Daily Report

Israel opens one Gaza crossing; siege remains the same

Israeli authorities will allow limited deliveries of aid, commercial merchandise and fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip through Kerem Shalom crossing, the besieged Palestinian enclave's border officials were told June 20. Gaza officials were told to expect between 81 to 91 truckloads of humanitarian aid and commercial goods via the southern terminal. Limited quantities of industrial diesel and domestic-use gas will be pumped through the same terminal, officials said. However, Gaza's sole bulk goods crossing, the northern Karni terminal, will remain closed. The numbers remain the same as previous weeks, despite an Israeli government decision announced June 17 for a "liberalization" of the siege, increasing the number and variety of goods they would permit into the Strip. (Ma'an News Agency, June 19)

US bombs Pakistan again; Taliban down drone in Afghanistan?

A missile from a presumed US drone killed 13 people and wounded seven others when it struck a house in Haider Khel village in the Mir Ali area of Pakistan's North Waziristan. (AlJazeera, June 19) Meanwhile in Afghanistan's Herat province, a NATO drone crashed, with Taliban militants claiming to have shot it down in an Internet statement. NATO authorities deny it was shot down. The US-led forces appear to have increased drone operations in the region, and the US alone is said to have over 6,000 drones in Afghanistan. (Press TV, June 19)

Kashmir: Indian troops fire on protesters

Indian troops on June 21 fired on hundreds of protesters who threw rocks at security forces, surrounded an armored vehicle and tried to torch a paramilitary bunker in Srinagar, Kashmir. One protester was killed and at least five wounded. The incident began with a demonstration over the death of a 25-year-old man who succumbed to injuries a day earlier after being beaten by soldiers in a street protest the previous week. The demonstration swelled after the shots were fired, when hundreds more people poured into the streets, chanting, "We want freedom" and "Indian forces leave Kashmir." (Daily Times, Pakistan, June 21)

Yemen: al-Qaeda, southern separatists attack

Yemeni authorities captured the mastermind of a suspected al-Qaeda attack on the intelligence headquarters in the southern city of Aden that killed 11 people, the Defense Ministry said June 19 on its 26sep.net website. The captured man was identified as Goudol Mohammed Ali Naji. The deadly attack, which took place earlier that day, was apparently intended to free prisoners, but authorities and witnesses are at odds on whether any were actually freed. Authorities said there were no prisoners in the building at the time; witnesses said the assailants were seen leaving the building in a bus, taking freed detainees with them. Last week, the Yemen-based "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" urged the country's eastern tribes to rise up against the government and threatened retaliation for alleged air strikes in the area, the US monitoring group SITE said. (AFP, June 20)

Colombia: US documents on Palace of Justice affair reveal army massacre

To mark the conviction of Col. Alfonso Plazas Vega—the first ever in Colombia's infamous 1985 Palace of Justice case—the National Security Archive in Washington DC posted a selection of key declassified documents pertaining to the case June 11. Included was a 1999 US Embassy cable finding that soldiers under the command of Col. Plazas Vega had "killed a number of M-19 members and suspected collaborators hors de combat [outside of combat], including the Palace's cafeteria staff."

Peru: regional strike paralyzes south over Camisea LNG project

Social movements in Peru's Southern Macro-region held a general strike June 17 through 18, to demand a halt to the natural gas contract with the Camisea LNG consortium. Roads were blocked and businesses shut throughout the affected areas. Parts of Cuzco, Arequipa, and Tacna regions held a 24-hour paro, or protest campaign, while organizations in Puno, Madre de Dios and Apurimac extended the campaign to 48 hours, to press for cancellation of the Inambari hydro-power plant. Cuzco's provinces of La Convención, Espinar and Canchis also extended the strike to 48 hours.

Mexico: mass "narco-graves" found in Cancún

After three days of searching, Mexican army troops and Quintana Roo state police on June 18 discovered 12 bodies in four cenotes (natural wells) near the Cancún airport. Last week, six bodies were found in another presumed narcofosa (narco-grave) in Cancún. Authorities were apparently tipped off to mass graves by arrested sicarios (assassins), and 19 more have been arrested in their connection. Among those detained are a former member of the Kaibiles, the Guatemalan army's special forces, and an ex-agent of the Cancún municipal police. Authorities did not say which faction the detained belong to, but press accounts have identified them as members of Los Zetas. (El Universal, AFP, June 18; Diario de Quintana Roo, June 17)

Amnesty International protests Israeli house demolitions

From Amnesty International, June 16:

Israeli authorities must stop demolitions of Palestinian homes
Amnesty International has called on the Israeli authorities to end house demolitions which leave thousands of Palestinians living in daily fear of eviction from their homes.

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