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UAE gives $80 million to Palestinians
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Africa Horn
'Swede dead' after US strike in Somalia
A Swedish citizen has been reported killed in Somalia following an American air attack against alleged Islamic extremists in the rebel Puntland region. The governor of the Barri Region, Mussa Jelle Yusuf, told news agency AFP that the Americans were targeting "an al-Qaeda hideout."

The dead Swede was said to be among a number of citizens of western countries killed in the attack. The Swedish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it did not have any official information about a missing Swede in the region.

Foreign Ministry spokesman André Mkandawire told Svenska Dagbladet that it could take time to get information, as Sweden's nearest diplomatic mission to Somalia is in Kenya. He said the Foreign Ministry did not have current records of the number of Swedes in Somalia, but added that "we discourage people from going there, due to the current situation."
Thanks, Sweden!
Poor Swen.
Posted by: mrp || 06/03/2007 07:40 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anybody wanna bet that the deader will turn out to be Mohammed (AKA 'Sven') the Swede?
Posted by: WTF || 06/03/2007 9:38 Comments || Top||

#2  They weren't just from Sweden.They were also from America, Britain, Sweden, Morocco, Pakistan and Yemen,
Posted by: tipper || 06/03/2007 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Dollars for dimes says the "Swede" was a Somali who stayed in Sweden long enough to afford to perform Koran jihad obligations
Posted by: McZoid || 06/03/2007 12:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Wouldn't it be beautiful Karma if the "Swede" killed was one of these three?
Posted by: tipper || 06/03/2007 12:39 Comments || Top||

#5  All jihad vacations should end this way for the useful idiots...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 06/03/2007 12:47 Comments || Top||

#6  I had a story a few weeks ago about the pregnant daughter of the head of the Swedish Muslim Association who was arrested at the Somali-Kenya border where she had been with her 'fiancee', a Swede of Lebanese extraction.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/03/2007 13:56 Comments || Top||

#7  I was worried for a moment it might have been a member of the Swedish Bikini Team.
Posted by: Captain America || 06/03/2007 20:35 Comments || Top||


Puntland hunts down terror suspects
(SomaliNet) The president of the semi autonomous region of Puntland in northeast Somalia Mr. Adde Muse Hersi said on Saturday the fighting in Bargale settlement, in Bari province is between what he called ‘The fugitives of the powerful defeated Islamic Courts with foreign terrorist groups and Puntland forces.
Gen. Muse added that the fighting also involved the US Marines in the Horn of Africa coast.
Gen. Muse added that the fighting is also involved by the US marines in horn of Africa coast.

Puntland president hoped that his troops will clean what he called ‘the terror groups’ from the hideouts in mountains of the coastal area of Bargale. There is no information on the result of the casualty of the fighting in that area.

Last Thursday, armed groups believed to be including foreigners reached Bargale where they had clashed with the local militia supported by the Puntland forces. The CNN (Cable News Network) reported on Friday that the US Navy Destroyer warship in northern coast of Somalia struck suspected al-Qaeda operatives believed to be hiding in the mountains near Baar-gaal settlement in the semiautonomous region.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Security intelligence commander assassinated in Kismayu
(SomaliNet) The commander of security intelligence in Kismayu, southern port city of Somalia has been shot dead by unknown assailants overnight – as the killings on the government officials mount high for the last four weeks. Makhtal Farah Gagab was killed by three armed and masked men as he was on the way of his house in Kismayu around 7:15 pm local time last night. It is not yet known who was behind the latest killing. The security forces in Kismayu, 500km south of Mogadishu, are continuing investigations over the assassination.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Somalia: Suspects arrested for district commissioner slaying
(SomaliNet) The security forces in Mogadishu, Somalia capital on Saturday arrested three suspected men linked with last night’s killing of the late Howl-Wadaag District Commissioner in southern Mogadishu, government official says.

Mr. Hassan Farey has been gunned down by unknown men armed with pistols as he was coming out of a mosque around 6:25 pm yesterday. A funeral was made today for him as many government officials honored his interment. Social affairs deputy mayor for Mogadishu city Mohamed Osman Ali known as ‘Dhagahtur’ told the local media that the police forces apprehended three men armed with pistols allegedly are those who committed the killing of Farey. “The police succeeded in their operation and found the culprits who will be brought before justice,” said Dhagahtur.
Yet being in their organizational infancy, the Somalicops haven't yet perfected the Art of the Crossfire.
The deputy mayor stated that his authority will do all it can to stop acts of insecurity in the capital and prevent plotters from targeting the local officials. Late DC, Hassan Farey was the fourth such official killed in Mogadishu since the transitional government arrived in the city early this year after the Islamists were driven out of Somalia by Ethiopian forces. No one has claimeded responsibility for the waves of the killings in the capital.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
"The Source had been sent by Allah..."
The headline is a excerpt from the criminal complaint filed by DoJ. Michelle Malkin's post (at the link) has lots of useful links and analysis, also notes that Abdul bin Mastermind was nabbed on his way to Venezuela to get his visa to travel to Tehran for a Roman orgy, turban-style an Islamic religious conference
.
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/03/2007 01:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What happens when US's luck runs out?
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/03/2007 6:25 Comments || Top||

#2  What happens when US's luck runs out?

Big Explosion.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 06/03/2007 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  "The Source" seems to be the informer? Maybe he WAS sent by Allah!
Posted by: Bobby || 06/03/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#4  And Bush doesn't want to build a security fence between the US and points south.

Right!
Posted by: 3dc || 06/03/2007 10:25 Comments || Top||

#5  I just wonder if Bush thinks a Border
Fence will touch off a war with Mexico, something we do NOT need right now?

Or perhaps not with Mexico itself, but with the drug cartels?

Food for thought.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/03/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#6  #5 I just wonder if Bush thinks a Border
Fence will touch off a war with Mexico, something we do NOT need right now?


I don't think President Bush worries about a war with Mexico, OR the drug cartels. If a war WERE declared, or just began to happen, I'm sure there are enough red-blooded citizens of this nation, including quite a few Hispanics, who would willingly pick up arms and put a serious hurt on any Mexican excursion into the US, regardless of who was behind it. Without some serious border control, you have a situation like Iraq or Afghanistan, where outsiders have easy access to all kinds of weapons to use against non-combattants. The US commercial infrastructure (rails and roads, trains and trucks) are wide open for attacks. We've been lucky so far, but "luck" is a very tenuous shield to bet our economic, political, and social life upon.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/03/2007 13:56 Comments || Top||

#7  When you're getting hosed by terrorists, it doesn't work to crush the nozzle. You go back and turn off the tap. Nothing will change until Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are taken off line. They are the nest for all this vermin and fences, sanctions or liberations won't do squat. We have to start putting a major hurt on the real enemy. Washington's inability to even name our foe only prolongs the agony and causes more Americans to die.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/03/2007 14:42 Comments || Top||

#8  Throw Syria into that axis of weasels.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/03/2007 15:04 Comments || Top||


US court denies bail to London terror suspect
A dual nationality American student, who was the first person extradited to the United States by Britain on terrorism charges, was refused bail on Friday by a federal judge and ordered to remain in custody.

Syed Hashmi, 27, was studying in London when he was arrested in 2006 and last week extradited to New York on charges of supporting Al Qaeda including storing ponchos, raincoats and waterproof socks in his London apartment for military use by Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

US District Judge Loretta Preska ordered Hashmi, who was born in Pakistan and raised in New York, to be detained on the grounds he might flee to Pakistan if released. Hashmi pleaded not guilty to all charges, which could imprison him for a maximum of 50 years if he is convicted. Although most of the case against Hashmi occurred in Britain, under US law any American citizen suspected of supporting terrorism abroad may be charged here.

During the hearing, defence lawyer Sean Maher argued that the government’s case against Hashmi was weak. He said the military gear Hashmi stored in his apartment for three days belonged to his former friend Mohammed Junaid Babar. But prosecutors told the judge the case against Hashmi was “extremely serious”. They said Hashmi had been a member of the Al Muhajiroun, a defunct British-based Islamic extremist group.

The prosecutors said Hashmi approved the storage of Babar’s gear despite knowing that he was supplying it and money to Al Qaeda’s military activities leader in Afghanistan, Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi. In a statement outside the courtroom, Maher described his client as a peace-loving academic who was being targeted for participating in political protests against the US government. Maher asked, “If the case against him is so strong, why didn’t the British authorities charge him?”

Babar the main informant in the case is cooperating with the government after pleading guilty here in 2004 to smuggling money and military supplies to Al Qaeda. He also testified as an informant against five Britons convicted in London in April of plotting to bomb targets such as nightclubs and trains.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No bail for lawyer Sean Maher either.
Posted by: Phineter Thraviger1073 || 06/03/2007 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  charges of supporting Al Qaeda including storing ponchos, raincoats and waterproof socks

Is that a real poncho... I mean is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho? Hmmm...no foolin ...
Posted by: Frank Zappa || 06/03/2007 7:56 Comments || Top||


Authorities charge 4, arrest 3 in NYC terror plot
Continues yesterday's story...
Three people were arrested and another was being sought Saturday for allegedly plotting to blow up a fuel line that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport and runs through residential neighborhoods, authorities said.
Anybody keeping count as to how long it is until the leftists start hollering "I question the timing!"
Too late: already started.
The plot never got past the planning stages. It posed no threat to air safety or the public, the FBI said Saturday.
The mouthpieces will try to use that as part of their arguments trying to get the turbans off, of course...
At a news conference, US Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf called it "one of the most chilling plots imaginable." "The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable," she said.

Authorities arrested Russell Defreitas, a US citizen native to Guyana and former JFK employee. He was in custody in Brooklyn and was expected to be arraigned Saturday afternoon. Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, are in custody in Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur of Guyana, was still being sought.
I'm really getting tired of bloodthirsty turbans tromping around in my country, whether they're "citizens" or not.
All four have been charged with conspiring to attack the airport, one of the nation's busiest, by blowing up major fuel supply tanks and the pipeline, according to the indictment. The pipeline takes fuel from a facility in Linden, New Jersey, to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Kadir, a Muslim and former member of Parliament in Guyana, was arrested in Trinidad for attempting to secure money for "terrorist operations," according to a Guyanese police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity. Kadir left his position in Parliament last year. Muslims make up about 9 percent of the former Dutch and British colony's 770,000 population, mostly from the Sunni sect.
I'll bet the Guyanese are just overjoyed by that fact.
An official said the plotters had conducted surveillance on giant jet fuel tanks at JFK and the pipeline. They had taken surveillance video of the targets and took it to Trinidad to review the tape, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrests were not yet announced.

The official said investigators first found out about the plot in January 2006. After that, an informant infiltrated the group. "This was the ultimate hand-and-glove operation between NYPD and FBI," said US Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island.

The arrests mark the latest in a series of alleged homegrown terrorism plots targeting high-profile American landmarks. A year ago, seven men were arrested in what officials called the early stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and destroy FBI offices and other buildings. A month later, authorities broke up a plot to bomb underwater New York City train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan. And six people were arrested a month ago in an alleged plot to unleash a bloody rampage on Fort Dix in New Jersey.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They weren't to concerned about killing their own in the process in addition to everyone else. There is a Islamic elementary and high school in Queens called Al-Iman. When checking to see what Islam schools are in New York including Queens, I found this article.
Muslim Schools in the U.S., a Voice for Identity

Private schooling still touches only a small portion of American Muslims, whose numbers are growing. There are no official national figures, but a 1992 study commissioned by the American Muslim Council, a lobbying group in Washington, estimated the Muslim population in New York State at 800,000 and in New Jersey at 200,000. A more recent study by demographers at the State University of New York at Cortlandt concluded that 450,000 Muslims live in the New York metropolitan area alone.

Posted by: Delphi || 06/03/2007 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  How many Carbon Credits did Mr. Defreitas purchase
to offset any extra greenhouse gasses the ensuing explosion would cause?
Posted by: Classer || 06/03/2007 7:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I notice this article doesn't mention that Mr. Defreitas is 63 years old, and Mr. Kadir, a practicing civil engineer, mayor of a village in Guyana, as well as a former member of the Guyanese parliament, is 55 years old. Oh, and Mr. Kadir is a Shiite in a country where the most of the Muslims are Sunni. Mrs. Kadir doesn't understand -- her husband hasn't had any contact with Mr. Nur in at least a decade. Lots of details popped up yesterday, then as quickly disappeared. This one isn't about youngsters being overcome by Sudden Jihad Syndrome; Mr. Defreitas has been planning this for at least a decade, the plotters actively worked on this for at least two years.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/03/2007 8:55 Comments || Top||

#4  this is just like the dudes they rounded up im miami that were gonna blow the sears tower in chicago. no definitive plans, no material to do the deed, nothing besides a conversation or two of jacked up hyperbole, if even that. meanwhile, our ports go unprotected and millions of tons of cargo come into densely populated urban areas w/o ever being so much as even eyeballed. and the really dangerous mofos are the ones in the WH and the board rooms of somw the major multi-national corporations that are destroying this country. America can survive al-q and islamic extremists and even the christian extremists. but the corporate juggernaut is the one with the strangle hold.

Yep.... Bush is the real enemy.

We had some radicals come visit my group in college in 1969, saying the corporations ran the country. I asked why the automakers were screaming about adding smog-reducing stuff to the cars; why didn't they just tell the EPA to go fly a kite?

I heard nothing but shreiking in response, so I got up and left the room. Nothing ever changes.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/03/2007 10:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Hammad's murder accused remanded for five days
An Anti-Terrorism Court on Saturday granted five-day physical remand of the two accused in the murder of Supreme Court’s additional registrar Hammad Raza to the Capital Police. The two, Nisar Ahmed and Farhad, were arrested from Muzaffarabad for their alleged links with four men held in the case. A police official said that the four suspected murderers, Sharifuddin Gillani, Bashiruddin Gillani, Mir Afzal and Basharat Mir, had obtained a wagon from Muhammad Nisar on rent and sold gold ornaments, stolen from slain SC official’s residence, to Farhad Hussain, a Muzaffarabad-based jeweler. He said that Capital Police pleaded the court identification parade of the accused, stating that Raza’s family would be asked to identify them if allowed by the court. Raza’s father Syed Amjad Ali alleged his son was target killed.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Tribal journalist among 5 killed in Bajaur blast
Five people including a senior tribal journalist were killed in an explosion in Malasyed, 20 kilometres from Khar in Bajaur Agency, on Saturday. Tribal Union of Journalists Vice President Noor Hakim, political tehsildar Wasil Khan, tribal elder Muhammad Ayaz and his son Parvaiz Khan were returning from Malasyed when their vehicle hit a remote-controlled bomb on the road. Hakim, Wasil Khan, Ayaz, Pervaiz Khan and a security guard, Hasan, died instantly due to the blast. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Daily Times Monitor adds: The Dawn News television channel reported that the men were heading towards Bajaur Agency after attending a jirga in Salarzai. Locals said the attack may be the result of personal enmity, but officials said they are investigating the incident from all perspectives, NNI reported. Bajaur has seen violence in recent months as Taliban-linked militants have been active in the region. At least 80 people were killed when military aircraft bombed a madrassa in Bajaur in October 2006. The authorities believed that the madrassa was being used to train militants.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Jihadis luring schoolchildren
Some parents have started enrolling their children in schools outside Dir district to keep them away from people who are “luring” their kids towards jihad, sources told Daily Times on Saturday. “A man whose son was taken away from school and later found with a jihadi organisation has enrolled his kid in a school in another district,” the source close to the parent, asking not to be named for fear of reprisal, told Daily Times.

The father was quoted as saying that he was taking his son hundreds of miles away from the influence of jihadi organisations. Hashim Hussain, opposition leader in the Dir District Assembly, took up the issue on the floor of the house a few days ago, demanding the district administration stop jihadi organisations from ruining the children’s future. “I asked the assembly members if participation in jihad at such an early age guarantees a place in paradise ... no one responded to my question,” he said.

Ten schoolchildren have been reported “missing” from a school in the district and local policemen said they have started an investigation into the incidents. Hussain said the children were not given military training for jihad. The children are only given a suicide jacket to blow themselves up in public places, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm thinking islam has to be destroyed before it gets better.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/03/2007 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess it means they're running low on recruits? You don't press the Hitler Youth into the fight until you've got nothing left. This could be a "good" sign, but there's nothing good at all about children blowing themselves up. :(
Posted by: gromky || 06/03/2007 14:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Some parents have started enrolling their children in schools outside Dir district to keep them away from people who are “luring” their kids...

As Fred says, these cockroaches are nothing more than pedophiles.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 16:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Has it occurred to any of these parents to just kill the jihadis pedophiles?

Do it quitely, of course, so you don't get caught, but leave the body where it can easily be found. With a (typed, if possible) note stating why he's dead.

Hilarity will ensue.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/03/2007 16:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Barbara...my eyes played tricks on me. I thought you wrote:

Hillary will ensue.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 19:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Has it occurred to any of these parents to just kill the jihadis pedophiles?

I like the way you think, Barbara. This is what it's most likely going to take, not just for Infidels but Muslims as well. Unfortunately for Muslims, who see much less wrong with devouring their young, it will probably take some extremely disproportionate retaliation by the West in order to spur them on against their jihadist co-religionists. The ever-decreasing likelihood of this important strategy being brought into play introduces the need for alternative measures.

Infidel populations shall learn soon enough that their governments do not possess the determination to protect them, much less even name the enemy, and thereby will need to utilize vigilante action for self-protection. For many years now I had thought that military intervention was going to provide the required security or curtailment of terrorists activity. It now becomes increasingly clear that few, if any, governments have the collective will to deal with Islam in a fashion that will end its aggressive predation upon non-Muslim cultures.

Only the most totalitarian regimes like China and Russia will view Islam as an actual threat to their power base and act accordingly. Keep in mind that their population's welfare has almost nothing to do with their reaction to Muslim incursions. For that reason, China and Russia's governmental models have little to offer with respect to adequately protecting those of us who are accustomed to actual liberty.

That said, the populations of all other non-Muslim majority countries will most likely find it necessary to begin establishing clandestine civilian militias which address the issue of global jihad, be it fast or slow, on a more direct basis.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/03/2007 19:19 Comments || Top||


Pakistan: Roadside Bomb kills five
A powerful roadside bomb blew up a vehicle, killing five people, including a regional government official, in troubled northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, a security official said.

Two policemen, a local journalist and the driver also were killed near the village of Salazai, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Khar, the main town in the Bajur tribal region. An area security official, Mamoor Khan, said the car, carrying official Wasal Khan, was going to a village to demolish the house of a militant accused of killing a doctor this year. The journalist, who worked for a local newspaper, was accompanying them.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Apaches disrupt enemy attack on aircraft
It seems that the policies about reporting enemy dead may have changed this weekend. MNF-I has now reported 18 enemy losses for the weekend.
Multi-National Division-Baghdad attack helicopter crews killed four insurgents and destroyed five enemy vehicles carrying heavy antiaircraft weapons systems May 31 in Baghdad.

Four Apaches from the 1st “Attack” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, destroyed bongo trucks that were mounted with heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, and one truck carrying what appeared to the aircrews to be a man-portable air defense system.

“This battle, on a well defended terrorist position proves the awesome lethality and agility my crews display every day with every mission supporting Coalition Forces,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Walach, commander, 1-227th Aviation Regiment. “In a short period, the enemy just could not react to the Apache Longbow crews’ quick actions, superior aerial skills, team work and very accurate and lethal fires all under heavy enemy fire. These aircrews’ actions … contributed significantly to preventing future attacks on Coalition aircraft and Coalition ground units.”

A team of two Apache helicopters were on an area reconnaissance
mission at about 6:30 p.m. May 31 while en route to Baghdad International Airport when they noticed vehicles quickly leaving the road after seeing the aircraft. The occupants left the vehicles and hid in nearby ditches.

Coming under fire from three to four heavy machine guns, the crews returned suppressive fire. One vehicle moved near a house, where the Apache crews fired at it, killing one.

The Apache crews saw three of the trucks fleeing the engagement area and observed muzzle flashes from the machine guns mounted on the trucks. The crews engaged the trail vehicle.

The crews fired again and disabled the lead vehicle. The crews continued engaging the vehicles – disabling the three gun trucks and killing three more enemy gunmen.

The crews returned to the truck at the house and destroyed it. A fifth truck carrying a probable MANPAD system was engaged and also destroyed.

Four insurgents were killed and five vehicles destroyed in the engagement.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 06/03/2007 17:06 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hokay. My math may be off, but five vehicles (implying five drivers) were engaged, with return fire from two trucks (?) implies two more gunners, plus a manpads team does not equal four. Unless that was all the parts they could count. Good shooting guys, but next time leave a few more parts around for the head counters. Or whatever parts can be found counters.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 06/03/2007 17:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Mods, please delete multiples, database non-response prompted me to submit a few times. Sorry.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 06/03/2007 17:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Blame the spambots. I've been working on the problem all weekend.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 17:42 Comments || Top||

#4  I blame the spambots.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 06/03/2007 17:46 Comments || Top||

#5  The headline here gave me the mental image of Geronimo and his men shooting it out with jihadis on the tarmac.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 06/03/2007 17:50 Comments || Top||

#6  The jihadis are lucky they're fighting us and not Apaches. Geronimo wouldn't be very kind to them.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/03/2007 20:21 Comments || Top||

#7  The Apaches are turning out to be great scouts for the Cavalry, right Tonto?

No IED's can reach these injins.
Posted by: Woodrow Clomoter1684 || 06/03/2007 20:24 Comments || Top||

#8  MNF-I has now reported 18 enemy losses for the weekend.

...versus 14 of yours.
Posted by: Injun Ebbavitch1977 || 06/03/2007 20:24 Comments || Top||

#9  #8 MNF-I has now reported 18 enemy losses for the weekend.

...versus 14 of yours.
Posted by: Injun Ebbavitch1977 2007-06-03 20:24



fuck you shit head IE 1977... lets dump this troll.
Posted by: RD || 06/03/2007 22:21 Comments || Top||


Shia Mahdi sect using Star of David!
On January 28th, the Iraqi government announced that it had eradicated a heavily armed cult that was in the final stages of planning to storm the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf, attack the Imam Ali shrine and kill top Shi’ite clerics along with pilgrims commemorating the holy day of Ashura. The cultists, who called themselves Jund al-Samaa’, or Soldiers of Heaven, fought ferociously and managed to shoot down an American helicopter before they were overwhelmed and surrounded in their encampment, amid palm groves in Zarga north of Najaf. Iraqi police said the fighters tapped into their radio frequency during the fighting, repeating the menacing message, “Imam Mahdi is coming.”
The Imam Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Shi’ite Islam, was the 12th imam and descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. Shi’ite scriptures say the Mahdi disappeared into a cellar in Samarra, Iraq, during the ninth century. His return to “fill the earth with justice and equity, after it has been filled with oppression and tyranny” is a basic tenet of Shi’ite faith and it also signals the end of days. Dhiaa Abdul Zahra al-Gar'awi, the leader of cult who was killed in the battle, claimed he was the Mahdi.

The details about Jund al-Samaa’ remain murky, but the ill-fated Gar'awi was not the last to make such a claim. There is a new emerging movement in southern Iraq called the Ansar al-Imam al-Mahdi. Its leader, Ahmed al-Hassan, says he is the son and the herald of the Mahdi - or al-Yemani, as he is known in Shi’ite literature.
Al-Hassan's Background
Very little is known about al-Hassan. He moved to Najaf to receive religious training after he received his Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Basrah University during the late nineties. He immediately collided with senior ayatollahs when he called for reforms in the religious seminary, which he described as being rife with financial corruption and mediocre scholastic curricula, earning him the backing of disgruntled clerics and students. When Saddam Hussein had the Quran written with his blood, al-Hassan publicly called it “a work of the devil,” prompting authorities to chase him out of Najaf. Al-Hassan made use of the chaotic environment following the US invasion in 2003 to preach for his movement and gain followers. He remained under the radar, but his followers said he was placed under house arrest by the Iraqi government in Basrah last year, and many of his followers have been detained in several southern cities.
Al-Hassan’s name first appeared in the news during the Zarga battle four months ago. In a series of contradictory official statements on what happened that day, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh first said the slain cult leader was al-Hassan. Al-Hassan’s office in Basrah was quick to issue a statement the next day denying any link to Jund al-Samaa’, stressing that their movement is a peaceful one. “The state-run media was so forceful that day, that even some of our followers believed the battle was with the Ansar,” said Ahmed Jabir, a senior aide to al-Hassan in Basrah.
Ansar al-Imam al-Mahdi is just one of several Shi’ite millenarian movements that have proliferated in southern Iraq, such as that of Ayatollah Mahmud al-Sarkhi in Karbala whose followers have been detained by local Iraqi troops loyal to the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), Iraq’s leading Shi’ite political party. Groups that preach the imminent return of the Mahdi are called Mahdawiya, and the clerical establishment in Najaf, headed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, does not look favorably on them. Most are influenced by the teachings of the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, the father of Muqtada al-Sadr. “Shi’ite millenarianism is widely present, but most Shi’ite thinkers put it in the distant future,” says Juan Cole, a professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of Michigan; “more sectarian leaders say it is just around the corner. Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr seems to have been more the latter.”
Relations with Other Shi'ite Groups
Mocked and reviled by leading Shi’ite clerics in Najaf and regarded a heretic, al-Hassan says they have given orders for him to be detained or killed. Iraqi forces have closed down several offices and places of worship that the movement runs in Baghdad, Basrah, Amara, Karbala and Najaf. “Members of SCIRI requested permission from representatives of senior clerics to fight our movement,” al-Hassan told IraqSlogger in an exclusive email interview. “Days later, the oppressive authorities attacked and detained some of the Ansar in Najaf and closed our bureau and husseiniya.” Both SCIRI and Sistani’s bureau have declined to comment on the accusations.
Al-Hassan says he is constantly moving because he fears the government is seeking to detain him following the events of Zarga last January. Sources close to the office of Grand Ayatollah Kazem al-Haeri in Basrah said that he has issued a fatwa authorizing the killing of al-Hassan if he does not recant his claims. Sistani’s office in Najaf distributed fliers two months ago warning Shi’ite pilgrims from imposters claiming to be “messengers of the Imam Mahdi.” Two other senior Shi’ite ayatollahs, Sheikh Bashir al-Najafi and Sheikh Ishaq al-Fayyadh, also released statements stating that anyone declaring representation of the awaited Imam is a “slanderous liar.” Armed followers of Ayatollah al-Sarkhi attacked his main headquarters in Basrah weeks ago, and the Iranian al-Kawthar satellite channel recently dedicated a series of programs to discredit al-Hassan and his followers. Ahmed Jabir says the movement’s website is blocked in Iran, and the authorities there are also cracking down on their supporters. “I had good relations with senior clerics in the Hawza, but now most of them are calling for detaining or killing me,” said al-Hassan.
The Ansar are not known to have taken up arms yet. “Our movement is mostly ideological, to raise awareness in the Ummah,” says Jabir. “We are, however, in a defensive position against any possible attack by the government.” Al-Hassan said he has ordered his followers to lay low and move to other parts of the country to avoid a clash with authorities. According to the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, sources from the Najaf provincial council said the campaign against unorthodox Mahdawiya groups has more to do with competition between rival Shi’ite militias struggling to control the oil-rich south.
Star of David as Symbol of Movement
Although similar Mahdawiya movements were not met with much success, Ahmed Jabir says al-Hassan’s movement has attracted several thousand followers in Iraq, some of them from the opposite Sunni sect, and even some Christians. Al-Hassan claims to have followers in Iran, Lebanon, the Gulf, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, and even among Shi’ite communities in Europe and North America, who help fund the group through donations. The group’s website on the Internet (http//www.almahdyoon.org) is gaining increased attention. “To his Excellency, the Deputy of the Savior,” wrote Emmanuel Raphael, a Coptic Christian priest in Egypt, to al-Hassan, “I have a sealed letter to you, written 322 years ago by Bishop Sarkhis Micha the Baptist, which I have failed to unravel, but the name of your Excellency is very clear in the letter.”
Al-Hassan uses the Star of David as a symbol for his movement, a controversial step that has brought him accusations of links to Zionist and Rightwing Christian groups by his detractors. “It is the choice of God,” he explained. “David was a prophet sent by God, and we are the heirs of prophets.”
And, indeed, al-Hassan says he is preaching not just to a Shi’ite Muslim audience, but also to all of mankind. “I tell the Christian nation in American and the West,” he said, “heed the words of Christ (peace be upon him): ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.’ (John 16:13) I am the messenger that complements God’s prophets. If you are searching for the truth, for here the truth has come.”
Posted by: Ahnuld || 06/03/2007 16:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  By their fruits ye shall know them."
Matt 7:20.
Posted by: doc || 06/03/2007 18:20 Comments || Top||

#2  “Imam Mahdi is coming.”
“Imam Mahdi is gone.”
Posted by: Grusons Darling of the Faith6548 || 06/03/2007 20:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Charlton Heston took out Imam Mahdi!
Posted by: borgboy2001 || 06/03/2007 20:10 Comments || Top||


Marines kill AQI, destroy truck bomb factory
Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces killed seven members of Al Qaeda in Iraq, detained eight suspects and destroyed a truck bomb factory in the Sina’ee district of Fallujah Saturday.

The combined operation was conducted by the Fallujah Police, Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division and Marines from Regimental Combat Team 6 after receiving information from local sources.

At 7:05 a.m., Fallujah Police came under small-arms fire and identified two men fleeing from the scene wearing suicide vests and carrying fragmentation grenades. A Marine advisory team with the police returned fire, killing both AQI.

Soon thereafter, five additional AQI were observed fleeing the area when Marines with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment engaged the group killing all five and causing a suicide vest to detonate.

The gunfight ceased at 9 a.m. and a subsequent search of the area revealed a compound with two trucks rigged as suicide bombs and additional bomb making materials.

Iraqi and Coalition Forces cleared the area, established a perimeter and requested an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to the scene.

EOD safely conducted a controlled detonation of the truck bombs and materials without damage to nearby buildings.

Eight personnel were detained and taken to the Fallujah Government Center for questioning.

There were no Iraqi or Coalition Forces injured during the incident.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 06/03/2007 12:02 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Doubt the Washington Post will mention this in tomorrow's paper. Seems only U.S. casualties are mentioned thus leaving the impression that the enemy does not suffer casualties and setbacks.
Posted by: Crurt Lumplump3873 || 06/03/2007 12:16 Comments || Top||

#2  ahh, Lovely mental image of our Marines cutting down 7 'vested' AQ SplodeyDopes! ...and destroying two trucks rigged as suicide bombs and additional bomb making materials.

..all in a days work for the Devil Dawgs!

Posted by: RD || 06/03/2007 12:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Ooooooo, I just love it when the Marines talk shoot sexy!

Heart. Cockles. Warm. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 06/03/2007 13:13 Comments || Top||

#4  With a son who is a jarhead JO...SEMPER FI!

Soon thereafter, five additional AQI were observed fleeing the area when Marines with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment engaged the group killing all five and causing a suicide vest to detonate.

Sweet justice here on Earth.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 15:12 Comments || Top||

#5  congrats Anymouse, you must be proud!
Posted by: Frank G || 06/03/2007 15:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Frank...absolutely.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 16:19 Comments || Top||

#7  My kid finished his six year reserve commitment and was in Iraq two years ago.

I still get misty-eyed when I play the Marines Hymn.

If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven's scene,
they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.


Semper Fi!
Posted by: Bobby || 06/03/2007 16:53 Comments || Top||

#8  amen and thanks to your son, Bobby. I sometimes cry during the Star Spangling Banner. My kids say I'm a puss (but never to my face - heh)
Posted by: Frank G || 06/03/2007 17:51 Comments || Top||


Police search mosque for weapons
Iraqi National Police from the 1st Battalion, 8th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division searched the Al Ishbilia Mosque in Sadr City June 3 after receiving a report there were heavy weapons located on the roof. The police arrived at the mosque at approximately 4: 30 p.m. and received permission from the Imam to conduct an organized search of the premises. No weapons or contraband were found.

Paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, provided the outer cordon of security for the operation. No U.S. Soldiers entered the mosque.

There was no damage to the mosque or to any of the property inside. Follow up engagements are planned with the Imam as a sign of good faith between the Imam, Iraqi Security Forces, and Coalition Forces.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 06/03/2007 12:01 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No weapons found or none reported by those searching?
Posted by: airandee || 06/03/2007 14:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Weapons found? Go Cartahge on it.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 15:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Neither, someone talked, weapons were removed before the search, is a much more likely scenario.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/03/2007 15:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Follow up engagements are planned with the Imam

Told you, the Imam knows when the searches will be made.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/03/2007 15:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Sweep the roof for residue from gunpowder or other ordnance; if none is found then the mosque is truly a house of worship. If, on the other hand the sniffer picks up a trace, level it.
seems easy enough to me.....
Posted by: USN, ret. || 06/03/2007 19:38 Comments || Top||


Insurgent rocket team engaged, four killed
Attack helicopter crews from the 1st “Attack” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, in a coordinated operation with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, killed four terrorists, apprehended six suspects and destroyed one van and multiple rockets that were aimed toward the International Zone in eastern Baghdad June 2.

The Apache helicopter team was alerted to the area when terrorists were spotted setting up multiple rocket firing positions aimed at the International Zone.

“This operation against an enemy rocket team shows the awesome capability and lethality my aircrews display every day,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Walach, commander of the 1-227th Aviation Regiment.

In all, four terrorists were killed, one vehicle destroyed and 10 rockets destroyed in the Apache Longbow engagement. There was no collateral damage observed during the engagement.

Following the destruction of the equipment by the attack helicopters, Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team pursued six suspects observed fleeing the scene of the foiled rocket attack. They tailed the suspects to a residence inside Sadr City and apprehended them.The six suspects were then transported to the nearby Sadr City Joint Security Station for questioning.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 06/03/2007 11:59 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  10 hits, 4 runs, no errors!! Game called on account of, well, the demise of the other team!

Great shooting Air Cav!!
Posted by: Justrand || 06/03/2007 12:13 Comments || Top||

#2  w00t!
Posted by: RD || 06/03/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||

#3  beautiful
Posted by: 3dc || 06/03/2007 13:59 Comments || Top||

#4  In all, four terrorists were killed

Four less cockroaches US taxpayers are having to pay for.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 15:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Apaches. Savage against savage. The U.S. Calvary is lucky to have them scouting for US now. ;-)
Posted by: Woodrow Clomoter1684 || 06/03/2007 20:27 Comments || Top||

#6  alot of enemy killed today , and not just this article
Posted by: Whusoter Lumumba8696 || 06/03/2007 20:41 Comments || Top||


Airpower used 5/30/07 in SW Asia
Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations May 30, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped guided bomb unit-38s (500# JDAM) on insurgents in an area around Asadabad. The B-1 also dropped a GBU-31 (2000# JDAM) on the enemy targets as well. The attack was called successful by the on-scene joint terminal attack controller. The B-1 also performed shows of force with flares to try to determine an enemy location in Kandahar. There were no reports of gunfire reported after the shows of force.

In Garmsir, an Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle dropped a GBU-38 on an enemy compound. Insurgents had fled to the building after firing on ground forces. The JTAC in the area reported the strike was successful in that all of the miscreants died.

Also in Garmsir, a B-1B dropped GBU-38s on an enemy firing position. The aircrew dropped GBU-31s on a building being used to attack coalition forces. The B-1 also provided air support after a helicopter crash in the area.

F-15Es fired GBU-38s and cannon rounds at two insurgent buildings in Sangin. The JTAC reported the buildings were destroyed in the attack. F-15Es also monitored insurgent compounds and firing positions and escorted coalition forces in Sangin.

Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs supported ground forces fighting enemy personnel in Musa Qala by providing escort to a coalition convoy in the area.
A B-1 provided a show of force for a convoy moving near Qaleh-Ye Now. The aircrew also provided a show of presence over a highway in the area.
A Royal Air Force GR-9 Harrier watched over the site of a helicopter crash near Kajaki Dam.

Eleven Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan. Additionally, two RAF fighter aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.

In Iraq, Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons dropped GBU-38s on an illegal bridge WTF?? illegal bridge? and on an insurgent vehicle in Baghdad. The drops hit their targets.

Other F-16s dropped GBU-12s (500# LGB) on insurgent vehicles near Habbiniyah. The bombs directly impacted the vehicles, according to the JTAC killing all the jihadis.
Do Iraqi jihadis do car swarms?
An F-18 fired cannon rounds at insurgents planting IEDs along a road in Karmah. The rounds hit their targets and the IED placement was stopped by death.

In total, coalition aircraft flew 60 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions supported coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.

Approximately 128 airlift sorties were flown; more than 535 tons of cargo were delivered, and approximately 2,607 passengers were transported. This included approximately 24,736 pounds of troop re-supply air-dropped in Afghanistan.

Coalition C-130 crews from Australia and Iraq flew in support of operations in Afghanistan or Iraq. On May 29, Air Force, RAF, French and Republic of Singapore tankers flew 48 sorties and off-loaded approximately 2.7 million pounds of fuel to 233 receiving aircraft.
Posted by: Ahnuld || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Warms the cockles of my heart. Excellent joint and combined tacair support.
Posted by: anymouse || 06/03/2007 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  WTF?? illegal bridge?

I would guess that US, Iraqi Army, and Iraqi Police forces have checkpoints on all of the bridges to limit insurgent/terrorist movement, and especially movement of VBIEDs. The enemy solution, I guess, was to build themselves a bridge -- likely a pretty ramshackle affair, but good enough to get a Fiat Panda full of 152mm shells across. Almost certainly not the Tigris, cuz the Tigris is big, but possibly the Army Canal or Nahr Diyala or some overgrown sewage runoff.
Posted by: Phamp Pholunter3122 || 06/03/2007 5:14 Comments || Top||

#3  OK, so now that we figured out what our toys can do, i think its time to go outside and play with them. otherwise they just gather dust on the shelves.
Posted by: USN, ret. || 06/03/2007 23:12 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza Strip
GAZA - Israeli forces killed two terrorists Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday near the border fence with Israel, local residents said. Residents near the scene of the shooting said the two Palestinians killed by Israeli fire were workers at a garbage dump located close to the Israeli-built frontier fence.

On Friday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian terrorists youths in the northern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel. An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops had shot terrorists at suspicious figures trying to plant an object close to the barrier.

The Israeli military has declared areas near the border fence, where terrorists militants have often tried to plant explosives, no-go zones for Palestinians.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


IDF kills armed Palestinian in Nablus
The IDF killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank Saturday evening. In the latest incident, Nahal Brigade troops opened fire at an armed Palestinian in the Casbah in Nablus.

The man, who was carrying an M-16 rifle, was killed in the shooting. Another gunman, also spotted in the same area, was shot and wounded by troops. The IDF did not suffer casualties.

Earlier, near the Gaza security fence east of Kissufim, Palestinian sources said that soldiers shot two civilians who had reportedly worked at a nearby garbage dump.

The IDF confirmed the incident, saying that soldiers shot the two after they failed to stop when ordered by the troops to do so. According to the soldiers, the men were acting in a suspicious manner when they were asked to halt.

Meanwhile, soldiers caught an armed Palestinian southwest of Kalkilya after they spotted a suspicious vehicle while on patrol. The troops approached him at which point the driver threw several improvised weapons out of the car.

After searching the vehicle, soldiers discovered two knives and a cudgel. All arms were confiscated and the Palestinian was transferred to the police. The improvised weapons were destroyed by sappers.

On Friday, troops shot and killed Palestinians who were spotted crawling "in a suspicious manner" toward the fence near the town of Beit Lahiya. The Palestinians planted an object near the fence, possibly an explosive, and did not answer orders to stop moving toward the fence, the army said.

Also Friday, the IAF killed a member of an Islamic Jihad Kassam cell in an air strike.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


IAF strike kills senior Jihad member
The IAF killed a member of an Islamic Jihad Kassam cell in an air strike Friday evening. The man, identified as Fawzi Abu Mustafa, 22, was targeted while riding a motorcycle near Khan Yunis in the northern Gaza Strip.
Awfully junior to be a senior.
Abu Mustafa was responsible for shooting attacks against Israeli civilians as well as placing bombs. He was also reportedly behind an attempt to send a would-be suicide bomber into the Gush Etzion region, Israel Radio reported.

Earlier, Givati troops shot and killed two Palestinians near the Gaza security fence Friday, Palestinian Authority security forces and Palestinian doctors said. The two were not immediately identified, and doctors estimated their ages anywhere between 10 and 13. An IDF army spokesman confirmed that soldiers shot at several Palestinians who were spotted crawling "in a suspicious manner" toward the fence near the town of Beit Lahiya. The Palestinians planted an object near the fence, possibly an explosive, and did not answer orders to stop moving toward the fence, the army said. Soldiers saw three Palestinians being hit, the army spokesman's office said. One of them was moderately wounded and was taken to Israel for treatment, the army said.
This article starring:
Abu Mustafa
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Much younger and there will be people whining about Israel shooting at innocent children.
Posted by: gorb || 06/03/2007 1:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Much younger and there will be people whining about Israel shooting at innocent children.
Posted by: gorb || 06/03/2007 1:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Much younger and there will be people whining about Israel shooting at innocent children.
Posted by: gorb || 06/03/2007 1:20 Comments || Top||

#4  You can say that again
Posted by: regular joe || 06/03/2007 8:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Is Givati another flower name?
Posted by: Shipman || 06/03/2007 16:05 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Philippines says coordinated strategy led to downfall of Abu Sayyaf
Top leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group were killed through a combination of sustained military operations and development aid, the Philippine defense minister said Sunday. Months of community dialogue, medical assistance and infrastructure projects on the southern Philippine island of Jolo underpinned military operations that led to the killing of the group's top leaders, Hermogenes Ebdane said.

"The world witnessed the fall of the elusive leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group in several military encounters," Ebdane said in an address to the Shangri-La Dialogue, a meeting of regional defense chiefs in Singapore. "What the world did not see were the operations that applied the combination of hard and soft approaches to addressing terrorism," he said.

The military launched a major offensive last August on volatile Jolo, about 960 kilometers (600 miles) south of Manila. It targeted leaders of Abu Sayyaf and another group, Jemaah Islamiyah, who together have been blamed for attacks including a bomb blast on a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that killed 116 people. Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and his presumed successor, Abu Sulaiman, were both killed in the operations, part of a campaign that began in 2002 to apply a combination of humanitarian work and military tactics to win over the local Muslim population and marginalize militants.

Washington has funded roads, schools, and other civic projects on Jolo, and the U.S. military has helped train and arm underfunded Philippine forces and often flies P3 Orion spy planes to help track insurgents hiding in Jolo's tropical jungles.

The battle setbacks have driven more than 300 Abu Sayyaf remnants, split into at least six factions, along with a few Indonesian terror suspects, deeper into the jungle and provided a months long respite from violence in Jolo's townships.

Ebdane said heightened interaction between the government and local communities constricted Abu Sayyaf's previously unhampered room for activity and produced intelligence on the location of top leaders. Military operations on land and control of the surrounding seas — the fighters' traditional route of escape — further strangled the group's operating space, he said. "It is this combination of developmental and military tools that led to the fall of the top leaders," Ebdane said.

Despite its recent setbacks, Abu Sayyaf has staged occasional attacks seeking to reassert itself as a terror force. In April, one faction beheaded seven men they had kidnapped and had the heads delivered by civilians to the doors of two army detachments on Jolo.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/03/2007 08:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We all know whom deserves the praise!

The RB folks rock!
Posted by: 3dc || 06/03/2007 13:57 Comments || Top||


Asia's Muslim radicals take up beheading
It took two days for the young Muslim assassin to calm his nerves before the slaying. Then, Mohama Waekaji says, he walked one cool morning to a rice mill, carrying a knife and following orders from a guerrilla commander to behead the 72-year-old Buddhist owner.

He asked the elderly man, Juan Kaewtongprakam, for some rice husks. As he turned to collect them, Waekaji says, he slashed the blade through the man's neck. "I didn't dare to disobey," the 23-year-old Waekaji said in an interview with The Associated Press -- the first time a Thai militant accused of a beheading has spoken to the Western media. "I knew they would come after me if I did not do what I was told."

The killing in February was one in a spate of beheadings that has shocked Thailand, a nation with no past history of the practice, and fueled fears that the brutal terrorist tactics of the Middle East are spreading in Asia. Twenty-five beheadings -- including 10 already this year -- have been reported in southern Thailand since an Islamic-inspired insurgency erupted in 2004, claiming more than 2,200 lives. Militants in the heavily Muslim region seek independence from mostly Buddhist Thailand.

"Beheadings are certainly on the rise outside of the Middle East proper," said Timothy Furnish, professor of Middle Eastern history at Georgia Perimeter College. "These groups do take their cues from ... hardcore Islamic thought coming out of the Arab world. Beheading infidels not only shocks, but also demonstrates Islamic bona fides to other groups."

Thai authorities say jihad videos from the Middle East, captured from rebel training camps, may be inspiring young men like Waekaji. One clip said to have come from Iraq shows a woman lying on her side on a patch of grass as a man slowly cuts her throat with a long knife. Blood spurts from the wound, the screaming finally stops and her head is completely severed.

"The inspiration is clearly coming across the Internet or through DVDs clips," said Zachary Abuza, an expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia at Simmons College in Boston. "Islamist militants in Southeast Asia are very frustrated that the region is considered the Islamic periphery," Abuza added. "Militants of the region are actively trying to pull the region into the Islamic core. They want people to understand that their jihad is a part of the global jihad."
Much more at link. This is what the AP should be covering every day.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/03/2007 08:48 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Coming soon to a shopping mall, church basement or kindergarten near you.

And still the peacetards will caper with joy at the rape of everything they claim to hold dear.
Posted by: Excalibur || 06/03/2007 13:01 Comments || Top||

#2  If they are taking it up, we should by all means behead them.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/03/2007 14:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Welcome to the wide world of Islam. Do you buy it?
Posted by: newc || 06/03/2007 21:38 Comments || Top||


More death and destruction as southern Thai terrorism continues
Muslim terrorists launched a spate of attacks in [Narathiwat], killing a Muslim teacher and a Muslim villager and injuring three officials.

In Rusoh district, a soldier was injured when the insurgents detonated a bomb buried on village road at 6:45 am on Sunday. In Joh I Rong district, insurgents detonated a bomb and damaged two police patrol cars at 9:10 pm. Police were not injured. Ten minutes later, two men on a motorcycle hurled a Molotov cocktail against a Buddhist's house. The fire was quickly put out, causing little damage.

In Sungai Padi district, police were abushed by a group of insurgents and two sides exchanged gunfire for about five minutes. Two policemen were injured. While the shooting was going on, a Muslim teacher was shot dead in a mosque. When a unit of soldiers arrived to inspect the crime scene, they were attacked by Muslim villagers on suspicion that they killed the teachers. During the turmoil. A soldier fired at a villager, killing him at the scene.

Also:

About 1,000 Buddhists rallied in Pattani town on Sunday to counter the demonstration at the Pattani's central mosque. The mosque has attracted more than 1,000 people. The mob was there for the fourth consecutive day to demand the withdrawal of troops and an end of curfew in the deep south.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/03/2007 08:37 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  During the turmoil. A soldier fired at a villager, killing him at the scene.


Hope he gets a medal.
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/03/2007 14:26 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan jets bomb rebel bases
Sri Lankan jets pounded two Tamil Tiger bases in the island’s restive east on Saturday, the air force said, but the rebels denied any of their military installations were hit and said there were no casualties.

Air force spokesman Group Captain Ajantha De Silva said fighter jets bombed Tiger bases in an area of jungle called Thoppigala in the eastern district of Batticaloa, where the government is seeking to stamp out the insurgents. “The air force fighter jets bombed two LTTE bases in Toppigala and the pilots confirmed the target was correctly taken,” De Silva said.

There was no independent confirmation of what the jets hit.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who are fighting for an independent state in the island’s north and east, said their forces were locked in close-quarters skirmishes with troops in the area, but gave no further details. “They have not hit any of our installations. The bombs caused no casualties,” rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said by telephone from the de facto rebel capital at Kilinochchi in the far north.

The government said on Thursday it might scrap what is left of a “flawed” 2002 ceasefire pact with the rebels within weeks. Analysts say that could pave the way for fighting to escalate.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Fatah al-Islam's Plot: 9/11-Style Lebanon Attack
An Nahar newspaper said Sunday that Fatah al-Islam militants, whose fighters are besieged at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, were planning a September 11-style attack on Lebanon.

It said interrogation of arrested fighters revealed that the attacks on a hotel, embassies and tunnels would have caused destruction similar to the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

"Fatah al-Islam planned to attack a large hotel in the capital using four suicide truck bombs at the same time as launching suicide attacks on embassies in east and west Beirut," the paper said.

The planned attacks' explosives, that have made their way from Syria, were seized in a weapons depot in the northern port city of Tripoli, the daily said.

An Nahar also said the group "planned to launch attacks on the Shekka tunnel linking Beirut to Tripoli with the aim of cutting off the north and proclaiming an Islamic state there."

The Lebanese army is locked in deadly battles with the militants since May 20. But fighting intensified on Friday when the military made a push against Fatah al-Islam which has vowed to fight to death inside Nahr al-Bared.

White smoke rose from the camp Sunday as the Lebanese army resumed its bombardment of the militants holed up there.(Naharnet-AFP)
Posted by: mrp || 06/03/2007 08:02 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Time to bitch slap Syria. Don't answer the call Nancy Pelosi.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/03/2007 10:14 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd also be casting some sidelong glances at the usual Palestinian suspects. This crapulence was brewed up on their turf.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/03/2007 13:20 Comments || Top||


Lebanese helicopter strafes militants
A Lebanese army helicopter on Saturday fired missiles and strafed suspected positions of Islamic militants on the edge of a Palestinian refugee camp with machine gun fire in the first air force involvement in nearly two weeks of fighting.

The helicopter, a French-made Gazelle, directed machine gun fire at areas near the Mediterranean coastline. Two air-to-surface missiles were also fired during three runs over the area. It was not clear what the aircraft was firing at, but it was possibly blocking an escape route by sea for the Fatah Islam militants. The air force's first involvement came on the second day of an offensive the army launched to defeat the militants and force their surrender from the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where they have been holed up. Lebanon has no fixed wing aircraft in its arsenal, but it has 33 helicopters, most of them transports.

The Lebanese army pressed ahead with an offensive to uproot the militants, also pounding their hideouts with artillery earlier Saturday, a day after sending tanks and armored vehicles to seize positions in the camp's outer neighborhoods.

Three more soldiers were killed and five wounded Saturday, military officials said, leaving the army with five dead and 15 wounded since the offensive began Friday. Lebanese security officials said dozens of militants from the Fatah Islam group had been killed or wounded in the fighting since Friday, but the figure could not be independently verified. The group's spokesman has been unreachable since the offensive began.

The deaths raised to 37 the number of soldiers killed since fighting between the army and militants began on May 20. At least 20 civilians and about 60 militants had also been killed in the fighting before Friday's offensive. Civilian casualties could not be determined in the latest fighting since relief organizations were not allowed inside the camp.

White smoke billowed from the Nahr el-Bared camp in northern Lebanon Saturday as the thud of artillery, mixed with machine gun and automatic rifle fire, rang out in the morning. A black plume of smoke rose at midmorning, but it was not clear what was burning. A lull prevailed during the night after heavy battles Friday, with the army firing flares to monitor militants' movements and sporadically exchanging fire with the gunmen. But the renewed bombardment in the morning signaled the army's continued push against the militants. The offensive, which began Friday, was the heaviest fighting since violence broke out between the military and Fatah Islam militants nearly two weeks ago.

The situation on the ground was unclear as journalists were pushed far away from the military zone, and media reports were conflicting on the military's achievements the previous day. Security officials said Saturday that military units continued "mop up of pockets" of resistance on the outskirts of the camp and its perimeter. The officials said the organizational skeleton of the group had been destroyed and that some fighters had sought refuge inside the camp.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Nahr el-Bared and its surrounding areas were divided into three zones, one under the effective control of the army, one held by the militants and a third zone controlled by civilians and Palestinian guerrilla factions refusing refuge to the militants.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The situation on the ground was unclear as journalists were pushed far away from the military zone, and media reports were conflicting on the military's achievements the previous day.

moving the cameras away from the killing. Smart move. Now go ahead and kill em all
Posted by: Frank G || 06/03/2007 14:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Any sightings of the Green Helmut Guy?
Posted by: Skunky Glins5285 || 06/03/2007 16:42 Comments || Top||

#3  My favourite was 'bomb magnet lady'.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 06/03/2007 17:15 Comments || Top||


Fierce battle continues in Lebanon
The Iran Press slant on it all...
Lebanese army has continued pounding the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian camp, where the fighting traps an estimated 6000 refugees. The army has surronded the al-Qaeda-linked Fatah al-Islam militants in the camp and confirms that it has lost six soldiers in the past 36 hours of this fierce fighting. "The battles will continue until we put an end to the phenomenon of Fatah al-Islam," an army spokesman said, adding, "The only choice for the gunmen is to give themselves up."

According to UN figures 25,000 residents of the camp have fled, but an estimated 6,000 are still trapped inside. The 13-day confrontation between troops and militants has killed more than 100 people, many of them civilians. Aid agencies have voiced fears for the safety of civilians, as artillery fire targets the camp. The International Committee of the Red Cross called on all parties not to target civilians inside the camp, where there is desperate shortage of water, food and power.

Sheikh Mohammad al-Hajj called for a halt to the shelling, saying "We cannot negotiate with Fatah al-Islam under the bombardments."
Sheikh Mohammad al-Hajj, a member of delegation of Palestinian clerics attempting to broker a negotiated solution, called for a halt to the shelling, saying "We cannot negotiate with Fatah al-Islam under the bombardments."

Meanwhile the United States voiced strong backing for the army operation. "The Lebanese government is doing what it needs to in order to fight against a very dangerous terrorist group, and to bring law and order throughout the country," US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

Some analysts believe the Fatah al-Islam group was formed by certain pro-government political parties in Lebanon and was directly funded by the United States in a bid to weaken the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and to provoke discord between Shias and Sunnis.
Some analysts believe the Fatah al-Islam group was formed by certain pro-government political parties in Lebanon and was directly funded by the United States in a bid to weaken the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and to provoke discord between Shias and Sunnis. Opposition groups in Lebanon have called for an immediate ceasefire and said the standoff should be resolved through a security, political and judicial settlement. They have warned Lebanon's pro-western government that any assault on the camp threatens peace and security in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "We cannot negotiate with Fatah al-Islam under the bombardments."

They could always drop their weapons and put their hands up if they wanted.
Posted by: gorb || 06/03/2007 3:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Some analysts believe the Fatah al-Islam group was formed by certain pro-government political parties in Lebanon and was directly funded by the United States in a bid to weaken the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and to provoke discord between Shias and Sunnis.

Sounds like a croc of goat pucky. As Gorb says, they can drop their weapons, raise their hands and surrender. Of course, the alternative might be preferable--to not drop their weapons, not raise their hand, not surrender and die.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/03/2007 10:22 Comments || Top||

#3  I recall Bruce Willis's actions in a certain movie followed by the comment,

"Anyone else want to negotiate?"

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 06/03/2007 17:57 Comments || Top||


RB comment hamsters seem to be napping right now
...we'll give them a poke in the ribs later this morning. Thanks for your patience, and as always, thanks for visiting Rantburg!
Posted by: Seafarious || 06/03/2007 03:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  awfulluy damn cute Seafarious...

were those little sounds I heard, snuggle worm chirpings?
Posted by: RD || 06/03/2007 12:46 Comments || Top||

#2  you mean no ones else appreciated Sea's fyi post?

sheech... a bunch of pretend hard guys! lol!

;-)
Posted by: RD || 06/03/2007 20:13 Comments || Top||


G'morning
The usual anarchist temper tantrum afflicts G-8 summitAuthorities charge 4, arrest 3 in NYC terror plotIraqi PM warns Turkey against military incursionUS court denies bail to London terror suspectLebanese helicopter strafes militantsTaylor trial draws West African mediaMashaal offers to end rocket attacksZim health care system collapses
Posted by: Fred || 06/03/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Heh - reminds me of Nat'l Lampoon's "Buy this magazine or the dog gets it" cover
Posted by: Frank G || 06/03/2007 15:09 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2007-06-03
  UAE gives $80 million to Palestinians
Sat 2007-06-02
  Report: Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport plot
Fri 2007-06-01
  Leb army attempts to seize Fateh al-Islam positions inside camp
Thu 2007-05-31
  UNSC approves Hariri court
Wed 2007-05-30
  Maliki is conducting "reconciliation" talks with Izzat Ibrahim
Tue 2007-05-29
  Iraqi Kurdistan to take charge of own security
Mon 2007-05-28
  14 Arrested in Spain on Terror Charges
Sun 2007-05-27
  U.S. Military Rescues 41 Iraqis From Al Qaeda Prison
Sat 2007-05-26
  Nangahar big turban snagged
Fri 2007-05-25
  Dems blink: House Approves War-Funding Bill
Thu 2007-05-24
  Israel seizes Hamas leaders in West Bank
Wed 2007-05-23
  PLO backs army entry into Nahr al-Bared
Tue 2007-05-22
  Hamas threatens new wave of suicide attacks
Mon 2007-05-21
  Leb army lays siege to camp as fight continues
Sun 2007-05-20
  Leb army takes on Fatah al-Islam at Paleo camp


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