Israel Says Hezbollah Has Capability to Hit Major Cities

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has significantly expanded its ability to strike deep into Israel with rockets that can now reach the Jewish state's largest cities, and now possesses tens of thousands of projectiles, Israel's army chief said Tuesday. The remarks by Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi were the first official assessment of the guerrilla group's capabilities since Israel seized a ship last week carrying weapons allegedly destined for Hezbollah. Ashkenazi indicated that the arms bust had little effect in stopping what Israel says has been a massive arms buildup by the Iranian-backed militia since the sides fought a bitter monthlong war in 2006. An official said that Ashkenazi told lawmakers Tuesday that some of the rockets can fly up to 200 miles (325 kilometers). That would put Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as well as Israel's nuclear reactor in the southern desert, within rocket range. Alternatively, the official said, Hezbollah could pound Israeli towns and cities closer to the border from positions north of the Litani River, outside the area of south Lebanon policed by U.N. peacekeepers. Ashkenazi was briefing the Israeli parliament's influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

Afghan Insurgents Seen on TV With U.S. Ammo

Television footage broadcast Tuesday showed insurgents handling what appears to be U.S. ammunition in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan that American forces left last month following a deadly firefight that killed eight troops. The U.S. military said the forces that left the area said they removed and accounted for their equipment. The Al-Jazeera broadcast video showed insurgents handling weapons, including anti-personnel mines with U.S. markings on them, but it was unclear when the video had been filmed. The television station reported that insurgents said they seized the weapons from two U.S. remote outposts in Nuristan province. The ammunition could be used against U.S. and Afghan forces, although the amount shown was not extensive. However, the footage will no doubt be used by insurgent propagandists to promote their "victory" over the Americans and encourage their supporters. Separately, NATO officials said international forces and the Afghan National Police seized 5,000 components used in roadside bombs and 250 tons ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which is often used in making explosives. Fifteen people were detained in Sunday's raid on a warehouse in Kandahar. Another 4,000 100-pound bags of fertilizer were found in a nearby compound. NATO also said a U.S. troop was killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in Helmand province, but provided no other details. Nuristan was the site of an Oct. 3 battle in which some 200 fighters bombarded a joint U.S.-Afghan army outpost with small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells. Eight U.S. troops died — as well as three Afghan soldiers — in one of the heaviest losses of U.S. life in a single battle since the war began. Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a spokesman for NATO forces, said the material in the footage "appears to be U.S. equipment." He said it was unclear how the insurgents got the weapons. "It's debatable whether they got them from that location," Vician said, referring to the mountainous Kamdesh district of Nuristan where the nearly six-hour battle took place. But Gen. Mohammad Qassim Jangulbagh, provincial police chief in Nuristan, said, "The Americans left ammunition at the base."

Saudi 'to keep up Houthi offensive'

Saudi Arabia will continue its air strikes against Yemeni rebels until they pull back from the two countries' border, the kingdom's deputy defence minister has warned. Prince Khaled bin Sultan pledged to keep up a military offensive against the Houthi rebels on Tuesday, as he visited Saudi troops in the kingdom's southwest Jizan province, the AFP news agency reported. "We are not going to stop the bombing until the Houthis retreat tens of kilometres inside their border," he said. His comments came as the rebels announced they had taken control of more territory on the border with Saudi Arabia, heightening concerns about growing instability in the region. The fighters released a statement on Tuesday, saying: "Full control was taken last night over Qatabar directorate and control of all supplies and ammunition as well as buildings and other military sites." Yemeni officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

North, South Korea Navies trade fire before Obama visit

The two Koreas had a brief naval skirmish in Yellow Sea waters on Tuesday but there were no casualties in the incident that came just ahead of a visit to Asia by US President Barack Obama, South Korea's defence ministry said. North Korea has been seeking direct talks with the Obama administration while riling the global powers by last week saying it had produced more arms-grade plutonium. The United States will announce in the next several days whether it will start direct talks with North Korea amid signs Pyongyang may be ready to return to broader nuclear disarmament negotiations, a US official said on Monday. The North's sabre rattling is often seen by analysts as a bargaining ploy to increase its leverage in negotiations. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean patrol vessel went about 1.3 km into waters claimed by the South. "We sent warning messages to them twice before they crossed the NLL and three times after they crossed the NLL," added Lee Ki-sik, Chief of Intelligence Operation Division. Domestic media say the North's vessel was partially destroyed in the fight. The two Koreas have fought two deadly naval battles in the past decade in the Yellow Sea waters near the contested sea border called the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The NLL was set unilaterally by U.S.-led U.N. forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North has said it sees the border as invalid. In 2002, when South Korea hosted World Cup matches, North Korea fired at the South and killed 6 South Korean sailors. South Korea fired back, but the number of North Korean casualties is not known.

Fort Hood Suspect Warned of Muslim Threat Within Military

The Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people at Fort Hood reportedly warned senior Army physicians in 2007 that the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars to avoid "adverse events." According to The Washington Post.  Major Nidal Malik Hasan was supposed to make a presentation on a medical topic during his senior year as a psychiatric resident at Walter Reed Medical Center. Instead, Hasan lectured his supervisors and two dozen mental health staff members on Islam, homicide bombings and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting against other Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. A source who attended the presentation told the paper, "It was really strange. The senior doctors looked really upset." The Powerpoint, entitled, "The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military," consisted of 50 slides, according to a copy obtained by the Post. "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," Hasan said in the presentation. Under a slide titled "Comments," he wrote: "If Muslim groups can convince Muslims that they are fighting for God against injustices of the 'infidels'; ie: enemies of Islam, then Muslims can become a potent adversary ie: suicide bombing, etc." The last bullet point on that page reads simply: "We love death more then [sic] you love life!" On the final slide, labeled "Recommendation," Hasan wrote: "Department of Defense should allow Muslims [sic] Soldiers the option of being released as 'Conscientious objectors' to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events." An Army spokesman told the Post Monday night he was unaware of the presentation, and a Walter Reed spokesman declined comment. A classmate of Hasan, meanwhile, told FoxNews.com that the warning signs were all there — the justification of homicide bombings; spewing anti-American hatred; efforts to reach out to Al Qaeda — but that the military treated Hasan with kid gloves, even after giving him a poor performance review.

Car bomb strikes northwest Pakistan

A car bomb explosion has killed at least 30 people outside a crowded market in northwest Pakistan. The bomb tore through a busy traffic intersection on Tuesday in the city of Charsadda, north of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). More than 40 other people were wounded in the blast. Hazrat Ali, a shopkeeper wounded in the blast, said the explosion came from a car parked near his shop. "I was buying something before closing my shop. A car was parked on the other side of the road and all of a sudden there was a huge blast," he told the AFP news agency. "There was smoke and darkness everywhere. I passed out."