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Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims deadly Baghdad bombings

March 23, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

A militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq says it was behind the wave of bombings in Baghdad on Tuesday which killed more than 50 people.

The Islamic State of Iraq described the violence as “the first drop of rain”, after which it would have its “revenge” for those executed by the authorities.

On Monday, the justice minister said “nothing” would halt the executions of militants guilty of capital offences.

The bombings also came on the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion.

Although violence has decreased in Iraq since the peak of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, attacks are still common and at least 220 civilians were killed in February.

‘Quick response’

At least 50 people died and 160 others were wounded in the co-ordinated wave of suicide, car and roadside bombings in and around Baghdad during Tuesday’s morning rush hour.

Mali’s Ansar Dine militants blacklisted by US

March 23, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

The US government has placed Mali’s Islamist group Ansar Dine on its terror blacklist because of continued links to al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch.

The decision freezes any of its US assets and bans business with it.

Ansar Dine was one of a number of militant groups that took control of northern Mali in the aftermath of a coup, one year ago on 22 March 2012.

French troops, which intervened in January to oust them, are still fighting insurgents in the mountains.

France currently has 4,000 troops in Mali, backed by thousands of soldiers from Mali, Chad and other African countries.

Following the coup, several Islamist groups took over major cities, including Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, and imposed strict Islamic law.

Suicide attacks

Ansar Dine has received backing from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM) since its creation in late 2011 and “in its fight against Malian and French forces”, the US State Department statement said.

Iran’s Khamenei rejects US nuclear talks offer

February 7, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Iran’s supreme leader has dismissed a US offer of one-to-one talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech posted online that the US was proposing talks while “pointing a gun at Iran”.

On Saturday, US Vice-President Joe Biden suggested direct talks, separate to the wider international discussions due to take place later this month.

But the US widened sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, aiming to tighten a squeeze on Tehran’s ability to spend oil cash.

Iran, which is subject to an array of international sanctions, has long argued that its nuclear programme is for energy generation and research.

Tehran’s critics believe the government is developing nuclear weapons.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have held a series of negotiations with Iran over the years.

But they have often ended with Iran demanding the West lifts sanctions as a condition to any nuclear move, and the Western powers refusing.

South Africa charges DR Congo rebels for coup plot

February 7, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Nineteen suspected Congolese rebels have been charged in a South African court with plotting a coup against President Joseph Kabila.

Prosecutors said the men belonged to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Union of Nationalists for Renewal (UNR) rebel group.

South Africa’s counter-terrorism forces arrested them earlier this week in the northern Limpopo province.

DR Congo has been hit by rebellions throughout Mr Kabila’s rule.

He took power in 2001, following the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila.

‘Specialised training’

One of the suspected coup plotters has been identified as US citizen James Kazongo, AP news agency reports.

“South African authorities got in touch with our consular officers, who have visited him. We have been in touch with him and communicated with his family and provided consular services,” US embassy spokesman Jack Hillmeyer told AP.

Russian fighter jets breach Japan airspace

February 7, 2013 / By Armoured Cars / In security

Two Russian fighter jets have violated Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft, reports say.

Japan lodged a protest after the planes were detected off the northern island of Hokkaido for just over a minute.

The incident happened after Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said he was seeking a solution to a territorial dispute with Russia over a Pacific island chain.

Russia’s military denied the incursion, saying the jets were making routine flights near the disputed islands.

Mr Abe was speaking on the anniversary of an 1855 treaty which Japan says supports its claims to the islands.

The four islands – which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories – are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute.

Because of the dispute, the two nations have not yet signed a peace treaty to end World War II.