. Military Space News .
IRAQ WARS
Thousands protest killing of Kurdish rebels

Iraq Christian killed after $100,000 ransom demand
Kirkuk, Iraq (AFP) May 16, 2011 - Insurgents killed and mutilated a Christian construction worker whom they had kidnapped over the weekend and demanded $100,000 in ransom, Iraqi police and medical officials said on Monday.

Ashur Issa Yaqub, a 29-year-old Chaldean Christian, had been snatched on Saturday in the oil-rich ethnically-mixed northern city of Kirkuk, and is survived by his wife and three children.

"A police patrol found the body of the young Christian man, his head was almost completely cut off," said Kirkuk provincial police chief Major General Jamal Taher Bakr, adding that he believed Al-Qaeda insurgents were behind the gruesome killing.

Provincial health chief Sadiq Omar Rasul confirmed the details, and added that the body "carried traces of torture and the bites of dogs."

A local police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Yaqub had been found with his head "almost cut off fully, his legs and arms tied together, and his clothes covered in blood."

The kidnappers had demanded $100,000 for Yaqub's release. The average daily wage for a construction worker averages to around 25,000 Iraqi dinars ($21).

Kirkuk, the capital city of the eponymous oil-rich province, is at the centre of a tract of disputed territory claimed by central government authorities in Baghdad and Kurdish regional authorities in Arbil.

by Staff Writers
Diyarbakir, Turkey (AFP) May 16, 2011
Several thousand Kurdish protesters held violent demonstrations Monday after the Turkish army killed 12 Kurdish rebels at the border with Iraq.

Around 100 people, including members of Turkey's main Kurdish political movement, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), crossed the Iraqi border in the southeast to pick up the bodies of the slain militants, security sources said.

Thousands had marched to the border area in Sirnak province over the past two days to collect the bodies of the rebels, killed last week in a military operation backed by helicopter gunships while trying to cross from Iraq.

The guerrillas belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 26-year separatist war on Ankara and has rear bases in the mountains of northern Iraq, using them as a springboard for attacks on Turkish territory.

There was brief face-off between the group bringing home four of the bodies and soldiers at the border, but the authorities eventually took the bodies after presenting papers from a prosecutor, witnesses said.

Meanwhile police clashed with demonstrators in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey and Istanbul, home to a large community of Kurdish migrants, as thousands took to the streets to protest the killings.

Demonstrators hurled petrol bombs and firecrackers at the police in Diyarbakir, the main southeastern city, while the security forces responded with tear gas and water cannons, an AFP reporter at the scene said, adding that scores were detained.

A crowd, including local politicians, attempted to hold a march in downtown Siirt, but was stopped by the police.

Clashes erupted also at a demonstration in Batman.

In Istanbul, some 500 people staged a sit-in om Istiklal Avenue, the city's main pedestrian area, and clashes erupted with police in the nearby neighbourhood of Tarlabasi.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


IRAQ WARS
Baghdad road bomb kills Iraqi, wounds 2 Norwegians
Baghdad (AFP) May 16, 2011
One Iraqi security guard was killed and two Norwegians were among four people wounded Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy in Baghdad, security and medical officials said.. The blast occurred at around 8:00 am (0500 GMT) in the eastern neighbourhood of Jadidah, or New Baghdad, an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity. He said one Iraqi guard died, an ... read more







IRAQ WARS
Boeing to Begin Maintenance Work on SBX Missile Defense Radar

Russia must join Europe missile defence: Kremlin

Israel to spend $2B on missile defense

United States unfolding missile defense in Europe de facto says Rogozin

IRAQ WARS
US Army's Apache fires first Hellfire missiles at sea

US studies UN report Iran, NKorea sharing missile know-how

Iran denies sharing missile know-how with North Korea

Thales's Lightweight Multirole Missile to Enter Production

IRAQ WARS
TiaLinx Announces Launch of Phoenix50-H

US drone attacks kill nine in Pakistan: officials

Cassidian and TAI agree on cooperation in the Talarion programme

US drone attack kills three in Pakistan: officials

IRAQ WARS
Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract to Develop EHF SatComms Antenna for B-2 Bomber

Lockheed Martin To Produce Equipment For US Army Tactical On-The-Move Network

Emirates lofts satellite to boost military

LockMart Battle Command System Replaces US Army Legacy System

IRAQ WARS
Iraq gets first of 420 Ukrainian APCs

Artillery Tested for Rapid Deployment

Azerbaijan MDI Expands Joint Production of Advanced Armoured Vehicles

ONR Propels Cutting-edge Technologies at Naval Helicopter Assocation Symposium

IRAQ WARS
Britain puts duty to armed forces into law

Founder of Blackwater hires mercenaries for UAE: report

Russian Helicopters shelves IPO

Senators urge Obama to freeze Asian base overhaul

IRAQ WARS
US, China bid to bolster military ties

US finally makes famed 'Pentagon Papers' public

US, China clash on rights but ease economic rift

US, China clash on rights but ease economic rift

IRAQ WARS
MLD Test Moves Navy A Step Closer To Lasers For Ship Self-Defense

US Navy And Northrop Grumman Accomplish Goals For At-Sea Demonstration Of Maritime Laser

Scientists Build World's First Anti-Laser


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement