Insurgents in Afghanistan attacked a military base on Wednesday and an American, a Canadian and at least 12 militants were killed as a Taliban spokesman said a spring offensive had begun. The Taliban said their fighters attacked the foreign forces in the southern province of Helmand.
In another incident, a roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers on Tuesday in Helmand's Sangin district, and two policemen were killed in a raid on their post in Kandahar town, also in the volatile south, security officials said.
The U.S. military said one of its soldiers was killed in the attack by a "significant" insurgent force on a forward operating base. A Canadian military spokeswoman said one Canadian was killed and three wounded, though not seriously. "Coalition forces employed a variety of combined arms to include close air support and are believed to have killed at least a dozen enemy insurgents," the U.S. military said in a statement. One Afghan soldier was wounded, it said. Twelve U.S. troops have been killed in fighting this year. Nearly 60 Americans were killed in Afghan fighting last year, the worst for U.S. forces since they invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban.
The Taliban vowed more violence saying their spring offensive had begun. "The weather is warming and Taliban attacks on coalition and Afghan forces have begun," Taliban spokesman Mullah Mohammad Hanif said by telephone from an undisclosed location. Fighting usually picks up in the Afghan spring when snow blocking mountain passes melts.
Despite the rising level of violence, the United States is hoping to trim its force of more than 18,000 troops in Afghanistan by several thousand, while NATO partners, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are sending about 6,000 more. British troops are based in Helmand but a spokesman for the force said he had no information about Wednesday's fighting.
UPDATE: KANDAHAR - US-led troops killed 20 more Taleban in south Afghanistan on Wednesday, after an attack on a military base in which 12 rebels and a US and a Canadian soldier died, the coalition said. Coalition forces also destroyed two headquarters of Taleban insurgents containing weapons and bomb-making material during several hours of fighting in Helmand province, a statement said.
The 20 enemy casualties were in addition to 12 enemy casualties previously reported as part of an early-morning engagement that continued into daylight hours as coalition forces defeated a large enemy element that was attempting to retreat into sanctuaries, the statement said.
#2
Dear fuckwad, you forgot to mention the word 'quagmire'
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/29/2006 3:55 Comments ||
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roflmao - new chechnya - oh thats just the best one i've heard yet. Whole divisions destroyed, the cities turned to rubble, the sky red with fire, Quagmire!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for providing me such such a good laugh 12234, really thankyou - cheered me up a great deal on this cold morning. Please can you share more of your wisdom with us, we need more 'know nothing armchair generals' like yourself to provide our amusement here at Rantburg.
#4
Dang, it's either the Brutal Afghan Winter(tm), or the Spring Offensive(tm)... what a country... I wonder what's due to happen in the summer and fall.
As for Chechnya, well... Chechnya is an another front where the jihadis got and get their *ss throughouly kicked by a yet out-of-shape russian army (and where the locals suffer way more than in Iraq or Afghanistan, if only through the brutality and corruption of the occupiers); how did this turn into a victory for the Lions Of Islam, I don't know.
#5
Chechnya? No wait ... I thought it was Vietnam. Oh the Humanity! We're in for it now folks! The new new quagmire! The vaunted Taliban "spring offensive." Can't wait to see all those 'antiwar' protesters ... again.
Then Afghanistan wasn't going to be another Iraq, it was going to be the next Vietnam.
Then it was "Iraq won't be another Afghanistan", it was going to be the next Vietnam.
Now, Afghanistan's going to be the next Chechnya?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/29/2006 7:13 Comments ||
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#7
Talking to my SOF buddy now who was in this battle, he says at least 50-60 talibanies whacked. He says all enemy casualtie are always underestimated.
First week of the new spring offensive, and they've already lost 10% of the new trainees? At this rate that Mullah is going to have to cross the border his very own self pretty soon. Well done, gentlemen!
#10
More targets for Our Boys? Happy hunting! (I won't bother to say, "Stay safe," since he certainly doesn't need good advice from me... and he's/they've already got my prayers, for what that's worth.) Very good news, Crater Unerelet3613 -- soonest started, soonest ended for the bad guys.
#11
What? Cancun was booked? The Tali are dying to be offensive this spring.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/29/2006 12:25 Comments ||
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#12
No...It's Viet-nya. (what a maroon). Another LLL-pussy who has never served a day in the military writing from his laptop hiding behind his Mommy's skirt.
#14
The Bush Crime Family do NOT want to win the wars. They want troops in Muslim countries to convert occuped peoples to christianity. They also want the oil companies to rule. if you want to know where I get the truth: I read Noam Chomsky. End the USRaeli war on peace.
#19
Crater, glad to here your buddy is giving out some good info. I'm in fire service and lost alot of friends/brothers on 9/11. The biggest gripe at the house is we have no idea if we are paying back these mf's for the big whole in Manhatten and 3,000 dead. Any word on enemy casualties? I need something for these guys to grab onto. Enemy kia in either Iraq or Afganistan?
enemy KIA's just during one part of OP STEEL CURTAIN near Sedat (syrina border) last Nov - at least 200. There were a lot of body parts so I guess it was hard to get a real accurate count. I hope this cheers up your smoke eating brethren.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/29/2006 20:11 Comments ||
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#29
This guy posts pics of our boys in Afghanistan:
http://stupidrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/
I don't have any more information on KIA, but my buddy says that DoD usually under reports those numbers. Anyway, my buddy told me story about this dog (a picture of her is on that website). This dog is like a mascot at this camp and a couple of weeks ago the taliban mortored the place and the dog got wounded. Apparantly about a dozen Tali's got pretty close. Well anyway some of our boys located them and shot them to hell. He didn't know how many there were, guestimates a dozen. Anyway, they tagged about 6-8 of them. He also said that some of them were so shot up that they were missing limbs. Don't mess with the dog.
Two suspected Taliban were killed as they failed to detonate explosive devices strapped to their bodies at a set target in the southern Afghanistan Tuesday morning. The two people, officials say, exploded the bombs as soon as police signaled them to stop. Kandahar governor Asadullah Khalid told journalists the bombs went off killing the two alleged terrorists. He said police and civilians remained safe in the failed attack. Taliban did not issue any comment on the explosion.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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The two people, officials say, exploded the bombs as soon as police signaled them to stop
#2
Looks again like the recent Taleban recruitment drive has drawn strongly from the ranks of the criminally insane and educationally subnormal.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/29/2006 4:34 Comments ||
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educationally subnormal.
Spending one's entire youth memorizing books in a language one doesn't understand, while in realistic fear of being physically and sexually abused, is not training conducive to rational thinking. The poor dears can't help what they've been made into... but rabid dogs don't hold a candle to the danger they've become.
Six Afghan soldiers were killed and as many wounded when the vehicle they were travelling in was blown up by Taliban using a remote-controlled device on Tuesday. The incident happened in the afternoon in the Sangeen district of Afghanistan's insurgency-plague Helmand province.
Hours before, five people, including three Afghans and two foreigners, were killed in a similar attack in the same province. Taliban claimed responsibility for the first blast; however, they did not issue any word on the second explosion. A military commander in the neighbouring Kandahar province Abdul Razaq said the bomb was planted by Taliban. He said more troops had been sent on the site and the area had been encircled to arrest the perpetrators.
Afghanistan's Helmand province is scene to fierce fighting over the past one week. More than 12 people, including Taliban and government soldiers, had been killed in clashes during that period.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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A plane carrying exiled former Liberian president and war crimes suspect Charles Taylor has arrived in his home country from Nigeria. He was put on a UN helicopter expected to be heading to Sierra Leone, where he is wanted by the war crimes tribunal for his alleged role in the civil war. He was extradited from Nigeria after he was caught trying to escape custody - ending his exile of nearly three years. Nigeria has denied it was negligent in the way it handled Mr Taylor.
The former leader faces 17 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone, where he is accused of backing rebels notorious for mutilating civilians. The tribunal's top prosecutor Desmond de Silva told the BBC he was delighted he had been arrested. Tribunal officials say extra troops are due to arrive in Sierra Leone to reinforce security at the UN-backed court - where a cell is waiting for him, reports the BBC's Mark Doyle in Monrovia.
Mr Taylor had been in exile in Nigeria since 2003 after a deal ending Liberia's civil war. He went missing on Monday from his southern villa after the country announced Liberia was free to detain him.
Mr Taylor was detained earlier by security forces in the town of Gamboru-Ngala, close to the Cameroon border in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno. The former Liberian leader had arrived at the frontier in a Range Rover jeep with diplomatic corps number plates, a trader working at the Gamboru-Ngala border post told AFP news agency. "He was wearing a white flowing robe," said Babagana Alhaji Kata. "He passed through immigration but when he reached customs they were suspicious and they insisted on searching the jeep, where they found a large amount of US dollars. "After a further search they discovered he was Charles Taylor." Nigeria has arrested Mr Taylor's Nigerian guards and has launched an investigation.
News of Mr Taylor's capture came just before Mr Obasanjo left for a visit to the US for talks with President George W Bush. Mr Bush welcomed the capture and said he appreciated Nigeria's work to apprehend him, during their meeting.
For his part, Mr Obasanjo denied Nigeria had been "negligent" in its handling of the suspect, and said earlier he felt "vindicated" by the capture. Those who had suggested Nigeria may have been complicit in Mr Taylor's initial escape were wrong and owed him an apology, he added.
UPDATE: FREETOWN (Reuters) - A U.N. helicopter carrying former Liberian President Charles Taylor arrived on Wednesday in Sierra Leone, where he is due to stand trial for war crimes, two Reuters witnesses said. Taylor was flown into the large compound in Freetown housing the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone which has indicted him on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Mongolian U.N. guards and Sierra Leonean paramilitary police were protecting the complex, which is surrounded by a barbed wire-topped high wall and watchtowers. He was escorted from the helicopter to a U.N vehicles and driven to a building in the compound, the witnesses said. "A U.N. helicopter carrying Charles Taylor landed at Freetown at 7:06 p.m. local time (0706 GMT). He is now in the custody of the special court for Sierra Leone," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
Taylor was taken into custody earlier by U.N. officials in Liberia after being flown from northern Nigeria, where police had captured him while he was trying to escape over the border into Cameroon.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:29 ||
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#1
Oh, boy. A UN war crimes tribunal.
So what will happen first? He's found guilty or dies of old age?
#2
Maybe he will suddenly die of complications brought on by the medication they give him. I mean, after all, only uncivilized nations have the death penalty.
#6
Turn him over to the Saudis and tell them he ripped up a Koran and used it as toilet paper. The rest of us sit back and watch the spectacle. Popcorn, anyone???
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/29/2006 15:03 Comments ||
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He passed through immigration but when he reached customs they were suspicious and they insisted on searching the jeep, where they found a large amount of US dollars...
"My Dear Friend,
Before his arrest, my brother was President Taylor's personal jeep driver..."
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi authorities arrested 40 suspected members of al-Qaida - including some allegedly involved in last month's attempted bombing of a key oil complex - and seized a large cache of weapons and explosives, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday. The agency, quoting an unidentified Interior Ministry official, said security forces carried out simultaneous operations in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and Qassim in the north and Asir in the south. The agency did not say when the arrests were made.
Authorities said 19 of those arrested were suspected of financing terrorist attacks and disseminating "disinformation on the Internet," the official said. They included Saudis and "residents," the official said without elaborating on the others' nationalities.
Eight people connected to the Feb. 24 attack on the Abqaiq complex, the world's largest oil processing facility, also were arrested, he said. Attackers in two explosives-laden vehicles tried to ram through the facility's gates but were stopped by guards, who opened fire on them, detonating the vehicles. Thirteen others influenced by "deviant thoughts" and active in collecting funds to finance suspicious activities also were arrested, the report said. Police seized grenades, rifles and ammunition in the raids, he said.
Also, a Saudi daily newspaper reported that authorities seized two explosives-laden vehicles in Abqaiq. The Riyadh daily said the two vehicles had the logo of Aramco, the Saudi oil company, on them. Officials were not available to comment on the report.
Al-Qaida militants launched a campaign of violence three years ago in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of group leader Osama bin Laden. Saudi security forces have largely had al-Qaida militants on the run for the past year, arresting hundreds of suspects.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:09 ||
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#1
And will most likely dismiss charges against 38 of them.
It being a far greater crime for a woman to drive a car.
Two more new battalions of the anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion are likely to start operation next month, a home ministry official said. The decision to form the new two battalions was taken at a home ministry meeting in August last year, the official told the news agency on Monday. A total of 10 RAB battalions are now carrying out their operations and their operation areas will be redistributed when the two new battalions (RAB-11 and RAB-12) join their duties. According to the sources, the main office of RAB-11 will be in Narayanganj and its operational areas will include Munshiganj, Gazipur, Manikganj and Dhaka, while the office of RAB-12 will be in Sirajganj and its operational areas will include Bogra, Pabna, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Tangail and Kushtia.
We love you R-A-B
Oh yes we do
We love you R-A-B
And we'll be true
When you're not busting heads
We're blue!
Oh R-A-B we love you
#8
Well, as long as it's a round of "bullet" and not the whole cartridge they can keep costs down considerably.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/29/2006 14:16 Comments ||
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#9
I've just tried explaining the romantic aspects of the RAB to my wife, but one has to EXPERIENCE these singular press releases to appreciate the role these distinctive units play in the War on Terror.
One day, my Grandkids will be slogging through some tome on the war on terror as yet unwritten, and I will reminisce when they get to the Chapter on the R-A-B.
A Dhaka court yesterday set April 18 for hearing on the charge-framing against the military commander of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Ataur Rahman Sunny and four others in two cases. Judge Mohammad Momin Ullah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court directed the authorities concerned to produce Sunny and four others before it during the hearing of the cases. The two cases were filed with Sabujbagh Police Station, one under Arms Act and the other under Explosive Substances Act, against Sunny and six others on December 14 last year.
On March 14, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) pressed charges against Sunny and four others. The other accused are Sunny's friend Fariduzzaman Swapan, JMB regional commander of Gazipur Enayet Ullah (Jewel), Kamrul (Sumon, also known as Zahidul) and Alamgir (Bijoy). Sumon and Alamgir are absconding while the others are now in custody. Rab dropped the names of Monir and Abul Khair, landlords of Sunny, from the charge sheet, as evidence leading to their involvement with JMB was inconclusive.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Members of the special taskforce for interrogation (TFI) cell yesterday started quizzing arrested JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman and his second in command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. The TFI members discontinued interrogation them on March 26 on account of Independence Day and were served special food on the special day, sources said.
"Happy Independence Day, boys! Too bad you're stuck here in Bangla's Bedbug Bonanza. Would you each like another cup of giggle juice?"
"Yessh, pleeesh."
Both Shaikh and Bangla Bhai gave very little information to the TFI members, sources said and added, the TFI members yesterday interrogated them twice. According to sources, Bangla Bhai was more arrogant than Shaikh Abdur Rahman during interrogation by TFI cell. Bangla Bhai had disclosed some names and asked the TFI members to interrogate those persons, and said You (TFI) will get more information from them about militancy. They had disclosed some important clues during their first phase of remand, but now they have become tight-lipped, sources said. Following their confessional statements, the members of the special taskforce for interrogation (TFI) cell were now busy trying to round up the financers of the militant network, sources said.
Got the Head Cheese and the Hard Boy, now they need the money men.
Arrested top leaders of JMB Shaikh, Bangla Bhai, Sunny, Awal and Jewell have given some important clues to the TFI members about the militancy activities and their patrons. According to sources, Bangla Bhai had started his militant activities creating anarchy under the banner of JMJB and killed many people calling them the members of the outlawed political parties. After establishing the JMJB, he started recruitment of members of his party from among the outlawed Sarbahara men through motivation.
He made his mother very proud.
Shaikh has already admitted to his involvement in militant activities and serial bomb blasts across the country in August 17. He also disclosed his militant network, their patrons and sources of fund, arms and explosives, sources said. The JMB kingpin, along with his associates and family members, was captured from a hideout at Tilagarh area in Sylhet town on March 2.
#2
I wonder when they're taking their midnight "rides"?
These people are too important for that. They'll have a show trial, be sentenced to life in prison, and either die under mysterious circumstances, or be released in ten, twelve years max - depending on who's in power at the time.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/29/2006 15:07 Comments ||
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Bangladesh Bank (BB) has sent a list of 68 militants to all the commercial banks to find if they have any bank accounts, sources said. The central bank asked the banks to report within April 6 all sorts of transactions in detail if any bank account is found in their names. Sources in the BB said the list, which was sent early this week, bears the addresses of some of the arrested and suspected militants. The central bank gathered the names and addresses from newspaper reports.
The list includes names of banned militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Abdur Rahman, his second-in-command Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal, Obaidur Rahman, Shakil alias Mollah Omar and Hridoy Chowdhury. High officials of a number of banks however pointed out that it will be very difficult to find out if there is any bank account in the name of any militant as the BB could not provide addresses against all the names.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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A criminal armed group has been killed in a house during an operation in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan. During the fire exchange, the house caught fire and burnt entirely down, a source at the republican Interior Ministry was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.
The militants, among them Khasavyurt extremist leader Samir Pashayev, suspected of committing a series of crimes against law enforcement officials, were destroyed in a private house, where they were hiding, the source said.
Police reported they had possible found Pashayevs remains in the blockage.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:40 ||
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ROME (AP) -- Italy granted asylum Wednesday to an Afghan who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity, and Premier Silvio Berlusconi said the man was in the care of the Interior Ministry after arriving in Italy earlier in the day. Abdul Rahman "is already in Italy. I think he arrived overnight," Berlusconi said, declining to release more details.
Made it out alive. Now he'll need to hide from the fatwa that is sure to come
Rahman's jailing in Afghanistan inspired an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and efforts by the United Nations to find a country to take him. Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini had been outspoken about the case from the start, saying Italy had a duty to make clear its "indignation."
Conversion is a crime under Afghanistan's Islamic law. Rahman, 41, was arrested last month after police discovered him with a Bible. He was brought to trial last week for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Afghanistan's parliament had demanded earlier Wednesday that the government prevent Rahman from being able to flee the country.
Germany, where Rahman once lived, praised the Italian offer. "This is a humanitarian signal and we welcome it," German government spokesman Thomas Steg said. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi says Italy would be glad to give asylum to the Afghan man who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. Anticipating that Italy's Cabinet would approve Rahman's asylum, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said Tuesday that such a move would bring "all the forms of protection and assistance" related to recognizing refugee status.
Italy has close ties with Afghanistan, whose former king, Mohammed Zaher Shah, was allowed to live with his family in exile in Rome for 30 years. The former royals returned to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban regime a few years ago.
Italian troops were sent into Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2001 to help with reconstruction.
Muslim clerics in Afghanistan condemned Rahman's release, saying it was a "betrayal of Islam," and threatened to incite violent protests. Some 500 Muslim leaders, students and others gathered Wednesday in a mosque in southern Qalat town and criticized the government for releasing Rahman, said Abdulrahman Jan, the top cleric in Zabul province. He said the government should either force Rahman to convert back to Islam or kill him. "This is a terrible thing and a major shame for Afghanistan," he said.
Yes, it is. Just not how you think it is.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:03 ||
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#1
Islam truly is a scourge. A virulent bacterium in the shitty little petri dish we call the middle east. I'd like to spray it with lysol.
Prosecutors had asked for the maximum a life sentence for Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen who was born to a Jordanian father and raised in Falls Church, Va. "The facts of this case are still astonishing," prosecutor David Laufman said. "Barely a year after Sept. 11 the defendant joined the organization responsible for 3,000 deaths." But U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee said 30 years was sufficient punishment. He compared the Abu Ali case to "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, who received a 20-year sentence.
Abu Ali's actions "did not result in one single actual victim. That fact must be taken into account," the judge said.
Abu Ali, wearing a green prison jumpsuit, declined to speak before his sentence was imposed. Defense lawyers said they plan to appeal. Prosecutors said Abu Ali traveled to Saudi Arabia and joined Al Qaeda out of hatred for the United States. The Saudis arrested Abu Ali in June 2003 as he was taking final exams at the Islamic University of Medina. Ali was convicted in November of conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to hijack aircraft and providing support to Al Qaeda, among other crimes. The charges carried a mandatory sentence of at least 20 years behind bars.
Abu Ali gave the Saudis a statement in which he said that he joined Al Qaeda and discussed with some of the most senior Al Qaeda members terror plots, including Bush's assassination, and plans to establish an Al Qaeda terror cell in the U.S. He claimed that the Saudis had extracted a confession from him through torture. Prosecutors denied he was mistreated. Abu Ali said he had the scars on his back that proved he was whipped or beaten by the Saudis. Pictures were taken of his back, and doctors for both the government and the defense examined him, coming to different conclusions.
The jury in the three-week trial saw a videotaped confession Abu Ali gave to the Saudis in which he said he joined Al Qaeda because he hated the United States for its support of Israel. In February, defense lawyers asked for a review of the conviction in light of the disclosure that the Bush administration had eavesdropped on suspected terrorists' conversations without search warrants. Abu Ali's lawyers said they suspected, but had no firm evidence, that Abu Ali had been a target of the surveillance program. The government's response was not made public, but the judge decided to go ahead with the sentencing after receiving it.
Karachi, 29 March (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The leader of one of Pakistan's most feared militant groups, who was also once a close aide to Osama bin Laden, is currently in critical condition in a Rawalpindi hospital after surviving an attempt on his life.
Ah, I love good news
Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the chief of the banned Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen, was dumped in front of a mosque in the outskirts of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. "Don't call it an accident," said Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen's official spokesperson Sultan Zia in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "It was a fully managed episode," he said.
It was a dark and stormy night. A car slows in front of a empty mosque. A broken body is suddenly tossed from the rear door while the vehicle spins it's tires and speeds away into the darkness.
The militant organisation, which was then known as Harkat-ul-Ansar, was blacklisted as a terror group by the US State Department in 1994.
Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf banned the organisation in 2001 and Khalil has kept a low profile ever since.
"Fazlur Rehman Khalil does not have any personal feud against anybody," said Zia. "In the incident it seems that a few people were chasing him and when he reached Tarnol and offered his Magrib prayers on Tuesday evening at a prayer's place (not a proper mosque), around five people kidnapped him and his driver. They beat him mercilessly and suffocated him. Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil was unconscious and so they believed that he was dead and left him and his driver with their hands tied with ropes," said Zia. "It was coincidence that people nearby found them and provided first aid so that they survived," Zia maintained.
According to Sultan Zia, the abductors were repeatedly saying that they were after Khalil for quite some time but they did not have a chance to get him.
Fazlur Rehman Khalil was one of the oldest jihadi leaders in Afghanistan, famed for fighting against the Soviets. He founded Harkat after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and fought alongside the mujahadeen forces.
Harkat was respected in jihadi circles for its role in the defeat of the communist Afghan Army of Afghanistan in the south-eastern Afghan province of Khost where the militant group then seized control in 1991. Khost was the first major city which fell to the mujahadeen fighters. The Harkat fighters also fought along side with the fugitive Taliban leader Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani.
When the United States under the administration of Bill Clinton fired cruise missiles to target bin Laden in Afghanistan in 1998, Kandahar was attacked in a bid to kill the al-Qaeda leader and Khost was attacked to destroy the bases of the Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen in the province.
After the attacks, bin Laden held a press conference in Afghanistan, while at the same time Khalil held a separate press conference in Pakistan in which he supported bin Laden's statement to attack American interests all over the world. At the press conference, he also asserted that the Harkat-ul-Mujahadeen would take revenge on the US attack on Afghanistan. After the 1998 attacks, Khalil also went on to hold many seminars in Pakistan in favour of bin Laden. The al-Qaeda leader provided him with large sums of money which he is believed to have embezzeled, after which he fell out of favour with bin Laden.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the FBI sought to interrogate him. It is believed they managed to do so and that Khalil was injected with various medicines which eventually affected his mental health. He often complained of physical problems as a result of the FBI interrogation
Sources said that although Khalil reportedly had abandoned all jihadi activities, the Pakistani authorities recently became suspicious about his activities and have interrogated him regarding his alleged ties with the Taliban fighters in the tribal region of Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:12 ||
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#1
Paging Dr. Death. Please come to your Islamabad office. Oh, you have a previous committment? Too bad, we could use your talents here.
#7
The al-Qaeda leader provided him with large sums of money which he is believed to have embezzeled, after which he fell out of favour with bin Laden.
Ripped off Osama, eh? Almost makes me feel sorry for the guy. Almost.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/29/2006 14:37 Comments ||
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#8
not like osama hasn't had friends whacked before
F.P. Report BARA: At least 18 people were killed early in the morning at 03:00 am when Mufti-led group came in 16 pickups along with heavy artillery, when they reached Badshah Khan house, the supporter of Pir Saifur Rehman, so his arm men attacked the Mufti followers and fight broke out between these two groups.
The severe fighting continued till 02:35 am when Pir men run out of bullets and ammunition they surrender to Mufti group. They were led to a near by dried stream (Sor Dand Khowar) and they were shot dead by close range, some eye witnesses told this correspondent when asked.
Other individuals said that when Pir men surrender to FC not to Mufti followers, but we are unable to confirm from the higher authorities as they are not answering our telephone call.
The funerals were held at 09:00 am in Nala Kajoori for three dead men, one was taken to Maiden, Terah, one was buried in Zakha Khel area those were the men of Mufti-led group. We tried to contact Mungal Bagh, the Supreme Commander of Lashkar-i-Islam but he was unavailable to give comments on current situation.
The whole agency was cordoned off and FC personnel were patrolling the area as no one is allowed to use road but they can use other means to reach different parts of the area. Some sources said that government is planning to launch operation. At 10:00 am (Tuesday) a helicopter landed at Qilla Fort Slop Sor Dand. Some rumors were that DG ISPR General Shaukat Sultan visited the area. The helicopter left the area at 04:00 pm.
The 18 dead bodies were taken in a FC truck towards Bara for further investigation. The following is the FATA secretariat spokesmans statement, so far 23 people have been confirmed death in fierce brawls between two rival groups of religious leaders Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman at a tribal area in Tehsil Bara on Monday. An eyewitness said seven persons of one group including Haji Jan, Gull Wali, Haji Ashraf, Naimat Shah, Murad Khan, Noor Gull and Shango while Baseeruddin, Salauddin, Syed Anwar, Subhanallah, Muhammad Din and Azizullah of second group besides 13 unknown Afghans died in violent fights. The Afghans who died as a result of shelling and gun firing could not be identified till the filing of the report. The FATA Secretary Spokesman confirmed death of 23 persons while more than 25 are seriously injured in firing till last reports came in. The clashes erupted Monday and continued till Tuesday morning, it added. Many of those killed in the clashes were Uzbek Afghans, though there was no official confirmation of the deaths. A press release from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) secretariat of the NWFP said that the situation in Bara, the headquarters of the Khyber agency, was normal Monday after an armed clash between two rival religious groups left four to five people injured.
Hours after the US shut its consulate Tuesday in the capital of North-West Pakistani Frontier Province (NWFP), a bomb exploded, killing at least one person and wounding fifteen others, said police and US consulate. Some unknown terrorists had planted a time-bomb with a motorbike and parked it in a crowded bazaar of Peshawar city, about 250 kilometers north of Islamabad, local senior police official, Saeed Wazir, told KUNA. He said the explosion killed one and wounded 15 others, two of them seriously.
Hours ahead of the explosion, US consulate was temporarily closed owing to some security concerns, said US embassy. It said that the decision was taken following they received specific and credible threat. However, Saeed Wazir ruled out that the explosion was related to the security threats received by the US consulate.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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The Pakistani Interior Minister Tuesday said that over 600 militants including some high-profile Al-Qaeda figures have been killed in series of military operations in the tribal belt since last two years. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao talking to newsmen expressed Musharraf-led governments resolve to continue fighting till the last miscreant had been washed out.
Couldn't work a deal with the local holy men, huh?
He said Pakistans soil would [not] be allowed to use for seeding of terrorism, adding, "We are committed to take strict actions against those who are using Islam for their vested interests with linking it with terrorism."
Meanwhile, Pakistan deported more than 13 Afghan nationals, arrested Monday for defying government warning to leave the area. On Monday, about 45 Afghans were deported, arrested for illegal stay in Pakistan. The government has launched campaign to expel foreigners from the lawless tribal region. Most of these foreigners are Afghan refugees who fled US-led invasion at home in late 2001. The military has launched operation in North Waziristan tribal agency to flush out foreign militants. In almost two-week long operation, backed by gunship helicopters, over 100 foreign and local militants have been killed and dozens wounded. The operations also forced local populace to fled to safer places.
Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hyat Tuesday visited Miranshah, main headquarters of North Waziristan agency, where he was briefed in detail about the prevailing situation in the area and planned development works, said a military statement. Situation in the aftermath of these operations was normal, said the statement, adding that public life in the area is picking up pace and usual business is taking place.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Note to author: Definite and indefinite articles are your friends.
600 - over two years. Probly halve that and divide by two... still not good enough, Pervy.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/29/2006 6:26 Comments ||
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#2
Pakistani minister says over 600 militants killed in military operations
Does that count the ones serving in the Pakistani military, or just their targets?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/29/2006 7:41 Comments ||
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#3
That picture of the turban guy with the bandolier, glasses, and long dark beard----hmmmm. Now THAT would be a good outline on a pistol or sniper marksmanship qualification target!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/29/2006 20:30 Comments ||
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Saudi Arabia is working secretly on a nuclear programme, with help from Pakistani experts, a German magazine reports in its latest edition, citing Western security sources. The German magazine Cicero says that during the Hajj pilgrimages to Mecca in 2003 through 2005, Pakistani scientists posed as pilgrims to come to Saudi Arabia in aircraft laid on by the oil-rich kingdom. Between October 2004 and January 2005, some of them took the opportunity to "disappear" from their hotel rooms, sometimes for up to three weeks, it quoted German security expert Udo Ulfkotte as saying.
According to Western security services, the magazine added, Saudi scientists have been working since the mid-1990s in Pakistan, a nuclear power since 1998 thanks to the work of the now-disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Cicero, which will appear on newstands on Thursday, also quoted a US military analyst, John Pike, as saying that Saudi bar codes can be found on half of Pakistan's nuclear weapons "because it is Saudi Arabia which ultimately co-financed the Pakistani atomic nuclear programme". The magazine also said satellite images prove that Saudi Arabia has set up in Al-Sulaiyil, south of Riyadh, a secret underground city and dozens of underground silos for missiles. According to some Western security services, long-range Ghauri-type missiles of Pakistani-origin are housed inside the silos.
#2
We have to dry up the money. The West, as well as Japan and others are giving their hard earned cash to a bunch of ME psychos, and have it turned into Mosques and Nukes. Saudi Arabia and Iran: the source of the misery, terrorism, and World War. We need a plan to deal with the enemy and they is them. That's what it all boils down to. Them or us. Everything else is symptoms or a sideshow.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/29/2006 2:12 Comments ||
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#3
What AP said. (Which is what we been saying all along too.)
Posted by: SPoD ||
03/29/2006 3:51 Comments ||
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#5
Consider this a formal announcement of my unanimous support for .com's plan to confiscate that narrow strip of (oil rich) land from the Saudis. Let's all just call it reparations for 9-11 and get it over with.
#6
Is there any chance whatsoever that there will be a viable presidential candidate in 2008 who would put an end to our obscene alliance with Saudi Arabia? One who understands that the enemy is not a "handful of extremists" but rather the mainstream Islamic establishment? One who would use our military power not to "build democracy" and improve the economic conditions of those who want to destroy us, but rather to weaken our ememies? One who understands that we cannot "make countries," but that we we can certainly break them to our advantage (that we could, in other words, break off the Persian Gulf Coast from Saudi Arabia, break off oil-rich Khuzistan from Iran, break Darfur and the far south off from Sudan, and so on).
Such a candidate would get my vote. But I suspect that we will have another "left-wing fascist" (a quasi-socialist friend of Islamism) versus another "right-wing liberal" (a semi-aggressive Wilsonian 'democracy builder' like Bush).
#7
pagan infidel, the prospects are pretty d@mn grim. Neither side quite seems to get it about simply breaking things for the bad boys, with the democrats being the most rudderless of the lot.
#8
More reasons why we need our fellow American patriots, union members who blindly vote democrat to join us. Also, more reason to attack and destroy the MSM before they sell us out totally.
Those 2 groups of jerks think it's a struggle to place the next president, while we know it's a struggle for survival of civility.
#9
If the oil producing countries we don't like (which is justifiably almost all of them) were to be suddenly broken, the world economy would equally suddenly go into a major depression. Most of the nations of the world are even more dependent on imported oil than is the US. That sounds like a really good way to lose the Long War on expansionist Islam to me, however satisfying emotionally.
#10
I don't think anyone's talking about an overall dismantling of foreign oil exportation. My mention of "breaking things for the bad boys" involves the Iranian nuclear sites. Should Iran continue to resist once those locations are demolished, then we can talk about crippling Kharg Island.
#11
No need to break the oil infrastructure, or even endanger it. One nuke, about 5Mt,on Riyadh would take care of all of it. Without the House of Saud and the infrastructure they've created to maintain their control, Saudi Arabia becomes a series of crumbs to be swept up by a few special forces. This is for ALL the marbles, boys and girls, and half-steps will only get more people killed and the world even more screwed up than it already is.
As for Europe objecting, the US would have control of the Persian Gulf and its oil. We could tighten control to the point Europe freezes in the winter, or dies from the heat in the summer, with NO viable economy, no tourism, and no prospects of imroving.
It's time to either fish or cut bait, and I'm not holding my breath for Europe to get a clue.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/29/2006 15:27 Comments ||
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#12
At this point I am inclined to say we just announce something along the following:
"Dear World, the USA has decided to become the Evil Imperialist Colonialist nation we are accused of everyday. For the next year we will take your accusations as Doctrine and implement them. Consider yourselves warned"
Then, we go to town ... I am not really kidding either. They'll be begging for the old US after the year. Then we tell them, we could become Evil again at anytime. Behave Children!
Faced with the threat of nuclear proliferation and the prospect of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, the head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency has laid out a five-point plan of action ranging from tighter controls and protection of materials to strengthening the Security Council.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei called for placing sensitive nuclear operations such as the enrichment of uranium that can be used for producing both electric energy and an atomic bomb under multinational control.
The five measures I have outlined tightening controls, protecting materials, supporting verification, reinvigorating disarmament and strengthening the Security Council are all necessary and urgent steps, Mr. ElBaradei told a conference of German dentists in Karlsruhe over the weekend, in an address aptly called Putting Teeth in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Regime.
But to return to my opening theme, all of these measures affect each other, and all will fail to protect us if the root causes of insecurity are not addressed. The longer we delay in placing sensitive nuclear operations under multinational control, the more new countries will seek to build such facilities.
Posted by: Captain America ||
03/29/2006 15:28 ||
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The head of the IAEA is reduced to making speeches before German dentists?
How pathetic... this is the agency supposed to defang Iran?
Posted by: john ||
03/29/2006 15:43 Comments ||
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#4
They might have been able to explain to ElBaradei what his problem is.
If ever there was a case of acute onset terminal phase rectal-cranial insertion, ElBaradei is the posterboy. The SOB probably can't even swallow without having to blink immediately afterwards.
An additional brigade of Iraqi troops has arrived in eastern Ramadi to bolster the forces already in the restive capital of Anbar province, U.S. military officials said Tuesday. The city, about 75 miles west of Baghdad, has long been one of the most violent in the country and U.S. military officials say the city is home to members of Abu Musab al Zarqawis al-Qaida in Iraq network. In Tuesdays announcement, the U.S. command said group members are attempting to gain control of local towns, by using threat and intimidation tactics to enlist support for their terrorist cause. Ramadi has also been characterized as a base for insurgents mounting attacks in Baghdad, Fallujah and other cities along the Euphrates River Valley.
U.S. officials say the introduction of more Iraqi troops will improve the intelligence gathered on the ground. Their ability to gain factual information is paramount to fighting the insurgency, Col. John L. Gronski, commander of the 2/28 Brigade Combat Team, said in a U.S. military news release. These soldiers do not run and hide from the insurgents. Since our arrival here in July 2005, we have seen the IA make tremendous strides towards securing the city of Ramadi.
Before 2005, at least two other Iraqi units were brought into the area with little success. One of those units was disbanded shortly after the January 2005 elections, with another replacing it at camps in the eastern part of the city.
The 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Divisions self-described mission is to protect the people of Ramadi from the black hands of the insurgents that are shedding their blood, a U.S. military press release quoted the unnamed brigade commander as saying.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 13:26 ||
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SOFIA - Bulgaria, which pulled its troops out of Iraq last year, dispatched Wednesday a new contingent on a peacekeeping and humanitarian mission to guard an Iranian refugee camp north of Baghdad. The 120-troop contingent and 34 supporting military personnel will be in charge of policing and administering the repatriation centre inside the Ashraf camp, 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, a defence ministry statement said. They will be equipped with non-lethal arms, such as gas sprays, electroshock guns and light and sound signal grenades, it added.
The camp hosts about 3,500 Iranian refugees, most of whom belong to Irans main opposition movement, the Peoples Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which the European Union and the United States have listed as a terrorist organisation. The US-led coalition in Iraq forced the refugees to disarm and sent them to the Ashraf camp in 2003.
The Bulgarian press has criticised the new mission, with the weekly Capital comparing it to protecting ex-terrorists.
This mission will be less dangerous than those already completed by Bulgarian troops since joining the coalition in Iraq in 2003, Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov said during the official sending-off ceremony Wednesday in the central town of Kazanlak. Previous missions included protecting convoys, training Iraqi troops and participating in reconstruction projects in Kerbala and Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad. Bulgaria has lost 13 soldiers and six civilians since it began operations in Iraq. It withdrew a 360-strong contingent from Iraq in late December.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:52 ||
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Thanks, Bulgaria. Enjoy your new base! (Or the jobs/cash that come with a US military presence)
U.S. commanders in Iraq on Monday accused powerful Shi'ite groups of moving the corpses of gunmen killed in battle to encourage accusations that U.S.-led troops massacred unarmed worshippers in a mosque.
"After the fact, someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was. There's been huge misinformation," Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said.
He rejected the accusations of a massacre that prompted the Shi'ite-led government to demand U.S. forces cede control of security but declined to spell out which group he believed moved the bodies.
Government-run television has shown footage of bodies lying without weapons in what Shi'ite ministers say is a mosque compound run by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The security minister accused Iraqi and U.S. troops of killing 37 unarmed men.
Giving the first U.S. military briefing on Sunday's events in Baghdad, Chiarelli said the raid by about 50 Iraqi special forces troops backed by some 25 U.S. "advisers" had been the fruit of long intelligence work. But he said he did not know the religious affiliation of 16 "insurgents" who were killed.
An Iraqi was freed who had been taken hostage that day and threatened with death if he did not pay a $20,000 ransom, he said. Three fighters were wounded and 18 other people detained.
Chiarelli insisted the compound was not a mosque but an office complex. Neighbors and aides to Sadr call it a mosque and say it was once offices for Saddam Hussein's Baath party.
"There was gunfire from every room," he said.
Major General J.D. Thurman, whose division controls Baghdad, said: "If it was a mosque, why are they using it as a place to hold hostages?" He added that weapons, including 34 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were also found.
ADVISERS
Chiarelli stood by the U.S. account, disputed by Sadr aides and other Shi'ite leaders but which is broadly in line with police reports and some local witnesses who spoke of a fierce gun battle around the site.
He said an Iraqi special forces unit with about 25 U.S. advisers, trainers, medical and bomb disposal crew in support arrived to raid the site at nightfall and were immediately fired on from a number of buildings around the compound.
The troops "cleared the compound," he said, killing or capturing those inside. "It was Iraqi forces who did the fighting," he stressed. Thurman said U.S. helicopters were in the air at the time but only in support of another mission.
All the dead were killed by Iraqi fire, Chiarelli said.
Chiarelli identified the hostage as a dental technician and said: "He was shown a picture of his daughter and told if he didn't pay $20,000 he was going to be dead the next day."
Asked about the apparent surprise, not to say disapproval, of the operation in the ruling Shi'ite Alliance bloc, Chiarelli said: "It was coordinated through military channels. Not every operation we run is coordinated with every politician in Iraq."
Though he declined to be drawn on the possible involvement of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, whose political leaders have led condemnation of the raid, Chiarelli said: "I think the backlash has been caused by the folks who set the scene up."
Both generals praised the unidentified Iraqi unit involved for its record of discipline and minimizing the use of force. Chiarelli said: "They don't go in guns blazing." Not that the truth will make much difference in the Arab world.
#2
It's obvious that both the Sunnis and Shiites have psyops units that can go in immediately after a raid with actors, props, and moulage to re-create the scene and turn a battle into a massacre. There was the case of the border town wedding in either 2003 or 2004. None of the childrens' bodies could be found and the doctors that testified were from a town many miles away and not the obivious choice for emergency medical care. My favorite was the credulous western reporters who were shown fighting trenches (complete with firing steps as was clear in the photos) before the second battle of Fallujah and faithfully parroted the jihadi line that they were "graves." Graves dug so that the poor innocent townpeople could bury their children, fluffy bunnies, and baby ducks after the ruthless infidel assualt.
I'm sure that someone is making finding and destroying those psyops units a high priority, especially after the SECDEF came right out and said what a lousy job we are doing in the information war.
#3
whats interesting is that US troops, with friendly Iraqi forces (reports are the commando unit involved was mainly Kurdish) seem to have turned on Sadr, or at least are sending him a very pointed warning. Roggio and Katzman have more on this, as Strategypage. Speculation is that the US is fed up with the negotiations toward a new Iraqi govt, and wants to get rid of Jaafari entirely. This is a warning to Sadr not to interfere, and the talks with Iran are to warn them to keep hands off.
#5
I don't think this charade is strictly for Arab consumption. Sadr's stupid, but he's not STUPID. He knows the eagerness of our MSM to parrot the most despicable lies about their own military and government, and the eagerness of the deluded left among us to believe them.
As many as 11 Iraqi civilians were wounded Tuesday when a car laden with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber exploded near a police station in the southern city of Hilla. A security source said the suicide bomber tried to reach the police station but the guards opened fire and killed him before reaching his target. The car, he added, exploded when it bumped against a small bus, wounding 11 of its passengers.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Channeling BBC/NYT:
The injuries to the bus passengers are the fault of the police, for causing the suicide bomb car to blow up in a place dangerous to civilians.
A physician confessed to killing no less than 35 Iraqi policemen and soldiers with lethal injections and other means as they were treated in one of Kirkuk's hospitals. The confessions of the physician, Dr. Luay Omar Al-Tae, were broadcast by a Kurdish television station. Al-Tae explained that the persons he killed were suffering minor injuries, adding that he used to also cutoff electricity from operation rooms and reopen wounds.
An intelligence official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said Al-Tae's cover was blown by a terrorist who was apprehended by security forces, noting that Al-Tae's crimes were first brought up by Britain's The Independent newspaper. Al-Tae, added the official, was driven to commit these crimes by money and "hate for Americans." Al-Tae, who received USD 100 after each killing, was responsible killing Kirkuk's deputy police director, General Ajman Abdullah, through lethal injection.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Iraqi "Doctor Death" confesses
there are wonderous compounds that would exact a long heinous revenge.
Iraqi police found Tuesday 14 bodies under a bridge in Baghdad in what appeared to be a mass execution by a firing squad. Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), an Interior Ministry source said the police found the bodies piled on each other after being shot in the head. The bodies, added the source, were found under the bridge of Al-Adl suburb in Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Suicide Bomber Captured by Nahal Hareidi
The IDF's Nahal Hareidi brigade apprehended an Arab suicide bomber already wearing a bomb-belt Wednesday afternoon. The terrorist was caught at the Beka'ot checkpoint in the Jordan Valley, which is manned by members of the special religious brigade. The eighteenyear-old had traveled from Shechem and was supposed to be picked up by Israeli Arab terrorists and driven to a population center to blow himself up among the maximum number of people he could find. The explosives contained in the belt weighed upwards of 80 pounds, local commander Col. Motti Elmoz told Army Radio. The explosives were detonated by sappers in a controlled explosion.
Attempted Attacks Continue
More than 70 intelligence warnings of planned terror attacks remain in effect across Israel. At the Hawara checkpoint, just south of Shechem, and in Hevron as well, soldiers arrested PA Arabs with large knives suspected of intending to carry out stabbing attacks. Both suspects are being questioned.
At Rachel's Tomb, the burial place of the Jewish Matriarch Rachel in Bethlehem, a terrorist threw an explosive device at a public Israeli bus Wednesday afternoon. Though there were no injuries in the attack, security officials are concerned about the increasing violence targeting the Jewish religious site.
Rockets and New Naval Response
Israel responded to Kassam rocket attacks Wednesday by attacking launching sites in Gaza from the sea for the first time, using naval vessels to fire artillery at the open fields and launch sites favored by terrorists. Five Kassam rockets struck the western Negev Wednesday fired from areas in northern Gaza formerly home to Jewish communities, which were destroyed as part of last summer's unilateral withdrawal. Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad says that the Russian-made Katyusha missile fired toward the city of Ashkelon on Election Day was just a first attempt, and promises to improve its aim and range in future attacks.
While Israelis were going to the polls Tuesday, the Hamas terror group formerly took its place at the head of the Palestinian Authority and vocalized its intentions to create an Islamist regime that would sponsor and encourage terror attacks, "and whose greatest desire is martyrdom for Allah," a senior official told the parliament. He was answered with applause and chants of "Allahu Akbar."
Navy Vessels Again Bombarding Gaza Targets
(IsraelNN.com) Navy vessels began shelling enemy targets in northern Gaza a short time ago. The targets are thought to be the areas from which Arab terrorists have been launching rockets at Israeli targets in recent days, including with Kassams and at least one Katyusha.
The IDF shelling from the sea at this time is the second incidence of the navy taking part in the retaliatory strikes today.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 13:45 ||
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#4
Tuesday, the Hamas terror group formerly took its place at the head of the Palestinian Authority and vocalized its intentions to create an Islamist regime that would sponsor and encourage terror attacks
I presume that EU money is still flowing into the PA. Doesn't that make them complicit in attacks on Irael?
#6
M: I don't think Bitch Slappin' Unicorn and Bunny Farms is the answer...
Whatever crop was being grown in those fields is going to be either charred or filled with bits of shrapnel. It's a message to people who host rocket attacks - do it, and your property is toast.
#7
Last time I checked (5 minutes ago) Israel's surface combatants consisted of patrol boats and the largest bore gun on any of them is a 3" automatic cannon.
Posted by: Phil ||
03/29/2006 17:14 Comments ||
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#8
Mebbe it's time to lend-lease one of our mothballed BBs...
Posted by: DanNY ||
03/29/2006 17:18 Comments ||
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#9
Ooohhh, let it be so. Much fun to watch (off axis).
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/29/2006 19:50 Comments ||
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#10
The missing link here is observation. If the Israelis would just use some method of spotting that would place the firing areas under observation, they could fire first, before the Paleos had set up their rocket. This is especially true since the Paleos are firing from open areas, not from within clusters of buildings.
In past, I've suggested inexpensive tethered balloons with video cameras on them. They could not only spot, but calculate a GPS coordinate for the fire control.
Best of all, the Israelis would have video evidence of the baddies setting up their toys, when next the snivellers complained that they were shelling civilians.
Two Israelis were killed Tuesday in a Palestinian missile attack on the town of Nahoul Ouz east Gaza. Israeli military spokesman said that Palestinian resistance members launched two missiles towards Nahoul Ouz killing two Israelis, one of whom is an Israeli soldier. The spokesman said that Palestinian resistance members launched three missiles this morning towards an open area in the southern city of Askalon, adding that this attack didn't cause any injuries, casualties, or damage.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's military wing, Al Quds Brigades, fired on Tuesday a Russian-made missile at the Israeli-occupied Majdal city marking the first such an attack since the start of the Palestinian uprising. The brigades said in a communique that the Grad missile was fired this morning, noting that Israel did not announce the attack to find out more about the missile.
It said that the news were held back until reports of the attack were broadcast by the Israeli television. The Israeli television report said a Katyusha rocket was fired from northern Gaza towards Majdal city and said there were no casualties reported. The Palestinian operation came in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli occupation and Israeli army crimes against the "mojahideen".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Islamic Jihad fires Russian-made missile at Israel
[LAST DEC.]
Disturbing announcement: Senior al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades figure says group possesses longer range missile that could hit southern Israel communities previously immune to rocket threat
The military wing of the Fatah ruling party, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, claimed Monday it possesses "Grad" missiles with a range of 25 kilometers (about 15 miles.)
If until today Sderot residents have become used to Qassam fire on a daily basis, it seems residents of Ofakim, Netivot and Kiryat Gat will now also be within range of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
.........
I'm sure the concept of bio & chem agents are not lost on the IDF and other security assets in Israel.
#2
DEBKAfile Exclusive:
The first missiles and rocket of Iranian manufacture in Palestinian hands struck targets in Ashkelon Tuesday morning
March 28, 2006, 8:41 PM (GMT+02:00)
Two missiles and a 122mm Katyusha rocket struck the military installation at the Ashkelon oil port and terminal of the Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline, causing damage but no casualties. DEBKAfiles military sources report the weapons were smuggled into the Gaza Strip through Egyptian Sinai following Israels pullout from the territory last year. Israels security authorities kept the attack under close wraps in the course of the days polling for the Knesset.
It was the second time the Palestinians hit a strategic target near Ashkelon after a missile damaged the big power station compound last month.
January 3, 2006, DEBKAfiles exclusive sources revealed that a shipment of Grad missiles supplied by Iran had been secreted into the Gaza Strip through Sinai to substantially upgrade the Palestinian terrorist armory. Their range is 30 km, three times that of the homemade Qassams. It enables them to hit the big Israeli port of Ashdod north of Ashkelon and Kiryat Gath in southern Israel.
The new hardware was delivered to the Fatah-al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
#4
This is serious. A ship load of this stuff was intercepted, what, a couple of years ago ? Now that entry ports in Gaza on the Egyptian border are available, the armaments are being brought in wholesale. I'm with 3dc, let Israel shell this whole goddamn area of Palestine, top to bottom, nonstop until everything is rubble. Only workable solution.
iRobot Corp., maker of those neat little Roomba home vacuuming robots and Scooba mop-replacement robots, recently announced a new contract delivery order to build additional bomb disposal robots for shipment to the U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under the terms, iRobot will deliver an additional 213 iRobot PackBot Man Transportable Robotic Systems (MTRS), plus spare parts to repair robots in the field. The new award of $26 million marks the third round of funding by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), bringing the total value of the orders placed to date to more than $43 million.
The US Army is also involved in the MTRS tri-service procurement program, just as the Packbots are one of two robot types approved for use under this program. Foster-Miller, purchased by the British defense research firm QinetiQ in November 2005, also supplies its TALON IV robots to the program, while supporting previous versions in the field like the TALON III. DID covered the entire MTRS program in-depth back in September 2005, including the program structure (which includes the latest iRobot delivery) and the robots involved. A subsequent December 2005 article covered the Bombot, a much smaller and cheaper robot designed as an explicit alternative to MTRS.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:54 ||
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#1
I wonder if they are working on a lettuce picking robot?
Posted by: Mike ||
03/29/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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#7
If Pablo stopped holding wages down, a robotic lettuce picker would be in development, or would have been developed, paving the way for lower cost military robots. Low wage labor hurts the country in many ways.
#8
What they really need is to hold a competition for teenagers with Lego Mindstorms Systems for robots with military applications. I'm sure the kids can come up with something good.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/29/2006 21:55 Comments ||
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The U.N. Security Council demanded Wednesday that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, the first time the powerful body has directly urged Tehran to clear up suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Iran remained defiant, maintaining its right to nuclear power but insisting that it was committed to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and had no intention of seeking weapons of mass destruction.
"Pressure and threats do not work with Iran. Iran is a country that is allergic to pressure and to threats and intimidation," Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif said. He later added that "Iran insists on its right to have access to nuclear technology for explicitly peaceful purposes. We will not abandon that claim to our legitimate right."
The 15-nation council unanimously approved a statement that will ask the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to report back in 30 days on Iran's compliance with demands to stop enriching uranium.
Diplomats portrayed the statement, which is not legally binding, as a first, modest step toward compelling Iran to make clear that its program is for peaceful purposes. The Security Council could eventually impose economic sanctions, though Russia and China say they oppose such tough measures.
"The council is expressing its clear concern and is saying to Iran that it should comply with the wishes of the governing board," France's U.N Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said.
The document was adopted by consensus and without a vote after a flurry of negotiations among the five veto-wielding council members. In the end, Britain, France and the United States made several concessions to China and Russia, Iran's allies, who wanted as mild a statement as possible.
Still, the Western countries said the statement expresses the international community's shared conviction that Iran must comply with the governing board of the IAEA and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Enrichment is a process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the material for a nuclear warhead.
Members of the council wanted to reach a deal before Thursday, when foreign ministers from the five veto-wielding council members and Germany meet in Berlin to discuss strategy on Iran.
Diplomats would not say exactly what will happen if Iran does not comply with the statement within 30 days, but suggested that would be discussed by the foreign ministers in Berlin.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the statement an "important diplomatic step" that showed the international community's concern about Iran.
"Iran is more isolated now than ever," she said in a statement. "The Security Council's Presidential Statement sends an unmistakable message to Iran that its efforts to conceal its nuclear program and evade its international obligations are unacceptable."
The council has struggled for three weeks to come up with a written rebuke that would urge Iran to comply with several demands from the board of the IAEA to clear up suspicions about its intentions. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
The West believes council action will help isolate Iran and put new pressure on it to clear up suspicions about its intentions. They have proposed an incremental approach, refusing to rule out sanctions.
U.S. officials have said the threat of military action must also remain on the table.
Russia and China, both allies of Iran, oppose sanctions. They wanted any council statement to make explicit that the IAEA, not the Security Council, must take the lead in confronting Iran.
and now why would that be????
The draft circulated to the council calls upon Iran to "resolve outstanding questions, and underlines ... the particular importance of re-establishing full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities."
Still, it removed language that China and Russia opposed.
The text removes language saying that proliferation is a threat to international peace and security. Also gone is a mention that the council is specifically charged under the U.N. charter with addressing such threats.
Russia and China had opposed that language from the start because they wanted nothing in the statement that could automatically trigger council action after 30 days.
"For the time being we have suspicions," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov said. "So from that point of view, it is like a ladder. If you want to climb up, you must step on the first step, and then the second, and not try to leap."
#7
Hrrrmph. Yeah, I knew I was taking a risk of missing something really hilarious (or it would be hilarious if it weren't so disgusting)...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/29/2006 21:01 Comments ||
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#8
Well, let's not be so cynical about this. A lot of people have put in a lot of man-hours in negotiating and drafting up the *ahem* powerful body draft. And also think of the hotel room bills, room service charges and catering costs. This is a big operation, go give appeasement peace a chance.
By the way, how is the full-steam planning coming for Darfur? That operation seems to have been switched to the siding.
Man, with material covering the UN, I could go on and on...........
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/29/2006 22:29 Comments ||
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#9
UN Security Council Passes Statement On Iran
Oh, now that's disgusting...but somehow strangely appropriate...
TEHRAN, March 29 (Reuters) - Three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in a clash with Kurdish separatists in the country's restive western borderlands, Iran's student news agency ISNA said on Wednesday. The Revolutionary Guard "agents" were killed in fighting on Tuesday with a Kurdish group called PJAK. Their bodies were transferred from the border to the nearby city of Salmas, the report said. Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment. Iran's Revolutionary Guards are an ideologically driven branch of the country's armed forces.
Security experts say PJAK is an Iranian wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) whose separatist struggle regained momentum in southeastern Turkey after it called off a unilateral ceasefire in the summer of 2004.
The PKK Web site said seven Iranian soldiers were killed and 11 injured in a clash with PKK guerrillas. It said Iranian forces launched an operation against the rebels on March 25 in an area it identified as Kelares, near the border between Iran and Turkey. It said there were no PKK casualties. It was not immediately clear if the two reports were referring to the same incident.
Iran's western cities, home of the country's Kurdish minority, have simmered with tension since July when riots erupted in a city in the area. There have been several civilian and police deaths in violence since then. Iranian officials have said the violence was not ethnically motivated but Kurdish leaders say Tehran's discriminatory treatment of their people is stirring unrest. Kurds consist 6 million of Iran's 67 million population, many of whom live in the mountainous northwest bordering Iraq and Turkey, also home of Kurdish minorities.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 13:54 ||
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TEHERAN - Thousands of Iranian troops will on Friday start a week-long military maneuver in the Gulf to ready armed forces for warding off threats, a senior commander announced on state television. The commander of the navy of Revolutionary Guards Crops, Rear Admiral Mostafa Safari, did not specify the nature of the threat although the maneuver comes amid increasing tensions with the West over Tehrans nuclear programme.
Nice of them to give our intel people warning. Smile for the cameras.
The Revolutionary Guards Crops navy and air force in collaboration with (Irans regular) army, navy, (the volunteer militia) Basij, and the Iranian police will start a maneuver from 31 March until 6 April in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, he said. Iran has two armed forces in which both have their own ground, naval and air force all under the command of Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He added: We hope ... We will gain the necessary and needed readiness to decisively reply to any kind of threats. More than 17,000 soldiers and sailors will be used, along with 1,500 different kind of vessels, in addition to the different sorts of jet fighter planes, choppers and different missiles, he added, but did not say whether Iran will use its ballistic missiles. Iran has medium-range Shahab-3 missiles with the capability of 2,000 kilometers (1,280 miles), able of hitting arch-enemy Israel and US bases across the Middle East.
The exercise will cover an area stretching from the northern tip of the Persian Gulf all the way to the port city of Chah-Bahar in the Sea of Oman extending 40 kilometers into the sea, he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/29/2006 12:48 ||
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#1
Black Hats...Keep telling yourself that the US forces are no different than Sadaam's Iraqui conscripts he threw into the meat grider in the 80s.
#7
It is most likely a mine-laying drill, accompanied by a submarine and surface ship exercise. After the "exercise" concludes, we will have to re-map every square inch they covered, looking for magnetic signatures, radioactive materials, cables, nets, and other obstructions and weapons they planted.
Fair is fair, we might even leave a few of our own.
#12
Steve: Nice of them to give our intel people warning.
They kind of have to, don't they? Otherwise, we might think they're gearing up for an invasion of Iraq, and take appropriate counter-measures. Heck, they might be prepping for an invasion, anyway - a surprise attack, on the assumption that US forces are overstretched - politically*, if not militarily. It might even be a good idea, if they can coordinate with Iraqi Shiites to stage a mass insurrection. This would be the equivalent of the Tet Offensive, but unlike in South Vietnam, the ruling government (or at least the Shiite portion) would be anti-American, and participate in the attack against US forces. We might find ourselves allying with Arab Sunnis to push back the Iranians - or fighting both Arab Sunnis and Shiites simultaneously.
* The media's success at destroying home front support for foreign wars is going to embolden Uncle Sam's adversaries across the globe.
#15
Zhang Fei: I would guess that the 17k are in addition to the 1+ or 2 Corps the Iranians have had deployed on the Iraq border for some time.
However, that being said, any push into southern Iraq against the British forces would get snicker-snacked by the US heavy armored brigade currently in Kuwait. Not my first choice of somebody charging up my flank.
#16
Anybody know what we have in the Gulf right now?
Regardless, I'm kinda' half suspecting/half hoping they actually try something against one of our ships over there (purely by accident, of course). I suspect the temptation will be too much for some of the diehards and they'll try somethin'.
I look forward to seeing the oil slick that's left of those 1500 boats afterwards...
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Two suspected Taliban were killed as they failed to detonate explosive devices strapped to their bodies at a set target in the southern Afghanistan Tuesday morning. The two people, officials say, exploded the bombs as soon as police signaled them to stop. Kandahar governor Asadullah Khalid told journalists the bombs went off killing the two alleged terrorists. He said police and civilians remained safe in the failed attack. Taliban did not issue any comment on the explosion.
Six Afghan soldiers were killed and as many wounded when the vehicle they were travelling in was blown up by Taliban using a remote-controlled device on Tuesday. The incident happened in the afternoon in the Sangeen district of Afghanistan's insurgency-plague Helmand province. 
Two more new battalions of the anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion are likely to start operation next month, a home ministry official said. The decision to form the new two battalions was taken at a home ministry meeting in August last year, the official told the news agency on Monday. A total of 10 RAB battalions are now carrying out their operations and their operation areas will be redistributed when the two new battalions (RAB-11 and RAB-12) join their duties. According to the sources, the main office of RAB-11 will be in Narayanganj and its operational areas will include Munshiganj, Gazipur, Manikganj and Dhaka, while the office of RAB-12 will be in Sirajganj and its operational areas will include Bogra, Pabna, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Tangail and Kushtia.
A Dhaka court yesterday set April 18 for hearing on the charge-framing against the military commander of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Ataur Rahman Sunny and four others in two cases. Judge Mohammad Momin Ullah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court directed the authorities concerned to produce Sunny and four others before it during the hearing of the cases. The two cases were filed with Sabujbagh Police Station, one under Arms Act and the other under Explosive Substances Act, against Sunny and six others on December 14 last year.
Members of the special taskforce for interrogation (TFI) cell yesterday started quizzing arrested JMB chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman and his second in command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai. The TFI members discontinued interrogation them on March 26 on account of Independence Day and were served special food on the special day, sources said. 
Prosecutors had asked for the maximum a life sentence for Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen who was born to a Jordanian father and raised in Falls Church, Va. "The facts of this case are still astonishing," prosecutor David Laufman said. "Barely a year after Sept. 11 the defendant joined the organization responsible for 3,000 deaths." But U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee said 30 years was sufficient punishment. He compared the Abu Ali case to "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, who received a 20-year sentence.
Karachi, 29 March (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The leader of one of Pakistan's most feared militant groups, who was also once a close aide to Osama bin Laden, is currently in critical condition in a Rawalpindi hospital after surviving an attempt on his life. 
F.P. Report BARA: At least 18 people were killed early in the morning at 03:00 am when Mufti-led group came in 16 pickups along with heavy artillery, when they reached Badshah Khan house, the supporter of Pir Saifur Rehman, so his arm men attacked the Mufti followers and fight broke out between these two groups.
Hours after the US shut its consulate Tuesday in the capital of North-West Pakistani Frontier Province (NWFP), a bomb exploded, killing at least one person and wounding fifteen others, said police and US consulate. Some unknown terrorists had planted a time-bomb with a motorbike and parked it in a crowded bazaar of Peshawar city, about 250 kilometers north of Islamabad, local senior police official, Saeed Wazir, told KUNA. He said the explosion killed one and wounded 15 others, two of them seriously. 
The Pakistani Interior Minister Tuesday said that over 600 militants including some high-profile Al-Qaeda figures have been killed in series of military operations in the tribal belt since last two years. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao talking to newsmen expressed Musharraf-led governments resolve to continue fighting till the last miscreant had been washed out. 
Saudi Arabia is working secretly on a nuclear programme, with help from Pakistani experts, a German magazine reports in its latest edition, citing Western security sources. The German magazine Cicero says that during the Hajj pilgrimages to Mecca in 2003 through 2005, Pakistani scientists posed as pilgrims to come to Saudi Arabia in aircraft laid on by the oil-rich kingdom. Between October 2004 and January 2005, some of them took the opportunity to "disappear" from their hotel rooms, sometimes for up to three weeks, it quoted German security expert Udo Ulfkotte as saying.
U.S. commanders in Iraq on Monday accused powerful Shi'ite groups of moving the corpses of gunmen killed in battle to encourage accusations that U.S.-led troops massacred unarmed worshippers in a mosque.
As many as 11 Iraqi civilians were wounded Tuesday when a car laden with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber exploded near a police station in the southern city of Hilla. A security source said the suicide bomber tried to reach the police station but the guards opened fire and killed him before reaching his target. The car, he added, exploded when it bumped against a small bus, wounding 11 of its passengers.
A physician confessed to killing no less than 35 Iraqi policemen and soldiers with lethal injections and other means as they were treated in one of Kirkuk's hospitals. The confessions of the physician, Dr. Luay Omar Al-Tae, were broadcast by a Kurdish television station. Al-Tae explained that the persons he killed were suffering minor injuries, adding that he used to also cutoff electricity from operation rooms and reopen wounds. 
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's military wing, Al Quds Brigades, fired on Tuesday a Russian-made missile at the Israeli-occupied Majdal city marking the first such an attack since the start of the Palestinian uprising. The brigades said in a communique that the Grad missile was fired this morning, noting that Israel did not announce the attack to find out more about the missile.
The U.N. Security Council demanded Wednesday that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, the first time the powerful body has directly urged Tehran to clear up suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons. 
TEHRAN, March 29 (Reuters) - Three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in a clash with Kurdish separatists in the country's restive western borderlands, Iran's student news agency ISNA said on Wednesday. The Revolutionary Guard "agents" were killed in fighting on Tuesday with a Kurdish group called PJAK. Their bodies were transferred from the border to the nearby city of Salmas, the report said. Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment. Iran's Revolutionary Guards are an ideologically driven branch of the country's armed forces.
