War in Iraq

Millions of Pakistani Shiites commemorated Ashura on Monday, with security forces braced for possible sectarian clashes and militant bombings after a suicide attack killed seven people at a mosque. Pakistan deployed tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces, and put the army on standby to protect mass processions of Shiite faithful who whip themselves to mourn the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein. Marking a bloody start to the holiest day on the Shiite Muslim calendar, a suicide bomber blew himself up on Sunday outside a main Shiite mosque in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, killing three policemen and four civilians. Sectarian violence periodically flares in Pakistan ... Read Full Story

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen has arrested 29 suspected al Qaeda members since raiding the group to foil attacks on oil installations and foreign interests including the British embassy, national security chief Ali Mohammad Al-Ansi said. Al Qaeda's presence in Yemen has grown over the past year, and Washington has said a Nigerian who tried to bomb a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas Day claimed he got help from al Qaeda militants in the impoverished Arab country. Ansi said on the defense ministry website that al Qaeda had been planning to attack Yemeni government institutions as well as the UK embassy in Sanaa. "Until now ... Read Full Story

Gun battles between Taliban and a tribal militia killed 15 people on Monday in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan, security officials said. The clashes broke out when Taliban fighters attacked homes and trenches dug by the anti-Taliban militia in the Stoorikhel area of Orakzai district, 200 kilometres (125 miles) from northwestern city Peshawar, officials said. Security officials said the Taliban destroyed several houses and killed nine men from a rival militia, which was set up to challenge the Islamists who hold sway in parts of Orakzai. "They also killed local tribal elder Malik Sharif and took over his house," one ... Read Full Story

The death toll from a suicide attack outside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistani-administered Kashmir rose to seven on Monday after two people died overnight, officials said. The attack in Muzaffarabad came as Pakistan put tens of thousands of security forces on alert, fearing sectarian clashes and militant attacks as millions of Shiites mark the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein. Officials said the bomber tried to enter the mosque, which was crowded with Shiites gathering to pray on the eve of Ashura in Pakistan. "The death toll has reached seven in the suicide blast. Two people died overnight in hospital," said deputy Muzaffarabad commissioner ... Read Full Story

Police say the death toll from a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim gathering in the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir has increased to eight. Police official Yasin Baig said Monday the eight dead included three police. He said another 10 police were among the 80 people wounded in Sunday's bombing in Muzaffarabad — a rare sectarian attack in an area police say has little history of militant violence. The bomber set off explosives as police searched him outside a ceremony commemorating the 7th century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, held every year on Ashura at the end of the Islamic holy month of ... Read Full Story