Officials in Afghanistan say they have proof that Iran is supplying weapons to Taliban insurgents.
For more than a year NATO and the US have been arguing that Tehran is supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan.
A cache of arms seized in a raid in western Afghanistan on Thursday included 60 Iranian-made mines, according to the local Governor.
The official went on to accuse the Iranian regime, saying it alone controlled the border.
The Afghan Government has not responded to the comments, but in the past it has dismissed the claim, saying there was no proof of complicity by Tehran.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan police tightened security in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday as officials searched for an American aid worker, her Afghan driver and their kidnappers. No group had yet claimed responsibility for seizing Cyd Mizell or the driver, Abdul Hadi. Gunmen kidnapped the two on Saturday in a residential neighborhood of Kandahar.
Mizell, who was wearing the all-encompassing burqa that many Afghan women wear when she was taken, works on aid projects for the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation. The director of Mizell's aid organization, Jeff Palmer, said the kidnappers hadn't contacted officials. "We are trying our best to find them," provincial Gov. Asadullah Khalid said.
Several foreignersincluding 23 South Koreans, two German construction workers and two Italian journalistshave been kidnapped in Afghanistan in the last year, but kidnappings of Americans are rare. An American civilian was briefly abducted in Kabul in April 2005 but escaped by throwing himself from a moving car.
Abdul Mahdi, the brother of Hadi, the driver, said his family was upset because the police still hadn't contacted them to ask questions. He described his brothera 35-year-old with five childrenas the "most trustworthy" driver the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation had. "All the children couldn't sleep last night after learning their father had been taken," Mahdi said. "And we are upset that the police haven't come to the house to ask us anything."
Mizell taught English at Kandahar University and gave embroidery lessons at a girl's school, and she speaks the local language, Pashtu, well, colleagues said. Palmer said she has worked for ARLDF on income- generating women's projects in Kandahar for the last three years.
Traveling around Kandahar city has turned increasingly dangerous in the last year, as the Taliban insurgency has spread throughout southern Afghanistan. Western civilians who operate there often travel with armed guards and extreme caution. The area is rife with Taliban militants and criminals linked to the country's booming opium poppy trade.
Kidnappings for ransom are an increasing problem in Afghanistan. Dozens of Afghans have been abducted in the last year, and heavy rumors persist nationwide of foreign governments paying large ransoms to win the freedom of their citizens. Two of the 23 South Koreans kidnapped in July were killed.
In violence, a soldier in NATO's International Security Assistance Force died after being hit by gunfire during a patrol in Nuristan province in eastern Afghanistan. Most soldiers in the east are American, though NATO didn't provide the soldier's nationality. In the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, two police were killed by a roadside bomb, said Haji Baran Khan, the Panjwayi district chief. Their police vehicle was destroyed, he said.
A convoy of the African Union peacekeepers in the Somalia capital Mogadishu has been targeted by roadside explosion on Saturday, witnesses said. The peacekeepers convoy was heading to the main Mogadishu airport when the explosion happened around former Afisyone military compound.
One of their military vehicles was destroyed by the bomb but I can not confirm the casualty on the soldiers that were riding on it, because the area was cordoned by the other peacekeepers, said Abdinasir Nor a local resident who witnessed the event.
Unconfirmed reports say the attacked troops sustained casualty as the car was ripped off by a remotely controlled bomb.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
(SomaliNet) A bomb exploded Saturday near the palace of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed in Mogadishu, killing three Somalis including a policeman, witnesses said, AFP reports. The explosion struck a police vehicle, killing the officer and two civilians who were walking nearby, said Farah Hasan Sahal, an eyewitness.
Also Saturday, a landmine hit an African Union (AU) peacekeepers convoy near the Mogadishu port in the south of the city. "We dont have details yet, but a landmine hit one of our vehicles near the sea port and some of our forces were injured," said Bahuko Baridgye, spokesman of the AU force. Baridgye told AFP that the injured soldiers were Ugandans, who alongside Burundian troops currently make up the AU force in Somalia which is ultimately to number around 8,000 soldiers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
At least nine people have been killed in western Kenya, reports say, in violence apparently linked to last month's disputed elections. The victims are said to have been beaten, hacked or burned to death by mobs in Naivasha.
The town is about 60km (37 miles) south of Nakuru, also the scene of recent inter-ethnic fighting.
Former UN chief Kofi Annan has been holding talks to try to end the month-long political deadlock in Kenya. He met opposition leader Raila Odinga in the capital, Nairobi, on Sunday, and called on the two rival parties to nominate officials for further talks.
Mr Annan visited the violence-racked Rift Valley on Saturday, and later said he had seen tragic, heart-wrenching scenes, and "gross and systematic abuse of human rights".
Mr Odinga accuses his rival, President Mwai Kibaki, of stealing December's presidential election.
Unrest has left at least 750 people dead and about a quarter of a million homeless.
Reports are unclear but at least nine people are said to have been hacked or clubbed to death as they tried to flee mobs with machetes. In some cases people were locked inside their homes, which the mobs then ignited with petrol. Police said they recovered several charred bodies.
Police tried to disperse youths blocking the main road by firing over their heads. By Sunday afternoon the town was reported to be much calmer.
The mobs appeared to from the Kikuyu tribe of President Kibaki, which bore the brunt of the violence that erupted after the election.
"We have moved out to revenge the deaths of our brothers and sisters who have been killed, and nothing will stop us," said Anthony Mwangi, hefting a club in Naivasha. "For every one Kikuyu killed, we shall avenge their killing with three."
Some of those fleeing the violence have taken shelter in some of the horticultural farms around Naivasha, on the main road between Nakuru and Nairobi, our correspondent says.
The area's huge horticulture and flower-growing industry employs more than 20,000 people, and supplies a third of Europe's cut flowers.
Further north, Kenya's fourth biggest city Nakuru has also been the scene of deadly violence between rival Luo and Kikuyu communities.
Dozens of people are feared to have died since Thursday and scores of people were injured in clashes between fighters armed with machetes, spears and bows and arrows.
An Islamist cleric who has defended suicide bombings and the execution of homosexuals is to be allowed to enter the UK, sparking a major row between government departments. The Observer understands that senior civil servants in the Home Office and Foreign Office have recommended that ministers approve an application by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is banned from entering the United States, to come to London for medical treatment.
This is not the first time Qaradawi's close relationship with Britain has attracted controversy. Two years ago the government paid for him and his wife to fly from his home in Qatar to Istanbul for a conference. In 2004 the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, invited Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, to the capital. The move provoked widespread protests from Jewish groups and gay rights organisations. There you have it, Jews and gays rank below muzzie terrorists in the uk
This article starring:
Ken Livingstone
Posted by: Icerigger ||
01/27/2008 09:05 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
#1
There you have it, Jews and gays rank below muzzie terrorists in the uk
#3
at least the jewish, gay and women's groups are complaining. I wish they would get their acts together here. But they sold their souls long ago to gain power and goodies from the democratic party.
#4
Perhaps it will slip out during the blood workup that Ole Qar has Ovine AIDS.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2008 11:44 Comments ||
Top||
#5
The head of the Republican Party is Jewish, the Log Cabin Republicans are quite active, and there are a great many women working at all levels of the Republican Party. Just because the noisy cause-junkies cleave to the Democrats does not mean they actually own the categories, Punky Omeagum5537.
#6
Good heavens get a grip. It's a different culture and it's difficult for us to understand the many frictions a tribal community is subject too.
The UK? Wut? Get the guns Malcolm!
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/27/2008 14:38 Comments ||
Top||
#7
yes, trailing wife. But the ones on the Republican side aren't selling their souls to get the power and free goodies. In fact, they often face prejudice within their own groups for working with the GOP to achieve positive political goals.
The noisy, cause junkies may not own the democratic party but they have great influence and do great harm to their own causes overall. I could give a million examples, but I doubt you need me to in order to make my point.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Wednesday it has started deploying extra troops in Kosovo as the province's ethnic Albanian leaders move to declare independence from Serbia.
This means we can remove the American forces, right?
The Italian battalion of 560 soldiers had "started its deployment" for a mission that would run for a month until early March, a spokesman for the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force, Bertrand Bonneau, told reporters.
Leaders of Kosovo's 90% Albanian population are expected to unilaterally declare independence in the coming weeks after negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the province's future status failed. Such a move is likely to be backed by the U.S. and a number of European countries, but faces strong opposition from Serbia and its ally Russia.
Some observers believe the additional troops were sent in because of fears of violence.
Bonneau said the mission was made up of regulars who would "operate and train in Kosovo as part of routine operations" but it also served to "demonstrate NATO's ability to reinforce in-theater NATO forces at very short notice."
Separately, Kosovo's police force confirmed Wednesday it has prepared a special plan for the day when Kosovo is expected to declare independence. "The code name of the operation plan is 'Status'," police spokesman Veton Elshani told reporters. "The main goal of the plan is protection of life and property of the citizens as well as of public order and peace," he said, refusing to disclose further details.
Kosovo newspapers said the plan envisages an increased police presence at Serb-populated enclaves. "This plan has been prepared by the police and it is not military. KFOR surely has its own plans," they quoted senior police official Reshat Maliqi as saying.
#1
A victory for Western backed "ethnic" cleansing of Christians to sit alongside the Western-backed Judenfrei territories of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran... We have been fighting a reverse-Crusade for a hundred years.
#2
"The code name of the operation plan is 'Status',"
How fitting. The Euros are definitely into maintaining status. Meanwhile in the 'chaos' of Iraq, we've had how many elections, seated a national government, provided a route for confrontational ethnic groups to cooperate, jump started a growing economy,...
#5
Well Europe will just pay more for Russian oil and natural gas.The US has already one of its largest military bases in the world in Kosovo,.....Camp Bondsteel http://kosova.org/kfor/bondsteel/index.asp
The top two U.S. intelligence officials made a secret visit to Pakistan in early January to seek permission from President Pervez Musharraf for greater involvement of American forces in trying to ferret out al-Qaida and other militant groups active in the tribal regions along the Afghanistan border, a senior U.S. official said.
But it was secret, so don't tell nobody, okay?
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity given the secret nature of the talks, declined to disclose what was said, but Musharraf was quoted two days after the Jan. 9 meeting as saying U.S. troops would be regarded as invaders if they crossed into Pakistan to hunt al-Qaida militants.
#1
Just by coincidence, Pakis are regarded as invaders in Afghanistan. Sauce for the goose is sause for the gander.
Posted by: ed ||
01/27/2008 11:52 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Perv continues to prove that he's not a friend of the US, yet we continue to back him because what takes his place is expected to be even more unfrieldly. Just another reason for Pakistan to cease to exist.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/27/2008 12:14 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Musharraf was quoted two days after the Jan. 9 meeting as saying U.S. troops would be regarded as invaders if they crossed into Pakistan to hunt al-Qaida militants.
Perv and the ISI will keep Osama and al-Qaeda-Wazoo as a hole card for as long as he/they can serve their interests... Perv, "give us a problem and we'll give Osama a special device"... [but of course Perv couches his lecture so that the listener imagines where the device will be used] ....America.
Pakistan on Wednesday warned against any strike by foreign troops on al-Qaeda militants on its soil, saying that it would be treated like an enemy act.
If anyone takes action it would be seen as an enemy act and treated like this, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told reporters here.
His remarks came days after President Pervez Musharraf said in a media interview that no unauthorised operation would be allowed in the Pakistani territory by the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Carefully note the wording .. NO UNAUTHORISED operation would be allowed. Authorised operations would be an completely different kettle of fish.
KOHAT, Pakistan (Rooters) - Pakistani troops, backed by helicopter gunships, are battling pro-Taliban militants to recapture a key road tunnel leading to the volatile tribal belt on the Afghan border, the military said on Sunday. Militants captured the Japanese-built tunnel on the main road link between Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province, and the tribal belt during fighting near Darra Adam Kheil tribal region on Saturday.
The clashes erupted on Friday after militants seized four trucks carrying ammunition and other supplies for the troops. Around 45 militants and two soldiers have been killed in the clashes.
The military said troops had captured some heights in the nearby areas and were trying to wrest control of the tunnel. "The militants are still in control of the tunnel and surrounding heights," military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said. "The operation is underway to recapture the tunnel and clear the area of militants. Helicopters are also being used in the operation."
Residents said army helicopter gunships were pounding militants positions in the hills.
Abbas said militants had suffered more casualties during the latest fighting but could not give details.
Analysts said fighting in Darra Adam Kheil on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Peshawar, posed a new challenge to President Pervez Musharraf, a staunch ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
Troops are already battling militants loyal to a Taliban commander, Baitallah Mehsud, in South Waziristan tribal region, a sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants. The government says Mehsud is linked to the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and bomb attack last month.
"Militants' action in Darra Adam Kheil shows that they want to open new fronts to put pressure on the army and to ease pressure on Baitullah Mehsud," Rahimullah Yusufzai, a newspaper editor and expert on tribal areas.
Mehsud, who has also been blamed for a string of suicide bomb attacks, ordered his fellow Taliban commanders on Friday to step up attacks on Pakistani security forces, according to a spokesman for the militant commander.
Known as haven for smugglers, the small dusty town of Darra Adam Kheil until recently had been relatively free of the militant violence. But the militants intensified their activities in the town in recent months with attacks on music shops, and an intelligence agent was killed there last year.
In South Waziristan, the military said troops had launched a mop up operation after driving out militants from several areas. Around 150 militants and more than 20 government soldiers have been killed in South Waziristan in week-long clashes with Mehsud fighters.
The top two American intelligence officials traveled secretly to Pakistan early this month to press President Pervez Musharraf to allow the Central Intelligence Agency greater latitude to operate in the tribal territories where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups are all active, according to several officials who have been briefed on the visit. But in the unannounced meetings on Jan. 9 with the two American officials Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director Mr. Musharraf rebuffed proposals to expand any American combat presence in Pakistan, either through unilateral covert C.I.A. missions or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces.
Instead, Pakistan and the United States are discussing a series of other joint efforts, including increasing the number and scope of missions by armed Predator surveillance aircraft over the tribal areas, and identifying ways that the United States can speed information about people suspected of being militants to Pakistani security forces, officials said.
The Jan. 9 meetings, the first visit with Mr. Musharraf by senior administration officials since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, also included the new army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the director of Pakistans leading military intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Nadeem Taj. American officials said the visit was prompted by an increasing sense of urgency at the highest levels of the United States government that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying efforts to destabilize the Pakistani government.
Pakistani authorities, in interviews, say they have more than 100,000 troops operating in the region, including a sizable force conducting what they said was a major offensive in South Waziristan. But in the White House, the Pentagon and the C.I.A., frustrations remain high, and there is concern that Mr. Musharrafs political problems will distract him from what the administration regards as its last chance to take aggressive action.
Accounts of the discussions between Mr. Musharraf and the intelligence officials were provided by American and Pakistani officials over the past two weeks after The New York Times inquired about the secret trip. While officials confirmed some details of the discussion, much remains unknown about the continuing dialogue between Islamabad and Washington.
The trip by Mr. McConnell and General Hayden, a 14,000-mile over-and-back visit for one day of discussions, occurred just five days after senior administration officials debated new strategies for dealing with Pakistan. No decisions were made at that meeting of the National Security Council, which gathered all of Mr. Bushs top national security officials but not the president.
In the ensuing three weeks, however, the debate appeared to be intensifying, as senior American officials said they believed that American forces whether as combat troops or trainers could enhance the efforts of Pakistans military in the mountainous and lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The purpose of the mission, a senior official said, was to convince Musharraf that time is ticking away, and that the increased attacks on Pakistan would ultimately undermine his effort to stay in office.
The C.I.A. operatives in Afghanistan and the covert Special Operations forces there have made little secret of their desire to move into the tribal areas with or without Mr. Musharrafs explicit approval. In the administration, there has been discussion of whether Mr. Bush should give orders to allow them more latitude. Mr. Musharraf has explicitly rejected that, and within days after Mr. McConnell and General Haydens departure, he told a Singapore newspaper that any unilateral action by the United States would be regarded as an invasion. In Davos, he dismissed the idea that Americans could be effective in the tribal areas.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/27/2008 06:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
he told a Singapore newspaper that any unilateral action by the United States would be regarded as an invasion.
#3
The C.I.A. operatives in Afghanistan and the covert Special Operations forces there have made little secret of their desire to move into the tribal areas with or without Mr. Musharrafs explicit approval.
#6
Why don't we just gatecrash Wakiland, grab the damned nukes, and throw Perv to the dogs? No nukes = no need to concern ourselves with those skidmarks ever again.
#7
perv does not want cia to find out the reality on the ground that isi train/host most of the taleban especially in quetta
Posted by: Paul ||
01/27/2008 12:32 Comments ||
Top||
#8
No nukes = no need to concern ourselves with those skidmarks ever again.
I wish it were that easy, Bigjim. The problem is, Pakistan is the source of 90% of the cannon fodder in the "War on Terror". It's also a center for the movement of funds, a source of top-notch phony credentials, and a haven for people like Zawahiri and bin Laden. If we're going to be in Afghanistan for the next 20-30 years (a very real possibility, with the stupid way we're fighting), we need better supply lines. Pakiwakiland needs to cease to exist. Utterly destroying Pakistan would serve many functions: it would remove a source of manpower and training; it would remove one set of Islamic nukes from the battlefield; it would secure one set of supply lines for US Forces; it would reunite the Pashtuns into a single country (which would remove most of the reasons for the tribal clashes); and it would solve most of India's problems with its internal muslim population and reunite Jammu & Kashmir - under Indian control. That would allow India to free up several million troops to confront China and Chinese-backed "insurgent" groups. The only losers would be the Pakistani political and religious class, which needs to be slammed up the side of the head with a metal cluebat anyway. It would also put the rest of the world on notice that we will NOT continue to support a status-quo that kills our people - something the Islamists really need to learn.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/27/2008 13:45 Comments ||
Top||
The US military in Afghanistan said on Saturday that a Taliban-linked militant leader wanted by Washington had been killed in Pakistan. Darim Sedgai was ambushed by unknown gunmen on January 16 and died of his wounds, the military said in a statement.
The military described him as a powerful commander linked to a top Taliban leader, Siraj Haqqani, but did not provide any further details of the incident. The US military here reportedly announced a $50,000 bounty for Sedgai in October last year, saying he was wanted for his ties to Taliban and Al Qaeda militant groups. Sedgai was the third rebel commander in Haqqanis network to die in recent months, the statement said.
Haqqani, the son of famous anti-Russian commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, joined the Taliban during their advance towards Kabul in 1996 and is their top commander in eastern Afghanistan. He has a 200,000 dollar bounty on his head.
Afghan and Western officials say Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked rebels have bases in the rugged Pakistani Tribal Areas along the border. Pakistani troops are battling rebels along the frontier and have launched a major operation in the tribal stronghold of an Al Qaeda-linked militant blamed for the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.
This article starring:
DARIM SEDGAI
Taliban
JALALUDIN HAQQANI
Taliban
SIRAJ HAQQANI
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2008 01:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Unknown gunmen huh? I dont suppose there is any connection with the article above about the intentions of US Special Ops and the unknown gunmen.
Key Taliban commander Qari Hussain is believed to have been killed in a military operation in South Waziristan, official sources told Daily Times on Saturday. There were reports that Hussain was among other Taliban militants killed in a strike in the Spinkai Raghzai area on Saturday, the officials said. They, however, said the report was yet to be confirmed.
Hussain headed the Taliban section involved in the beheading of rivals. He was also involved in the attack on a top agency officials house in the Tribal Areas last year. The sources said Hussain and the Taliban had possibly been killed in a missile attack, adding the commander was present in the area during a strike. They added that the bodies of those perished in the strike had been mutilated beyond recognition.
This article starring:
QARI HUSEIN
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2008 01:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
They added that the bodies of those perished in the strike had been mutilated beyond recognition. daud khattak
"missle strike", ie. 'Hellfire in the Back' [hey Talibs you can't outrun our missles!]
or
"GAU 30 Mike Mike" ie. 'and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty Hussain back together again'.
An Afghan national was killed for spying in Mohmand Agency, residents said on Saturday. His body was found in the Ata Bazaar area of Tehsil Upper Sub Division Khwezai, some 30 kilometres west of Ghalanai, headquarters of the agency. The residents said they found a piece of paper pinned on the body, reading that the man had been punished for spying for the Americans. It said his name was Said Rehman and he was a resident of the Kunar province in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2008 01:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Another taxi driver?
Those guys are getting a little paranoid these days.
Security forces arrested two suspected militants from Matta tehsil and the Charbagh area in Swat on Saturday, sources told Daily Times. The troops also pounded suspected Taliban positions in the Malam Jabba area following information that militants were hiding there. In Matta tehsil, security forces detained members of a family. They are believed to be involved in an attack on ANP leader Ayub Khan. In Charbagh, the troops arrested a man, Muhammad Rahman, who was allegedly providing transport facilities to militants. There was a relaxation in the curfew from 6am till 7pm on Saturday.
This article starring:
Ayub Khan
MUHAMAD RAHMAN
TNSM
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2008 01:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
SPINA THANA: Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Saturday that the Kohat Tunnel was in the control of militants. Reports, however, said the tunnel also known as the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel was only attacked and damaged by militants. The extent of damage to the tunnel was, however, not clear. Security experts feared the Taliban could blow up the tunnel, and with the tunnel under their control, Peshawar is disconnected from southern districts and traffic is being diverted via Rawalpindi.
Operation planned: Abbas said security forces were progressing and operation for the control of the tunnel would be launched any time soon. Also on Saturday, gunship helicopters took to the sky to pound suspected Taliban positions in the mountains near Darra Adam Khel and Kohat district, eyewitnesses and the military spokesman said. Security officials said the militants had taken position at hilltops overlooking Darra and Kohat and were using long-range rockets to target civilians in Kohat city.
20 militants killed: A political administration official, asking not to be named, told Daily Times that around 20 militants were killed in Saturdays clash. Abdullah Halafi, a self-proclaimed spokesman for a Taliban group, phoned the Daily Times office in Peshawar and said the militants would launch attacks on government forces in the Khyber Agency if attacks on their comrades in Darra did not stop.
Convoy escapes blast: Meanwhile, a convoy of army vehicles escaped casualties when a remote-controlled bomb went off in the Badabher area near Peshawar, eyewitnesses said, adding the soldiers opened fire seconds after the blast and blocked the highway for a few hours. People were seen fleeing the Darra area as military action there continued for the second consecutive day.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
This would be the Taliban spring offensive, then? Aimed southeast instead of northwest?
#2
also known as the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel
Can they say that? Seems less than sensitive to our Urdu speaking friends across mighty big water.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/27/2008 8:43 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The mighty Pak army must be the most inept, incompetent force in the world. When they arent retreating from militant advances, they are getting captured by the busload.
I've uploaded this from Iraq Body Count. I don't trust their numbers completely, and I certainly don't trust their agenda, but lots of people do use their information in various debates. So here's a graph that might be useful in your own debates/discussions.
Reminder: the surge strategy as implemented by our forces started around February, 2007, and wasn't fully effective and deployed until June. The deaths count all sources of violence, be it Sunni or Shi'a, al-Qaeda or gang violence.
If present trends continue civilian deaths due to violence could be ~10,000 for 2008, well under the 22,58624,159 civilian deaths estimated for the past year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Peak Deth! Peak Deth!
/Huberts curve is the answer to whatever question you have and the answer is always the end of the world as we know it.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/27/2008 8:46 Comments ||
Top||
#2
they should make 2 separate charts. 1 for the number of deaths the US has caused personally 2 the other for deaths caused by the insurgent groups or gunfire from wedding celebrations
More than three attacks on Jews in the Jerusalem region took place over the weekend. Among them, a Border Police officer was stabbed and a yeshiva student assaulted by Arabs.
The Border Police officer was riding in the passenger seat of a patrol jeep, guarding the Atarot Industrial Zone in northern Jerusalem, when he confronted a suspicious Arab man approaching the security fence. He asked the man for his identity papers, but the man instead pulled out a knife, opened the door of the officers jeep and stabbed him in the neck and back. The Arab man then tried to stab a female Border Police officer who was in the back of the jeep and a scuffle ensued. The driver managed to shoot the attacker in the leg and prevent any further injuries. The terrorist and the officer were both treated at Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital.
Saturday night, four member of a Jewish family were wounded by Arabs who threw rocks at their car near the town of Beit Oumar, along the Jerusalem-Hevron Highway.
The terrorists killed while carrying out the Thursday evening attack on Yeshivat Mekor Chayim in Kfar Etzion were both from Beit Oumar. They had been recently released from prison after serving time for membership in a terrorist group and trying to steal guns from an army base.
In another attack Thursday night, two Border Police officers were shot near the northern entrance of the Shuafat neighborhood of Jerusalem by Fatah terrorists. One, Cpl. Rami Zoari, was killed and the other, Shoshana Samandoyev, remains hospitalized. Zoari was laid to rest at the IDF cemetery in Beer Sheva
On Friday, Hatzolah Israel reported that three Arabs in a car attacked a teenage yeshiva student in Jerusalems Sanhedria neighborhood. The Arab stopped their car near the student and jumped out, bludgeoned him in the head and fled. He was transported to the hospital for treatment and is in stable condition.
Border Police guarding the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron Saturday caught an Arab man planning to carry out a knife attack. They confiscated the weapon and arrested the man.
A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed and at least 10 were wounded by IDF troops in the West Bank village of Beit Ummar, Palestinian sources said on Friday.
Eyewitnesses said that the Palestinian youth was hit after IDF troops opened fire at village residents who were hurling stones at the forces and Israeli vehicles.
Young, angry, stoopid, throwing stones at guys with rifles.
The IDF said that clashes occurred during searches in the village, which were being conducted as a follow up to Thursday's terrorist attack in a high school in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion. Palestinian sources said that IDF troops entered the village in order to conduct searches in terrorists' homes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
More, more, throw anything at the army, DIE.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/27/2008 1:26 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Why the hell should the IDF take a chance that one of those "rocks" wasn't a hand grenade. Good for them.
#3
also i don't blame them. I think david kiled goliath with a stone. also in the US throwing a rock at someone would be folowed up with assault and battery with intent too maim or kill
#4
They should kill enough Paleos that Paleo kids learn the lesson: throw a stone at Israeli soldiers and you die in a hailstorm of lead. If getting that lesson across takes killing them all, so be it. Dead Paleos, especially Gaza ones, are a net gain.
#5
Mexicans on their side of the fence play the same game - I'm inclined to support sniper fire back at the rockthrowers. F*ckers have hurt BP agents before and will kill one with a rock someday.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/27/2008 18:04 Comments ||
Top||
The Israeli Air Force killed four Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip. Two Hamas men were killed as they drove near the shattered border fence with Egypt and two more were killed while driving in Rafah town, Palestinian security officials said.
Car swarm!
According to Palestinian sources quoted by Israel Radio, one of those killed was the commander of the Hamas military wing in Rafah.
Excellent!
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
RAFAH, Egypt - Supplies began running out in Egyptian border towns Saturday after a four-day rush by hundreds of thousands of Gazans across the breached frontier, sparking fistfights and sky-rocketing prices.
With the flow of goods and people continuing unabated despite a half-hearted attempt by Egyptian security forces to restore order on Friday, local governor Ahmed Abdel-Hamid vowed to help the Palestinians to buy what they needed. Palestinians will continue to cross until they get all their needs of commodities and foodstuffs in response to an Israeli lockdown on the impoverished territory, he said.
Excellent! Make the border opening pemanent. Better yet, let the Paleos move into the Sinai permanently. The Republic of Northern Sinai, a 20 km strip of sand from Rafah to the Suez, now that has a ring to it ...
Abdel-Hamid said he was coordinating with the social solidarity and industry ministries to secure large amounts of commodities and products to meet the needs of the Palestinians in the country because many shops had run out.
Fighting erupted at a petrol station on the Egyptian side of the border town of Rafah as stocks ran out, and one petrol attendant was hospitalised after a brawl with Palestinians and Egyptians desperate for fuel. The petrol station owner refused to sell any more fuel, one of the most popular commodities to take back into the Gaza Strip, until security forces arrived calm the situation. Many of the cars waiting to fill up with petrol, now double the cost of three days ago when militants blew up the border fence, had Palestinian licence plates.
Let's see, a little Econ 101 here, more money chasing fewer goods ...
Despite the governors claims to be sending fresh supplies, retired Egyptian army officer Samir Mohammed Hassan said the authorities were blocking trucks. We Egyptians in El-Arish cannot find anything any more because the Egyptian authorities have apparently given the order to stop all merchandise from getting through, said Hassan. Were not unhappy that theyre here, quite the opposite. But we also want to live and buy things at a normal price because the shopkeepers make no difference between Egyptians and Palestinians and sell their products at inflated prices.
"We like our Arab cousins! We just wish they'd go home. Today."
Building materials supplier Mohammed Al Sutari complained that the cost of cement had skyrocketed from 220 Egyptian pounds a tonne (36 dollars) to 300 dollars-adding that the same product can be sold in Gaza for 500 dollars. The taxi that we took before from Rafah to El-Arish (45 kilometres, 30 miles away) used to cost three pounds and now its 150, he said. We are stuck between the Israeli blockade at home and overblown prices in Egypt. Where are the Arab countries that should have sent food aid immediately as soon as they heard the border was open?
They're letting you Egyptians be the suckers this time ...
Hanan Abu Zeid has spent 500 dollars in two days only on staples, which will barely last a month, she said, adding that a used sheep that cost 100 dollars on Wednesday now costs 250.
Egyptian shopkeeper Sahar said that wholesalers in Ismailiya, 225 kilometres (140 miles) away, have raised the prices, not traders in Rafah. A box of potato crisps that cost 20 Egyptian pounds on Thursday now costs 30.
Palestinians said that prices in Gaza itself were now almost back to normal, with a carton of cigarettes down from a high of 42 shekels during the Israeli lockdown now costing 10 shekels-the same as before Hamas took over in June. The shops here arent helping us. Lots of them are exploiting us. Cheese that I bought for 50 Egyptian pounds a kilo on the first day (Wednesday) now costs 70, said Nahla Abdel Aal, a 43-year-old mother of nine. The prices are nearly the same as in Gaza.
Try the Kroger in Mauritania ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
A woman and a man were killed and other woman injured in two separate drive-by shootings in this southern border province Sunday.
In the first shooting, Kamala Sepohma, 41, was killed and Naruemol Yimine, 33, was severely injured when the two were riding their motorcycle on the Pattani - Yala Road in Yarang district at 1:30 pm.
The second shooting occurred at 2 pm on a road in Panare district. Abdulloh Jewae, 35, was killed while riding his motorcycle with his trained monkey. The monkey, trained to collect coconuts, waited near by the body of its master after the shooting.
Two terrorists insurgents were killed during a clash with soldiers who launched a raid in Thailand's southernmost province of Narathiwat Sunday morning, local radio reported.
About 200 soldiers surrounded a village in Narathiwat's Ruso district and launched a manhunt raid since early Sunday morning. A group of terrorists insurgents hidden inside the village exchanged fire with the military men. Two terrorists insurgents were killed on the spot, local radio Chosoiroi reported. By press time, the clash is still going on in the district.
Fighting across Sri Lankas north has left at least 31 people dead, nearly all of them Tamil Tiger rebels, the islands military said Saturday. The defence ministry said at least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier were killed in the fresh wave of fighting on Friday, although the pro-rebel website Tamilnet.com said three government soldiers and two guerrillas died. The fighting took place in Mannar in the northwest, the website said.
Since the start of this month, the Sri Lankan government has said it has killed 666 rebels for the loss of 27 of its soldiers. At least 63 civilians had also been killed, according defence ministry figures. Both sides give wildly varying casualty figures which cannot be independently verified as the government bars journalists from visiting frontline areas and rebel-held territory. The government also pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire this month, leading to the departure of Nordic monitoring teams.
Meanwhile doctors in Anuradhapura district, 206 kilometres (130 miles) north of the capital Colombo, were expected to conduct autopsies on 16 bodies found in shallow graves on Thursday. The victims had apparently been blindfolded, bound and shot - the latest casualties of an increasingly dirty war in which both sides are accused of murdering civilians. A spokesman at Anuradhapura Hospital said the autopsies were scheduled for Saturday, with officials hoping to identify the victims and the circumstances of their deaths. The victims were wearing civilian clothes and appeared to be aged between 25 and 40, said a senior police officer in the area, who declined to be named. He said additional police and military personnel had been deployed in the area following the incident.
Ex-warlord jailed in Britain: Sri Lankas government on Saturday declined to comment on the jailing in Britain of a renegade warlord on immigration charges after he was allegedly given a false passport by Colombo. Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court in London on Friday to nine months behind bars. A senior Sri Lankan official said the Colombo government - alleged to have used Karuna as a proxy after he defected from the Tamil Tigers - was awaiting details of the court hearing before making any comment. Karuna had told British immigration authorities that Sri Lankas powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, arranged everything for him to come to Britain using a diplomatic passport with a false name, the BBC reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2008 01:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan police tightened security in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday as officials searched for an American aid worker, her Afghan driver and their kidnappers. No group had yet claimed responsibility for seizing 
An Islamist cleric who has defended suicide bombings and the execution of homosexuals is to be allowed to enter the UK, sparking a major row between government departments. The Observer understands that senior civil servants in the Home Office and Foreign Office have recommended that ministers approve an application by 
The top two U.S. intelligence officials made a secret visit to Pakistan in early January to seek permission from President Pervez Musharraf for greater involvement of American forces in trying to ferret out al-Qaida and other militant groups active in the tribal regions along the Afghanistan border, a senior U.S. official said. 
The US military in Afghanistan said on Saturday that a Taliban-linked militant leader wanted by Washington had been killed in Pakistan. 
Key Taliban commander 
Security forces arrested two suspected militants from Matta tehsil and the Charbagh area in Swat on Saturday, sources told Daily Times. The troops also pounded suspected Taliban positions in the Malam Jabba area following information that militants were hiding there. In Matta tehsil, security forces detained members of a family. They are believed to be involved in an attack on ANP leader 
SPINA THANA: Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Saturday that the Kohat Tunnel was in the control of militants. Reports, however, said the tunnel also known as the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel was only attacked and damaged by militants. The extent of damage to the tunnel was, however, not clear. Security experts feared the Taliban could blow up the tunnel, and with the tunnel under their control, Peshawar is disconnected from southern districts and traffic is being diverted via Rawalpindi.
A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed and at least 10 were wounded by IDF troops in the West Bank village of Beit Ummar, Palestinian sources said on Friday.
The Israeli Air Force killed four Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip. Two Hamas men were killed as they drove near the shattered border fence with Egypt and two more were killed while driving in Rafah town, Palestinian security officials said.
RAFAH, Egypt - Supplies began running out in Egyptian border towns Saturday after a four-day rush by hundreds of thousands of Gazans across the breached frontier, sparking fistfights and sky-rocketing prices.
