Syrian forces launch ground assault in Aleppo

Fierce clashes in city's rebel district of Salaheddine as army uses Russian-made tanks to advance on commercial capital. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 16:20

The Syrian army has launched a ground assault on the northern city of Aleppo, sparking fierce clashes with opposition fighters in the frontline district of Salaheddine. "The army is advancing from west to east to cut Salaheddine in half horizontally," an official said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity, referring to the key rebel stronghold in the city. Wassel Ayub, a commander in the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), said: "The regime forces advanced into Al-Malaab Street with tanks and armoured vehicles and fierce fighting is now taking place in the area." Al Jazeera's correspondent Ahmed Zaidan, reporting from Aleppo, said "a large number of people have been killed or injured in a fierce battle near Salaheddine in which advanced Russian tanks have been used by the government forces". Zaidan says control of Salaheddine, and Aleppo, is "very important for both sides". "Aleppo is the second largest city and financial hub of Syria. We shouldn't forget that almost 60 or 70 per cent of the Syrian economy now is on a standstill because there is no life in Aleppo," he added. "Aleppo battle might decide the future of Syria and the future of the position of the regime." Fierce clashes Clashes have also been reported in Hanano, Tareeq Al Bab and Sha'ar in the besieged city, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. The observatory said that the clashes taking place in the streets of Salaheddine and in surrounding areas were the most fierce that the northern city has seen in the nearly 17-month uprising. SOHR said neighbourhoods of Maysaloun, Sakhour and Tal Rifaat were under shelling by government forces. The Syrian army has made progress but rebels have not abandoned Salaheddine, our correspondent said, adding that the FSA has shot down a plane and destroyed five tanks in Aleppo. The army, which has been massing its troops and armour in and around Aleppo since late last month, was moving from west to east, coming from Hamdaniyeh, a district adjacent to Salaheddine, the FSA's Ayub said. In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin, reporting from neighbouring Beirut, said: "It’s not just symbolic but also where most of Free Syrian Army is concentrated, and for the world it also became symbol of FSA’s major success in getting their hold on this city." "FSA has been bringing in its own rebels from outside Aleppo from country side e.g. Idlib, Homs because for them it’s a major battle. Salaheddine is also crucial for government, as it has been a pillar of support for the [Syrian] President [Bashar al-] Assad in the last 16 months," she said. Al Jazeera's correspondent Andrew Simmons, reporting from Antakya, on the Syrian-Turkish border, said people in Al Dana, near Aleppo, "are fully aware that only minutes away is the potential for massive shellfire raining down on their city." "They are within range of the long-distance artillery; they know that the situation could change - so that atmosphere permeates throughout the town. You you talk to people and they have the same symptoms, the same fear etched on their faces, because they are also concerned of retribution should the Syrian government forces return to where they live," he said. "They are trying to get by, it is extremely difficult, and they look to the  Free Syrian Army for everything really. But security is not heavy on the ground, because so many of the young men have gone from the area to go to the battle for Aleppo city. "That is the primary objective, they are aware of that, but many feel that Aleppo is the final battle but there is a long distance to go. There is a solemn feeling there really, a feeling that liberation is a long way away." Retired guards among Iran hostages In other developments, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday that "retired" members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and army were among 48 Iranians taken hostage in Syria by rebels," the ISNA news agency reported. Salehi said the former military personnel were exclusively on a religious pilgrimage to Damascus when they were seized on Saturday. - Anita McNaught reports from outside Aleppo "A number of the [hostages] are retired members of the Guards and the army. Some others were from other ministries," Salehi was quoted as telling reporters as he flew back from Turkey, which he asked for help in freeing the Iranians. Another senior Iranian official visited Damascus on Tuesday where he met Assad. Saeed Jalili, a senior aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Assad that Iran will continue to back the Syrian government. During talks with Assad, Jalili said that what was happening in Syria was "not an internal issue". It is "a conflict between the axis of resistance on one hand, and the regional and global enemies of this axis on the other," Jalili said. On Monday, while on a visit to Beirut, the Lebanese capital, Jalili issued a veiled warning to countries backing the rebels. "Those who believe that, by developing insecurity in the countries of the region by sending arms and exporting terrorism, they are buying security for themselves are wrong," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted him as telling Adnan Mansour, Lebanon's foreign minister.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Number of Afghan civilian casualties drops

For the first time in at least five years, civilian deaths in Afghanistan fall by 15 per cent compared to previous year. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 16:37

The reduction for the first half of 2012 comes after a record number of civilian deaths in 2011 [AP]

The number of Afghan civilian casualties has fallen for the first time in at least five years, dropping by 15 per cent during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, the United Nations has said. A total of 1,145 Afghan non-combatants lost their lives in violence, mostly Taliban attacks, between January 1 and June 30 this year, compared to 1,510 in 2011, the UN said on Wednesday. Afghan civilian deaths have been one of the biggest irritants in relations between President Hamid Karzai's government and its Western backers. The UN said that marked a 15 per cent decline on the 3,654 casualties documented during the same period in 2011, which saw a record number of civilian deaths in the decade-long war. "This reduction of civilian casualties reverses the trend in which civilian casualties had increased steadily over the previous five years," the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report. 'Devastating toll' The findings come as a US-led NATO mission prepares to withdraw the bulk of its 130,000 foreign combat troops from Afghanistan in the next 18 months. Despite the decline in casualties, the UN warned that the war "continued to take a devastating toll on civilians". The UN report said the Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 80 per cent of the casualties while pro-government forces, which include the NATO force, were blamed for 10 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent was attributed to unknown groups. Civilian casualties resulting from targeted killings by the Taliban and other anti-government forces increased by 53 per cent in 2012 with UN documenting the death of 255 civilians in 237 separate incidents. From the perspective of one neighbourhood in Herat Aerial operations by NATO forces have continued to cause more civilian deaths and injuries than any other tactic used by pro-government forces since the UN began documenting civilian casualties. However, the UN report said civilian casualties from air strikes were down 23 per cent compared to the same period in 2011. Women and children accounted for about 30 per cent of this year's casualties - up one per cent from the same period in 2011 - killed or wounded mostly in Taliban roadside bombings with IEDs, the insurgents' weapon of choice. "Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) remained the leading cause of conflict-related deaths of women and children followed by ground engagements," the UN said. Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, says the report also indicates that attacks on educational institutions in the country have increased 200 per cent over the last year. Citing the report, our correspondent said UNAMA stressed that the figures were signs of possible "worse things to come" and that the Central Asian nation "remains a difficult and dangerous place for civilians to live". More displaced It also said the number of Afghans forced to abandon their homes by the conflict was up 14 per cent on the same period last year, bringing to 114,900 the number of internally displaced people. The war has forced tens of thousands of Afghans to leave their homes for safer places, often under extreme financial hardship. The UN also highlighted concern about human rights abuses, mostly in the form of "parallel judicial structures" led by the Taliban and other anti-government fighters that meted out punishments that include executions, amputations and lashings. It said in areas of limited government authority, "anti-government elements" were able to "carry out serious human rights abuses with impunity". For example, in February a Taliban court convicted a teenager on charges of spying for Afghan security forces and cut his ear off in punishment in the northwestern province of Badghis province.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Floods submerge most of Philippine capital

Emergency workers and troops rush food, water and clothes to nearly 800,000 people displaced and marooned in Manila. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 14:54

Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated from the capital of the Philippines as floods devastate the city. About 80 per cent of Manila, a sprawling metropolis of about 12 million people, remained inundated on Wednesday, Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster agency, told Reuters news agency. "The roads in some areas are like rivers. People have to use boats to move around. All the roads and alleys are flooded," Ramos told AFP news agency. Emergency workers and troops have rushed food, water and clothes to nearly 800,000 people displaced and marooned from deadly floods spawned by more than a week of southwest monsoon rains that soaked the Philippine capital and nearby provinces. "We're still on a rescue mode. Floods are receding in many areas but people are still trapped on their roofs," Ramos said. Financial markets reopened after being shut on Tuesday, but schools and many businesses remained shut for a second straight day with the military, police and civic officials struggling to deliver aid. Still, many people were reluctant to leave flooded homes, fearing a loss of valuables, officials said. "We're also asking people living along swollen riverbanks to evacuate," Ramos said. "If there is a need for us to force them to leave their homes, we will do that for their own safety." The death toll in Manila and nearby provinces stood at 15, including nine members of one family who died in a landslide. Al Jazeera’s Marga Ortigas in Manila said that while the government is working around the clock in its rescue efforts, many are still left stranded. "There are people who are actually tweeting from the rooftop of their homes to say that no help has yet reached them," Ortigas said. "There are others who are calling into radio stations and putting their plea out to national rescuers." Ortigas added that a volunteer "Twitter brigade" is using the social medium platform to try to organise relief and get medical attention to where it’s needed. Slums hardest hit The worst hit parts of Manila were mostly the poorest districts, where millions of slum dwellers have built homes along riverbanks and other areas susceptible to flooding. In Santo Domingo, a creekside shantytown, mother-of-three Anita Alterano recounted how her family escaped the floods that had submerged their one-storey home by walking over the roofs of houses until they reached high ground. "We initially just decided to climb up on the roof where we were safe but wet. We waited for rescuers but it took so long for anyone to notice us," Alterano told AFP. "So we got a rope, I tied myself to my husband and my children, we clambered from roof-to-roof ... until we reached a school. But the problem is we have no water and food." Even some of Manila's richest districts were affected, including the riverside community of Provident where water had completely inundated the ground floors of three-storey mansions. Inside the gated village of about 2,000 homes, rescue workers on a motorised rubber boat drove past submerged luxury cars to retrieve children and the elderly from rooftops. Back to work On Wednesday, the weather bureau lifted the rainfall alert level even as the volume of rainfall in the last 24 hours rose to 390 mm from 323 mm in the previous day. The highest recorded 24-hour rainfall was 454 mm in September 2009, inundating 80 per cent of the capital and resulted in the death of more than 700 people and destruction of $1 billion worth of private and public property. Across Manila and surrounding areas, more than 800,000 people had sought help from rescue workers, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Nearly 86,000 of them were sheltering in schools, gymnasiums and other buildings that have been turned into evacuation centres, while others were staying with relatives and friends, the council said. But after much of the city was paralysed on Tuesday, the government ordered government and private sector employees back to work, while the stock market resumed trading. The death toll has gone up to 69 since steady rains started when Typhoon Saola hit northern portions of the main Luzon island in late July. The Philippines endures about 20 major storms or typhoons each rainy season, many of which are deadly.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Pakistan court summons PM over contempt

New prime minister summoned to face possible contempt charges, after he failed to open graft probe against president. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 08:58

Raja Pervez Ashraf became prime minister in June this year after the court forced Yousuf Raza Gilani to resign [Reuters]

Pakistan's top court has summoned the new prime minister to appear later this month to face possible contempt charges, escalating a wrangle over corruption cases against the country's president. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court - which has already dismissed the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, over the issue - summoned his successor Raja Pervez Ashraf on August 27 for ignoring a request to ask Swiss authorities to reopen cases against the head of state, Asif Ali Zardari. It is the latest episode in a two-and-a-half-year saga in which the government has resisted demands to have Zardari investigated, arguing that as president he enjoys immunity. The government is due to become the first in Pakistan's history to complete an elected, full five-year mandate in February 2013, but the showdown could force polls before then. The court had previously given Ashraf until August 8 to write to Switzerland asking it to reopen the multimillion-dollar graft probes. "We issue notice to Raja Pervez Ashraf under [the] contempt of court act 2003, read with article 204 of the constitution to show cause as to why he may not be proceeded (against) in contempt of court and [is] not complying [with the] relevant direction of the court," said Judge Asif Saeed Khosa. "He shall appear in person at the next date of hearing. Hearing adjourned until August 27," the judge added. 'Personal vendetta' Critics of the judiciary and members of Zardari's main ruling Pakistan People's Party accuse the court of over stepping its reach and waging a personal vendetta against the president. The government had wanted the case adjourned until September. Irfan Qadir, the attorney general, said he needed time "to bridge the gap" between the two sides, and "find an amicable solution". Experts say Ashraf will be asked to explain his position on August 27. If the court is not satisfied, he risks being summoned to be indicted for contempt, precipitating the second contempt trial against a sitting prime minister in just months. The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his wife, late premier Benazir Bhutto, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts. The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president and the government insists the president has full immunity as head of state. But in 2009 the Supreme Court overturned a political amnesty that had frozen investigations into the president and other politicians, ordering that the cases be reopened. Zardari had already signed the contempt law, which sought to exempt government figures, including the president, prime minister and cabinet ministers from contempt for acts performed as part of their job. Imtiaz Gul, an analyst, told AFP that Wednesday's decision showed the court was refusing to back down. "The logical consequence of the court's position is the disqualification of any prime minister who refuses to write the letter," he said.

Source: Agencies

Egypt launches deadly air strikes in Sinai

Egyptian forces kill 20 people during air strikes on Sinai, in response to deadly attack on Sunday on a police station. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 09:16

A military funeral was held in Cairo for the 16 border guards killed in an attack on Sunday [Reuters]

Egypt has launched air strikes in the Sinai region close to the border with Gaza, killing more than 20 people, in response to a deadly attack on Sunday on a police station, the state-run Ahram news website has reported. The air strikes on positions in the town of Sheikh Zouaid on Wednesday followed the deaths of 16 border guards at the weekend in an attack by gunmen whose identities are yet to be determined. Witnesses in Sheikh Zouaid, about 10km from Gaza, said they saw two military jets and heard sounds of explosions. Other witnesses in a nearby area said they saw three cars hit. "We have succeeded in entering al-Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armoured cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," an army commander told the Reuters news agency. The strikes followed clashes between armed men and security forces at several security checkpoints overnight in the Sinai region. Armed men opened fire on checkpoints in al-Arish and in the nearby town of Rafah on the border with Gaza, according to a reporter for Reuters and state media. Six people were injured in the attacks late on Tuesday night, including two police officers, three army soldiers and one civilian, sources told Al Jazeera. The civilian is said to be in critical condition. A cement production company in Sinai, which belongs to the military, was also attacked. Two gunmen suspected in that attack have reportedly been arrested. 'Shocking attack' Exchanges of gunfire continued late into the night, state news agency MENA said, adding that security forces had closed the road where the assault took place. Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal reports from the border city of al-Arish. On Wednesday morning, just hours after the attacks, Egypt's military launched an assault on targets in Sinai, Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal reported from the city of al-Arish. "Over 48 hours since that audacious and shocking attack on the Egyptian military post here in Sinai, it seems that the army has decided to hit back if you will," Elshayyal said. "Over the last couple of hours we have heard that helicopters from the airforce, and on the ground tanks and other personnel carriers moved towards an area in Sinai which is essentially being seen as the stronghold of many of the armed tribes and armed assailants. "The military it seems has decided to strike back against the people they believe were behind these attacks," he said. Egyptian security officials say it is the first time that the army has fired missiles in Sinai since the 1973 war with Israel to recapture the peninsula. Border insecurity Lawlessness in the rugged desert region bordering Israel has spread since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, in an uprising 18 months ago and the political instability that has followed. One of the checkpoints attacked on Wednesday has been attacked 28 times since the uprising, the state-funded Middle East News Agency said. A few hours after the eruption of the clashes, hundreds of protesters gathered in Arish demanding state protection and chanting: "God is Great". Security forces closed Arish's main highway shortly after the start of the attacks. Earlier on Tuesday, crowds of angry mourners wept at the military funeral in Cairo of the 16 guards killed in what was the deadliest assault in decades along Egypt's tense Sinai Peninsula border with Israel and Gaza. Tunnels sealed In reaction to Sunday's attacks, Egypt began to seal off smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip, a security source said. A Reuters reporter in Rafah said heavy equipment was brought to the Egyptian side of the tunnels, which are used to smuggle people to and from Gaza as well as scarce food and fuel for the small territory's population. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the initial Sinai attack. Egypt and Israel say both Islamist fighters from the Sinai and Palestinian allies from the Gaza Strip are active in northern Sinai, attacking both Egyptian security forces and staging raids across the border into Israel. An Egyptian armed forces' statement suggested that groups on both sides of the border may have been involved. "The armed forces have been careful in the past months and during the events of the [Egyptian] revolution [in 2011] not to shed Egyptian blood ... but the group that staged yesterday's attack is considered by the armed forces as enemies of the nation who must be dealt with by force," it said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Egypt's president fires intelligence chief

Intelligence chief and governor of Northern Sinai sacked while defence minister replaces military police commander. Last Modified: 08 Aug 2012 16:37

President Mohamed Morsi ordered Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi (R), the defence minister, to replace the head of military police Hamdi Badee [AFP]

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has fired his spy chief Murad Muwafi in a major shake-up of military and intelligence ranks extending to the head of the Republican Guard and the governor of North Sinai. Wednesday's decision comes several days after a deadly ambush in Sinai killed 16 soldiers, prompting an unprecedented military crackdown in the peninsula, but Morsi's spokesman did not say whether the attack had prompted the changes. Morsi also ordered Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the defence minister, to replace the head of military police Hamdi Badeen, his spokesman Yassir Ali said in a televised statement on Wednesday. Morsi appointed Mohammed Rafaat Abdel Wahad Shehata as the interim head of General Intelligence. Earlier on Wednesday, Muwafi, himself a former governor of North Sinai, issued a rare public statement saying that his agency had forewarning of the weekend attack that killed the soldiers. But he said the intelligence did not specify where the attack would take place and he had passed it on to the "relevant authorities," adding that his powerful agency's role was only to collect information. The shuffle extended to Abdel Wahab Mabruk, the governor of North Sinai where the attack took place. Morsi is likely to have reached the decisions with the military, which ruled the country between president Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February 2011 and Morsi's inauguration as his successor in June. The head of the Presidential Guard, the director of Security in Cairo and the director of Central Security Forces were also fired. It is unclear if their dismissal was related to the incident in the Sinai.

Source: Agencies

Bahrain charges policemen over abuses

Charges against 15 officers follow investigation recommended by independent panel that studied last year's uprising. Last Modified: 07 Aug 2012 21:02

Salmaniya Medical Complex was thrust into the limelight after the crackdown on protests last year [EPA]

Bahrain's public prosecutor says authorities have charged 15 policemen with mistreating medics during last year's crackdown on opposition protesters. The charges on Tuesday follow an investigation into police abuses that was recommended last year by an independent commission that studied the Gulf state's Shia Muslim majority's uprising against the Sunni monarchy. Nawaf Abdullah Hamza did not identify the 15 officers involved and only said that the charges came out of claims "made by 15 medics working at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), related to last year's unrest". The complaints filed by doctors and nurses were among the most sensitive for Bahrain's leadership as it confronts the grievances of the kingdom's majority Shias. The state-run Salmaniya complex was thrust into the limelight when the kingdom's Sunni monarchy cracked down on Shia-led protests that began in February 2011, and the injured were brought there for treatment. Authorities say the doctors sided with protesters last year and tried to topple the country's ruling system. Helping the wounded The doctors said they were only doing their jobs helping the wounded. Initially, 20 medical personnel were sentenced to prison terms of between five and 15 years by a now-disbanded security tribunal. A retrial in civilian court was ordered earlier this year following intense pressure from international rights and medical groups. The investigative commission's work has led to at least one other case. It found that three protesters were shot at close range and Bahrain said in June that three police officers would be charged with murder. Meanwhile, the information affairs authority said a policeman was severely burned Monday when he was attacked with a Molotov cocktail while on foot patrol in a Shia neighbourhood where clashes with anti-government protests routinely take place.

Source: Agencies