Villeworth Security Services Ltd

week 8

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PORT HARCOURT AND ENVIRONS

Bayelsa Gets Law on Death Sentence for Kidnappers

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Wednesday, assented to the bill passed by the state House of Assembly, prescribing death sentence for the offence of kidnapping in the state. Tagged Bayelsa State Kidnapping and Allied Offences Bill 2013, it empowers the governor to accent to the death warrant of any person or group of persons convicted for the act of kidnapping and other related offences in the state. Dickson, while signing the Bill into law, warned those involved in acts of kidnapping to stay clear of the state because he would not hesitate to sign their death warrant.

Pirates Attacked Vessel, Kidnap Crew

Armed sea pirates, at the weekend, attacked a vessel, Armadah Tuah 101, off the coast of Bayelsa state, kidnapping the crew members. The Malaysian flagged anchor handling vessel was travelling from Brass to Onne Port. Sources confirmed that pirates boarded the vessel and kidnapped all expatriate crew members. Exact numbers and nationalities are not immediately known. A vessel, the WALVIS 7, was attacked almost same location on 10th February 2013. Four other vessels have been attacked and boarded in this area within the month of February.

Police Deny MASSOB’s Ownership of Ezu River Corpses

The Anambra Police Command has denied claims by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) that the bodies recovered at Ezu River were those of its members allegedly arrested and killed by policemen. The State’s Commissioner of Police, Ballah Nasarawa, denied the MASSOB’s claim accusing the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of killing and dumping its members into the river. Nineteen bodies were on January 19, recovered from the river in Amansea, a border community with Enugu State. The commissioner wondered why it took MASSOB members three weeks after to go and identify the bodies. Nasarawa, who stressed that MASSOB had been proscribed by the government, further warned that any person hiding under the canopy or pretext of MASSOB would be arrested and prosecuted.

Kuku Assures Repentant Militants on Payment of Allowance

The Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku, has again appealed to former militants in the Niger Delta to be patient with the delay in payment of their January 2013 stipends and allowances. He said the Amnesty Office was aware of the tension the delay had generated within the ranks of the former agitators and assured them that their stipends would soon be paid. The PAP chairman said efforts were ongoing to get funds to settle the outstanding stipends while the gray areas in the 2013 budget were being sorted out by the Presidency and the National Assembly.

Ex-militants Issue Ultimatum over Unpaid Stipends

Former Niger Delta militants, who are under the Federal Government’s amnesty programme, have expressed displeasure that their monthly stipend of N65,000 each had not been paid since this year. They have subsequently said they might take some actions against the government if the allowances were not paid immediately. The ex-militants met on Tuesday in Port Harcourt under the aegis of the Leadership Forum for Peace in the Niger Delta, a body for all former camp leaders who accepted the amnesty offer of the Federal Government. Leader of the forum, Reuben Wilson, said that the Federal Government should not blame anybody if the boys decided to misbehave at the expiration of the ultimatum.

BENIN/WARRI/ESCRAVOS

Military Arrests Cultists, Kidnap Suspect in Delta

Five suspected cultists and a kidnapper were, penultimate Sunday, nabbed by the Nigerian Army, 3rd Battalion, Agbarho, in Delta State. They were paraded by the Nigerian Army on Wednesday at the 3rd Battalion, Nigerian Army, by the Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Ifeanyi Otu, in Warri. The suspects are alleged to have been masterminded and perpetrated various forms of criminality in the area for over three years. Otu said his men acted on a tip-off to arrest the cultists at Agbarho and Aladja respectively.

LAGOS AND ENVIRONS

Robbers Kill Two Soldiers in Lagos

Two soldiers were killed, while another one was injured after robbers attacked a white man’s residence in Lagos State, last Sunday. The robbery, which occurred at about 11pm at the Apapa area, was allegedly successful because the robbers used another white man to gain entrance to the victim’s building. Police sources disclosed that the robbers shot sporadically into the air, but the victim was not hurt. However, they were said to have made away with some valuables. The victim’s residence is close to Command Guest House, which belonged to the Nigerian Army. When soldiers on guard at the Command Guest House heard the shootings, one of them opened the gate and the robbers, on sighting him, opened fire. The soldier died on the spot. Another of his colleagues was also killed, while a third soldier’s leg was shattered by bullets.

Corps Members Threaten Protest over Brutalising of Corps Member

Corps members serving in Ekiti State, Wednesday, threatened to protest at the passing out ceremony over the brutalising of one of them, Anthony Chukwuebuka Onuagbara, by policemen. Onuagbara was allegedly beaten by policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Ado Ekiti at his residence in August 2012 and went blind in one eye. Corps members said that Onuagbara’s case was regrettable, as they alleged that the Ekiti State Directorate of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) had not shown concern about the welfare of the victim who was unjustly brutalised. But the police in Ekiti State denied sweeping the matter under the carpet, pointing out that the matter was still being investigated.

Robbers Kill One, Cart Away Cash in Osun Bank Robbery

A gang of armed robbers, on Tuesday, launched attacks on a police post and a bank, where they allegedly carted away N10million and $6,000, killing one person in Ode-Omu town of Osun State. The attacks, which occurred around 5pm after the bank had already rounded their financial transaction, caused panic among the residents as people fled in different directions. The hoodlums, who invaded the town in three separate vehicles, headed straight to the police post and released volley of bullets, before they moved to the Bank, near the police post. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) led a team of police patrol men and detectives to the robbery scene but the robbers had left, leaving behind guns, and a vehicle. The PPRO, Folasade Odoro, confirmed the robbery, saying that the town’s residents made things difficult for the police by not giving information that could help in trailing the armed robbers.

27-Year-Old Arraigned for Fraud

A 27-year-old man, Abiola Ayanlaja, was arraigned before an Ikeja High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly defrauding an Australian woman of N952,785. Ayanlaja was arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo for 18-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretense, forgery and uttering. The EFCC prosecuting counsel, Mr Francis Usani, told the court that the defendant had conspired with one Michael Atireme and one Chidi both at large  to swindle the woman, Flora Veith of $6,147 (N952,785), sometime in March 2009 and May 2011. He alleged that they falsely represented to her that she had won $1.3 million in a lottery and that the sum would be used for facilitating the payment. Usani said that the defendant forged a document purportedly issued by the then Chairman of EFCC, Farida Waziri, and another document which was purportedly issued by the Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Alhaji Ahmadu Giade. Both documents were used to defraud the woman.

Fake Pastors Swindle Victim of N6m

Operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos, have arrested two men who allegedly have been masquerading as seers and deliverance ministers to defraud unsuspecting members of the public. The suspects identified as Sunday Omogbehin and Olawale Adeniyi, allegedly swindled one of their victims to the tune of N6 million, which they claimed would be used to conduct deliverance on him. The suspects, as gathered, held a prayer session with their victim, one Ojomo in Aguda area in the course of which they attributed his inability to travel out of the country to some spiritual constraints. They thereafter demanded the sum which they claimed would be used to offer prayers that would cleanse him (victim) mouth odour. But trouble started after he reportedly paid N6 million in installments without any headway.

Court Jails Man One Year for Stabbing Boy, 16

A Magistrates' Court in Abeokuta has sentenced a 20-year-old man, Bidemi Jayeola, to one year imprisonment for stabbing a 16-year-old boy. The Magistrate, Mr Matins Akinyemi, sentenced Jayeola after he pleaded guilty to the charge of assault filed against him. Akinyemi, who did not give the convict an option of fine, said the sentence was with hard labour. The magistrate said that the offence was classified as a violent crime. He said that Jayeola inflicted ‘serious bodily injury’ on another person; therefore, he had to go to jail and think about his actions.

GENERAL

Seven Expatriates Abducted in Bauchi

Gunmen kidnapped seven foreigners and killed a security guard when they stormed the compound of a construction company, Setraco, in Bauchi State. Among those abducted were four Lebanese workers, a Briton, an Italian, and a Greek, police officials said on Sunday. Security forces remained on high alert to locate the hostages after they were kidnapped in Jama'are town. Bauchi State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Ladan, said gunmen attacked a police station and a prison overnight before storming the construction firm's compound.

Explosion Rocks Maiduguri

Fresh bomb explosion rocked Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, visited the town to commission an entrepreneurship development initiative. The Spokesman of the JTF, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said confirmed that there was an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion by terrorists targeted at JTF patrol vehicles at Gambaru Market General Area. Two people suspected to be the bombers lost their lives as a result of the explosion. No civilian was killed or wounded, but stated that a JTF vehicle was damaged and a soldier was wounded.

Jaji Bombings: Ex-Infantry Corps Commander under Probe

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, has disclosed that the immediate past Corps Commander, Infantry, Jaji, Major-Gen. Muhammad Isa, who was redeployed and subsequently retired as a result of the twin bombs that rocked the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, Kaduna State, last year is still under investigation to ascertain his culpability. Ihejirika, who stated this at the First Quarter COAS Conference in Abuja, where he also clarified some grey areas in the recent allegations by some aggrieved retired military officers who accused him of nepotism in the postings and retirements of army officers, noted that the whole attack started when Isa was redeployed from Jaji with preliminary investigation into the events which led to the bomb attacks revealing that he had questions to answer. The Army Chief, who said the retired General exhibited careless attitude to his duties, which was not expected of an officer of such calibre commanding such a sensitive position, however, revealed that investigation was still on-going.

Gunmen Kill Three Farmers, 23 Cows in Plateau

Unidentified gunmen, on Tuesday, opened fire on farmers in their farmlands in Kassa village of Barkin Ladi LGA of Plateau State, killing three persons and 23 cows in the process. A statement by the Media Officer of the Special Task Force (STF) in Jos, Captain Salisu Mustapha, said the STF promptly moved to the scene of the attack, exchanged gun fire with the gunmen, leading to the death of two of the attackers. Salisu said the STF also arrested four of the gunmen and recovered some weapons from them. Some of the recovered weapons include AK47 rifle, one locally made rifle, 45 rounds of 7.62mm special and 31 cartridges. The STF warned that any individual or group of persons bent on fomenting trouble in the state to desist or have themselves to blame.

IGP Orders Security around Medical Personnel, Hospitals in North

Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Sanusi Rufai, has disclosed that 10 persons have been arrested in connection with the killings of three North Korean doctors in Potiskum. Rufai said the suspects were in custody and undergoing interrogation. The police commissioner, who described the killings as brutal, promised that the police would stop at nothing to get the killers to face the full wrath of the law. The arrest came as the Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, directed Zonal Assistant Inspector Generals of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in the north to beef up security around medical personnel and hospitals. Meanwhile, the Kano State Police Command has paraded seven suspects, who were arrested in connection with the attack on the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero.

Police Parade Suspects in Attackers on Emir

The Kano State police command, on Monday, paraded seven suspects, who allegedly participated in attack on the Emir of Kano, Alhaji (Dr) Ado Bayero, while it declared wanted, another eight. The state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said the suspects confessed to carrying out the attack on the emir. The police boss further disclosed that the suicide bomber made a confession while dying at the scene, as the suicide bomber identified himself as Idris Talba, an indigene of Borno State.

Kano Police Arrest 4 over Killing of Health Workers

The police in Kano have arrested three staff members of Wazobia FM 95.1 Kano and a former Director-General of the Kano State censorship board, Rabo Abdulkareem over a radio programme which may have instigated the killing of eight female and one male polio vaccinators. It was gathered that on Tuesday 6 of February, Radio Wazobia, Kano on its popular Hausa magazine programme, “Sandar girma” allegedly aired a particular scandal about the refusal of polio vaccinators to access the house of Rabo Abdulkareem. They also shared a conflicting stance about the polio vaccine which they believe was laced with chemicals that were likely to cause infertility and hence reduce population. In the wake of the event, unknown gunmen stormed polio vaccine centres, killing nine vaccinators and injuring many. Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, has condemned the killing of the nine health workers, describing the attack as senseless, shocking and appalling.

Gunmen Kill 1 in Adamawa Attack

An afternoon attack by gunmen near Shopping Complex in Jimeta, Adamawa State, left one person dead and two others injured. An eyewitness disclosed that before the attack; the victim had engaged in a phone conversation with some people and seemed to be waiting for them to show up. But not long after the phone conversation, three people on flowing robes “Jallabiya” stormed the scene, one of them brought a gun from inside his gown and shot the victim three times which resulted in his death while the two others at the scene sustained injuries. Rabi said, after the killing, the assailants crossed to the other side of the road, entered an awaiting car and fled the scene of the crime. The spokesman of the Adamawa State Police Command, Mohammed Ibrahim, confirmed the incident and said so far no arrest was made.

Herdsmen Decry Army Brutality over Missing Rifles

The Fulani communities in parts of Nasarawa State hit by the recent spate of communal clashes have expressed concern over the brutal and inhuman treatment meted out on them by the men of the Nigerian Army posted to the troubled areas. The head of the Fulani in the area, Mallam Ibrahim Gambo, said 19 Fulani men were two weeks ago arrested by the men of the Nigerian Army over the alleged killings of a military captain and two others by Fulani youths when trouble broke out in Bassa. He disclosed further that the Fulani hierarchy had made several pleas with the officers of 177 Guards Brigade, Keffi, but were told to fish out the killers of the soldiers and recover the missing rifles before their kinsmen would be released.

Nasarawa NDLEA Seizes 235kg of Cannabis in 6 Months

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it had seized 235kg of Cannabis Sativa (Indian Hemp) in Nasarawa State within the last six months. NDLEA Commander in Nasarawa State, Mr Mota’a Dishidi, said the agency also discovered and destroyed two Cannabis farms of three hectares in Keana and Keffi LGA within the period. He attributed the current spate of violent clashes and criminality in the state to drug use by youths. Dishidi, who decried the increasing rate of drug abuse by youths in the state, said the agency lacked the necessary logistics to tackle the menace of drug use and abuse.

Nigeria Increases AFISMA Troops to 724

The Defence Headquarters has increased the number of military personnel on deployment to the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) to 724. A  statement by the Director of Defence Information, Col. Mohammed Yerima, statement that the 724 troops comprised 424 personnel of the Nigerian Army and 300 Air Force personnel. Yerima said the DHQ had also ensured the deployment of heavy weapons, ammunition, vehicles and equipment. Yerima said the Nigerian Air Force already had two alpha jets and a M135 expected to provide cover for ground troops during operations from their operational base in Niamey, Niger. The Defence spokesman also said some top Malian government functionaries visited the Nigerian troops and donated cows and food items to the soldiers. He said the community leaders, political figures and military personnel, expressed happiness about the timely response of Nigerian to the call to free Northern Mali from the grips of Islamists.

IGP Redeploys CPs, Charges Officers on Rededication to Service

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, Wednesday ordered the immediate redeployment of 33 Commissioners of Police (CPs) to various Commands and Formations of the Force across the country. The Force spokesperson, Mr. Frank Mba, stated that the deployment was part of the ongoing efforts to reposition the Force for greater efficiency. He noted that the deployment covers both some newly promoted officers, expected to inject fresh ideas into the system, and other senior officers swapping strategic command positions. The IGP charged the newly deployed officers to adopt proactive and aggressive crime-fighting strategies and to continually initiate policies and programmes that would strengthen the essential values of policing and best practices in law enforcement which include: transparency, accountability, respect for fundamental human-rights of citizens and the promotion of strong professional ethics.

Auto Crashes Claims 15 in Kano, Kogi

Fifteen people have been killed in two auto crashes in Kano and Kogi States, with 11 of them being burnt to death in the Kano crash. One of those burnt to death in Kano is a one-year-old child, who was burnt beyond recognition. The Kano crash occurred around 11pm on Monday night and involved two vehicles around a bridge near Takai, in Takai LGA of Kano State. While the Kogi crash claimed the lives of four in the accident, which occurred along the Lokoja-Okene Expressway. The Okene-Lokoja route is one the notorious accident black spots in the country.

Gunmen Kill Four, Kidnap Flour Mills Manager

Gunmen attacked Bama and Damboa towns and the Gombouru ward in Maiduguri, killing four residents, including an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The hoodlums also shot the Secretary to the House of Assembly, Alhaji Imu, at his Damboa farm on Tuesday. According to an eyewitness, Alhaji Imu was trailed by the gunmen on two motorcycles to the farm in the morning and shot in the leg and chest. In another development, three gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members, on Tuesday, attacked the premises of the Nigerian Flour Mills in Maiduguri, Borno State, and kidnapped its Administrative Manager, Malam Umar Baba Mai Salati. The armed kidnappers, according to an eyewitness, pretended at the Flour Mills gate, as if they were waiting for someone, before forcefully whisking Salati away. The State Police Commissioner, Abdullahi Yuguda, said the police were on top of the situation, as security agents have launched investigation to fish out the culprits.

Gunmen Kill Borno Councilor

Gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members shot dead a councilor of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Alhaji Kalla, at his residence on Monday evening. Kalla, who was sworn in with other councilors on Monday, was trailed by the gunmen to his residence, where they fired shots into his head and chest in the presence of his wife and children. Spokesman of the Borno State Police Command, Gideon Jibrin, confirmed the incident. Meanwhile, the JTF has said there is no “fundamental human rights” in the possession of arms in Borno State, if the security task force must be effective in performing its constitutional responsibility of defending Nigeria from both external and internal enemies. The JTF spoke as Borno State chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) threatened to take it to the United Nations over alleged “illegal and unlawful” detention of suspected Boko Haram members without trial.

Suspected Terrorist Accuses SSS of Tampering with Statement

Mohammed Suleiman Ashafa, who was indicted  by the federal government in 2003 for recruiting and taking some Nigerian youth to Niger Republic and Pakistan for training to become members of Al-Qaeda, has alleged that the statement tendered in evidence against him was doctored by the State Security Service (SSS). Ashafa is standing trial before Justice Adamu Bello over allegations of being a member of a terrorist group and also involved in training of suspected Al Qaeda members in terrorism. When the matter came up Wednesday, Ashafa said that although the statement had his signature appended on it, the document was not his even as he expressed further misgivings over the purported statement.

INTERNATIONAL

Syria Rebels Seize Dam, as Blast on Turkish Border Kills Nine

Rebels have captured Syria's biggest hydro-electric dam and battled army tank units near the centre of Damascus. This is as the opposition, on Monday, renewed an offer to negotiate the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. The rebel seizure of the Taqba dam, may have only limited impact on already patchy power supplies but along with the fighting in the capital it provided more evidence that the president is more beleaguered. Moaz Alkhatib, exile leader of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said he had had no response to his offer to discuss a handover of power with the Assad government but said the invitation still stood, despite the passing of an initial deadline for a response on Sunday. Meanwhile, nine people were killed on the Turkish border when a car arriving from rebel-held territory in north-western Syria blew up at the Reyhanli frontier crossing. Turkish officials said it was unclear whether the blast was a suicide attack or an accident.

Blast Kills 10 at Russian Coal Mine

A methane gas explosion, on Monday, killed at least 10 miners at a coal pit in Russia. Rescue workers were trying to save seven more feared trapped underground, government officials said. About 250 people had been below the surface at the time of the blast in the Komi region but most had escaped or been rescued, the Emergencies Ministry said. The blast is likely to renew debate about safety in Russia's mines because of the regularity of such accidents, reports Reuters. The Emergencies Ministry had said earlier on Monday that nine people were feared trapped and that nine miners had been saved, but with serious injuries. The Investigative Committee opened an investigation into possible safety violations which could have caused the explosion.

36 Killed in Stampede at Hindu Festival

The death toll from a stampede in a train station in a northern India city rose to 36 on Monday. Millions of devotees had gathered in the city for a Hindu festival that is one of the world's largest religious gatherings. At least 36 other pilgrims were injured in the crush in the city of Allahabad, medical superintendent Dr. Padmakar, said. Tens of thousands of people were in the city's main rail station waiting to board a train when railway officials announced a last-minute change in the platform, forcing people to rush there, eyewitnesses said. They said police stopped the throng from crowding onto a footbridge and had to use batons to stop the crowds from surging forward. India's railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said an inquiry has been ordered into what led to the stampede.

Protesters, Police Clash in Egypt

Protesters demanding the departure of Egyptian President, Mohamed Mursi, clashed with police outside his palace on Monday on the second anniversary of the overthrow of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Dozens of youths threw rocks at the Ettihadiya palace after a peaceful march by thousands of demonstrators who accused Mursi's conservative Muslim Brotherhood of hijacking Egypt's democratic revolution and seeking to monopolize power. Riot police chased the protesters away from the palace and into side-streets. The clashes appeared smaller and less violent than previous bouts of anti-Mursi unrest.

Four Killed as Plane Carrying Military Officials Crashes in Liberia

A plane carrying senior officials from Guinea's military and Defense Ministry crashed close to the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on Monday. Liberia's Defense Minister, Brownie Samukai, said that Senior Guinean military and defense officials were on the plane. Samukai added that an investigation in underway into why it happened. Security sources said at least four people were killed in the crash.

US Ships Military Equipment Out of Afghanistan

The United States began its withdrawal from Afghanistan in earnest, sending the first of what will be tens of thousands of containers home through a once-blocked land route through Pakistan, officials said, on Monday. The shipment of 50 containers over the weekend came as a new U.S. commander took control of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan to guide the coalition through the end stages of a war that has so far lasted more than 11 years. The containers were in the first convoys to cross into Pakistan as part of the Afghan pull-out, said Marcus Spade, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Meanwhile an Afghan government panel acknowledged that detainees taken off the battlefield by coalition and Afghan troops face widespread torture at the hands of local security forces.

Security Forces Kill Suspected Militant in Russia

Russia said it had killed on Wednesday a militant wanted for the 2010 bombing of an outdoor market in the North Caucasus, a restive region. Security forces shot dead Sultangery Khashagulgov and one of three brothers suspected of staging an attack on a busy market in the North Ossetia capital of Vladikavkaz that killed 19 people in 2010. Khashagulgov, 48, a businessman and former minister in charge of construction in the province of Ingushetia, was killed when he open fired on security forces, when they attempted arrest him at his home in the regional capital of Nazran, security sources said. Security forces had earlier detained Khashagulgov's brothers Isa and Yakuba. Militant violence has spread from Chechnya to the neighbouring provinces of Dagestan and Ingushetia, where insurgents stage near daily attacks. Three bombs targeted law enforcement officials in Dagestan late on Tuesday, but no one was killed in the attacks.

Afghan Civilians Killed in Airstrike –Local Official

A NATO airstrike killed 10 Afghan civilians, including five children, in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, local officials said. The strike in the Shigal district of Kunar province was confirmed by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but NATO could not confirm civilian casualties. "Foreign forces carried out the attack by themselves without informing us," Kunar Governor Fazlullah Wahidi, alleged. Four Taliban fighters were also killed in the strike and five civilians wounded, he said. The strike occurred in the village of Chawgam and the 10 dead civilians were from two local families, Wahidi said.

16 Killed as Thai Insurgents Attack Army Base

At least sixteen Islamist insurgents where killed when they attacked a Thai military base in a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday. The attack is described as the deadliest violence in the country's south in nine years. Acting on a tip-off, marines lit flares and opened fire as up to 60 insurgents wearing military fatigues approached the base at about 1am in Narathiwat province on the Malaysian border, said Internal Security Operations Command spokesman, Pramote Phromin, said. None of the Thai military defenders of the base was hurt, he said. Violence is common in Thailand's south but the scale of the attack and targeting of a marine base illustrate the difficulty Buddhist-majority Thailand faces in preventing the low-intensity Muslim insurgency from turning into a more dangerous conflict.

Syrian Forces Confront Rebels

Syrian warplanes, Wednesday, struck rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad on the fringes of Damascus, while artillery batteries pound the insurgents from hills overlooking a city divided between all-out war and a deceptive calm, according reports. But a monitoring group said the rebels took control of most of a strategic army base in northern Syria after a fierce firefight with Assad’s forces. The military complex, known as Base 80, is tasked with securing the nearby Aleppo international airport as well as the Nayrab military airport. However, former foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, said he has a neutral stance on Syria’s 23-month conflict, as he broke his silence for the first time since leaving the country.