NATO says foreign soldier killed in attack in Afghanistan
Posted on : 2010-09-29 | Author : dpa
News Category : Asia
Kabul - A soldier with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed in a suspected insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Wednesday.
The soldier died Tuesday, the ISAF said without revealing the service member's nationality or the location of the attack.
With more than 530 foreign soldiers killed so far in 2010, this year is already the deadliest for foreign forces in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
Thousands of Afghan and NATO troops are currently taking part in an operation in the southern province of Kandahar, which aims to drive the militants from their spiritual home.
The combined forces began searching in June for Taliban militants and weapon caches inside the provincial capital, also named Kandahar. On the weekend, thousands of troops moved into three surrounding districts of the city while NATO officials said they expected "hard fighting."
Troops cleared several roadside bombs and faced little resistance as they moved into the Arghandab district, 15 kilometres north of Kandahar city, provincial police chief Fazel Ahmad Sherzad said.
About 150,000 NATO troops are currently based in Afghanistan.
North Korean leader gives son high party posts - Summary
Posted on : 2010-09-29 | Author : dpa
News Category : Asia
Seoul - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday named his youngest son and potential successor to important ruling party posts, state media reported.
Kim Jong Un was named a member of the Central Committee of the Workers Party and vice chairman of its Central Military Commission, which his father chairs, at the biggest party meeting in 30 years.
"As a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Kim Jong Un will strengthen his grip on the military," said Yang Moo Jin from the University of North Korean Studies.
North Korea has 1.2 million troops and the military forms the basis of the Kim dynasty's power, he said.
Political analysts said they believe the son is being prepared to take power after his father, and in another indication that he is the heir apparent, Kim Jong Il made him a four-star general Tuesday, the day the party meeting began in Pyongyang.
Kim Jong Un, however, was not among the newly elected members of the party's Political Bureau, a fact that led to speculation that the assumed succession plan was not yet complete.
Kim Kyoung Hui, the 64-year-old sister of the country's ruler, was also named a four-star general Tuesday as was Choe Ryong Hae, a long-standing associate of the Kim family. Kim Kyoung Hui's husband, Jang Song Thaek, who analysts consider North Korea's number-two leader, was appointed a member of the Central Military Commission
"The conference marked a significant occasion that demonstrated the revolutionary faith and will of all the party members, servicepersons and people," the Stalinist state's Korean Central News Agency said.
Speculation has swirled around who would take the reins of power in North Korea from Kim Jong Il, 68, after he was believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008.
Little is known about the son, who is about 27, and his elevation to general Tuesday was the first mention of him in state media.
His appointments at the party meeting were similar to the appointments his father received during the previous party meeting in 1980.
He eventually took over from his father when Kim Il Sung died in 1994.
Five killed in Thailand's restive South
Posted on : 2010-09-29 | Author : dpa
News Category : Asia
Pattani, Thailand - Suspected separatist insurgents dressed in police uniforms shot and killed five people in Thailand's restive, Muslim-majority South, police said Wednesday.
The attackers drove up to a spot where farmers were selling fruit Tuesday night and opened fire on the crowd with automatic weapons, said Colonel Amnuay Dee with the Saiburi police station in Pattani province, where the attack occurred.
Five people died at the scene or on the way to hospital, and three were wounded, including a 7-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl, Amnuay said.
"The militants want to destroy the local economy and create distrust," Amnuay said.
"This attack has farmers particularly worried because it is longan harvest season," he said, referring to a popular local fruit.
In a separate incident Tuesday night, a remote-controlled bomb in Pattani's Muang district wounded a soldier, police Colonel Narucha Suwanlapa said.
More than 4,000 people have died in the conflict in Thailand's deep South - comprising Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces - since January 2004 when separatists raided an army depot, killing four soldiers and making off with 300 weapons.
The insurgents are an amorphous group of Muslim militants fighting for greater autonomy or independence.
The region's 2 million people are 80 per cent Muslim while the rest of Thailand is overwhelmingly Buddhist.
Teachers and other government employees have been among the main targets of insurgent hit squads, but merchants and farmers such as in Tuesday's attack have also been targeted.
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