Al Qaeda threatens attacks of revenge

The World Today

August 21, 2011

Iraq

BAGHDAD - Al Qaeda in Iraq has vowed to carry out “100 attacks’’ across the country, starting in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, to exact revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden. The terror group’s statement was released on militant websites late Friday. It said the attacks will avenge bin Laden, who was killed by US forces in Pakistan in May, and other slain senior Al Qaeda leaders. The statement said the campaign would include “varied attacks, including raids, martyrdom operations, roadside bombs, silenced guns and snipers, in all cities, rural areas and provinces’’ across Iraq. Monday marked the middle of Ramadan. (AP)

Afghanistan

Bus runs off road, killing 35 riders KABUL - A passenger bus drove off a road in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 35 people, officials said. The packed bus was traveling through Kandahar Province on its way to Kabul before losing control and crashing, said provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi. He said 27 people were injured in the crash. Also yesterday, insurgent attacks across the country killed five people. (AP)

Norway

Survivors visit site of deadly rampage UTVIKA - Survivors of a massacre that claimed the lives of 69 people in Norway last month carried flowers to the site of the killings yesterday. Stine Renate Haaheim, who survived the shooting spree on Utoya island, said her feelings ranged from emptiness and extreme grief to joy when she returned to the place she had visited each summer before the killings. (AP)