ISIS burned up to 45 people to death in Iraq

The militants seized the western Iraqi town by Isis over the weekend

ISIS militants have burned at least 45 people to death in the Iraqi town of Al-Baghdadi, according to local police.

Colonel Qasim al-Obeidi told BBC News that he believed some of those killed were members of the security forces, as details on the victims and why they were targeted remains unclear.

The reports come after Isis, which calls itself the Islamic State, captured much of the western Iraqi town in Anbar province over the weekend. Al-Baghdadi is positioned near the heavily-guarded Ain al-Asad air base, where over 300 US Marines are training Iraqi troops.
Mr Al-Obeidi added that a compound where the families of security personnel and local officials live was now under attack, and called on the Iraqi government and the international community to send help.

The broadcaster said the fighting and poor communications in the area make it difficult to confirm the claims.

The report comes after Isis released a video purporting to show militants burning Jordanian pilot Lt Muath al-Kasaesbeh to death in a cage, a brutal incident which was internationally condemned.

The group seized al-Kasaesbeh after his plane crashed in Syria last December during a US-led airstrike.

Over the weekend, Isis seized parts of Al-Baghdadi following months of attacks by the insurgents as part of its advance through Iraq and Syria.

A local official told Reuters that ninety per cent of the district has been captured by the extremist group.

Source: The Independent

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Israeli divers discover 2,000 ancient gold coins

Image: Israeli Antiquities Authority

A group of divers found 2,000 gold coins on the seabed of the Caesarea National Park in Israel — the largest trove of gold coins ever discovered in the country.

Caesarea is an ancient Roman city located near the modern Israeli city of Caesarea, about halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. The divers from the local diving club stumbled upon the coins by accident a few weeks ago and reported the find to the Israeli Antiquities Authority.

The coins come in different denominations — dinar, half dinar and quarter dinar — and are of various weight and dimensions. While the earliest coin was minted in Palermo, Sicily in the second half of 9th century, most of them were minted in Egypt and North Africa and belong to the Fatimid caliphs Al-Ḥākim (996–1021 CE) and his son Al-Ẓāhir (1021–1036).
Even though they rested at the bottom of the sea for a thousand years, the coins are in an "excellent state of preservation," according to Robert Cole, an expert numismatist with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

As for how the coins ended up on the sea floor, there are a couple of theories. All of them involve the sinking of a ship — either one carrying the money to pay the salaries for soldiers in the military garrison stationed in Caesarea, or a merchant vessel that traded with the nearby coastal cities.

Kobi Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the discovery will likely lead to more archaeological findings.

"There is probably a shipwreck there of an official treasury boat, which was on its way to the central government in Egypt with taxes that had been collected," Sharvit said in a statement.

Source: Mashable

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Vatican, Italy on heightened alert over ISIS threat

Pope Francis stands on the popemobile surrounded by security staff during his weekly general audience at St Peter's square on February 18, 2015 at the Vatican

Security at the Vatican and across Italy has been stepped up because of a perceived heightened risk of attacks by Islamist militants, officials said Wednesday.

A day after the Italian cabinet approved new security measures because of fears of a terrorist spillover from the chaos engulfing Libya, the head of the Vatican's Swiss Guard confirmed additional precautions had been taken to ensure the safety of Pope Francis.

"What happened in Paris with the Charlie Hebdo attacks could also happen at the Vatican. We are ready to intervene to ensure Francis is protected," Christoph Graf told Italian daily Il Giornale.

"We have asked all the Swiss guards to be more attentive and to carefully monitor the movement of people," he added, stressing that it was up to the intelligence services to provide detailed information on any potential threat.
Graf acknowledged that Francis's people-friendly style did not make his job easy.

"He does not like having security too close to him. We have to respect that and keep our distance," he said.

The Italian government's security committee on Tuesday placed the country on a heightened state of alert and rubber-stamped a decision taken last week to increase the number of soldiers on anti-terror "safe streets" duties from 3,000 to 4,800.

- Expo 2015 on hit list -

Italian media reported Wednesday that the site of the upcoming Expo 2015 world fair in Milan, the foreign ministry in Rome, the Vatican and synagogues across the country had been identified as prime potential targets for Islamist militants.

"The risk of an attack by a lone wolf or an unbalanced person is concrete," said Felice Casson, a senator and secretary of the Copasir parliamentary committee that oversees Italy's secret services.

"The more successful attacks in other countries are, the greater the risk of someone trying to emulate them in Italy," he told La Republicca.

The paper said special security had been ordered for some of Italy's leading journalists and for prominent Italian Jews. Restrictions on government ministers using official planes for private trips have been eased.

Italy has been swept by alarmist rumours in recent days since the posting of a video showing the Islamic State group's beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya, which is a former Italian colony.

The tape includes a warning that Libya could be used as a platform for attacks on Italy and that IS fighters were "at the south of Rome."

- IS warnings -

Some opposition figures in Italy have called for all naval search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean to be suspended because of a much-touted risk of terrorists using refugee boats as a way of getting into Italy to stage so-called lone-wolf attacks.

The government admits it can't rule out that happening but says screening measures are in place to combat the risk, and that it has yet to find any evidence of IS attempting this.

The government has also had to contend with a widely-circulated claim that up to 200,000 African migrants in Libya are about to embark or be ordered on to ships for Italy.

Matteo Salvini, the far-right leader of the anti-immigrant Northern League, has been the principal promoter of this claim, for which no reliable evidence has so far emerged.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Wednesday that there was an "evident risk" of Islamic State loyalists teaming up with battle-hardened militia fighters in Libya and warned the world time was running out to stabilise the country.

Italy wants world powers to focus all their efforts on getting the warring parties in Libya to unite and squeeze out IS.

If a ceasefire can be established, Rome says it is ready to lead a peacekeeping operation that would also be charged with de-arming a country awash with weapons and providing secure conditions for reconstruction of the conflict-scarred state.

Source: Yahoo! News

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MILF formally turns over to Philippine government, firearms of slain SAF men

A total of 16 rifles including 2 machine guns recovered from the Mamasapano encounter. to be turned over by the MILF. Photo: Raffy Tima

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Wednesday turned over to the government the firearms of Special Action Force troopers slain in a clash in Mamasapano in Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

Wednesday's turnover was held during ceremonies at Camp Brig. Gen. Gonzalo Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

Handshakes among representatives from the government and the MILF highlighted the turnover of the firearms. Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. was among the officials present.

At least 16 firearms, including two machine guns, were included in the turnover, GMA News' Raffy Tima reported.
 

One of the firearms was an M-4 rifle with optics, laser designator and tactical flashlight.



The Philippine National Police-SAF had lost about 63 firearms during the Mamasapano operation.

Forty-four SAF troopers died during the hours-long gunfight with the MILF and its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. The troopers were then on a mission to arrest Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan of Jemaah Islamiyah and Filipino bomb maker and Abu Sayyaf member Basit Usman.
Government peace panel chairperson Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said it was not easy to reach this step. "Hindi po madaling makarating sa araw na ito. Tulad po ng mga pamilya ng Special Action Forces, namatayan rin ng guerilla ang mga MILF," she said.

Aside from the 55th and 84th SAF, she said the MILF also lost guerrillas in the encounter. "Hindi maiiwasan itong paghihinagpis na ito," she said.

Yet, she commended the parties concerned for returning the firearms instead of treating them as war booty.

Ferrer said the next step will be to document and subject the returned firearms to ballistic tests.

"Ang susunod na mangyayari, pag close ng presscon (ay ang) pagdokumento at imbentaryo at ballistics (tests) ng pulis sa (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group)," she said.

For his part, MILF peace panel chairman Mohagher Iqbal said this shows the MILF "is willing to travel the extra mile" for peace.

"We are willing to travel the extra mile just to ensure the peace process will proceed," he said, but also asked media to be objective.

Later at the press conference, Iqbal said they will continue checking for other firearms and equipment of the slain SAF men in the MILF's possession.

"Gaya ng sinabi ko, hindi pa tapos ang efforts ng MILF. Hahanapin pa ang armas... Baka may natira pa sa possession ng MILF. Hahanapin namin 'yan," Iqbal said.

Ceasefire committees

Ferrer said the ceasefire committees of both sides met in Cotabato City Tuesday, and proceeded to the site where the first firearm collection took place.

The first batch of firearms was deposited Tuesday night at Kampilan headquarters.

On Wednesday morning, the second batch was collected, she said.

Call to BIFF to return firearms

Ferrer also called on the BIFF to return firearms from the scene as well.

"Panawagan natin siyempre sa ating mga kapatid tulad ng civilians na nakakuha ng gamit: Sana kusang loob ibalik ito," she added.

International Monitoring Team

For his part, Dato' Abdul Samad Bin Hu Yaakub, head of mission of the International Monitoring Team, hailed the event, and thanked both chairs of the government and MILF peace panels.

"We hope there will be more confidence-building measures in the near future," he said.

Catapang, Deles for peace

Catapang said he wants to "win the peace," as his first assignment was in Sultan Kudarat in 1981.

"You must understand how we feel, soldiers who have been here for the longest time, still wanting to win the peace. We have to claim the peace in our country," he said.

"When I became chief of staff, that was my inaugural speech—that we must claim, not only win, we have to claim the peace in our country," he said.

For her part, presidential peace process adviser Teresita Deles said that because of the Mamasapano incident, "this has been a most difficult challenge our peace process has faced."

"Mamasapano must be turned from a battleground to a haven for peace. Let not the death of the SAF 44 and other 23 more be in vain," she said.

Returning firearms

Earlier, the MILF said it will return soon the firearms its fighters took from the SAF during the Mamasapano clash.

But the MILF said the firearms it recovered from the clash will not be all the items on the SAF's list, which amount to P27 million. It said other armed groups also took away some of the items from the SAF.

PNP SAF officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Noli Taliño's memorandum to PNP logistics director Director Juanito Vaño Jr. indicated the SAF lost P27 million worth of sophisticated combat equipment.

The list includes:

- 33 Ferfrans/Rockriver assault rifles
- 4 savage sniper rifles
- 4 crew-served weapons (M-60 machine guns)
- 10 Ferfrans M-203 grenade launchers
- 1 90mm recoiless rifle
- 11 short firearms
- 8 Glock handguns
- 2 Berreta handguns
- 1 CZ

Source: GMA News

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At least 20 dead after power line falls on Haiti carnival float

The moment a performer on top of a float at the Haiti Carnival got caught by an overhead power line as the parade passed through the streets of Port-au-Prince in the early hours of the morning

At least 20 people were killed during a Carnival parade in Haiti’s capital early Tuesday when a music group’s float hit a low-hanging power line, causing them to be electrocuted, officials said.

The accident occurred as thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Port-au-Prince for the raucous annual celebration. People at the scene said someone on the float touched an overhead power line with a pole or stick as the float passed underneath it.

    There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties. Nadia Lochard, a coordinator for the Department of Civil Protection, said at least 20 people were killed and 46 were injured.

The float, one of 16 in the downtown Carnival parade, was sponsored by the Haitian hip-hop group Barikad Crew. Some of the victims were instantly electrocuted in a flash of sparks, according to witnesses. Others managed to jump off, causing panic in the crowd.

“I saw the wire falling and sparks and I started running for my life,” said Natacha Saint Fleur, a 22-year-old who was near the float at the time.

Hundreds of people thronged the General Hospital, where many of the victims were taken, some carrying victims and others searching for family members brought by ambulance.

Haitian officials were expected to announce later Tuesday whether they would cancel a second day of Carnival events. Communications Minister Rothchild Francis said the government was working to assist victims.

It is a common practice in Haiti and elsewhere to have someone at the top of a parade float who moves low-hanging power lines. In Brazil, officials said three people were killed when they were electrocuted while standing atop a Carnival float that hit a power line early Tuesday on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

Source: The Guardian

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