At least 16 South Korean citizens have been abducted by Taleban insurgents in Afghanistan, officials say. A government spokesman in Seoul said there were women among the kidnapped.
Afghan officials have confirmed the incident. They said the Koreans were taken while travelling in a bus from Kandahar city to the capital, Kabul. Two Germans who were kidnapped near Kabul on Wednesday are still untraced. Many foreign citizens have been abducted in Afghanistan since 2001.
"We obtained an intelligence report that some 20 South Koreans were abducted by Taleban insurgents this morning (Friday) and are now trying to confirm it through various channels," reports quoting a South Korean foreign ministry statement said.
"Considering a variety of circumstantial evidence, chances are high that the report is true," the statement added.
The governor of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province, Khowaja Mohammad Siddiqi, confirmed the kidnappings to BBC, but said only 16 South Koreans were taken.
Mr Siddiqi said they had no information that South Koreans were in the area or about their travel plans. He said the incident took place on Thursday afternoon. The insurgents had earlier taken the bus driver too, but he was later released.
A local Taleban commander, Mohammad Sharif, has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, news agency Reuters reports.
The abducted Koreans were young Christian evangelists, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says the area has seen heightened activity by Taleban militants in the recent months. Bad idea. Koreans are almost obsessive about revenge. The more vicious, the better.
A suicide bomber hit a Turkish diplomatic convoy on the outskirts of the Afghan capital yesterday, wounding one Afghan civilian, police said, and shots were fired at one of the vehicles, wounding a Turkish guard.
Hours after the attack, another suicide bomber, blew himself up inside the main police station in the southeastern town of Khost, police and residents said. There was no immediate report of any casualties from the second attack, but ambulances were seen entering the compound. A second suicide bomber, disguised in an army uniform, shot dead two police at the gate of the compound before being killed by police, residents said.
Also yesterday, six Afghan police in the southern province of Zabul, and a Filipino road engineer and Afghan guard were killed in two separate ambushes in the southeastern province of Paktia, provincial police officials said.
Afghanistan's ousted Taliban claimed responsibility for all the attacks.
After the blast in Kabul, shots were fired from two directions at the damaged armored vehicle, wounding one Turkish guard, a Turkish embassy official said, suggesting an ambush. "It is first time this kind of tactic was used," said a Western security analyst. "They are always trying to find new tactics."
The Turkish troops were traveling to the province of Wardak, southwest of Kabul, where they lead a NATO Provincial Reconstruction Team, one of many around the country which aim to bring both security and development to outlying regions.
Security in Wardak and the neighboring province of Loghar, both of which border Kabul, has deteriorated sharply in the last month, the security analyst said, with many young men joining the Taliban who infiltrated the provinces from areas to the south. "I was in Wardak last week. The people there say the Taliban are using the young generation who are jobless and have nothing to do - they are giving them money or drugs," he said.
Many Afghans are frustrated at the slow pace of development and the inability of the government and its Western backers to bring security to Afghanistan more than five years after the Taliban were ousted from power.
Inspired by insurgents in Iraq, the Taliban and their allies increasingly rely on roadside bombs and suicide attacks as part of their campaign to overthrow the government and drive out foreign troops from the country.
(Aki) - The Islamic Taliban militants who claim to be holding two German engineers kidnapped on Wednesday have threatened to kill them if the Afghan authorities continue to hunt them down. Efforts to trace them have been underway in the district of Jaghto. The threats were sent to the Pajhwok local news agency via a telephone call from an armed group which is accusing the pair of being spies. The two Germans were seized along with five Afhans who were working for a UN project in Afghanistan. The Afghans were released after just a few hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Why would this news outlet call them tourists and also refer to them as staffers on a UN rebuilding project?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/20/2007 23:03 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) A pickup truck belonging to the transitional government carrying soldiers hit a roadside bomb at the entrance of Afgoie town, 30km south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu wounding six soldiers on Thursday. Local witnesses told Somalinet that Islamic terrorists militants using a remote controlled roadside bomb targeted the government soldiers as it was entering the town this morning. The explosion caused the injury of six soldiers. Several people were arrested and now are being questioned for their involvement with the latest bomb attack.
I saw a huge flame went into the sky after the explosion, when I approached the area, I found that a bomb exploded on a car. Six soldiers were laying on the ground bleeding, in fact they were seriously injured, said Bashi Omar, a local farmer. I ran away from there fearing that I might be arrested,
In another event, four persons including one policeman were wounded in a grenade explosion that occurred in Sodonka Street in Mogadishu where militants attacked a government convoy.
(SomaliNet) Heavy armed confrontations have broken out mid last night around the main Bakara market in the Somalia chaotic capital of Mogadishu between government soldiers and local militants as both sides exchanged heavy machine-guns, hand and rocket propelled grenades.
Explosions and gunfire, which started around 1:25 pm local time on the Wadnaha road lasted for 45 minutes as the event looked face-to-face gun battle. It is too early to know the casualty from the latest nighttime fighting as the city is under curfew.
The fighting erupted when local insurgents launched an ambush attack on the soldiers stationing in the Wadnaha road where they fired all sorts of weapons. All the residents around Bakara market area woke up with the deafening sound of the blasts and gunfire. It is the heaviest gun battle around Bakara market since the siege began two weeks ago.
The violence continues as the reconciliation conference is due to restart today at the former police compound in north of Mogadishu where the security is heavily tightened.
The bombings and ambush attacks are an indication of strong presence of insurgents in Somalia supporting the ousted Islamic Courts Union.
Meanwhile, the government soldiers killed one civilian and wounded two others in Wardhigley district, according to eyewitnesses. The shooting came when a group of young men insulted a passing government vehicle carrying soldiers where they fired shots killing one pedestrian and injuring two others.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The directors of the Bakara market ought to do more with respect to clearly designating and marking different areas of the market with respect to expected levels of violence levels, suggested armament and probable rules of engagement. I think shoppers would really appreciate the improvements but my gut feeling could be backed up with inexpensive customer feedback forms if full blown marketing studies are cost prohibitive.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/20/2007 22:15 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Six people were reported to have been killed in an attack by Islamic militants on a reconciliation conference in the Somalian capital Mogadishu on Thursday.
An attack on a peace conference. Boy, howdy, you don't get much more Islamic than that.
According to local radio station, Shabelle, five youths and an elderly woman died after being hit by mortar fire fired at a residential area close to the meeting building. The young victims were killed while playing football on the street in front of their houses. At least six rockets hit the ground a few minutes after the conference finished in heavy fighting. Shabelle radio said as well as the six killed, several people were injured.
The opening ceremony of the conference was interrupted last Sunday when men from the group known as Mujahadeen Youth fired rockets and grenades at the building where the conference was being held. It was immediately postponed to give some of the more than 1,000 delegates from Somalia's dozens of clans more time to arrive. Images of the attack were recorded on a video which has since been distributed on several Somali Islamic sites.
The main Islamist opposition has refused to attend, saying the venue is not neutral, while Ethiopian troops remain in the country. Ethiopia helped government troops oust Islamists from Mogadishu last December. But Somalia has been without a functioning government for 16 years and there are fears that the current government which is a UN creation, has little grass roots support and may be on the brink of collapse.
This article starring:
Mujahadeen Youth
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So, other then the mortar and rocket attacks, how was the reconciliation conference, dear?
They nabbed 16 Moroccans who ran off to join al-Qaeda in North Africa. Most of the rest of the article's gibberish.
Moroccan security services identified this week the three Moroccan terrorists aired by al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb together with Ali Ben Hadj son, Abdelkahar. The Moroccan press has announced that sixteen people were arrested in their way to Algeria to join the al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group earlier in May. The Moroccan Sala appeal court examining magistrate is undertaking the cross-examination with 16 persons indicted with belonging to a terrorist cell seeking to reach the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Organization training camps in Algeria.
However, the French speaking paper Le Maghreb Aujourdhui Maghreb Today- reported yesterday that the three Moroccan terrorists aired on al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb web site later in June, which video recording has shown Ali Ben Hadj son, Abdelkahar, and revealed that they come from poor districts in Beni Mekada in Tangier .
This article starring:
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Two men have been arrested in Bristol under the Terrorism Act, Avon and Somerset Police have said. At 10pm on Wednesday, a man was arrested in the Castle Park area of the city on suspicion of drugs-related offences. Following that arrest, police conducted a search of an address in Stapleton Road and found a substance that led them to believe there may be a potential link to terrorist activity. The substance will be subjected to a full forensic analysis and a further thorough search has been initiated. The man, of Afghan origin, is being held at a police station in the Avon and Somerset force area. Further investigations led to the arrest of a second man.
"Our top priority is public safety and while this incident does not involve a specific threat to anybody, police are undertaking an extensive investigation," a statement said.
Officers have been speaking to community leaders in the Stapleton Road area to provide information and reassurance. Assistant Chief Constable Steve Mortimore said: "This investigation is in its very early stages and we hope to clarify the situation at the earliest possible opportunity.
"Our message to the public for some time now has been that while we don't want people to be unduly afraid, everyone should be aware of the potential risks and be vigilant." Another asylum seeker repaying his debt to his keepers.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
07/20/2007 04:19 ||
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#1
Working on their RAB Crossfire 'Distance Learning Courses:
1) Late night trip (10PM), check;
2) Arrest and search for cache of ill-gotten goods (drugs count, but not as much as firearms), check;
3) Homework assignment: accomplices and Crossfire, due next week.
Class dismissed.
Jordanian-trained doctor, Mohammed Asha, 26, was yesterday charged by Scotland Yard counterterrorism officers with conspiracy to cause an explosion following the attempted car bomb attacks in central London on June 29 and a Jeep attack at Glasgow Airport the following day. According to Scotland Yard, Asha, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, is accused of unlawfully and maliciously conspiring with Bilal Abdullah, Kafeel Ahmed and others unknown to cause explosions of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury. He will appear at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court today.
Asha was arrested with his wife Marwa Asha, 27, a laboratory technician, on the M6 motorway in Cheshire on June 30. He is the fourth person to be charged in connection with the failed terror attacks in central London and Glasgow Airport.
In the first attack on June 29, Scotland Yard officers found two Mercedes saloon cars containing petrol and propane gas cylinders and a cocktail of nails and bolts in the Haymarket outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub and Cockspur Street in central London. Due to faulty connections, the detonators failed to explode. In the second attack the following day, a blazing Jeep Cherokee, similarly packed with gas and petrol cylinders and nails, was driven into the main terminal building at Glasgow International Airport. The Jeep failed to break through barriers and thus did not enter the actual terminal building where hundreds of passengers were gathered.
Eight suspects were originally detained in connection with the terror plot. Thus far three of the eight detainees have been released without charges, including Marwa Asha and two unnamed trainee doctors. The first one to be charged was Iraqi Dr. Bilal Talal Samad Abdullah, who is believed to be the driver of the Jeep involved in the Glasgow Airport attack. He was charged July 6 with conspiracy to cause explosions; and sent to trial at the Old Bailey on July 27.
The other suspect charged in the UK is Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, 26, of Liverpool who worked at the Halton Hospital in Runcorn, Cheshire. He was charged last Saturday under the Terrorism Act with having information that could have prevented an act of terrorism.
The third person charged is Dr. Mohammed Haneef, who worked at the Gold Coast Hospital in Queensland in Australia and was arrested at Brisbane Airport en route to Bangalore in India on a one-way ticket. He was charged by the Australian Federal Police with providing reckless support to a terrorist organization. He is alleged to have provided the mobile phone SIM card to his cousins Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed in the UK.
This article starring:
BILAL ABDULLAH
al-Tawhid
BILAL TALAL SAMAD ABDULLAH
al-Tawhid
KAFIL AHMED
al-Tawhid
MARWA ASHA
al-Tawhid
MOHAMED ASHA
al-Tawhid
MOHAMED HANIF
al-Tawhid
SABIL AHMED
al-Tawhid
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
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A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass. Niranjana Besai was leaving her house at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work at just after 8 a.m. when she saw the launcher on her front lawn. She immediately called police.
Besai's neighbor, Joe Quinn saw her pointing at the equipment from her front porch. When he walked over to the six-foot-long weapon, he was just as shocked. It looked like a bazooka, he told CBS 2 News. Quinn tells CBS 2 HD he originally thought the launcher was just a pipe, but after noticing it had a picture of a soldier on it, he realized it looked similar to a missile launcher he'd seen on television.
Jersey City Police removed the launcher, and the incident is now being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jersey City Police could not confirm whether it was actually operable. But, sources tell CBS 2s Scott Weinberger that its the kind of missile that can take down an aircraft and the area where the launcher was discovered is in or very near a flight path for Newark Liberty International Airport.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/20/2007 12:09 ||
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#1
Watch this story vanish..nothing to see here foldks...move laong.
#2
Hey Mo, where did you put that rocket launcher? It's not in the back of the truck.
But Abdul - I thought you put it back in the truck!
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 12:23 Comments ||
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#3
Be careful she dose'nt get sued by whoever they catch for this. It could of been purchased for art work. And since they can now sue, she could be in bigggg trouble.
#4
This could end up being a huge grant opportunity for some scientist to study the migratory and nesting habits of the North American military rocket launcher.
#10
Yawn, read the whole story: Sources tell CBS 2 HD that the device is an AT-4 missile launcher that is used to fire against tanks and buildings.
It's the launcher they found, not a missile.
The M136 AT4 is a lightweight, self-contained, antiarmor weapon consisting of a free-flight, fin-stabilized, rocket-type cartridge packed in an expendable, one-piece, fiberglass-wrapped tube.
Like the old LAWS rocket, once you fire the weapon, you toss the launcher away. Somebody in the service most likely brought one home from the range, his kids found it and took it out to play with and they dropped it on this ladies lawn. Really, nothing to see.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/20/2007 14:19 Comments ||
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#11
New data added to the story since it first broke.
#12
I live on the other side of the tracks from where they found the launcher- that's the bad part of town, and frankly I've always suspected that the locals packed serious heat. It's a tough neighborhood, you've got to be strapped.
US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.
A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.
"The Department of Defense's increased requirements for small- and medium-calibre ammunitions have largely been driven by increased weapons training requirements, dictated by the army's transformation to a more self-sustaining and lethal force - which was accelerated after the attacks of 11 September, 2001 - and by the deployment of forces to conduct recent US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq," said the report by the General Accounting Office (GAO).
Estimating how many bullets US forces have expended for every insurgent killed is not a simple or precisely scientific matter. The former head of US forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, famously claimed that his forces "don't do body counts". But senior officers have recently claimed "great successes" in Iraq, based on counting the bodies of insurgents killed. Maj-Gen Rick Lynch, the top US military spokesman in Iraq, said 1,534 insurgents had been seized or killed in a recent operation in the west of Baghdad. Other estimates from military officials suggest that at least 20,000 insurgents have been killed in President George Bush's "war on terror".
John Pike, director of the Washington military research group GlobalSecurity.org, said that, based on the GAO's figures, US forces had expended around six billion bullets between 2002 and 2005. "How many evil-doers have we sent to their maker using bullets rather than bombs? I don't know," he said.
"If they don't do body counts, how can I? But using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. Let's round that down to 250,000 so that we are underestimating."
Pointing out that officials say many of these bullets have been used for training purposes, he said: "What are you training for? To kill insurgents."
The GAO report notes that the three government-owned, contractor-operated plants that produce small- and medium-calibre ammunition were built in 1941. Though millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading the facilities, they remain unable to meet current munitions needs in their current state. "The government-owned plant producing small-calibre ammunition cannot meet the increased requirements, even with modernisation efforts," said the report. "Also, commercial producers within the national technology and industrial base have not had the capacity to meet these requirements. As a result, the Department of Defense had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs."
A report in Manufacturing & Technology News said that the Pentagon eventually found two producers capable of meeting its requirements. One of these was the US firm Olin-Winchester. The other was Israel Military Industries, an Israeli ammunition manufacturer linked to the Israeli government, which produces the bulk of weapons and ordnance for the Israeli Defence Force.
The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition last year and paid $10m (about £5.5m) more than it would have cost for it to produce the ammunition at its own facilities.
#2
The point of the article? The article is misleading. Small arms ammunition requirements would be expected to increase since we have had the Afghanistan war going on shortly after 911 and the Iraqi war going on since 2003. This requirement includes increased training requirements. The government and military needs to make certain the military has what it needs.
#4
Yes, before the current war, realistic combat training was confined largely to the combat elements of the Army. After the little fiasco with the supply column in the initial phase of the Iraq group campaign, it was suddenly discovered [as usual, the hard way], that combat support and combat service support people need as much 'combat' training to survive as well. That meant that budgetary resources and training time on the range and realistic [use of live ammo] had to be expanded to a larger share of the force [check the tooth to tail ratio of combat vs "non-combat"]. Shocked, shocked to find out that expanded training means expanded consumption of ammo. [insert snark about the usual clueless MSM].
#5
Kathy Kelly, a spokeswoman for the peace group Voices in the Wilderness, said Mr Bush believed security for the American people could come only from the use of force. Truer security would be achieved if the US developed fairer relations with other countries and was not involved in the occupation of Iraq. The President, said Ms Kelly, should learn from Israel's experience of "occupying the Palestinians" rather than buying its ammunition.
Good they added this, seeing how it has absolutely nothing to do with the story.
Peace through superior firepower, lady. Why don't you stay out in the wilderness...
#6
Actually, this is pretty amazing news. In Vietnam, it was estimated that 2,000,000 rounds were expended for every enemy killed or *wounded* by a bullet.
Assuming a similar ratio of enemy 1 KIA for every 3 WIA, this would mean that we have slashed the number of bullets effectively used by 50%. While some of that can be attributed both to it being desert and urban combat, instead of rural jungle, it is still a whopping improvement in shooting accuracy.
The biggest problem remains in not having more up to date bullet manufacturing capability. The irony is that in peacetime, such factories work at perhaps only 10% of capacity.
#7
Ms. Kelly and her ilk believe that all security comes from a security blanket.
'Mommy, I'm scared.'
'Here, honey, here's your banky, now go to sleep.'
#11
They have increased training for all military branches, so I believe this a fair assessment of total ammunition usage. It is not fair to say, "Oh you only kill one for every X amount of rounds used" when looking at the total used for combat and training. Typical liberal slamming of the military and the capabilities of it.
#12
Perhaps I could interest them in my Dense Inert Metal Infrared Incendiary High Explosive Armor Piercing Anti Personnel Heat Seeking Depleted Uranium White Phosphorus Napalm Hollow Point Laser Guided Flame Throwing Nuclear Cluster Bomb Munition?
Bet that'll get me kicked offa Ms. Kelly's Kwaanza card list...
#13
Ammo manufacturing facilities were shut down or reduced in capacity during the late 1990s, as were aresenals and caches.
As a result, there are few ways to expand military ammo production within the US. The Israelis have capacity which we are tapping. This is an old story, actually.
BTW, this doesn't just affect rifle rounds. Those of us who shoot as a hobby have occasionally found ourselves unable to buy much of quality in the 9mm caliber, which is the NATO standard for sidearms.
Ironically, one of the commonly sold brands of relatively inexpensive handgun ammo is Wolf, made in Russia. Some better stuff is available from the Czechs and Mr. Lotp and I use that brand for a lot of our target practice in several calibers.
#16
What I love is the way they use the number of bullets fired vs insurgents killed to sort of ive the impression that we're just spraying bullets everywhere and occasionally hitting when the opposite is true. The bulk of those bullets are used for training so that when we get in a firefire we're not spraying bullets all over.
#17
A note to Lions(TM): Zionist bullets can cause genital shrinkage even when not killing you outright---why do you think Palestinians prefer gun-sex?
#18
lol! love the way he got in all those scare quotes, hushed tones of a Jewish conspiracy, and the image of a Rambo soldier in Iraq, shooting 250,000 bullets for every rebel killed.
Not bad, considering he only had only one real statistic to work with to create all of that - "a government report that says US forces use 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition per year."
Of course, he doesn't have figures for bodies, or bullets used in training. And of course, it's not that we are "HAVING" to support supplies from Israel, (as he managed to get into the first line of the article: extra points) we are just looking at using them as one of two contractors. It is not the we don't have the capacity to make the bullets without HAVING to turn to our (shhhhh) Israeli masters to help us, , it is just that our three Govn't owned plants don't have the capacity and one of the two companies which may get the contract is in Israel.
Bravo! Bravo! Independent reporter. Well done. Only one statistic and you managed all this. This little true believer for The Cause(TM) deserves a promotion.
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 10:45 Comments ||
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#19
oops - I made that one point twice. Must have been a Israeli mind ray that caused me to do that. Must have been a Israeli mind ray that caused me to do that.
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 10:48 Comments ||
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#20
This is a combined figure for the Army, AF, Navy, Marines, Coasties, etc.
We go through tons of that even in peacetime.
And as militaries learn every time they become combat seasoned, follow the lessons we kept in the 19080's that paid off handsomely in 1991: You fight like you train, so train like you fight. The more you sweat in training the less you bleed in combat. Train to fight to win (That was the 2ACR motto for a while).
The people who wrote this article are dumbasses; to paraphrase Patton: "The bilious bastards who came up with that stuff know as much about battle as they do about fornicating".
#21
I think they need new ammo that describes the critics. So lest see...
Has to be dense, better inertia characteristics, and has to be inert - we dont want reactive crap banging around in ammo pouches. Probably needs to be a penetrator shaped round, to defeat body armor. And to be effective it can't be the "assassin" subsonic rounds, this stuff needs to be supersonic for range. Plus it should be configured for impact after penetration, something like a closed hollow round (like the old Russian AK rounds) so we do not over-penetrate and endanger baby ducks in the area, and of course you want tracers to see where the round went, so you use less of it and nevermind that tracers work in both directions.
So now we have environmentally friendly, highly effective ammo, which will be used a lot less. And its designed by the Peace-nics specifications. Thats what the critics are on about, right?
So, lets name it after them. Here is the nomenclature for Peace-nic Ammo, mk1 5.56mm:
Dense Inert Penetrating Supersonic High Impact Tracers
Ok. So any time we see these criticisms, we can simply say "D.I.P.S.H.I.T." report incoming, and be entirely accurate.
#23
If OSHA had their way, we'd have to import all our rounds.
Posted by: Herman Jeque5609 ||
07/20/2007 11:54 Comments ||
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#24
As a result, there are few ways to expand military ammo production within the US.
I blame China.
BFD make more bullets kill more bad guys. Am I missing some point here?
Actually, yes. We need to be using a lot fewer bullets in this conflict. Obtaining more enemy fatalities with a lot fewer bullets is going to be key in winning the fight against Islam. The ratio stated isin parta direct result of fighting this war on a one-bullet-at-a-time basis. That needs to change.
#28
hey I like the thoughts of dipping the bullets in pigfat. Let that info get leaked out to them heh.
Reading this article made me smile with remembering how I used to help my dad refill his cartridges.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
07/20/2007 12:24 Comments ||
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#29
Doc - like judging the state of health care by charting annual bandage use lol!
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 12:36 Comments ||
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#30
The real money quote in this is the bullets to kill ratio; this is exactly what is needed to expedite the kill vs. detain theory. fewer detainees but more kills will drive the bullets/killed ratio down and make all the peaceniks happy ( or perhaps less sad, don't matter to me)
#32
This is old news w/r to Israeli ammunition. We were using Israeli manufactured .45 ammo (and .22) in the mid-80's. Note: The .45 fired so hot that we were breaking frames though it didn't help that the 1911's were rack guns over 50 years old. (we suspected it was designed for use in sub-guns). I suspect as well that rifle calibers were purcased as well.
#33
Ms. Kelly is in favour of occupying Iraq just like the Israelis occupy Palestine? Just how different is that compared to the current situation? Perhaps Ms Kelly should ask herself why the Israelis have ammunition plants.
#34
As the military has soaked up more and more of the domestic commercial capacity, those of us that reload and shoot as a hobby have had a harder and harder time getting ammunition and components.
Federal primers are practically not to be had. The other brands are also in short supply.
Commercial powder stocks are definitely down, and week before last, I had found a completely empty shelf where the cast lead plinking bullets for my 45 ACP used to be.
I say that if the military needs it, they can have it.
#35
week before last, I had found a completely empty shelf where the cast lead plinking bullets for my 45 ACP used to be.
Cast your own, I do.
Old lead wheelweights are almost the same alloy as Lyman, and free for the asking(Most times)
A good two slug mold will cost about 30 bucks, or you can get fancy and get a six slugs at a time mold, I size all mine, and lube with beeswax and parrafin 50-50 mix.
Except for initial equipment cost it's effectively free (Time is all you spend)
I store them in old clean glass mayo jars, by caliber and weight, a quart is a hell of a lot of bullets
#36
I'm finding it harder to find quality 5.56 for my AR15. Cheap stuff is available but I don't want to fire any of that through my rifle. As for everything else I have, it's black powder and the price of that has skyrocketed as well.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/20/2007 18:31 Comments ||
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#37
I like the idea of equipping several Brigades of Liberals and transhipping them off to battle.
and We'll give them as few rounds as they, the experts, think they'll need.
Three additional men were sentenced to death on Thursday bringing to six the number condemned to hang for their involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings, Indias deadliest terror attack.
Justice Pramod Kode on Thursday handed death sentences to Asgar Mukadam, Shahnawaz Qureshi and Mohammed Ghansar all Muslims for planting several of the 13 bombs that ripped through Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing 257 people. More than 100 people were convicted of involvement in the plot, thought to be an act of revenge for the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid by Hindu nationalists in northern India in 1992. After the demolition, religious riots erupted, leaving more than 800 dead, most of them Muslims.
Kode has so far sentenced 84 people. On Wednesday, the first three death sentences were handed out. Fourteen men were given life sentences for their involvement and knowledge of the conspiracy, while 64 others received sentences from three to 10 years in prison.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Suicide bombers struck in the industrial town of Hub in Balochistan, and at a police training centre in Hangu and at a mosque in Kohat in NWFP, on Thursday, killing a total of 51 people and injuring several dozen others.
At least 29 people, including seven police officers, were killed and around 50 injured in a suicide attack at the Gadani Bus Stop in Hub at around 8:40am, police said. It was a suicide attack that was targeted at Chinese engineers working in Balochistan, Tariq Masood Khosa, Balochistans Inspector General of Police, told Daily Times. It is premature to say who masterminded the blast. One cant say if it was to avenge the military operation in Jamia Hafsa or was carried out by Baloch insurgents or Taliban elements. All options are under consideration.
Khosa said that the seven police officers had sacrificed their lives to save the engineers. As the vehicle carrying the engineers arrived, the suicide bomber tried to strike them but the police officers moved to stop the car from coming closer, he said. Hub police chief Ghulam Mohammed Thaib said 29 people were killed. Local police said that a 50-kilogram bomb had been fixed inside the car. Around 300 Chinese people are working on a lead and zinc project at Dhodar area in Lasbela district. They visit the site every Thursday ... they were the main target, said a resident.
The injured were shifted to Jinnah and Civil hospitals in Karachi while a state of emergency was declared at the local Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital. The whole town was cordoned off and all shops, institutions and offices were shut.
The blast also damaged 10 cars and temporarily disrupted the power supply to most of Hub. Two of the destroyed vehicles belonged to the Balochistan police while one of them was that of the Chinese engineers.
The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad instructed its citizens and companies operating in Pakistan to remain more cautious and refrain from going out unnecessarily after the Hub blast.
Police targeted in Hangu: At least seven people were killed and 35 injured when a suicide bomber set off his explosives-packed car at the Hangu Police Training College (PTC), police said. Police official Rehman Gul Khan said the suicide bomber wanted to take his car inside the PTC on the main Hangu-Kohat Road at around 7:30 am, while 500-600 police cadets were doing their routine morning parade. Gul Khan said the attacker, riding a Suzuki car, blew the vehicle up when police personnel deployed at the PTC gate tried to stop him. He said the explosion killed a police constable, along with five civilians, and injured around 35 people including seven policemen.
Hangu District Police Officer (DPO) Ghulam Mohammad told Daily Times that the explosives weighed around 40-50 kilograms and the blast was so powerful that it scattered parts of the car nearly 450 feet away from the scene. Kohat Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Zulfiqar Cheema told reporters that the suicide attack was a continuation of the ongoing terrorist activities across the country. He said the bomber was alone and coming from the Kohat side. He added that police had collected parts of the bombers body.
After the blast, the administration imposed an emergency in the Hangu tehsil headquarters hospital and the main Hangu road was blocked for hours.
Army mosque attacked in Kohat: At least 15 people, including a prayer leader and two children, were killed and many wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in the Pathan Lines Centre, Kohat Cantt, during Isha prayers, police said. Most of the victims were army officials. The injured were rushed to the Kohat Combined Military Hospital, where an emergency was declared. Indirectly these attacks are a backlash reaction against the Red Mosque, Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
TERRORIST 1: "Dead Chinese?"
TERRORIST 2: "Check!"
TERRORIST 1: "Dead police?"
TERRORIST 2: "Check!"
TERRORIST 1: "Dead military?"
TERRORIST 2: "Check!"
TERRORIST 1: "Well, I believe that about covers it. I don't think we left anybody out."
TERRORIST 2: "This attack is sure to get their notice!"
TERRORIST 1: "Hey! Who's knocking on the door?"
TERRORIST 2: "Are those footsteps I hear on the roof?"
#3
Because Chinese don't hire outside workers for their projects. They import all the workers from whatever province they come from. After all, local workers are lower than dogs - only Chinese people are civilized.
#5
The chinese are in Balochistan for two reasons. Firstly, they have funded the consruction of one of the world's largest port facilities in Gwadar, which will become a major strategic asset for them. The second reason is the large quantities of natural gas to be found under the province. It is perhaps interesting that there are Balochis in Pakistan who hate Musharraf, Balochis in Iran who hate Ahmedinejad and Balochis in Afghanistan who.... smuggle a lot of drugs. Now I doubt that anywould would be stupid enough to fund the Balochis in order to have a pop at the Iranians now, would they? What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
Ummm ... most definitely yes. Do a search on mianzi, the Chinese concept of face. Keep in mind thatjust like Islam but far worseChina is a high context culture where social status is of near-equal importance to personal wealth, if not directly equivalent to it. Chinese sensitivity to loss of face or humiliation makes radical Muslims look like easy-going layabouts. Their self-perception as being the Master Race would cause Adolph Hitler to blush with envy. I refer you to an article:
Affect and instrumentality are also intertwined in China's "national mianzi." To the individualistic Westerner, overseas Chinese often seem overly emotional about China's national dignity. Chinese student e-mail networks in 1996 America, for instance, were filled with passionate denunciations of Bob Costas for his comments, during NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremonies at the Atlanta Olympics, about Chinese swimmers' steroid use.(39) Even Berkeley's Lydia Liu, a respected academic, recently appeared highly irrational in labeling New York Times journalist Sheryl WuDunn a "racist" worse than nineteenth century missionaries for failing to "help" China.(40) Perhaps the most emotional of 1997's anti-American best sellers was The Plot to Demonize China. Filled with numerous ad hominem attacks on Americans seen as "enemies of China," it argues that the American media are conspiring with big business to make China look bad before the American people.
#11
OK, Zenster, this jibes with today's Reuters report about how China warns US against smear attacks on imports to which I snicker and say "if you can't stand the heat...". But it does seem that they are being overly sensitive to criticism and overly insensitive to the US media's constant demand for new scandals.
I doubt if the commie bosses are overly concerned about a few engineers. I could imagine their concern would be that Chinese engineers don't get the idea that working in Balochistan could be hazardous to their health. Then they would have to figure out how to get the engineers to go anyway, either with coercive measures or incentives or both.
The most humorous outcome of all would be for the PLA to get involved since the Pak army is obviously incapable of doing anything about it. Then you could say that someone in Balochistan really does have a tiger by the tail.
#12
#10 Or you could just say, Zenster, that---unlike the US leadership---the Chinese one has a perfect understanding of what Pakis are and that they can & cannot understand.
Coalition Forces captured a suspected terrorist with close ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) in a raid Thursday in Kharnabat near Baqubah.
No shots were fired when Coalition Forces conducted a raid to capture or kill a highly-sought operative with connections to senior leaders of the IRGC-QF. The captured terrorist is suspected of facilitating the transport of weapons and personnel from Iran into Iraq. The captured terrorist is also believed to have facilitated the flow of deadly Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs) into Iraq from Iran to be used against Coalition Forces.
During the raid, Coalition Forces confiscated a large sum of U.S. currency, weapons and photographs of juveniles with weapons. Gotcha, MoFo.
. . . Dont fall asleep, said the soldier next to me. When you see the rest of us grab our helmets, put yours on, too. Well be beginning the spiral dive into Baghdad.
To avoid flying low over hostiles? I said.
Something like that, he said.
This was not United Airlines.
The funny thing about the steep corkscrew dive is that I couldnt feel it. Anyone who says it is scary, as some journalists do, is talking b.s. If you cant look out the window or see the instruments in the cockpit, youll have no idea if the plane is right-side up, flying in a straight line, upside down, sideways, or even spinning into a death spiral. Im not sure how the others knew when to put on their helmets. Perhaps someone signaled. No one could hear anything over the roar of the plane through their ear plugs.
The landing was smooth and felt no different from an American Airlines touch down in Los Angeles. The back of the plane opened up onto the tarmac. Light like a hundred suns blinded my darkness-adjusted and dilated eyes. I could barely make out the dim shape of military aircraft behind us amidst the pure stunning brilliance. My first view of Baghdad looked exactly as I expected it would like another world.
We dismounted the plane and I stepped into harsh blazing sunshine.
You know how it feels when you get into a black car in the afternoon with the windows rolled up in July? Its an inferno outside, but inside the car its even hotter? Thats how Iraq feels in the shade. Sunlight burns like a blowtorch. If you dont wear a helmet or soft cap the sun will cook your brain. First you get headaches. Then you end up in the hospital.
Getting from BIAP to the IZ (the International Zone, aka the Green Zone) is an adventure all by itself. First you haul your gear to a bus stop that feels like Crematoria. Then you get on the bus and ride for 45 minutes to an army base. Then you get off that bus and wait an hour to catch another bus. Then you get off that bus and wait for an hour to catch yet another bus to yet another base. Then you wait in the sun yet again and by this time youre totally fragged from the heat and take another damn bus to a helipad. . . .
After the sun went down the air mercifully cooled, down to 100 degrees or so which is lovely after 120, especially when there is no longer burning sunlight. Tiny bats flew over the base from the direction of a reedy lake a few hundred meters away. There were no bugs.
I watched helicopters fly over the city in the distance and launch burning white countermeasure flares to confuse heat-seeking missiles as the pilots flew over hostile parts of the city. This was the only evidence I saw that I was in a war zone. I heard no shots fired, and I heard no explosions.
After having spent several days Baghdads Green Zone and Red Zone, I still havent heard or seen any explosions. Its a peculiar war. It is almost a not-war. Last Julys war in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon was hundreds of times more violent and terrifying than this one. Explosions on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border were constant when I was there.
Youd think explosions and gunfire define Iraq if you look at this country from far away on the news. They do not. The media is a total distortion machine. Certain areas are still extremely violent, but the country as a whole is defined by heat, not war, at least in the summer. It is Iraqs most singular characteristic. I dread going outside because its hot, not because Im afraid I will get hurt.
I read on the Internet that the war costs 60 billion dollars a year, Larry said.
Well, if its on the Internet it must be true, I said jokingly.
A soldier heard me and swiveled his head.
Did you just say that? he said incredulously. Youre with the media and you just said that? Man, we ought to throw your ass right out of here.
I laughed, but he was only barely just kidding.
Most soldiers and officers Ive casually met so far are not hostile. Most ignore me unless I say hi to them first. Others say hello or good morning first and call me sir. Some are eager to chat. They all seem to want to know where Im from. Lots of them are from Georgia and Texas. . . .
Baghdad is gigantic and sprawling. It looks much less ramshackle from the air than I expected. Individual cities-within-a-city are home to millions of people all by themselves. The sheer enormity of the place puts the almost daily car bomb attacks into perspective. The odds that you personally will be anywhere near the next car bomb or IED are microscopic. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
07/20/2007 11:14 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Wow! A real reporter who can write. I feel like I just spotted a wooly mammoth.
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 12:35 Comments ||
Top||
Iraqi and Coalition Forces continued operations in the eastern part of Baqouba, known as Old Baqouba, in renewed efforts during Operation Arrowhead Ripper July 18.
Throughout the day Soldier from the 5th Iraqi Army Division, along with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion made several arrests and discovered several weapons caches as they moved through the neighborhood.
In one incident, 5-20 IN Soldiers arrested a man suspected of being an improvised explosive device builder. A search of his home revealed various IED components and two other individuals were arrested at that location.
In another incident, two individuals were arrested after they were found to have al-Qaida propaganda materials in their possession.
While clearing the neighborhood, 5-20 IN Soldiers discovered multiple weapons caches containing AK-47 rifles, AK-47 magazines, and a rocket propelled grenade. The cache items were all confiscated.
Since the beginning of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, at least 67 al-Qaida operatives have been killed, 253 have been detained, 63 weapons caches have been discovered, 151 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 24 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers detained five suspected militia members during a combined operation with Iraqi Security Forces in central Baghdad July 17. Soldiers from Troop C, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, working with Iraqi troops from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division conducted searches of targeted homes in the central Baghdad Karkh District, detaining five suspected militia members.
(We believe) the targets had been involved in kidnapping, murder and attacks on Coalition Forces, said Capt. Courtney Dean, a platoon leader with Troop C. Dean said Coalition Forces had been targeting the individuals for some time. Recent tips from community residents gave the unit enough information to go after the militia members. Dean added that operations such as this are rare in the relatively safe area of Karkh. Not very often in Karkh do we do lethal targeting operations, he said. This was important.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Coalition Forces detained three suspected Special Groups terrorists during a raid before dawn on Thursday in al-Aamel.
No shots were fired when Coalition Forces conducted a precision raid to capture or kill Jaysh al Mahdi rogues known as Special Groups suspected of facilitating the flow of Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs) and other lethal aide into Iraq from Iran. These Special Groups terrorists are also suspected of killing Sunni Muslims, directing EFP attacks against Coalition Forces, conducting sniper attacks and promoting sectarian violence. It is believed that these terrorists received weapons, explosives and training from Iran.
During the raid, Coalition Forces confiscated pistols, military equipment, fake forms of identification and other questionable documents. Coalition troops continue to target the terrorists who bring EFPs and other lethal aid into Iraq, said Maj. Marc Young, MNF-I spokesperson. We remain committed to dismantling terror networks that seek to kill innocent Iraqis and Coalition Forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Denmark has secretly evacuated about 200 Iraqi civilians from southern Iraq under an asylum agreement offered to interpreters and aides who worked for Danish troops, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday. The last of three Danish military flights carrying the Iraqi aides and their families took off before dawn Friday from the southern city of Basra, ministry spokeswoman Jacob Winther told The Associated Press. The flights were kept secret because of fears that militants would try to attack the planes.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI)- A schism among Islamic militants has led to the creation of a new organisation in Iraq called the Furquan Army. According to the Arab television network, al-Jazeera, the new militant group was born after divisions recently emerged within the Islamic Army of Iraq.
Splitters!
The Islamic Army is a Muslim fundamentalist organisation allegedly linked to al-Qaeda. It was responsible for the execution Italian journalist, Enzo Baldoni, who was kidnapped near Najaf in 2004.
In a message distributed on Islamic internet sites, the new organisation accuses the directors of the Islamic Army of "having put aside Jihadist activities preferring to negotiate with Baghdad in order to participate in the political life of the country." The divisions did not stop the leaders of the Islamic Army from launching an intense armed conflict in recent months ended by the mediation of representatives from Ansar al-Sunna.
This article starring:
Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni
Ansar al-Sunna
Furquan Army
Islamic Army of Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So, do these guys have special badges or something ? Nobody wears uniforms. How are we going to know a Farquan from a Queerfawn ?
The Judea Military Court on Thursday sentenced Ashraf Hanaisha to life in prison after convicting him of the murder of Italian peace activist Angelo Frammartino, to life in prison. Hanaisha, a resident of the Jenin area who was affiliated with Islamic Jihad, confessed to stabbing 24-year-old Frammartino after mistaking him for an Israeli Jew.
The indictment filed against Hanaisha states that he decided to carry out the attack following the deaths of his cousins. On August 10 2006, he headed towards Jerusalem to realize his plan. After asking passersby to direct him to a Jewish area where he could find work, Hanaisha spotted Frammartino walking along Sultan Suleiman street with three Italian friends.
Hanaisha trailed the four and when they stopped near a bus station, he took out a knife from his pocket and began stabbing Frammartino in the back. The knife remained imbedded near Frammartino's right shoulder while Hanaisha fled the scene. Frammartino managed to remove the knife from his shoulder but then collapsed immediately afterwards and paramedics who arrived at the scene were unable to resuscitate him and he died of massive blood loss, just two short days before he was scheduled to return home. Hanaisha meanwhile had already boarded a bus to al-Ram, from there he took a taxi to Ramallah.
Frammartino, a law student from the town of Monte Rotondo, came to Israel earlier that month as a volunteer for ARCI, an organization promoting human rights. He worked to establish a summer camp for Palestinian children in the Old City in Jerusalem. "He was a golden guy," said a neighbor of Frammartino's parents, "he dealt with politics but he wasn't an extremist. He was just a pacifist."
In a letter sent by Frammartino to a local newspaper two months before his death, the young man wrote: "We must face the fact that a situation of no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we do not seek to avoid legitimate acts of defense. I never dreamed of condemning resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of the people who were under colonialist occupation or the blood of the young Palestinians from the first intifada," he said.
Brace yourself for a tsunami of silence from the UN, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders, and the devotees of St. Pancake.
#2
"We must face the fact that a situation of no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we do not seek to avoid legitimate acts of defense. I never dreamed of condemning resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of the people who were under colonialist occupation or the blood of the young Palestinians from the first intifada," he said.
Sounds cold, but I wonder what this kid was thinking as the life drained out of him?
A Roman Catholic priest kidnapped in the southern Philippines last month has been freed, Italian Premier Romano Prodi said yesterday.
Good.
The Rev. Giancarlo Bossi, a 57-year-old missionary from Milan, was on his way to a police station in the Philippines, Prodi announced to reporters outside his office last night. Father Giancarlo Bossi has been freed; a car is taking him toward a Philippine police station; Im truly emotional, happy, Prodi said. Today is his mothers birthday, so it was also a very lucky coincidence.
Bossis sister, Pinuccia Bossi, told Sky TG24 that she had just spoken to her brother. Hes good and hes coming home, she said.
Pope Benedict XVI said last week that he was praying daily for Bossi.
The release came as a surprise since officials in Italy and the Philippines had said as recently as last week that they did not even know who was behind the kidnapping. There was not even a hint from Philippine officials of Bossis fate yesterday. Bossi, a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), was taken at gunpoint on June 10 near his church in the coastal town of Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay province, after holding mass with his congregation.
Philippine authorities have tagged the gang of Akiddin Abdusallam, described as a rogue leader of the MILF, as the group that kidnapped Bossi, the third PIME member to be abducted in the southern Philippines in the last nine years. Immediately after the abduction, Philippine government forces teamed up with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in searching for the priest. But after weeks without any positive result, Prodi sent lawmaker Margherita Boniver as her special envoy to the Philippines to work for Bossis freedom.
Prolly with a suitcase or two of cash. But I'm glad the priest is okay.
Soon enough, gunmen made contact with PIME officials by sending pictures taken of the priest in captivity.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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The Lebanese army has taken over the headquarters of Fatah al Islam militants in the refugee camp of Nahr el Bared in northern Lebanon. This has reduced further the area of operations of Fatah Al Islam. The militants have been under tremendous pressure as the army continues to gain ground . This pressure has led the militants to fire several Katyusha rockets on civilians in northern Lebanon , in an act of desperation. 4 rockets landed in the village of Kaabareen and 2 in the village of Aarka.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(SomaliNet) A pickup truck belonging to the transitional government carrying soldiers hit a roadside bomb at the entrance of Afgoie town, 30km south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu wounding six soldiers on Thursday. Local witnesses told Somalinet that 
(AKI) - Six people were reported to have been killed in an attack by Islamic militants on a reconciliation conference in the Somalian capital Mogadishu on Thursday. 
Jordanian-trained doctor, 
A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass. Niranjana Besai was leaving her house at 88 Nelson Street, to go to work at just after 8 a.m. when she saw the launcher on her front lawn. She immediately called police.
Suicide bombers struck in the industrial town of Hub in Balochistan, and at a police training centre in Hangu and at a mosque in Kohat in NWFP, on Thursday, killing a total of 51 people and injuring several dozen others.
(AKI)- A schism among Islamic militants has led to the creation of a new organisation in Iraq called the 
The Lebanese army has taken over the headquarters of Fatah al Islam militants in the refugee camp of Nahr el Bared in northern Lebanon. This has reduced further the area of operations of Fatah Al Islam. The militants have been under tremendous pressure as the army continues to gain ground . This pressure has led the militants to fire several Katyusha rockets on civilians in northern Lebanon , in an act of desperation. 4 rockets landed in the village of Kaabareen and 2 in the village of Aarka.
