HELMAND PROVICE, Afghanistan t's the middle of the night at the east corner guard post of Fiddler's Green, a Marine fire base in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, along the border with Pakistan.
Corporal Ryan Joseph Bernal is on perimeter security duty.
Armed with an M-4, night vision binoculars and an array of high-powered automatic weaponry, the 22-year-old U.S. Marine and several others keep watch for activity just outside the concertina wire, which conveys the powerful message DO NOT ENTER in a universal language Marines, civilians and the Taliban all understand.
Behind the sentries are the 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, out of 29 Palms, California. They are relatively safe, and mostly sleeping.
As the American military's summer offensive into Taliban territory gains strength, the number of U.S. soldiers who have been wounded or killed in action has increased. But just as disturbing for these Marines is a new concern: the recent security breach in the area that led to the kidnapping of an American soldier.
"Being taken hostage is not an option," says Bernal.
A tiny red flare warns potential intruders not to approach but it's the figures you can't see who pose the greatest threat to Fiddlers Green, located at what commanders call a chokepoint to Taliban activity.
Yesterday, an IED was found on Route 605, a main supply route not far from the entrance to the base.
But despite the recent spate of American deaths, the Taliban kidnapping of a soldier in the Northeast and the many local opportunities for danger, the 3/ll Marines remain calm.
Im confident the Marines have my back, says Sgt. Scott Whittington, a combat correspondent who routinely ventures outside the wire to capture images of Marines in different war zones. Like many of his fellow Marines, Whittington has combat experience in Iraq and a calm confidence that comes with having been in similar situations.
But Afghanistan is no Iraq.
Bernal is the first line of defense on a barebones base where many Marines are sleeping in hand-dug pits to avoid being wounded by indirect fire. He puts his trust in his unit, and in its mission, which is to secure and hold strategic ground. "I have total faith in our commander," he says.
One hundred percent accountability is key, Captain Chad Altheiser, commanding officer of Battery I, told FOXNews.com. He has never been to Afghanistan, but he has completed two tours in Iraq. The experience shows.
We keep security tight here at the camp, says Altheiser, whose focus on personal safety is only partly explained by the fact that he is expecting a newborn son within days.
Throughout Afghanistan, troops have been killed in action, but that hasnt been a major concern. News doesn't reach Fiddler's Green 24/7, and because of a lack of Internet and phones, most of the 3/11 Marines are using pen and paper to send letters to loved ones back home.
No media out here, not sure whats really going on out there, Corporal Tyler Ledbetter told FOXNews.com.
Ledbetter, who is three months into a 7-month tour in Afghanistan, refused to comment on the possibility of abduction, but was quick to explain why the rising death toll did not faze him.
Were the best trained fighting force in the world, he said.
Throughout the day, redundant checks are designed to account for Marines. Accountability. Eyes on every Marine, pre-combat checks, pre-combat inspections, said battalion commander Lt. Chris Lewis. Physical and visual accountability, nothing less."
The battle-hardened command is much more stoic than the younger grunts with guns at the gate.
Personally I have no fear of being kidnapped. Accountability is very strong for the Marines, said Sgt. Christopher Rye, a 26-year old Marine combat camera photographer.
In the Combat Operations Center, one of the few areas with electricity and some climate control, Battalion Adjutant 1st Lt. Adam McLaurin is brief and blunt. Im not focused on casualties, says the Gainesville, Fla., native, who is on his first deployment.
#1
In that is probably easier to kidnap a really pissed off wolverine than a Marine, some confidence is warranted. However, hopefully the Marines will set up some observation towers as were used to great effect in Iraq.
[Quqnoos] Elections campaign process is hampered in Balkh province as unknown people tear down posters of Afghan hopefuls.
The evolutionary step between shooting people/blowing up things and actually peacefully voting. By tearing down the posters they acknowledge that the candidates and the votes matter, and that rule-by-violence is not nearly as secure as it was until recently.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] A hand grenade targeted a police vehicle, killing one civilian and wounding 28 others in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province on Tuesday, a day after 10 foreign soldiers died in violence across the country. The grenade attack in Khost province targeted police officers in the provincial capital, but the victims were mostly civilians, said Tahir Khan Sabari, the provincial deputy governor.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION RUSSIA TODAY > DEFENSE ANALYST: HELPING THE USA IN AFGHANISTAN = AFPAK] MAKE MAKE RUSSIA A TARGET FOR AL QAEDA, as AQ has a habit of attacking Amer's Allies, and NOT "faraway America" itself.
The Egyptian authorities have arrested a terrorist cell of 25 members, 24 Egyptians and one Palestinian, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Suez Canal, Egyptian Interior Ministry said in statement issued on Thursday.
According to the statement, the members of the cell who believe in Jihad (Holy War) were located in Cairo, Alexandria and Daqahlia governorates and communicated through internet with other terrorist groups outside Egypt.
The cell's members, mostly engineers, were developing high-tech and electronic devices like mobile phones to carry out terrorist attacks against vital targets in Egypt such as Suez Canal and oil pipelines, the statement said.
They confessed of plotting to carry out car bombing and that they received money from foreign sources to fund their activities.
The cell is led by an Egyptian man called Ahmed El-Sayyed El-Sharawy, who lives in El-Marg neighborhood in northern Great Cairo.
The police seized some books calling for Jihad, a laser printer used to forge money and a gun used in killing an owner of a jewelry shop in May 2008.
[Maghrebia] Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Tuesday (July 7th) claimed responsibility for killing 28 Malian troops and kidnapping 3 other during weekend skirmishes in the Wasra region of northern Mali, AFP reported. In a statement published on a jihadist forum, the terrorist group said the action was in retaliation for the Malian army offensive mounted against al-Qaeda after the assassination of a British hostage in early June, Tout sur l'Algerie noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
See also STRATEGYPAGE > SOMALIA: CRIES GO UNHEEDED [AU STILL not yet ready or willing to fight MilTerrs]; + MALI IN THE MIDDLE OF ISLAMIC MADNESS. The Islamist Battle for the SAHARA/MAGREB.
#2
It seems like AQ activity has increased a lot in North Africa. Does this mean thay are retreating from Afghanistan.Pakistan? The African countries don't seem to be welcoming them, so where next? South Chicago?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 11:27 Comments ||
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CHAPAINAWABGANJ, July 8 (UNB): Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel Wednesday recovered six one-shooter guns and 10 bullets from the in-law's house of Islamist leader Selim, arrested Tuesday from the same house at Zaharpur in Sadar Upazila reportedly after an encounter.
Selim, second-in-command of 'Islam and Muslim', a new offshoot of the outlawed militant organisation JMB, was arrested after he was wounded by bullet when RAB and BDR troops raided the house under a hunt launched following the recent arrest of the group's chief and his two sidekicks. A pistol, nine rounds of bullet and two magazines were also recovered during Tuesday raid.
Following the statement of Selim, RAB raided his in-law's house again this morning and dug out six one-shooter guns and 10 bullets dumped under the floor of a room. None was arrested during the arms haul.
Some number two this guy was. One-shooters? Ten bullets? Pah.
More home-made zipguns. These are what we suspect are commonly called "Shutterguns" when found at the feet of a "crossfire" victim. In a world seemingly awash in AK-47's, Bangladeshies make their own weapons. I have no idea why.
Some men like to tie flies, others make shutterguns.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Ten bullets is a veritable treasure trove of ammunition in Bangla.
Thousands of Chinese troops flooded into this city Wednesday to separate feuding ethnic groups after three days of communal violence left 156 people dead, and a senior Communist Party official vowed to execute those guilty of murder in the rioting in western China.
Long convoys of armored cars and green troop trucks with riot police rumbled through Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million people. Other security forces carrying automatic rifles with bayonets formed cordons to defend Muslim neighborhoods from marauding groups of vigilantes with sticks.
"Defend". The journalist forgot his/her scare quotes.
Military helicopters buzzed over Xinjiang's regional capital, dropping pamphlets urging people to stay in their homes and stop fighting. Special police from other provinces were called in to patrol the city.
The crisis was so severe that President Hu Jintao cut short a trip to Italy, where he was to participate in a Group of Eight summit. It was an embarrassing move for a leader who wants to show that China has a harmonious society as it prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Communist rule.
The heightened security came amid the worst spasm of ethnic violence in decades in Xinjiang--a sprawling, oil-rich territory that borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries. The region is home to the Uighur ethnic minority, who rioted Sunday and attacked the Han Chinese--the nation's biggest ethnic group--after holding a protest that was ended by police.
Officials have said 156 people were killed as the Turkic-speaking Uighurs ran amok in the city, beating and stabbing the Han Chinese. The Uighurs allege that trigger-happy security forces gunned down many of the protesters, and officials have yet to give an ethnic breakdown of those killed.
More than 1,100 people were wounded in the violence. Dr. Yuan Hong of Urumqi People's Hospital said most of the people treated at his facility were clubbed, while others had been cut by knives.
Li Zhi, the highest-ranking Communist Party official in Urumqi, told reporters that some of the rioters were university students who were misled and didn't understand what they were doing. They would be treated leniently, he said, as long as they weren't involved in serious acts of violence and vandalism. But Li added: "To those who committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them."
He also repeated allegations that the riot was whipped up by U.S.-exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and her overseas supporters. "They're afraid to see our economic prosperity. They're afraid to see our ethnic unity and the people living a stable, prosperous life," he said.
Kadeer has denied masterminding the violence, and many Uighurs laughed off the notion that they were puppets of groups abroad. "Not even a 3-year-old would believe that Rebiya stirred this up. It's ridiculous," said a shopkeeper who only identified himself as Ahmet. Like other Uighurs, he declined to give his full name because he feared the police would detain him.
Ahmet was quick to rattle off a long list of grievances commonly mentioned by Uighurs. He accused the Han Chinese of discrimination and alleged that government policies were forcing them to abandon their culture, language and Islamic faith. "After all this rioting, I'm still filled with hatred. I'm not afraid of the Han Chinese," Ahmet said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"'I'm not afraid of the Han Chinese,' Ahmet said."
Pure bravado. You should be afraid, fella. Be VERY afraid.
#4
More than that I suspect they want the Han to go away. IIRC there was and probably still is a huge colonization effort to spread Han everywhere in China.
Posted by: James ||
07/09/2009 23:06 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Chinese President Hu Jintao abandoned plans to attend a G8 summit in Italy on Wednesday, returning home early to deal with ethnic violence amid Turkish accusations that China staged a "massacre" of its Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs.
The Foreign Ministry said Hu had left for China due to the "situation" in isolated, energy-rich Xinjiang that has left 156 dead, 1,080 injured and 1,434 arrested in the latest unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs since Sunday.
State Councilor Dai Bingguo will attend the G8 summit instead of Hu, the ministry added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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This is NOT good for either side. Hu has lost face. He won't take that very well. Expect to see some VERY rough "justice" in Urumqui, against both Uigurs and Han.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2009 14:16 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON -- U.S. authorities on Wednesday eyed North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack that overwhelmed government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned it would be difficult to definitively identify the attackers quickly.
While Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the software attack, which lasted for days over the holiday weekend, others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption.
The North Korea link, described by three officials, more firmly connected the U.S. attacks to another wave of cyber assaults that hit government agencies Tuesday in South Korea. The officials said that while Internet addresses have been traced to North Korea, that does not necessarily mean the attack involved the Pyongyang government.
Because people in North Korea do stuff on their own all the time without telling the government. Sure, ev'rybody know that ...
#5
SPOD may be on to something. I would not put it past the Chicoms to do some DoS attacks and let the Norks take the blame. DoS is a cruder attack than hacking and raising hell inside the server. Death by a thousand cuts, and all that.
Meanwhile, the Big O is trolling for image with meaningless agreements with Pooty-Poot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/09/2009 13:27 Comments ||
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#6
Because people in North Korea do stuff on their own all the time without telling the government
On their own computers. Which are connected to the power grid. Which is run by Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that's the ticket!
ISLAMABAD: Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah has been reported injured during an offensive, said the army on Wednesday. The army had credible information that Fazlullah was hit, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a press conference in Islamabad. He said the airstrike that wounded the commander was carried out two days ago in Swat.
We want the severed head ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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really
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/09/2009 13:05 Comments ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Continuing the operation against militants in the war-ravaged Swat district, security forces on Tuesday claimed that a brother of top Taliban leader Ibne Amin was among three commanders killed in the valley.
Also, two more militants were killed in the Bajaur Agency, when security forces targeted the hideouts of the militants with artillery guns. According to the ISPR, security forces carried out a search and sweep operation in selected houses at Shukdarra area of Swat.
"On a tip-off, terrorist commander Muhammad Rasool, brother of Ibne Amin, and commander Akram were killed," the ISPR claimed. Ibne Amin is a senior Taliban commander in Swat, who carries a bounty of Rs10 million on his head but has evaded the major military offensive so far.
Earlier, security forces had also claimed to have killed Ibne Aqeel, another brother of Ibne Amin, during the initial days of the ongoing military operation. However, later the Taliban denied the forces' assertion about Aqeel's killing but conceded that he was wounded. No independent account about the killing of Muhammad Rasool was available.
The ISPR said 13 suspected 'terrorists' were apprehended, along with eight small machine guns, two pistols, four 7-MM rifles and 50 rounds, in the Shukdarra area. Security forces launched a house-to-house search operation to hunt down Taliban militants hiding in houses in the Bararai area near the Khwazakhela town. "A local terrorist commander, Wahab, was killed and 14 other suspects were apprehended in the search operation," the ISPR claimed. The soldiers, it added, also secured the Degree College Matta and sanitised the area straddling on the Matta-Kharirai road.
Security forces carried out a search and clearance operation at Zangai near Mangaltan and destroyed six 'terrorists' houses. A resident from Mingora, the district headquarters of Swat, told The News by phone that the soldiers raided six shops and two houses, allegedly owned by Taliban militants. He added that the people were allowed to take away items and goods from the shops and houses. However, he said some computers and air-conditioners were confiscated by security forces.
In the Bajaur Agency, two more militants were killed and three others injured in fresh military action in the Charmang area of Nawagai Tehsil. Sources said security forces targeted suspected the hideouts of militants with artillery and mortar guns in Ziarat and other areas of the Charmang Valley, killing two Taliban insurgents and injuring three others. Two hideouts were also destroyed in the action.
It was learnt that security forces expedited advancement to capture the strategically important hilltops the in Charmang area. On way to other areas, security forces defused several remote-controlled bombs on roadside. Meanwhile, a militant was killed in Maddi area of Bannu district when security forces clashed with the Taliban during a search operation at Maddi. Seven other suspected terrorists were apprehended, the ISPR said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
[Iran Press TV Latest] Two car bombs have exploded within minutes of each other in the Iraqi city of Mosul, killing nine people and wounding 29.
The first bomb detonated in a residential area of northern Mosul, home to the minority Shabaks, wounding seven, Reuters reported.
According to the local police, the second car bomb went off about 10 minutes later near a mosque in the Bawiza district, another Shabak area, killing nine people and wounding 22 others.
The Wednesday attacks come just two days after another car bomb explosion in the northern Iraqi city.
10 people were wounded in Monday's car bomb attack; a week after US forces withdrew from Iraqi cities and handed over the security to Iraqi national forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A car bomb explosion at a wedding party in Iraq has left two people dead and more than eighteen others wounded, police say. Are we sure this wasn't part of the festivities?
The bomb attached to a well-wisher's car exploded outside the house of the groom in al-Mussayab town, 75 km (47 miles) south of the capital Baghdad on Wednesday as guests gathered there before heading to the bride's house. The blast also damaged nearby buildings and other parked cars. I think they would've settled for a nice place setting...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009 00:00 ||
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A police unit and a Kfir Brigade force arrested a Palestinian woman carrying two commando knives at the Einav checkpoint in the northern Samaria region on Thursday.
The security forces received information of the woman's plans prior to her arrival at the place. As the suspect arrived at the checkpoint by vehicle, the forces ordered her to step out of the car. During a routine search they found two commando knives on her person. The 27-year-old Tulkarm resident was turned over to the security forces for further questioning. Security sources estimated that the woman was planning to carry out a terror attack against Israelis.
Earlier Thursday Palestinians opened fire at an Israeli vehicle moving near the West Bank settlement of Ofra. No injuries were reported in the incident. IDF forces canvassing the area recovered several shell casings. The search for the perpetrators continued. Local Jewish residents criticized the army for taking several hours to arrive at the scene and begin searching for the terrorists.
Shin Bet, Lachish Subdistrict Police arrest two Palestinians in Gan Yavne murder case of 56-year-old Gregory Rabinowitz. Suspects confess act, say it was payback for death of Islamic Jihad operative killed by IDF in 2007
Gregory Rabinowitz, 56, a taxi driver whose body was found in May near the community of Gan Yavne, east of Ashdod, was killed in a terror attack. A joint investigation of the Shin Bet and Lachish Subdistrict Police revealed that Rabinowitz, a resident of Ashdod, was mugged and strangled to death by two Palestinians. Mahmad Maraneh and Muhammad Khaledi, two residents of Arranah, a Palestinian village near the West Bank city of Jenin, were arrested and later confessed to the act.
Rabinowitz's body was found bound on the city's outskirts, with evidence suggesting he was subjected to severe violence. The state of his remains suggested a nationalistically-motivated act. The defense establishment was able to ascertain the premise two week later, as it arrested two 22-year-old Palestinians as murder suspects. The two were arrested by the IDF's Haredi Nahal forces and a SWAT team.
Maraneh and Khaledi confessed to the act during their interrogation, telling security forces that they entered Israel as illegal aliens, "picked" Rabinowitz as a random target, had him drive to a secluded location and murdered him. Their motive, they said, was the fact that he was Jewish and that they wanted to avenge the death of a relative an Islamic Jihad operative who was killed by IDF forces in February 2007.
A soldier was killed by a bomb and a Muslim civilian was shot dead in the latest violence in Thailand's restive south, police said on Thursday.
The bomb was detonated as troops travelled in a pickup on a patrol in the town of Yarang in Pattani province. Five soldiers were wounded. In a separate incident, police found the body of a Muslim man in a pickup in the same district. Police told Reuters he had been shot by terrorists insurgents, probably late on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, in the neighbouring province of Yala, three soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb.
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.
HELMAND PROVICE, Afghanistan t's the middle of the night at the east corner guard post of Fiddler's Green, a Marine fire base in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, along the border with Pakistan.
CHAPAINAWABGANJ, July 8 (UNB): Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel Wednesday recovered six one-shooter guns and 10 bullets from the in-law's house of Islamist leader 
A police unit and a Kfir Brigade force arrested a Palestinian woman carrying two commando knives at the Einav checkpoint in the northern Samaria region on Thursday. 
Shin Bet, Lachish Subdistrict Police arrest two Palestinians in Gan Yavne murder case of 56-year-old Gregory Rabinowitz. Suspects confess act, say it was payback for death of Islamic Jihad operative killed by IDF in 2007 
