IRAQ: 8 killed, 19 wounded in Sadr City

Iraqi officials: Latest Sadr City clashes kill 11
AP, USA Today

BAGHDAD (AP) — A fragile cease-fire failed to stop fighting in Baghdad’s Sadr City where the latest clashes between Shiite extremists and U.S.-backed Iraqi forces killed 11 men and wounded 19, Iraqi hospital officials said Tuesday.

The U.S. military said that it responded to several attacks by militants with precision strikes, but only confirmed killing three militants. Two of the militants were killed in a Hellfire missile strike by an attack aircraft, according to the military. U.S. soldiers also suppressed “enemy fire” in four other clashes with tanks and attack aircraft, the military said.

INDIA: Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Jaipur blasts

Indian Mujahideen claims responsibility for Jaipur blasts

By Randeep Ramesh
The Guardian (UK

A little-known Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for a series of bomb blasts that claimed the lives of 63 people in the heritage city of Jaipur two days ago – an attack which could see top international cricketers leave the country and jeopardise India’s new billion-dollar cricket league.

The group, which called itself Indian Mujahideen, emailed video clips to two Delhi-based media organizations of a bicycle, which it said was packed with explosives that were set off at one of half a dozen sites in Jaipur, with the aim of disrupting the tourist industry.

KASHMIR: Rebel clash leaves eight dead in Indian Kashmir

Rebel clash leaves eight dead in Indian Kashmir
Agence France Presse

The death toll in a weekend gunfight between Islamic rebels and troops in Indian-administered Kashmir has risen to eight, a senior military officer said Monday.

The prolonged shootout that erupted Sunday in the Himalayan region’s Samba area, 70 kilometres (44 miles) south of Kashmir’s winter capital Jammu, came after a sharp drop in violence in recent months.

Three civilians, a photo-journalist, two soldiers and two militants died, said Lieutenant General Vinay Sharma, who oversaw the counter insurgency operation.

IRAQ: Reality of war worth seeing

Reality of war worth seeing
Washington Post
Helen Thomas

WASHINGTON -Some readers resented The Washington Post for publishing an Associated Press photograph of a critically wounded Iraqi child being lifted from the rubble of his home in Baghdad’s Sadr City “after a U.S. airstrike.”

Two-year-old Ali Hussein later died in a hospital.

As the saying goes, the picture was worth a thousand words because it showed the true horrors of this war.
Neither side is immune from killing of Iraqi civilians. But Americans should be aware of their own responsibility for inflicting death and pain on the innocent.

IRAN: Iran to sue U.S., U.K. in mosque blast

Iran to sue U.S., U.K. in mosque blast

USA Today, AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state television says Tehran will file a lawsuit against the U.S. and Britain for allegedly supporting a group responsible for a mosque explosion last month that killed 14 people.