Seven Russian soldiers killed in Dagestan 'infiltrator' attack

Seven Russian soldiers died when a fellow soldier opened fire on them at a border checkpoint in the town of Derbent, Dagestan.

Reports said that the man shot dead two soldiers at their base in Beligi before launching an attack on his barracks where five more soldiers died. It is understood the gunman was killed at the barracks when troops returned fire.

Islamist rebel groups in the region claimed that at least eight soldiers were killed and identified the gunman only as “Aliev”.

The rebels also claimed to have killed one Russian soldier and injured several others in an ambush outside of the town. There is no way to independently verify such claims.

British soldier may face murder charges

A British soldier who shot dead what he claimed was an "Afghan bomber" may face murder charges, it has been revealed today.

Fusilier Duane Knott

Fusilier Duane Knott (26) claims he killed the Afghan man after he came upon him planting an improvised explosive device (IED). However senior British officers beleive the man was an innocent Afghan farmer. Fusilier Knott may now become the first British soldier serving in Afghanistan to be charged with murder.

The killing occured during the summer of 2010 and only weeks after Knott's friend, Private Jonathan Monk, was killed in an IED attack. While the British military now accepts that the dead man was an innocent civilian, Knott claims he killed a combatant and claims that British Army investigators missed key evidence at the scene.

The soldier says he observed a man digging in a field around 400metres from Rahin base. The man then walked towards a hedge, picked up a canvas bag and walked back towards the area where he had been digging. The soldier then opened fire on the man who at this time was sitting on the ground, he was shot twice in the back, the soldier then shot him four further times as he lay on the ground. Knott says he believed the object in the bag was an IED. The man died later in hospital.

Investigators say there is absolutely no evidence that the man was attempting to plant a bomb.

If charged and convicted, Knott would receive a mandatory life sentence and serve his time in a civilian prison.

The most recent incident of British soldiers being convicted of murder occured in Northern Ireland where two British soldiers were convicted of murdering a teenager who they claimed he was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The soldiers had searched the young man for weapons before shooting him in the back. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995 but released three years later under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal between the British and the outlawed IRA.

Two killed in bomb attack on Colombia police station

Two civilians were killed and seven police and soldiers wounded in a bomb attack on a Colombian police barracks in Orito, in the southern province of Putumayo, last night.

The dead are believed to be the wife and son of a police officer who is a resident at the base. The officer himself is said to be in a serious condition in hospital.

While some media sources have speculated that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (FARC-EP) 48th Front were responsible for the attack, the mayor of Orito said he was not willing to speculate on who was responsible adding that both left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups were active in the area.

Ethiopian Army seizes Somali town from radical Islamic militants

A 3,000 strong force of Ethiopian troops has crossed the border and seized the Somali town of Beledwayene from Al-Shabaab militants.

Ethiopian soldier

The assault came after the Somali government announced a fresh offensive against the militants and called on neighbouring countries to aid them "to liberate the tyranny of Al-Shabaab".

In a statement the Somali government said:

"We are officially requesting the international community and the neighboring countries like Ethiopia to stand on our shoulders and help the Somali people and their government for the historic operation to liberate the country from this brutal terror group"

The Somali National Army is also said to be engaged in fierce fighting with the militants in the Hiiraan disctrict.

Earlier the radical Islamic insurgents claimed that their fighters repelled three Ethiopian assaults on the city before eventually a "planned withdrawal" took place. "Mujahideen are now surrounding the city" reported the organisations press office.

The militants have also claimed to have killed 54 Ethiopian troops in the city but have not released any information on their own casualties. They also claimed that troops had shelled civilian areas of the city and that residents of Beledwayne had joined with them to fight against the Ethiopian and Somali forces.

Control of Beledwayne, a key commercial centre, has changed control numerous times in recent months as various insurgent groups have fought to gain control of it. The Al-Shabaab group currently controls most of southern Somalia.

Top IRA commander calls on Spanish government to act over ETA ceasefire

A former leading member of the Provisional IRA has called on the Spanish government to move quickly to secure a lasting peace in the Basque Country.

Seánna Walsh, a former Officer Commanding IRA prisoners in the notorious Long Kesh prison, writing in IRIS Magazine said the Spanish government was still wedded to the "old agenda of repression and denial".

Seánna Walsh reads a statement on behalf of the IRA's ruling Army Council in 2005 announcing that the organisation is ending its armed campaign

  In October of this year the Basque armed separatist group, Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) announced that its armed campaign was over and that the struggle for Basque Independence would continue through purely peaceful political means. So far the Spanish government has refused to negotiate with the organisation

"The Spanish government must be made to recognise that the alternative to compromise is more of the same old cycle of conflict and war, repression and guerrilla warfare - indefinitely." said Walsh

He also added that a complete end to the military conflict and a move towards a political struggle can only happen when the Spanish government begin by granting concessions such as releasing sick prisoners, repatriation of prisoners to the Basque country and the formulation of a release programme for ETA and other political prisoners.

The release of prisoners would be a major step out of bloodshed and repression and into a new future, he said.

Five peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon bomb attack

Investigators are baffled as to who may have been responsible for a landmine attack which targeted a UNIFIL convoy earlier today.

“There are no suspects at all in the case. So far there have been no arrests, but there are many witnesses who have been giving their accounts on the case," a senior investigator said.

The blast seriously damaged a UN vehicle wounding six French peacekeepers, one of whom is said to be in a critical condition.

Lebanese militant groups who are active in the area have condemned the attack:

“Hezbollah and Amal condemn this criminal act … and call for an urgent investigation into the incident and efforts to find the perpetrators and punish them,” a joint statement from both organisations said.

Last May six Italian troops were wounded in a similar bomb attack. This is the most serious incident since January 2008 when two Irish peacekeepers were wounded in an attack while six UNIFIL troops died in 2007 when their vehicle triggered a booby trapped carbomb.

Dagestan leader killed in Gun Attack

A high ranking member of the pro-Russian government in the region of Dagestan has been killed along with his driver in a suspected separatist ambush.

Garun Kurbanov, head of Dagestan's analytical department and presidential press service, and his driver were killed in the republic's capital city of Makhachkala earlier this morning.


"Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Kurbanov's car at about 08:15 Moscow time (0415 GMT). According to preliminary reports, the official and his driver were killed," a spokesman of Dagestan's Interior Ministry was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

 Police have said a full investigation into the incident is underway