At Least 9 Die in Failed Attempt to Free Prisoners from Libyan Prison

TRIPOLI – At least nine people were killed, including six perpetrators and three guards in a failed attempt to storm the prison of Mitiga near the capital Tripoli.

The attack was attributed to the Libyan branch of the Islamic State group.

Spokesman of the task force monitoring the prison, Moaz Khalil told EFE that the six perpetrators, who had explosive belts strapped to their bodies, came out of a nearby mosque and entered the detention center after shooting the doors with RPGs.

Armed clashes took place inside the prison, in which all six attackers were killed as well as three guards, while several other prisoners and police officers were wounded in the incident.

Khalil added that the perpetrators stormed into the prison and made their way to a cell where prisoners accused of committing terrorist attacks were detained.

He said they then provided the prisoners with weapons and grenades in order to secure a way out.

Libya has fallen prey to political chaos and daily violence since the fall of the regime under Muammar Gaddafi in Oct. 2011.

Since then, the Arab country has two parallel governments, one in Tripoli and the other internationally-recognized one in Tobruk, while both are fighting for power and control of natural resources.

‘Day of Rage’ clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces

Iranian VP Ebtekar hopeful of new beginning for Iran

Mayor Rudy Giuliani: We must recognize Iranian Resistance movement

In order to prevent a nuclear-armed regime in Iran and avoid war in the process, the U.S. government should recognize and support the Iranian Resistance which seeks to overthrow the mullahs’ regime, Rudolph W. Giuliani, former mayor of New York, wrote on Friday marking the 14th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

"It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that 9/11 is now simply a part of the nation’s history, like Pearl Harbor. Because there is one big difference. The causes and hatreds that created 9/11 are still with us, and the terrorists have enlisted members who are even more diverse, cunning and determined. The Islamist terrorist war against us continues. This is not a matter of history but of current and future threats," Mr. Giuliani wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

"In the late 1970s, Iran’s theocratic rulers began killing hundreds of thousands of their own people and took American hostages that the regime held for 444 days."

"Now, once again, the terrorist attacks under the banner of jihad are increasing and diversifying. With so many such attacks and thwarted attacks over the past five or six years, we must recognize that 'they'—those who want to destroy civilization—are continuing the war against us."

"Yet those running our government seem to be in an even greater state of denial than the nation was in during the period before Sept. 11. Now, instead of bin Laden, Iran’s supreme ayatollah has declared that he wants to destroy Israel, to continue to kill Americans and to establish an Islamic empire including Iraq, Syria and Yemen—and the terrorist groups Iran supports. At the same time, the group known as Islamic State, or ISIS, has declared a caliphate seeking the destruction of Christianity and other infidels, and now occupies key areas of Iraq and Syria."

"As we reflect on the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we must remind ourselves that all the wickedness underlying those attacks still exists and has expanded. We may very well be in more jeopardy now than before 9/11."

"The Obama administration appears likely to get its nuclear deal with Iran—even though it gives the ayatollahs access to hundreds of millions of dollars that will be used to sponsor terrorist acts against us and our allies, and puts the regime on the road to becoming a nuclear power. The deal makes war, either conventional or nuclear, more likely."

"But there are alternatives to war. The Iranian regime to this very day maintains a two-dimensional approach to us: negotiate with us while maintaining policies on the destruction of Israel, death to Americans and supporting Islamist terrorism. The American leadership should be at least as shrewd, using a two-pronged counter approach: While attempting to reach an agreement assuring a nonnuclear Iran, we should also recognize and support the Iranian resistance movement. It is absurd that we supported regime change in Egypt, a U.S. friend, and regime change in Libya, a neutered country that had abandoned its weapons of mass destruction, and yet have done nothing to support it in Iran," Mr. Giuliani added.

Clashes continue at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

Bolivian Mob Lynches Alleged Attacker

LA PAZ – A man who allegedly tried to murder a taxi driver so he could rob him in the Bolivian city of El Alto was lynched by local residents who came to help the supposed victim, police said.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in the neighborhood of Alto Lima, the destination to which the taxi driver took his presumed passenger, who then tried to stab him to death, the chief of the Special Anti-Crime Force in El Alto, Col. Felix Rocha, told reporters.

“(The driver) asked for the help of residents of the area, who immediately came at his call, (and they) captured and beat the suspect,” Rocha said.

The alleged attacker was taken to a La Paz hospital, where he died on Wednesday morning.

Lynchings of alleged criminals are a frequent occurrence in Bolivia and, as legal experts have warned, they show that a de facto death penalty imposed by angry mobs prevails in the country.

The people involved in the lynch mobs say that they are applying so-called “community (indigenous) justice,” which is recognized in the 2009 Constitution, although the document does not condone or set forth either capital punishment or physical punishment for convicted criminals.

Bolivian authorities and international organizations, such as the United Nations, have expressed their concern over these acts, which the police have been unable to fully suppress, given that many of them occur in rural areas where there are hardly few law enforcement personnel who are willing to confront the furious mobs.

According to human rights defense organizations, there are between 10 and 20 fatal lynchings each year in Bolivia and a greater number of attempts.

Egypt Confirms Death of 8 Mexicans in Security Force Attack

CAIRO - The Egyptian Ministry of Interior confirmed on Tuesday that eight Mexicans were killed in the accidental attack by the security forces on Sunday in the oasis area of the western desert, when a total of 12 people were killed.

Egyptian interior spokesman Ayman Helmy told EFE that the 12 victims included eight Mexican tourists and four Egyptians, while the nine wounded included seven Mexicans.

The injured were admitted to Dar al-Fouad hospital, on the outskirts of Cairo where their condition is currently stable and they are out of danger, according to Egyptian interior spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid and a hospital official.

Egypt's General Tourist Guide Syndicate said on Monday that the death toll among the Mexican group was eight victims, which has now been confirmed by the Mexican government.

Sources close to the victims told EFE that two of the Mexican casualties died of their injuries while being transferred from the oasis area to Cairo.

The victims were on a tourist trip that was accidently attacked by Egyptian security forces during an anti-terror operation, when their convoy was mistaken for a terrorist group.

The Egyptian interior ministry claimed that the tourists were attacked by mistake after they entered a restricted area, while the travel company responsible for the organization of the trip revealed that it had actually obtained the necessary permission from the tourism police.

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Egypt's General Tourist Guide Syndicate stated that the convoy was attacked by a military helicopter according to statements by survivors.

Mexico's Foreign Relations Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu is expected to arrive in Cairo, along with seven members of the victims' families, to meet with Egyptian authorities for clarification regarding the circumstances of the incident and to provide support to the wounded.