Two explosions have rocked a police station in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar, killing at least two policemen, officials say. They say about 30 people - including civilians - were injured when two suicide bombers detonated their bombs in quick succession inside the station.
'General targeted'
"There were two suicide bombers who blew themselves up inside the police headquarters one after another," Ahmad Wali Karzai, head of Kandahar's provincial council, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. The bombers targeted a senior border police commander, General Abdul Razaaq, who was injured in the attacks, reports say. Earlier reports said at least six people had been killed in the blasts. Police sealed off the area shortly after the explosions.
In a separate development, a suicide bomber attacked a Nato convoy in the western city of Herat but caused no casualties, officials say.
The US-led coalition said its forces had killed more than 10 insurgents in an operation in the eastern province of Khost on Saturday.
A warship off Somali waters captured 14 pirates, whose captives include two Pakistani crew of an Iranian ship. "About 14 pirates came across a warship that we think could be American and all the pirates on board were captured and their boat destroyed," said Abdulqadir Muse Yusuf, the fisheries minister for the Puntland semi-autonomous region, said on Sunday. "We are still investigating the identity of the warship."
A man who said he was the pirates' servant told Reuters on Sunday that the Iranian ship with 28 crew members including two Russians, two Pakistanis and a Syrian would soon be freed once the $2 million ransom agreed upon was paid. "The bargaining about the ransom is over and pirates are just waiting for the money," Abdinur Farah told Reuters from the deck of a seized Iranian ship.
Two French nationals were seized in their yacht in the perilous waters on Tuesday and the French navy has said it is ready to try to free them, although their safety came first. "The French tourists, whose boat was also hijacked, are now held inside the hilly areas of Habo village. They are safe and healthy," Farah said.
#1: Here is your targeting information for Habo village, Mudug, Somalia, Gentlemen:
Latitude 5.9167 Longitude 48.0833 Altitude (feet) 482
Lat (DMS) 5° 55' 0N Long (DMS) 48° 4' 60E Altitude (meters) 146
Double check your targeting coordinates on the map, and set weapon detonation altitude of 1500 ft AGL for maximum blast effect. Any questions? No? OK, let's get to work.
#3: What sense does it make to capture Somali pirates? In a failed state there are no jails, no judiciary, no police and damned little civilization. They will be back at work in six months.
#7: It's a maritime tradition that you pick up captives and not let them drown. You can hang them once they are aboard, but you don't let them drown. Only pirates throw people overboard.
The government is planning to officially ban 18 splinter groupings of clandestine armed communists soon, as law enforcing agencies identified them as organisations engaged in anti-state activities in 13 north-west and southern districts. RAB's been hungry lately...
According to top officials of police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), the decision is being taken for the first time since the independence of the country, with an aim to eradicating such organisations before the next parliamentary election.
Responding to recommendations of different intelligence agencies, the police headquarters in early August sent a proposal to the home ministry for banning the outfits, sources said.
On Thursday, the home ministry in a top level meeting with chiefs of law enforcement and intelligence agencies discussed the matter and initiated a process of banning the outfits. Home Adviser Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin chaired the meeting.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Muhammad confirmed the initiative to The Daily Star saying, "The topic is being discussed."
Once the outfits are banned, they will hardly get any chance of slipping through legal loopholes, which has been common so far, as the new rules will be tougher, the home adviser said.
The government already banned Islamist militant outfits Shahadat-e Al Hikma, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, and Harkatul Jihad Al Islami.
Armed communist operations started in the country since the independence, but they splintered into many small groupings following intra-party rivalries over blessings of successive ruling parties during tenures of elected governments, and over establishing supremacy.
In the name of so called revolutionary agenda of capturing state power through armed struggle, the outfits so far killed hundreds of people including law enforcers, and robbed a number of police stations making off with government arms and ammunition.
Citing many previous killings of political leaders, the top officials of police and Rab said operatives of the outfits might become more active before the next parliamentary poll.
18 OUTFITS
Intelligence wings of Rab and police identified 18 outfits and their 40 leaders who are active in 13 north-west and southern districts.
Among the 40 leaders, two were killed in 'crossfire' and six were arrested leaving the rest operating.
Among the outfits, Lal Potaka (Red Flag) faction of Purbo Banglar Communist Party Marxists-Leninist (PBCP M-L) is active in Rajshahi, Natore, Naogaon, Bogra, Pabna, Sirajganj, Kushtia, and in Gangni of Meherpur.
Red Flag used to be led by Dr Mizanur Rahman Tutul who died in 'crossfire' on July 27. The outfit is now being led by Madhu Babu alias Shafik.
Other leaders of the group are Ratan alias Titas, Abdus Salam Tapu, Zahangir alias Jalal, Rashid, Ibrahim Chairman, Khokon, Wali Chairman, and Anwar.
PBCP M-L Jana Juddha (People's War) faction is active in Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Pabna and Kushtia. It is now without a leader since its former chief Tapan Malitha alias Dada Tapan died in 'crossfire'.
PBCP M-L (Rashid) is operating in Khulna and in its adjoining areas led by Harun Sheikh, where another outfit Bangladesh New Biplobi Communist Party (BNBCP) led by Gazi Quamrul is also active.
BNBCP also has two others factions -- Mrinal Group led by Dev Prashad alias Manik, and Sailen Group led by Shailendranath Biswas.
Another outfit Sramajibi Mukti Andolon or Gana Mukti Fouj is active under the leadership of Aminul Islam Mukul in Jhenidah, Kushtia, Pabna, Chuadanga, Rajbari and Meherpur.
Other leaders of the outfit are Shahin Rumi, Shamsul Islam Robin, Anwar Hossain Debu, and Shisir.
Bangladesh Communist Oikkya Prokria is led by Mosarraf Hossain Musa in Jhenidah.
Omol Krishna Mandol, Hasanul Haq Hasu, and Swapan Chakrabarty are leading Bangladesh Biplobi Communist Party in Chuadanga, Kushtia, Meherpur, and Rajbari.
Nuruzzaman Laltu leads Banglar Communist Party in Chuadanga.
Roni Biswas is leading Bangladesh Communist Juddha in Chuadanga and Meherpur.
Samad Member, Aziz Commander, Kamrul Hasan Himu Kha, and Hapu alias Hasanul Haque are leading Sarbahara Group in Rajbari, Babuganj, Ujirpur, and in Gournadi of Barisal.
Sarbahara Sagor Group is active in Rajbari, led by Bulu Akhtar Sagor.
Sarbahara Party is led by Alam Sadhu and Edward Biswas Nanu in Pabna and Barisal while Sarbahara Zia Group is led by Nur Muhammad Sikdar, Abdur Rahim Hawladar, Fazle Rabbi, and Abdur Rahim Sikdar.
Sarbahara Poresh Group is active under the leadership Abul Kalam in Rajbari and Faridpur.
Jashod Gono Bahini of Azibor Chairman and Anwar Hossain Anu is active in Kushtia.
Regional Bahini is being led by Montu Chairman, Sayeed, and Malek in Pabna.
The leaders arrested so far are Ibrahim, Gazi Quamrul, Dev Prashad Manik, Nuruzzaman Laltu, Kamrul Hasan Himu Kha, and Abul Kalam.
Banned militant outfits Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) in a letter to Rapid Action Battalion-5 (Rab) headquarters and Rajshahi Metropolitan Police threatened bomb attacks on the homes and offices of all advisers to the caretaker government. "Yo! Rab! Come and get us!"
The also threatened bomb attacks on offices of law enforcement agencies and the administration within this month. "We're really craving a thorough butt-kicking!"
The letter, faxed from Chapainawabganj at 12:49am on September 4, was signed by M Obaidur Rahman Giasi, self-proclaimed military chief of JMB. It was made available to journalists last night. Copies of the letter were also sent to different offices of Police and Rab in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi. The letter held Rab responsible for executions of the outfits' spiritual leaders and blamed army personnel and police for "torture of political leaders including former lawmakers". "We are just so-o-o-o-o jealous! Us remnants need our own crossfires and neck stretchings!"
The letter said the outfits have plans for devastating attacks on metropolitan police in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi and offices of superintendents of police in districts across the country. "Devastatin'! Y'unnerstand? Devastatin'!" Mahbub Mohsin, commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, told reporters that all law enforcement agencies concerned have started investigating the matter.
This article starring:
Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Mahbub Mohsin, commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police
A British jury has found three men guilty of conspiracy to murder thousands by plotting to down at least seven trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.
The prosecutor told jurors during the trial that the men planned to attack United Airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada flights by smuggling liquid explosives onto jets and detonating them in-flight.
The unraveling of the plot in the summer of 2006 caused travel chaos. Restrictions on the amount of liquid passengers can carry in their hand luggage — imposed in the wake of the men's arrest — still remain in place.
It was intended to be the bloodiest terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001.
Update on the strike against the Haqqani compound
At least 21 people including women and children were killed Monday in a missile strike by suspected US drones on a Pakistan tribal town near the Afghan border, officials told AFP.
The drones fired several missiles that hit a house near a madrassa or Islamic seminary in North Waziristan, the officials said, in the fourth such strike in the rugged tribal region in almost a week. "Seven civilians and 14 militants have died in the missile strike," an intelligence official said, hours after the 11am (0500 GMT) strike.
Women and children were among the dead, as well as the militants, including nine "foreigners" believed to be of Arab origin. A security official told AFP that more than 25 people had been wounded.
"The latest casualties include an important Arab militant identified as just Hamza and two other Arabs identified as Musa and Qasim," the official said but was unable to give full names immediately. Some of the injured are in critical condition, hospital officials said.
Foreigner is a term used by Pakistan authorities for Al Qaeda militants.
The drones were apparently targeting the house or the madrassa established by former Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani during the 1978-88 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, residents said. Haqqani, who was a close aid to fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar, has not been seen since the fall of the hardline regime in Afghanistan in 2001.
Residents said two pilotless aircraft circled over Dande Darpakhel, three kilometres (about two miles) north of the region's main town of Miranshah, before at least one drone fired several missiles.
On Friday, three children and two women were killed in the same region during a suspected strike by a pilotless aircraft. At least five militants were also killed the day before when a missile fired from an unmanned plane hit a house in the North Waziristan village of Mohammad Khel, officials said.
The latest strike follows Pakistani claims that US-led forces based in Afghanistan killed 15 people in a border village in neighbouring South Waziristan district last week.
...
#1: Reuters: Ten militants and a sister, a sister-in-law and two nieces of Haqqani as well as two children were killed in the attack, residents said.
..
The New York Times reported in July that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had given Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani evidence of the ISI's involvement with Haqqani, along with evidence of ISI connections to a suicide bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed nearly 60 people on July 7.
Several explosions reportedly caused by missile strikes from unmanned US drone aircraft hit a house and seminary linked to a key Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, officials said. An intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of his job, said at least six people were killed, including three foreigners and two children, in what appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks by US forces on Islamic militant havens in Pakistan's tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
The targets apparently belonged to Jalauddin Haqqani, a veteran of the jihad against Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s who American commanders describe as one of their most dangerous foes. Haqqani and his son, Siraj, have been linked to attacks this year including an attempt to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a bold attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul. Haqqani network operatives plague US forces in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province with ambushes and roadside bombs.
Indian troops killed six militants in separate gun battles, including two senior members of militant groups, police said on Sunday. After a fierce firefight, soldiers shot dead two "divisional commanders" of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish Muhammad militant groups in the Sopore area of north Kashmir, a police spokesman said. Another militant and a soldier were killed in a separate clash in a remote area, police said. They said Indian soldiers also killed three suspected militants late on Saturday when they tried to sneak into Kashmir from across the Line of Control, northwest of Srinagar. New Delhi says militants regularly slip into India under the cover of shooting by Pakistani troops to join an anti-Indian insurgency in Kashmir. Islamabad denies the charge.
A militant leader wanted by the political administration for inviting militants to Khyber Agency surrendered to the authorities on Sunday.
JUI-F Landi Kotal ameer and Tanzeem Ittehad-e-Ulema leader Ijaz Shinwari was wanted for allegedly inviting militant leader Mangal Bagh to the area and challenging the writ of the government by taking unilateral action against criminals.
Shinwari had earlier refused to surrender, but gave in to the administration's pressure after it began arresting the people of his tribe, Khuga Khel, impounding their vehicles and sealed their shops to force him to surrender.
According to official sources, Shinwari submitted a surety bond of seven million rupees and a jirga consisting of Khuga Khel tribal elders stood as his guarantors.
The militant leader also pledged to uphold the agreement and not to challenge the government's writ.
The political administration released all the detained persons of Shinwari's tribe, returned the impounded vehicles and allowed the sealed shops to open after the signing of the accord.
Posted by: Fred ||2008-09-08 00:00 ||Comments
||Link
||
E-Mail||
[27 views]
Top||
File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
The death toll from a suicide blast at a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan has risen to 33, after more bodies were found and several people died in hospital, police said Sunday.
The attack happened Saturday near Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province, as lawmakers prepared for President-elect Asif Ali Zardari to take over as Pakistan's new leader. "The death toll has risen to 33, as 11 wounded died in hospital overnight and rescue teams recovered six bodies from the debris," provincial police spokesman Riaz Ahmed told AFP by telephone.
Five of those killed were policemen, he said. About 80 others were wounded and receiving treatment in hospital. "The blast was very powerful," Ahmed said, adding that the vehicle used in the attack was loaded with about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of explosives.
The force of the blast destroyed some 60 shops and two houses in the area, he said.
A security official said the attack could be part of a backlash against the Pakistani military's intensified campaign to root out Taliban-linked militants hiding in the lawless rugged tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Former president Pervez Musharraf had been a key ally of the United States in its efforts to combat militancy in the border area, which Washington says is being used as a launch pad for rebel attacks on U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. But Pakistan's fragile coalition government has been struggling to tackle the violence that has seen nearly 1,200 people killed in bombings and suicide attacks across the country in the past year.
Musharraf resigned last month, paving the way for Zardari, the widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, to rise to power.
Zardari won 481 of 702 electoral college votes in a landslide victory welcomed by Western countries and neighbors Iran and Afghanistan.
Security forces continued shelling Taliban positions in several parts of Swat district on Sunday.
According to residents, several houses were damaged in the shelling, but no casualties were reported.
According to residents, several houses were damaged in the shelling, but no casualties were reported.
Militants blew up two markets and the houses of Pakistan People's Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) District President Sher Shah, his brother and his nephew in Kabal.
The continuous curfew in Kabal tehsil in the wake of fighting has caused a shortage of food while water supply to houses has also been affected due to the frequent power outages, residents said. In Mandal Dag area of Matta tehsil, a compromise was reached between the Taliban and the residents after the residents surrendered to the militants following two days of clashes that killed 30 people. Following the compromise, the militants ended the siege of the area and released 20 people they had taken hostage in the clashes.
Secterian clashes in Kurram Agency killed three children and injured many on Sunday. The clashes involved six Sunni and six Shia tribes, with both using heavy weaponry and targeting civilian houses. The areas worst hit by the fighting include Sadda, Bara Chamkani, Karman, Balish Khel, Kunj Alizae, Trhi Mangal, Sangeena and Anandi. The agency's civilians organised protest rallies and demanded that the authorities concerned stop clashes in the area.
One person was killed and 13 were injured as army helicopters pounded a suspected militant hideout near a madrassa in Darra Adam Khel on Sunday, Dawn News reported. The channel quoted witnesses as saying that the airstrikes occured in the Sharki area of Darra Adam Khel. They said that students were taking their lessons at the madrassa when the helicopters fired rockets at the building. According to the channel, eight of the injured children were taken to the Divisional Headquarters Hospital, Kohat, while two, who were in a serious condition, were rushed to Peshawar.
Tribesmen used a machine gun to fire at a low-flying pilotless US aircraft above North Waziristan on Sunday. The aircraft was not hit. The tribesmen said that NATO missile attacks from Afghanistan always followed drone flights. Violations of Pakistan's airspace by US drones have reportedly increased in the last six months.
Iraqi citizens of Babil province yesterday led U.S. soldiers to the seizure of a huge amount of components suitable for the construction of deadly explosively formed penetrator-type bombs, military officials reported.
Acting on a tip from local Iraqi citizens, the U.S. soldiers discovered more than 2,500 bomb-making components at three separate locations in an area southeast of Samrah Village in Babil province. Officials believe this discovery will significantly disrupt explosively formed projectiles attacks within central Iraq.
U.S. soldiers found the cache after a group of local Iraqi citizens informed them of a suspected cache location that had recently received more munitions. The Iraqi citizens gave the soldiers a notebook with sketches of the munitions and its general location and led them to the site where the cache was located. The soldiers used metal detectors to discover three separate locations where parts of the cache were located.
An explosive ordnance disposal team searched the cache sites and found complete components for EFPs along with C-4 explosives. The Diwaniyah Peninsula and the Samrah Jungle are known historic weapons trafficking locations in the area. Included in the cache were 414 blocks of Iranian M112 C-4 explosives, 860 copper plates, 501 back plates, 529 retaining rings and 157 steel bodies, which were all the type commonly used by the enemy to make EFPs.
"The Iraqi citizens made a significant decision to support their government and security forces when they provided the information that led to the discovery of this cache," said Army Lt. Col. John Casper, Multinational Corps Iraq's chief of operations. "In doing so, they removed devastating weapons from the hands of terrorists and placed their trust and confidence in a future for Iraq."
During other operations yesterday:
-- A vehicle-born improvised explosive device was discovered in Kirkuk. Coalition forces discovered the constructed car bomb in Kirkuk City and later disarmed it.
-- Three suspected insurgents were killed and a house was destroyed in Mosul when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated Sept. 6. The suspected insurgents were constructing the VBIED when it detonated prematurely. The blast also damaged four local civilian homes.
In Sept. 5 operations:
-- U.S. soldiers captured a suspected criminal during an operation in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The detainee is a reputed explosives expert suspected of using explosively formed projectile IEDs against Iraqi and coalition forces.
-- U.S. and Iraqi soldiers confiscated explosives and other ordnance during searches in Baghdad. While searching a street in the Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers serving found nine blocks of dynamite hidden inside an empty store.
-- Acting on a tip from a local sheik, U.S. soldiers patrolling northwest of Baghdad seized a cache that included 12 cases of ammunition, two 122 mm canisters, a large amount of .50-caliber ammunition and a heavy machine gun barrel.
-- A Sons of Iraq militia member thwarted the emplacement of an improvised explosive device and U.S. soldiers arrested a Special Groups criminal in Baghdad's Rashid district. A Sons of Iraq member reported to U.S. troops that an individual had just emplaced an IED. An explosives ordnance disposal unit sent to the site detonated the device. U.S. soldiers captured the suspected Special Groups criminal in the Risalah community. The detainee was transferred to a forward operating base for further processing.
A series of roadside bombs wounded at least 14 people Sunday in eastern Baghdad, police said, in a sign of the ongoing security threats despite a sharp reduction of violence in the Iraqi capital.
The first blast occurred at 9:10 a.m. Sunday along Palestine Street near Beirut Square, injuring five people, including three policemen, officials said.
Another bomb exploded nearly an hour later on the Mohammed al-Qassim Highway, also in eastern Baghdad, wounding three policemen, police said.
Two people died and another two were seriously injured in four separate shootings in less than 24 hours in Thailand's restive south, local police said Monday.
A 64-year old Muslim villager was shot dead early Monday morning while riding his motorbike to work on a rubber plantation in Narathiwat province. Hours later in another drive-by shooting, a 58-year old Buddhist janitor was slain on his way to work at a school in Pattani province.
Also in Pattani province on Sunday evening, a 46-year-old Muslim man was shot on his way home, while a 17-year-old girl was shot while travelling to a market with her family. Both were seriously injured.
Sri Lanka's air force launched attacks on two Tamil separatist camps in the embattled north Sunday, and infantry clashes elsewhere in the region killed eight rebels and three soldiers, the military said.
Helicopter gunships attacked a Sea Tigers camp in Kavitaramunai in the rebel stronghold of Pooneryn before dawn, said air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara. The Sea Tigers are the rebels' naval wing.
Hours later, fighter jets bombed a rebel training camp deep in guerrilla-held territory in Mankulam, Nanayakkara said. Pilots said both attacks were successful but details of casualties were not immediately available, he said.
Meanwhile, ground battles Saturday along the front lines separating government-controlled areas from rebel-held territory left eight rebels and three soldiers dead, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara. Clashes in Vavuniya killed five rebels and three soldiers, while fighting in Welioya and Kilinochchi killed three rebels and wounded eight soldiers, he said.
With communication all but cut with the northern areas, rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be reached for comment.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
38.103.63.61
92084471
Two explosions have rocked a police station in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar, killing at least two policemen, officials say. They say about 30 people - including civilians - were injured when two suicide bombers detonated their bombs in quick succession inside the station. 
A warship off Somali waters captured 14 pirates, whose captives include two Pakistani crew of an Iranian ship. "About 14 pirates came across a warship that we think could be American and all the pirates on board were captured and their boat destroyed," said Abdulqadir Muse Yusuf, the fisheries minister for the Puntland semi-autonomous region, said on Sunday. "We are still investigating the identity of the warship." 
The government is planning to officially ban 18 splinter groupings of clandestine armed communists soon, as law enforcing agencies identified them as organisations engaged in anti-state activities in 13 north-west and southern districts.
The death toll from a suicide blast at a security checkpoint in northwest Pakistan has risen to 33, after more bodies were found and several people died in hospital, police said Sunday. 
One person was killed and 13 were injured as army helicopters pounded a suspected militant hideout near a madrassa in Darra Adam Khel on Sunday, Dawn News reported. The channel quoted witnesses as saying that the airstrikes occured in the Sharki area of Darra Adam Khel. They said that students were taking their lessons at the madrassa when the helicopters fired rockets at the building. According to the channel, eight of the injured children were taken to the Divisional Headquarters Hospital, Kohat, while two, who were in a serious condition, were rushed to Peshawar. 
