Palestinian stabbers kill Israeli, assailants shot dead
Palestinian stabbers kill Israeli, assailants shot dead
JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Palestinian assailants on Wednesday carried out a stabbing attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City, killing one Israeli, before they were shot and killed, Israeli police said. A second Israeli died after apparently being shot mistakenly by police in the confusion.
The attack was the latest in a continuing wave of violence that has gripped the region for more than three months.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the attack happened outside the city’s Jaffa Gate, a popular spot for tourists visiting the Old City, home to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy sites. She said police shot both assailants, who were later identified as Palestinians in their early 20s from the West Bank. One died at the scene and the second later in a hospital.
Three people were seriously wounded in the attack, two of whom later died. A 45-year-old Israel man died from multiple stab wounds, while a 40-year-old man died from gunshot wounds, hospital officials said. Samri had said earlier that one of the wounded may have been shot by police officers who were firing at the Palestinian assailants.
Wave of attacks kills at least 15 civilians across Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of attacks across Iraq killed at least 15 civilians on Wednesday as government forces pressed on with their offensive to dislodge Islamic State militants from a major city west of Baghdad, officials said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, though they bore the hallmarks of the IS, a Sunni militant group that has targeted Iraqi forces, civilians and especially Shiites.
In the Shiite-majority town of Khalis, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the Iraqi capital, two explosives-laden cars were detonated. The first car was parked inside a bus station and that explosion killed three and wounded 10, a police officer said.
The second car bomb exploded at the town’s outdoor grocery market, killing four civilians and wounding eight.
In and around Baghdad, five bombs went off in commercial areas, killing eight civilians and wounding 35, two police officers said. Three medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.
Accusations grow against Russia over Syria civilian killings
BEIRUT (AP) — The three missiles fired on a public market in the northern Syrian town of Ariha took the morning shoppers by surprise. In a few moments, the main street, packed with people buying and selling fruit and vegetables, turned into a scene of carnage with burning cars and the wounded screaming in terror.
At least 34 civilians were killed in the Nov. 29 attack — one in a growing number of suspected Russian attacks that Syrian opposition and rights activists say have killed civilians and caused massive destruction to residential areas across the country since Moscow formally joined the conflict nearly three months ago.
Russian officials have repeatedly rejected the accusations while residents and most opposition activists inside Syria acknowledge they have no way of categorically distinguishing whether planes that carry out a specific attack are operated by Russians or Syrians.
But human rights group say the pattern of attacks suggests Russia is flouting international humanitarian law and that it may even amount to war crimes.