#3
Rasmussen: Presidential Approval Index rating of -8. Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. ThatÂ’s the lowest level of total approval yet recorded.
Previous Presidential Approval ratings in August:
George W. Bush 56% (August 2001)
Bill Clinton 44% (August 1993)
George H.W. Bush 69% (August 1989)
Ronald Reagan 60% (August 1981)
Jimmy Carter 63% (August 1977)
Richard Nixon 62% (August 1969)
John Kennedy 76% (August 1961)
Dwight Eisenhower 74% (August 1953)
Posted by: ed ||
08/13/2009 11:08 Comments ||
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#4
Have you noticed The One has been touting the "good news" on the economy since his approval fell below 50%?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/13/2009 11:12 Comments ||
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#5
Good news? I'm sure you mean stupendous, marvellous, unrivaled news.
DAHANEH, Afghanistan -- The British jet called in by the U.S. Marines had the Taliban position in sight, but the pilot refused to fire, a decision that frustrated Marines on the ground but one in line with new orders by the top U.S. commander to protect civilians.
The Marines themselves didn't attack militants shooting at them Wednesday because women and children were in the compound, an approach meant to avoid civilian casualties at all costs.
"They did that on purpose," sniper platoon leader 1st Lt. Joseph Cull, 28, of Delafield, Wisconsin, said of the Taliban. "They are trying to bait us."
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has made protecting Afghan civilians his top priority. The approach is a shift away from a military mindset whose traditional first response has been to kill as many militants as possible. By holding fire McChrystal hopes to avoid the massive civilian casualty cases of past months and years and help win over Afghan villagers.
U.S. Marines have been locked in battle with insurgents in Dahaneh in Helmand province after they stormed into the Taliban-held town early Wednesday. Militants have been lobbing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and heavy machine gun fire at the U.S. troops.
The troops hope to break the Taliban grip in Dahaneh, sever smuggling routes and protect civilians from Taliban reprisals so Afghans can vote here during the Aug. 20 presidential election, which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt.
The Marines locked in on a Taliban position Wednesday in a cave in a nearby mountain, from which militants were firing heavy weapons. The troops called for an airstrike against the position, but the British Harrier jet that responded refused to fire its missiles because British rules of engagement require the pilot himself to identify the target, not just troops on the ground.
Each country in the more than 40-nation NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan has its own rules of engagement that apply to specific battle situations, but McChrystal's order to protect civilians applies to all forces in the country.
"Sure, that's frustrating, but we've got to deal with it," said Capt. Zachary Martin, commander of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines.
Some 400 Marines and 100 Afghan troops moved into Dahaneh early Wednesday by helicopter and ground convoy. The troops took heavy fire from insurgents for most of the day, killing up to 10 militants after calling in an airstrike on an insurgent position.
But even that airstrike was carried out with great care.
Militants first started firing from the position about 5 a.m. Ground commanders wanted an airstrike called in on the position to help protect Marines receiving fire. But superior officers wanted to be certain there were no civilians there. Once Martin had established with near certainty that there were not, an airstrike hit the compound -- hours after the Marines first received fire.
The Marines say they can avoid civilian casualties with the help of the sophisticated surveillance technology they have. Strict orders have also been issued for the Marines to use proportional response when attacked.
But many of the riflemen voiced frustration at the limited options they were left with when trying to expand control of the town on Wednesday. The orders to hold fire appeared to have slowed their advance in Dahaneh, where after a full day they held only a small foothold outpost.
On Thursday the Marines expected another day of intense combat as they pushed deeper into the town. Insurgents seemed unwilling to fight overnight, when they can't match the Marines' night vision capabilities. But after the sun came up early Thursday, the first rounds of fire erupted.
"Right on cue!" shouted Sgt. Ryan Kelsey, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the first shots rang out.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, two separate roadside blasts in southern Afghanistan killed 14 civilians, including three children, underscoring the high price paid by ordinary people in the conflict with the Taliban, officials said Thursday.
Officials blamed the blasts on Taliban militants, who have made roadside bombings their primary weapons.
A blast on a road in the Gereshk district of Helmand province ripped through a vehicle carrying a family on Wednesday, killing 11 people, including two women and nine men, said Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the provincial governor.
In neighboring Kandahar province, three children were killed after they started playing with another bomb which they had found on the side of the road west of the provincial capital, police official Mohammad Shah Khan said. The victims were between 8 and 12 years old.
According to figures from the U.S.-based Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, the number of incidents from IEDs soared to 828 last month, the highest level of the war and more than twice as many as in July 2008. The majority of the victims in such attacks have been civilians.
#3
It's way past time to constitute the Kafiristan Liberation Army. It's been about a century since the conquest, we're in the neighborhood, and we'd only be recalling and relying on the most local of skills and instincts.
#5
Why do we refer to these women and children as "civilians"? If they consort with enemy fighters in a combat zone I think they qualify as voluntary combatants under Geneva Convention rules. I would think of them as "targets".
#6
They're camp-followers, Scooter. A civilized army doesn't ordinarily attack camp-followers, though it won't hold back if the camp-followers are putting themselves in the way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2009 15:49 Comments ||
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#11
The Marines themselves didn't attack militants shooting at them Wednesday because women and children were in the compound, an approach meant to avoid civilian casualties at all costs.
Won't take the Talibunnies long to figure that one out. They will make certain women and children are around most of the time. It would seem that these ROEs would get people killed--our guys.
#13
they should have used a MANPAD to shoot down the Brit Harrier and blamed in on the "unarmed civilians". WTF are we using Brits for CAS anyhow? They've been a poor ally for some time now.
#16
If they consort with enemy fighters in a combat zone I think they qualify as voluntary combatants under Geneva Convention rules. I would think of them as "targets".
There's a good chance at least some of those women were forcibly married to Talibunnies with the kids as a result.
Each country in the more than 40-nation NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan has its own rules of engagement that apply to specific battle situations, but McChrystal's order to protect civilians applies to all forces in the country.
The Marines locked in on a Taliban position Wednesday in a cave in a nearby mountain, from which militants were firing heavy weapons. The troops called for an airstrike against the position, but the British Harrier jet that responded refused to fire its missiles because British rules of engagement require the pilot himself to identify the target, not just troops on the ground.
#18
Again, Disproportionate Retaliation is the only thing that has ever worked against Muslim insurgent terrorists. Indulge the quranimal, and he will take license. When war is unthinkable to the enemy, they won't wage it. As it is, they are indoctrinated in Pakistan - often in US subsidized UN refugee camps - to fight to the death in Afghanistan. That is a juggernaut that cannot be stopped until they are killed in masses. It is time to deploy Napalm.
#19
The Marines locked in on a Taliban position Wednesday in a cave in a nearby mountain, from which militants were firing heavy weapons.
When was the last time American Marines (or any Western troops) got to besiege an enemy? I suspect the Taliban are not going to like the result of this particular choice.
#20
TW, that is assuming that they are allowed to besiege the Taliban. Since there are "civilians" in the area, I thought the ROEs specified that the Marines must disengage and retreat.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/13/2009 22:47 Comments ||
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[ADN Kronos] Taliban fighters attacked a district police headquarters in northern Afghanistan overnight, killing the police chief and two of his men, an official said.
The Taliban attack, which led to a four-hour gun battle into the early hours of Wednesday in Kunduz, is the latest in a wave of rising violence across the country a week before the 20 August election, which militants have vowed to disrupt.
The attackers struck with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades under cover of darkness, said Sheikh Saduddin, administrator of the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province.
The province, north of the Hindu Kush mountains and far from the southern war zone, has generally been quiet since Taliban militants were driven from power in 2001, but has seen escalating attacks in recent months.
This week the overall commander of NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan said militants were advancing from their traditional bastions in the south and east into previously quieter areas in the north and west.
Meanwhile around 400 US marines and Afghan troops launched a massive military operation in southern Helmand province early Wednesday.
Operation 'Eastern Resolve II' is focused on the district of Nawzad, in the north-east of the province.
Violence in Afghanistan, at its worst since US and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001, has increased further ahead of the election.
The United States has sent tens of thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan this year, where the Western force now numbers more than 100,000 troops.
President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday the militants would not be able to disrupt the country's election.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
er, foreign computer with teeny tiny keys in the wrong places.
Meant to say perhaps they are fleeing from rather than advancing from. Wouldn't you rather face Afghan police than US Marines?
[Al Arabiya Latest] Seven Pakistani preachers were killed by several masked men at a mosque in Somalia's Puntland region on Wednesday, residents said. Residents said the attack took place after early morning prayers at the mosque in Galkayo in the semi-autonomous region, and was aimed at a group of 25 sheikhs who arrived on Tuesday.
Western security agencies said Somalia is a haven for insurgents plotting attacks in the region and beyond. Puntland is a base for pirates targeting the Gulf of Aden, but has been more peaceful than the south of the failed Horn of Africa state.
" Six Pakistanis died on the spot while another Pakistani died from his injuries in the hospital. These men are Islamist preachers from Karachi, Pakistan"
Hussein Abdullahi, Galkayo
"Six Pakistanis died on the spot while another Pakistani died from his injuries in the hospital. These men are Islamist preachers from Karachi, Pakistan," Hussein Abdullahi, chairman of Galkayo, told Reuters. "Puntland forces have now surrounded the area around the mosque to protect the other sheikhs."
Puntland's information minister was killed in the same area last week, and residents said Wednesday's attack may have been motivated by suspicions the preachers were linked to al-Qaeda.
Resident Sheikh Abdiqadir Ali said masked gunmen opened fire in the mosque immediately after prayers. A village elder said the bodies were removed from the scene by the security forces.
"There were 25 of these foreigners, mostly Pakistanis, and they arrived from Pakistan yesterday," the elder, Mohamed Hussein, told Reuters.
Abdullahi Said Samatar, Puntland's security minister, said the dead were preachers who travelled the world to spread Islam. "We were very shocked to hear seven Pakistanis were killed in our region," he said.
Not surprised mind you, just shocked, he thought the Paks could take better care of themselves ...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So these guys were preaching the wrong kind of militant Islam?
[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Arab Emirates is tightening its controls on money laundering by keeping a closer eye on the funds of foreign officials and politicians, banking sources said on Wednesday while Dubai named a chairman and board members for its $20 billion government bond support program.
The central bank of the Gulf state, a regional business and trading hub, has told banks to disclose names of foreign account holders with political links and to secure approval from the monetary authority before opening such accounts, the sources said.
"Logically, when banks have relationships with PEPs, the main concern is misuse of their country's money in any form - money laundering, channeling, etc"
A senior banker
A UAE central bank circular sent last week directed banks to name foreign "politically exposed persons (PEPs)", banking sources told Reuters. PEPs refers to foreign politicians, public officials and their families.
"Logically, when banks have relationships with PEPs, the main concern is misuse of their country's money in any form - money laundering, channeling, etc," a senior banker said, declining to be named due to confidentiality reasons.
Banks are required to report the names of the PEPs to the central bank by August 24, he said.
Another senior banker, who has seen the circular, said the UAE is stepping up banking regulations in line with international standards. "Recent events in the region as well as beyond perhaps prompted the authorities here to implement tighter scrutiny of the banking sector," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Ummmm, I'm not quite sure this is quite as it seems at first glance, more probable they want to cut down on OTHER THAN OURS money laundering.
They only mention Foreign Officials and Politicians, NOT Saudi Royals.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2009 0:56 Comments ||
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[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Government forces bombed Shiite rebels in northern Yemen Wednesday, killing dozens and escalating a conflict along the Saudi border that could further destabilize the US-allied country as it faces a resurgent threat from Al-Qaeda. The offensive, which started late Tuesday, followed claims by local officials and rebels that they had seized more of northern Saada Province from government troops. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to crush the rebels "with an iron-fist."
A rebel spokesman said 15 civilians died in an airstrike Wednesday on an outdoor market near the town of Haydan in Saada. A local government official said 20 rebels were killed. The discrepancy in the toll could not immediately be reconciled. A local Health Ministry official said 12 others died in fighting across Saada and 51 were injured.
Local officials and the rebels have said that hundreds have fled the clashes.
The five-year-old rebellion in Saada, which borders predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia, pits Shiite Muslims against Yemen's Sunni-led government. The impoverished Arabian Peninsula country is already battling a separate uprising to the south, and a resurgent Al-Qaeda. The government has little authority outside the major cities and has tried repeatedly to suppress the Saada rebels, with little success.
The stability of Yemen -- the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden -- is a key concern for both Saudi Arabia and the US.
Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert at the Carnegie Endowment, says the Saada fighting, "right next door to the world's biggest oil producer," compounds the region's security threat and underscores Yemen's weaknesses.
"The government has not been able to put down this uprising, so it's seen as increasingly weaker and this will embolden Al-Qaeda," Boucek told The Associated Press.
Saudi Arabia fears the conflict could make its own disgruntled Shiite tribes more restive.
Rebel spokesman MohamÂmad Abdel-Salam said that the bombing culminated in the strike on Haydan. He said some missiles fell in residential areas, killing civilians and destroying homes. "We remind the authorities that we are totally ready to confront their aggression, and their loss will be more than previous rounds," Abdel-Salam said in a statement.
A rebel leader, Saleh Habra, said only one fighter was killed in the last four days of fighting. He accused the government of targeting villagers in the widened offensive.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
That's a powder keg. Saudi Shiites form a majority in the Persian Gulf region. Sunnis know that the pay masters of the terrorists are in Iran. That is why the Sunni Arab states would be sympathetic to a move against the Ayatollahs. But, we all know why that is not going to happen.
[Bangla Daily Star] When the nation is keenly awaiting justice in cases for the grisly August 21 grenade attacks to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to two accused who even confessed to their roles in implementing the terror plan.
Arif Hassan Sumon, who obtained bail from Judge Masdar Hosain's Speedy Trial Tribunal-1, had confessed to a magistrate that he threw two grenades at Hasina's public rally on August 21, 2004, of which one exploded.
The other accused who obtained bail, Munshi Mohibullah, had confessed that he played a role in planning the attack on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Sumon and Mohibullah are operatives of the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji). Mohibullah is the brother of top detained Huji leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, the prime charge-sheeted accused along with 21 others in the cases linked to the attack.
Judge Masdar Hosain, who had refused bails to Sumon and Mohibullah and other accused on several occasions earlier, yesterday did not elaborate the grounds for granting them bail.
A few senior lawyers including the chief public prosecutor expressed disappointment over the bail orders.
The prosecution will file appeals within a short time with the higher court against the bail orders.
Advocate Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief state counsel, told The Daily Star that every court has a discretionary jurisdiction to grant bail to any accused. But the August 21 grenade attack cases are very sensational ones. Earlier, the same court recorded statements of 61 prosecution witnesses. Moreover, these two accused gave confessional statements admitting their involvement with the incidents. So, the court should not grant bails to the accused at this stage.
"I shall go to the higher court against the orders after getting certified copies of the orders,'' he said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor advocate Mohammad Abdullah Abu also told The Daily Star that the trial court should not grant bail to the accused considering the depth of the offences brought against them.
Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder said the cases are very much sensational and the court should not grant bails to the accused at this stage of trial even though the court has discretionary jurisdiction to grant bail to any accused.
On condition of anonymity, a litigant said no accused should be detained in jail custody if the accused in the grenade attack cases get out on bail.
During the hearing on the bail petitions, Sumon's lawyer advocate Aminul Goni Titu argued that his client's name was not in the first information report (FIR) and that he did not implicate himself even though he had given confessional statement.
Mohibullah's lawyer told the court that his client, whose name was also not in the FIR, was implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy.
The prosecution opposed the bail petitions, saying the two along with six others, including Huji chief Mufti Hannan, had confessed to their involvement with the grenade attack.
After the hearing, the judge granted bails to Mohibullah and Sumon and rejected the bail petitions of detained former deputy minister and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu and four others.
Details of the court orders could not be known immediately.
The same court on August 3 ordered further investigation into the cases after the prosecution submitted petitions on June 25 this year.
BACKGROUND
Even though the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina escaped injuries, the attack left 24 Awami League leaders, including President Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman, dead and 300 others injured.
A day after the grenade attack, police filed two cases--one for murder and another under the Explosive Substances Act--with Motijheel Police Station.
Before submission of the charge sheets, the nation witnessed drama during the rule of the BNP-Jamaat government centring investigation into the grisly attack.
Three former CID investigation officers are now facing charges for misdirecting the investigations.
The charge sheet, accusing 22, was submitted before the court last year but the investigators could not find out the sources of the grenades used in the attack.
CONFESSION
In his confessional statement, Sumon said he attended the meeting arranged in Kajol's house at Merul Badda on August 20, 2004 to plan the attack.
He said he heard every detail of the attack preparations.
After Fazr prayer on August 21, Sumon left for the rally on Bangabandhu Avenue with two grenades, he said in his statement.
CID investigation officer ASP Fazlul Kabir in the charge sheet quoted the confessional statement of Suman.
Mohibullah in his confessional statement said he was present when the plan to carry out the grenade attack was made on August 20. He said Mufti Abdul Hannan, Maulana Abu Sayeed, Maulana Abu Jandal, Jahangir Alam, Masud, Iqbal, Babu and Bulbul also attended the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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A representative of a Japanese company Thursday deposed before the Indian special court trying Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, the only militant caught alive in the Mumbai terror attacks last November.
The representative of Yamaha Motor Company in Japan told the court via video-conferencing from FBI office in Los Angeles that a Pakistani company imported an outboat machine from them, which the10 terrorists used in their dingy to enter Mumbai to carry out the attacks on Nov. 26 last year, an Indian Home Ministry official said, on condition of anonymity.
"The engine had been dispatched by the Yamaha Company in Japan to Business and Engineering Trends Company in Pakistan on Jan. 20 last year. In fact, the machine was dispatched to the Karachi sea port in Pakistan and the payment was made in Japan itself," the official quoted the Yamaha representative as telling the court.
The special court also accepted a letter on the company's letterhead, written and signed by one Michelle, the Assistant Services Manager of Yamaha, stating that the machine was sent to Pakistan. The FBI acquired the letter during its probe, the official said.
An FBI agent Wednesday testified before the special court, saying that the Global Positioning Satellite devices and a satellite phone used by terrorists, which he examined during course of the probe, clearly indicated that they came from Karachi.The FBI agent was in Mumbai to testify and his identity has been kept secret by the court.
India has charged Kasab with 302 crimes, including waging war against the state, for his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks on Nov. 26, which claimed the lives of over 170 people, including foreign nationals.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/13/2009 09:02 ||
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Paramilitary forces on Tuesday killed at least 17 militants in a tribal area after militants rockets killed two civilians in Peshawar city, officials said.
"In an operation by security forces today 17 militants were killed," a paramilitary statement said. "A large quantity of arms and ammunition has been captured and troops destroyed one ammunition dump and six militant hideouts," it said.
A paramilitary commander separately told AFP that the operation was launched after militants fired rockets at a paramilitary checkpoint early Tuesday in a rare and brazen assault in Peshawar that killed two civilians.
The pre-dawn rocket attack targeted a Frontier Corps base in the city's Hayatabad neighbourhood, Peshawar police chief Sifwat Ghayur told AFP. "One rocket landed harmlessly inside the post but three others strayed into the residential area, killing two men and wounding three others," Ghayur said.
Taliban militants also fired rockets and mortars towards a military post in the nearby tribal district of Bara but there were no casualties or damage, a military official said earlier. Three Taliban fighters were killed when troops returned fire, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Hayatabad abuts Bara town, which is in the lawless tribal Khyber region bordering Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Two intelligence officials and a militant commander say clashes between rival militant groups in northwestern Pakistan have killed about 70 fighters.
The officials say the clashes broke out on Wednesday in Jandola between fighters loyal to Pakistan's Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and those of Turkistan Bitani, a militant commander allied with the government. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Bitani said that a total of about 60 to 70 fighters had died, and that the clashes broke out when his group was attacked by Mehsud's group.
There was no way to independently confirm the death toll, as the fighting was taking place in a remote area that is off-limits to journalists.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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More detail on Tuesday's dronezap...
Fourteen people, all of them militants, were killed and seven others injured in another attack by a CIA-operated spy plane at Kaniguram town in Ladha subdivision of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on Tuesday.
Tribal sources told The News that the US drone fired three missiles at a house, which the militants had occupied from a local influential trader and turned it into their 'Markaz' or headquarters.
The fortress-like house was owned by Zangi Khan Burki. Like several other tribesmen, Zangi Khan and his family had left their house and shifted to Karachi after tribal and foreign militants took over the picturesque Kaniguram town.
A tribesman living in Kaniguram travelled to distant Razmak town in North Waziristan Agency to inform The News about the drone attack and casualties suffered by the militants. Requesting anonymity, the tribesman said dozens of armed militants immediately cordoned off the house and retrieved 14 bodies of their slain colleagues from the rubble of the destroyed building. He said most of the bodies were mutilated beyond recognition.
The tribesman said he had seen several foreign militants, including Arabs and Uzbeks, visiting the house frequently. He, however, did not know whether foreigners were present there during the missile attack.
He said another house owned by the agency councilor, Arif Zaman, located near the alleged headquarters of the Taliban, was also damaged in the attack.Sources close to the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban told The News that all those killed in the attack were local tribal militants.
They also claimed that the victims of the drone attack included women and children. However, the tribesman from Kaniguram did not agree to the Taliban claims. He said very few tribal families now remained after the launching of the military operation against Baitullah and his men on June 14 and taking over of the 'ghost' town by the Taliban militants.The tribesman said the remaining families had also left their homes for Tank and Dera Ismail Khan due to fears of drone attacks as, he added, the Taliban militants had occupied the houses of local people in the town while spy planes were now continuously flying over the area.
It's working nicely, then. The Taliban are losing their popularity, which makes them ever so much easier to find and kill.
"Majority of the people were coming to Kaniguram in summer but all this became history when the residents fled their homes. The streets are now being patrolled by the Taliban fighters," said the worried resident of Kaniguram.
The newly-appointed spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Azam Tariq, called media persons and claimed that only six people, including women and children, had been killed in the attack by the US spy plane.It was the second attack after August 5 in which the drone fired two missiles at the house of Malik Ikramuddin, the father-in-law of Baitullah Mehsud.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
CIA Take Note, after a zap, loiter 30 minutes and hit the "Rescuers" again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2009 1:00 Comments ||
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#2
the tribesman said dozens of armed militants immediately cordoned off the house and retrieved 14 bodies of their slain colleagues from the rubble
Gotta wonder if this "tribesman" is the same guy who ratted out the talibunnies in the first place. Also, as RJ pointed out, why in the heck was a second drone not available to zap the rescuers? AQ learned a long time ago that the misery of a suicide bomb attack can be compounded when a second splodydope in waiting in the wings for the police and the ambulances to show up.
[Dawn] Two schoolboys were killed and their brother injured Wednesday when a bomb exploded in a Pakistan village playground near the Afghan border, officials said.
The trio, all brothers, were playing when the explosive device went off in Nisarabad village on the outskirts of Khar, the main town in the Bajaur tribal region, local administration chief, Adalat Khan, told AFP.
Two of them, aged between nine and 11 years, were killed and their 13-year-old brother wounded, he said. They were school students, he said.
A security official confirmed the casualties, saying that it was unclear if the bomb was planted by militants or was left during a six-month battle fought between government forces and Islamist insurgents.
Hundreds of people were killed in the fighting which saw heavy artillery and helicopter gunships pound Bajaur, to purge the area of militants.
The fighting ended in February when the military claimed to have 'secured' the area.
Pakistan's semi-autonomous northwest tribal belt has become a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan in late 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] The death toll in Quetta blast at Sariab Road rose to two, Geo News quoted police sources as saying Wednesday. The exchange of fire is still in progress after the blast. According to police sources, the blast was remote-controlled and explosives were rigged to a motorcycle parked near FC Check post that killed at least two men and injured two others. The inured have been shifted to the hospital and the blast area has been taken in the security cordon. The number of fatalities may increase, the police sources said. Geo News was told that some unidentified miscreants first hurled hand grenade onto the vehicle of security personnel.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] One person was killed and nine others were injured on Wednesday when suspected militants threw a grenade at a busy bus terminal in Indian administered Kashmir, police said.
The incident took place in the town of Sopore, 50 kilometres north of the summer capital Srinagar. "Militants hurled a grenade at a police bunker which missed its target and hit the civilians," a police spokesman said, adding the man who died was a 63-year-old Muslim.
Violence has increased recently in the Muslim-majority region ahead of India's independence day holiday on August 15. In June suspected separatist rebels threw a grenade at a security patrol in the heart of Shrinigar, wounding four paramilitary soldiers. The attack came a day after two Pakistani soldiers were killed in the first ever suicide bombing in a part of Kashmir held by Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] Three people were killed and three others, all from the same family, were wounded when gunmen threw a hand grenade at their house near the Iraqi city of Mosul late Tuesday.
Head of the local council in the Baaj district, Jassem Mohamed Husseinwest of Mosul, told the state news agency, Voices of Iraq, that a woman and her two sons were killed in the attack.
He said that a soldier injured in the attack was in a serious condition.
"The three bodies were sent to the forensic medicine department in Mosul, while the wounded were rushed to Al-Joumhouri hospital for treatment," he said.
More than 160 people were killed in Iraq in the first 10 days of August - more than half of all those killed in July.
Attacks which struck Baghdad and areas outside Mosul in the north on Friday and on Monday, were the most serious since the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities at the end of June.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli troops have kidnapped four more Palestinian civilians in various areas of the occupied West Bank as part of Tel Aviv's campaign to silence activists.
The civilians were arrested Wednesday during pre-dawn operations in the villages of Barta'a Al shrkyia, Arraba and Zabobaa near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. The Israeli military claims that the detainees were wanted activists and were taken into custody to be interrogated.
Despite a security agreement with the Palestinian National Authority, the Israeli army continues to invade Palestinian homes and carry out such operations. Hundreds of Palestinian residents of West Bank cities, including teenagers, have been kidnapped over the past months.
Currently thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, are held in Israeli jails and are reportedly kept under harsh conditions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A group of senior Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip have resigned in protest at the election process and the result of the group's governing body.
The eleven leaders -- all members of Fatah's Highest Committee in the Gaza Strip - cited vote manipulation as the reason behind their resignation.
They have charged Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party with holding an unfair and inaccurate election that allowed some delegates to vote more than once.
The Gaza delegates, who had to vote in the party election by phone because they were not allowed to leave Gaza to attend the conference in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, have also accused the group of neglecting Gaza members at their recent Congress -- the first in 20 years.
Only two candidates from the Gaza Strip have been elected to the 23-member Central Committee. Gaza delegates had demanded a share of at least six representatives.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an -- The Hamas-controlled de facto government has denied an Israeli news report that foreign fighters have entered the Gaza Strip and set up organizations.
A spokesperson for the de facto government's Interior Ministry Ehab Al-Ghussein said that all the armed groups in the Gaza Strip are Palestinian organizations whose goal is to resist Israeli occupation, and nothing beyond that.
Al-Ghussein's comments were in response to a report published earlier this week on the website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The report claimed that dozens of "Islamic terrorists" have entered the Gaza Strip over the past year and are operating there "in the framework of extremist organizations identified with the 'worldwide Jihad.'"
The Haaretz report quoted Israeli military officials who stated that men who had fought US troops in Iraq had managed to enter Gaza.
However, Al-Ghussein said there are "individual cases" of foreign elements or people linked to foreign organizations, which Hamas security is monitoring. He said these individuals do not represent any threat to Palestinian security.
Separately, a previously unknown armed organization calling itself the "Sunna Group Supporters of Prophet Muhammad's Teachings" claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening for firing two mortar shells toward Israel.
The group said in a statement their fighters launched two mortar shells at Israeli army vehicles stationed near a military watchtower east of Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli media, mortar shell fired from Gaza landed across the border, in the desert in the Eshkol Regional council, causing no injuries.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an -- A new Palestinian military organization in the Gaza Strip called "Sunna Group Supporters of Prophet Muhammad's Teachings" claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening for firing two mortar shells toward Israel. The self-proclaimed group said in a statement their fighters launched two mortar shells at Israeli army vehicles stationed near a military watchtower east of Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli media, mortar shell fired from Gaza landed across the border, in the desert in the Eshkol Regional council, causing no injuries.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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At least 43 people - including 23 soldiers and 20 militants - have been killed in clashes in the southern Philippines, an army commander says.
Maj Gen Benjamin Dolorfino said 400 troops launched coordinated attacks on a camp belonging to Abu Sayyaf rebels on the southern island of Basilan.
He said soldiers recovered home-made bombs and 13 high-powered firearms.
Fighting has ceased, but troops were combing the area to see if two targeted Abu Sayyaf chieftains had been killed.
The rebel leaders were named as Khair Mundus and Furuji Indama by the Associated Press news agency, citing military officials.
The Abu Sayyaf group was once linked to regional Islamist networks, but has recently become better known for criminal brutality and high-profile kidnappings, mostly targeting Christians and foreigners.
In January, militants kidnapped three staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Two were freed in April, while the last hostage, 62-year-old Italian Eugenio Vagni, was released in July after being held for nearly six months.
#2
Benji is a great guy. He gave me a captured MILF mortar tube as a going away gift. It has flowers planted in it. I understand that Basilan has been left alone for a while as they focused on Cotabato and Jolo. Thus the rats return. Hope your doin ok, tell momma we say hay!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
08/13/2009 23:46 Comments ||
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JAKARTA - INDONESIA'S police and media were left red-faced after it was officially confirmed on Wednesday that terror mastermind Noordin Top is still alive and on the run. After six years of eluding capture, the Malaysian-born Noordin apparently escaped an 18-hour siege and gunbattle in central Java last Friday. Indonesian media had reported extensively that South-east Asia's most wanted terrorist was believed shot dead, and the authorities said it needed to be confirmed. Following the 48 hour rule proved to be correct
On Wednesday, national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a packed press conference that DNA tests showed the dead man to be Ibrahim, a Noordin follower who was a florist at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The 40-year-old florist disappeared after the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels were bombed on July 17, leaving nine people dead.
Mr Soekarna said Ibrahim helped to smuggle explosive materials into the hotels and helped to coordinate the twin attacks. He also said that Ibrahim was to have taken part in a suicide bombing targeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's home outside Jakarta around the time of Indonesia's Independence Day on Aug 17. This plot was uncovered also last weekend.
The Noordin fiasco is a major blow to the police, and overshadowed a recent major success in nabbing five suspected militants, uncovering a cache of materials that could be turned into 100kg bombs, and seizing a pick-up truck which might have been used in the attack on the President.
Last Wednesday, the police were told by an arrested terrorist that Noordin was travelling to Solo, Jepara or Temanggung, all in Central Java. They tailed some men who left a rented house in Bekasi, West Java, and then travelled to different locations in Central Java. They were told that one of the men was in fact Noordin.
On Friday, police caught two men believed to be Noordin's bodyguards at a bicycle workshop in Temanggung. When shown a photograph of Noordin, the men said that he was the person they had taken to a farmhouse nearby. Police reinforcements were sent to Beji, a village in Temanggung, in the hope of nabbing Noordin.
But some in the police force tipped off television networks about the operation, which involved more than 100 heavily armed, anti-terrorist police troops who surrounded the farmhouse.
When a body bag was seen being taken from the house, several TV networks covering the siege concluded that Noordin had been killed by the elite Detachment 88 police unit. Major newspapers and media reported extensively that Noordin was dead.
Police spokesman Soekarna on Wednesday blamed the media. 'Police never said it was Noordin. Who said it was Noordin?' he replied, when asked about the fiasco.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's Intelligence Ministry says four members of a notorious terrorist group have been arrested in the southeastern city of Zahedan.
The four terrorists belong to Abdolmalek Rigi's ring, Jundullah, which has carried out terror attacks against Iranian civilians and officials in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
According to a statement released by the Intelligence Ministry, the terrorists were plotting to "bomb several locations." It added that a large quantity of explosives and weapons was found in their hideout.
Jundullah is responsible for a suicide bombing on a mosque in Zahedan in May that killed 25 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2009 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.
DAHANEH, Afghanistan -- The British jet called in by the U.S. Marines had the Taliban position in sight, but the pilot refused to fire, a decision that frustrated Marines on the ground but one in line with new orders by the top U.S. commander to protect civilians.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Government forces bombed Shiite rebels in northern Yemen Wednesday, killing dozens and escalating a conflict along the Saudi border that could further destabilize the US-allied country as it faces a resurgent threat from Al-Qaeda. The offensive, which started late Tuesday, followed claims by local officials and rebels that they had seized more of northern Saada Province from government troops. A high-level security committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, promised to crush the rebels "with an iron-fist." 
[ADN Kronos] One person was killed and nine others were injured on Wednesday when suspected militants threw a grenade at a busy bus terminal in Indian administered Kashmir, police said. 
Ma'an -- The Hamas-controlled de facto government has denied an Israeli news report that foreign fighters have entered the Gaza Strip and set up organizations.
Ma'an -- A new Palestinian military organization in the Gaza Strip called "Sunna Group Supporters of Prophet Muhammad's Teachings" claimed responsibility on Tuesday evening for firing two mortar shells toward Israel. The self-proclaimed group said in a statement their fighters launched two mortar shells at Israeli army vehicles stationed near a military watchtower east of Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip.
