U.S. Marines and Afghan troops have launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge.
Maj. William Pelletier, a U.S. military spokesman, said about 1,000 Marines as well as Afghan troops launched Operation Cobra's Anger early Friday in the northern part of Helmand province.
The offensive aims at cutting off the Taliban communication routes through Helmand and disrupting their supply lines, especially those providing the explosives for the numerous lethal roadside bombs that litter the area.
So far there are no reports of casualties.
Posted by: ed ||
12/04/2009 09:02 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Bush left this place to die good job OBAMA refocus this guy bushes efforts or lack of efforts on this war.GOOD LUCK BOYS
#2
well explain why Obama is gonna sent troops there too turn around and pull them out in a year. This place was dead LONG before Bush sent any troops there.Also Obama is the one who put the new ROE in place where our boys couldn't shoot back when civilians are anywhere nearby so they where sitting ducks culminating in the loss of more of our troops. They should kill as many of them before july 2011 and let them live in the stione age as they are accustomed too.
Posted by: CHRIS ||
12/04/2009 13:24 Comments ||
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#3
Goddamn George Bush, Dick Cheney and all those who stood with them to sell this atrocity to our people. And Why Call the
DRAWDOWN in 2011 wrong when thats the EXACT message we should send to the Afghan Gov. Its called pressure my friend. BUSH PULLED OUT IN 2003 DID U FORGET?
Also Those who say that they support the troops seem never to think what they are sending them to do. hint IRAQ
#5
#3 Goddamn George Bush, Dick Cheney and all those who stood with them to sell this atrocity to our people.
Huh, if my memory serves me correctly, I believe there were over 60 UN resolutions concerning WMD leveled against Saddam and his regime. On the ground at the time, it appeared Saddam had absolutely no intention of compliance and the US had the only steady hand and sharp knife. Now of course if you'd like to believe Scott Ritter's version and that of the left, you are more than welcome to it. I personally believe dirt napping was a most deserving outcome for Saddam, and sons Uday and Qusay. And by the way, if a Pew poll were taken of adult Iraqis, I highly suspect they would enthusiastically concur.
#6
They [want to] forget the Chemical WMDs, 500+ warheads, policed up in Iraq.
BUSH PULLED OUT IN 2003 DID U FORGET?
We've had troops there since the operations to take down the Taliban. We just took the major fight with AQ to a better location to execute it, Iraq. AQ declared Iraq to be the decisive battle and threw its resources into it allowing us to destroy a large portion of both its leadership and resources that would otherwise be hard to dig out in the Pakistan territories at that time.
#7
Well, Obama gave the Speech.He didnt mention the word "victory" once.
Instead we were treated to a confusing BS of how vitally important the battle in Afghanistan is versus the fact that we cant afford it and its not worth the effort.
Obama squandered the opportunity to rally the Nation and instead announced a meager and timid course of action. 30,000 for 18 months isnt a strategy its a warranty for failure. Its gonna FAIL.
The most damning part of Obamas strategy however is that he has given the military 18 months to accomplish their mission. ( and then we uptail in time for his Re-Election Campaign) While paying lip service to conditions on the ground, he said that the U.S. will begin a withdrawal in July of 2011. And every Mookie in a turban can sit on his ass and wait for us to take the Bus.
The last coming in will be seeing the others getting on the plane to fly out. 4 months and up-tail.
He gave the enemy the moral impetus they need to persevere against the very troops he is sending to defeat them. While on paper they have 18 months, in reality they have 4.
It will take at least 7 months to get the troops in place, probably longer.Then before anything is DONE..bye-bye. He's blown you off, people.
Although wisely the initial deployments will take place during the winter season when the enemy traditionally goes to ground, and extend through the spring and summer offensive season of 2010, they will not be completed until the following winter. Once the spring 2011 offensive season begins in roughly March, they will have only 4 months to accomplish their goals before the withdrawal begins.
Its a set up, he's set the Military up to FAIL! And he will blame them and not himself.
The Surge in Iraq was roughly a full 13 months of effort. Obama expects our military to do the same thing in a far harsher environment, with a total commitment of fewer troops, in 1/3 the time. He has SET THEM UP for failure, and announced the fact to the entire world, including our enemies in both Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Its NOT strategic thinking. Iran and the Moslem Culture are the Threat. Afghanistan is only a tactical area .
In other words, last night the President of the United States announced our surrender to the Mookies and gave us all the kissoff.
[Iran Press TV Latest] US President Barack Obama has given a green light for the deployment of an extra reinforcement forces of 3,000 to Afghanistan to support the additional 30,000 troops he has ordered to be deployed there.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that the reinforcement will include intelligence analysts, medics, and bomb disposal specialists to help protect American combat forces, AFP reported.
On Tuesday, Obama announced a decision to deploy 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan with a supposed aim of ending the conflict there.
Moreover, NATO has pledged an additional 5,000 troops to fight the militancy in the war-ravaged country.
Although nearly 110,000 US-led forces are currently fighting the Taliban militants in Afghanistan, they have not been able to establish stability in the conflict-torn country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
Without the heroin industry - co-managed by Karzai's own brother - Taliban wouldn't exist. The much believed story of Taliban abolishing the drug trade is nonsense; they created a Pashtun monopoly, and raked in 15% of profits. I wonder why Karzai insists on attacking US air assaults on compounds of drug oligarchs?
The above isn't conspiracy theory. Ask any US vet who served in Helmand, and they will tell you exactly the same thing.
#5
Fighting in afghanistan is like punching a bucket of water - the bad guys move across the Paki border too easily. Besides, how would winning in afghanistan shape the muslim world? Its a backwater, Bush knew that, that is why he left it simmering on the back-burner. Nation building in that hole is a waste.
Now take Iraq - central country in the middle east - already civilized - good infrastructure, established nation. Take that country - depose a dictator, set up a western style democracy improve the standard of living for the Iraqi people -what does that do. It is a beacon for Iranians, Syrians, Egyptioans,Jordanians, lebanese to see what their lives could be. It makes it difficult on their current leaders to blame all the ills of their society on the "Great Satan" when they can see the newly freed Iraqi's prospering. That was Bush's strategem, and that is precisely why the Iranians and Syrians tried so hard to smother the infant Iraqi government in it's cradle. Incidentally, I believe our own Democrat party fully understood the strategy and opted to actively work against it to keep a Republican president from scoring a world changing success. Reid especially ("We have lost this war")comes to mind - empowering insurgents to out-last us.
Play 4 keeps - you are an immature thinker and a perfect canditat for the democrat party.
#6
"Take that country - depose a dictator, set up a western style democracy improve the standard of living for the Iraqi people -what does that do. It is a beacon for Iranians, Syrians, Egyptioans,Jordanians, lebanese to see what their lives could be."
It showed them they could get a pretty much decent 3rd world democracy, but at the cost of years of war, destruction, and hundreds of thousands of dead in internecine war. Which may be why the egyptians, syrians, and jordanians don't seem much interested. The only possible democratic domino event is Iran. But to the extent thats happening (and its dormant right now) it is in large measure cause Khameni and Imanutjob have overplayed their hands.
nah, if the goal was democratic dominos, then the Iraq occupation should have been properly resourced from the start.
#7
It showed them they could get a pretty much decent 3rd world democracy, but at the cost of years of war, destruction, and hundreds of thousands of dead in internecine war.
So, exactly, what do you expect we're going to accomplish in Afghanistan after years of war, destruction and hundreds of thousands(?) of dead?
Hundreds of thousands? Really? Where did you get that number?
#8
Hundreds of thousands dead -- I seem to remember The Lancet invented a number like that a few years ago. In the end the final number was something like 50,000, mostly due to internecine murder.
#9
The above isn't conspiracy theory. Ask any US vet who served in Helmand, and they will tell you exactly the same thing.
Oh, we believe you, Javiper Lumumba2679. Despite growing up here -- in southern California, if I recall correctly, where the family had a restaurant -- the Karzai brothers were not completely Americanized.
The Dutch navy has arrested 13 Somali pirates who attempted to hijack a cargo ship south of Oman. The EU anti-piracy task force Navfor says the cargo ship - called MV BBC Togo - had barbed wire defences and held off an attack by two fast skiffs. The Dutch warship Evertsen later found a dhow with two skiffs fitting the description in the area.
A boarding team arrested the pirates, seizing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, ladders and grappling hooks. The pirates may be handed over to Kenya or the Seychelles for prosecution, says the Dutch defence ministry.
The attack on the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship happened 150 nautical miles (275km) south of Salalah in Oman.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday said it was scaling down relief work across Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region to protect its staff from a spate of kidnappings.
The ICRC said it was cutting staff levels, keeping international workers in Darfur's main cities and avoiding field trips to underdeveloped rural areas.
"We used to concentrate on remote areas where hardly anyone else worked. We worked with farmers and agro-pastoralist groups. We inoculated their animals ... But we really can't do that anymore," ICRC spokeswoman Tamara al-Rifai said.
Gunmen have abducted at least 14 foreigners, including two ICRC staff, in Darfur and just over its border in neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic in a new wave of abductions this year.
The kidnappings have raised fears for the security of humanitarian programs in all three underdeveloped countries where bandit groups can often move freely over porous borders.
"It is the people who need aid who are paying the price of these kidnappings," al-Rifai said, adding the group would keep funding emergency work in hospitals and other centers.
Armed men seized ICRC workers Gauthier Lefevre, a dual French-British citizen, from west Darfur in October, and Laurent Maurice, a Frenchman, from neighboring Chad in November.
Two members of Darfur's joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping mission, a Nigerian man and a Zimbabwean woman, are due to start their 100th day in captivity on Sunday.
Two workers for French aid group Triangle were abducted in the Central African Republic in November.
Eight other foreign aid workers taken in Darfur and Chad since March were released unharmed after negotiations. Most abductors have demanded ransoms, which Khartoum says have never been paid, while some groups claimed political motives.
A group purporting to be behind the latest abductions in Chad and the Central African Republic this week threatened to kill their French captives unless Paris began negotiations on changing its policies in Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Three Spanish aid workers kidnapped in Mauritania on November 29th are believed to have been moved from Mauritania, and the incident may have scuppered the possibility of talks between imprisoned Salafists and the government.
The aid workers were kidnapped by three foreign mercenaries working for the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and are "no longer on Mauritanian soil", a source with Mauritania's security forces, who asked to remain anonymous, told Magharebia on Wednesday.
The victims, Albert Vilalta, Alicia Gamez, and Roque Pascual, may be hostages in AQIM camps in northern Mali, added the source.
Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday dismissed the national chief of police, who was responsible for security on the road near the northern city of Nouadhibou where the incident occurred.
The three victims, all employees of the Barcelona-based NGO Accio Solidaria, were bringing up the rear of a 13-vehicle aid caravan when it was stopped by masked men who opened fire from their Land Rover.
"I heard my colleagues who were in one of the vehicles, and I was talking to Roque Pascual, who said 'Soldiers ... soldiers ... machine guns ... machine guns!'" one caravan member told Reuters after the attack. "We found the vehicle, but without any passengers, and all of their money and possessions were there."
Since the kidnappings, Mauritania "has taken all the necessary measures and precautions to deal with the crisis in a suitable manner," Spain's ambassador in Mauritania, Alonso Dezcallar, said during a press conference on Tuesday in Nouakchott. "In addition, the Spanish authorities are satisfied with ... the way Nouakchott is dealing with the crisis, especially with regard to ensuring the safety of hostages".
Following the incident, Mauritania declared a state of maximum alert and sent anti-terrorism units to its desert borders to seal off all outlets for the kidnappers. The borders with Mali, Algeria and Morocco were closed.
The kidnappings came right as Mauritanian authorities were considering talks with Salafist prisoners.
Last week, Minister of Justice Maître Baha Ould Ameida and the head of the National Guard, Maskar Ould Sayyid, visited Nouakchott's prison to meet with Salafist leaders. The jail houses Khedime Ould Semane, Marouv Ould Heibe, Sidi Ould Sidine, and more than 70 other inmates allegedly belonging to a Salafist movement dating back to the mid-1990s.
The Mauritanian Salafists used Osama Ben Laden's tapes and recordings by Afghan and Chechen fighters as their ideological reference points. Elements of the movement joined Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in aligning with al-Qaeda in late 2006, mounting attacks from Malian and Algerian desert strongholds that have killed dozens of soldiers and four French tourists.
A group of Salafist prisoners recently called for dialogue, declaring their rejection of violence and their desire to contribute to the "establishment of peace and security both inside and outside the country". The group called on authorities to forgive them and to open talks to "resolve the Salafist issue". On November 23rd, 25 prisoners issued a signed document calling for an end to violence and declaring their withdrawal from the Salafist movement.
Prisoner Mohammed Ould Ahmed, one of the most prominent figures in Mauritanian Salafism, stressed the need to "stop the bloodshed and this tarnishing of the image of Islam" through "linking it to violence, which will not achieve any goals".
However, analysts believe the latest violence may derail attempts to set up a dialogue.
"I think that this kidnapping of the Spanish nationals will impede the efforts aimed at making some ideological reviews which were started by some Salafists inside the prison," Mohammed Ould Al Mustaf, a writer and researcher, told Magharebia. "The government will also be preoccupied with security matters rather than dialogue."
Another analyst, Khalil Ould Mohammed, told Magharebia that after this "painful" incident, "the government will not trust -- at least in the short term -- Salafists' promises to reject violence and extremism".
"[The government] will focus on combating terrorism using security methods rather than dialogue," said Mohammed. "So we're waiting for a new security policy whose features are born out of the kidnapping" of the Spanish aid workers.
Many ordinary Mauritanians have condemned the kidnappings. Nouadhibou resident Waled Ould Ahmed told Magharebia that the Spaniards "came to Mauritania to help its people through humanitarian aid work".
"They deserve appreciation and respect rather than kidnapping and torture," said Ahmed. "I was greatly saddened by this unethical and bizarre act."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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A former Guantanamo detainee has emerged as a leading ideologue and theologian for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- one of the strongest al Qaeda affiliates in the world.
Ibrahim Suleiman al Rubaish was captured by Pakistani authorities in late 2001 and then handed over to American officials who transferred him to Guantanamo.
Rubaish was held until Dec. 13, 2006, when he was transferred to Saudi Arabia and placed in the Saudi rehabilitation program for jihadists. At some point, Rubaish escaped from Saudi Arabia by fleeing south to Yemen.
Rubaish was held there until Dec. 13, 2006, when he was transferred to Saudi Arabia and placed in the Saudi rehabilitation program for jihadists. At some point, Rubaish escaped from Saudi Arabia by fleeing south to Yemen.
In February 2009, the Saudi Kingdom placed Rubaish, along with at least 10 other former Gitmo detainees, on its list of 85 most-wanted terrorists. One of the former Gitmo detainees Rubaish fled to Yemen with, Said Ali al Shihri, is now the deputy of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which was formed when the al Qaeda branches in Yemen and Saudi Arabia merged. Two other former Gitmo detainees who fled to Yemen along with Rubaish have been killed in shootouts.
Since leaving Saudi Arabia, Rubaish has become an influential proponent of waging jihad against the Saudi royals. Rubaish's influence is so great that he has risen to the rank of Mufti within al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to an analysis by the Jamestown Foundation. The role of Mufti is crucial for al Qaeda's operations because the Mufti provides the theological justifications for the organization's terrorism.
The Saudi regime has consistently challenged the religious credentials of al Qaeda's Muftis since 2003, when the kingdom launched a widespread crackdown on the terrorist network in response to attacks on Saudi interests. Rubaish is now the terrorist leader responsible for providing al Qaeda's answer to the Saudi regime's theological arguments.
#2
Bin Laden was reportedly spotted in Afghanistan in Feb 2009 but then the leaders all moved out before the offensive on the tribal regions. Before going to ground there in 2001, he sent his Yemeni wife back to her father and clan, all AQ and anti-Saudi. Maybe the dreaded Saudi white phosphorus bombs will impose true Islamic justice upon their most infamous son?
#3
Lumpy, it's been my thought for a while that OBL has 'migrated' west to Yemen/Oman or eastern/central Africa. Surveillance and 'Recognition Factor' is lower these places.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/04/2009 10:30 Comments ||
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#4
Funny that no one is whining over the FACT of who's watch this bum was released under. This goes to show just how a bunch of biased rantbabies thinking goes.
#5
this is why they should be shot when caught,not in a uniform treat thyem like a spy shoot on spot
Posted by: chris ||
12/04/2009 12:40 Comments ||
Top||
#6
back in 2006 when the Bush admin released Ibrahim Suleiman to the Soddies, the latter claimed that they had developed a gold star rehab program to turn terrorists into non terrorists
Condi Rice and lots of others in the Admin were high on this rehab program
most of us R-burgers were skeptical
it turns out this skepticism was justified
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/04/2009 12:57 Comments ||
Top||
#10
At least we still have LH whenever a big issue comes up for Barry.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/04/2009 21:55 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Yeah but LH makes sense and is respectful. Can't fault an honest and logicaly presented difference of opinion. I think there is something about that somewhere around here, like maybe on the masthead.
[Bangla Daily Star] Founder of banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (Huji) Sheikh Abdus Salam yesterday confessed to his involvement in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally.
In a statement given to a Dhaka court, Salam also disclosed the names of a number of top administrative officials and politicians as involved in the gruesome attack.
After his statement was recorded by Metropolitan Magistrate Moazzem Hossain, Salam, also chief of Islamic Democratic Party, was sent to jail.
Another metropolitan magistrate's court yesterday sent Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) member Abdul Majid Butt alias Abu Yusuf Butt on a two-day fresh remand.
In his confessional statement, which came after 15 days' remand by the Criminal Investigation Department in phases, Salam narrated the planning and implementation of the grenade attack that left 24 persons killed and 300 injured.
CID's Additional Superintendent of Police Abdul Kahar Akand, who is the investigation officer of the case, told The Daily Star that of the accused Salam gave the first confessional statement.
CID and court sources said Salam was produced at the court around 2:00pm and Magistrate Moazzem Hossain recorded his statement for six hours. Salam was arrested on November 2 for suspected links with the August 21 incident.
According to sources, the Huji founder narrated the roles of a few top political leaders and influential administrative officials in the attempt to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was the opposition leader in parliament at that time when the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance was in power.
In his statement, Salam admitted that he was present at a meeting held at the Dhanmondi residence of detained former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu.
Pintu's fugitive brother and LeT leader Maulana Tajuddin, detained former BNP state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, detained Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and other influential persons were also present at the meeting, Salam said.
He said he returned to Bangladesh after the end of Afghan war against erstwhile Soviet Union and formed Huji along with other veterans of the war.
He confessed to having trained many youths, mainly madrasa students, in operating firearms and bombs. Apart from Bangladeshis, most of their recruits came from the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, he said.
They had also mobilised funds, arms and ammunition for insurgents in Kashmir of India.
Earlier, CID investigator Abdul Kahar Akand told the court that Pintu and Babar had assisted Huji in its attempt to kill Hasina at the rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.
He said Huji had also planned to kill Hasina and some of her party colleagues during the Awami League's 1996-2001 tenure as it considered the AL government an obstacle to its activities like recruiting and training operatives, and procuring firearms for militants in India and Afghanistan.
Akand said Babar and Pintu had directly helped Tajuddin, who supplied the grenades for the August 21 attack, flee the country and take shelter in Pakistan.
The CID pressed charges against Pintu, his brother and 20 others including Huji boss Mufti Hannan during the last caretaker government's rule. It arrested Babar after a court on August 3 ordered further investigation into the grenade attack to find out the patrons of the attackers and suppliers of the grenades.
The investigators are now working to hunt down the other charge-sheeted accused.
Abu Yusuf Butt was placed on remand by Metropolitan Magistrate Rashed Kabir after the CID produced him before the court with a prayer for three days' fresh remand.
He had been remanded for 12 days on different terms in the case.
Earlier, the CID said Yusuf had come to Bangladesh years ago with the help of LeT leader Maulana Tajuddin and adopted the name Abdul Majid to stay in the country and carry out militant activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Two top leaders of banned outfit Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML) were killed in a "shootout" between their cohorts and law enforcers at Kedarganj in Chuadanga district early yesterday.
The deceased were identified as Jamal alias Robi alias Nuruzzaman Sumon, 39, general secretary, and Sunnat Ali, 45, second-in-command of PBCP-ML.
Two personnel of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) -- Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Aminul Islam Amin and Constable Manik -- were also injured in the incident. They received treatment at Chuadanga sadar hospital, Rab said.
Acting on a tip off, a joint team of Rab-6 and Chuadanga sadar police raided a mango garden behind Kedarganj Girls' College. A group of PBCP men led by Jamal were holding a secret meeting there around 1:30am.
According to Rab and police, sensing the presence of law enforcers, the outlawed operatives charged bombs at them and injured a Rab official. The windscreen of one of the Rab's vehicles broke due to the impact of the bomb.
An hour-long gunfight ensued. As the outlaws fled the scene, two bodies were found. Police identified them as Jamal and Sunnat.
Police also recovered one pistol, three LGs, two locally made guns, six bullets and 11 bombs from the scene.
RISE OF JAMAL
Son of Joynal Abedin of Palashpara in Chuadanga town, Jamal was a popular football player of the district.
After being unsuccessful in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam he got involved with crime through drug peddling. He then joined hands with Yusuf and Paltu, two infamous drug traders and adherents of outlawed Banglar Communist Party (BCP-Laltu) in Chuadanga.
Over a feud with these two, Jamal joined with PBCP-ML leader Mazid of the district. Here he came in contact with PBCP founder Mofakkar and was made military operation commander of the outfit's district unit. He became a killing machine afterwards and carried out blood missions in Chuadanga and its adjacent districts -- Meherpur, Kushtia and Jhenidah.
Police said in his long fourteen years of outlawed life, Jamal committed at least 50 murders including of Chuadanga district Awami League (AL) joint secretary also veteran freedom fighter Asabul Haq Asha, Bangladesh Jubo League Chuadanga district unit organising secretary also chairman of Juranpur Union Parishad Ali Hossain, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) Chuadanga district unit secretary Bipu and Chuadanga district Jubo League joint convener Baharul Islam Ayon.
Jamal was first arrested by Jessore police in 2000. Released in 2003, he joined the PBCP-ML (Janajuddho faction) and soon was embroiled in a conflict with the outfit's founder Abdur Rashid Tapan alias Dada Tapan over killing two party men, Kuti and Sahidul. He returned to PBCL-ML the same year.
After the death of Mofakkar Hossain in 2004, Jamal declared himself general secretary of the outfit. He then reorganised the party cadres under him.
Chuadanga police announced different amounts of bounties for information on top 20 outlaws in 2005. Jamal was second on the list while Dada Tapan first.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has been taken to Delhi from Tripura where he surrendered to the security forces, report BBC News and Indian media.
Rajkhowa's wife Kaberi Kachari and their two sons were put under house arrest in Dhaka, the media reports add.
Indian daily the Hindustan Times reports that the Ulfa chief was pushed back on Wednesday by the Bangladesh authorities into Tripura and later flown to New Delhi yesterday evening.
Two other top Ulfa leaders -- Chitrabon Hazarika and Sasha Choudhury -- were detained in Bangladesh last month and subsequently handed over to India, while Ulfa general secretary Anup Chetia is confined in Bangladesh jail since 1998.
BBC News Online adds: There are unconfirmed reports that the two other rebel leaders -- chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary and chairman of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Biswamohan Debbarma -- have also been held elsewhere in Bangladesh.
India's home ministry has not confirmed the reports of the arrests in Bangladesh.
Quoting Indian government sources, the CNN-IBN website says the Centre is considering giving safe passage to Rajkhowa to facilitate the peace talks.
It adds Ulfa chairman Rajkhowa and its publicity secretary Apurba Borua were flown into New Delhi in a special flight of the Border Security Force, while Rajkhowa's wife and two sons have also been reportedly kept under house arrest in Uttara in Dhaka.
Forty-two bank accounts held by Rajkhowa in a Dhaka bank were frozen in March. The accounts held deposits worth Rs 3,900 crore, most of which was extortion money.
Sources say Rajkhowa held the accounts under the name of Arbinda Ray and the accounts were frozen two months after Sheikh Hasina came to power in Bangladesh.
Hasina government is also putting pressure on him for talks with India.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A Jessore court yesterday granted a seven-day remand for Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan in Udichi blast case.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mostafizur Rahman issued the remand order around 10:30am after Detective Branch ASP Abdul Kayum Sikder, also investigation officer of the case, had produced the Huji leader before court seeking a seven-day remand for him.
Hannan was taken to Jessore Jail from Dhaka Central Jail Wednesday night.
According to Jessore CID, Mufti Abdul Hannan was shown arrested in the case on November 19, 2006 as he confessed to his involvement in the Jessore Udichi carnage.
On March 6, 1999, a cultural programme organised by Udichi Shilpi Goshthi at Jessore Town Hall came under bomb attack that left ten people killed and over 100 injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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A religious bookstall owner appeared at the Old Bailey today charged with trying to get undercover police officers to kill British soldiers in Afghanistan. Munir Farooqui, 52, who runs Dawa stalls in Manchester and Stockport, was accused of making approaches to two officers.
Farooqui, of Victoria Terrace, Longsight, Manchester, is charged with three offences of soliciting murder in July and October. Farooqui, his son Haris, 26, of Stockport Road, Levenshulme, Manchester, and Matthew Newton, 27, of Rydal Walk, Stalybridge, Manchester, are also accused of encouraging terrorism. They are alleged to have intended assisting others to commit violent jihad against coalition forces abroad.
A fourth man, Israr Malik, 21, of Bowdon Avenue, Fallowfield, Manchester, is charged with intending to commit terrorism, namely violent jihad, between June 2008 and November 17 this year.
The defendants appeared by prison videolink and were remanded in custody to next year. They are expected to face trial in the Manchester area in the autumn.
(Bloomberg) -- Russian police found a car laden with explosives at a railroad station near the Finnish border, five days after a train bombing killed 26 people in the country's worst terror attack outside the North Caucasus since 2004. It looks like Count Doku got another shipment of money...
The car was discovered yesterday in Segezh, a town in the Karelia region about 700 kilometers (430 miles) north of St. Petersburg, said Vadim Kashirin, head of the Interior Ministry's regional criminal investigation unit. The ministry will release more details today, Kashirin said by phone.
Russian law-enforcement officials have stepped up security patrols at possible terrorism targets amid their manhunt for suspects in the Nov. 27 attack on the Nevsky Express luxury train en route to St. Petersburg from Moscow.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today vowed to implement "very tough" measures in the battle against terrorism and urged the country to be more vigilant against the threat. "All of society, every one of us, needs to be aware of this threat that has been with us all these years," Putin said in a live call-in television show with the nation.
Putin on Nov. 30 linked the Nevsky Express attack to an explosion that occurred on a railway line connecting southern Russia with Azerbaijan, calling it a "second terror attempt." No one aboard the Tyumen-Baku train was hurt in the blast.
Islamist Group
An Islamist group promoting independence for the Russian region of Chechnya claimed responsibility for the Nevsky Express bombing yesterday. The Armed Forces of the Caucasus Emirate, headed by Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov, said that "attacks will continue until the occupiers in the Caucasus end their policy of killing ordinary Muslims purely on the basis of religion," according to a statement posted on Kavkazcenter.com.
Villagers from the vicinity of the crash reported seeing four men who appeared to be from the Caucasus region and gave descriptions of two of them to investigators, the Interfax news service reported yesterday, citing an unidentified law enforcement official.
Federal forces continue to fight a local Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus that grew out of the Chechen separatist movement of the 1990s. Russians outside the region have been spared large-scale attacks since 2004, when terrorists struck the Moscow metro and downed two passenger planes over southern Russia.
A Russian nationalist organization called Combat-18 also claimed responsibility for the Nevsky Express bombing, according to Ekho Moskvy. That version was later discarded, the Moscow- based radio station said.
This article starring:
DOKU OMAROV
Armed Forces of the Caucasus Emirate
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/04/2009 11:53 ||
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#1
Putin getting ready for another run at the Presidency?
Posted by: Gaz ||
12/04/2009 18:42 Comments ||
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#1
plain talk that is spot on. thanks Besoeker for pointing it up.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
12/04/2009 2:01 Comments ||
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#2
While under Under Secretary O'Connell at ASD SOLIC, General Boykin became one of the original architects of the Special Forces approach to fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and what was then called the Global War on Terror (GWOT).
#3
See also WAFF > STRATEGYPAGE > MAJOR HASAN ACCEPTS TRADITION [Islam's pro-violence traditions-values].
ARTIC > IOW, THE FLOW OF ISLAMIC MILITANTS, BLOODY VIOL JIHAD WILL NEVER CEASE, AGZ ANY AND ALL NON-ISLAM UNLESS VITAL ASPECTS OF ISLAM ARE CHANGED, VOLUNTARILY OR FORCIBLY.
SUB-IOW, ISLAM'S WAR/JIHAD WILL NEVER END UNTIL THE US-WEST = NON-ISLAM IS PER SE DESTROYED, OR ISLAM ITSELF IS PER SE DESTROYED.
The commander of a powerful rebel movement in India's remote northeast was arrested along with a top deputy, officials said Friday, in a major blow to a separatist army already crippled by a string of arrests.
Indian officials said publicly that Arabinda Rajkhowa surrendered Friday. But security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the chairman of the United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, was actually arrested days earlier in Bangladesh, where he had long been thought to be hiding. The exact date was unclear.
Posted by: ed ||
12/04/2009 09:14 ||
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At least 26 people have been killed and many injured in an attack at a mosque in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Pakistani military officials say.
Reports suggest there was an initial suicide attack during Friday prayers followed by a series of explosions. Ambulances have rushed to the scene in the busy Qasim Market area of the city.
The Pakistani security forces have been targeted in a series of recent attacks. Nineteen people were killed in an army base attack in Rawalpindi in October. There has been a pattern of militant groups trying to attack security targets inside Pakistan recently, as the army pursues an offensive against militants in South Waziristan.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik says two suicide bombers blew themselves up one after the other inside the mosque, causing the roof of the building to collapse.
The area is cordoned off by the security forces and media have no access.
Some reports put the number of dead higher; an emergency services official in Rawalpindi told Reuters there were 39 dead and more than 40 injured.
The incident appears to have taken place near or inside the Parade Lane mosque where people were preparing for the Friday congregation. The mosque is a short distance from the army headquarters, in an area housing several offices of the defence establishment and the intelligence agencies.
Several militant attacks have taken place in this area in the recent past.
While there has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest incident, the Pakistani Taliban have carried out many recent attacks.
#1
This mosque contained the wrong brand of Muslims ('wrong', of course being a relative term?) Or just being near a government garrison was crime enough for death sentences? If our liberal overlords do not find this kind of bombing unnacceptable we might consider applying it as precedent for JDAMing mosques in neighborhoods we don't like.
#2
For something (we infidels have been told) a muslim would never do, it sure happens a lot.
Posted by: ed ||
12/04/2009 8:56 Comments ||
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#3
"muslims would never do"
well we HAVE been told that the terrorists arent really muslims, havent we?
Glenmore - its another way to kill Paki army officers. It seems clear the taliban on the run in NWFP, is doing their damndest to use the best weapon they have (suicide attacks) to intimidate the Paki army leadership.
Of course this is unnacceptable.
Become terrorists ourselves though, is not going to win us this war.
#5
we had military targets. we didnt target churches for the hell of it
Note well, I am ALL for targeting mosques when there are weapons stored there, they are used by snipers, etc. If THAT is what glenmore was referring to, then I withdraw my disagreement.
#6
we had military targets. we didnt target churches for the hell of it
That was true for most of the war. But as the fighting dragged on, Britain in particular was near collapse. Churchill intentionally ordered firebombing of civilian targets in Dresden and other cities to break the will of the German populace. The US joined the RAF in the raids.
The incident is discussed in at least one textbook on ethics, posing the question of whether in extreme cases the choices are between acts that are generally not ethical vs. accepting horrible consequences if they are not chosen. Others, including the USAF commission that reviewed the decision later, concluded Dresden was a legitimate military target, a transportation and communications nexus whose factories kept the Nazi war effort going. But Churchhill was clear about the decision he in particular was making.
It's a serious dilemna for leaders in such times. On the whole, I'm glad Churchill called it the way he did.
The modern belief, fervently embraced, is that there is always a clean, wholesome way out of a conflict and that the parties to a conflict always are either misunderstood or have legitimate grievances that justify their violence.
Sometimes, though, wars occur because the aggressor is truly evil. And in more than one such conflict in history the outcome hung by a very thread. The good guys don't always win and when they do it is sometimes due to extreme measures taken when other options seem exhausted. No such struggle occurs without leaving a mark on all concerned.
#7
LH,
I was not calling for indiscriminate bombing of mosques, but rather expressing exasperation that such behavior is at least tacitly condoned by our most civilized as long as it is done by our enemies.
If it's acceptable for them to blow up a mosque to kill a Pakistani officer attending services then would it be similarly acceptable for us to blow one up to kill a Taliban or Al Quaeda officer attending services? By extension, perhaps it's wrong for us to blow up houses and kill family members along with the AQ targets? That does seem to be a common position.
#8
It is hardly fair to say that Britain was near collapse in mid-February 1945 when Dresden was bombed. By then the Bulge was pretty well, if not completely, collapsed and there was no meaningful resistance left in the West, the Rhine was crossed three weeks later.
Nonetheless, this is what happens when you get in a Total War with the Anglo Saxons. And remember that more Americans are and were of German extraction than any other ethnic group. And ask any American from Georgia or South Carolina.
The muzzies would do well to consider what we were willing to do to our cousins when they, utterly unrelated to us, repeatedly and over extended periods of time threaten us with weapons of mass destruction. It will not be pretty. Cherem.
[Dawn] One policeman has lost his life while 12 others were injured in clashes between police and gang members in the Lyari area of Karachi, DawnNews reported.
According to police sources, Lyari gangsters also attacked a police armored vehicle with a rocket in which 4 police officers were injured.
A senior police official told Dawnnews that they have been instructed against going on all out offensive.
All injured including a child and woman have been shifted to Civil Hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Security forces were carrying out search and clearance operations in several areas in the South Waziristan tribal region.
During the operation, troops discovered 22 inter-linked tunnels being used by militants in the Garezai Algad area of South Waziristan's Shakai sector. Each tunnel was around six to seven feet in length.
In the Jandola sector, security forces conducted a search operation at Tsapparai and destroyed 15 militant bunkers.
In the Razmak sector, security forces cleared several compounds at Kot Band Khel and Iman Khel Zingai and defused nine improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Security forces also conducted search and clearance operations at Lawara Punga, Wucha Dara, Badam Shah, Zarnai Killi, Pasal Kot, Shahudin, Dwa Khula, Talakai, Khajai and Qalandar and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition.
One soldier was injured when militants fired rockets at Blanki Sar.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A police constable was injured in a bomb blast, which took place on the roadside at the Regi police check post in the suburbs of Peshawar, on Thursday.
According to police sources, the explosive device was planted in an area where the police was present at the time checking passing vehicles as part of a routine procedure.
Deputy Superintendent Police Haroon Babar said that the militants had targeted police officials on duty.
He said that the area bordered two tribal agencies and was a likely target.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Five militants were killed when security forces repelled attacks on three checkpoints in the Bajaur tribal area that borders Afghanistan, local official Adalat Khan said.
Pakistan faces heavy pressure from the US to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents who attack American and Afghan troops across the border.
The army has launched several offensives, including one under way in South Waziristan. Many fear the US plans to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan will push more militants into Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A clash with armed drug smugglers in southern Iran left four policemen dead, a government-owned Iranian newspaper said.
The IRNA daily said gunfire erupted after police stopped a truck with smugglers on Wednesday morning in Manoujan district, about 620 miles south of Tehran.
The report said the gunmen escaped, leaving some 440 pounds of opium and hashish at the site. Thursday's report provided no further details.
Such clashes are common in the area, which is a known route for drugs destined for Arab countries in the Persian Gulf and Europe from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Iranian authorities confiscate hundreds of tons of narcotics -- mostly opium -- every year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
confiscate hundreds of tons of narcotics
Which are then re-sold to support the Mosque and State?
[Geo News] Ten terrorists were killed during security forces' fresh offensive in Orakzai Agency today (Thursday).
According to sources, the security forces apprehended 41 extremists during search operation. In Orakzai Agency, security forces targeted militants' positions with gunship helicopters and jet planes, destroying one militants' training facility and five vehicles.
In addition, 10 militants were also killed in the offensive.
According to the Deputy Inspector General of Kohat, Abdul Qayyum Khan, police and security forces arrested 42 militants and seized a cache of arms from their possession.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Security forces on Thursday arrested 13 extremists, including three key militants commanders, and seized a cache of arms and ammunition from their custody during fresh offensive in Khyber Agency.
According to the Frontier Corps media cell, the security forces conducted operation in Akakhel area of Bara tehsil, arresting 13 militants and recovering huge number of weapons.
According to the media cell, the arrested militants also include three key commanders, who were trying to escape by wearing ladies dresses.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] At least nine people have lost their lives and ten others sustained injuries in a bomb explosion that ripped through a popular market in Tikrit, located in Iraq's northern Salahuddin province.
The terrorist attack on a crowded street targeted Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Subhi al-Fahal, who was conducting a patrol in the vicinity of al-Atibaa market, in central Tikrit, an Iraqi police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on condition of anonymity.
He added that Fahal -- the commander of the Salahuddin riot police -- alongside four of his bodyguards, as well as four civilians were killed in the incident. Ten people, among them two police officers, were wounded in the bombing in Tikrit, situated 140 km (87 miles) northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river.
Security forces cordoned off the area after the attack and launched an investigation to look into the motive behind the incident. Ambulances and civilian cars, meanwhile, evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
Explosions, rampant throughout the war-battered Iraq, claim civilian lives and leave many wounded almost daily in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder if the motive was to generate anti-government disorder - or to take revenge against some former Hussein henchman?
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iraqi security forces have reportedly managed to arrest two senior military commanders with links to the terrorist al-Qaeda network in Iraq's northern Nineveh province.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that judicial warrants to arrest the two men had been issued six months ago, and that their interrogation is being conducted by senior police officers.
Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq are said to have formed an alliance with Baath Party extremists loyal to the former dictator Saddam Hussein, a move American and Iraqi officials describe as a marriage of convenience. Al-Qaeda in Iraq is believed to supply the suicide bombers with explosives while the Baathist extremists provide the logistics and planning.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq was headed by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until he was killed in a US air strike in June 2006. His successor, Masri, was Zarqawi's close associate who has a US bounty of $ 5 million on his head.
Iraqi and US officials blame al-Qaeda in Iraq for most of the major bombings in the country, including an attack on a revered Shia shrine in Samarra in February 2006 that sparked a wave of sectarian carnage that nearly tipped Iraq into an all-out civil war.
However, many observers insists that US and UK have a joint and key interest and thus a hand in such terrorist bombings against purely civilian targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM/TOPIX > GATES: AL QAEDA MAY TRY TO IGNITE CONFLICT [War] BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND INDIA; + AL QAEDA USING LeT FOR TERROR STRIKES IN INDIA [+ Talibs in PAK[..
#3
Yes we have. Damned good thing Dubya stood firm.
Time for us to complete the shift to oversight, backup, training and logistics. Make Iraq quiet enough that WaPo and the NYT won't bother to cover it anymore. That's how we'll know we've won.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/04/2009 9:58 Comments ||
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#4
yup it was, one of the best decisions of his presidency.
Good thing he got rid of the SecDef who was fighting the strategy for over 3 years, and elevated Gates and Petraeus and Mullen over the old team. I note that team is still in place.
Wapo and NYT regularly cover lots of places with zero US troops. Often quite interesting stories.
#5
it was interesting listening to the hearings the other day.
The dems were all like, well, we are skeptical of the escalation, but will go along. The GOP was all, well we are skeptical of the withdrawl date, but we will go along.
There was ONE, precisely ONE (at least AFAICT) Senator who completely supported Obama, and accepted fully the qualifications on the withdrawl date.
Russia asked Israel on Thursday for assistance in securing its public transportation system in the wake of last week's terrorist attack on a train near Moscow, Army Radio reported.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Victor Zubkov, requested that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman allow the committee investigating the attack to visit Israel.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru ||
12/04/2009 11:43 ||
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#1
The Chechens did it, you issued their passports.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli army soldiers have arrested and taken as many as fifteen Palestinians into custody following pre-dawn raids in a number of occupied West Bank towns.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, those detained in Thursday's overnight operations were from the cities of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, as well as Tubas. A large number of Israeli troops cordoned off and ransacked the residents' houses in the towns, in pursuit of 'key documents.'
The Israeli army regularly arrests Palestinians during overnight raids in West Bank towns. The detentions are in flagrant violation of a security agreement with the Palestinian National Authority.
Tel Aviv claims that those arrested in the raids are 'wanted activists' taken for interrogation.
More than 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities under harsh and life-threatening circumstances.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Ma'an -- The Israeli army claimed that one of its battalions discovered three explosive charges on the road side near a military base at the Beit El settlement north of Ramallah on Thursday.
Israel Radio said one of the charges contained five kilograms of explosives and another contained three kilograms.
The two charges were detonated without incident, according to the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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Terrorists Suspected insurgents stormed a house and shot dead a couple and their teenage son who were having dinner on Thursday, in the restive southern Thailand. In a separate incident this morning, another group of terrorists suspected insurgents detonated a bomb near a stall, injuring two women and two soldiers.
In the first incident at the Tebak Village of Tungyangdeang district in Pattani, several gunmen shot dead the couple identified only as Abdulllah, 45, and his wife, Hah Sahak, 40, and their son, Abdullaateh, 18. The victims died on the spot.
At the Muang district of Pattani, terrorists suspected insurgents detonated a bomb hidden in a motorcycle parked near a stall selling pork, injuring two women and two soldiers. A police spokesman said the bomb was detonated using mobile phone and targeted at soldiers who came to buy breakfast at the market.
Meanwhile, a long-standing separatist group has welcomed the planned visit by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to Narathiwat on Wednesday. Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) vice-president Kasturi Mahkota said they hoped the historic meeting would generate a more conducive atmosphere for continuing dialogue between the Thai Government and separatist groups.
He said Pulo was encouraged by Abhisit's recent statements regarding a lasting solution to the conflict, adding that allowing the people of Pattani to elect their own representatives to govern the southern provinces would pave way for that. "This will provide a good basis for an agreement that could lead to a laying down of arms and lasting peace in the Pattani region," he said in a statement posted on Pulo website.
#1
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > BANGALADESH: ANOTHER TALIBAN-STAN IN THE MAKING + RISE OF ISLAMIC MILITANCY AND ETHNIC CLEANSING N BANGLADESH.
ARTICS > up to 20.0MILYUHN BANGLA HINDUS have mysteriously disappeared in Bangla, likely from ALL CAUSES [espec Islamist-led violence + covert Migration = Escape? back into India, etc. Regional areas].
* SAME > TALIBAN SUFFOCATE PAKISTAN'S BUDDHIST HERITAGE.
I know, I know, we're supposed to bringing you news, but by gum WaPo has noticed, and that makes it 'officially' news ...
Iran has imported piles of North Korean-made conventional weapons, the Washington Post reported Thursday, even though both countries are under UN sanctions over their nuclear programs. Weapons also went to two Palestinian militant organizations, the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Islamist Hamas, the paper said.
To avoid international pursuit, the North Korean weapons were "shipped halfway around the globe in sealed containers, labeled as oil-drilling supplies, that passed through a succession of freighters and ports," including China, Southeast Asia and the Dubai free trade zone, before reaching Iran, it said.
One example was a shipment of North Korean weapons aboard the ANL Australia which was confiscated by United Arab Emirates authorities on July 22. According to U.S. and UN officials, the ship carried 2,030 detonators for 122 mm multiple rocket launchers, as well as electric circuitry and solid-fuel propellant for rockets, which Hamas and Hezbollah use when attacking Israel.
The U.A.E. made no official announcement, but the paper said the shipment of North Korean weapons consisted of 10 cargo containers. They left the North Korean port of Nampo on May 30, five days after the North's second nuclear test on May 25 and before the UN Security Council adopted a fresh resolution sanctioning the North.
The UNSC adopted Resolution 1874 on June 12, extending the arms embargo on North Korea and authorizing member states to inspect its cargo on land, sea, and air. By that time, the vessel carrying the arms had already arrived in China. The containers were transferred to a Chinese ship in the northern port of Dalian on June 13.
From there, they were ferried to Shanghai, where they were moved to a third ship, the ANL Australia, a 47,326 ton freighter. They were finally discovered at the port of Khor Fakkan in the U.A.E. The officials claimed that there were as many as five such smuggling attempts since early this year.
Or fifty, given that smugglers generally don't announce the latest arrivals ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > UN COMPLETES NUCLEAR SEISMIC WARNING STATION NEAR IRAN BORDER.
* SAME > NORTH KOREA GETS EVEN HUNGRIER + NORTH KOREA ARMY ON ALERT FOR MORE UNREST.
#3
...I don't know what's worse: the fact that for all the Iranian claims of building stealth hypersonic plasma-drive underwater rocket planes, they still have to buy basic weaponry from the Norks...or the fact that they seem to think they're gonna need all this stuff.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/04/2009 7:49 Comments ||
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#4
yes, but 'Bama says: "the United States doesn't dictate the nuclear policies of other countries." Ergo: the ayatollahs - who believe this is "the end of days" have a right to develop and site nuclear tipped ICBMs, and target them at the US Homeland. And, pre-emption is un-American. Maintenance of fundamental American values, trumps the protection of millions of American lives.
Lesson: you get what you vote for. Not that Bush Jr didn't kiss muslim butt.
#5
Maintenance of fundamental ANTI-American values, trumps the protection of millions of American lives.
Fixed it for ya - no charge.
Why does Obumble feel that we have to apologize for defending American lives, our freedoms, and our way of life? Unless of course he is against all that.
[Dawn] A clash with armed drug smugglers in southern Iran left four policemen dead, a government-owned Iranian newspaper said.
The IRNA daily said gunfire erupted after police stopped a truck with smugglers on Wednesday morning in Manoujan district, about 620 miles south of Tehran.
The report said the gunmen escaped, leaving some 440 pounds of opium and hashish at the site. Thursday's report provided no further details.
Such clashes are common in the area, which is a known route for drugs destined for Arab countries in the Persian Gulf and Europe from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Iranian authorities confiscate hundreds of tons of narcotics -- mostly opium -- every year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They also sell tons of narcotics every year.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/04/2009 0:07 Comments ||
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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.
[Iran Press TV Latest] US President Barack Obama has given a green light for the deployment of an extra reinforcement forces of 3,000 to Afghanistan to support the additional 30,000 troops he has ordered to be deployed there. 
The Dutch navy has arrested 13 Somali pirates who attempted to hijack a cargo ship south of Oman. The EU anti-piracy task force Navfor says the cargo ship - called MV BBC Togo - had barbed wire defences and held off an attack by two fast skiffs. The Dutch warship Evertsen later found a dhow with two skiffs fitting the description in the area.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday said it was scaling down relief work across Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region to protect its staff from a spate of kidnappings.
[Maghrebia] Three Spanish aid workers kidnapped in Mauritania on November 29th are believed to have been moved from Mauritania, and the incident may have scuppered the possibility of talks between imprisoned Salafists and the government. 
[Bangla Daily Star] Founder of banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (Huji) Sheikh Abdus Salam yesterday confessed to his involvement in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally.
[Bangla Daily Star] Two top leaders of banned outfit Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML) were killed in a "shootout" between their cohorts and law enforcers at Kedarganj in Chuadanga district early yesterday.
[Bangla Daily Star] Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has been taken to Delhi from Tripura where he surrendered to the security forces, report BBC News and Indian media.
[Bangla Daily Star] A Jessore court yesterday granted a seven-day remand for Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan in Udichi blast case.
(Bloomberg) -- Russian police found a car laden with explosives at a railroad station near the Finnish border, five days after a train bombing killed 26 people in the country's worst terror attack outside the North Caucasus since 2004.
[Dawn] One policeman has lost his life while 12 others were injured in clashes between police and gang members in the Lyari area of Karachi, DawnNews reported. 
[Dawn] Security forces were carrying out search and clearance operations in several areas in the South Waziristan tribal region.
[Dawn] A police constable was injured in a bomb blast, which took place on the roadside at the Regi police check post in the suburbs of Peshawar, on Thursday. 
[Dawn] Five militants were killed when security forces repelled attacks on three checkpoints in the Bajaur tribal area that borders Afghanistan, local official Adalat Khan said.
[Dawn] A clash with armed drug smugglers in southern Iran left four policemen dead, a government-owned Iranian newspaper said.
[Geo News] Ten terrorists were killed during security forces' fresh offensive in Orakzai Agency today (Thursday). 
[Geo News] Security forces on Thursday arrested 13 extremists, including three key militants commanders, and seized a cache of arms and ammunition from their custody during fresh offensive in Khyber Agency. 
Fahal, who was conducting a patrol in the vicinity of al-Atibaa market, in central Tikrit, an Iraqi police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on condition of anonymity. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iraqi security forces have reportedly managed to arrest two senior military commanders with links to the terrorist al-Qaeda network in Iraq's northern Nineveh province. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli army soldiers have arrested and taken as many as fifteen Palestinians into custody following pre-dawn raids in a number of occupied West Bank towns. 
[Ma'an] Ma'an -- The Israeli army claimed that one of its battalions discovered three explosive charges on the road side near a military base at the Beit El settlement north of Ramallah on Thursday. 
[Dawn] A clash with armed drug smugglers in southern Iran left four policemen dead, a government-owned Iranian newspaper said.
