Conduct at roadblocks

A South African diplomat was shot and wounded by soldiers after failing to stop at a roadblock in. It occurred in the Gombe district, which is home to most government ministries and diplomatic missions, and was in the early morning hours.

A minister reported, “She drove through a roadblock near the prime minister’s office. This road was blocked off and leads to the presidency. She refused to stop despite being signalled to do so,” He said soldiers at the roadblock opened fire on the vehicle, wounding the diplomat, whose identity was not immediately released.
Comment: Surety advises that at official roadblocks (and unofficial) you should always be deferential and obey all orders and requests as far as possible. Soldiers at roadblocks, be they locals or even US/NATO usually have strict procedures which they are to follow. Arrogance, a belief that you are special and above the local laws, or plain disrespect can be met with deadly force, often through misunderstanding. Obey their instructions, but maintain your personal authority.

39 Dead in attack on Rawalpindi mosque

Militants have attacked a mosque in Rawalpindi killing at least 39 people. They threw hand grenades then fired on worshippers near Pakistan’s military headquarters after Friday prayers. The mosque is frequented by military officials in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Bomb kills 19 in Mogadishu

A suicide bomber dressed as a woman has killed at least 19 people, including four government ministers, in the Mogadishu.
The attack hit the Shamo hotel in the city during a Benadir University graduation ceremony for medical students. It is in one of the small parts of the city controlled by the government, just 1km from the K4 junction, where the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, Amisom, has a base.
The hotel is often used by the few foreigners – aid workers, journalists and diplomats.

Guinea Leader attacked by own troops

The junta leader of Guinea Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was wounded in an attack by his own soldiers, including the officer implicated in the Sept. killings of pro-democracy protesters. State reports say his life is not in danger from the wounds. Lieutenant Diakite is Camara’s former aide de camp.
The attack happened as U.N. investigators in Conakry completed their inquiry into the September killings, in which more than 150 protesters were killed and scores of women were raped by soldiers, according to witnesses.
The attack on Camara underlined the fragility of the West African country, which is the world’s top exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite and whose stability is seen as vital to its neighbours.

Murders in southern Thailand

Suspected Islamic separatists shot dead three men in the latest bout of violence in Thailand’s south. Gunmen killed a Muslim villager in his house in Pattani province, while two Buddhist truck drivers were shot dead as they travelled to Narathiwat province with a goods delivery, both bodies and the truck were also torched.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in the southern provinces since an insurgency erupted nearly six years ago.

3 Spanish Hostages taken in Mauritania

The three Spanish volunteer aid workers have been kidnapped by gunmen when their vehicle was separated from a 13 vehicle convoy in Mauritania.
Mauritanian police say the aid workers were attacked while delivering supplies to villages along a 400-kilometre road linking the capital, Nouakchott, to Nouadhibou in the north.
It is suspected to be a kidnapping by AQMI, al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa. The group operates mainly in Algeria but is suspected of crossing desert borders to spread violence in the rest of northwestern Africa.
In June, American Christopher Leggett, 39, was fatally shot in the Mauritanian capital, not far from a school he helped run. AQMI claimed responsibility, saying they killed the Tennessee native because he allegedly was trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
In 2007, gunmen in Mauritania killed four French tourists that were picnicking on the side of a highway. In 2008, the world famous Dakar Rally auto race was canceled after organizer’s received threats of a possible attack.
Elsewhere in West Africa, the group also has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two U.N. staffers in December, and the kidnapping of four European tourists a month later. One of the four Europeans, a Briton, was killed by his captors. The U.N. staffers and the other tourists were released.

Yemen = Japanese hostage released

A Japanese engineer was freed after nine days held hostage by tribesmen near the Yemeni capital Sanaa. It appears his kidnapping was a reaction to a member of the kidnappers’ tribe being held without charge by authorities.
Tribal mediators said the kidnappers were insisting on an exchange in which a detained Islamist member of their tribe would be freed. The tribe member being held is believed to be, Hussein Abdullah Koub was a “dangerous element who has fought in Iraq and a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. He was jailed for a year by the US military in Iraq, before moving to Lebanon where he fought alongside Islamist militants against the Lebanese army in 2007, the official said. He was later arrested in Syria before being taken into custody upon his return to Yemen.
More than 200 foreigners have been seized during the past 15 years, with most being freed unharmed. But five Germans and a Briton, who were seized in June in the north of the country, are still missing with no word on their fate. They were among nine people seized in the Saada region, the stronghold of Shiite rebels at war with the Sanaa government. The three others in the group — two Germans and a South Korean — were killed.

Russian train blast

Russian Railways officials report it was a bomb attack on a luxury passenger train – the second in two years – between Moscow and St Petersburg which has killed up to 39 people and injured nearly 100.
An investigative committee of Russian prosecutors found and removed elements of an explosive device at the site.
Echo of Moscow radio reported a hardline nationalist group (speculated to be a Chechen separatist movement) had claimed responsibility.

Frenchman taken hostage in Mali

A Frenchman, Pierre Camatte, has been kidnapped in Mali by Al-Qaeda’s north African branch, a Malian security official said. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is the group which killed a Briton in May, the first time the Islamists had executed a Western hostage. The kidnapping prompted France to urge its citizens to “immediately leave the area due to a new escalation in the terrorist threat.” French people in Kidal, Gao and Tombouctou regions should “head back without delay to the capital,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement. They also urged its citizens to avoid northern Niger, which borders Mali. Camatte was snatched from his hotel in Menaka in the Sahel region of northern Mali, more than 1,500 kms from the capital Bamako and about 100 kms from the border with Niger, the region is plagued by Tuareg rebels, Al-Qaeda militants and traffickers. Mr Camatte is a regular visitor to Mali, where he is cultivating a plant known for its anti-malarial properties, he also manages a hotel.

Aid workers taken on Chad/Sudan border

Triangle Charity has stated two of their French aid workers have been kidnapped in the Central African Republic, by gunmen in the town of Birao, on the border with Chad and Sudan. The abductions are the latest to hit aid agencies working in the region, with French workers taken in Chad this month and Sudan last month. A local elder told AFP news the armed kidnappers, numbering about 20, fled to Sudan with their hostages, as well as three cars and a motorbike. The International Red Cross temporarily suspended operations in Chad after a French employee was abducted by armed men in eastern Chad on 9 November. The employee, Laurent Maurice, remains missing.