Taliban bombers target luxury hotel, 18 dead

The Taliban says suicide attackers entered after killing security guards "The death number may increase," a chief of criminal investigations says "I wrote my little will -- just in case," a hotel guest says after the ordeal

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight suicide bombers attacked Kabul's Hotel Inter-Continental in a brazen, carefully orchestrated operation that began Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday, ending with their deaths and those of 10 others, officials said.

Two police officers are among the dead, according to the Interior Ministry.

"As a result of Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army and Coalition force's fast reaction and by air support of the NATO forces, eight suicide bombers were killed," the ministry said in a statement.

Mohammad Zahir, chief of criminal investigations for Kabul police, said Wednesday morning that casualty figures could rise.

"We are still searching the hotel; the death number may increase," Zahir said. Twelve people were injured, he added.

Interior Minister Bismullah Khan said "the situation is secure."

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, said in an e-mail that the suicide attackers entered the hotel after killing security guards at the entrance.

"One of the suicide attackers told us on the phone that they are in the lobby and chasing guests into their rooms by smashing the doors of the rooms," Mujahid told CNN in an e-mail he sent as the incident was unfolding.

The top of the hotel was ablaze, but flames were gone within a few hours. Smoke continued to rise from the building Wednesday morning.

By dawn, security forces were allowing reporters to approach the hotel, and some guests were seen departing.

Saiz Ahmed, a U.S. citizen in Kabul for a Ph.D. project, was among them. "I'm sure none of us thought we were going to make it," he said after having stayed on the floor of his darkened bedroom for more than five hours listening to gunfire and occasional bomb blasts. "I wrote my little will -- just in case."

The Taliban penetrated the hotel's typically heavy security in the attack, and one of them detonated an explosion on the second floor, said Erin Cunningham, a journalist for The Daily in Kabul.

Rocket-propelled grenades were launched from the roof of the hotel toward the first vice president's house. A few moments later, the hotel was rocked by three explosions, one of which knocked her off her feet, Cunningham said. U.S. forces were on the scene, she added.

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At about 2 a.m., four hours after the attack began, International Security Assistance Force helicopters fired at insurgents on the roof, killing as many as three of the gunmen, ISAF spokesman Maj. Tim James told CNN.

An hour later, ISAF said the Afghan security forces had cleared the roof and were clearing the rest of the hotel.

At 4 a.m., police believed that all the attackers were dead, "but one was alive and hidden and he started to resist" and continued to do so until 6:20 a.m., Zahir said.

At least one of the attackers detonated his explosives, said Afghan Lt. Gen. Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, the city's chief of police.

There were no indications that U.S. military or diplomatic personnel were at the hotel, U.S. officials told CNN.

A news conference had been scheduled to take place in Kabul on Wednesday to discuss the planned transition of security from international to Afghan forces that U.S. President Barack Obama announced last week. Obama was briefed on the attack while en route back to Washington from Iowa, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

Members of the Afghan National Security Forces were on the scene, but the city police had the lead, ISAF Maj. Jason Waggoner said in a statement. Waggoner said ISAF forces provided "some limited assistance."

The United States condemned the attack on the hotel, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland saying it "once again demonstrates the terrorists' complete disregard for human life."

The hotel was developed by the InterContinental Hotels Group and opened in 1969. But it has had no association with the group since the Soviet invasion in 1979, though it continues to use the name and logo without connection to the parent company.

The incident came on the same day that Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell announced that NATO and other members of the international community involved in Afghanistan have decided to increase the number of security forces in the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to 352,000.

The current number of Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police is about 300,000, the commander of the NATO training mission in Afghanistan and commanding general of the Combined Security Transition Command told the Atlanta Press Club.

The increased number will be sufficient to give the Afghans security without coalition forces having to do it, he said.

Tuesday's attack recalls a November 2008 assault on luxury hotels in Mumbai, India, which left more than 160 dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen who launched the attacks.

Officials said the gunmen targeted the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal hotels for their popularity with international travelers and tourists. The Taj Mahal was set afire.

The three-day stand-off between gunmen and police ended with the capture of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunman. Kasab was sentenced to death in 2010 and is awaiting an appeal of the decision to the Supreme Court in New Delhi. India says Kasab has told investigators that he and the others were trained for more than a year in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a banned Islamic militant group.

CNN's Reza Sayah in Islamabad, Pakistan; Matiullah Mati in Kabul, Afghanistan; Tom Watkins in Atlanta; Barbara Starr, Larry Shaughnessy and Elise Labott in Washington; and journalist Jonathan Boone in Kabul contributed to this report.

CNN

Hackers target Arizona law enforcement

The hacker group Lulzsec recently hacked into PBS' website, leaving this message to visitors.The group says they released the documents in response to Arizona immigration lawThe group releases numerous documents on ThursdayA law enforcement official says the release put officers and their families in harm's way

(CNN) -- The hacker group LulzSec has alarmed police in Arizona this week after releasing sensitive information about officers.

The group said they posted the information in response to Arizona's controversial immigration law.

"We are releasing hundreds of private intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords belonging to Arizona law enforcement," the group said in a statement. "We are targeting AZDPS (Arizona Department of Public Safety) specifically because we are against SB 1070 and the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona."

The Arizona Highway Patrol Association said the release of the documents is unsafe for officers.

"Law enforcement officials go to many lengths to protect their identities," states Jimmy Chavez, president of the organization "These individuals maliciously released confidential information knowing the safety of DPS employees, and their families, would be compromised."

The controversial bill, Arizona Senate Bill 1070, passed last year but was quickly challenged in court by the Justice Department. The measure would have required local police, while enforcing other laws, to question the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being undocumented.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit placed an injunction on parts of the measure in April saying that those parts overstepped Arizona's authority.

In its lawsuit, the Justice Department challenged only six of the Arizona law's provisions, meaning others went into effect in July.

Among the provisions given the go-ahead were a ban on "sanctuary cities," or municipalities with laws or policies that render them relatively safe for undocumented immigrants. A provision making it illegal to hire day laborers if doing so impedes traffic and a provision dealing with sanctions for employers who hire illegal immigrants also went into effect.

CNN's Anna Rhett Miller and Alta Spells contributed to this report

CNN

Candidacy of Senegal's Wade now critics' target (Reuters)

By David Lewis and Diadie Ba DAKAR (Reuters) - Having forced a dramatic U-turn over constitutional changes, the rivals and critics of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade are set to intensify their campaign to block him from standing in next year's election. David Lewis And Diadie Ba Dakar (reuters) - Having Forced A Dramatic U-turn Over Constitutional Changes, The Rivals And Critics Of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade Are Set To Intensify Their Campaign To Block Him From Standing In Next Year's Election. – 13 mins ago

The capital Dakar was calm on Friday after violent street protests on Thursday had forced Wade to abandon proposed changes to the election law that appeared designed to smooth his path to re-election in February 2012.

The protests, which injured more than 100, has energized his vocal but mostly disorganized opponents, and may herald a turbulent run-up to the election in a country that has been spared the strife of many others in West Africa.

"The battle that was won does not put an end to our fight to restore law and order ... and legitimacy," the leaders of the campaign group "Don't touch my constitution!," which had led the protests, said in a statement.

"One last battle remains: to make sure ... Wade does not try and impose his candidacy in 2012. This would be illegal, illegitimate, inopportune and dangerous for the stability of Senegal and the sub-region."

After years in opposition, Wade came to power in 2000 and is coming to the end of his second term. His supporters argue that constitutional changes in 2001 mean that the first term did not count, so he is eligible to stand in next year's poll.

This, and the proposed changes to the election law, have angered many in a country that has enjoyed decades of peace. But basic services like water and electricity remain poor in sprawling neighborhoods, while an elite appear to prosper.

"The people have taken back power" read a headline on Friday in the daily newspaper Le Populaire.

In an editorial headlined "The end of a myth," private newspaper Walfadjiri said Thursday's protests marked a sea change and were an unprecedented show of anger against the president.

"(Wade) can no longer count on the apathy of the armchair opponents to modify the laws of the country as he wishes," the newspaper said.

The Benno Siggil Senegal opposition coalition, which has long struggled to build a united position against Wade, says it is going to insist Wade does not stand in next year's poll.

DISAPPOINTING DESPITE PROMISE

Over the last decade, Senegal has become an increasingly important regional hub for business and international organisations. It has a eurobond and is a strategic partner for Western nations in a turbulent region.

J. Peter Pham, director of the U.S.-based Michael S. Ansari Africa Center think tank, said Wade had disappointed after coming to power with "extraordinary promise."

"His stubbornness and rather blatant attempt to foist a dynasty on the Senegalese people may well prove the ruination of a wonderful country if he gets the third term that he himself declared unconstitutional just a few years ago," Pham said.

Aside from trying to reduce from 50 to 25 percent the minimum needed to win in the first round, Wade had sought to introduce the role of vice president, which critics said might have been filled by his powerful and unpopular son, Karim.

Top donors the EU and the U.S. issued public statements of concern this week over the planned constitutional changes, saying they needed broader public debate.

A senior international business executive said firms were watching the situation closely, especially in the context of uprisings in North Africa.

"It is business as usual today ... But things could get nasty if (the opposition) pushes on that (Wade's candidacy)."

(Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Robert Woodward)

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Hackers target AZ law enforcement

The hacker group Lulzsec recently hacked into PBS' website, leaving this message to visitors.The group says they released the documents in response to Arizona immigration lawThe group releases numerous documents on ThursdayA law enforcement official says the release put officers and their families in harm's way

(CNN) -- The hacker group LulzSec has alarmed police in Arizona this week after releasing sensitive information about officers.

The group said they posted the information in response to Arizona's controversial immigration law.

"We are releasing hundreds of private intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords belonging to Arizona law enforcement," the group said in a statement. "We are targeting AZDPS (Arizona Department of Public Safety) specifically because we are against SB 1070 and the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona."

The Arizona Highway Patrol Association said the release of the documents is unsafe for officers.

"Law enforcement officials go to many lengths to protect their identities," states Jimmy Chavez, president of the organization "These individuals maliciously released confidential information knowing the safety of DPS employees, and their families, would be compromised."

The controversial bill, Arizona Senate Bill 1070, passed last year but was quickly challenged in court by the Justice Department. The measure would have required local police, while enforcing other laws, to question the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being undocumented.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit placed an injunction on parts of the measure in April saying that those parts overstepped Arizona's authority.

In its lawsuit, the Justice Department challenged only six of the Arizona law's provisions, meaning others went into effect in July.

Among the provisions given the go-ahead were a ban on "sanctuary cities," or municipalities with laws or policies that render them relatively safe for undocumented immigrants. A provision making it illegal to hire day laborers if doing so impedes traffic and a provision dealing with sanctions for employers who hire illegal immigrants also went into effect.

CNN's Anna Rhett Miller and Alta Spells contributed to this report

CNN

Assad's tycoon cousin, target of protesters, quits (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of President Bashar al-Assad and focus of anti-corruption protests, is quitting business, state media said, in a major concession to demonstrations against Assad's rule.

The announcement came on the eve of weekly Muslim prayers, which have usually witnessed the biggest protests and the heaviest bloodshed of the three-month unrest, and as army units circled two restive towns in the north of the country.

Makhlouf controls several businesses including Syria's largest mobile phone operator, duty free shops, an oil concession, airline company and hotel and construction concerns, and shares in at least one bank.

He has been subject to U.S. sanctions since 2007 for what Washington calls public corruption, as well as EU sanctions imposed in May, but repeatedly maintained he was a legitimate businessman whose firms employ thousands of Syrians.

A childhood friend of Assad's who expanded his business since the president assumed power 11 years ago, Makhlouf will channel his wealth into charity and development projects, according to state media.

"As for his businesses, they will be directed so that they ... create jobs and support the national economy. He will not enter into any new project that (brings) him personal gain," Syrian television said.

State news agency SANA quoted Makhlouf as saying he will put his 40 percent holding in Syriatel, up for sale in an initial public offering, with profits allocated to humanitarian work and families of those killed in the unrest.

Syrian rights groups say 1,300 civilians and more than 300 soldiers and police have been killed since the protests broke out in March against 41 years of rule by the Assad family.

UN APPEAL

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had spoken to Assad and urged him to halt the violence.

"I again strongly urge President Assad to stop killing people and engage in inclusive dialogue and take bold measures before it's too late," Ban told reporters in Brazil.

Syrian forces, which retook the rebellious town of Jisr al-Shughour near the Turkish border on Sunday, have circled two nearby towns on the main north-south road linking Damascus with the second city of Aleppo.

Army units "have deployed near Khan Sheikhoun and Maarat al-Numaan to ensure the safety" of the highway, SANA said.

Thousands of refugees have fled into neighbouring Turkey, many of them from Jisr al-Shughour, but residents have also reported an exodus from Maarat al-Numaan in anticipation of an army assault there.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held talks with a Syrian envoy in which he called on Damascus to end the violent crackdown and pass democratic reforms.

"Yesterday I clearly saw the fear in the eyes of the people," Davutoglu said in Ankara, a day after he visited a border camp in Yayladagi, about 20 km from Jisr al-Shughour, and talked to refugees.

Syria says thousands of people have returned to Jisr al-Shughour. But Turkish officials said 8,900 Syrians, many from that town, were still in Turkey. Activists say another 10,000 have been sheltering by the border just inside Syria.

"We are hearing that they are calling for people to return, but we know that we will die if we go back," said a refugee on the Turkish side of the border who gave his name as Ahmed.

Activists said the announcement of Makhlouf stepping down would not put a halt to the protests unless it was part of a wider package of reform.

The Local Coordination Committees said that nightly demonstrations, aimed at circumventing heavy daytime security, continued across Syria, including in the Damascus district of Qaboun, Dael in the southern province of Deraa, Deir al-Zor in the east of the country and Homs to the north of Damascus.

(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Syrian security, helicopters target protesters

Yayladagi, Turkey (CNN) -- Syrian security forces and helicopters sprayed automatic weapons fire into a crowd of thousands of protesters demonstrating Friday after prayers in the northern town of Maaret al-Nouman, witnesses said.

At least four men were killed, activist Fadi Moustafa Sufi said.

An activist who has provided CNN with reliable information in the past said the crowd numbered in the tens of thousands when security forces on the streets and an attack helicopter aloft opened fire.

Some demonstrators used their personal weapons, including hunting rifles and AK-47s, to detain a number of members of the security forces when they ran out of ammunition, said the activist, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. He did not say that demonstrators exchanged fire with the security forces.

Citing the intensity of the gunfire from the security forces, the activist predicted the death toll would rise.

CNN cannot independently confirm the activist's report.

Another of the demonstrators, activist Yusuf Mohamed Ali Hassan, said he was shot in the right thigh by machine-gun fire from a helicopter.

"I'm at a friend's house getting treatment secretly from a doctor," Ali Hassan told CNN by telephone. "I didn't go to the hospital because I don't trust the hospitals."

The violence in Maaret al-Nouman erupted Friday after Syrian state television announced that the military had launched an operation to retake the nearby rebellious northern border town of Jisr Al-Shugur.

Meanwhile, Syrian refugees and opposition activists who had fled the town fearing a government attack said they heard tanks firing as they advanced through villages while approaching Jisr Al-Shugur.

"In response to the appeal from the families, units of the Syrian military began implementing its function to restore security in Jisr Al-Shugur and surrounding villages and arresting a number of militants," Syrian state TV announced Friday morning in a banner.

"They are attacking the village of Sirmaniya with tanks," opposition activist Ali Hassan said in a phone call to CNN earlier in the day, referring to a village less than 10 kilometers southwest of Jisr Al-Shugur.

This comes as anti-government demonstrators embarked on protests across the country, which has been engulfed in conflict between activists opposing the Bashar al-Assad regime and government forces working to clamp down on the outpourings.

Every Friday for weeks, anti-government marches have been organized after Muslim prayers. Friday's expression of discontent was dubbed "the Friday of kinship," denoting that all Syrians are part of one family.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 15 people have been killed in various locations, including Maaret al-Nouman.

From a hilltop near Sirmaniya, Ali Hassan said he saw black smoke rising from the village and heard tank cannon firing several times a minute.

The military advance spread panic throughout the civilian population. Residents say they had evacuated women and children from Jisr Al-Shugur in recent days. More than 3,800 Syrians have fled to Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia agency reported, and humanitarian workers feared many more were on the way.

"My family called (from Jisr Al-Shugur) and told me not to go back," said a 27-year-old man named Ali who had fled his hometown and was camped out along the border with Turkey.

The Syrian government announced it would punish Jisr Al-Shugur after it accused "armed groups" of killing at least 120 security forces there several days ago.

Refugees have disputed that claim. They say some soldiers rebelled after being ordered to open fire on unarmed protesters and started fighting among themselves instead.

Ali Hassan, the opposition activist, smuggled himself across the border to the Turkish village of Guvecci to speak Thursday night with journalists. CNN has been denied permission to report inside Syria.

Ali Hassan showed a video he said he had shot on his cell phone. It showed a column of thousands of unarmed male protesters walking near the town of Jabal al Zawiya, roughly 30 kilometers from Jisr Al-Shugur, on June 3.

Suddenly, long bursts of gunfire rang out, sending the demonstrators running and screaming for cover.

"This was a peaceful protest. The security forces started shooting at the people," Ali Hassan said. "They were 50 meters away from us. They were security officers wearing military uniforms. Some of them had beards and they didn't even speak Arabic."

Ali Hassan denied Syrian government accusations that the protesters were armed.

"I challenge anyone who says the protesters had guns or weapons," Ali Hassan said. "Nobody even carries a knife. I'm responsible for searching people who are going to demonstrate. Even if they have a wooden stick, we don't let them carry it."

Others making it over the border imparted similarly harrowing tales. One protester, shot last month in the leg and arm by Syrian security forces, was being treated at a hospital in Turkey. He said the security personnel opened fire at a peaceful protest one Friday and caused many casualties.

"We are oppressed and we want our freedom," said the 23-year-old protester, who didn't want to be named for security reasons.

A Syrian military officer said he and other troops defected because of the "massacre of the people of Syria."

"Our current mission is to protect unarmed protesters who are asking for freedom and democracy," he said.

The ongoing bloodshed in Syria is putting its neighbor and close trade partner Turkey in an increasingly uncomfortable position. On Thursday night, Turkey's prime minister, a political ally of the Syrian president, warned "we cannot keep supporting Syria in the face of all these developments."

Speaking on Turkey's ATV channel just three days before his party competes in parliamentary elections, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he spoke four or five days ago with Assad.

"I explained this situation very clearly," he said. "Despite this, they take these matters very lightly.

"Syria is almost like an internal affair (for Turkey). We have an 800- to 900-kilometer border. We cannot close our doors to those who run for their lives and want to take shelter in Turkey."

He added, "How long can this continue?"

On Friday afternoon, at a refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Yayladagi, Syrian families chanted "down with the regime" and "thank you, Erdogan."

One man approached the fence of the abandoned tobacco factory where more than 1,500 refugees were being held and broke the rules imposed by the Turkish authorities to speak to CNN. He was crying and said all of his brothers were killed Friday at the protest in Maaret al-Nouman.

"We are protesting because of the massacre in Maaret al-Nouman," another man said.

A third man announced he would go on a hunger strike until the Assad regime collapses. Turkish police then shooed them away from the fence and the journalists.

Journalist Rasha Qass Yousef and CNN's Joe Duran and Arwa Damon contributed to this report

CNN

NATO official: Gadhafi a legitimate target

NATO has been ramping up pressure on the regime of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.U.N. resolution applies to Gadhafi in his capacity as head of military, official saysNATO last weekend employed helicopters against Gadhafi's military assetsBombing began March 31 under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians during the fightingThe resolution said forces could use "all necessary measures" to protect civiliansWatch "AC360" from 10 p.m. to midnight ET. Join the live chat now.

(CNN) -- A U.N. resolution justifies the targeting of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a senior NATO military official with operational knowledge of the Libya mission told CNN Thursday.

Asked by CNN whether Gadhafi was being targeted, the NATO official declined to give a direct answer. The resolution applies to Gadhafi because, as head of the military, he is part of the control and command structure and therefore a legitimate target, the official said.

NATO has been ramping up pressure on the regime, employing helicopters last weekend for the first time against Gadhafi's forces. Explosions are heard often in Tripoli, evidence of allied air strikes.

NATO began bombing Libya on March 31, under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians who have been targeted by Gadhafi's military.

Resolution 1973 said allied forces could use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday it is time to start planning for what to do in Libya after Gadhafi's departure "because Gadhafi's reign of terror is coming to an end."

In statement broadcast on state media, Gadhafi vowed a day before that "we will not surrender," even as NATO airstrikes bombarded his compound in Tripoli.

NATO recently announced its decision to extend its mission in Libya by 90 days.

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Fresh series of NATO strikes target Tripoli (AP)

TRIPOLI, Libya – A series of at least 10 NATO strikes hit in and around the Libyan capital early on Friday, targeting military barracks close to Gadhafi's sprawling compound in central Tripoli, a police station and a military base, a government official said. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

The strikes appeared to be the heaviest in Tripoli since South African President Jacob Zuma visited Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in the capital earlier this week in an apparently unsuccessful effort to find a peaceful resolution to the country's crisis.

Meanwhile, a Libyan woman who claimed she was gang-raped by Gadhafi's troops was deported from Qatar where she had sought refuge, and was now in Benghazi, a U.N. official said Thursday.

Imad al-Obeidi's sudden expulsion cast light again on one of the most widely covered incidents of alleged abuses by Gadhafi's forces as NATO continues its relentless nightly bombing raids on Libyan military and security bases, backing rebels who are trying to unseat the Libyan strongman after a four-decade dictatorship.

In March, al-Obeidi rushed into Tripoli's Rixos Hotel where all foreign correspondents are forced to stay while covering the part of Libya under Gadhafi's control, and shouted out her story of being stopped at a a checkpoint, dragged away and gang-raped by soldiers. As she spoke emotionally and as photographers and reporters recorded her words, government minders, whose job is to escort reporters around the area, jumped her and dragged her away.

She disappeared for several days, then turned up in Tunisia and later Qatar. She was heard from little until Thursday, when she was suddenly expelled from Qatar and ended up in Benghazi, the Libyan rebels' de facto capital. No explanation was forthcoming from Qatar.

Rebel spokesman Jalal el-Gallal said al-Obeidi arrived in Benghazi by plane. "She's welcome to stay, this is her country," el-Gallal told The Associated Press.

The U.N. refugee agency's Sybella Wilkes said al-Obeidi should have been allowed to stay in Qatar, and her deportation runs contrary to international law. Al-Obeidi "is a recognized refugee, and we don't consider there is any good reason for her deportation," Wilkes told the AP.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. was "monitoring the situation" and working to ensure al-Obeidi's safety.

"We're concerned for her safety, given all that's happened to her. And we're going to work to make sure that she's kept safe, first and foremost, and that she finds appropriate asylum," Toner told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Libyan authorities have alternately labeled al-Obeidi a drunk, a prostitute and a thief.

Al-Obeidi has maintained that she was targeted by Gadhafi's troops because she is from Benghazi, the rebel stronghold. Her rape claim could not be independently verified. The Associated Press identifies only rape victims who volunteer their names.

Human rights violations are one aspect of the rebels' complaints against the Gadhafi regime. This week a report by a U.N. body said it found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Gadhafi's government, and also charged that the rebels have committed abuses.

Four of the early morning blasts Friday shook central Tripoli, targeting an area where military barracks are located, said a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. Those barracks, which had been hit in the past, are close to Gadhafi's sprawling compound.

Six earlier strikes targeted a police station and a military base outside the capital in the areas of Hera and Aziziya, said the official.

The conflict in Libya is nearly four months along, but the situation on the ground appears mostly stalemated. NATO airstrikes have kept the outgunned rebels from being overrun, but the rebels have been unable to mount an effective offensive against Gadhafi's better equipped armed forces.

Gadhafi's regime has been slowly crumbling from within. A significant number of army officers and several Cabinet ministers have defected, and most have expressed support for the opposition, but Gadhafi's hold on power shows little sign of loosening.

NATO warplanes bomb targets in Tripoli, including Gadhafi's sprawling Bab al-Aziziya residential and command compound, on a nightly basis.

Gadhafi has been seen in public rarely and heard even less frequently since a NATO airstrike on his compound killed one of his sons on April 30. Questions are arising about the physical and mental state of the 69-year-old dictator, who has ruled Libya since 1969.

Rebels have turned down initiatives calling for cease-fires, insisting that Gadhafi and his sons must relinquish power and leave the country.

___

Additional reporting by Associated Press writer Hadeel al-Shalchi.

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U.S. sanctions target Syrian president and Iranians

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is the target of U.S. sanctions.Six senior Syrian officials are targeted by the sanctionsTwo Iranian Quds Force commanders are also designatedThe move is an effort to stop Syria's fierce crackdown on protesters

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama Wednesday imposed tough sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other senior Syrian officials in an effort to stop the regime's fierce crackdown on protests, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

The sanctions also target two top Iranian officials whose unit was a "conduit for Iranian material support" to Syrian intelligence, according to a copy of the executive order issued by the White House.

Obama signed the order Wednesday, a move a senior administration official described as a "decisive step to increase pressure" on the Syrian government to end violence, intimidation and pressure "and begin transitioning to a democratic" process.

Condemning Syria's use of violence and intimidation against its people, the official said al-Assad "must put an end to the attacks on protesters, mass arrests and harassment" of citizens expressing rights and "must begin to introduce change."

The Syrian government has launched a clampdown on peaceful demonstrators since mid-March. The United Nations last week said as many as 850 people have died in the protests, and there have been thousands of arrests.

Along with al-Assad, the other senior Syrian officials are Vice President Farouk al-Shara, Prime Minister Adel Safar, Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, Defense Minister Ali Habib Mahmoud, head of Syrian Military Intelligence Abdul Fatah Qudsiya and Political Security Directorate chief Mohammed Dib Zaitoun.

"As a result of this action, any property in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons in which the individuals listed in the Annex have an interest is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them," the Treasury Department said in a statement detailing the steps.

The senior administration official said it's too early to estimate how much will be frozen.

"As I am sure you know, when we take actions obligatory for institutions to freeze, many institutions around the world might" do the same thing, the official said. "Amplifications around that may be significant."

Treasury also announced the designation of 10 individuals and entities under an executive order signed by Obama on April 29.

It targets Syrian officials and others "responsible for human rights abuses, including repression against the Syrian people, as well as a set of companies tied to Syrian corruption."

One is Hafiz Makhluf, a cousin of al-Assad and a senior official in the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, the overarching civilian intelligence service in Syria.

"Makhluf was given a leading role in responding to protests in Syria, and was heavily involved in the Syrian regime's actions" in the city of Daraa, the official said, where many protesters have been killed.

Deaths mount in Syrian town

Also designated were two Iranians: Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, which is called "the conduit for Iranian material support" to the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, and the other is Mohsen Chizari, a senior IRGC-QF officer who serves as its commander of operations and training.

"It is a completely hypocritical act" of the Iranian government and the Quds force to "lend assistance in oppression" against those expressing human rights, the senior official said. "It is something we are concerned about," the official added.

Other agencies designated are the Syrian Military Intelligence, the Syrian National Security Bureau, which is an element of the ruling Baath party; and Syrian Air Force Intelligence.

All are said to be involved in the actions against demonstrators.

Air Force Intelligence personnel allegedly "fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse crowds of demonstrators" in late April after noon prayers, the Treasury Department said. At least 43 people were killed.

CNN's Elise Labott and Adam Levine contributed to this report

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NATO insists Gadhafi not target of airstrikes

WASHINGTON — NATO officials insisted Sunday that an airstrike that may have killed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son was aimed at destroying a military control center, not an assassination attempt.

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An image grab taken from Libyan state television shows Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Arab Kadhafi, who was killed in an air raid in Tripoli.

AFP/Getty Images

An image grab taken from Libyan state television shows Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Arab Kadhafi, who was killed in an air raid in Tripoli.

Saturday's attack in a Tripoli neighborhood killed Gadhafi's son and three of his grandsons, according to the Libyan government. Gadhafi himself escaped unharmed, it said.

NATO, in a statement, called the target of the airstrike "a known command-and-control building." The top NATO commander of the air war in Libya, Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, said reports about the deaths of Gadhafi's son and grandson had not been confirmed and added that NATO "does not target individuals."

"All NATO's targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Gadhafi regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas," Bouchard said in a statement.

NATO has been frustrated by Gadhafi's commingling of military communication sites in residential areas, Stephen Flanagan, a military strategy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Sunday. The attack may have been an attempt to show the Gadhafi regime that the allies are willing to root out its remaining command posts.

"It's a murky game at this point, but I don't think this is part of a direct effort to hunt down Gadhafi," Flanagan said.

The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain of Arizona, defended the airstrikes in Libya on CBS' Face the Nation. He called on President Obama to put U.S. warplanes back in the forefront of the fight. U.S. forces led the initial attacks to destroy Libyan air defense but since then have taken on a support role. U.S. aircraft primarily fly intelligence, refueling and communications-jamming missions.

"We should be taking out his command and control," McCain said. "And if he is killed or injured because of that, that's fine. But we ought to have a strategy to help the rebels succeed and overthrow Qadhafi and everybody associated with him."

Meanwhile, the Russian government on Sunday criticized the attack for going beyond the United Nations authorization for the NATO-led alliance to protect Libyan civilians from attack . Gadhafi sought to quash an armed rebellion that began in February, part of a broad uprising in the Middle East against authoritarian governments. Russia abstained from voting on the authorization in March.

On Sunday, the Russian foreign ministry accused NATO of using disproportionate force, blamed it for civilian deaths and called for a cease fire. Russian complaints, Flanagan said, probably stem from its concerns that a Western alliance might interfere with its interests closer to its borders. "They don't have any particular love for Gadhafi," he said.

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Action Drama Human Target

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Human Target is an action drama series that made its debut on television in the year 2009 and has gained popularity all over the world. It is based on the comic book series with the same name that were developed by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino for DC Comic. The program is based loosely on that. The series revolves around the life of Christopher Chance played by Mark Valley, who resides in San Francisco and works as a private contractor, a bodyguard and a security expert. He is hired to protect his high profile clients. He protects his clients in a very unique way by adopting his life and becoming an integrated part of their life, he acts like a human target for those who intend to murder his client. He workds with his business partner Winston portrayed by Chi McBride and has another coworker Guerrero played by Jackie Earle Haley who is his personal gunman. A former client Ilsa Pucci played by Indira Varma is Chance’s benefactor. A thief Ames played by Janet Montgomery who is a part of their team. Chance is a very secretive character and nobody in the series knows the reason why he puts his life on the line so often. The show has been a huge success and is watched by people around the globe.

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