Eight foreign medical workers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL: Eight foreign medical workers, including “several” Americans, were killed by gunmen in Afghanistan”s remote northeast, police and officials said on Saturday, with the attack claimed by the Taliban.

A Christian aid group said it appeared those killed were members of one of its mobile eye clinics which had been travelling in northeastern Nuristan province and was headed back for Kabul after providing eye care for local Afghans.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killings and accused the medical workers of proselytising Christianity.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said from an undisclosed location that bibles translated into Dari had been found with the foreigners.

Dirk Frans, executive director of the International Assistance Mission (IAM), said it had been told the bodies of eight foreigners — five men and three women — and two Afghans had been recovered.

“This actually sounds very similar to our Nuristan eye camp team,” Frans said, adding that IAM had last had contact with the team”s leader on Wednesday.

“This means it might have happened on Thursday,” he said.

Frans said the 12-member team had consisted of 6 US nationals, one British national, a German and four Afghans. Two Afghan staff members had escaped alive, he said.

Afghan police officials had earlier said six Germans were among the dead. US officials in Kabul said it appeared Americans were involved.

“We have reason to believe that several American citizens are among the deceased. We cannot confirm any details at this point,” US Embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since US-led and Afghan armed groups overthrew the Taliban in 2001. June was the bloodiest month for foreign forces in Afghanistan since then, with more than 100 killed.

Hundreds of Afghan civilians have also been killed this year as they become caught up in the crossfire.

“WE WARNED THEM”

Aqa Noor Kentuz, the police chief for Badakshan province, said the “bullet-riddled” bodies were found early on Saturday.

Kentuz said the foreigners had identified themselves as doctors, but some early reports said they were tourists.

He said they had been camping near jungle on a tour of Nuristan and neighbouring Badakshan when they were attacked.

Travel documents were found near their bodies, he said.

“Before their travel we warned them not to tour near jungles in Nuristan but they said they were doctors and no one was going to hurt them,” Kentuz said.

Jamaluddin Badr, governor of nearby Nuristan province, also said the group was made up of doctors who had visited several districts in Nuristan and Badakshan, helping local Afghans.

The IAM describes itself as an “international charitable, non-profit, Christian organisation” which has been helping Afghans with health and economic development since 1966.

“At this stage we do not have many details but our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who are presumed killed,” it said in an earlier statement issued on its website (www.iam-afghanistan.org/).

“This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people … We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year.”

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin said it was checking reports through its embassy in Kabul and could not comment until more information became available.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said it had no involvement in the incident and had no information.

Despite a record number of foreign forces in Afghanistan, standing at some 140,000 backed by tens of thousands of Afghan forces, the Taliban have extended their campaign out of traditional power bases in the south and east into the north and elsewhere in recent years.

Two US, six German doctors killed in Afghanistan: police

KABUL: The bodies of two American and six German doctors have been discovered in northern Afghanistan, a police official told meida Saturday.

Provincial police chief Aqa Noor Kintoz said the foreigners and one Afghan man were believed to have been killed by armed men in a densely forested part of Badakhshan province, according to the testimony of a sole Afghan survivor.

“The bodies were found in the forest in Kuran wa Minjan district,” he said, referring to an area on the border with Nuristan province, one day”s drive from the provincial capital Faizabad.

A US Embassy spokeswoman said “several” American citizens were believed to be among the dead, found on Friday, but could not give further details.

“(We) are actively working with local authorities and others to learn more about the identities and nationalities of these individuals,” the spokeswoman said.

Australian tycoon”s plane found, all feared dead

YAOUNDE: Rescuers found Monday the wreckage of a crashed plane carrying an Australian mining tycoon and 10 other foreigners, a Cameroonian minister said, with hopes slim for finding any survivors.

The plane carrying the entire board of the Sundance Resources mining company, including tycoon Ken Talbot, went missing over thick jungle Saturday on a flight from Yaounde, Cameroon”s capital, to Yangadou in Congo-Brazzaville.

“The wreckage has been found in Congo. Unfortunately there were no survivors,” Cameroonian minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told media.

However the minister later backtracked, saying they had yet to recover all 11 bodies.

“Are there no survivors? We”ve already begun to recover the bodies. The number varies between nine and 11. It is preferable, as long as we”ve not identified the 11 remains, to make statements with some caution,” Tchiroma Bakary told journalists.

Six Australians, two British, two French and one US national were on the twin turboprop Casa C212 plane, which had been chartered by Sundance.

Congolese civil aviation chief Michel Ambendet confirmed that the plane had been found at Dima, an area around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Yangadou, but refused to confirm the death toll.

“Logically there should not be any survivors two days after the accident. But we cannot confirm anything at the moment,” Ambendet said.

The French military had earlier joined the frantic search in thick forest on the Cameroon-Congo border, while Congo-Brazzaville authorities said they would call on pygmy tribesmen to join the hunt.

Fog over the jungle hampered efforts to locate the plane using two Cameroon government helicopters along with a French military C-160 transporter and Cougar helicopter.

Taliban chief Omar ready for talks: UK paper

KABUL: The supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has indicated that he and his followers may be willing to hold peace talks with western politicians.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, two of the movement’s senior Islamic scholars have relayed a message from the Quetta shura, the Taliban’s ruling council, that Mullah Omar no longer aims to rule Afghanistan. They said he was prepared to engage in “sincere and honest” talks.

A senior US military source said the remarks reflected a growing belief that a “breakthrough” was possible. “There is evidence from many intelligence sources [that] the Taliban are ready for some kind of peace process,” the source said.

At a meeting held at night deep inside Taliban-controlled territory, the Taliban leaders told this newspaper that their military campaign had only three objectives: the return of sharia (Islamic law), the expulsion of foreigners and the restoration of security.

“[Mullah Omar] is no longer interested in being involved in politics or government,” said Mullah “Abdul Rashid”, the elder of the two commanders, who used a pseudonym to protect his identity.

“All the mujaheddin seek is to expel the foreigners, these invaders, from our country and then to repair the country’s constitution. We are not interested in running the country as long as these things are achieved.”

The interview was conducted by a reputable Afghan journalist employed by The Sunday Times with two members of the shura that directs Taliban activity across the whole of southern Afghanistan, including Helmand and Kandahar provinces. It was arranged through a well established contact with the Taliban’s supreme leadership.

Looking back on five years in government until they were ousted after the attacks in America on September 11, 2001, the Taliban leaders said their movement had become too closely involved in politics.

Abdul Rashid said: “We didn’t have the capability to govern the country and we were surprised by how things went. We lacked people with either experience or technical expertise in government.

“Now all we’re doing is driving the invader out. We will leave politics to civil society and return to our madrasahs [religious schools].”

If the Taliban’s military aims no longer included a takeover of the Afghan government, this would represent “a major and important shift”, the US official said.

In the interview, the two leaders insisted that reports of contact between the Taliban and the Kabul government were a “fraud” and stemmed from claims made by “charlatans”. Up to now, no officially sanctioned talks have taken place, they said.

They laid down no preconditions for substantive negotiations, saying simply that the Taliban were ready for “honest dialogue”. Another Taliban source with close links to the Quetta shura said the movement was willing to talk directly to “credible” western politicians, including Americans, but not to intelligence agencies such as the CIA.

This source said that although the Taliban’s unwavering objective remained the withdrawal of all foreign troops, their preconditions for talks might now be limited to guarantees of security for their delegates and a Nato ceasefire.

According to a Nato intelligence source, Taliban representatives have established direct contact with several ministers in President Hamid Karzai’s government. But they refuse to have any direct contact with Karzai, whom they regard as an “illegitimate puppet”.

During an interview that lasted for several hours and was interrupted only by the coming and going of messengers on motorbikes, our reporter heard nothing from the Taliban leaders to suggest that the movement was weary of war, as some western analysts have claimed.

Instead, he was told that the Taliban believe they are winning and are able to negotiate from a position of strength. Asked about a forthcoming Nato offensive in the Kandahar region, a local Taliban commander who sat alongside the two scholars boasted: “We’re ready for this. We’re going to break the Americans’ teeth.”

The Taliban leaders said that lessons had been learnt from Nato’s last big offensive in the Marjah area of Helmand province earlier this year. When Nato gave advance notice of the operation, the Taliban were lured into sending too many fighters to the area, some of whom died.

The leaders said that in Kandahar a plan to counter Nato had already been prepared.

“There will be no surprise there,” said Abdul Rashid. “We have our people inside all positions in the city, in the government and the security forces.”

He added that America already had enough problems “to haunt her” and fighting in Kandahar would only turn more people against it.

“People don’t trust the foreigners because they are backing the warlords. People are fed up with crime and brutality and that’s a big problem for the Americans. We’re well positioned, with supporters everywhere.”

As they prepare for the traditional summer fighting season, the Taliban leaders are placing as much emphasis as Nato on winning the hearts and minds of the population.

Abdul Rashid said there had been Taliban commanders who had financed their campaigns by taking bribes to give safe passage to Nato supply convoys or from drug smugglers. But the Taliban’s leadership had ordered a halt to this.

“What we do is not for a worldly cause — it is for the sake of Allah. More important than the fighting for us now is the process of purification. We are getting rid of all the rotten apples,” he said.

Karzai blames foreigners for vote fraud

KABUL: President Hamid Karzai lashed out at the U.N. and international community, accusing them of interfering in last year”s fraud-tarnished presidential election and seeking to weaken his authority after parliament rejected his bid to expand hiscontrol over the country”s electoral institutions.

Karzai did not specifically mention the United States, but his harsh words and his practice of blaming foreigners for the nation”s problems reflect his increasingly difficult relations with Washington and its international allies.

During his speech, Karzai acknowledged there had been “vast fraud”” in the August vote, which returned him to office for a second, five-year term. But he blamed the fraud on the U.N. and other foreign organizations, which he suggested were part of an international conspiracy to deny him re-election or tarnish his victory.

“No doubt, there was huge fraud. There was vast fraud. The fraud is not by the Afghans. This fraud has been done by the foreigners,”” Karzai said, including officials of the U.N., the European Union and“the embassies here in Kabul.””

He accused unidentified foreign embassies of trying to bribe members of the Karzai-appointed Independent Election Commission with offers of bulletproof cars in hopes they would block his first-round victory.

Padma Lakshmi’s Baby Daddy is Adam Dell!

After a big mystery surrounding the father of Padma Lakshmi’s baby daddy, comes the revelation that Adam Dell is the father of Padma Lakshmi’s baby Krishna!

Dell was considered to be the possible father of the baby ever since Padma announced that she was pregnant. The Top Chef host gave birth to baby Krishna last month and did not declare the father of her baby at any point of time.

Adam Dell is known to be a venture capitalist and a professor at Columbia Business School who also happens to be the brother of Michael Dell of the famous DELL computers.

Adam and Padma dated a few years ago and she never spoke of her baby’s daddy when she was pregnant.

A source told People.com, “It’s all in negotiations. They are trying to work it out. They are trying to avoid anything messy.”

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Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum,Lunatic Asylum

Ghost adventures live and Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum . On this Halloween festival there could have been no better television show to celebrate the occasion that the Ghost Adventure on Travel Channel. The Ghost Adventure guys go to long abandoned houses, churches, factories and similar places to hunt down ghosts.I am sure they and other similar shows will shut shops if they ever come in contact with a Ghost

Ghost adventures live and Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. On this Halloween festival there could have been no better television show to celebrate the occasion that the Ghost Adventure on Travel Channel. The Ghost Adventure guys go to long abandoned houses, churches, factories and similar places to hunt down ghosts.I am sure they and other similar shows will shut shops if they ever come in contact with a Ghost. The drama is enacted because there aint no ghosts around. But till they appear really or take over our screens, the drama must continue.

Ghost Adventures is a one-hour weekly American paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel.

The program features ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin, who investigate places that are reported to be haunted. The show is based on a 2006 documentary film.

The Sci-Fi Channel presented 4Reel Productions’ Ghost Adventures: The Documentary Film in 2006. The documentary centers on Bagans, Groff, and Goodwin’s investigation into alleged paranormal activity in Virginia City, Nevada.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum: The first thing that strikes most visitors to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is its massive size. Constructed between 1858 and 1881, the main structure is 1,296 feet long, consists of 4 floors, 9 acres of floor space, 921 windows and 906 doors. The asylum is considered the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America and the second-largest in the world after the Kremlin.

Located in central West Virginia, the asylum appears to be nestled in the great green Appalachian Mountains, its imposing facade just across the West Fork River serving as the backdrop for the small town of Weston.

Karachi Police Arrests 40 Foreign Suspects

KARACHI: At least 40 more suspected foreigners including 31 Afghans have been arrested during a raid in the Orangi town area of Karachi, DawnNews reported. Sources say no weapons have been recovered in the raids and the suspects will be charged under the Foreigners Act for not producing valid documents pertaining to their stay in Pakistan. The suspects deny any militant links and further investigations are underway

KARACHI: At least 40 more suspected foreigners including 31 Afghans have been arrested during a raid in the Orangi town area of Karachi, DawnNews reported.

Sources say no weapons have been recovered in the raids and the suspects will be charged under the Foreigners Act for not producing valid documents pertaining to their stay in Pakistan.

The suspects deny any militant links and further investigations are underway.

The number of arrests in Karachi since Thursday has risen to 108.

Earlier, 62 foreigners were arrested from various seminaries in the city during police raids.

Senior police officials have told DawnNews that so far a total of 59 Afghan nationals and 3 Tajik nationals have been arrested from various areas of the metropolis.

186 Arrested Including Foreigners in Karachi Raids

KARACHI, Pakistan: 186 Arrested Including Foreigners in Karachi Raids, Karachi police have arrested 186 suspects, including foreigners in a raid on Friday.

According to sources, under the direction of senior officials of the police raids were conducted in various areas of Karachi, including Bufferzone.

Other foreigners have also been arrested from a mosque and Madarsa Bufferzone, the sources added.

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186 Arrested Including Foreigners in Karachi Raids was first posted on October 30, 2009 at 12:13 pm.

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