AFGHANISTAN: Gen.: German troops OK in calling for airstrike

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

AP

October 29, 2009

BERLIN — A top German general said Thursday that a NATO investigation of an airstrike against a pair of hijacked Afghan tanker trucks showed the attack was appropriate even though it led to civilian casualties.

Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, who is the general inspector of the German army, also said that the exact death toll could no longer be confirmed.

PAKISTAN: HRW warns of Pakistan ‘catastrophe’

By AFP

October 29, 2009

ISLAMABAD — A US-based rights group on Thursday urged Pakistan to ensure that sufficient supplies reach civilians trapped by a massive anti-Taliban offensive, warning of “catastrophe” without aid access.

Pakistan launched a ground and air operation designed to crush Taliban sanctuaries in the lawless South Waziristan region, which borders Afghanistan, on October 17 and fears have been growing about the impact on the local population.

“People trying to get away from the fighting are already reporting civilian casualties and food shortages,” Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

IRAQ: Scores die in Iraq car bombings

By AL JAZEERA

October 26, 2009

Two car bombs in central Baghdad have killed at least 136 people and wounded more than 550 others, police sources have told Al Jazeera.

The blasts went off less than a minute apart on Sunday, near the ministry of justice and the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration close to the Tigris river.

Firefighters pulled charred and mangled bodies off the streets near the provincial government building while burnt-out cars were piled up at the blast site.

There were so many wounded that civilian cars were pressed into service to bring the casualties to area hospitals.

AFGHANISTAN: NATO probes death of four Afghan civilians

By AFP

October 25, 2009

KABUL — The NATO-led force in Afghanistan has launched an investigation into the deaths of four civilians it killed by firing on their vehicle in the southern city of Kandahar, the alliance force said.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said its troops opened fire Saturday “when the driver of a local vehicle failed to stop when approaching ISAF troops.”

“According to the initial report, ISAF troops tried repeatedly to signal the fast-approaching vehicle with passive measures, but fearing for their safety fired on the vehicle,” the ISAF statement said.

Afghan authorities had earlier said two women and a child were among the dead, while two or three other civilians were also wounded.

Somalia: Somalia president escapes surprise attack

October 28, 2009 (CNN) — Somalia’s president escaped an opportunistic attack by Islamic militants Wednesday as deadly fighting erupted in the center of Mogadishu, officials said.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was returning from a trip to Yemen when insurgents began firing mortars, resulted in a clash with African Union peacekeepers, the president’s director of communications told CNN.