BYLBASIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and Russia traded blame Sunday for a shootout at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine that left at least three people dead and others with gunshot wounds.

The identity of the attackers remained unclear. Russia blamed militant Ukrainian nationalists and the Ukrainian government said the attack near the city of Slovyansk was staged by provocateurs from outside the country.

The armed clash appeared to be the first since an international agreement was reached last week in Geneva to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine, where armed pro-Russia activists have seized government buildings in at least 10 cities.

Ukraine and many in the West fear that such clashes could provide a pretext for Russia to seize more Ukrainian territory.

Russia, which annexed the peninsula of Crimea last month, has tens of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine. Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, originally said the troops were there for military exercises, but Putin's spokesman on Saturday acknowledged that some were there due to instability in eastern Ukraine.

The self-proclaimed mayor of Slovyansk appealed to Russia on Sunday to send in peacekeeping troops.

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"They are killing our brothers," Vyacheslav Ponomaryov said during a news conference in Slovyansk shown on Russian state television.

Yuri Zhadobin, who coordinates the pro-Russia unit manning the checkpoint in the village of Bylbasivka, told The Associated Press he was with about 20 men celebrating Easter when unknown men drove up in four vehicles and opened fire about 3 a.m.

"We began to shoot back from behind the barricades and we threw Molotov cocktails at them," Zhadobin said. Two of the vehicles caught fire and the attackers fled in the other two, he said.

Some of his men were wounded and one later died in the hospital, he said.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry's office in the eastern Donetsk region later released a statement saying three people had died in the attack and three others were wounded. The statement said some of the attackers were also killed or wounded, but the number was not known.

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A pro-Russian gunman controls a road after a night fight at the check point which is under the contr …

Russian state media reported five people dead, including three pro-Russia activists.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry quickly blamed the clash on the Right Sector, a nationalist Ukrainian group that has supported the interim government in Kiev, the capital, but is not part of it.

But a spokesman for Right Sector, Artyom Skoropatskiy, denied any involvement in Sunday's shootout, which he called a provocation staged by Russian special services.

Ukraine's Security Service also called the attack a "cynical provocation" staged from "the outside."

Putin has rejected claims that Russian special forces are directing or encouraging the insurgents. Putin has said he hopes not to send troops into eastern Ukraine, but he retains the right to intervene if necessary to protect ethnic Russians living here.

Russian state media have been feeding fears among the Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine that their lives are in danger because of the Right Sector.

"See what is happening?" asked Andrei Zarubin, 30, who came to the Bylbasivka checkpoint Sunday afternoon to replace those who had come under attack. "Russia should defend us ... who else can we turn to for help?"

Deadly gun battle in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine and Russia point blame at each other after at least 3 are killed in a checkpoint shootout.
Easter truce

Arseniy Yatsenyuk asks for U.S. economic support to 'overhaul the Ukrainian military'

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk believes Russian President Vladimir Putin "has a dream to restore the Soviet Union" — and Putin realizing that dream would be disastrous for the rest of the world.

"Every day, he goes further and further,” Yatsenyuk said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “And God knows where is the final destination.”

Yatsenyuk, who was installed as interim prime minister in February after pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych abandoned Kiev, said: "I consider that the biggest disaster of this century would be the restoring of the Soviet Union under the auspices of President Putin."

He also condemned those in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk who distributed leaflets mandating that Jews identify themselves as Jewish, vowing to "find these bastards and to bring them to justice.”

On Thursday after a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Ukraine, Russia and the European Union in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the flyers "grotesque." Vice President Joe Biden's is traveling to Kiev this week.

Yatsenyuk said he is asking the U.S. government for "financial and economic support" in defending itself from Russia.

“We need a strong and solid state," he said. We need financial and economic support. We need to overhaul the Ukrainian military. We need to modernize our security and military forces.

“How can you stop the nuclear-powered state, which is Russian Federation, that spent billions of dollars to modernize their military instead of Ukraine? We need to be in very good shape in order to stop Russia. And for this shape, we need to have and to get the real support from our Western partners.”

Yatsenyuk said the deal brokered in Geneva last week to calm the violence in eastern Ukraine hinges on Russia.

"Russia triggered this violence and Russia supported these terrorists, and Russia was obliged to engineer a meeting to condemn terrorists and to condemn those so-called peaceful protesters with AK-74 in their hands, shooting into civilians and shooting into Ukrainian riot police," Yatsenyuk said. "If Russia pulls back its security forces and former KGB agents, this would definitely calm down the situation and stabilize the situation in southern and eastern Ukraine."

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Arseniy Yatsenyuk says Russia won't stop until President Vladimir Putin's vision is realized.
'Biggest disaster of this century'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Political and military elites are seizing protected areas in one of Africa's last bastions for elephants, putting broad swaths of Zimbabwe at risk of becoming fronts for ivory poaching, according to a nonprofit research group's report that examines government collusion in wildlife trafficking.

Zimbabwe has maintained robust elephant populations compared with other countries on the continent. But economic penalties imposed by the United States and Europe have led Zimbabweans with ties to President Robert Mugabe's ruling party to find new methods of making money. The report, set for release Monday, says they may be turning to elephants' highly valued ivory tusks.

Zimbabwe's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Born Free USA, an animal advocacy group, commissioned the report from Washington-based C4ADS to better understand the role organized crime and corrupt government officials play in ivory trafficking across Africa, said Adam Roberts, Born Free USA's chief executive officer.

Wildlife trafficking long has been viewed as a conservation issue, but it has exploded into an illicit global economy monopolized by mafia-like syndicates and enabled by high-level bureaucrats and powerful business interests. The report describes a toxic combination of conflict, crime and failures of governance throughout Africa that threatens to wipe out the continent's dwindling elephant herds.

China, the world's largest market for ivory, is compounding the threat, the report said. Chinese companies have won lucrative contracts in Zimbabwe for mining and construction projects near remote elephant habitats, bringing waves of workers and new roads that can be exploited by East Asian crime organizations, the report said.

North of Zimbabwe, in central Africa, an estimated 23,000 elephants, or roughly 60 each day, were killed last year. A pound of elephant tusk sells for about $1,500 on the black market. That's more than double the price just five years ago. Ivory is used to make carved ornaments and trinkets.

Rhinoceroses also are heavily poached for their horns, which some Asian cultures believe contain medicinal properties.

TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade monitoring network, says there are between 47,000 and 93,000 elephants in Zimbabwe. The gap is due to the fact that full-fledged surveys of the animals have not been carried out since 2007, said Richard Thomas, the organization's spokesman.

Across Africa, there are close to 500,000 elephants, a fraction of the nearly 10 million that roamed there just 100 years ago.

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FILE - This June 21, 2103 file photo shows a steamroller and a backhoe used to crush seized elephant …

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this month signaled its worries about the future of Zimbabwe's herds in a decision blocking the importation of African elephant trophies taken in Zimbabwe during 2014. Noting the cyanide poisoning of 300 elephants last year in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, the agency said it has "significant concerns about the long-term survival of elephants in Zimbabwe."

The ban also applies to Tanzania.

The Obama administration in February published a national strategy for combating the multibillion-dollar poaching industry, relying on many of the same tactics used against terrorist organizations and drug cartels. The plan outlines a "whole of government approach" that includes working with other countries to increase the number of investigations and arrests, using high-tech gear to identify poaching hot spots, and targeting the bank accounts of wildlife traffickers and the corrupt bureaucrats who assist them.

"Our findings shine a bright light on Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, and Kenya, where poachers move across borders with near impunity, slaughter elephants with complete disregard, and use the ivory to fund violent operations across the continent," said Born Free USA's Roberts. "Global leaders cannot stand by while the human tragedy and poaching crisis continue.

Zimbabwe, the report said, could become a poaching hot spot with little warning.

Mugabe has led the country since independence from British rule in 1980. In his early years in power, he expanded public education and health services, making Zimbabwe a beacon on the continent. But Zimbabwe's economy went into meltdown in 2000 after Mugabe ordered the seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms, leading to the collapse of the agriculturally based economy, once the region's breadbasket.

More than a decade ago, the U.S. and the European Union began imposing sanctions against Mugabe and members of his inner circle for human rights abuses, public corruption, and vote-rigging. The penalties set strict business and travel bans. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has blamed the sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic woes.

Among the areas in jeopardy is Zimbabwe's Save Valley Conservancy, a 1,000-square-mile collection of unfenced wildlife reserves that is home to most of the country's elephants and rhinoceroses. Land reform policies have allowed politically connected people to receive hunting permits and land leases in the conservancy, according to C4ADS.

"Many have histories of exploitative business practices, muscling into firms, stripping them of all value, and moving on, which creates a high risk of systematic poaching on seized lands," the report said.

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In this Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 photo, workers look at a rotting elephant carcass, in Hwange National …

The lack of transparency into the inner workings of Mugabe's government makes it difficult to establish direct links between government loyalists and their interests in wildlife areas. The report said ownership is often masked through associates, family members, and shell companies.

Using data-mining software developed by Palantir, a technology company in California, C4ADS named 18 people involved in what the report describes as the "political/military takeover of Save Valley Conservancy."

They include Maj. Gen. Engelbert Rugeje, the inspector general of Zimbabwe's defense forces. Rugeje is not on the sanctions list maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department. He did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe has long been aware of concerns over Rugeje.

In the fall of 2009, he was accused of threatening to shoot a Zimbabwean lawmaker who had criticized the general for using soldiers to intimidate voters, according to an embassy cable published by the Wikileaks website. Rugeje previously was reported to the embassy for orchestrating violence in parts of Zimbabwe where candidates who ran against Mugabe's ZANU-PF party were elected to parliament.

A government official reported to be involved in the distribution of wildlife areas to Mugabe loyalists disputed the allegations.

"If I repeat a lie 20 times, does that make it factual?" Francis Nhema told The Associated Press last week.

Nhema leads the ministry tasked by Mugabe with putting in place a program to take over 51 percent control of remaining foreign and white-owned businesses and assets. He formerly ran the environment ministry. He has been on the U.S. sanctions list since 2003.

Embassy officials in Harare privately voiced misgivings about Nhema following a 2010 meeting he had with Charles Ray, then the U.S. ambassador. Nhema denied that high-ranking Zimbabwean officials were involved in poaching activities and he rejected reports that land within the Save Valley was being commandeered for personal gain.

"He is soft-spoken and comes across as reasonable," reads a February 2010 cable, marked confidential. "He is, however, at least somewhat disingenuous. ... In short, he toes the ZANU-PF line."

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Associated Press writer Tendai Musiya in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

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Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rplardner

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Online:

C4ADS: http://www.c4ads.org/

TRAFFIC: http://www.traffic.org

Born Free USA: http://www.bornfreeusa.org

Save Valley Conservancy: http://savevalleyconservancy.org

Land grabs in Africa threaten elephant herds

Government loyalists are seizing protected areas and turning to wildlife trafficking, a report says.
Zimbabwe's increasing notoriety

Inside ‘The Bunker’ Security Command for Boston Marathon

Every year the Boston Marathon attracts thousands of spectators who cheer on runners, but this year thousands more eyes – some digital and some undercover – will be watching intently as well, looking for anything that might warn them of a repeat of last year’s tragedy.

Authorities in charge of security for the marathon Monday are taking no chances, with an unprecedented security apparatus that includes some 4,000 deployed police officers, including 500 plainclothes officers, more than 100 surveillance cameras and a underground, futuristic coordination center boasting some 260 security officials representing more than 60 local, state and federal agencies.

“A lot of eyes,” Kurt Schwartz, Massachusetts’s Undersecretary for Homeland Security and Emergency Management in the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, told ABC News. “There’s cameras, but you know there’s 4,000 police officers out there and they will be very engaged this year. They’re all watching the public, watching the crowds, trying to detect suspicious behavior, trying to manage areas that just get too crowded… We have expanded across the board.”

FULL COVERAGE: Boston Marathon Bombing Anniversary

Schwartz and other top intelligence officials said there have been no specific threats made against the marathon. Then again, there weren’t any last year before two brothers from Dagestan allegedly detonated two bombs near the finish line, killing three people, including an 8-year-old boy, and injuring some 260 others.

So starting at 6 a.m. Monday inside the coordination center, which ABC News toured this weekend, dozens of officers and analysts will be monitoring wide-screen video displays relaying images from along the marathon route. Schwartz said that unlike last year, every section of the 26.2 mile race will be monitored by high-resolution cameras.

Nicknamed “the bunker,” the Cold War-era underground facility has no windows and is barren in military-style, save for the high-tech monitors, laptops and computer servers, with separate rooms for tactical, intelligence and other units. In addition to the surveillance capability, the center will be communicating in real-time with other offices across eight nearby cities and towns along the marathon path.

“We’ll be looking for somebody who just doesn’t feel right,” said Boston’s new police commissioner Bill Evans. “The characteristics – a lot of our officers, during their training, [are] looking at the characteristics of someone who might be carrying explosives.”

Beyond just watching, Schwartz said security officials will be tailoring their tactical security on the ground throughout the day of the marathon based on what the surveillance cameras and officers on the scene are seeing.

Evans told ABC News that though security will be tight, it won’t be overwhelming for runners or attendees.

“I don’t want it to be an armed camp where people are going to be intimidated by the police presence,” he said.

Evans’ men got a trial run last week when an alleged hoaxer dropped two bags near the finish line of the marathon, in a similar manner to how the real explosives were planted last year. Authorities reacted quickly and destroyed the ultimately harmless objects.

“It was a nice drill,” Evans said. “It just got us on our toes a little earlier… But I think we did a super job. We did what we were trained to do.”

In the case of last year’s bombing, authorities suspect it was carried out by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, two brothers from Dagestan who lived in the U.S. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police days after the explosions and Dzhokhar, his little brother, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to 30 counts related to the bombing. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

A full 36,000 runners signed up to race this year, undeterred by last year’s tragedy, including last year’s winners Lelisa Desisa from Ethiopia and Rita Jeptoo from Kenya.

“So I came here to support the whole injured and all the families [of the] lost ones,” Jeptoo told ABC News. “I’m not scared because I know there is security.”

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Thousands more eyes scrutinize Boston Marathon

Last year's tragedy means an unprecedented law enforcement presence to be coordinated by "the bunker."
Every mile covered

Air strikes in Yemen kill 40 al Qaeda militants in two days

People inspect the wreckage of a car hit by an air strike in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda April 19, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

By Mohamed Mukhashaf

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) - Air strikes in southern Yemen killed about 30 suspected al Qaeda members on Sunday, local tribal sources said, in the second day of strikes against militant targets in the country.

On Saturday an air strike killed 10 al Qaeda militants and three civilians in central Yemen, a country that neighbors top oil exporter Saudi Arabia and is home to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the group's most lethal wings.

The defense ministry said Sunday's early strikes targeted a remote mountainous region of the south. Its website quoted an official source on the High Security Committee as saying that they were based on information that "terrorist elements were planning to target vital civilian and military installations".

Similar wording was used to justify Saturday's strike, in which three nearby civilians were also killed.

Local and tribal sources later told Reuters that another strike hit a car carrying suspected al Qaeda militants in the southern Shabwa province, killing five of them, late on Sunday.

The official source quoted by the defense ministry did not specify the nature of the air strikes, saying only that the strikes happened in the framework of "efforts the Yemeni government is exerting to combat terrorism". But local sources have said unmanned drone aircraft had been seen above the target areas beforehand.

The United States acknowledges using drone strikes to target AQAP in Yemen, but it does not comment on the practice.

Local tribal sources said about 25 bodies had been transferred from the sites of Sunday's first attacks to nearby towns. They said at least three separate strikes had taken place after dawn prayers, all targeting al Qaeda camps.

The official source said the militants targeted were among the "leading and dangerous" elements of al Qaeda and were of different nationalities.

Eyewitnesses said they had seen al Qaeda militants dragging dead bodies and some wounded people out of the area.

AQAP TOUGH TO BEAT

U.S. drone attacks have killed several suspected AQAP figures, including, in 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born Islamist cleric accused of links to the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner in 2009 and U.S. cargo planes in 2010.

U.S. congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, said AQAP posed "probably the greatest external threat to the homeland itself".

"And so I think the fact the administration now is going aggressively against these terrorists ... is a very positive sign," said McCaul, appearing on the Sunday morning ABC News program "This Week".

U.S. officials credit the drone strategy for the fact that AQAP is no longer able to control territory in Yemen as it did in 2011. But critics, including some Yemenis and U.S. politicians, say the strikes and civilian casualties are increasing sympathy for AQAP and resentment against America.

Saudi Arabia also watches AQAP with concern, since the branch was founded by citizens of both countries and has sworn to bring down its ruling al-Saud family.

An online video has been circulating with AQAP leader Nasser al-Wuhaishi addressing a large gathering of fighters in an undisclosed mountainous region of Yemen and vowing to attack the United States.

Yemen has been fighting AQAP but the group, which has attacked military targets, tourists and diplomats in the country and taken over territory for long periods, is proving hard to defeat.

(Additional reporting by Jim Loney in Washington; Writing by Yara Bayoumy and Maha El Dahan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Eric Walsh)

Air strikes kill 40 al-Qaida militants