KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas Monday called on the world's Muslims to unite and wage war against Israel in response to its air strikes that have killed more than 300 Palestinians in Gaza.
The Taliban, who lead an insurgency against the Afghan government and the Western forces backing it, also chided the United States and some European nations for not condemning the attacks, launched after a six-month cease-fire between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas expired.
"We expect that the Islamic Umah to throw aside the wings of negligence, rise up and wage ... jihad and practically help the Muslims of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan," the Taliban said in a statement on the group's website.
The al Qaeda-backed Taliban, toppled from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, are most active in southern and eastern Afghanistan, but have managed to spread their attacks to other parts of the country, including Kabul, since regrouping in 2005.
The Islamist group has vowed to drive out the nearly 70,000 foreign troops serving under NATO and the U.S. military's command in Afghanistan.
Earlier, the Afghan foreign ministry condemned Israel's attacks and demanded an immediate end to hostilities in Gaza.
Separately, a group of Afghans held a protest against the strikes in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif Monday, residents said.
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Since militants killed 179 people in an assault on Mumbai, India has withstood internal pressure to unleash a military attack on Pakistan soil.
Internal dynamics and diplomatic responses are still evolving since the November 26-29 attack. With relations fraught between rivals who have fought three wars, here is a look at some scenarios that could unfold.
WAR
Highly improbable. No one, except the militants, would want it. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee says India is keeping all options open, comments the Indian media have widely interpreted to mean that a military response is still possible. But he has also said that war "is no solution" and accused Pakistan of creating "war hysteria" to deflect blame.
Tensions flared when Pakistan accused Indian warplanes of air space violations on December 13 and said its own fighter jets were scrambled. India denies any incursion. Pakistan has canceled army leave and shifted some troops from its western border with Afghanistan to the eastern border with India.
The two countries went to the brink of war in 2002 after Pakistani jihadi groups attacked the Indian parliament in 2001, but ultimately the risk of nuclear conflict made it a crazy option. Any kind of Indian military action is likely to provoke retaliation, either from jihadis or worse the Pakistani military. India's strength lies in its ability to win global diplomatic support to pressure Pakistan to clean its house of jihadis.
DHAKA (AFP) — Bangladeshis voted in their droves on Monday in elections that marked the end of two years of emergency rule, with a pair of rival former prime ministers vying to reclaim power in the impoverished nation.
Amid tight security, the first polls since 2001 saw a turnout as high as 70 percent, with none of the violence that forced the last scheduled vote to be cancelled and an army-backed interim government take control.
Long queues snaked outside voting stations all day as hundreds of thousands of police and troops stood ready to avert clashes between party activists or any attacks by Islamic extremists.
Despite efforts by the caretaker regime to shake up a political system seen as deeply corrupt, the two leading candidates were former prime ministers who ruled alternately since 1991 and whose mutual hatred has paralysed the country.
Sheikh Hasina Wajed
of the Awami League and Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), wooed voters with promises of cheap food, action against Islamic militancy and curbs on corruption.
The women, who were themselves jailed on corruption charges by the current regime before being released to contest the elections , warned of voter fraud but said they would not challenge the result.
After voting in the capital Dhaka, Sheikh Hasina questioned how some ballot papers had been distributed but insisted, "I want the election to take place peacefully. Whatever the result is, we all should accept it."
Zia appeared confident of victory. "If a free and fair election takes place today, we will win with a landslide victory like the 2001 election," she said.
With counting under way, analysts said the result was uncertain as a third of the 81 million electorate was voting for the first time.
There were also concerns that a smooth transfer of power could prove difficult if no clear winner emerged. Final results were due after midnight (1800 GMT Monday).
Some 50,000 armed troops were on alert nationwide during voting, while 600,000 police officers were deployed to crack down on fraud or disruptions at the 35,000 polling booths.
But a UN-funded digital electoral roll, which has eliminated 12.7 million fake names, appeared to have resolved many of the problems that have hit previous Bangladesh elections.
At one polling station in Dhaka, voters lined up with their new photograph ID cards in hand.
"I'm a first-time voter and the atmosphere couldn't be any better," Mamun Howlader, a 21-year-old mechanic, told AFP.
"There's a festive atmosphere. It's fun."
Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former banker who has run Bangladesh under the interim administration, said the polls would "bring back power to an elected government and the country can prosper."
Police captured two dozen militants in recent days and seized explosives, grenades and bombs, but campaigning and voting was otherwise free of the widespread unrest witnessed previously.
In one of the few incidents reported Monday, 12 people were injured in a brawl between rival supporters outside a polling booth in the south.
