6 theSun | MONDAY OCTOBER 19 2009

news without borders

Security forces captured a

Philippines braces Taliban stronghold at Spinkai
Raghzai on Saturday after the
for another typhoon militants withdrew from their
fortifications and took refuge
MANILA: Philippine authorities yesterday put res- in nearby mountains, officials
cue teams on standby and stockpiled emergency said.
supplies as the country braced for Typhoon Lupit “It is a flat area so when-
following in the wake of two storms which left ever they tried to put up resist-
more than 800 people dead. ance, the helicopter gunships
The government weather service said the outer Pakistani fired at them so they decided
bands of the latest cyclone, packing winds of up to security to flee to the mountains,” said
160kph, could start to affect the north of the main officials a senior government official
island of Luzon on Wednesday. check a car in the northwest. In a show
The eye of the storm, now less than 1000km in Karachi on of unity before the offensive,
from Luzon’s east coast, could clip the region later Saturday. government and political
in the week, it said. party leaders gave the military
Local governments in the expected path of the full backing on Friday, vowing
typhoon were ordered to step up preparations to weed out militants.
“like pre-positioning of SAR (search and rescue) Nuclear-armed Pakistan
assets and relief goods and to conduct pre-emp- has been under US pressure
tive evacuation” if necessary, the National Disaster to crack down on Islamist
Coordinating Council said in its latest advisory. AFPPIX militancy as President Barack
Low-lying areas north of Manila were getting Obama considers a boost in
periodic bulletins on possible dam discharge due troop numbers fighting in
to rains that may be generated by the weather sys-
tem, while “response assets were put on standby
for any possible pre-emptive evacuation.”
Widespread flooding killed 354 people and dis-
placed 4.34 million others in and around Manila on
Sept 26 as Tropical Storm Ketsana brought record
Pakistani forces in heavy neighbouring Afghanistan.
Many Al Qaeda and Tali-
ban members fled to north-
west Pakistan after US-led
troops ousted the Taliban in
Kabul in 2001 and the region
rainfall to the region.
Tropical Storm Parma hit northern Luzon a
week later and hovered over the region for a week,
triggering landslides and floods that left 419 people
dead and displaced 3.79 million others, according
to civil defence officials.
About 267,000 people remain in crowded
clashes in Waziristan
PESHAWAR: Pakistani forces fought fierce The offensive on the Qaeda members, after sur-
has become a global hub for
Islamist militancy.
The offensive could be the
army’s toughest test since the
militants turned on the state
and it will be hoping Afghan
Taliban factions elsewhere
evacuation camps more than two weeks later, battles with Taliban militants yesterday, a global Islamist hub of South rounding militant territory in South Waziristan and in
and a bacteria-borne disease called leptospirosis day after launching a long-awaited offensive Waziristan follows a string and pushing in from three North Waziristan stay out of
has killed another 89 people in flooded areas since aimed at bringing the writ of state to lawless of brazen militant attacks in directions. the fight.
then, the health department said. – AFP tribal lands on the Afghan border. different parts of the country, Heavy clashes erupted Up to 100,000 civil-
including an assault on army on Saturday as soldiers ians have fled from South
headquarters, in which more backed by aircraft and artil- Waziristan in anticipation of
than 150 people were killed. lery encountered resistance, the offensive, the army said,
About 28,000 soldiers are and four soldiers were while the United Nations said
battling an estimated 10,000 killed and 12 wounded, the 500 people were leaving every
hard-core Taliban, includ- military said. There was no day. Security force are on alert
ing about 1,000 tough Uzbek information about militant across the country in case of
fighters and some Arab Al casualties. retaliatory strikes. – Reuters

A police spokesman said the rightists had

begun throwing stones at police, which led to

briefs the decision to halt the event. Overnight, police

Museum covers up Hitler
billboard after protests
BANGKOK: A Thai waxworks museum has
apologised and covered up a giant billboard of
Adolf Hitler giving a Nazi salute after the Israeli
and German embassies lodged complaints, its
director said yesterday. The billboard was one
of four featuring pictures of famous dead peo-
ple set up on a highway to Pattaya, about an
hour’s drive southeast of Bangkok, to promote
Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks opening there next
month.
Alongside the picture of the Nazi dictator,
erected more than two weeks ago, a large
Thai-language slogan said: “Hitler is not dead.”
Museum director Somporn Naksuetrong said
the billboard had been covered up after “a lot”
of complaints poured in, including from the
Israeli and German embassies. – AFP
Canadian authorities
intercept 76 migrants
VANCOUVER: A ship carrying 76 migrants
was intercepted in the Pacific Ocean off
Canada’s west coast, police said on Satur-
day. Authorities including military, police
and border agents “identified and secured
a vessel displaying the name Ocean Lady
that was approaching the coast of British
Columbia” province, said a statement from
the Federal Border Integrity Programme of
Canada’s national police force.
Police released photos of the rusted ship
with dozens of people on board. The nation-
ality of the migrants and the ship’s registry
could not immediately be confirmed. – AFP
Police disperse neo-Nazi
parade after violence
LEIPZIG: After the crowd became violent, Ger-
man police dispersed about 1,000 neo-Nazis
from all over the country who rallied on Saturday
in the city of Leipzig. Riot police also had to keep
watch on a similar sized group of mainly leftist
opponents who tried to disrupt the rally.
had to quell a riot by 200 extreme leftists who
had gathered in the city to wait for the neo-
Nazis. – dpa
Ship, five crew
missing off South Korea
SEOUL: A rubbish-collecting ship and its
five crew went missing off South Korea’s
east coast early yesterday after sending
out a distress call, coast guard officials
said. The 118-tonne ship went out of radio
contact 65km northwest of the Dokto
(Takeshima) islets in the East Sea (the Sea
of Japan), said officials at South Korea’s
Donghae Coast Guard.
The ship was heading to a bigger island
nearby to take shelter due to worsening
weather conditions after collecting dis-
carded fishing nets. – AFP
Hurricane Rick roars to
dangerous category 5
Mexico City: Hurricane Rick on Saturday
roared to the most dangerous level, reaching
Category 5 – the highest on the Saffir-Simpson
scale – on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the National
Hurricane Centre said.
The “extremely dangerous” storm is how-
ever expected to remain offshore over the
weekend, where winds have reached up to
295km, the centre said. The storm was about
400km offshore and was moving parallel to the
coast in a northwestern direction, and is not
expected to make landfall. – dpa
Gang warfare
leaves 12 dead
RIO DE JANEIRO: At least 12 people includ-
ing two policemen were killed during
shootouts between rival drug gangs in Rio
de Janeiro on the weekend, officials cited
by the web portal G1 said.
Police said the gangs are battling for
control of drug trafficking in the northern
sector of the Brazilian coastal city. Gunfire
also downed one police helicopter, causing
the death of two officers, the report said.
– dpa