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Published: March 23, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Drive-by shooting kills 6 in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, March 23 (UPI) -- At least six people were killed and 16 injured in a drive-by shooting at a crowded Baghdad market Sunday, reports said.
Gunmen in three cars opened fire on shoppers in the market located in Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Zaafariniya, the BBC reported.
Also Sunday, a suicide bombing outside the gate of a Mosul army base killed at least10 Iraqi soldiers and injured 35 other people, including, 20 soldiers, CNN reported.
Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses embassies for the United States and Britain along with thousands of U.S. soldiers, was hit with at least 10 rockets Sunday. An initial investigation revealed no casualties, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said.
An Iraqi security official said at least 15 mortar shells hit the zone and smoke could be seen billowing from several areas, the Kuwait News Agency KUNA reported.
Bloody day of violence in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 23 (UPI) -- Heavy bloodshed was reported in Afghanistan Sunday, with NATO forces claiming to have killed many Taliban insurgents and two NATO troops killed.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a news release "dozens" of suspected insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province were killed and a major weapons cache was seized by Afghan and NATO troops, China's Xinhua news agency reported. An exact number of fatalities wasn't reported and Taliban officials gave no immediate response to the report.
Taliban-related violence has killed more than 220 people so far this year, Xinhua said.
Meanwhile, a BBC correspondent reported two soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a mine in the southern province of Kandahar. The nationalities of the troops wasn't released. Almost 40 countries have troops in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led coalition.
Russia's Novosti news agency quoted Afghan government sources as saying more than 6,000 people were killed in violence in the country in 2007, about one-third of them civilians.
Cheney meets with Abbas in West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 23 (UPI) -- Security lined the West Bank streets of Ramallah where U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was meeting Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Cheney's visit to the West Bank is part of his tour of the Mideast, which he began Saturday with strong support for Israel on security matters.
"America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and unshakable, as is our commitment to Israel's right to defend itself - always -against terrorism, rocket attacks and other threats from forces dedicated to Israel's destruction," Cheney said during a late Saturday news conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
After meeting with Abbas, Cheney was scheduled to talk with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the BBC reported.
Cheney's meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders are aimed at helping facilitate President Bush's goal of establishing peace in the region before his presidency ends in January.
Musharraf welcomes 'new era of democracy'
ISLAMABAD , Pakistan, March 23 (UPI) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf welcomed a "new era of democracy" during his Pakistan Day speech in Islamabad Sunday.
Musharraf, who came into rule after a military coup in 1999, deemed his nine-year presidency as a march "toward democracy and development," Voice of America reported.
Musharraf is expected to swear in Pakistan People's Party Vice Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani as Pakistan's new democratic prime minister Tuesday.
However, Voice of America noted Gilani's fate as prime minister rests with party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
"People are not concerned whether we are here completing five years or not completing. They are only concerned whether we have delivered to the nation or not," Gilani said Sunday.
Members of the new coalition government agreed upon by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muslim League have cited hopes that Musharraf steps down as president soon through resignation or impeachment, the report said.
BAGHDAD, March 23 (UPI) -- At least six people were killed and 16 injured in a drive-by shooting at a crowded Baghdad market Sunday, reports said.
Gunmen in three cars opened fire on shoppers in the market located in Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Zaafariniya, the BBC reported.
Also Sunday, a suicide bombing outside the gate of a Mosul army base killed at least10 Iraqi soldiers and injured 35 other people, including, 20 soldiers, CNN reported.
Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses embassies for the United States and Britain along with thousands of U.S. soldiers, was hit with at least 10 rockets Sunday. An initial investigation revealed no casualties, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said.
An Iraqi security official said at least 15 mortar shells hit the zone and smoke could be seen billowing from several areas, the Kuwait News Agency KUNA reported.
Bloody day of violence in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 23 (UPI) -- Heavy bloodshed was reported in Afghanistan Sunday, with NATO forces claiming to have killed many Taliban insurgents and two NATO troops killed.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a news release "dozens" of suspected insurgents in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province were killed and a major weapons cache was seized by Afghan and NATO troops, China's Xinhua news agency reported. An exact number of fatalities wasn't reported and Taliban officials gave no immediate response to the report.
Taliban-related violence has killed more than 220 people so far this year, Xinhua said.
Meanwhile, a BBC correspondent reported two soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a mine in the southern province of Kandahar. The nationalities of the troops wasn't released. Almost 40 countries have troops in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led coalition.
Russia's Novosti news agency quoted Afghan government sources as saying more than 6,000 people were killed in violence in the country in 2007, about one-third of them civilians.
Cheney meets with Abbas in West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 23 (UPI) -- Security lined the West Bank streets of Ramallah where U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was meeting Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Cheney's visit to the West Bank is part of his tour of the Mideast, which he began Saturday with strong support for Israel on security matters.
"America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and unshakable, as is our commitment to Israel's right to defend itself - always -against terrorism, rocket attacks and other threats from forces dedicated to Israel's destruction," Cheney said during a late Saturday news conference in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
After meeting with Abbas, Cheney was scheduled to talk with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the BBC reported.
Cheney's meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders are aimed at helping facilitate President Bush's goal of establishing peace in the region before his presidency ends in January.
Musharraf welcomes 'new era of democracy'
ISLAMABAD , Pakistan, March 23 (UPI) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf welcomed a "new era of democracy" during his Pakistan Day speech in Islamabad Sunday.
Musharraf, who came into rule after a military coup in 1999, deemed his nine-year presidency as a march "toward democracy and development," Voice of America reported.
Musharraf is expected to swear in Pakistan People's Party Vice Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani as Pakistan's new democratic prime minister Tuesday.
However, Voice of America noted Gilani's fate as prime minister rests with party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
"People are not concerned whether we are here completing five years or not completing. They are only concerned whether we have delivered to the nation or not," Gilani said Sunday.
Members of the new coalition government agreed upon by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Muslim League have cited hopes that Musharraf steps down as president soon through resignation or impeachment, the report said.
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This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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Bloody day of violence in Afghanistan
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (C) and a congressional delegation visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, May 16, 2008. (UPI Photo/Debbie Hill)
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