World
Two more sets of remains were found in Iraq: a decapitated man and a woman shot in the back of the head. Both victims appeared to have been Westerners. An Islamist website showed the beheading of another man, believed to be an Iraqi communications specialist who worked with US forces. Meanwhile, the government's interim defense minister proclaimed the end of operations in Samarra, where US and Iraqi troops fought with terrorists for a day and a half, killing at least 125 and arresting 88 others.
Israeli defense forces, in Gaza for "as long as this danger exists," were flattening houses and orchards to deny Palestinian militants cover for rocket attacks on Jewish towns and settlements. But Hamas, holding its first formal news conference, vowed that the campaign not only wouldn't stop the attacks but that it soon would target Ashkelon, a city that previously was outside the range of any of its rockets.
The toll of casualties rose to 57 dead and more than 100 wounded as separatist rebels carried their campaign of bombings and shootings into a second day in the Indian states of Assam and Nagaland. The rebels, who accuse India's government of exploiting the natural resources of the two states and of flooding them with outsiders, are suspected of launching their attacks from sanctuaries in neighboring Bangladesh and Burma (Myanmar).
Vengeance-minded Shiites went on a rampage in the Pakistani city of Sialkot over the weekend after a terrorist bomber killed 30 people and wounded almost 60 more assembled for Friday prayers. The state government of Punjab offered a $170,000 reward for help in the capture of the perpetrators. There was no claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell on Sunni Muslim extremists - perhaps in retaliation for the death a week ago of leading Al Qaeda militant Amjad Hussain Farooqi.
An "urban guerrilla operation" pitting supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide against police was in its third day in Haiti's capital, and at least 14 people were reported dead. During Saturday's violence, police forced their way into a radio station that had just interviewed the Senate president and two other legislators and arrested them on illegal weapons charges. Haiti's Chamber of Commerce blasted UN peacekeepers for "inaction" in quelling the trouble.
