiers' in mountains

Islamist militants have killed 11 Algerian soldiers in an ambush on a patrol in mountains east of the capital Algiers, security sources say.

Reuters news agency reports the troops were searching for militants in Tizi Ouzou region when they were attacked.
It is believed the attack was carried out by fighters from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).
It was one of the deadliest attacks on the Algerian military for several years.
The attack came days after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 77, was re-elected for a fourth term following a campaign that stressed security as a key policy.
A 10-year civil war was fought between the government in Algiers and Islamist insurgents in the 1990s, but now the militants are largely confined to isolated regions such as the mountains east of Algiers.
AQIM, al-Qaeda's north African branch, is mostly based in southern Algeria but over the past few months the army has killed several militants in the north-eastern mountains, and security sources say some fighters have been found with weapons traced to neighbouring Libya.

Drone strike in Yemen kills suspected al-Qaeda fighters

A drone attack in south Yemen has killed a number of suspected al-Qaeda fighters, defence officials and local tribal chiefs say.

Sunday's air strike in al-Mahfad, Abyan province, is believed to have killed at least three suspected militants.
It is the second drone attack in Yemen in two days. At least 13 people were killed in a strike on Saturday.
The exact nature of the strike is unclear, but the US has launched drone strikes on militants in Yemen before.
Yemen's defence ministry website said that Sunday's strike on the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) training camp came after information that "terrorist elements were planning to target vital civilian and military installations", Reuters news agency reports.
AQAP is considered to be the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda in the world. It is based in Yemen.
Yemen is among a handful of countries where the US acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice.
The drone programme has come under criticism from human rights activists concerned about civilian casualties.
Saturday's attack killed 10 al-Qaeda suspects and three civilians, according to an official toll.

 At least one dead after shootout at Eastern Ukraine checkpoint

DONETSK, Ukraine –  A shootout took place Sunday at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine, which the insurgents and the Ukrainian police said left one person dead and others hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
The armed clash appeared to be the first since an international agreement was reached last week in Geneva to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine, where armed pro-Russia activists have seized government buildings in at least 10 cities.

Ukraine and many in the West fear that such clashes could provide a pretext for Russia to seize more Ukrainian territory. Russia, which annexed the peninsula of Crimea last month, has tens of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine.
Yuri Zhadobin, who coordinates the pro-Russia unit manning the checkpoint in the village of Bylbasivka, told The Associated Press he was with about 20 men celebrating Easter when unknown men drove up in four vehicles and opened fire about 3 a.m.
"We began to shoot back from behind the barricades and we threw Molotov cocktails at them," Zhadobin said. Two of the vehicles caught fire and the attackers fled in the other two, he said.
Some of his men were wounded and one later died in the hospital, he said.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry released a statement saying one person was killed and three wounded in the shootout, which took place near the city of Slovyansk. It said details of what happened were not yet clear.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry blamed the clash on the Right Sector, a nationalist Ukrainian group that has supported the interim government in Kiev, the capital, but is not part of it.
A spokesman for Right Sector, Artyom Skoropatskiy, denied any involvement in Sunday's shootout, which he called a provocation staged by Russian special services.

Abdullah Leads Afghan Election But Is Short Of Majority

KABUL, April 20 (Reuters) - Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah leads the race to become Afghanistan's next president, according to the latest official tally of votes released on Sunday, but is short of an outright majority.

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission said initial results based on almost 50 percent of the vote from the 34 provinces showed Abdullah in the lead with 44.4 percent, followed by Western-leaning academic Ashraf Ghani with 33.2 percent. A win of less than 50 percent would mean the election goes to a second round.

Zalmay Rassoul, backed by two of President Hamid Karzai's brothers, trailed far behind with 10.4 percent.

Afghanistan's allies hailed the April 5 vote a success because of the high turnout, and the failure of Taliban militants to stage any big attacks on polling day. But evidence has subsequently emerged of widespread fraud.

To win, a candidate must secure more than 50 percent of valid ballots. Failing that, the top two candidates go into a run-off. Final results are due on May 14, and a run-off, if needed will take place in late May.

Syria activists say suicide car bomber kills 6 at checkpoint near government-controlled town

DAMASCUS, Syria –  Syrian activists say a suicide bomber in a car blew himself up at a checkpoint near a government-controlled town, killing at least six people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombing occurred early Saturday near the town of Salamiya in the central province of Hama.

A Syrian government official also confirmed the bombing but could not immediately confirm the death toll. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.
Syrian rebels, particularly those belonging to hard-line Sunni groups, use car bombings to target forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad. There has been fierce fighting in the area around Salamiya for weeks.
The Observatory obtains its information from a network of activists on the ground.
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Hollande: France has 'information' Syrian regime still using chemical weapons

French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that his country had "information" that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has continued using chemical weapons, although Paris lacked proof, AFP reported.
"We have a few elements of information but I do not have the proof," AFP quoted Hollande as telling the Europe 1 radio station.
Asked about recent reports that the Damascus regime was still using chemical weapons in the embattled country, Hollande said: "What I do know is what we have seen from this regime is the horrific methods it is capable of using and the rejection of any political transition".
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 that so far unverified "indications" were present of recent chemical attacks in Syria.
According to the report, Fabius said the current signs pointed toward chemical attacks in northwestern Syria near the border with Lebanon that were "very deadly," but "much less significant than those in Damascus a few months ago".

Egypt jails 30 Morsi backers for rioting
 
CAIRO: An Egyptian court, on Sunday, sentenced 30 people to more than three years in prison for violent protests in support of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, judicial officials said.

The military-installed authorities have engaged in a sweeping crackdown against Morsi's supporters and his Muslim Brotherhood since his ouster in July.

The crackdown has left dead more than 1,400 people, and thousands have been jailed. More than 1,000 Morsi supporters have been convicted in mass trials, including 529 sentenced to death last month.

On Sunday, the Cairo court found the defendants guilty of rioting, blocking roads and taking part in violence at a February protest against trials that Morsi faces, including for incitement to kill protesters during his presidency.

They were also accused of being members of a "terrorist group", the officials said, indicating they belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Islamist movement has been designated a "terrorist group" by the military-installed authorities, which blame it for a deadly bombing north of Cairo in December.

Dozens of abducted schoolgirls flee Nigerian captors

Twenty-four more Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Islamist extremists have escaped and 85 are still missing, an education official said Friday.
Some of the girls jumped off the back of a truck when they were kidnapped before dawn Tuesday from a high school in the extreme northeast of Nigeria. Others have escaped into the Sambisa Forest, which borders their school in Chibok town and is a known hideout of militants of the Boko Haram network.
“So far, we give thanks to God, for what we now have is 44 girls [who have escaped],” Borno state’s education commissioner Musa Inuwo Kubo told The Associated Press by telephone Friday night.
He said some of the latest escapees were found Wednesday nearly 50 kilometres away from their school.
Extremists have been attacking schools and killing hundreds of students in the past year. In recent months, they have been kidnapping students, whom they use as cooks, sex slaves and porters, according to officials.
“The terrorists are desperate for survival. The military offensive is taking a heavy toll on their rank and file,” a top security officer, who did not want to be named, told Agence France-Presse.
“The female hostages are being used as shields during battles with the military. Some serve as cooks and many more as sex slaves,” he said.
A state government official said girls who had escaped captivity in other kidnapping cases had confirmed these fears.

Rahm Emmanuel’s Police Superintendent Caught Faking Low Homicide Rate

Other than hitting the perfect tee shot, nothing is more gratifying than the sight of liberals hoisted by a petard fashioned of their own corruption.
In May of 2011, anti-gun lunatic Garry McCarthy was named Chicago Police Superintendent by mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Though making all of the usual promises about reducing the city’s crime rate, during his first full year–2012–Chicago recorded 507 murders, the most since 2008 and more than in any year since 2003.
Of course, more important than 507 dead was the fact that Emanuel’s approval rate seemed to decline another notch with the discovery of each new corpse.
So in January of 2013, Emanuel had a friendly sit-down with his police superintendent, during which McCarthy was told that a repeat of the 2012 murder statistics would find him packing.
And lo and behold, a miracle occurred. In December of 2013, Emanuel and McCarthy called a joint press conference to inform Chicagoans that the city was on track “…to have its lowest homicide rate since 1967 and its lowest violent crime rate for nearly as long.” “This is not just 2013 against 2012,” said Emanuel. “This is 2013 against the last 40 years. That is what is significant.” Naturally, most of the media pitched in with round the clock praise for the mayor and his police wunderkind.
But not everyone was willing to accept the word of Chicago’s dynamic duo. Except for the spike in murders during 2012, Chicago’s crime rate had fallen dramatically from 2010 to 2013, TOO dramatically.  “Index crimes,” the 8 violent and property crimes that make up the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, had dropped by 59% in the city. And this with 10% fewer police on the street than in 2011. A veteran police sergeant commented that the extraordinary reduction in crime “makes no sense,” continuing with, “and it makes absolutely no sense that people believe it. Yet people believe it.”

Yet Another Crazy Conservative Conspiracy Theory Proven Correct

In 2009, in the earliest weeks of President Barack Obama‘s administration, the White House made the controversial decision to take the unprecedented step of moving the Census Bureau from control of the commerce secretary over to the White House ahead of the decennial 2010 census.

Conservatives sounded alarm bells. “It takes something that is supposedly apolitical like the census, and gives it to a guy who is infamously political,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) of then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

“Requiring the Census director to report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a shamefully transparent attempt by your administration to politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census,” read a letter addressed to Obama authored by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC).

While Republican officeholders were the primary sources of statements expressing concern over the move, some non-partisan analysts were also unnerved by the move. “The last thing the census needs is for any hard-bitten partisan (either a Karl Rove or a Rahm Emanuel) to manipulate these critical numbers,” wrote University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato in an email to Fox News at the time. “Partisans have a natural impulse to tilt the playing field in their favor, and this has to be resisted.”

The White House dismissed the concerns of conservatives which were, indeed, unfounded insofar as they related to the 2010 census. But the fears of some that the Census Bureau could be corrupted by the imperatives of the political operatives in the White House was today proven accurate.

Healthcare.gov users told to change passwords due to Heartbleed risk

Users of the federal heath care exchange site have been advised to change their passwords this weekend after the Obama administration reviewed the government's vulnerability to the Heartbleed Internet security bug. 
Senior administration officials told the Associated Press that there was no indication that the HealthCare.gov site had been compromised and the action is being taken out of an abundance of caution. The government's Heartbleed review is ongoing, the officials said, and users of other websites may also be told to change their passwords in the coming days, including those with accounts on the popular WhiteHouse.gov petitions page.

"HealthCare.gov uses many layers of protections to secure your information," a message on the website said Saturday. "While there’s no indication that any personal information has ever been at risk, we have taken steps to address Heartbleed issues and reset consumers’ passwords out of an abundance of caution."
The Heartbleed programming flaw has caused major security concerns across the Internet and affected a widely used encryption technology that was designed to protect online accounts. Major Internet services have been working to insulate themselves against the problem and are also recommending that users change their website passwords.

Iran condemns US seizure of Alavi Foundation building

Iran has condemned a US decision to seize a Manhattan skyscraper belonging to a non-profit organisation with alleged links to the Tehran government.

The 36-storey building is owned chiefly by the Alavi Foundation, a Persian and Islamic cultural centre.
Iran said its seizure was illegal and violated religious freedom.
On Thursday the US justice department agreed to distribute proceeds from the sale of the building to victims of attacks by Iran-backed militants.
Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Saturday: "Confiscation of the properties of an independent charity organisation raises doubt about the credibility of US justice."
In a 2009 lawsuit, the Manhattan US Attorney's office said the Alavi Foundation was controlled by the Iranian government - a claim denied by Tehran.
Last year, a federal court ruled that the skyscraper could be confiscated for "concealing Iranian assets" in violation of US sanctions.
The latest row comes after US President Barack Obama on Friday signed a law that could bar Iranian diplomat Hamid Aboutalebi from serving as UN ambassador over his alleged role in the 1979-81 hostage crisis in Tehran.

As Obama prepares for overseas trip, Asia seeks his assurance in territorial spats

As President Barack Obama travels through Asia this coming week, he will confront a region that's warily watching the crisis in Ukraine through the prism of its own territorial tensions with China.
Each of the four countries on Obama's itinerary -- Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines -- has a dispute with Beijing over islands in the South and East China Seas. Their leaders will be weighing Obama's willingness to support them if those conflicts boil over.

"What we can say after seeing what happened to Ukraine is that using force to change the status quo is not acceptable," said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country is in one of the fiercest disputes with China.
Administration officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, have taken a tougher line on the territorial issues in recent weeks, sternly warning China against the use of military force and noting that the U.S. has treaty obligations to defend Japan in particular. But in an attempt to maintain good relations with China, the U.S. has not formally taken sides on the question of which countries should control which islands.
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