A US air strike killed five Afghan policemen during a joint operation against insurgents, officials said on Thursday, in an incident likely to further strain ties between the allies.
Afghan and US troops called for aerial support while fighting in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the US-led Nato coalition said, with local officials reporting special forces were reacting to a Taleban attack on a police post.
"We can confirm five Afghan police were accidently killed yesterday (Wednesday)," Lieutenant-Colonel Will Griffin, a spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told AFP. "It was a combined ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) and ISAF operation and it was a combined call for supporting aerial fire which resulted in the deaths of five Afghan policemen.
"Our condolences go out to the families of the policemen who lost their lives."
Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial administration, told AFP that Taleban fighters had attacked a police checkpoint in Bati Kot district late on Wednesday.
"Special forces went to assist the police. They called in air support. An air strike was conducted but hit the police post mistakenly, and as a result the officers are dead and two others are wounded."
Abdulzai said that the rebels also suffered casualties but he gave no further details.
Bati Kot district is on the main road from the capital Kabul to neighbouring Pakistan -- a key transport route as Nato forces withdraw military equipment from Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Lots of Cops change sides, some get killed, then screaming is heard.
Give a shit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/02/2013 13:19 Comments ||
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#1
The State Department told CNN in an e-mail that it was only helping the new Libyan government destroy weapons deemed "damaged, aged or too unsafe retain,"
#3
Large number of operators could [could] have been a coincidence. Routine Klingon's MTT rotation, or extracting personnel from a training mission gone badly. State Department AMBO shoot out takes place simultaneously.
Interesting to note; no apparent unity of effort. Most of our guys are here, your guys are there, our EXFIL is inbound...... have a nice day.
could be, could not be. However the lessons in (real, not 'revolutionary') history are that tyrants that live by threat and abuse alienate just about all the key people needed to keep them alive as they find out in the last few minutes of their lives. Lavrentiy Beria to the courtesy phone.
#8
Conjecture aside, mine included; two men, two US Gov't employees know exactly WTF took place. They are the Klingon Chief of Station (COS) in Tripoli and the State Department Regional Security Officer (RSO).
#9
Enough operatives to assemble into a platoon if they had to?
Depends on what kind of operatives. I'd surmise that most of them couldn't handle a firearm if/when their lives depended on it.
Routine Klingon's MTT rotation, or extracting personnel from a training mission gone badly.
I'd thought about that as well. Also likely is the Stansfield Turner Method of extracting intel, which might explain why they held off leaving for so long (and didn't want any non-Klingon assistance.).
#15
The Americans in Benghazi were surrounded regionally by all types of USDOD + INTEL Assets, BOTH IN + OUT OF COUNTRY - IMO the Admin's core argument is that SSSSSSSSSSHHHHH a DEDICATED hostage rescue team was not available or too far away to effectively or timely intervene. ITS STILL A CROCK BECAUSE US-WORLD MILITARY HISTORY IS FULL OF EXAMPLES WHERE NON-DEDICATED, NON-AGENCY/SERVICE ASSETS OR FORCES WERE USED IN EMERGENCY OR CONTINGENCY SUPPORT OF THOSE IN CRISIS.
These Amers died for a POLITICAL AGENDA + PUBLIC RELATIONS, NOT BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T BE RESCUED.
Being a colonel is an awful lot like being an Al Qaeda Number Three...
There's always a major or number four who will move up to fill the post despite the recognized danger...
[AnNahar] A Libyan army officer was rubbed out in the eastern town of Derna, while another was seriously maimed in a second attack in Benghazi, a security official said Thursday.
In Misrata, also in the east, unknown attackers shot and killed a soldier, Libyan news agency Lana reported, quoting a local official.
The attacks, which all took place late on Wednesday, are the latest in a wave of violence targeting members of the security forces in Libya's volatile eastern region.
A security official told Agence La Belle France Presse that unknown attackers in the town of Derna had bumped off army Colonel Noueisri al-Adnen dead on Wednesday.
"Unknown assailants shot Colonel Noueisri al-Adnen while he was in his vehicle with his parents. He was struck down in his prime," the official said on condition of anonymity.
In Benghazi, Colonel Mabrouk al-Obeidi was seriously maimed after an bomb was placed in his car, the official added.
Since the fall of dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... in 2011, the east has seen a wave of attacks on judges as well as members of the military and police, who served under the former regime.
On Monday, a boom-mobilemaimed a Libyan naval officer in Benghazi, while on Sunday two kabooms outside the city's courthouse maimed 43 people. More than 1,200 inmates also broke out of the central prison.
Last week, two army officers and a prominent political activist were killed in the eastern city, cradle of the 2011 rebellion that toppled Qadaffy.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/02/2013 00:01 ||
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#1
Too bad, so sad. Go to the secondary promotion list.
HT: Drudge. Well, since Cmdr. Zero has done such an AWESOME job of bringing the world together , the problem must emanate from The International Organization of Tea Parties...
Seen on Facebook, a comment from a man who recently moved back from Egypt: The last time we closed our embassies like that, the Benghazi attack happened.
US embassies that would normally be open this Sunday - including those in Israel, Abu Dhabi, Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and Cairo - will be closed that day because of unspecified security concerns, the US State Department said on Thursday.
CBS News said US embassies would also be closed in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , Yemen, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
CBS News reported that the embassy closings were tied to US intelligence about an al-Qaeda plot against US diplomatic posts in the Middle East and other Mohammedan countries. CBS said the intelligence did not mention a specific location.
It appears State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf found her misplaced list. Go carefully out there, people.
#2
ION DRUDGEREPORT 2013 > IS HONOLULU THE NEXT DETROIT?
I've said or repor that China desires Guam-WESTPAC + Hawaii, as per various MilBlogs + Forums, but instead of Guam-WESTPAC first + Hawaii it appears an opportunity exists for China to also get Hawaii sooner than later due to excessive US Debt levels + related.
#3
Apparently someone in the WH is now reading the Klingon daily briefings.
Note the continued lack of comment [or apparent engagement] on the closings from the notional Secretary. Cynical bastid that I am, I'd wager The Hildebeast is still calling the shots at State.
[AnNahar] Attacks killed eight Iraqi security forces members on Thursday, while four jacket wallahs were rubbed out attempting to target police, officials said.
In the deadliest attack, gunnies killed four soldiers and maimed three as they traveled to join their unit near Tikrit, north of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Gunmen also killed a prison guard in the northern province of Nineveh, while a bombing killed a police officer.
Four suicide bombers attempted to infiltrate federal police headquarters in djinn-infested Mosul, the capital of Nineveh, but were killed by security forces.
And gunnies killed an anti-al-Qaeda Sahwa militiaman along with his brother in Samarra, while two non-combatants were killed and five maimed in a bombing near Baquba.
Sunni bully boyz see the Sahwa militiaman, who sided with U.S. forces against hard boyz from late 2006 and helped to turn the tide of the war, as traitors, and often target them.
Iraqi police and soldiers are also frequently targeted in attacks by bully boyz opposed to the Iraqi government.
Iraq has been hit by a deadly surge of violence since the beginning of the year, which experts say has been driven by widespread discontent among Iraqi Sunnis that the government has failed to address.
July was the deadliest month for Iraq in five years, according to figures compiled by the U.N. and the Iraqi government.
[Ynet] An army front man in Jordan said border police have incarcerated Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! smugglers trying to sneak in a large cache of arms from neighboring Syria.
The front man added the group arrested late Thursday included Jordanians and other Arab nationalities.
This Arab Spring thingy is coming in handy for down-arming (yes, I know it's not a real word, but it ought to be) the Muslim Middle East/North Africa as they use up current stocks on one another... or as Israel blows key bits up.
[IsraelTimes] Jerusalem suspect, member of Naturei Karte, reportedly confesses he offered his services to Tehran, said he'd also 'murder a Zionist'
A gag order was lifted Thursday on an espionage indictment filed against a 46-year-old Jerusalem resident accused of offering to serve as a spy for the Iranian regime.
The suspect, who has not yet been named by authorities, is being held on charges of espionage and abetting an enemy in a time of war.
The suspect reportedly belongs to the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta Haredi sect, which holds a theological view that sees the founding of the State of Israel as a violation of God's plan for history.
According to the indictment, the suspect reportedly flew to Berlin in January 2011 in order to meet with Iranian officials at the country's embassy in the city. He attempted to enter the embassy on January 17, but found it to be closed. Returning the following day, he was shepherded into an inner room at the embassy and there met with three faceless myrmidons.
One of the men introduced himself as Haji Baba, according to the indictment, which is partly based on the suspect's testimony.
The suspect told the Iranian officials that he denies the existence of the State of Israel and offered to spy for Iran. He also explained to the officials that he was not interested in asylum, and was "willing to murder a Zionist."
The Iranian officials gave the suspect a note with an email address where they said he would find a message. They also asked the suspect to maintain telephone contact with them.
Three days after the meeting, the suspect returned to Israel and began to check the email account repeatedly, and even attempted to contact "Haji Baba" by phone.
He was nabbed Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in mid-July, but a gag order was placed on the case.
Yair Nehorai, the suspect's attorney, said his client did not harm national security.
"It's important to remember that no harm was caused to the state or any other party. The [indictment] refers to events that took place over two years ago. We will study the evidence and deal with these serious accusations," Nehorai said.
The state prosecution has said the suspect confessed to the crimes cited in the indictment.
In 2006, members of the fringe Neturei Karta sect visited Iran to take part in a conference hosted by President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad which sought to "re-examine the Holocaust."
The group was widely condemned for the visit, which was designed to lend a sheen of respectability to Holocaust denial efforts by the Iranian regime.
"Frankly, even among the Hasidic world, by and large Neturei Karta are regarded as freaks," London Rabbi Jeremy Rosen told the BBC at the time.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Most of the religious Jews have a problem with the politics in Israel, were we are treated as 2nd class citizens, but to help killers is to desecrate our Holy Torah, when they perfectly know there is nothing more Holy than one innocent life, this is to the level of complete insane, and yes I will called it evil.
Posted by: Ana ||
08/02/2013 10:03 Comments ||
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#2
I remember them guys from that Blimp in the Superbowl flick.
Pre-sabbath shenanigans in Beirut. Really, the lads are having just a little too much fun.
[AnNahar] Two rockets fell in the Baabda area on Thursday evening, one of them near the presidential palace, in the third such incident in less than two months.
"A rocket fell near the (army's) Command and Staff College in al-Rayhaniyeh as another rocket hit the garden of Elham Freiha's house, and both were fired from al-Mwanseh area in Dhour Aramoun," state-run National News Agency reported.
MTV said the rockets were fired from "a barren area in Souk al-Gharb" near Aley.
A security source told MTV the attack caused no casualties among military personnel or civilians.
"One of the rockets fell around 50 meters away from the defense ministry" in Fayyadiyeh, a suburb of Beirut, MTV reported.
Al-Jadeed television said a rocket fell around 100 meters away from the presidential palace as Agence La Belle France Presse said it landed around 100 meters away from the palace's back entrance.
"The house of the army's intelligence director (Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel) is close to the house of the Freiha family where one of the rockets landed," al-Jadeed said.
MTV said one of the rockets landed near the house of the Saudi ambassador but failed to explode.
Earlier in the day, Leb marked the 68th Army Day, with President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... saying it was time for the Lebanese state and the army to be the sole decision-makers on the use of the nation's capabilities.
"It has become urgent to approve a defense strategy after the resistance's arms went beyond Leb's borders," Suleiman said during a ceremony marking anniversary of the Lebanese army's founding, in an allusion to Hizbullah's military intervention in Syria.
On June 21, two rocket launch pads were found in the Kesrouan area of Ballouneh after a rocket went kaboom! in the Baabda town of Araya. The second rocket failed to launch.
Sources told Naharnet back then that the relevant security and military authorities and the Presidential Guard were scouring the area, without ruling out that the presidential palace could have been the target of the rocket.
In May, two rockets slammed into the Hizbullah stronghold of Beirut's southern suburbs, wounding four people.
Rocket attacks struck government-held districts in the central Syrian city of Homs on Thursday, setting off successive explosions in a weapons depot that killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens, an opposition group and residents said. The blasts sent a massive ball of fire into the sky, causing widespread damage and panic among residents, many of whom are supporters of President Bashar Al Assad.
One resident said the explosions were so strong that they cracked the walls of some buildings. Thick smoke and dust could be seen from a distance as explosions shook the ground. A video posted online by activists showed a huge ball of fire over Homs neighbourhoods.
The explosions in Homs reflected the see-saw nature of the conflict. It showed that despite significant advances by Assads military, rebels could still strike back.
An official at the governors office in Homs said about 10 rockets slammed into the neighbourhood of Zahra and the nearby sports stadium, sparking a large fire and causing several casualties. He said the explosions caused massive destruction and wounded at least 130 people. He didnt offer a number for those killed.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely monitors the fighting in Syria, said 40 people were killed and 120 were wounded some critically when rockets struck an arms depot, igniting the fire.
A resident of Homs corroborated that account, saying he heard blasts for more than an hour after the first explosion. He said they could be heard from the overwhelmingly pro-regime districts of Wadi Dahab and Al Walid, where the regime is known to keep arms depots.
Rockets were falling on the area ... when the arms depot began to explode but we dont know if the rockets triggered the blasts, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
He said the explosions were so strong that they shook parts of the city. They also shattered all windows in the area and cracked walls, he added.
He said he spoke with Syrian Arab Red Moon-Shaped Thingy Crescent paramedics who told him that at least 22 bodies were taken to hospitals.
The explosions in Homs coincided with a rare trip by President Bashar Assad to a former rebel bastion near the capital, Damascus, to mark Army Day.
Assads visit to Daraya is his first known public trip outside the capital, his seat of power, in more than a year. He visited the battered Baba Amr district in the central city of Homs after troops seized it from rebels in March 2012.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Apparently an Alawite area. Either lucky shooting or GPS guidance.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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.
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.
A US air strike killed five Afghan policemen during a joint operation against insurgents, officials said on Thursday, in an incident likely to further strain ties between the allies.
