LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“In the past years, we have continually tried to prevent civilian casualties, but the Kunar incident shows this has not been achieved.
The civilian casualties by NATO are continuing.”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai,
discussing an incident in which tribal leaders claim more than 50 civilians were killed Article, this page
Israel warns Hamas over rocket fire
JERUSALEM - Israel’s prime minister said Thursday that his country would not tolerate rocket attacks against its citizens and warned the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers not to test his resolve.
Benjamin Netanyahu issued the threat a day after a Palestinian rocket struck the largest city in southern Israel for the first time since a bruising Israeli military offensive in Gaza two years ago.
In Wednesday night’s attack, a rocket exploded in Beersheba, 20 miles from Gaza, damaging property but causing no casualties. Israel retaliated with airstrikes against Gaza, including one that wounded three Islamic Jihad militants.
Netanyahu said he instructed the military to respond to the attack against Beersheba.
“I wouldn’t suggest anyone test our determination,” he said. “We are determined to protect our citizens and we will not tolerate the bombardment of our cities and our citizens. No country would agree to something like this.”Spy trial set for American in Cuba
HAVANA - An American contractor jailed since December 2009 on accusations of spying will go on trial in Cuba on March 4, U.S. diplomats and state-run Cuban media said Thursday.
Cuban prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term for Alan Gross, a 61-year-old native of Potomac, Md., who was working for a firm contracted by the U.S. Agency for International Development when he was arrested and sent to Havana’s high-security Villa Marista prison.
The U.S. government and Gross’ family say he was distributing communications equipment to the island’s Jewish community when he was arrested. Cuba says he was part of a multimillion-dollar plan to destabilize the government, and charged him with “acts against the integrity and independence” of the country.
Blast during bomb-disposal drill kills 5
MADRID - An explosion at a Spanish military academy killed five soldiers and wounded three others Thursday when a bomb-disposal drill went awry, the Defense Ministry said.
Soldiers getting ready to deploy as peacekeepers with the U.N. mission in south Lebanon were carrying out an exercise involving a controlled detonation of anti-tank mines when the ordnance exploded before the soldiers could move a safe distance away.
“They were preparing to deactivate explosives in Lebanon. They were preparing to save lives in Lebanon when they lost their own,” Defense Minister Carme Chacon said.
Chacon described the explosion as very powerful and said the victims included some of Spain’s top experts in bomb disposal and troops who had just returned from service in Afghanistan, where Spain also has forces deployed.
6 die in 2 missile strikes in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Suspected U.S. missiles hit a house and car in a village in northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border Thursday, killing at least six people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
The strikes occurred within minutes of each other in the North Waziristan region, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to brief the media.
Unmanned drones frequently fire missiles at suspected al-Qaida and Taliban militants on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border. The attacks have emerged as a major weapon in Washington’s campaign against militants who are blamed for attacks in Afghanistan as well as plots against the West.
The officials said three missiles slammed into the house, killing four people. Two people were killed in the strike on the car. They did not identify the victims.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 02/25/2011