Exclusive: Death Pact Of IS-Fighting Britons

Israel Launches Gaza Airstrike On Hamas Site

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 20 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Israel has said it has carried out an airstrike in the Gaza Strip on what it called a "Hamas terror infrastructure site".

It was in response to a rocket fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday, the military said.

Residents reported hearing two explosions early this morning in the southern Khan Yunis region, an area that contains training sites for Palestinian militants.

No injuries have been immediately reported.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the military "will not permit any attempt to undermine the security and jeopardise the well being of the civilians of Israel".

"The Hamas terrorist organisation is responsible and accountable for today's attack against Israel," he added.

It was the first strike on the Palestinian territory since this summer's conflict.

Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza, fought a 50-day war between July and August.

Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza fired thousands of rockets and mortars into Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion.

During the course of Operation Protective Edge, nearly 2,200 Palestinians died.

UN figures suggest at least 1,523 of those killed were civilians.

Six Israeli civilians and 66 Israeli soldiers also died.

On Friday, fierce clashes erupted in the West Bank between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at a military checkpoint and near the village of Turmus Aya. No injuries were reported.

The village was the site of a Palestinian-Israeli scuffle earlier this month during which Palestinian Cabinet minister Ziad Abu Ein collapsed. He later died en route to hospital.

In other developments, the Israeli military has begun relaxing travel restrictions for Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the Christmas holiday season, saying it granted 700 permits for Gazans to travel to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.

Israel said it was also allowing West Bank Christians to travel to Israel, permitting 500 of them to visit their families in Gaza, subject to security checks.

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Stigma Of Sierra Leone's 'Ebola Orphans' Remains

By David Bowden, Senior News Correspondent

Sierra Leone is now at the forefront of the fight against Ebola in West Africa, with more reported cases - over 8,000 - than any other country, a rising number of deaths and many children left orphaned.

But the impact of the disease goes far beyond the victims themselves.

There are thousands of so-called "Ebola orphans", young children who have lost one or both parents to the disease and many have seen their close family wiped out by the virus too.

In Sierra Leone there are estimated to be more than 4,500 children in this situation and caring for them is a growing problem.

Before the Ebola outbreak the St George Foundation - founded by Unicef just outside Freetown after the civil war in Sierra Leone a decade ago - cared for street urchins and child prostitutes, but not any more.

Now the youngsters here, aged from just one and a half to 17 years old, are without their loved ones because of Ebola.

For founder Justina Conteh and her staff it is heartbreaking to have to explain to ones so young that they are alone in the world. All deal with it differently.

She said: "For the boys, give them one week and they are ok, but for the girls you really see them in the corners in a sulky way sitting down thinking, holding their heads.

"For the girls it really takes time for them to get over the psychological problems."

There are 35 children being looked after at St George's, but as the others tuck into their lunch, two remain apart behind a sagging nylon rope marking the boundary of the quarantined area.

This is where Haja and Fatima live for now. Haja, who is 17, has lost 10 members of her family to Ebola including her mother, seven of her sisters and two brothers. Her father died five years ago.

Haja, too, was infected but survived.

She explained what happened in hospital: "So two to three days and I didn't die. After I don't die they transferred me to Hastings (an Ebola treatment centre). I stay there for about two weeks and they discharge me."

She has been at the orphanage ever since, acting as an unpaid nanny to other orphans who are suspected of having Ebola.

Her survival has given her hope for immunity from the virus a second time.

At the moment she only has one charge, nine-year-old Fatima, whose mother died from the disease, but who so far is showing no signs of being infected herself.

An 11-month-old baby boy who had been in quarantine has just died from Ebola, though Kadija, 10, recently left Haja's care after she tested negative for the virus.

The ordeal for these youngsters is not over yet, finding them new homes is proving very difficult because of the stigma of Ebola.

No one, not even extended family, seems to want anything to do with a child who has been so close to the killer virus.

:: You can watch an extended special report on the Ebola crisis at 4.30pm today.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sony: 'We Had No Choice' But To Cancel Film

Sony has defended its decision to cancel a film mocking the North Korean regime after the studio suffered a damaging cyber-attack.

In a statement, the company said it had "no choice" but to pull The Interview, because cinema chains across the US had backed away from showing the film, which depicts a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The decision was made after the group claiming responsibility for the cyber-attack made terrorist threats against US cinemas if they showed the movie, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco.

President Barack Obama strongly criticised the move, saying he believed the studio had "made a mistake".

Celebrities and film-makers have also slammed the decision, which was made earlier this week.

Mr Obama said: "I wish they had spoken to me first.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictatorship someplace can start imposing censorship."

"Without theaters, we could not release it in the theaters on Christmas Day," Sony said in response.

"We had no choice."

It insists it has only cancelled the Christmas Day release and it has been "actively surveying alternatives" to release the film on another platform.

"It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so," Sony said.

Sony's chief executive, Michael Lynton, has also defended the company's actions, telling CNN: "We experienced the worst cyber-attack in American history.

"We have not caved, we have not given in, we have persevered and we have not backed down.

"We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie."

Mr Lynton said the President, the media and the public "are mistaken as to what actually happened" and added he had personally talked to senior advisers at the White House, who were "certainly aware of the situation".

The FBI revealed on Friday it believed North Korea was behind the cyber-attack on Sony, something Pyongyang has denied.

However, a North Korean diplomat did say the film "defamed the image of our country".

The FBI called the attack, which led to a series of embarrassing leaks, an unacceptable act of state-sponsored "intimidation".

The agency said technical analysis of malware used in the attack found links to malware that "North Korean actors" had developed and found a "significant overlap" with "other malicious cyber activity" previously tied to Pyongyang.

The group claiming responsibility for the attack, who call themselves Guardians of Peace, praised the decision to cancel the film's release in a statement provided to CNN on Friday.

:: Watch a special report about people who have fled from North Korea on Sky News, Tuesday at 7.30pm.

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Gallery: 'The Interview' Film Pulled: Hollywood Takes to Twitter

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Eight Children Stabbed To Death In Cairns

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 19 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Eight children have been found stabbed to death at a house in Cairns, Australia.

The children are reportedly aged between 18 months and 15 years old.

Police were called to a property in the suburb of Manoora following reports of a woman with serious injuries.

During the search of the house the bodies of the children were discovered.

The 34-year-old woman is reportedly the mother of seven of the children. The eighth child is thought to be a family member.

The mother is said to be in a stable condition at a hospital where she is being questioned by police.

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said: "There are no suspects at this point. It's very early days. The woman in hospital is the mother of most of the children.

"I am not able to confirm how the children died."

He added that there was no reason for the public to be concerned and said it was a "tragic, tragic event".

Lisa Thaiday, who said she was the woman's cousin, said another sibling, a 20-year-old man, came home and found his brothers and sisters dead inside the house.

She said: "We're a big family... I just can't believe it."

Cairns Post reporter Scott Forbes, at the scene, told Sky News: "I've spoken to some of the family members and they say the woman, who is the biological mother, actually has more children but the other kids weren't at home at the time. So of the children she does have, eight of them are now dead.

"Many of the people here are actually connected to the family or relatives of the family. They are very shocked. They said they were a happy family and were enthusiastic about Christmas.

"They've said she was a very proud mother who was very protective of her children, so everyone lining the streets here is reeling right now."

The street is in lock down and a crime scene will remain in place for at least another day, police said.

Cairns MP Michael Trout told Sky News the close-knit community was in shock over the "dreadful tragedy".

"How can anyone harm innocent children is on everyone's lips at this moment," he said.

Media outlets reported that the neighbourhood was predominantly inhabited by indigenous Aboriginal Australians, and was known by residents to have a high crime rate.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the events in Cairns "heartbreaking" and acknowledged that these were "trying days" for Australia.

Queensland premier Campbell Newman said he was "deeply saddened" and "shocked".

"My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those concerned."

The deaths come as Australia is still feeling the shock of the deadly siege in a Sydney cafe earlier this week.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kurdish Forces Break IS Mountain Seige

Kurdish forces in Iraq claim to have broken an Islamic State seige that left Yazidi civilians and fighters trapped on a mountain for almost four months.

The breakthrough came during a two-day blitz in the Sinjar region involving 8,000 peshmerga fighters and some of the heaviest airstrikes since a US-led coalition started an air campaign in September.

Speaking at an operations centre near the border with Syria, Masrour Barzani, the son of the Kurdish president and the intelligence chief for the Iraqi autonomous region, said: "Peshmerga forces have reached Mount Sinjar, the siege on the mountain has been lifted."

The peshmerga said they had recaptured eight villages and killed around 80 IS fighters in the initial phase of the offensive launched from Rabia on the Syria border and Zumar on the shores of Mosul dam lake.

They suffered seven losses on Wednesday when they failed to stop an IS suicide bomber who rammed an explosives-packed armoured vehicle into their convoy, officers at the scene told AFP.

Mr Barzani added in a statement: "This operation represents the single biggest military offensive against IS and the most successful."

The peshmerga commander for the area said troops had reached the mountain and secured a road that would enable people to leave, effectively breaking the siege.

Several thousand are still thought to be trapped there.

"Tomorrow most of the people will come down from the mountain," Mohamed Kojar told AFP by phone, explaining the offensive had secured a corridor northeast of the mountain.

A Yazidi leader at the top of the mountain, however, said he could see no sign of a military deployment.

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Gallery: Thousands Of Displaced Yazidis

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain

Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq's human rights minister says

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Militants Killed In Wake Of School Massacre

At least 67 militants have been killed in a tribal area of Pakistan – days after Taliban fighters orchestrated a terror attack which left 148 people dead, most of them children.

The insurgents were ambushed by security forces in a region bordering Peshawar, where the school massacre took place. It is thought they were travelling to Afghanistan.

Airstrikes and ground operations were used to target the fighters, Pakistan's military said in a statement. It added: "Fleeing terrorists left behind bodies of their accomplices."

Following on from Tuesday's terror attack - the deadliest in the country's history - the army has been under renewed pressure to root out militants from their hideouts and training camps in the mountainous regions of Khyber and North Waziristan.

The massacre was quickly followed by threats reportedly targeting school buses with magnetic bombs, with drivers urged to check underneath their vehicles before setting off.

And late on Thursday, the army's chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, also signed the death warrants of six "hard core terrorists". Their hangings would officially bring a moratorium on executions for terrorism-related offences to an end.

The army estimates that 1,700 militants have been killed so far.

Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups since 2004, when al Qaeda fighters fled from Afghanistan following a US-led invasion.

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Sierra Leone Braced For More Ebola Cases

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 18 Desember 2014 | 16.15

By David Bowden, Senior Correspondent, In Freetown

Sierra Leone, caught in the grip of the Ebola crisis, is bracing itself for a sharp increase in cases of the killer disease over the Christmas period.

The Government is so worried about the situation it has outlawed any seasonal public celebrations and soldiers are being put on the streets to make sure no one disobeys the directive.

The outbreak of the virus, which began a year ago in neighbouring Guinea and quickly spread to Liberia, is now dominating the lives of everyone in Sierra Leone.

The western part of the country, including the capital Freetown where around a third of the population of more than six million lives, is bearing the brunt of the current upturn in cases.

Authorities have instigated what they call the "Western Surge" to redouble efforts to try to keep the virus at bay.

Eunice Peacock, of the District Ebola Response Centre (DERC), admits they are "running to catch up" with the rate of the spread of the disease and would not be drawn on when it would be brought under control.

One of the biggest problems is a refusal by what some claim is up to 80% of the population, a figure disputed by the government, to even acknowledge Ebola is real.

One of the scores of operators at the UK-funded 117 Ebola telephone reporting line said many of the calls she takes are pranks or abusive.

"They will use abusive language on you, they'll say Ebola is lie, lie, you're just taking money, most of them that is what they say," she said.

"They don't believe. Most of the people they don't believe in the Ebola stuff."

The genuine calls get pushed on to the DERC where they are followed up either as live cases or burials.

One of the burial units is run by the Red Cross and again funded by the UK.

It aims to get everybody reported to it collected and buried in the central Ebola cemetery within 24 hours.

Even those who have not died from the virus are collected and treated as if they had the disease, which means getting accurate figures for the number of Ebola deaths is difficult.

We went out with Burial Team 7 into the Wellington area of Freetown - up steep, winding tracks where even four-wheel-drive vehicles struggled to pass.

There, we went to the home of Alie Kamara, a 63-year-old father of 16, who had died on the morning we arrived. He had been ill for some time.

His family said they had a certificate saying he was free of Ebola - but the body retrieval team still put on their protective suits to salvage Alie's remains before disinfecting the house.

His body was put into two sealed bags after a short Muslim blessing before being lifted on to the back of a truck to be taken to the graveyard.

The team moved on to the next body. Here, Marie - the daughter of 70-year old Allieu Koroma - was hysterically throwing herself to the ground.

Again there was no suggestion of Ebola, though there were raised eyebrows when the dead man's wife suggested he too had a medical certificate proving he was free of Ebola, but that "rats had eaten it".

As with Alie, Allieu's body was swabbed, double bagged and put on to the back of the truck.

The bodies of two confirmed Ebola victims were then picked up from a hospital before the team travelled on to a graveyard.

The World War II cemetery has been disused for years, but is now Freetown's central Ebola burial site.

There is row after row of freshly filled graves, side by side with row after row of empty ones awaiting a body.

No sooner had Burial Team 7 placed Alie and Allieu into their respective final resting places, another group from a different aid organisation turned up to do the same for their Ebola dead.

Moments later, the graves were covered by a team of grubby, well-muscled diggers who are never short of work at the moment.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sony Cancels Kim Jong-Un Movie After Threats

Sony Pictures has cancelled the release of controversial film The Interview, which depicts the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The company said the decision was made after major US cinema chains pulled out of showing the film following threats from hackers.

"In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned 25 December theatrical release," a Sony Pictures statement said.

The studio added it was "deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company".

US investigators have now linked the Sony hacking incident to North Korea and will reveal more details later.

Sony Pictures said it stands by the makers of the $50m film, which tells the fictional story of two journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader.

A hacker group calling itself the Guardians of Peace attacked Sony Pictures and released internal emails by senior company executives.

The group said audiences would face a "bitter fate" and people living close to cinemas showing the film should leave their homes.

"We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places The Interview be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to," they said.

"Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear.

"Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you'd better leave.)"

The Landmark's Sunshine Cinema in New York confirmed earlier that the film's Thursday premiere would not go ahead.

An official at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said there was "no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theatres within the United States".

However, police in New York and Los Angeles said they were taking the threats "very seriously".

North Korea has publicly denied it was involved in the cyber attack, but it did issue a statement earlier this month describing the hack as a "righteous deed."

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Actors Slam Film Cancellation Of The Interview

Hollywood actors and film-makers have criticised the decision by Sony and cinemas not to show The Interview in the light of hacker threats of violence against movie goers.

The controversial $50m movie includes the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and US investigators have linked Pyongyang to a cyber attack where sensitive Sony emails were leaked.

Actors Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Rob Lowe, late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and filmmaker Judd Apatow, all friends of The Interview stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, have hit out at the decision to pull the release.

Lowe, who has a cameo role in the film, accused Hollywood of "caving in" and compared the industry to ex-British prime minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

He tweeted: "Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.

"Saw @Sethrogen at JFK. Both of us have never seen or heard of anything like this. Hollywood has done Neville Chamberlain proud today."

High-profile producer Judd Apatow, a friend and collaborator of Rogen, said: "I think it is disgraceful that these theaters are not showing The Interview. Will they pull any movie that gets an anonymous threat now?"

Stiller, who directed and starred in 2001's Zoolander, about a male fashion model brainwashed to assassinate a fictional Malaysian prime minister, also tweeted of The Interview cancellation.

He wrote: "Really hard to believe this is the response to a threat to freedom of expression here in America."

Carell, who has starred alongside Rogen in a number of comedies, said on Twitter: "Sad day for creative expression," with the hashtag #feareatsthesoul.

Both Carell and Stiller also tweeted pictures of Charlie Chaplin playing his Adolf Hitler parody in 1940 film The Great Dictator.

Kimmel, also writing on Twitter, called the decision "an un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent".

And actor Zach Braff tweeted: "Canceling The Interview seems like a pretty horrible precedent to set."

Actress and campaigner Mia Farrow said on Twitter: "Sony is a disgrace. Sickening."

Former Republican House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich said: "No one should kid themselves. With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very very dangerous precedent."

On Wednesday, Sony cancelled the December 25 release, citing the threats of violence at cinemas showing the movie.

Sony said it had no plans to release The Interview on DVD, video-on-demand or online streaming platforms, despite support of the idea from fans on social media.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pakistan Taliban's History Of Bloody Attacks

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 17 Desember 2014 | 16.15

Described as a "national tragedy" by prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistani Taliban's massacre at a Peshawar school is the group's latest brutal attack.

The organisation said the killings at the military-run school were "revenge" for a widespread military operation in the North Waziristan tribal area earlier this year.

The group, called Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was formed in 2007, in the aftermath of the siege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

The group's first leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US missile attack in August 2009.

TTP is an umbrella for militant groups, united in fighting the Pakistani military.

It aims to impose a strict interpretation of the Koran throughout the country.

Here are just some of the attacks they have been linked to in recent years:

:: Benazir Bhutto Assassination 2007

Pakistan's government accused TTP of involvement in the assassination of the former prime minister in December 2007, although the group denies it.

:: Marriott Hotel Bombing 2008

A Taliban-linked group claimed responsibility for the September 2008 truck bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed 53 people.

:: Times Square Plot 2010

Baitullah Mehsud was succeeded by Hakimullah Mehsud, who pledged to use suicide bombers in the US. He was behind the failed truck bomb attack in New York's Times Square in May 2010.

The US Department of State formally declared the group a terrorist organisation in September 2010, with the UK and Canada following suit in 2011.

:: Malala Yousafzai Shooting 2012

In October 2012 the Taliban shot the schoolgirl in the head outside her school in Swat Valley for daring to speak about girls' rights.

She survived, and went on the win the Nobel Peace Prize.

:: Karachi Airport Attack 2014

After peace talks with the Pakistan government in June 2014 failed, the Taliban attacked Karachi Airport, killing 26 people.

A week later the Pakistan military began a major military offensive, Operation Zarb e Azb in the Waziristan region, which has seen hundreds of militants killed.

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Exclusive: Death Pact Of IS-Fighting Britons

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By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Two Britons who went to Syria to fight IS have told of their battles on the front line - and how they vowed to kill each other rather than get captured.

Jamie Read and James Hughes told how they dodged bullets during chaotic patrols with Kurdish forces after recording a "goodbye" video for their families in case they died.

They described spending hours lying in the "pitch black" in no-man's land, in conditions they said were reminiscent of World War One.

On one occasion, it was so cold that a young Kurdish comrade collapsed with hypothermia - "body-popping" on the ground next to them.

In an exclusive Sky News interview after their return to the UK, the pair also revealed how panic alarms have been installed in their homes, amid fears they could be targets for IS supporters.

They strongly denied being mercenaries, telling how they had sold possessions to fund their flights and had returned to the UK to "mounting debts and bills".

They had not been paid "a penny" for their exploits, though they had been "treated like royalty" by some of the Kurdish troops, the men said.

And the former soldiers gave a detailed account of their time in Iraq and Syria, explaining that they had travelled to fight IS militants because they had "zero tolerance for terrorism".

Describing what had prompted them to travel, Mr Read said the beheading of British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning had been the final straw.

"Alan Henning - aid worker, British - put him on his hands and knees and cut his head off, you know what I mean," Mr Read said.

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Gallery: British Pair Joined Fight Against Islamic State

James Hughes and Jamie Read gave an exclusive interview to Sky News

James Hughes from Worcestershire is a former soldier who served three tours in Afghanistan

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Jamie Read from Lanarkshire, Scotland, spent time training with the French army

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He said that he had 'zero tolerance' for terrorism

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The men joined Kurdish fighters in Syria battling IS

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"Can you really find justification in sitting back here and doing nothing?"

Mr Read, 24, and Mr Hughes, 26, revealed that organising the trip had been quite simple with a "phone call here or there" and some communication over Skype.

They were screened by simply having their Facebook posts checked and ensuring that social media friends were not IS supporters, Mr Read said.

The pair said that after arriving in Irbil, northern Iraq, they were transported via the Kurdish HQ to the front line in Syria.

During the journey the Britons said they had no idea whether they had landed in a trap.

"I'm not going to lie, this was one of the most frightening processes you can go through, you know, the paranoia: through the roof," Mr Read said.

"You get picked up by a guy who doesn't speak English, so straight away there's a language barrier.

"When we got to the safe house... it's sort of dodgy-looking, so you think 'I don't really like this'. At one point, you think 'is this the point I'm going to get handed over?'"

After getting a uniform and weapons, Mr Hughes said they eventually "rocked up" on the frontline to an old schoolhouse covered in mud.

They arrived to cheers from their Kurdish comrades, were plied with chai (tea) and cigarettes, and met three other Westerners who had joined the fight.

During their three weeks on the front line, their duties included terrifying night patrols where it was the "blackest black... like being in a cave with no lights".

"You are left staring into the pitch black, hoping no one sees you first," Mr Read said.

The Britons said they had hatched a plan to shoot each dead rather than being caught and paraded on television as hostages.

"We wouldn't get captured, bottom line, we couldn't get captured, we're not getting our heads paraded on YouTube, we made that vow before we went out.

"Everybody out there is carrying a round for themselves. Nobody wants to be captured by IS. Nobody wants to end up on YouTube getting their head cut off.

"So for us, as harsh as it sounds, it's probably the better way to go. It's the old saying, 'you keep a round for each other'."

Describing their final day, Mr Read told how the pair had been out on patrol towards a nearby village where IS militants had been holed up.

"All of a sudden we just got opened up on. Quite a lot of small arms (...) quite a lot of AKs and they were quite close.

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Gallery: Peshmergas On The Front Line In The Battle Against Islamic State

Kurdish Peshmerga forces sweep the Bakirta village near the town of Makhmur, south of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan

Members of Kurdish "peshmerga" troops ride a vehicle during an intensive security deployment on the outskirts of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad

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"There were rounds coming in and they were really close - they were pinging and they were bouncing, whizzing over your head - obviously it's a very distinctive noise.

"There was a lot of shouting, a lot of screaming, a lot of F-words being dropped."

The pair said they were forced to flee through a village which was "littered with IEDs (improvised explosive devices)" before returning to base.

"We eventually made it out but this was a real eye-opener - this is how these people were going to act - there's something more that needs to be done there."

They returned to Britain last week and were questioned by anti-terrorism officers for six hours at Heathrow airport before being released.

Asked whether they would return to Syria, Mr Read said: "I'd like to think we would have the opportunity to go back."

But he added: "I'm unsure on the political stance - I'm not sure whether our Government would appreciate us going back."

:: You can watch an extended special report on the IS-fighting Britons at 2.30pm, 4.30pm and 8.30pm, today.

Watch the report on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 16 Desember 2014 | 16.15

The gunman at the centre of the siege at a Sydney cafe was not on a terrorism watchlist, Australia's prime minister has said.

Three people died as the 16-hour siege came to a dramatic end just after 2am local time when armed police stormed the building.

One was the 50-year-old "lone gunman", Iranian refugee Man Horan Monis, along with two hostages.

Shortly after laying flowers near the scene, prime minister Tony Abbott labelled radical group Islamic State a "death cult" and said there were questions to be answered over why Monis had been freed on bail.

He said: "This has been an absolutely appalling and ugly incident - that's the only way to describe it. Our hearts go out to the families of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson. These were decent ordinary people who were going about their ordinary lives.

"Decent, innocent people who were caught up in the sick fantasy of a deeply disturbed individual."

He added Monis "certainly had been well-known to the Australian Federal Police... but I don't believe that he was on a terror watch list at this time."

A year before the cafe siege Monis was released on bail after being accused of involvement in his wife's murder, adding to a string of sex charges against him.

Police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn commented: "He was on bail and in terms of that matter, his movements will form part of the critical investigation.

"He has clearly made some statements. This is a man who had a serious history of offences and a history of violence. A man we do believe had some extremist views and we also believe he was unstable.

"We will clearly have a look at all the things we can find out about him so we can determine what might have triggered anything."

She refused to speculate on the actions of the cafe manager, when asked if he had acted heroically.

"I'm not going to talk about individual actions at all. This will all come out in time but can I just say every single one of the hostages, every single one of those victims was courageous," she added.

Earlier, police commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters that 17 hostages had been accounted for in total, including five who escaped early in the attack.

He added that the Lindt cafe had been secured and no explosive devices found.

Mr Scipione said the incident was "isolated" and urged people not to "speculate" about what had happened, adding police believed more lives could have been lost had they not taken action.

"Events that were unfolding inside the premises led them to the belief that now was the time to actually deploy, and they did," he said.

"I understand there were a number of gunshots that were heard, which caused officers to move towards an emergency action plan."

16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney Siege Victim 'Shielded Pregnant Friend'

A female barrister who died in the Sydney siege has been hailed a hero amid reports she was killed shielding her pregnant friend from gunfire.

Katrina Dawson died along with cafe manager Tori Johnson, who was praised for trying to grab the gun off hostage-taker Man Haron Monis at the end of the 16-hour siege.

Tributes were paid to the victims at a memorial service, as questions were raised over why the self-styled sheikh had been granted bail after a string of alleged sex attacks and involvement in a murder.

As Sydney struggled to come to terms with the shock of the siege, a video also emerged showing some of the hostages inside the cafe, filmed by their captor.

In the video, uploaded by the gunman, three hostages are pictured describing demands made by the gunman - including that he be brought an Islamic State flag.

Television news footage also emerged of the moment when a TV reporter broke down in tears live on air as she read out the name of Ms Dawson - realising that she knew her.

Huge piles of flowers were laid outside the Lindt café in Sydney's financial district, as more details about the victims and the gunman began to emerge.

Local resident Chloe Jean Sweetman told Sky News: "There's a lot of sadness, and a bit of a dull energy around today.

"There's been a lot of coming together of religions, and working towards the greater goal of being one in the situation."

At a prayer service in St Mary's Cathedral about 500 metres from the cafe, Archbishop Anthony Fisher spoke of how the "heart of our city is broken by the deaths of two innocents".

"Reports have emerged this morning of the heroism of the male victim of this siege," Archbishop Fisher said.

"Apparently seeing an opportunity Tori Johnson grabbed the gun - tragically it went off killing him.

"But it triggered the response of the police and eventual freedom for most of the hostages.

"Reports have also emerged that Katrina Dawson was shielding her pregnant friend from gunfire. These heroes were willing to lay down their lives so others might live."

Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn could not confirm reports of Mr Johnson's tussle with the gunman, adding that investigators were still compiling the chain of events that led to the siege ending.

But the police chief admitted that Monis, 50, had a "serious history of criminal offences and a history of violence".

"This was a man that we do believe had some extremist views and we also believe that he was unstable," she added.

Questions have been raised as to why Monis was on bail at all - after it emerged he was accused of a string of sex attacks and implicated in a murder.

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Gallery: Sydney Mourns Cafe Siege Victims

Women comfort each other in Martin Place, near to the scene

Hundreds of bouquets of flowers were laid

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16.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pakistan Taliban Kill 16 Students In School Raid

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Taliban gunmen have killed at least 18 people, including 16 students, and wounded dozens more in a school attack in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Six men stormed the army-run school, according to military officials, and soldiers surrounded the building.

Provincial health minister Shahram Khan told Sky News that a female teacher and soldier were among the dead.

Around 500 children and teachers are believed to be inside, with many students rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

The army said in a statement that many hostages had been evacuated but did not say how many.

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Gallery: Taliban In Deadly School Raid

A man talks on a phone, with his arm around a student, outside a military run school that was attacked by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan. At least 18 people, including 16 pupils, are dead

Pakistani security forces drive to the scene of the attack

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A soldier escorts schoolchildren away after they were rescued from the Army Public School

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A Pakistani soldier takes up position above a road near the military-run school

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Children cross a road as they move away from the school

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"Rescue operation by troops underway. Exchange of fire continues. Bulk of student(s) and staff evacuated. Reports of some children and teachers killed by terrorist," the army said in a brief English-language statement.

Gunmen targeted the school while an exam was taking place, said a teacher.

"We were standing outside the school and firing suddenly started and there was chaos everywhere and the screams of children and teachers," said a school bus driver.

The school is located on the edge of a military cantonment in Peshawar, but the majority of the students are civilian.

One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, said that he was with a group of 8th, 9th and 10th graders who were getting first-aid instructions and training with a team of Pakistani army medics when the violence began for real.

When the shooting started, Jamal, who was shot in the leg, said nobody knew what was going on in the first few seconds.

"Then I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet," he said, speaking from his hospital bed.

"All the children had bullet wounds. All the children were bleeding," Jamal added.

A Taliban spokesman told the Reuters news agency the attack was "revenge" for an army offensive against the group in North Waziristan.

"Our suicide bombers have entered the school, they have instructions not to harm the children, but to target the army personnel," he said.

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