Earthquakes 5.0+ 4/15/12 thru 4/17/12



http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php

Syrian forces pound Homs as an advance party of peacekeepers sent by the UN has arrived in Damascus - 4/16/12



video obtained from YouTube purportedly showed bombardment of a Homs neighbourhood by government forces continuing
Six UN observers en route
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Afghan forces continue battling Taliban in Kabul - 4/15/12



Afghan security forces continue battling the Taliban militants, who have launched multiple attacks on the country’s capital Kabul,
On Sunday, the militants targeted the US, British, German, and Japanese embassy buildings as well as the Western military alliance of NATO's headquarters in some of Kabul’s most heavily-guarded neighborhoods.
They made an attempt at storming the parliament building, sparking a gun battle as lawmakers and bodyguards returned fire from the rooftop.
"Fighting still continues near President Hamid Karzai’s presidential palace and near the Afghan parliament," said a Press TV correspondent in the city.
He added that "the militants are heavily resisting. It seems that they are equipped with heavy, sophisticated weaponry."
According to the Interior Ministry, 19 militants were killed, while 14 policemen and nine civilians were injured in the exchange of fire between the attackers and the security forces.
Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Jalalabad, one US-led trooper was killed when the militants attacked an American airbase.
The assailants also targeted government buildings and police headquarters in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Logar, and Paktia.
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Bomb attacks leave six dead in south Somalia - 4/15/12



At least six people have been killed and 17 others injured as two coordinated bomb explosions ripped through a region in southwestern Somalia,
The first blast took place at a restaurant in the town of Garbaharey, the capital of Gedo region and situated 528 kilometers (328 miles) southwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu, on Sunday, killing three people, among them transitional government soldiers.
Ten other people suffered various degrees of injury as a result of the explosion.
“The restaurant was packed with people, mainly government officials and troops, at the time of the blast. I saw three dead bodies on the ground as wounded people were being taken out, Abdi Dhuurgal, a witness, told Press TV.
Shortly later, a remote-controlled explosive device was set off inside a market, killing three more people. Local officials said the blast apparently targeted Ethiopian and Somali soldiers, who were patrolling the area.
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Khartoum forces 'bomb South Sudan town' - 4/15/12



South Sudan has accused Sudan of launching further bombing raids on its territory and against its forces.
The governor of Unity state says several people were killed in its capital Bentiu when a plane dropped bombs on a market.
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Taliban launch raids on Kabul and other Afghan targets - 4/15/12

Militants are carrying out what they say are co-ordinated attacks on Kabul and other targets in Afghanistan.
A Taliban spokesman said fighters were attacking embassies in the diplomatic enclave, Nato's HQ and the parliament building in the west of the capital.
Multiple blasts and gunfire have been heard across Kabul.
At least seven large explosions were heard in central Kabul and gunfire erupted from various directions in the heavily barricaded diplomatic zone.
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Fresh violence in Karachi leaves six dead - 4/15/12



At least six people, including a policeman, have been shot dead by gunmen in Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province,
Two unknown armed men attacked two people in Bhatti Mohalla of Lines Area in Karachi killing one and wounding the other.
In another incident, unknown gunmen killed a man and injured five others in a park near Bait-ul-Mukarram mosque in Gulshan-e-Iqbal area.
Similarly, two people were killed in Clifton near Schon circle and Urdu Bazaar area.
A policeman was also killed in an encounter near Shaheen Complex where two suspects were arrested.
Over 35,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Pakistan entered an alliance with the US on the so-called war against terrorism, according to local media.
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Earthquakes 5.0+ 4/13/12 thru 4/14/12



http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_big.php

US won’t rein in terror drones attacking Pakistan, officials say - 4/13/12



US officials have said that Washington will continue its non-UN-sanctioned CIA assassination drone strikes in Pakistan, rebuffing Pakistani MPs’ demands that the deadly attacks be halted.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that if a target is detected by the CIA's unmanned aerial vehicles, its hellfire missiles will take the shot.
On Thursday, Pakistan's parliament unanimously approved new guidelines for ties with the United States. The guidelines demand an end to US assassination drone strikes on Pakistani territory.
In 2008, the Pakistani parliament also passed a resolution demanding that the US stop the drone strikes but the CIA continued to conduct the attacks in the country’s tribal belt.
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Five rockets hit Herat airport in western Afghanistan - 4/13/12



Five rockets have hit Herat Airport in western Afghanistan, amid an increase in the rate of violence-related incidents in the country,
Insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan despite the presence of some 130,000 US-led forces in the Asian country.
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Four bombs rock Colombia ahead of Americas summit - 4/13/12



Four small explosions have hit the two Colombian cities of Bogota and Cartagena, as the South American country begins hosting the sixth Summit of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The first two low-power explosive devices were set off at around 7:30 p.m. local time on Friday (0030 GMT Saturday) near the US Embassy in the capital, Bogota, shortly after the arrival of US President Barack Obama, AFP reported.
The explosions were followed by two similar ones in Cartagena, which is hosting the Americas summit and is located some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Bogota.
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