Grizzly bear kills hiker in Denali National Park
Grizzly bear kills hiker in Denali National Park
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Denali National Park officials say a hiker photographed an Alaska grizzly for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him.
Denali Park Superintendent Paul Anderson said Saturday it’s the first fatal attack in the park’s history. Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the attack Friday afternoon.
The photos show the hiker walked within 50 feet of the bear, far less than the quarter-mile buffer required by park rules. Investigators confirmed that the hiker had received safety training and would have known the rule.
Investigators have identified the man but won’t release his name until they’ve notified his next of kin. Officials said he’s a U.S. citizen but declined to release any other information about him.
Scores dead in attack outside Syrian capital
BEIRUT — The Syrian military killed at least 200 people in a Damascus suburb Saturday, according to opposition activists, an attack that appeared to be part of a brutal campaign in recent days to root out rebel fighters and their supporters in the areas surrounding the capital.
The attack in Darayya, four miles southwest of Damascus, killed at least four children, according to activists, who said about 122 victims appeared to have been shot at close range. “Many of the victims were handcuffed and shot on the walls,” Abo Kinan, an activist in Darayya, said via Skype. “We can tell from the bodies we got that they were mass executed.”
NATO airstrike kills senior Taliban leader, Western military says
KABUL — A NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan has killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader, his deputy and about 10 other insurgents, the Western military said Saturday.
Mullah Dadullah, who led fighters based in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal area, is considered an important figure in the insurgency, which operates on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier. His presence in Afghanistan underscores the common phenomenon of Pakistan-based militants crossing the border to carry out attacks on coalition troops.
The NATO force said Dadullah had helped move fighters and weapons across the border and coordinated attacks on Western and Afghan troops.
The strike in rugged Kunar province near the border with Pakistan took place Friday afternoon, but NATO’s International Security Assistance Force didn’t publicly confirm Dadullah’s identity until Saturday.
By wire sources