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Indonesian police kill six suspected militants in shootout Posted: 31 Dec 2013 07:57 PM PST SOUTH TANGERANG, Indonesia: Indonesian police shot dead six suspected terrorists and arrested another in a New Year's Eve raid near the capital that broke out into an hours-long gun battle, police said Wednesday. A police squad led by the counter-terrorism unit Detachment 88 Tuesday evening surrounded a house in South Tangerang city, on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, where there was a gathering of suspected militants, National Police spokesman Ronny Sompie said. "We told them to surrender but they resisted. They shot at police and we had to open fire. The operation ended only early this morning," Sompie told AFP, saying the shootout lasted hours. "They are suspected of being involved in several terror activities in 2013, including the shooting of police officers," he said. Police seized explosive materials and firearms from the house, Sompie said, confirming that six men had been killed and one was arrested. Police said the men were connected to Abu Roban, a suspected militant who was killed in an anti-terror raid in May 2013 and previously led a religious-study group in Tangerang. The men targeted in the raid are suspected of orchestrating an attack on a Buddhist temple last August, where a low-intensity bomb went off and lightly injured one person, Sompie said. About 6,500 police have been deployed for security on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in Jakarta and surrounding areas. Indonesia has been rocked by several deadly terror attacks over the past decade, including the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. Since then the country has waged a long crackdown on terrorism, dismantling some of the deadliest networks, and only low-impact attacks have been executed. Police officers have become the main target for some active terror groups. -AFP |
N. Korea warns of nuclear disaster, threatens US Posted: 31 Dec 2013 06:03 PM PST SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Wednesday the Korean peninsula would be engulfed by "massive nuclear disaster" if war breaks out there again, warning the US it will not be safe in the event of a conflict. "If the war breaks out again in this land, it will bring about a massive nuclear disaster and the US will never be safe," Kim said in his New Year message, broadcast on state TV. "We are faced with a dangerous situation in which a small, accidental military clash can lead to an all-out war," he said. Kim added he would not beg for peace and vowed to protect the impoverished but nuclear-armed North with strong self-defence measures against enemies. The young leader also hailed the recent execution of his powerful uncle as a "resolute action," labelling Jang Song-Thaek "scum". "Our party took resolute action to remove... scum elements within the party last year," Kim said, accusing Jang of trying to build his own powerbase within the ruling party. "Our party's timely, accurate decision to purge the anti-party, anti-revolutionary elements helped greatly cement solidarity within our party," he said. It was the first time Kim has publicly criticised his disgraced uncle, who was executed on December 12 on charges including treason and corruption. Jang, 67, played a key role in cementing the leadership of the inexperienced Kim Jong-Un, who took power after the death of his father and longtime ruler, Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011. But Jang's growing political power and influence drew resentment from his nephew barely half of his age, analysts said. -AFP |
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