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Today: 70 articles and 123 comments as of 11:45.
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Bajaur teenyboomer kills 24
Today's Headlines
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Pia Zadora aka Girmar in "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)" aka Kady Tyler (Won Golden Raspberry for Worst New Star & Worst Actress 1983) in "Butterfly (1982)" aka Jerilee Randall (Won Golden Raspberry for Worst Actress 1984) in "The Lonely Lady (1983)" aka Dee Dee in "Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984)" aka Winner of Golden Raspberry for Worst New Star of the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990) aka Runner-up for Golden Raspberry, Worst Actress of the Decade, Butterfly and The Lonely Lady (1990) aka Runner-up for Golden Raspberry, Worst Actress of the Century, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, Butterfly, and The Lonely Lady (2000)(age 58)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/04/2012 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Worst actress of the century? There must be more than a few competitors.

A story that gets passed around is that Pia Zadora's film careen was flagging and she decided to restore it by acting on the stage. She played Anne in the diary of Anne Frank. Pia Zadora as Anne Frank was hiding in the attic and the Nazis were searching the house. Someone in the audience yelled: "She's in the attic."

I found out later that this is apparently an urban myth that has been applied to actors or actresses who are unusually bad.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/04/2012 17:15 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
3 Insurgent Emirs Captured In Afghan Raids
Captured the first:
An Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader was captured during a joint Afghan and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
troops operation in northern Kunduz province on Thursday, Isaf said.

"The IMU leader planned and conducted suicide kabooms against Afghan and coalition troops throughout the province and is suspected in a plot to assassinate a senior Afghan government official," Isaf said in a statement Thursday.

During the operation the forces also set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
two other snuffies and seized one AK-47 and ammunition.
Captured the second:
The statement said that a Taliban leader was captured in a joint operation in Nad Ali district of Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
province.

The leader coordinated roadside kaboomings, suicide kabooms and other operations against Afghan and coalition security forces. He also supplied weapons and ammunition to Islamic fascisti in the area, according to Isaf.

The security force jugged
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
one additional beturbanned goon as a result of this operation.
And captured the third:
The statement said that a Haqqani controller was captured Thursday during an operation in Nerkh district of Wardak province.

He provided weapons, bombs and funds to beturbanned goons to support attacks against Afghan and coalition troops throughout the province, Isaf said.

The security forces also jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
several additional beturbanned goons and destroyed multiple weapons and several kilograms of kaboom during the operation, Isaf added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Captured' just causes problems in the long run. Not worth it unless they have secure computers or cellphones they can be persuaded to unlock before succumbing to their injuries.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/04/2012 7:32 Comments || Top||


3 Injured in Grenade Blast at Kabul Boys School
[Tolo News] At least three people were maimed when a hand-grenade went kaboom! at a boys school in the west of Kabul on Thursday, officials said.

The chief of the Kabul Police Criminal Investigation Unit Mohammad Zahir said that initial reports suggested the hand-grenade was carried in by a student which he detonated at the school.
The incident took place around 08:00am in the Ghulaam Mohammad Ghobaar high school in Khoshal Khan area in east of Kabul.

At least three people were maimed, including a teacher, front man for the Ministry of Education Amanullah Eman said.

Zahir said that three students were maimed.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


12 Insurgents Join Reconciliation in Herat
[Tolo News] Twelve Afghan krazed killers, including a commander and a former commander, have surrendered their weapons to Afghanistan's National Security Directorate in Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
province, the provincial governor's front man Mohiuddin Noori said Thursday.
Why are they reconciliating when fighting season has officially been declared open? It's not like they now need a warm bed for the winter...
The krazed killers, who joined the reconciliation programme, had been engaged in anti-government activities in the Kishk Rabat Sangi district of the western province, he added.

The group's commander Mullah Jandad asked the government to protect them from any possible krazed killer attacks against them, Noori said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase...
20 armed Taliban beturbanned goons have been killed in festivities with Afghan cops in the Khaki Safed District of western Farah province.

Head of Farah's security forces Mohammad Ghous Malyar said Thursday a special military operation had been ongoing for three days and that there were still as many as 70 armed Taliban fighting the Afghan cops.
Golly -- it sounds as exciting as Mexico!
Malyar said the beturbanned goons have been "surrounded".

During the operation, the deputy of Second Brigade Army was maimed as well as three Afghan National Army soldiers and two Afghan local police, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Kenyan police arrest two men for suspected ties to militants near Somali border
(Sh.M.Network)-- A judge in Kenya has heard a Belgian and a Tunisian plead guilty to charges of being in the country illegally after the pair were tossed in the slammer
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
near the border with Somalia.

Judge Stephen Riech later Thursday is expected to sentence Belgian Hassan Kafi and Tunisian Mohammed Debarli.

Anti-terror police tossed in the slammer
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
the two near the Kenyan coastal town of Lamu on Wednesday. The two have denied claims that they were traveling from Somalia to Kenya.

The bad boy group al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
boasts hundreds of imported muscle among its ranks.Kenya is a common transit point for fighters hoping to join al-Shabaab.
This article starring:
HASAN KAFIal-Shabaab
MOHAMED DEBARLIal-Shabaab
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Kenyan army targets on Al shabab training bases in southern Somalia
(Sh. M. Network)-Kenyan forces have reportedly bombarded on several Al shabab military training bases at a town in Somalia's southern region of Lower Jubba region, according to the local residents.
Can they hit the ones in Pakistan next, please?
Reports confirm that Kenyan military open mortar fire on rebel bases at Qoqani town, an jihad boy stronghold inLower Jubbaregion, causing an unconfirmed casualty on the beturbanned goons.

Locals told Shabelle Media station in Mogadishu by phone that they saw this morning a number of victimized people in the Kenyan army bombardment who were rushing to the hospitals for medical treatment.

Al shabab has made any comments about the barrage on its stronghold town ofQoqaniby Kenyan army so far.

Kenyamoved its troops with tanks into the neighboring war-tornSomaliain mid-October in pursuit ofSomalia's Islamic hard boyz of Al shabab linked with Al Qaeda whichNairobiblames for string of insecurity acts in its soul.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Somalia: Al-Shabab, Ahlu Sunna Fight in Parts of Hiran Region
(Sh.M.Network) -- Heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
between the Al-shabab fighters and the Islamist holy mans of Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a has broken out in parts of Hiran region in central Somalia, witnesses told Shabelle Media on Thursday.

Locals said that the clash between the two sides started at Goobo village around Mahas district of Hiran region adding that there were tense between the two sides.

Both Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a (ASWJ) and Al-shabab snuffies had exchanged gunfire in parts of the areas and residents said that there were some casualties reached to the civilians in the areas, but The figures on the casualties on both sides is yet established.

Reports indicate that the fighters of Al-shabab had taken over the control of the zones where both sides fought on Wednesday night and the residents had expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
over the fighting between the two sides as military movements were still reporting.

The latest reports from the warring zones say that Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a fighters are regrouping on the outskirt villages, nearly 15 Km away fromGooboTownship.

Calm reportedly returned this morning to the battle zone as Al shabaab has not released any comments about the fighting so far.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


South Sudan Accuses Khartoum of New Bombings
[An Nahar] Sudanese warplanes and long-range artillery bombarded South Sudan border regions Thursday, defying a U.N. Security Council ultimatum to end hostilities or face possible sanctions, the South's army said.

"Their aircraft dropped bombs and artillery was fired targeting an SPLA (Southern army) base...this is an indication of preparation for a ground attack," said Southern army front man Philip Aguer.

The U.N. body on Wednesday demanded fighting between the arch-rivals stop within 48 hours.

The attack could not be independently confirmed, and Khartoum's army has repeatedly denied a wave of air strikes that has hit the South's oil rich Unity border state in recent weeks.

Sudan and South Sudan have edged to the brink of all-out war in weeks of bloody festivities, which peaked in the South's seizure of the key Heglig oil field from Khartoum's army, before pulling back after international condemnation.

However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
festivities and air strikes by Sudanese warplanes have continued since then, prompting the Security Council's ultimatum in New York late Wednesday.

Aguer said six bombs were dropped by MiG fighter jets on the Southern frontline position at Panakuach, while warplanes and long range artillery bombarded an army base at Lalop, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) back.

"The SPLA there are preparing for an attack, they are ready to defend their positions," Aguer added. Troops and tanks from both sides have dug into fortified defensive positions along their volatile border.

The last ground attacks were on Tuesday, when troops clashed in the South's Unity state.

The U.N. council ordered the two sides to restart African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
-mediated peace talks within two weeks. The resolution threatens additional non-military sanctions if either side fails.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
Egypt military, protesters clash in Cairo
Time to bring back the Mamluks
Egyptian armed forces and protesters clashed in Cairo on Friday, with troops firing water cannons and tear gas at demonstrators who threw stones as they tried to march on the Defense Ministry, a flashpoint for a new cycle of violence only weeks ahead of presidential elections.

For the first time in Egypt's stormy transition, hardline Islamists were in the forefront of street fighting with the troops, a shift for groups that previously had largely stayed out of direct confrontation with the ruling military.

The clashes centered around a sit-in that has been held for a week in a square several blocks away from the Defense Ministry, mainly by ultraconservatives known as Salafis, who were protesting the disqualification of their favored candidate from the presidential election. On Wednesday, still unidentified assailants attacked the gathering, sparking clashes that killed nine.

Wednesday's violence fueled anger at the military and now more groups are taking to the streets.
Posted by: tipper || 05/04/2012 14:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Finally "a whiff of grapeshot"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/04/2012 17:43 Comments || Top||


Arab Spring Anarchy in the Sinai: 50 Terrorist Attacks
The blossoms of the “Arab Spring” uprising in Egypt last year have wilted under a reign of terror in the Sinai, where Al Qaeda is active.

The blossoms of the “Arab Spring” uprising in Egypt last year have wilted under a reign of terror in the Sinai, where Al Qaeda and other jihadi cells have carried out 50 terrorist attacks on police since the beginning of the January 25 uprising.

Security sources in Egypt told the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper that Rafiah, which straddles the border at Gaza and Egypt, and central Sinai are under out of control of Egyptian police and soldiers.

Bedouin, allied with Gaza Arabs, have carried on a reign of terror and carved out their own fiefdoms in the region, a source of smuggling of weapons and terrorists into Israel.

Besides Al Qaeda-linked groups, security soruces named Hamas and the Army of Islam, which was involved in attack on an IDF checkpoint and the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit nearly six years ago.

The terrorist groups have carried out 16 attacks on checkpoints and 37 attacks on police stations. Frequent armed robberies have been carried out on mail delivery trucks, and at least three men have been killed in the attacks.

The lawlessness has been highlighted but there have also been 14 attacks on the Egyptian-Israeli natural gas pipeline, and numerous carjackings in the area of el-Arish.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
34 killed in Nigerian market raid
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Gunmen armed with explosives killed at least 34 people in northeastern Nigeria when they attacked a cattle market and burned it to the ground, residents and officials said today.

The attack Wednesday night in the city of Potiskum was said to be in reprisal for an incident earlier in the day, when a gang sought to rob the market but were fought off by traders who caught one of the attackers, police said.

The man who was caught was doused in petrol and a tyre was placed around his neck before he was burnt to death, according to police and residents.
The man who was caught was doused in petrol and a tyre was placed around his neck before he was burnt to death, according to police and residents.

"A group of gunnies armed with around 20 explosives and assault rifles attacked the Potiskum cattle market," police front man Toyin Gbadegesin told AFP.

"They threw explosives and shot indiscriminately, setting fire to the market, killing lots of livestock and wounding many people, mostly cattle dealers."

Police have not provided a corpse count, but an emergency official said on condition of anonymity that 34 bodies were brought to a local hospital and some 22 other people were being treated for injuries.

He added that the toll was likely to be more than 50 because families were also burying relatives' bodies without bringing them to the hospital.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Yemen Army kills 8 Qaida Militants
[An Nahar] Yemeni soldiers killed eight al-Qaeda Death Eaters as they tried to attack an army post in the southern province of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
on Thursday, the defence ministry said.

"Eight al-Qaeda Death Eaters were killed and others maimed" when army forces "foiled their attack" against a military post near Bajdar on the outskirts of the picturesque provincial capital Zinjibar, the ministry's website 26sep.net said.

On Monday, fierce festivities killed at least 21 people, including 18 al-Qaeda bad boys, near Abyan's town of Loder, which jihadists are trying to capture.

The army has been battling al-Qaeda bad boys, who have renamed themselves as the "Partisans of Sharia" (Islamic law), for control of Zinjibar for nearly a year.

The jihadists have expanded their control over Yemen's lawless southern and eastern provinces, taking advantage of a weakened central government in Sanaa and months of political upheaval.

The beturbanned goons intensified their attacks on the security forces after President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi took office in February pledging to hunt down the bad boys.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Seleh's nephew steps down after days of rejection
[Yemen Post] Tareq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, a nephew of the former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
, stepped down on Thursday after days negations with the UN Envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar.

Benomar said in a press brief on Thursday that he witnessed the handover of the 3rd Brigade of the Republican Guard from Tariq to the newly-appointed commander Abdul-Rahman Al-Halili.

Military sources say that the 3rd Brigade is among the most heavily armed and its units are centered in the mountains surrounding the Yemeni Capital Sana'a.

However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
it was not mentioned by Benomar whether the command of the Presidential Guard was handed over to the new commander Saleh Al-Jualiani.

During the conference, the UN Envoy affirmed that Yemen still faces serious security challenges, expressing his trust that President Abdu Rabo Hadi could overcome all these challenges.

Benomar postponed his departure to New York that was scheduled on Wednesday, sources close to Benomar affirmed, pointing out that he will present a report about Yemen's updates and situation on May 17.

Hadi issued a month ago decrees of replacing nearly 20 officers, including Air force Chief Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar. However Al-Ahmar and Tariq refused the decrees and only quitted after the intervention of Benomar.

Al-Ahmar, a half brother of Saleh, was persuaded by Benomar on April 14 to leave the post he held after nearly three decades of rejection.

While Yemeni revolutionaries insisted on the dismissal of all Saleh's relatives from the military and security forces, his elderly son, Ahmed and nephew, Yahya, still head the elite Republican Guard and the central security services.

Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Bangladesh
4 Hizb-ut protesters arrested
[Bangla Daily Star] Police yesterday cooled for a few years
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
four members of banned bad turban organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir for bringing out a procession in the capital protesting the arrival of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Marshall ...
The arrestees are Mohammad Aziz, 22, a BBA student of East West University, Jahangir Alam, another BBA student of the same institution, Abdullah Al Mobin, 26, MBA student of Dhaka University, and Mohammad Galib, 30, a BBA student of North South University.

They were cooled for a few years
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
around noon when nearly 25 activists of the bad turban organization brought out a procession before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office to denounce Hillary Clinton's visit to the country, said Syed Nurul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

Police charged baton to disperse the procession that also demanded establishment of Islamic rule in the country and release of cooled for a few years
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
party leaders and activists, he said.

Detained Jahangir Alam introduced himself as son of Dhaka University Kuwait Maitree Hall provost Farida Begum, said MA Jalil, sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station. She was not available on the phone.

A case will be filed after discussions with police high-ups, said Sirajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station.

As part of her three-nation tour (Bangladesh, India and China), Hillary Clinton is expected to arrive in Dhaka tomorrow and hold meetings with government high-ups, opposition leaders and civil society representatives.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir


Caribbean-Latin America
Several Mexican cartel groups involved in Sinaloa bloodshed

For a map, click here For previous accounts of the bloodshed in Sinaloa state click here, here and here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican cartel-allied groups, which fought each other and Mexican security forces since Saturday include such groups as the Beltran-Leyva, the Sinaloa and the Los Zetas drug cartels, according to Mexican news accounts.

In a Thursday posting at its website, Vangardia news daily reported unnamed sources saying that the groups which were in the general area of Choix since Saturday include Los Mazatlecos, Los Chapos Isidro Norte, Los Pequeños and Los Zetas, led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores AKA El Chapo Isidro, against a Sinaloa group called Gente Nueva.

Also included, not surprisingly was an armed group led by a Juarez Cartel operative identified as José Luis Ledezma, AKA El JL, leader of Los Aztecas. The Juarez Cartel makes use of remote mountain communities in far western Chihuahua state to grow some of the drugs it smuggles into the US. La Linea, the Juarez cartel's enforcement wing, has also operated in remote Chihuahua state communities such as Madero, where quantities of Tovex, a commercial grade dynamite were found just after the July, 2010 car bomb in Juarez city, which killed four including a Policia Federal agent.

Prior reports said that two groups had exchanged gunfire initially in Choix municipality, also wound up fighting Mexican Army and Sinaloa state police agents, and have been fighting since then until Wednesday.

The Vangardia report also said that Mexican Army troops have moved further into eastern Choix to make arrests of cartel shooters involved in the fighting since last Saturday.

The total dead state wide, by this author's account, include 54 gang and cartel affiliated shooters, the latest being in Guasave where 11 armed suspects and two Mexican soldiers were killed early Wednesday morning.

Speaking of the firefight in Guasave, Vangardia said that the Mexican Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, the controlling agency for the Mexican Army, reported large amounts of munitions seized including 31 rifles, 12 handguns, 5,291 rounds of ammunition, 121 weapons magazines, hand grenades and homemade explosive devices. These munitions lists probably also include quantities seized in Choix municipality since last Saturday.

In a Thursday evening post on its website, Noreste reported that 11 armed suspects were killed in the firefight between armed suspects and a Mexican Army road patrol at the Hotel Macurín in Guasave. Seven suspects died in separate hotel rooms, while two more died attempting to flee the fire zone. Two more died in the courtyard of the hotel.

The report also said that 30 local schools were closed down during the two hour long firefight.

Contraband seized in the aftermath of the firefight include 28 rifles and pistols (including two 0.50 caliber Barrett rifles), four vehicles including one armored Jeep Cherokee SUV and 1,600 rounds of ammunition.

According to a post on its website Thursday evening, El Debate news daily listed nine of the 11 armed suspects killed in Guasave: Luis Enrique Leon Leyva, José Alberto Rocha Fonseca, Juvenal Parez Encino, Carlos Daniel Velazquez Terraza, Oscar Manuel Montoya Lopez, Omar Adrian Montoya Rubio, Luis Saenz, Jesus Gamez and José Leonardo Lopez Murillo.

In a story posted on its website Thursday, Grupo Formula radio said that at least one church, Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Culican was vandalized by cartel operatives. The report also said a Catholic priest was stabbed at a Catholic school last week and is listed in serious condition.

On the website of La Tarde news daily Thursday evening, it was reported that a total of 23 dead have been found in several municipalities of Sinaloa. It is unclear in that report how many of those are included in the total death toll of 56.

In Culiacan, 10 were reported dead, four in Salvador Alvarado, three in Ahome, two each in San Ignacio and El Fuerte, and one each in Navolato and Mocorito.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Suicide bombers kill 12, wound 110 in Dagestan, Russia
[MSNBC] Suicide boomers killed 12 people and maimed 110 in attacks on a police post on the outskirts of the capital of Russia's Dagestan
...a normally inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca..
region, local Sherlocks and law enforcement sources said Friday.

The attacks outside Makhachkala late Thursday were the deadliest in months, undermining efforts by Russian security forces to contain an Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus region near Sochi, where Russia will host the Winter Olympics in 2014.

More than a decade after federal troops toppled an Islamist government in Chechnya, also in the North Caucasus, security forces are fighting cut-throats whose ranks are swollen by anger at poverty, clan feuds and pervasive corruption.
That's the MSNBC opinion. There aren't any similar "insurgencies" in Khabarovsk or Birobidzhan or Ulan Ude.
The first jacket wallah detonated a bomb when police stopped a vehicle to check documents, a statement by the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

The second kaboom came when fire brigades and ambulances arrived, causing additional casualties. A witness at the scene said a fire truck was reduced to charred wreckage.
That's al-Qaeda SOP. Betcha there's a Pak somewhere in the command structure...
"After the blast, only the wheels of the truck remained whole," the witness told news hounds.

Local officials said that in addition to the 12 killed in the blast, 90 had been taken to hospital and 20 were treated at the scene. "Fragments of human bodies are scattered at the post," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a law enforcement official as saying.

Local Sherlocks said they had found the remains of a man and a woman suspected of being the suicide bombers.
"Honey, you wanta take in a movie tonight?"
"We did that last week, dear. How about if we explode?"
"Good idea. I'll get the boom jackets!"

An unofficial Islamist website, kavkazcenter.com, said the police post was almost completely destroyed. A nearby gas pipeline also was damaged during the attack, RIA news agency reported.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 12:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Emirate of Caucasus

#1  Can we see some of that famous Russian oppression?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/04/2012 17:43 Comments || Top||


Tajikistan bans new Islamist group
[Bangla Daily Star] Tajikistan yesterday banned a fringe Islamist group whose existence it initially denied but later blamed for a series of bombings that killed more than 20 servicemen and police.
All it takes is banning? We should have done that long ago!
A group calling itself the Jamaat Ansarullah (The Friends of Allah Society) released a 15-minute video in September calling on the Central Asian nation's Moslems to wage a holy war against the state.

Authorities initially denied its existence or ability to carry out serious attacks despite continuing Islamist violence spilling over from neighbouring Afghanistan.

The former Soviet nation's supreme court also banned the group's two main websites.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad


India-Pakistan
Bajaur teenyboomer kills 24
A TEENAGE jacket wallah targeting police has killed at least 24 people in a bustling Pak town square.
Imagine his surprise when, after expending the only life he'll ever have before it was even properly begun, rather than finding himself cavorting with 72 virgins he ended up with nothing but a view of the clouds through six feet of hard-packed earth.
The Taliban grabbed credit, saying it had wanted to kill the local chief and deputy of a tribal police force recruited by the government to help defeat the Islamist insurgency in the northwest. Both died in the attack in Khar, the main town of Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central,
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
after a bomber who intelligence officials said was aged 14 to 16 detonated explosives strapped to his chest.

Bajaur has been one of the toughest battlegrounds in Pakistain's fight against a northwestern Taliban insurgency. The Mighty Pak Army conducted major offensives there in 2008 and 2009 and has repeatedly declared it secure.
That's worked well, hasn't it?
Yesterday's blast was the deadliest bombing in Pakistain since February 17,
...that distant day less than 3 months ago...
when 31 people were killed by a suicide kaboom on Shiite Mohammedans in Kurram Agency.
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
"The corpse count has risen to 24," said Islam Zeb, the administrative head of Bajaur tribal district. He had earlier said 20 people were killed.
... but then four more ceased kicking...
Raids were later carried out in the surrounding areas of Khar and two boys aged 17 and 18 were incarcerated
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
and suicide jackets found, he said.

At least five coppers, including the local tribal police chief and his deputy, were among the dead and 46 people were maimed. Shops and a restaurant were destroyed.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, front man for the Pak Taliban, grabbed credit, saying that anyone involved in "activity" against the Taliban "will be treated with iron hands".
Someone please send a spare drone to follow him home -- show him what iron hands really look like.
"Our attacks will continue until (US) drone strikes end," said Ehsan.
it seems to me Osama bin Laden voiced opinions on this kind of behaviour...
It was the third kaboom in two days in Bajaur, after twin blasts killed five people - including pro-government elders and security personnel - on Thursday.

The violence highlights the insurgency in Pakistain at a time when Islamabad is under renewed US pressure crack down on cut-throats based on its soil, such as the Haqqani network, blamed for a spectacular assault on Kabul last month.
Pressure that they're resolutely ignoring...
According to an AFP tally, around 5000 people have been killed in attacks blamed on the Taliban and its allies since July 2007, when Pak troops raided an bad boy mosque in Islamabad, sparking a bloody insurgency.
That'd be Lal Masjid, which they're currently rebuilding so the turbans won't be inconvenienced...
...also known as the Red Mosque, for those whose brains run in a different direction.
Documents released by the US on Thursday showed that former al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who is currently taking a long nap in the dirt... urm... water...
had been unhappy with the Pak Taliban for killing civilians. Al-Qaeda leaders wrote to its chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, urging him to change his ways, the papers showed.
...which he didn't...
Pakistain has also lost more than 3000 soldiers in the fight against homegrown beturbanned goons but has resisted US pressure to do more to eliminate havens used by those fighting the Americans in Afghanistan.
They got lotsa people -- human life is cheap, so they can continue trying to differentiate between "good" bad guyz and "bad" bad guyz...
The United States conducts a secretive drone war
What's so secret about it? People notice when carloads of turbans turn into craters...
against Taliban and al-Qaeda cut-throats on Pak soil, despite increasingly vocal public denunciations from the government, which initially gave its tacit approval to the strikes.

Relations between Pakistain and the US have lapsed into stalemate since the covert American raid that killed bin Laden last May and US air strikes that inadvertently killed 24 Pak soldiers in November.
In other words, they're furious, and we don't care. The investment in a pheasant-hunting Christmas holiday for young Barry Obama hasn't paid off, it seems.
Pakistain has shut down NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
supply lines into Afghanistan and last month parliament approved new guidelines on relations with the United States, which included a call for an end to drone strikes. It remains unclear whether the impasse with Washington can be solved before this month's NATO summit on Afghanistan in Chicago, to which Islamabad has been invited.
This article starring:
Ehsanullah EhsanTTP
Hakimullah MehsudTTP
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 11:28 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  fatality count has reached 42 per another source
Posted by: Lord Garth || 05/04/2012 15:00 Comments || Top||


Suicide bombing in Pakistani market kills 20
A Taliban suicide bombing in a Pakistani market close to the Afghan border killed 20 people Friday, officials said, a day after the US released letters seized from Osama bin Laden's compound that criticized Pakistani militants for killing too many civilians.


Five of the dead in the blast in the Bajur tribal area were local members of the security forces, including one who had received an award for bravery in fighting Islamist militants, government administrator Abdul Haseeb said. The others were passers-by. Over 40 people were wounded, mostly civilians
Posted by: tipper || 05/04/2012 10:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Malik gives Lyari criminals 48 hours to surrender
[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men.
on Thursday gave a deadline of 48 hours for the criminals fighting in Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
to surrender as the troubled area of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
remained tense and continued to portray the image of a battlefield on seventh consecutive day of the "grand operation," DawnNews reported.

Speaking at a presser along with Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, the interior minister warned the myrmidons to get ready for stiff action if they fail to surrender before end of 48 hours deadline.

A meeting on law and order situation in Bloody Karachi was co-chaired by the chief minister Sindh and the interior minister earlier.

Briefings by the Inspector General Police Sindh and the Director General Rangers and intelligence agencies were given to the participants.

He said that the Rangers along with police will take part in the ongoing operation against the criminals by the deadline end. "A joint operation of police and rangers is inevitable in Lyari," he added.

The minister said that provisional check posts for the Rangers will be stationed tonight.

He said that the houses will be set ablaze if any rocket launchers recovered from there.

Rangers and police have been directed to take over all exits and entry points to ensure that no weapon is allowed to go in or the criminals are not allowed to leave Lyari or do any other action detrimental to the peace of the area.

The minister said Taliban and banned outfits were also fighting against the security forces in Lyari.

He said that a strict line of action has been formulated against the myrmidons. "Four helicopters equipped with machine guns will be observing the operation on ground. Latest satellite system will also be used for the surveillance," he added.

The minister vowed that Bloody Karachi will be prevented from becoming another Swat.

Moreover, the interior minister announced Pakistain Police Medal for SHO Nawaz and Sitara-e-Shujahat for the DSPs and Pakistain Police Medal for SSP for demonstrating courage and leading role by them during the grand operation.

SSP CID Chaudhry Aslam, who is leading the operation in the area and survived during kabooms has also been given Sitara-e-Shujahat for his highly dedicated and professional courage demonstrated by him.

Considering the difficulties being faced by the residents due to the present ongoing targeted action, the chief minister ordered immediate provision of relief to the residents of Lyari.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Tex and his new-found Indian friend were preparing a little surprise for the bandidos...
the locality remained tense and continued to portray the image of a battlefield with reports of at least 38 people including six security officials having been killed and over 100 others being maimed during the past week of the operation there.

The Bloody Karachi Board of Secondary Education has also postponed all examinations of classes nine and ten in the area.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Minor boy among seven killed in Lyari violence
[Dawn] At least seven people, including a seven-year-old boy, were killed and 30 others maimed on Wednesday -- the sixth day of the Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
operation.

Some 10 persons, who suffered injuries in gun and grenade attacks, were brought to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, sources said.

Unidentified persons also ransacked the apartment of the Pakistain People's Party politician Rafique Engineer in Lyari and then set fire to it. The attackers reportedly also burnt PPP flags.

Although CID SP Aslam Khan, who is leading the operation in Lyari, has time and again claimed to have killed several terrorists, the police have failed to produce even a single body to substantiate their claim.

The circumstances in which seven people were killed on Wednesday were not clear as local police had no idea what was going on in Lyari. Apparently, most of the people were caught in the crossfire between the police and armed gangsters.

The police also claimed to have killed another suspected gangster, who fired on the police from Afshani Gali. However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
he could not be identified because his body was taken away by his associates.

A woman, identified as Sajan Bibi, 22, was brought to the Civil Hospital on Wednesday from a Lyari area within the remit of the Chakiwara cop shoppe.

A 60-year-old man, identified as Ismail Kutchi, was killed at the Juma Brohi Road, where two rockets were fired. The body was also taken to the CHK.

A seven-year-old boy was killed within the remit of the Kalakot cop shoppe while playing. His body was also taken to the Civil Hospital. Noor Zeb, a seminary student, also suffered a gunshot wound in the same area.

A 22-year-old man was killed when he was struck down by an armoured police carrier in the Kalakot area. The body was shifted to the CHK.

In the Nawalane area, the body of a young man, identified as Zafar Kutchi, 22, was also found and taken to
the CHK.

A young man, identified as Amjad, was rubbed out within the remit of the Kalakot cop shoppe.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


ST man shot dead in Lines Area
KARACHI: A young activist of the Sunni Tehrik
...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and liquidations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities...
was bumped off in Lines Area on Wednesday, police and party sources said.

They said 27-year-old Babar Qadri was targeted by armed riders in Jacob Lines near Allah Wali Masjid when he was sitting with some friends.

"Witnesses told us that they saw two men on a cycle of violence speeding after executing the job," said DSP Ghulam Muratza Malik, the area's sub-divisional police officer (SDPO). "He was hit by four bullets. We have collected some spent bullet casings from the crime-scene, which suggested that a 9mm pistol was used in the killing."

He said the victim was a resident of the same area and unemployed. He did not elaborate his political association and reasons behind the killing.

An ST front man, however, claimed that the victim was a party worker and targeted only for his political association.
He condemned the incident and called it a failure of the law-enforcement agencies.

Two unidentified bodies found

In the Malir area, police found the perforated carcass of an unidentified young man along the Malir River on Wednesday.

They said wearing shalwar-kameez, the victim was hit by two bullets in the head.

"The body was found along the Malir River close to Saleh Muhammad Goth," said DSP Rao Iqbal, the area's SDPO.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

the body of another unidentified man was found along the Northern Bypass.

"The victim suffered severe torture that led to his death," Inspector Ghulam Rasool Rajpar, the SHO of the Manghopir cop shoppe, said.

He said the victim appeared to be in his mid-30s.

The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Two 'bandidos' rubbed out

Two suspected bandidos were killed in a shootout with police in a North Nazimabad area on Wednesday, officials said.

They added that three gunnies riding a motorbike intercepted a dairy farmer, Wasim Jafri, in Shadman Town near Nagan Chowrangi. "As he put up resistance, one of the bandidos opened fire on him," said Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan SHO Inspector Raja Tariq. "The gunfire drew the attention of a police team patrolling the area. The police reached the crime-scene and found the man lying in a pool of blood there, while the gunnies were about to escape."

He said the bandidos fired at the coppers when they asked them to surrender and an exchange of fire ensued. During the shootout, two of the bandidos were killed, he added. "Their third accomplice, however, managed to escape, leaving the motorbike and the bodies of his accomplices behind," said the inspector.

He said: "The dear departed bandidos were identified as 28-year-old Irfan Aslam and 25-year-old Sohail Yousuf, both residents of New Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
"Yousuf is the son of a police official," said the SHO.

He said police seized two TT pistols and the motorbike owned by Sohail.

Police Sherlocks were gathering facts to determine the identity and their third aide, he added.

Body found

In Malir, the body of a man bearing torture marks was recovered from a drain, police said.

They added that area people spotted a suspicious-looking bag in the drain near a degree college in Moinabad and informed the police about it.

"With the help of charity workers, police removed the gunny bag from the drain," said an official at the Saudabad cop shoppe. "The gunny bag contained the body of a man wearing shalwar-kameez."

Severe torture marks were visible on the body, the official said, adding that it appeared that the victim was killed three to four days back.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities and later to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
MILF military affairs chief dies
A high ranking official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has died, MILF's political affairs chief announced on Friday. Aleem Abdul Azis Mimbantas suffered a stroke and died at 10:25 p.m. on Thursday.

Ghadzali Jaafar said, "With sadness, we announce the untimely demise of Vice Chairman Mimbantas. The MILF mourns this passing of a senior member of the MILF Central Committee."
Elsewhere there was, however, much rejoicing, as Hell prepared to welcome another customer.
Reports of Mimbantas' death spread like wildfire in Mindanao on Friday. MILF officials earlier declined to confirm the reports, saying they were still awaiting confirmation from his family.

A source close to Mimbantas' family said the terrorist rebel official was traveling home on Thursday when he showed signs of a heart attack. The source said, "He was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital but he died along the way."

Jaafar earlier said that Mimbantas died in his sleep inside Camp Palestine in Butig, Lanao del Sur.

Abul Alibasa, a Maranao youth leader, described Mimbantas' death as cause for mourning among the Bangsamoro. He called the terrorist rebel leader a "hero in the Bangsamoro struggle for self-determination."

"We join the Bangsamoro people in mourning the death of a hero," he said.

Mimbantas, who was educated at the Al-Azhar University in Egypt along with many senior MILF leaders, was previously rumored to be the next MILF leader.
Best headline here though.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/04/2012 07:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "MILF Military Affairs..."?

Is this some kind of followup to the SS "Hookergate"
Posted by: Throlulet Glerese9473 || 05/04/2012 16:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Those guys really need to pick a different acronym if they want everyone to stop snickering at them.
Posted by: gorb || 05/04/2012 17:13 Comments || Top||


Two defense volunteers gunned down in southern Thailand
Two village defense volunteers were gunned down by suspected terrorists militants in Narathiwat province on Tuesday night. The attack occurred after the three other Muslim defense volunteers left the checkpoint to perform their prayer ritual.

Police investigators said the two were in a shelter near a security checkpoint in front of a school when four men arrived on two motorcycles.

Two men, who rode pillion and were armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, opened fire on the volunteers. The attackers killed the pair and took AK-47 rifles and a 9 mm pistol from them before fleeing.

Police believed at least one of the attackers may have been injured in the gun fight. They were checking to see if any suspects sought treatment or medicine in the area.

Police said the suspected terrorists insurgents also placed two homemade bombs _ one hidden near the checkpoint and the other by the side of the road in front of the school _ to kill reinforcements rushing to the shootout scene. Bomb experts used a high-powered water gun to destroy the bombs.

Meanwhile, the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC) yesterday received a petition seeking justice in connection with the deaths of five suspected terrorists militants killed in a firefight with security forces in Yala province on April 19.

The petition was submitted by Saroj Maming, chairman of the Yala office of the Center of Muslim Lawyers Foundation, who said he was acting on a request by the parents of three of those killed.

The gun battle took place about 3:30 p.m. on April 19 when a combined police-military force laid siege to a village in Krong Pinang district. The force was acting on information that many armed terrorists militants led by Hubaideelah Romulee were hiding there.

Shots were exchanged while the government force was scouring the village. Five of the suspected terrorists militants were killed. They were Sakuera Japakiya, 38, Lukman Dueramae,20, Samri Dueramae, 18, Isma-ae Paetoh, 17, and Tashkiri Yayo, 23.

The authorities seized from them one M16 rifle, one shotgun, one .38 caliber pistol with 30 rounds of ammunition, 50 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, and five mobile phones.

According to the petition, three of those killed - Samri Dueramae, Lukman Dueramae and Isma-ae Paetoh - were not terrorists militants. Pol Col Thawee accepted the petition and assigned the justice affairs office to launch an investigation.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/04/2012 07:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Thai official, three deputies slain in drive-by
A local government official and his three deputies were slain in a drive-by shooting by unidentified attackers in Pattani province yesterday.

The four victims, two of them women, were travelling on the Pattani-Narathiwat road 1 p.m. when a pickup truck carrying five men armed with assault rifles began to follow them. Witnesses said the truck overtook the local officials' car and the men in the back of the vehicle opened fire. Their car veered off the road and hit a tree.

Two assailants approached the car and shot the four officials at point-blank range, killing them on the spot. The attackers took a long-barrelled shotgun, a .38 caliber pistol and cash from the car before fleeing.

The official and his deputies had been carrying cash to pay village leaders and defense volunteers' wages.

Meanwhile, a high-level delegation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will visit Thailand from next Monday to Sunday. Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said the delegation will investigate the security situation in the South and review government policies on the administration and development of the southern border provinces.

Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the army has nothing to hide from the OIC. The 4th Army will explain its operations and any errors it had made.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/04/2012 06:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Two Sons of Syria Activist Fayez Sara Arrested
Syrian security forces placed in long-term storage
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
two sons of prominent opposition figure Fayez Sara on Thursday, hauling them off to an unknown location without showing a warrant, he told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Security forces stormed the apartment where the brothers live at 6 am (03:00 GMT). They broke down the door looking for weapons and took Bassam, 37, and Wissam, 26," Sara told AFP by telephone.

According to the activist, "the security forces did not present an arrest warrant or disclose the charges." His sons who suffer from health problems were "not allowed to take their medication with them."

The opposition figure was among more than 100 journalists who founded an "Association of Syrian Journalists" in February.

The association voiced solidarity with the "revolutionary movement" and accused the "biased" official Union of Journalists in Syria of condoning the regime's deadly crackdown on dissent.

Sara was also among intellectuals invited to take part in a "national dialogue" at the outbreak of Syria's protest movement in March 2011 but was placed in long-term storage
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
two months later.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday also expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
for the health of anti-regime figure Mahmoud Issa, a banned communist party leader placed in long-term storage
You have the right to remain silent...
since April 4.

Issa, a member of Syria's Alawite minority like Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
and native of the Mediterranean coastal town of Banias, was previously placed in long-term storage
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
in connection with the uprising.

More than 100,000 people have been placed in long-term storage
You have the right to remain silent...
during the almost 14-month uprising, according to the Britannia-based Observatory which puts the number still behind bars at more than 25,000.

A peace plan brokered by U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
, accepted by the regime in Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
, calls for the release of detainees. Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned cases of torture in Syrian jails.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Aleppo University Suspends Classes after Deadly Raid
[An Nahar] Syria's Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
University on Thursday announced it was suspending classes after pro-government forces killed four students and locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
more than 200 in a campus raid during anti-regime protests.

In a message posted on its website, the northern city's university told students that classes were suspended until final exams on May 13.

"Students were barred from entering the campus and were told that the university dorms were shut down until further notice," Mohammed al-Halabi, an activist on the ground, told Agence La Belle France Presse via Skype.

He said security forces had raided the dormitories Thursday morning and had thrown out students and their belongings. He said some of the rooms were torched.

The decision to shut down the university came after Syrian troops and armed supporters overnight stormed an anti-regime protest on campus killing four students and arresting more than 200, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britannia-based watchdog also reported that 28 students were maimed, three of them critically.

Activists said the raid was carried out in response to daily anti-regime demonstrations at the university in Syria's second largest city.

"Security forces stormed the campus in large numbers at night and opened fire during a large student demonstration calling for the fall of the regime," Halabi said.

In a video posted by activists on YouTube, heavy gunfire and screams are heard while dozens of men, identified as members of the security and intelligence services, are seen entering the campus.

Overall, more than 11,000 people have died in Syria since the revolt against the regime of Bashir al-Assad broke out in March last year, according to the Observatory.
Posted by: Fred || 05/04/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  [Cookie reset attempt]
Posted by: ryuge || 05/04/2012 6:29 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2012-05-04
  Bajaur teenyboomer kills 24
Thu 2012-05-03
  Afghanistan: Pakistani driving truck bomb arrested
Wed 2012-05-02
  Suicide bomb blast hits hotel in Somalia, two MPs believed dead
Tue 2012-05-01
  'Egyptians thwart Iranian plot to kill Saudi envoy'
Mon 2012-04-30
  US drone 'kills three militants' in Miramshah
Sun 2012-04-29
  Syria Troops Kill 10 Rebels in Damascus Region
Sat 2012-04-28
   21 Taliban Insurgents Killed in Clashes
Fri 2012-04-27
  Separate bomb blasts rock Nigeria's newspapers, at least six killed
Thu 2012-04-26
  Libya bans religious, tribal or ethnic parties
Wed 2012-04-25
  Sacked Yemen Air Force Commander Quits Post
Tue 2012-04-24
  India orders deportation of 10 French nationals over Maoist links
Mon 2012-04-23
  Kazakh court sends 47 men to prison for terrorism
Sun 2012-04-22
  Tons of Explosives Seized from Militants Planning Attack in Kabul
Sat 2012-04-21
  Sudan Rebels Kill 79 Troops, Militia in Blue Nile
Fri 2012-04-20
  8 die in Michoacan state as conflict goes hot

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