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Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield after defeating Kurds
Ten killed in UN-run school attack in Gaza
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Ukrainian city stocks up as long siege looms
China unveils 12,000-km range ICBM
367 dead, 2,000 hurt as quake jolts China
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Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield after defeating Kurds
Baghdad, August 3 Capture of the Mosul Dam after an offensive of barely 24 hours could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities, sharply raising the stakes in their bid to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government. Islamic State, which sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites as apostates who deserve to be killed, also seized the Ain Zalah oil field, adding to four others already under their control, and three towns. They faced strong Kurdish resistance only at the start of their latest offensive when taking the town of Zumar. The Islamists then hoisted their black flags there, a ritual that usually precedes mass executions of their captured opponents and the imposition of an ideology even Al-Qaida finds excessive. The group, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, poses the biggest challenge to the stability of OPEC member Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Since thousands of Iraqi soldiers fled the Islamic State offensive, Shi'ite militias and Kurdish fighters have been seen as a critical line of defence against the militants, who have threatened to march on Baghdad. But Sunday's battles have called into question the effectiveness of the Kurdish fighters and have increased pressure on Iraqi leaders to form a power-sharing government capable of countering the Islamic State. Islamic State fighters attacked Zumar from three directions in pick-up trucks mounted with weapons, defeating Kurdish forces which had poured reinforcements into the town. The Islamic State later also seized the town of Sinjar, where witnesses said residents had fled after Kurdish fighters put up little resistance against the militants. On its Twitter site, the Islamic State posted a picture of one of its masked fighters holding up a pistol and sitting at the abandoned desk of the mayor of Sinjar. Behind him was the image of a famous Kurdish guerilla leader. In a statement on its website, Islamic State said its fighters had killed scores of Kurdish fighters. "Hundreds fled leaving vehicles and a huge number of weapons and munitions and the brothers control many areas," Islamic State said. "The fighters arrived in the border triangle between Iraq, Syria and Turkey," it said. Islamic State has systematically blown up Shi'ite mosques and shrines in territory it has seized, fueling levels of sectarian violence not seen since a 2006-2007 civil war. However the group, which changed its name earlier this year from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has stalled in its drive to reach Baghdad, halting just before the town of Samarra, 100 km north of the capital. — Reuters Iran’s elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back Islamic State
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Ten killed in UN-run school attack in Gaza
Gaza/Jerusalem, August 3 The Israeli military said it was looking into the attack, the second to hit a school in less than a week. Israeli media, on the 27th day of the fighting, reported that most Israeli troops had pulled out of Gaza, and Reuters TV footage showed a column of Israeli tanks and dozens of infantrymen leaving the enclave. In the town of Rafah, where the military has been battling militants, a missile from an Israeli aircraft struck the entrance to the school, where Palestinians who had fled their homes were sheltering, witnesses and medics said. Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, said 10 people were killed and 30 wounded. Robert Serry, UN Middle East Special Coordinator, said the school had been sheltering 3,000 displaced persons and the strike caused multiple deaths and injuries. Last Wednesday, at least 15 Palestinians who sought refuge in a UN-run school in Jabalya refugee camp were killed during fighting, and the UN said Israeli artillery had apparently hit the building. The Israeli military said gunmen had fired mortar bombs from near the school and it shot back in response. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli shelling killed at least 30 people in Gaza, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up pressure on Hamas even after the army completes its core mission of destroying a tunnel network used by Palestinian militants to attack Israel. Netanyahu says Gaza's dominant Hamas faction bears ultimate responsibility for civilian casualties, accusing gunmen and rocket-launching squads of using residents in densely populated areas as "human shields". In Cairo, efforts to find a new truce were due to resume on Sunday. A delegation from Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad arrived in the Egyptian capital, but a quick breakthrough seemed unlikely in the absence of Israeli representatives. After accusing Hamas of breaching a US- and UN-brokered ceasefire on Friday, Israel said it would not send envoys as scheduled. — Reuters
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Ukrainian city stocks up as long siege looms
Donetsk, August 3 People in the east Ukraine city are stocking up flour, canned food, cooking oil, instant coffee, candles and batteries as government forces tighten the noose around pro-Russian separatists occupying the city. "I've done the same as my customers. I store everything in the cellar," Vsevolodova said. "I've also bought three folding beds for myself, my husband and our child. We can't afford to leave the city, we're not that rich." After nearly four months of occupation and violence, the most popular phrase in the city has become: "Live until tomorrow." The rebels, who took over the Donetsk administration's offices and erected barricades around them in mid-April, are still in charge of the sprawling city, the main hub of the Donbass coal-mining region. But many of the nearly 1 million residents have fled since the Ukrainian army forced rebels out of most towns they had occupied and squeezed them into two main strongholds, Donetsk and nearby Luhansk. Luhansk, a city of 400,000 before the conflict, is now all but encircled and residents spend much of the time in their cellars because of shelling. Donetsk is harder to encircle because it is much bigger, but highways out are guarded by rebel roadblocks and surface-to-surface rockets fired by pro-government forces have rained down on residential tower blocks in the city centre. — Reuters
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China unveils 12,000-km range ICBM
Beijing, August 3 A piece of information revealed in a government environmental monitoring file has indirectly confirmed the existence of a new generation of Chinese ICBM, the Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) missile, a report on the website of state-run Global Times said. Tang Bohu, a military commentator with Ifeng News, told the paper that the confirmation of the existence of DF-41 missiles will give the international community, including the US, a new understanding of China's nuclear power. "I believe revealing the information was unintentional. But sooner or later, China will demonstrate these new nuclear weapons at international military parades. Eventually, the weapons will be meant for deterrence," he said. According to Jane's Defense Weekly, the DF-41 missiles are designed to have a range of 12,000 kilometres, putting it among the world's longest-range missiles. — PTI |
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367 dead, 2,000 hurt as quake jolts China
Beijing, August 3 The strong quake hit at 4:30 pm Beijing time (0830 GMT) at a depth of 12 km with the epicentre in Longtoushan township, 23 km southwest of the county seat of Ludian, Zhaotong City. “At least 367 people have been killed and 1,881 people were injured," the official news agency Xinhua reported late night. The massive quake that left a trail of destruction with more than 12,000 houses toppled and 30,000 damaged, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. More than 1,300 injured in Ludian County alone, according to the local government. Transportation, electricity and telecommunications have been cut off in the county. Several people were still missing and the death toll was likely to go up with rescuers frantically scouring the rubble. Ma
Hao, a college student who is volunteering for the rescue at Longtoushan Township, told Xinhua that he saw bodies buried in ruins and helped to carry more than 40 injured people out of the collapsed buildings. "Honestly, it's such a shame that we had no time to take care of the bodies. We need to help those "I felt a strong jolt on my fifth-floor home and some small objects in my home fell off the shelves," said a resident in the county seat of Ludian. Most people rushed out of buildings Electricity was cut, telecommunications services were affected and it was hard to reach people in Ludian by mobile phone, the resident said. Another resident said it felt like "sailing a boat" when he was driving a car in the tremor. Ma Liya, a resident in the county seat, told Xinhua via telephone that the streets were like a "battlefield after bombardment". She added that the house of her neighbour, a new two-storey building, "It's so terrible. The aftermath is much much worse than what happened after the quake two years ago. I have never felt so strong tremors before. What I can see are all ruins," she said. More than 2,500 officers and soldiers have been dispatched to join the disaster relief operation. The US Geological Survey said the quake registered at a shallow depth of less than 1 mile (1.6 km). Chinese state media said it was felt most strongly in Yunnan as well as in the neighbouring provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan. — PTI
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Woman jailed in UK for killing Sikh man
22 killed in Tripoli airport clashes South Asian Film Festival to enthral US audience
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An Israeli air strike killed 10 persons and wounded about 30 others on Sunday in a UN-run school in the southern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said, as dozens died in Israeli shelling of the enclave and Hamas fired rockets at Israel.
Although the streets outside are nearly empty, business has been brisk at Oksana Vsevolodova's grocery store in Donetsk as residents prepare for what could be a long siege.
People in the east Ukraine city are stocking up flour, canned food, cooking oil, instant coffee, candles and batteries as government forces tighten the noose around pro-Russian separatists occupying the city.
Beijing, August 3
