Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah killed, terrorism.openDemocracy

KVB Tharoor — Mon, 14 May 2007 16:15:04 +0100

Taliban leader killed

After initially denying reports of his death, Taliban spokesmen have now confirmed that Mullah Dadullah, their most public and prominent leader, has been killed in clashes with Afghan and Nato forces in the southern province of Helmand.

Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's military commander, had a bloody reputation earned through numerous alleged atrocities, including most famously the massacre of Hazaras - a Shia minority group - in the province of Bamiyan eight years ago.

Border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Afghan and Pakistani forces clashed and bombarded each other's border posts over the weekend, leaving 12 people dead. The fighting has been described as the worst in decades between the two prickly neighbours. Pakistani officials claim that the fighting was prompted by a misunderstanding between an Afghan and a Pakistani border post. Both governments and US and Nato representatives have met to resolve the dispute.

Despite the political intervention, three American and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded in subsequent firing that allegedly came from the Afghan side.

Afghanistan's parliament has forced Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, the current foreign minister, to step down over his mishandling an influx of Afghan refugees from Iran.

Violence in India's northeast

Two people were killed in bomb blast in a marketplace in the restive northeastern state of Assam, where separatists continue to mount a violent insurgency.

Elsewhere in Assam, protests staged over the killing of a civilian by state security forces have prompted clashes between Assamese and "tribespeople", who attacked the protesters' barricades with sticks and bows and arrows.

Blast destroys Russian café

Ten people were killed in a blast at a café in Orsk, in the Russian region of Orenburg.

Iranian president aims strong words at US

During a visit to the US-allied United Arab Emirates, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the withdrawal of all US troops from the Persian Gulf region.

He also promised "severe retaliation" to any attack on Iran by the United States.

Ahmadinejad's bluster comes as US and Iranian representatives look likely to meet in the coming weeks to discuss how to stabilise the precarious security situation in Iraq.

Kurdish region suffers further attacks

A car-bombing attack on the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party has killed over fifty people. The blast comes as the autonomous and relatively stable Kurdish region in Iraq is in the grips of a fit of terrorist violence.

The militant group "Islamic State in Iraq" - with alleged al-Qaida leadership - has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Nationalist protests - and bomb - shake Izmir

At least a million people marched in Turkey's second city Izmir against the ruling AK party. Pro-secular, Kemalist Turks fear that the ruling party's Islamist roots will undermine Turkey's secular constitution. On Saturday, a bombing in the city killed one man and injured 14 people.

Algeria intercepts al-Qaida recruits

Algerian security forces claim to have intercepted three Libyan men, on their way to join Al-Qaida in the Maghreb, the terrorist network's wing in North Africa.

Three Algerian soldiers were killed by a bomb blast in the country-side east of Algiers. The Algerian army has stepped up its assault on the country's Islamist militants, and now faces sharper reprisals.

Nigeria's energy politics

Nigeria's outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo visited the restive southern Niger Delta region to perform a ground-breaking ceremony for a new $8 billion gas plant. Militants in the region have waged an intensifying campaign against the many foreign oil companies present in the Delta.

Militants recently kidnapped a manager working of Italian company Agip.

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Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah killed, terrorism.openDemocracy