Boko Haram still holding Nigerian school girls captive

April 25, 2014 -- Updated 1519 GMT (2319 HKT)

 Boko Haram kidnappers are still holding 187 girls captive more than a week after the Islamists abducted them from their dormitories in northeastern Nigeria, according to school and government officials.

The figure is much higher than the one earlier released by authorities.

"A total of 230 parents registered the names of their daughters who were missing on the day of the kidnap," said Asabe Kwambura, principal of the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok.

"From my records, 43 girls have so far escaped on their own from their kidnappers. We still have 187 girls missing," the principal said.

The school asked parents to come forward and register the names of their missing daughters a day after the April 16 kidnapping.

Borno state government officials insisted only 129 girls were originally abducted from the school, and had said that 51 escaped.

Isa umar Gusau, the spokesman for Borno state's governor, said the escape of seven more girls on Sunday reduced the number of girls in the custody of their Boko Haram abductors to 77.

Kwambura disputed Gusau's claim of seven more escapes.

"I'm not aware of any seven girls that escaped on Sunday," the principal said.

Borno state Education Commissioner Musa inuwa Kubo confirmed the numbers released by Kwambura and sought to explain the discrepancies in figures provided by the government and the school.

"There was break in communication which resulted in a lack of coordination, as a result of which different figures were provided," Kubo said.

"But the opening of a register ... provided an avenue where parents of missing children recorded the names of their daughters, which furnished us with a comprehensive list of girls taken away and those that were able to escape," the commissioner added.

Families becoming impatient

In Chibok, angry parents are becoming impatient, accusing military and state authorities of playing politics with the lives and safety of their children.

"It is unfortunate that the kidnap of our girls is being politicized, with so many false claims by the military and the government," said Chibok resident Haladu Sule.

"Parents and vigilantes have suspended searches for the kidnapped girls since Thursday and we are not aware of any military rescue operation going on," Sule said, disputing claims that the military is conducting ongoing rescue operations.

Enoch Mark, a father whose daughter and two nieces were among the kidnapped girls, also doubted the military's claim.

He and hundreds of other Chibok residents, as well as people from nearby villages, went into the forest on motorcycles on April 19. They followed the tracks of the kidnappers up to Baale village, close to the camp where the girls were being held. During their nine-hour, 100-kilometer trek, they never saw a single soldier, Mark said.

Villagers told them the gunmen had passed through "and were camped with the girls in a creek some hundreds of meters outside the village." Some of the girls had even been brought back to the village at gunpoint to fetch water.

"We were warned by residents of Baale not to proceed, saying they feared for our lives because our sticks and (outdated) guns were no match for the heavy arms of the Boko Haram gunmen," he explained.

"The villagers warned us we would all be killed if we dared face the gunmen and would put the lives of our daughters in danger. We have therefore abandoned the search for our daughters since we know where they are but we don't have the capacity to liberate them," Mark added.

Some managed to escape

The father of a girl who escaped with two other girls from their abductors on April 16 also said they had been held at gunpoint.

"She told us that all the girls were gathered under trees in the forest under constant watch of gunmen," said the father, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

"My daughter was among those selected by the kidnappers to cook food and she and two other girls cooking together came up with a plan. They told their kidnappers they needed to use the bathroom," said the father.

The girls ran off once they were out of view of the their armed guards until they came across a village, where residents helped them get back to Chibok.

Barnabas Yakubu, a Chibok resident, wondered why the government failed to act on information supplied by residents about the location of the Boko Haram camp near Baale village.

But Kubo said the government and the military were "doing everything possible" to secure the release of the school girls.

"This is a delicate situation that requires careful handling," Kubo said.

"When you have heavily armed men holding close to 200 girls hostage, you have to be very careful in your approach so as not to risk the safety of these girls you want to rescue.

"It is a security issue and we just can't be divulging all the efforts we are making to get these girls freed," the education commissioner explained.

A captain faces 'private hell' in sea disaster

 I've watched with a mix of solemnity and growing anger the press reports of the gathered family members and officials attending to their respective duties in Jindo, South Korea. Last week a ferry filled with high school students and teachers sank in the frigid waters off the southwest coast there; at this writing, nearly 90 people are confirmed dead and more than 200 are still missing.

The family members reflect the extraordinary pain of losing loved ones as the hopes for additional survivors dim to nil, the tragedy somehow multiplied by the promise of lives just begun snuffed out at such early ages.

James Loy

As a retired Coast Guard officer with four tours as a commanding officer at sea, I am riveted by such stories as the loss of the ferry Sewol. Ongoing and certainly subsequent investigations will reveal the facts about the series of decisions that resulted in the sinking and its aftermath.

At this point, news reports about the behavior and competence of the captain, Lee Joon-seok, and the crew are disturbing, to say the least. Survivor accounts suggest -- among other things -- mixed orders, a serious lack of safety drills and training, and a captain who may have abandoned ship before his responsibility to those entrusted to his care was met.

Lee is facing criminal charges, including abandoning his ship, negligence, causing bodily injury and not seeking rescue from other ships.

The responsibility of a ship's captain at sea is inescapable. He or she is entrusted with the safe navigation and the safe passage of the ship and its crew, passengers and cargo. It is absolute and irrevocable. The job mandates the preparation necessary to cope with any eventuality encountered during that passage. It's about competence, training and ensured trust and leadership -- especially when circumstances unfold that jeopardize the well-being of those in your hands.

All that preparation was dashed two days later in the ice floes of the North Atlantic when he had to give the order to abandon ship, but appeared to make no attempt to save himself. He went down with the ship.Such incidents recall Capt. Edward John Smith. The Titanic's captain had a sterling history of command at sea behind him before he sailed from Southampton on April 10, 1912. He had gained a reputation for quiet competence before he became the commodore of the White Star fleet and had commanded many other ships on their maiden voyages.

South Korean President: Actions of captain 'akin to murder'

A collision or grounding or fire at sea is the immediate private hell on earth for a ship's captain and crew. Their actions must be based on their preparation. Questions will be properly asked regarding the training regimen and the individual professionalism of all the members of the crew, from the captain to the newest sailor on board.

Hopefully lessons will be shared with the seagoing community to help make sure such a tragedy does not happen again.

There is an old aphorism that says "A crisis is not the time to exchange business cards!" This terrible incident reminds us all that preparation and attention to detail will always serve us well, but that they are both absolutely mandatory when men and women go down to the sea in ships.

Safe navigation. Safe passage. The extraordinary independence of a ship's captain at sea brings ultimate responsibility for both.

2 dead, many unaccounted as rescuers scramble to sinking South Korean ship

A South Korean ship with over 400 people on board sank off the country's southwestern coast Wednesday.

Rescue boats and helicopters scrambled to pluck passengers, most of them high school students, from a ferry as it listed and slowly sank off the southwest coast of South Korea on Wednesday.

It's unclear exactly how many of the 477 people on board were rescued. Many jumped from the listing ship to the freezing waters below.

At one point, South Korean authorities said 386 passengers had been rescued and that 104 remain unaccounted for. But later Wednesday, they said they couldn't provide exact numbers.

What is known is that at least two people -- a woman and a student -- were confirmed dead.

The rescue operation was still underway six hours after the ferry first sent out distress signal.

Authorities could not immediately say what caused the ship to sink. The weather at the time of the incident in the area was clear.

'I wanted to live'

Among the passengers the ferry, Sewol, was carrying were 325 students.

The group left from the port city of Incheon, just west of Seoul, for a four-day trip to the resort island of Jeju.

Around 9 a.m. local time, the ferry sent out its first distress call. It had begun to list.

A rescued student, Lim Hyung Min, told CNN affiliate YTN that he heard a loud bump. The ferry began to sink after that. Everyone was ordered to don life jackets and jump, he said.

Lim said he jumped into the sea before swimming to a rescue vessel.

"I had to swim a bit to get to the boat to be rescued," he said. "The water was so cold and I wanted to live."

As rescue crews dashed desperately to rescue passengers, the ferry slowly tilted on its side.

With the clock ticking, the 6,800-ton ferry sank. Only its white and blue hull remained above water.

Local media, including CNN affiliate YTN, reported that all students aboard the ship had been rescued. The South Korean Coast Guard hasn't confirmed those accounts.

Passenger Kim Seung Mok said that, despite his efforts and those of others, he couldn't get to several passengers on one of the decks.

"I stayed till the last to rescue people at the hall," Kim told YTN. "But the water was coming in so fast (that) some didn't make it out.

Ebola: A swift, effective and bloody killer

It took only moments to feel the impact of what was happening here.

We had just landed in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. In the fields right outside the airport, a young woman was in tears. She started to wail and shout in Susu, one of the 40 languages spoken in this tiny country of 12 million people. The gathered crowd became silent and listened intently.

The young man sitting next to me quietly translated, although I already had my suspicions. He told me the woman's husband had died of Ebola, and then quickly ushered us away.

 

Sanjay Gupta explains Ebola virus

 

How the Ebola outbreak began

It is probably not surprising the airplane bringing us into Conakry was nearly empty, as are all the hotels here. Not many people in the United States have ever visited Guinea, or could even identify where it sits in West Africa. It is already one of the world's poorest countries, and the panic around Ebola is only making that worse.

Some of it is justified. That's because this time, the outbreak is different. In the past, Ebola rarely made it out of the remote forested areas of Africa.

Key to that is a grim version of good news/bad news: because Ebola tends to incapacitate its victims and kill them quickly, they rarely have a chance to travel and spread the disease beyond their small villages. Now, however, Ebola is in Conakry, the capital city, with 2 million residents. Equally concerning: it's just a short distance from where we touched down, at an international airport.

It has gone "viral," and now the hope is that it doesn't go global.

Ebola: What you need to know

When I asked doctors on the ground about that scenario, they had split opinions. Several told me the concern is real but unlikely. Most patients with Ebola come from small villages in the forest and are unlikely to be flying on international trips, they told me. Furthermore, they don't think Ebola would spread widely in a western country; our medical expertise and our culture -- not touching the dead -- would prevent it.

Others aren't so sure.

No one wants to test that theory.

WHO: Ebola outbreak one of 'most challenging'

With Ebola, there is an incubation period of two to 21 days. Remember these numbers. This is the range of time it takes to develop symptoms after someone has been exposed.

With an international airport close by, that means you could be on the other side of the world before you develop the headache, fever, fatigue and joint pain which make up the early symptoms of an Ebola infection. The diarrhea, rash and bleeding come later. Hiccups is a particularly grave sign with Ebola. It means your diaphragm, which allows you to breathe, is starting to get irritated.

There is a lot we know about Ebola, and it scares us almost as much as what we don't know.

We do know Ebola, a simple virus with a small genome, is a swift, effective and bloody killer. The mortality rate is higher than 50% and in some outbreaks reaches 90%.

Ebola appears to kill in a clever way. Early on, it strategically disarms your immune system, allowing the virus to replicate unchecked until it invades organs all over your body. It convinces your blood to clot in overdrive, but only inside your blood vessels. While those blood vessels choke up, the rest of your body starts to ooze because the clotting mechanisms are all busy.

You start to hemorrhage on the outside of your body. Nose bleeds, bruising, even a simple needle stick will refuse to clot. But, it is the bleeding you don't see -- the bleeding on the inside -- that causes even more catastrophic problems.

Many patients die of shock, within an average of 10 days.

What is ebola?

 

Ebola outbreak: History of a killer

 

Photos: Ebola outbreak in West Africa

It sounds like the stuff of horror movies. But despite the real danger, Ebola is not at all easy to "catch." If it were, my wife would have refused to let me come in the midst of an outbreak.

To become infected, you generally need to spend extended time with someone who is gravely ill, and come into contact with his or her infected body fluids. That's why family members and health care workers are the most likely to get sick.

Over the last three weeks, at least 112 people have died, including 14 health care workers.

With some infections, you can shed and spread the virus long before you get ill. That's not the case with Ebola. It's only after you are sick and feverish do you become contagious. However, it only takes a miniscule amount to infect and kill. A microscopic droplet of blood or saliva on your bare hand could enter through a break in your skin. And, whether you realize it or not, we all have breaks in our skin.

Since I was a kid, I have been fascinated with outbreaks. I learned in medical school that new pathogens generally make a jump from animals to humans, a process called zoonosis.

This is happening in areas where human and animals come into continuous contact. David Quammen refers to it as "Spillover," in his book of the same name. A stew of ducks, geese, chickens, pigs and humans in southeast Asia led to the spillover of avian flu, H5N1. Contact between pigs and humans in Mexico led to swine flu, H1N1; pigs and fruit bats were the recipe for Nipah fever in Malaysia.

The best guess is that fruit bats may be a natural reservoir for the Ebola virus too, but this has not been confirmed. Quammen makes the point: Ebola didn't enter our world -- we entered its world.

Pathogens can be predators, like lions, tigers and bears. A virus may not plan the way a big cat does, but in a sense it stalks its prey -- waiting for the moment of opportunity, then attacking with fury. Because it can lie silent for years, it's also easy to see Ebola as a killing ghost, like Jack the Ripper.

Presumably outbreaks begin through some human-animal contact, but since that contact is ongoing we don't know what it is that leads Ebola to rear its ugly head. We don't know how to treat the illness or vaccinate against it. We certainly don't know how to cure it.

I thought about all of this as I left that woman in the airport, and I have thought about her a great deal since then. Her grief made an impression on all of us.

It also made this mysterious, exotic virus the world knows, but doesn't fully understand, so much more real and frightening. For the next 21 days (the outer range of the incubation period) the woman we saw will be monitored for a fever or any early signs she may have contracted Ebola from her husband. If she exhibits symptoms, she will be isolated and treated with fluids, oxygen and nutrition.

That is all that can really be offered. Again, there is no cure for Ebola.

For her neighbors, in Guinea and across its border, another critical number is 42 -- as in 42 days, or two incubation periods. If the health care teams here don't see any new cases during that time then they officially say the outbreak is over. We are not there yet, not even close.

The clock is ticking.

Deepening Ukraine crisis spurs U.N. to set emergency meeting

 

 

The U.N. Security Council has called an urgent, previously unscheduled meeting Sunday night to discuss the worsening situation in Ukraine.

The delegation from Luxembourg tweeted the "urgent consultations" were requested by Russia and would be held at 8 p.m. ET.

The meeting comes the same day that Ukraine acting President Oleksandr Turchynov issued a promise of amnesty for pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine but warned that anyone who continues to support the takeover of government buildings would be held responsible for their actions.

The acting President added a warning to "terrorists" who did not comply, saying they would be subject to an army anti-terrorism operation if they did not comply by 2 a.m. ET Monday. Similar deadlines have been set and allowed to pass with no consequence.

"We'll not allow any repetition of the Crimean scenario in the east of Ukraine. I have signed a decree that would allow those who did not shoot at our officers to lay down their arms and leave the occupied buildings by Monday morning without fear of being prosecuted," he told a national television audience, according to a CNN translation.

Pro-Russia protesters guard a barricade in Slaviansk, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 13, outside a regional police building seized by armed separatists the day before. Ukraine has seen a sharp rise in tensions since a new pro-European government took charge of the country in February. Moscow branded the new government illegitimate and annexed Ukraine's Crimea region last month, citing threats to Crimea's Russian-speaking majority.

World War II veterans gather on April 13 in Simferopol, Crimea, during a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the city's liberation from German troops during World War II.

Pro-Russian activists occupy the regional police office in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 12.

Armed pro-Russian activists carrying riot shields occupy a police station on April 12. The unidentified armed men arrived at the building in the town of Slaviansk in the morning and took control of it without any casualties.

A group of pro-Russian activists warm themselves by a fire Friday, April 11, in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk, Ukraine.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk speaks April 11 during his meeting with regional leaders in Donetsk, Ukraine. Yatsenyuk flew into Donetsk on Friday, where pro-Russian separatists are occupying the regional administration building and calling for a referendum.

Pro-Russian young men look over the fence of a military recruitment office in Donetsk on Thursday, April 10.

Armed pro-Russian protesters occupy the Security Service building in Luhansk on April 10.

Members of the self-proclaimed government the "Donetsk Republic" vote April 10 during a meeting at the seized regional administration building in Donetsk.

Ukrainian lawmakers from different parties scuffle during a Parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 8.

Workers clean up on April 8 after pro-Russian separatists and police clashed overnight in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Pro-Russian protesters burn tires near a regional administration building in Kharkiv after police cleared the building on Monday, April 7.

A masked man stands on top of a barricade at the regional administration building in Donetsk on April 7.

Protesters wave a Russian flag as they storm the regional administration building in Donetsk on Sunday, April 6. Protesters seized state buildings in several east Ukrainian cities, prompting accusations from Kiev that Moscow is trying to "dismember" the country.

Pro-Russian protesters clash with police as they try to occupy a regional administration building in Donetsk on April 6.

Pro-Russian activists hold a rally in front of a Ukrainian Security Service office in Luhansk, Ukraine, on April 6.

A young demonstrator with his mouth covered by a Russian flag attends a pro-Russia rally outside the regional government administration building in Donetsk on Saturday, April 5.

A Ukrainian soldier guards a road not far from Prokhody, a village near the Russian border, on April 5. Ukrainian and Western officials have voiced alarm about Russia's reported military buildup on Ukraine's eastern border.

Ukrainian cadets at the Higher Naval School embrace a friend who has decided to stay in the school during a departure ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea, on Friday, April 4. Some 120 cadets who refused to take Russian citizenship left the school to return to Ukraine.

Soviet military veterans take part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Soviet-era World War II memorial in Sevastopol on Thursday, April 3.

Ukrainian soldiers conduct a training session on the Desna military shooting range northeast of Kiev on Wednesday, April 2.

Russian soldiers prepare for diving training in front of a Tarantul-III class missile boat Tuesday, April 1, in Sevastopol.

People pass by barricades near the Dnipro Hotel in Kiev on April 1.

People walk past a train loaded with Russian tanks Monday, March 31, in the Gvardeyskoe railway station near Simferopol, Crimea.

A Russian solder sits in a tank at the Ostryakovo railway station, not far from Simferopol on March 31.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks about the economic development of Crimea during a meeting March 31 in Simferopol.

Members of the Ukrainian National Guard take part in military exercises on a shooting range near Kiev on March 31.

A woman cries Sunday, March 30, during a gathering to honor those who were killed during protests in Kiev's Independence Square.

A woman and child walk past a line of police officers during a rally in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 30.

Ukrainian soldiers take part in a training exercise at a military base in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Saturday, March 29.

Demonstrators protest Friday, March 28, in Kiev, displaying police vehicles they seized during earlier clashes with authorities.

Members of the Right Sector group block the Ukrainian parliament building in Kiev on Thursday, March 27. Activists called for Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to step down after the recent killing of radical nationalist leader Oleksandr Muzychko, who died during a police operation to detain him. Muzychko and the Right Sector are credited with playing a lead role in the protests that toppled Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych.

Ukrainian tanks are transported from their base in Perevalne, Crimea, on Wednesday, March 26. After Russian troops seized most of Ukraine's bases in Crimea, interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from the Black Sea peninsula, citing Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families.

Ukrainian marines wave as they leave a base in Feodosia, Crimea, on Tuesday, March 25.

Russian sailors stand on the deck of the corvette ship Suzdalets in the bay of Sevastopol on March 25.

Pro-Russian militia members remove a resident as Russian troops assault the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, on Saturday, March 22. After its annexation of Crimea, Russian forces have consolidated their control of the region.

Soldiers in unmarked uniforms sit atop an armored personnel carrier at the gate of the Belbek air base on March 22.

A Russian sailor holds the Russian Navy's St. Andrew's flag while standing on the bow of the surrendered Ukrainian submarine Zaporozhye on March 22 in Sevastopol.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs the final decree completing the annexation of Crimea on Friday, March 21, as Upper House Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, left, and State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin watch.

A Ukrainian serviceman leaves a Ukrainian military unit that Russian soldiers took control of in Perevalne on March 21.

Ukrainian border guards run during training at a military camp in Alekseyevka, Ukraine, on March 21.

Russian soldiers patrol the area surrounding a Ukrainian military unit in Perevalne on Thursday, March 20.

Pro-Russian protesters remove the gate to the Ukrainian navy headquarters as Russian troops stand guard in Sevastopol on Wednesday, March 19.

Pro-Russian forces walk inside the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol on March 19.

A member of pro-Russian forces takes down a Ukrainian flag at the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol on March 19.

Alexander Vitko, chief of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, leaves the Ukrainian navy headquarters in Sevastopol after pro-Russian forces took it over on March 19.

A Russian flag waves as workers install a new sign on a parliament building in Simferopol, Crimea's capital, on March 19.

Russian military personnel surround a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne on March 19.

Nameplates on the front of the Crimean parliament building get removed Tuesday, March 18, in Simferopol.

From left, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov; Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Crimean parliament; Russian President Vladimir Putin; and Alexei Chaly, the new de facto mayor of Sevastopol, join hands in Moscow on March 18 after signing a treaty to make Crimea part of Russia.

Demonstrators hold a Crimean flag at Lenin Square in Simferopol on March 18.

Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near Strilkove, Ukraine, close to Crimea on Monday, March 17.

Former boxer and Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko addresses reporters in Kiev on March 17.

Ukrainian troops stand guard in front of the Ukrainian Parliament building in Kiev on March 17.

A Ukrainian man applies for the National Guard at a mobile recruitment center in Kiev on March 17.

Civilians walk past riot police in Simferopol on March 17.

A Ukrainian soldier stands on top of an armored vehicle at a military camp near the village of Michurino, Ukraine, on March 17.

Policemen stand guard outside the regional state administration building in Donetsk during a rally by pro-Russia activists March 17.

Armed soldiers stand guard outside a Ukrainian military base in Perevalne on March 17.

A man holds a Crimean flag as he stands in front of the Crimean parliament building in Simferopol on March 17.

Crimeans holding Russian flags celebrate in front of the parliament building in Simferopol on Sunday, March 16.

A Ukrainian police officer tries to shield himself from a road block thrown by pro-Russia supporters in Kharkiv on March 16.

Pro-Russia demonstrators storm the prosecutor general's office during a rally in Donetsk on March 16.

A woman leaves a voting booth in Sevastopol on March 16. See the crisis in Ukraine before Crimea voted

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Photos: Crisis in Ukraine

R

ussia requests meeting with UN council

Pro-Russian gunmen seize building

 

NATO: Pics show Russian military buildup

Turchynov added that anyone who supports violence will be punished.

"We are ready to consider a significant expansion of regional powers of all regions and the wider reform of local self-government. However, all those supporting aggressors and occupiers in an armed struggle against our country will not escape punishment and will be prosecuted," he said.

Ukraine puts blame on Russia

Turchynov said Russia was responsible for bloodshed; at least one Ukrainian soldier was killed in clashes between pro-Ukrainian crowds and pro-Russian separatists, a high-level source in Ukraine's Security Services told CNN.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tweeted Sunday that Ukrainian authorities must "stop war against their people" and asked the U.N. Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to give "urgent attention" to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

"It now depends on the West to avoid the possibility of civil war in Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, describing the situation in southeastern Ukraine as "extremely dangerous."

Earlier, Ukrainian officials placed blame for unrest in the eastern section of their country squarely on their neighbors in Russia in a written statement Sunday from Kiev.

The new Ukrainian government said the security operations were launched against terrorists who are attempting to "destroy our country."

"In the eastern regions of Ukraine, the Russian special service and saboteurs embarked on the large-scale separatist operations to seize power, destabilize the situation threatening the lives of citizens of Ukraine, as well as the separation of the regions of our country," the Foreign Ministry said.

Map: See how language, culture divide Ukraine

Giving no further details, it also said it had "concrete evidence of Russian special service involvement" in the pro-Russian protests and storming of buildings in the east in recent days and would present it at an international meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Thursday.

Ukrainian security forces launched an operation Sunday to clear pro-Russian separatists from a police headquarters in the eastern city of Slaviansk, officials said.

However, a CNN crew in the city saw no sign of a large presence of Ukrainian security forces -- with the exception of a single police car and a helicopter flying above -- nor any confrontation with the occupiers.

Gunmen dressed in camouflage had stormed and seized the police building a day earlier in Slaviansk, a town about 100 miles from the Russian border, and set up barricades around it.

Ukrainian citizens carry cost of conflict

Russian separatists in Donetsk dig in

Pro-Russian crowds dwindle in Luhansk

Owen: Sanctions against Russia won't work

'Sanctions can bite'

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the attacks in Slaviansk were "professional" and "coordinated" -- similar to Russia's incursion into the Crimean Peninsula last month.

"There's nothing grass-roots seeming about it," Power said on ABC's "This Week," noting the latest action "gives credence" to the notion that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants control over eastern Ukraine.

The United States is prepared to step up sanctions against Russia if the recent actions in Ukraine continue, she said Sunday. Power said told "This Week" the latest events in Ukraine bore "the telltale signs of Moscow's involvement."

"I think we've seen that the sanctions can bite. And if actions like the kind that we've seen over the last few days continue, you're going to see a ramping up of those sanctions," she said.

The unrest is the latest show of spiraling anger in eastern Ukraine, which has a large Russian-speaking population. The region was the support base for pro-Moscow former President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February after months of protests in Kiev.

Speaking Sunday to reporters in Russia, Yanukovych said the Ukraine is in a new situation now that blood was shed.

"Ukraine made the first step toward civil war. The Kiev gang decided and ordered to use force and dispatched the military forces against the population of southeast Ukraine," he said, state-run Russia-24 TV reported.

Yanukovych accused the United States of dictating to the government in Kiev what to do, claiming that CIA Director John Brennan "effectively sanctioned the use of arms and bloodshed and therefore the United States should be held responsible for starting a civil war in Ukraine."

CIA spokesman Dean Boyd declined to comment on Brennan's travel itinerary.

"But the claim that Director Brennan encouraged Ukrainian authorities to conduct tactical operations inside Ukraine is completely false. Like other senior U.S. officials, Director Brennan strongly believes that a diplomatic solution is the only way to resolve the crisis between Russia and Ukraine," the spokesman said.

Troops massed on eastern border

Kiev's fragile new government and the West accuse Russia of destabilizing the region as a pretext to potentially send in troops to protect the local Russian-speaking population.

NATO says Russian armed forces are massing on Ukraine's eastern border, while Moscow says they are merely carrying out military exercises.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second most populous city, police outside City Hall offered no resistance when protesters took over the building Sunday afternoon, according to a witness. It is not clear why the police stepped aside for protesters.

Russian and local Ukrainian media reported that pro-Russian demonstrators had seized the city hall in Mariupol, in the southeast, with no violence. Some showed pictures of Russian flags in the city. The reports could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Distrust among the population in the region grew as political power in the national government shifted rapidly in a pro-Western direction. A short time later, pro-Russian elements occupied the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia quickly annexed. Since then, pro-Russian protesters have taken to the streets in eastern Ukrainian regions and in some cases stormed and occupied buildings.

EU foreign minister to meet

The United States has accused Russia of fomenting the separatist unrest in its neighbor as a pretext for military intervention.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone with Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, on Saturday, expressing "strong concern that attacks today by armed militants in eastern Ukraine were orchestrated and synchronized, similar to previous attacks in eastern Ukraine and Crimea," a senior State Department official said.

The official said Kerry warned Lavrov there would be "additional consequences" if Russia did not take steps to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine and move its troops back from its border.

The official also noted that militants involved in Saturday's unrest in eastern Ukraine "were equipped with specialized Russian weapons and the same uniforms as those worn by the Russian forces that invaded Crimea."

NATO described the appearance in eastern Ukraine of men with specialized Russian weapons and identical uniforms without insignia -- as previously seen in Crimea -- as a "grave development."

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton is to meet this week with foreign ministers from the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Switzerland to discuss efforts to de-escalate the situation.

In a written statement, she urged Moscow "to call back its troops from the Ukrainian border and to cease any further actions aimed at destabilising Ukraine."

EU foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the crisis.