Just days after Iranian and American military officials traded warnings over a U.S. Navy vessel's departure from the Persian Gulf, the United States Navy has rescued 13 Iranian fishermen and their fishing dhow from Somali pirates in the north Arabian sea, the Pentagon said Friday. And in a side irony that punctuates the rare instance of Iranian-American co-operation, the rescue operation was carried out by a ship belonging to the very U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike group that Iranian army officials had earlier boasted of evicting from Gulf waters.
"A boarding team from the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd--part of the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group--detained 15 suspected pirates aboard the fishing dhow, the Al Molai, according to a statement today from the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs Office," Bloomberg News' Tony Capaccio reported Friday. "The pirates didn't resist and surrendered quickly in the rescue" operation, which occurred on Thursday.
The Iranian fishermen "were held hostage, with limited rations, and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations," Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd, explained in the Navy statement, according to the Bloomberg report.
The Navy has posted an unclassified YouTube video of the rescue operation--seemingly eager to play up the good turn the American Navy has done for the Iranian fishermen. (You can watch the video in the clip above.) Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also called the commander of the USS John C. Stennis' Carrier Strike Group, Rear Adm. Craig Fuller, to congratulate him on the "well executed" rescue operation, Pentagon spokesman George Little said Friday.
Secretary Panetta "said, 'When we get a distress signal, we're going to respond,'" Little relayed in a statement sent to Yahoo News. "'That's the nature of what our country is all about.'"
Not to make too much of the opportunity to win Iranian hearts and minds, of course.
Earlier this week, Iran's Army chief Ataolla Salehi asserted that Iranian military exercises had prompted a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier to vacate the Persian Gulf. And he warned the United States about any plans for the carrier's return.
"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill," Salehi said on Tuesday, according to a Reuters report. "I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once."
Salehi didn't name the American naval vessel in question, "but the USS John C. Stennis leads a task force in the region, and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet website pictured it in the Arabian Sea last week," Reuters reported.
Pentagon officials promptly pushed back against the Iranian army chief's warning, stressing that the United States simply wants to ensure open traffic in international waters."We are committed to protecting maritime freedoms that are the basis for global prosperity," the Pentagon's Little said Tuesday. "This is one of the main reasons our military forces operate in the region."
Tensions have been rising between the United States and Iran in recent weeks, with Iranian officials issuing a series of erratic threats about their military capacity to control the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy transport hub. On Sunday January 1, President Obama signed legislation that could penalize any institution that does business with Iran's Central Bank--a chief source of Iran's revenues for oil exports. European diplomats also said this week that they're preparing a ban throughout the EU on the import of Iranian oil that would go into place at the end of the month.
Iranian officials have given numerous statements the past week indicating they would like to return to international nuclear talks. But EU officials have told Yahoo News that Iran has not yet formally responded in writing to a proposal issued by European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton in October to resume negotiations.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Nigeria sect kills 15; Christians vow defense
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Muslim sect attacked a church worship service in Nigeria's northeast during assaults that killed at least 15 people, authorities said Saturday, as Christians vowed to defend themselves from the group's widening sectarian fight against the country's government.
The attacks by the sect known as Boko Haram came after it promised to kill Christians living in Nigeria's largely Muslim north, exploiting long-standing religious and ethnic tensions in the nation of more than 160 million people. The pledge by the leader of an umbrella organization called the Christian Association of Nigeria now raises the possibility of retaliatory violence.
In the last few days alone, Boko Haram has killed at least 44 people, despite the oil-rich nation's president declaring a state of emergency in regions hit by the sect.
Speaking Saturday to journalists, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, vowed the group's members would adequately protect themselves from the sect. He declined to offer specifics, raising concerns about retaliation.
"We have decided to work out means to defend ourselves against these senseless killings," Oritsejafor said.
He later added: "We cannot sit back and watch people being slaughtered like animals every day, going to the church, shooting people, killing them. This is unacceptable."
In Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, gunmen covered their faces with black cloth when they attacked Apostolic Church on Friday night, local police commissioner Ade Shinaba said. Shinaba said at least eight worshippers died in that attack.
At a nearby beauty salon, at least three others were killed in a similar attack.
"Three gunmen with their faces covered with black cloth burst into my salon and started shooting at customers, chanting, 'God is great, God is great,'" said Stephen Tizhe, 35.
Responding to the violence, Adamawa state Gov. Murtala Nyako ordered a 24-hour curfew throughout the rural state. The violence comes ahead of a planned gubernatorial election later this month.
In the town of Potiskum in Yobe state, gunmen set two banks ablaze with gasoline bombs, starting a gunfight with police that lasted three hours Friday, local police commissioner Tanko Lawan said. At least two people were killed in the fight, he said.
On Saturday, sect gunmen also shot and killed two Christian students who attend the University of Maiduguri in nearby Borno state, local police commissioner Simeon Midenda said.
No arrests have been made in any of the attacks, authorities said.
The attacks came after gunmen claimed by Boko Haram attacked a town hall earlier Friday in Mubi, Adamawa state, killing at least 20 people who had gathered for a meeting of the Christian Igbo ethnic group. On Thursday night, the sect also attacked a church in Gombe state, killing at least eight people.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an Associated Press count. It has targeted churches in the past in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria.
The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed at least 42 people in Christmas Day strikes that included the bombing of a Catholic church near Abuja. The group also claimed an August suicide car bombing that targeted the U.N. headquarters in the capital, killing 25 people and wounding more than 100.
Nigeria's central government has been slow to respond to the sect. On Dec. 31, President Goodluck Jonathan declared regions of Borno, Niger, Plateau and Yobe states to be under a state of emergency, meaning authorities can make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. He also ordered international borders near Borno and Yobe state to be closed.
However, the areas where the recent church and town hall attacks happened are not in the areas marked by the president.
Boko Haram promised to begin attacking Christians in Nigeria's north several days before the recent violence. The new killings have sparked fears among Christians living in the north about the group and caused some to flee. There also has been at least one report of retaliatory violence against Muslims living in Nigeria's mostly Christian south in recent days as well.
The attacks by the sect known as Boko Haram came after it promised to kill Christians living in Nigeria's largely Muslim north, exploiting long-standing religious and ethnic tensions in the nation of more than 160 million people. The pledge by the leader of an umbrella organization called the Christian Association of Nigeria now raises the possibility of retaliatory violence.
In the last few days alone, Boko Haram has killed at least 44 people, despite the oil-rich nation's president declaring a state of emergency in regions hit by the sect.
Speaking Saturday to journalists, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, vowed the group's members would adequately protect themselves from the sect. He declined to offer specifics, raising concerns about retaliation.
"We have decided to work out means to defend ourselves against these senseless killings," Oritsejafor said.
He later added: "We cannot sit back and watch people being slaughtered like animals every day, going to the church, shooting people, killing them. This is unacceptable."
In Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, gunmen covered their faces with black cloth when they attacked Apostolic Church on Friday night, local police commissioner Ade Shinaba said. Shinaba said at least eight worshippers died in that attack.
At a nearby beauty salon, at least three others were killed in a similar attack.
"Three gunmen with their faces covered with black cloth burst into my salon and started shooting at customers, chanting, 'God is great, God is great,'" said Stephen Tizhe, 35.
Responding to the violence, Adamawa state Gov. Murtala Nyako ordered a 24-hour curfew throughout the rural state. The violence comes ahead of a planned gubernatorial election later this month.
In the town of Potiskum in Yobe state, gunmen set two banks ablaze with gasoline bombs, starting a gunfight with police that lasted three hours Friday, local police commissioner Tanko Lawan said. At least two people were killed in the fight, he said.
On Saturday, sect gunmen also shot and killed two Christian students who attend the University of Maiduguri in nearby Borno state, local police commissioner Simeon Midenda said.
No arrests have been made in any of the attacks, authorities said.
The attacks came after gunmen claimed by Boko Haram attacked a town hall earlier Friday in Mubi, Adamawa state, killing at least 20 people who had gathered for a meeting of the Christian Igbo ethnic group. On Thursday night, the sect also attacked a church in Gombe state, killing at least eight people.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, is responsible for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an Associated Press count. It has targeted churches in the past in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria.
The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed at least 42 people in Christmas Day strikes that included the bombing of a Catholic church near Abuja. The group also claimed an August suicide car bombing that targeted the U.N. headquarters in the capital, killing 25 people and wounding more than 100.
Nigeria's central government has been slow to respond to the sect. On Dec. 31, President Goodluck Jonathan declared regions of Borno, Niger, Plateau and Yobe states to be under a state of emergency, meaning authorities can make arrests without proof and conduct searches without warrants. He also ordered international borders near Borno and Yobe state to be closed.
However, the areas where the recent church and town hall attacks happened are not in the areas marked by the president.
Boko Haram promised to begin attacking Christians in Nigeria's north several days before the recent violence. The new killings have sparked fears among Christians living in the north about the group and caused some to flee. There also has been at least one report of retaliatory violence against Muslims living in Nigeria's mostly Christian south in recent days as well.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Five dead due to broken down equipment at Komfo Anokye hospital
Doctors at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital are refusing to admit patients in critical condition due to broken down life-support equipment at the Intensive Care Unit.
They are threatening to suspend operations outright until management fixes the faulty ventilators, which have been down for the past four months.
Nhyira Fm’s Ohemeng Tawiah’s under-cover investigations at the ICU reveal five people have died within the last four days as a result of the malfunctioning equipments.
The deceased suffered from brain injuries sustained in accidents as well as other conditions.
The latest victim was a middle aged nursing mother of a one-month-old baby who was referred to the hospital only to pass away an hour later due to the broken down equipments.
Ohemeng Tawiah reveals that nine out of eleven ventilators at the ICU have broken down forcing patients to queue for treatment. The remaining two are said to be supporting patients.
Doctors at the Hospital are therefore unwilling to perform any surgeries for fear that the patients’ ailments might worsen at their hands. Officials of the hospital however insist that they cannot be held responsible for the deaths.
The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Kwame Frimpong, told Nhyira News “this Intensive Care Unit has been encountering some challenges… It must be stressed that Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital is not directly responsible for the repairs of the equipment at the ICU Centre. The maintenance of the equipment is in the hands of a private company that has been contracted by the Ministry of Health.”
Mr. Frimpong said management has drawn the attention of Gertec Technologies to the broken down machines and apologized to the families of those who have died and patients who have been turned away as a result of the broken down machines.
Nhyira News’ investigation reveals that the Ministry of Health awarded a five year maintenance contract to Germany-based Gertec Technologies in 2010. The same contractor constructed the Accident and Emergency Centre of the Hospital in 2005.
Further inquiries into the matter indicate that management of the hospital have, in the past, registered its displeasure at the maintenance works of the contractor.
They are threatening to suspend operations outright until management fixes the faulty ventilators, which have been down for the past four months.
Nhyira Fm’s Ohemeng Tawiah’s under-cover investigations at the ICU reveal five people have died within the last four days as a result of the malfunctioning equipments.
The deceased suffered from brain injuries sustained in accidents as well as other conditions.
The latest victim was a middle aged nursing mother of a one-month-old baby who was referred to the hospital only to pass away an hour later due to the broken down equipments.
Ohemeng Tawiah reveals that nine out of eleven ventilators at the ICU have broken down forcing patients to queue for treatment. The remaining two are said to be supporting patients.
Doctors at the Hospital are therefore unwilling to perform any surgeries for fear that the patients’ ailments might worsen at their hands. Officials of the hospital however insist that they cannot be held responsible for the deaths.
The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Kwame Frimpong, told Nhyira News “this Intensive Care Unit has been encountering some challenges… It must be stressed that Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital is not directly responsible for the repairs of the equipment at the ICU Centre. The maintenance of the equipment is in the hands of a private company that has been contracted by the Ministry of Health.”
Mr. Frimpong said management has drawn the attention of Gertec Technologies to the broken down machines and apologized to the families of those who have died and patients who have been turned away as a result of the broken down machines.
Nhyira News’ investigation reveals that the Ministry of Health awarded a five year maintenance contract to Germany-based Gertec Technologies in 2010. The same contractor constructed the Accident and Emergency Centre of the Hospital in 2005.
Further inquiries into the matter indicate that management of the hospital have, in the past, registered its displeasure at the maintenance works of the contractor.
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