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531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 66 articles and 223 comments as of 10:24.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Taliban Capture Barg-e-Matal District in Nooristan
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Susan George aka Amy Sumner in "Straw Dogs" (age 60)

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/26/2010 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Yum! Eggs and a giant waffle help a growing boy boy to , um, . . . grow.
Posted by: ScottR || 07/26/2010 1:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Susan George!
In Straw Dogs!
Ageless!
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/26/2010 1:46 Comments || Top||

#4  I like it, but seems as though noobs are going to be wondering what things like "Magic Kingdom" mean. Maybe we could use some kind of translation table somewhere for the more obscure terms?
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2010 5:05 Comments || Top||

#5  "Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho?"
-- FZ
Posted by: mojo || 07/26/2010 17:07 Comments || Top||

#6  I wonder if we need to run every article through the translator, or only those from American sources. I mean, the Daily Times (Pakistan) and Al Arabiya aren't likely to partake in any copyright infringement suits against a little -- or even big -- weblog.

Agree about gorb's concern that new readers will not grasp some code words (the Magic Kingdom) without translation. Saooodi Arabia is more accessible than the Magic Kingdom, Pakistain than The Land of the Pure, hard boyz than badmen, at least within the text of the article. The more creative labels are appropriate for in-lines and comment posts, though. I mean, some of us even manage to puzzle out JosephM's comments -- they're better than crosswords that math thingy for keeping the brain flexible!
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2010 17:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Hello TW !,
TM has his way but that's what give's this place that little extra zing. He is a challenge and you really have to think when you read him.
Posted by: Dale || 07/26/2010 21:29 Comments || Top||

#8  I like it, but seems as though noobs are going to be wondering what things like "Magic Kingdom" mean.

Saudi Arabia was mentioned in the body of the post, fwiw.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2010 21:52 Comments || Top||

#9  TM has his way but that's what give's this place that little extra zing.

Hi, Dale! Rantburg is so full of extra zing it's scary sometimes. But that delightful scary that keeps one on one's toes, I think. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2010 22:52 Comments || Top||

#10  The routine's not translating "Saudi Arabia" yet. When it does it'll probably become either "Soddy Arabia" or "the Saudi Entity."
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 23:17 Comments || Top||

#11  Both work, Fred. Version 2.0 can alternate. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2010 23:35 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
45 Civilians Killed in Helmand Province
[Tolo News] Residents in the Sangin District of Helmand province claimed that a missile fired by foreign forces hit a residential house on Friday and killed 45 Afghan civilians

Residents in the district said that the incident took place two days ago after the foreign forces were targeted by the Taliban fighters.

Witnesses said that a number of people in an attempt to survive gunfire, had refuged themselves in a residential house when the house was hit by a foregin forces' missile.

The Afghan President in a Press Release presented his condolences to the victims' families.

Meanwhile, the President has ordered his national security advisor to investigate about the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban Capture Barg-e-Matal District in Nooristan
[Tolo News] Governor for Nuristan province Sunday announced that the Taliban took full control of Barg-e-Matal district on Saturday night.

Provincial governor, Jamaluddin Badar said that Afghan security forces on Saturday night withdrew from the district because of a lack in weapons and also in order to avoid civilian casualties.

The Taliban have set houses in the district on fire, he said.

While Provincial officials said that the number of deaths left by the Taliban raid is not clear, but Nooristan Police Chief highlighted that at least, 28 bad boyz were killed in the attack. "In a bid to prevent civilian deaths, our forces drove to the northern part of the province at 11pm. currently, the Taliban have full control of the district," said Jamaluddin Badar in a contact form the province.

Some days ago, nearly 700 Pakistaini and Afghan Taliban were surrounded in the Barg-e-Matal district, when they were trying to capture the challenging district.

The provincial governor had warned frequently that if the central government and foreign forces do not cooperate, the district would fall in the hands of the Taliban.

The central government lost it control over the district at a time that the Afghan President made a commitment of full security transmission to the Afghan forces by 2014 just last week in a conference of top foreign officials.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
300 bullets found hidden in cabbages
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Police in Nyeri have seized 300 bullets stuffed in a bag full of cabbages.

A man said to be the owner of the bag was arrested in Karatina Town in a matatu from Isiolo, according to witnesses.

Unconfirmed reports said an AK-47 was also recovered. The seizure comes as security agencies have been alerted on the proliferation of illegal firearms in the region.

Two months ago, police arrested a man at Matuu on the Nairobi-Garissa highway with seven guns and 27 rounds of ammunition.

No questions asked

Central provincial commissioner Japhter Rugut said security agents were on the lookout for weapons from northern Kenya, from where criminals could be smuggling weapons to escape a disarmament programme launched in places like Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu.

More than 500 guns and 1,500 bullets have been recovered from those areas. The disarmament follows an amnesty period during which pastoralists were asked to give up their weapons with no questions asked.

But some villagers have refused to surrender their weapons due to an entrenched gun culture in which the weapons are used to raid other communities for livestock.

Police believe these individuals are smuggling the weapons to other areas, including Central and Nairobi provinces, and have intensified vehicle searches, especially those travelling from northern Kenya.

Detectives believe about 200 illegal firearms may have fallen into criminal hands through this network.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I knew cabbages had to be good for something other than eggrolls.
Posted by: American Delight || 07/26/2010 5:56 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Mauritania continues raid on Mali al-Qaeda camp
[Maghrebia] The Mauritanian army is continuing its operation against a desert camp in Mali belonging to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, local and international press quoted a Mauritanian military official as saying on Saturday (July 24th). "Combing and tracking operations are continuing against the al-Qaeda terrorist camps and we have been able to seize a new arsenal of weapons, explosives and ammunition," Al Jazeera quoted the source as saying.

Also on Saturday, the French Defence Ministry confirmed that between 20-30 French intelligence agents and special forces took part in the attack. No clues about the fate of French hostage Michel Germaneau have yet been uncovered in the raid, during which several "armed terrorists" have been killed or wounded, according to an official Mauritanian source quoted by RFI.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  FRANCE = FRENCH PRESIDENT SARKOZY is vowing REVENGE for the repor beheading of Frehch hostage Michael Germaneau by AQ.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2010 23:18 Comments || Top||

#2  What could President Sarkozy do besides send in the Foreign Legion or a small unit of French Special Forces, JosephM? And would he actually send in the military?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2010 23:38 Comments || Top||


Morocco seeks extradition of suspected terrorists from Senegal
[Maghrebia] Morocco has requested the extradition from Senegal of suspected terrorists Si Mohamed, Mohamed Brigph Nadane and Moulaye Abdelhani Nadan, who were arrested on June 1st in Dakar, AFP reported on Friday (July 23rd). The Moroccan trio's lawyer, Assane Dioma Ndiaye, said: "Morocco at first issued an arrest warrant and then demanded their extradition on about June 10." The lawyer said the three are "suspected of having been recruited by an organisation based in Somalia, whose goal...is to commit attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Morocco". A source close to Senegal's Ministry of Justice confirmed that Morocco "has asked for the extradition of these three Moroccans accused of terrorism", The Independent reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Arabia
Truce broken between rebels & tribes in Yemen
Autoedited by Rantburg
[Al Arabiya Latest] Fresh clashes erupted on Sunday in north Yemen between Iranian catspaws and government-backed primitives after a 24-hour truce that followed fighting in which dozens of people were ejected from the gene pool, a mediator told AFP.

The latest festivities came just hours after President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he did not want another war with the Houthis, after a week of clashes reportedly killed around 70 people.

The mediator said rebels attacked a military vehicle in the al-Amishiya region of Amran province, causing the closure of the main road linking the capital to the rebel base of Saada just a day after it was reopened.

Sunday's clash resulted in the death of six soldiers, residents contacted by telephone from Sanaa told AFP.

The fighting, in which automatic weapons and cannons were used, broke out after a truce negotiated on Saturday foundered over differences "about control of a position held by men of the bin Aziz tribe," the mediator said.

Requesting anonymity, the mediator said tribal chief "Sheikh Saghir Aziz rejected a rebel condition" for the truce "that he leave al-Amishiya and pull out his men from a position at al-Zaala, and not hand it over to the army."

The strategic position controls the Sanaa-Saada road.

"Sheikh Saghir Aziz has accepted a withdrawal from this position, but on condition that it be handed over to the army -- which the rebels reject," the mediator said.

Saleh on Sunday said he did not want another war with the Shiite Zaidi rebels in northern Yemen, also known as Houthis. "Peace, security and stability are the choice of the state," he said at a military ceremony. "I say no to another war.

"Stop jeopardising the security and stability of the province of Saada," Saleh said, referring to the restive region that has been the scene of on-off confrontations since a Houthi rebellion began in 2004.

"Houthis who are defying rules and laws should implement" the ceasefire agreement which ended the last round of the war in February, the president said.

Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dat ceasefire didn't last very long, did it?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2010 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  "I looked around me and -- thhhhhp! -- it was gone!"
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Not worth the hookah-smoke it was written on.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2010 21:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Do they smoke over there, Pappy? I thought they were into dribbling green from stuffing their mouths with khat leaves... written on green dribble is truly icky, though no less temporary.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2010 23:40 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Tribunal hears first war crime petition today
[Bangla Daily Star] Four months into formation of the International Crimes Tribunal, the special prosecution yesterday filed the first petition with the court seeking direction to show four top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders arrested or detained on charges of committing war crimes in 1971.

The four accused are Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojahid, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, both senior assistant secretaries general.

This is the first ever incident in the history of judiciary to seek direction to show any person arrested under the International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973 as the incumbent government has taken initiatives to try war criminals under this law.

The three-member Tribunal headed by Justice Nizamul Huq yesterday accepted the petition and fixed 10:30am today for holding hearing on it. Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and Justice AKM Zaheer Ahmed are the other two judges of the tribunal.

The Tribunal for the first time would sit this morning in the open courtroom set up at the old High Court building. The courtroom was readied yesterday removing all the dumping materials and dirty stuffs.

The six-member prosecution team formed only to work in the Tribunal submitted the petition through its registrar at the court building.

After filing the petition, Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu briefed journalists saying, "We have submitted a petition against the four seeking necessary lawful steps from the Tribunal to keep them confined.

"We made the prayer so that they cannot escape or create obstruction in investigation and that the investigation agency can smoothly conduct probes into allegations against them of committing genocide, murder, rape, torture, loot, and arson during the Liberation War of 1971," he said.

He however rejected outright that the petition sought the Tribunal's direction to have the Jamaat leaders arrested or detained in any specific case, including one filed with Pallabi police.

"Our petition [against the four] has been filed on charges against them for committing offences under section 3 of the International Crimes Tribunal Act," Tipu said.

The investigation agency will probe offences mentioned in section 3 of the Act: crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, genocide, violation of any humanitarian rules during armed conflicts as laid down in the Geneva Convention of 1949, any other crimes under international laws, attempt, abetment or conspiracy to commit any such crimes and complicity in or failure to prevent commission of any such crime.

Hours after Tipu's briefing, Registrar of the Tribunal Md Shahinur Islam told newspersons the investigation agency formed under the International Crimes Tribunal Act started investigation based on a "Complaint Petition" of July 21 this year in which Nizami, Mojahid, Kamaruzzaman and Molla were made accused.

Sources say this "Complaint Petition" is the case of Pallabi police station which was transferred to the Tribunal on July 21.

On July 21, a Dhaka court sent this case to the Tribunal on charge of killing 345 people during the Liberation War.

On January 25, 2008, Mohammad Amir Hossain Mollah, a wounded freedom fighter and resident of Pallabi's Duaripara, filed this case with Pallabi police accusing Nizami, Mojahid, Kamaruzzaman, Quader and three other Jamaat men, and three non-Bangalees for the massacre of 345 people.

The registrar said the chief prosecutor mentioned in the petition that arrest or detention of the four accused is inevitable for fair and effective investigation into allegations brought in the case under the International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973.

Prosecution sources say they would submit a petition to the tribunal soon for necessary order to show some other Jamaat leaders arrested or detained on the same charges.

RECORDS OF HISTORY
War records show Jamaat formed Razakar and Al-Badr forces to counter the freedom fighters in 1971. "Razakar" was established by former secretary general of Jamaat Moulana Abul Kalam Mohammad Yousuf, and "Badr Bahini" included the Islami Chhatra Sangha members.

Study of history also shows Matiur Rahman Nizami, incumbent Ameer of Jamaat, was the then president of Islami Chhatra Sangha.

He was quoted as saying on September 15, 1971 by Jamaat's mouthpiece the Daily Sangram: "Everyone of us should assume the role of a Muslim soldier of an Islamic state and through cooperation to the oppressed and by winning their confidence we must kill those who are hatching conspiracy against Pakistan and Islam."

Nizami's speech is evident in the September 8, 1971 issue of the Daily Sangram that carried a report headlined "Chhatra Shangha activists will protect every inch of Pakistan's land".

In 1971, Mojahid directed his party workers to build Al-Badr Bahini to resist freedom fighters, according to a "Fortnightly Secret Report on the Situation in East Pakistan". In line with an official procedure, the report had regularly been dispatched by the then East Pakistan home ministry to General Yahya Khan, the head of the government.

Many researches, academic studies, accounts of both victims and collaborators, and publications including newspapers revealed that Mojahid, who headed the Al-Badr team in Dhaka at the time, allegedly led those who had been involved in the killings of the intellectuals only two days before the victory of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman has a tainted past with Islami Chhatra Sangha and is blamed for his close links to the Al-Badr force.

"The Chhatra Sangha of Mymensingh district was converted into the Al-Badr force and provided with military training. The man responsible for organising the Chhatra Sangha into the Al-Badr was the then chief of the Mymensingh district Islami Chhatra Sangha, Kamaruzzaman," a book titled "Genocide '71" says.

In the early 1990s, a People's Inquiry Commission was formed to investigate the activities of war criminals and collaborators.

Abdul Quader Molla was known as a "butcher" to Bangladeshis in the Dhaka suburb of Mirpur in 1971, according to the report of the commission headed by the late poet Begum Sufia Kamal.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami

#1  40 year delay? And I thought our red tape was bad.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2010 16:15 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Tamaulipas: Mexican Army Seizes Weapons Cache
Google Translate. For a map, click here.
A Mexican Army units seized a large munitions cache in far southern Tamaulipas, including a grenade launcher, according to Mexican press reports.

Reports say a man exited outside of a home in Ciudad Madero in the Lucio Blanco district carrying a weapon in front of the army patrol. An investigation at the scene yielded a number of weapons and materiel.

Seized were: a rocket launcher, 19 grenades, 33 rifles and shotguns total, two 9mm submachine guns, 208 magazines two sound supressors, more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition for various weapons.
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Coahuila: Prisoners, Guards Linked to Three Massacres
Google Translate. For a map, click here.
Prisoners and guards let out of a prison in Durango at night are being tied to at least three massacres in Torreon, Coahuila according to Mexican press reports.

Only a few days ago a video from groups associated with the criminal gang Los Zetas surfaced on the Internet in which a Lerdo, Durango police officer, Rodolfo Najera, told gang members that people from the Durango Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) No.2 in Gomez Palacio were involved in the planning and execution of the July 18th Torreon massacre in which 17 people were shot to death. In the same video Najera was executed.

On Thursday, Mexican Federal agents, soldiers and local police descended on the CERESO and placed under arrest 35 people, four of them top prison officials, including Margarita Rojas Rodriguez, the top prison official.

Rojas Rodriguez was placed in 20 days preventative detention, a Federal legal device used against those charged with serious crimes, along with three other prison officials: Roberto Enrique Sahuayo, head of security and surveillance, Francisco Carlos Alberto Uranga, deputy director, and Jose Guadalupe Ordaz Rivas, head of security and surveillance.

Formal charges have not been filed. Preventative detention is a means of detaining persons until formal charges can be brought.

However, during a Sunday press conference in Mexico City, Mexican Secretary of Interior Franscisco Blake, specifically said Rojas Rodriguez gave permission for the excursions. Sunday evening the current governor of Durango, Ismael Hernandez Deras, called the prison officials "traitors".

According to officials with the Mexican national attorney general, Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR), weapons assigned to prison guards have already been linked to the July 18th massacre at Quinta Italia in in east Torreon, the May 15th massacre at the Juanas bar in Torreon with eight dead and another massacre at the Ferri bar, also in Torreon, in January which also killed eight.

PGR officials say that prisoners and guards were used to settle scores, being let out nightly to carry out attacks, although press reports did not elaborate. Official vehicles were also used in attacks as well.
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


More Mexican Mayhem
14 Die in Northern Mexico Violence

Fourteen individuals died in ongoing drug and gang violence in northern Mexican states including an ambush on Mexican Federal agents and four presumed gang members tortured and shot to death.
  • Seven unidentified individuals were shot to death in two separate crimes Saturday in Juarez, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka.

    The first shooting took place outside a hair salon near the intersection of calles Himno Nacional and Jose Casavantes in the Felipe del Real district. Witnesses say a group of armed suspects arrived at the location aboard a Ford Explorer, entered the business and started firing. Four people were killed and a fifth was wounded in the attack.

    The second attack took place at a residence near the intersection of calles Ignacio Mejía and Magnesio in the Los Portales district where two teenagers and an adult were shot to death by unknown gunmen

  • Three unidentified Mexican Federal agents were wounded in an ambush in Juarez Saturday, according to Mexican press reports. The attack took place near the intersection of calles Hiedra and Clouthier in the district where the agents were stopped at a filling station for water and fuel for their vehicles when armed suspects riding aboard vehicles open fired. The firefight lasted about 20 minutes, and the suspects fled the scene when reinforcements arrived.

  • A man was found shot to death in Parral, Chihuahua, according to Mexican press reports. Jesus Arroyo Rodriguez, 46, was shot three times and hit in the head and torso near the intersection of calles Agustin Melgar and Callejon Guerrero in Parral.

  • Two unidentified men in their 20s were shot to death in south Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, according to Mexican press reports. The shooting took place near the intersection of calle Prolongacion de Hilario Martinez and privada Siete de Septiembre. Both men were were bound by their hands and feet, and shot in the head.

  • Four unidentified men were found tortured and shot to death in an empty bullring in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas early Sunday morning, according to Mexican press reports. The corpses were found handcuffed and gagged with messages scrawled on cardboard. Reports say the deaths were probably related to the recently ended gun battles between criminal gangs in the streets of Nuevo Laredo which ended Thursday with the arrival of Mexican Army units.
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Photos: aftermath of terrorist attack on hydro power plant in Russia
On 21st, July some terrorists got into the territory of Baksanskaya hydroelectric power plant. They killed two guards, beat two operators of the generator hall and planted five bombs there. Four of them did work. As a result two generating sets were disabled.

All in all the HPP has three generating sets of overall power 25 mW. Terrorists managed to destroy two generating sets and two oil outdoor switchgears.
Damage assessment, anyone? Who worked with generators before?
Posted by: gromky || 07/26/2010 09:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Red Storm Rising?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/26/2010 14:38 Comments || Top||

#2  the who done it is addressed here

yes, it appears to be a jihad attack with an ethnic dimension
Posted by: lord garth || 07/26/2010 15:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Are we sure it wasn't just lousy turbines, like they sold us?
Posted by: mojo || 07/26/2010 17:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like most of the inside damage was 'fire related' except for the electrical controller shown in the second photo and the top deck of the turbine in the third, those may have been 'boomed' by a close-by explosive detonation. Would take a good sized charge to warp the turbine deck (probably laid in at its base), but something smaller like a hand grenade could have damaged the electrical control.

The outdoor oil-filled transformer (6th photo down) was damaged in an explosion set by a charge at its base, plus the oil that WAS inside to cool the copper coils spewed out, probably catching fire as it did. Would have taken a fair amount of explosive to do this as the 'cans' around the transformer coils are fairly sturdy as a rule.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 07/26/2010 18:13 Comments || Top||

#5  An amateurish and quickly placed charge of from 3-5 kilos of Semtex probably aided by a few gallons of petrol fire initiator. Just a guess. Professionals would have placed the charge on the shaft itself, not the base.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2010 18:33 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
3,000 terrorists for India battle: Pak Taliban
Posted by: john frum || 07/26/2010 15:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  TTP spokesperson Azam Tariq told this correspondent in a telephone interview that the TTP has vowed to capture "Hindustan".

"India is our jageer (domain)," Tariq said, "and we will attack to take possession of it. We are training lots of fighters and suicide bombers who will be used for this purpose."
Posted by: john frum || 07/26/2010 15:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Were the Indians to round up all 3,000, they might consider doing to them what Kamehameha did to his enemies on Oahu, in the battle of Nu'uanu. As in, throw them off a high cliff.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2010 16:14 Comments || Top||

#3  "Were the Indians to round up all 3,000"

Not necessary to round them all up to do that, 'moose.

Any number would do - though I agree the more learning to fly the better. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/26/2010 17:59 Comments || Top||

#4  They have to cross the Indian border first
Posted by: john frum || 07/26/2010 18:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Soo-o-o IIUC once the US-NATO formally begin their pre-scheduled = phased withdrawal from Aghanistan [AFPAK] come 2011-2015, INDJUH WILL BE HIT.

To paraphase AL BUNDY > "WHAT A SHOCK [Not]... ... WHY DID YOU DO IT, PEG, WHY"?!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2010 20:39 Comments || Top||


Maoist camp destroyed in 20-hour Jharkhand gunfight
Posted by: john frum || 07/26/2010 15:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Six Naxals killed in an encounter in West Bengal
Posted by: john frum || 07/26/2010 14:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Twenty-one militants killed in Kurram, Orakzai
Autoedited by Rantburg
[Dawn] Twenty-one hard boys were killed during a fresh military operation in Kurram Agency, home of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, not necessarily in that order, and Upper Orakzai Agency on Sunday.

According to officials, security forces claim to have killed 15 hard boys when fighter jets bombarded Upper Orakzai's Mamozai and Dabori areas. They also destroyed five hard boy hideouts during the attack.

Security forces claim to have also killed six hard boys in Kurram Agency, home of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, not necessarily in that order.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP


US drone strikes kill 8 in Pakistan
Autoedited by Rantburg
[Iran Press TV Latest] Two US dronezaps have left at least eight people dead in Pakistain's northwestern tribal region amid growing discontent over the issue.

Officials say at least four people were killed and two others wounded in the latest attack on Dargah Mandi village in North Wazoo.

In an earlier attack, US drones fired two missiles at a compound in South Wazoo, killing four.

US drones have targeted the region several times over the past two days.

The US has carried out numerous such attacks on Pakistain's tribal areas. About 1,000 people -- mostly civilians -- have been killed over the past two years.
I just heard Goebbels' corpse snicker. Even the Pak press doesn't make that claim...
Washington claims the strikes target hard boys. Islamabad has repeatedly condemned the attacks, saying they violate Pakistain's sovereignty.

The issue of civilian casualties has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington with the Pakistaini government repeatedly objecting to the attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Hmm. For articles that have a muslim country in the title, how about:

{ civilians | innocent civilians } => { innocent civilians | "civilians" | mostly innocent civilians | terrorist groupies | fluffy bunnies | baby ducks | . . . . }

Man, that could be a long list. Maybe make an array out of that and have the translator pick one at random. You could add to the array every time you come up with another good one.
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2010 2:27 Comments || Top||

#2  [ Pakistain's northwestern tribal region ] => [Northwest Province of Pashtunistan | ISI training camp 2]

Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2010 2:43 Comments || Top||

#3  ISI training camp 2

Do you mean 202?
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2010 5:01 Comments || Top||

#4  These dronezaps have been going on for a while at a fairly constant rate. Assuming we are not just whacking random jihadis with expensive weapons (not that I would really mind), this must be taking a toll on their leadership.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/26/2010 12:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Seems Mr OBAMA don't give a shit about what What YALL GOOD OBOY Mc Cain says we should or shouldn't do in PAK .
Knowing you should be thanking the pres for the massively increased drone attacks since Mr B it hurts i bet but get over
ya it Their is a new Pres in town doing alot better than some would thought including rantbabies.
Posted by: Play4Keeps || 07/26/2010 14:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Looks like he's got a lock on the illiterate segment.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/26/2010 14:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Well...I'll bet the new translator can't make any sense out of that.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2010 14:32 Comments || Top||

#8  "I'll bet the new translator can't make any sense out of that."

Why should it, tu? Nobody else can (including the "writer").
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/26/2010 14:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Time well spent guys lol. I knew that salt would burn you're already heaping wounds. ;)

Which pretty much proves my point.
Posted by: Play4Keeps || 07/26/2010 16:11 Comments || Top||

#10  Well, Play4keeps, you don't know the difference between your and you're. The first is possesive and the second means you are. Learn how to use them correctly.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/26/2010 16:13 Comments || Top||

#11  Yes, we stand no chance against your rapier like wit.
Now go help mom fold the laundry...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2010 16:18 Comments || Top||

#12  Keeping the eye off the ball is what rants to best.

Knowing you should be thanking the pres for the massively increased drone attacks since Mr B it hurts i bet but get over
ya it.

But that my 2 grains of salt. ;)
Posted by: Play4Keeps || 07/26/2010 16:24 Comments || Top||

#13  Dear, dear Play4Keeps. If he read Rantburg more often, he would know that we do appreciate the accelerating pace of drone attacks on various jihadis in Asia and Africa since President Obama took the oath of office -- that includes Pakistan, in case he wondered.

However, Play4Keeps also would have noticed our frustration as the same President Obama refused to prioritize necessary decisions on troop and budget levels necessary to fight the war in Afghanistan that he had trumpeted as so vital during the election campaign, how he slights the advice given by his chosen commanders... Increased use of UAV drones does not replace the use of properly supplied and supported troops in the field -- even I, a little suburban housewife and former soccer mom, know that much about waging war.

Really, Play4Keeps, we've told you all this before. Why you keep insisting that we are against President Obama on account of drone zapping is beyond me, when clearly the drone zapping is about the only thing we count for him in the Plus column.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2010 17:06 Comments || Top||

#14  Give P4K some credit. At least he's keeping a civil tongue about him.
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2010 17:36 Comments || Top||

#15  US drone strikes kill 8 in Pakistan

Eye kandy for the nieve, and worshipful media. The '8 killed' are not the problem. They will be quickly be replaced by a long list of willing successors (blow up - move up). The phueching LARVAE are the problem!
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2010 18:04 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq arrests three suspected Qaeda leaders
Autoedited by Rantburg
[Al Arabiya Latest] Authorities have jugged three suspected senior leaders of al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, including its self-styled minister of defense, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Also among the group detained were two brothers suspected of masterminding major attacks in the central Iraqi province of Diyala, defense ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.

"Iraqi soldiers jugged Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the minister of defense for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)," Askari said.

"He was jugged on Thursday evening south of Baghdad," he added.

Askari also said that two brothers -- Jaabar and Qadoori Radhi Khamis al-Zaidi -- believed to have been responsible for operations in Diyala, were jugged in the northern city of Tikrit, where they were based.

The two were ISI "emirs", according to Askari.

Zawbayi is suspected of organizing a July 18 suicide bombing in the town of Radwaniyah, west of Baghdad, targeting anti-Qaeda militiamen being paid their wages. Forty-five people were killed and 46 wounded.

Al-Qaeda also took responsibility for a the second attack in the same day where a boomer killed four and wounded six at a meeting of local Sunni militia leaders in western Iraq, near the Syrian border.

In a statement posted on a website often used by Islamists, al-Qaeda said it had conducted the attacks as part of action against "leaders of apostasy", a term used for Sunni fighters who once allied with al-Qaeda but turned on the hard boy group in 2006/07, helping U.S. forces turn the tide in the war.

"A lion of the Islamic State managed to intrude among the cattle after they were blinded by pickings of money thrown by the ... government and they fell into the torture of God," the statement said.

Sunni Islamist bad boyz linked to al-Qaeda have sought to exploit the political vacuum created by a failure of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions to agree on a coalition government following an inconclusive March 7 parliamentary election, and have carried out a series of attacks since the vote.

Sahwa leaders have been among the primary targets. Some of the attacks have been attributed to acts of Dire Revenge™ by former fellow bad boyz, while others have been blamed on long-running blood feuds between families.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  How about a mild highlight of each autoedited term, just while we're getting used to it?
Posted by: gromky || 07/26/2010 2:54 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel: 4 projectiles fired from Gaza
[Ma'an] The Israeli army said Saturday evening that four projectiles from Gaza landed in Israeli territory over the weekend.

Israeli media reported that two homemade projectile landed in the coastal city of Asheklon on Saturday, causing no injuries or damage.

Earlier, the Israeli news site Yedioth Ahronoth reported that a projectile landed in Nahal Oz, in northern Israel, with no casualties reported.

Meanwhile, an unexploded projectile believed to have been launched on Friday was found near a kibbutz in southern Israel, the news site reported.

One of the rockets that landed Saturday was not a so-called Qassam, but might have been a more advanced type of projectile which had been smuggled into Gaza, Israeli police officials told the Israeli daily Haaretz. The rocket, police told the newspaper, may have been a new, more precise standard-issue rocket.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  YNETNEWS > HAMAS: UN FAVORS OCCUPATION [Israeli mil occupation of PA = Gaza-WB].

and

HAARETZ > WILL ISRAEL TURN INTO THE FASCIST STTAE OF JUDAEA BY YEAR 2022?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2010 2:13 Comments || Top||


Islamist jailed for spitting at Israeli police
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hard-line Islamist leader Sheikh Raed Salah on Sunday began serving five months behind bars after being convicted of spitting at an Israeli policeman during a protest in east Jerusalem.

Around 200 supporters of the Israeli Arab leader, who heads the radical wing of the Islamic Movement, accompanied him to a prison in Ramla near Tel Aviv, waving the movement's green flag as well as Palestinian flags, an AFP reporter said.

Salah was convicted of assault for an incident that took place in February 2007 during a demonstration in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, in which court documents said he insulted a border policeman and spat in his face.

Earlier this month, a Jerusalem court reduced his sentence from nine months to five.

The assault, which Salah has always denied, took place during a protest outside the Dung Gate in the southern wall of the Old City where the Israeli authorities were carrying out restoration work near the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It has been the scene of several outbreaks of violence over the course of the decades-old Israeli-Arab conflict.

Salah has been detained on a number of occasions, most recently after taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla stormed on May 31 by Israeli naval commandos in an operation which left nine Turkish activists dead.

Israel's Arab community numbers 1.3 million, about 20 percent of the population. It is made up of descendants of the 160,000 Palestinians who remained in Israel after the 1948 establishment of the Jewish state.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  spitting is disgusting!
Posted by: anon1 || 07/26/2010 11:09 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2010-07-26
  Taliban Capture Barg-e-Matal District in Nooristan
Sun 2010-07-25
  N Korea declares 'sacred war' on US, South
Sat 2010-07-24
  US missile strike kills 11 militants in Pakistan
Fri 2010-07-23
  Venezuela severs ties with Colombia
Thu 2010-07-22
  Car bomb explosion kills 28 in Iraq
Wed 2010-07-21
  Spain rejects proposal to ban burqa
Tue 2010-07-20
  Pakistan city tense after 'blaspheming' Christians shot
Mon 2010-07-19
  Coahuila: 17 Massacred in Torreon
Sun 2010-07-18
  Jundallah claims Iran mosque blasts
Sat 2010-07-17
  Juarez car boom kills three
Fri 2010-07-16
  US drone attack kills 10 in North Waziristan
Thu 2010-07-15
  Libyan Gaza-bound aid ship heads towards Egypt
Wed 2010-07-14
  Al-Qaida militants raid Yemen intelligence HQ
Tue 2010-07-13
  ICC charges Sudan president with genocide
Mon 2010-07-12
  'Somalia link' as lethal Uganda blasts target World Cup

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