A top Taliban commander and his bodyguard were killed during operation by Afghan and NATO forces in northern Afghanistan, police said.
Mawlawi Bahadur was killed Thursday night (local time) in Chahar Dara, a militant-plagued district of Kunduz province, police spokesman Haroon Aryayenezhad said.
Bahadur was the Taliban's shadow governor for the northern Afghan province.
One of his bodyguards was also killed and four others accompanying him injured in the operation, Mr Aryayenezhad said.
"Mullah Bahadur was appointed as Taliban governor for Kunduz province around two months ago," he said.
"He was directly responsible for organising military operations against Afghan and Coalition troops in Kunduz province."
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed an operation "targeting people who worked closely with the Taliban shadow governor in the province" took place.
The alliance said one man had been killed in the operation but would not confirm his identity.
The Taliban have been waging a nine-year insurgency, which 140,000 US-led NATO troops are battling in order to hand security control to the Afghan government by 2014.
The militia operates shadow administrations in all 34 provinces.
[Pak Daily Times] A roadside kaboom blew up next to a minibus at a crowded intersection on a major highway in Helmand, Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least 14 civilians, officials said.
The blast struck the minibus in the Lashkar Gah-Sangin district in Helmand province on the main road running from the city of Kandahar to Herat, said Daoud Ahmadi, a front man for the Helmand governor's office. He said four others were maimed in the blast and that the dead included women and kiddies.
The bus was transporting people to a local bazaar, said Ghulam Haidar, who arrived at the scene after learning that two of his brothers had been killed. "There was a huge blast, body parts were scattered far away from the bus," he said.
Haidar said he took his cousin and a child who was on the bus to a local hospital. He learned that the child later died.
President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai condemned the bombing as a "blood thirsty" attack, saying in a statement that the explosive was "planted by the enemy of the Afghan people".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
and yet, according to a WaPo editorial by Colman McCarthy, Taliban and US Troops are morally equal. The left is criminally immoral
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2010 0:14 Comments ||
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#2
The Taliban uses human shields. American soldiers shield humans. Mr. McCarthy doesn't get it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2010 0:59 Comments ||
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Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/31/2010 8:44 Comments ||
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#4
This is the kind of crap I have been fighting against in blogs since there were blogs.
It has never been about what the left's enemies does or thinks. It's about their agenda and their agenda clearly states that if you defend anything with firearms or with the threat of violence, you are more evil than if you do nothing.
Stephen Green can be all humorous about the depths of calumny the left uses to disarm their very protectors, but the actual goal of these people is not to be funny, but destruction of everything by sworn enemies or freedom.
Humor no longer works. The left is ridicule proof, and I present you as prima facie evidence the climate change movement.
We knew it was a fraud when they started with it, we said it was a fraud as they began implementing policies and when it was proven to be a fraud that should have ended the particular bit of insanity.
But noooo...
Now it's called something else, and the left's agenda continues merrily onwards.
And so it will be unless things change. We got to the ballot box, and now we see if the agenda can be wrecked.
[Tolo News] Taliban beturbanned goons have fired two rockets on US airbase in Bagram on Thursday morning resulting in no casualties, officials said.
The incident happened early Thursday when Taliban fired two rockets into the main US Base in Afghanistan, provincial officials said.
There were no causalities in the incident, officials added.
Nato has confirmed the incident but did not provide further details.
Taliban have grabbed credit for the incident.
Militants have previously attempted to attack the US main base in Bagram without success in which their own cut-throats have suffered heavy casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Attacking a major US base would be one of the dumber things even a battalion sized element could attempt. It is not unusual for them to be surrounded by a five mile KZ under intensive surveillance.
In western Iraq, some of the bases had a continual stream of stupid coming from Syria, headed for the closest US base. So they probably just parked a backhoe out there. Plug 'em and plant 'em.
[Tolo News] An Islamic exemplar group, which was operating in southern Helmand province, renounced violence and joined the government, senior provincial officials said.
The group comprised of six fighters was targeting Afghan and foreign security troops in southern Marja district in Helmand province.
Governor of Helmand province said this is the first time that a number of beturbanned goons in the province have laid down their arms and joined the grinding of the peace processor.
"This is the first group of hard boyz in the province to renounce violence and join the government," Governor Gulab Mangal said.
Mr Mangal said the government will make efforts to provide job opportunities to those who stop violence and join the grinding of the peace processor.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Isaf forces announced that a roadside kaboom blast in Helmand province has claimed lives of ten civilians. Isaf said four other civilians have been hurt in the incident.
Helmand is a restive province located in the south of Afghanistan that has most often been the scene of bloodiest Islamic exemplar attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Algeria's large-scale military offensive in the Sidi Ali Bounab forest killed at least 50 terrorists, L'Expression reported Thursday (December 30th), citing security sources. The official tally from the three-week operation has not yet been released.
More than 7,000 soldiers, including GIR (reserve intervention group) and GIS (special intervention group) troops were mobilised for the ANP operation. The initiative was launched following reports that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leader Abdelmalek Droukdel and other emirs would attend a conclave aimed at restructuring al-Qaeda cells in Kabylie.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
50 is good. 100 is better
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2010 0:15 Comments ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Suspected gunnies killed eight people, including three coppers, in five separate attacks in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the military and police sources said on Thursday.
The gunnies were suspected of being members of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter... sect,
Now renamed something else impossibly long and complicated, to mark their resurrection after being nearly wiped out by the government.
army front man lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi told AFP. The sect launched an uprising in Nigeria's north last year, that ended with a police and military assault which left hundreds dead. "Eight people, including three coppers, were killed late on Wednesday, in five separate attacks by gunnies suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect," the front man added.
"The coppers were killed in Ruwan Zafi district of Maiduguri, in an attack on a police patrol team by suspected Boko Haram sect members, who also burnt down the patrol van," he said. Several suspects had been jugged over the incidents, the latest in the string of attacks by the sect in the last week, he added.
Police front man in Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital, Lawal Abdullahi, also confirmed that three coppers were killed in the attack. "We lost three men in a shoot out with suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram," he told AFP. "The suspects launched an attack on one of our patrol vehicles and burnt it. The coppers were outnumbered by the attackers," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Who is funding the trouble Iran or Saudi Atrabia?
Posted by: Paul ||
12/31/2010 7:59 Comments ||
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#2
Who is funding the trouble Iran or Saudi Atrabia?
Rule of thumb.
If it makes trouble in general, it's Iran.
If it adversely impacts oil production outside Persian Gulf, it's Saudia.
#7
There's no guarantee there wasn't an earlier - or later - attempt that succeeded, g(r)om.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/31/2010 16:54 Comments ||
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#8
The only reason I suspect it might be Iranians is the perception I've gotten that the various Arab countries have a lot of "buy-in" with the concept of the Nigerian government as an ally. Their aid and influence was crucial in helping them win the big war against the rebellious mostly Christian area in the SE that most of the oil is in, and that they've been looting ever since. It's where most of the production and most of the conflict happens.
I don't know if the North has that much exploration or production going on. I don't think outside actors get anything from starting anything up there.
[Arab News] The Yemeni government released more than 400 northern rebels as part of a Qatar-mediated peace deal signed in August, a security official said Thursday.
The truce put an end to violence in a civil war that has raged on and off since 2004.
The official told Rooters the rebels were held in prisons in Sanaa and Saada in northern Yemen. He said more would be freed in the coming days, without providing figures.
A Qatari delegation met Yemeni President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh in Aden this week to discuss the peace agreement, the official said. "(Qatar's) efforts being exerted at the moment are fruitful," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ... for fear of being murdered...
The official said the Houthis would return equipment seized in confrontations with the government as part of the peace deal.
Rebel front man Mohammed Abdul Salam told Rooters that 426 prisoners were released Thursday.
Qatar brokered a Yemen peace accord in 2008 before the region slipped back into war. Yemen faced international pressure to resolve domestic conflicts in order to focus on Al-Qaeda.
Aside from the Houthi rebels in the north, Yemen is struggling to combat a resurgent wing of Al-Qaeda and a separatist rebellion in the south.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Since the times of Ali and cute little Aisha, I don't believe that the Houthis have honoured a truce for longer than 3-4 months, tops.
Be careful as you read this: otherwise you'll get scared about the mighty Norks. The presentation of armed forces reads like what people reported about Saddam's Iraq in the summer of 2003. A lot of good all the arms and soldiers did him.
North Korea's special forces have grown by 20,000 over the past two years, reaching about 200,000 in total and increasing the so-called asymmetric threat the country poses to the South.
The special forces are special because they get to eat every day...
The numbers come from the defense white paper 2010 published on Thursday, which says the North has consistently boosted its special warfare capabilities, deploying a light infantry division under an Army corps stationed on the frontline and adding a light infantry regiment to an Army division there.
The 200,000-odd special troops are primed to carry out combined operations such as attacks on major facilities in South Korea, assassination of VIPs and harassment in the rear by infiltrating the South using underground tunnels and AN-2 aircraft capable of low-altitude infiltration, the white paper said.
They'll infiltrate as far as the first big-box grocery store...
The number of the North's special forces, reportedly the world's largest, was estimated at about 120,000 in the 2006 defense white paper and at about 180,000 in the 2008 white paper. They now account for 17 percent of the North's 1.19 million soldiers (1.02 million in the Army, 60,000 in the Navy and 110,000 in the Air Force).
According to the white paper the North Korean Army has about 4,100 tanks, up 200 from two years ago, and about 2,100 armored vehicles, showing no increase over the same period. It has deployed a new tank at the frontline dubbed "Pokpung" (Storm) patterned after the Soviet Union's old T-72 tank, while superannuated tanks are deployed at rear-area units.
The T-72 "Jack in the Box"
The Pokpung tanks are reportedly equipped with stronger firepower and better maneuverability than the old "Chonma" (Flying Horse), an improved version of the T-62.
The white paper identifies a new antiaircraft missile with a vertical launch control system, which was unveiled during a massive parade in celebration of the Workers Party's anniversary in October, as the "KN-06," and a medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 3,000 km as the "Musudan."
It says the North continues to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles to secure strategic weapons. It has extracted an estimated 40 kg of plutonium by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods which it acquired by operating a 5 MW nuclear reactor since the 1980s. It also has 2,500 to 5,000 tons of various chemical weapons, according to the white paper.
The North Korean Army consists of 15 corps, 90 divisions, and 70 mobile brigades. Troop numbers are similar to 2008, but four more divisions and one more brigade were created.
Some of them get to eat every day...
Equipment includes about 8,500 field guns, 5,100 multiple rocket launchers, and some 100 surface-to-surface missiles, as well as 170 mm self-propelled guns and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers that can deliver blitzkrieg fire at the Seoul metropolitan area from their current positions.
That's the worrisome problem...
The North Korean Navy has about 420 combat warships, 260 landing ships, 30 minesweepers, about 30 support vessels and some 70 submarines. The Air Force has some 820 combat aircraft, 30 surveillance and control aircraft, 330 aerial mobile planes and some 170 training aircraft. Compared to 2008, that is 20 fewer combat aircraft and 10 fewer training aircraft.
A ministry official said the figures "are the outcome of estimates by Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies of all North Korean Air Force aircraft capabilities, including aircraft that have been downed since 2008 and those that have long remained unused."
The North also has about 300 helicopters, 7.7 million reserve forces, and some 300 munition factories. The military is keeping most of the ordnance stored in caves and has two to three month's worth of supplies, the white paper estimates.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
No "Pokpung" is the sound the turret makes as ir blows sky high.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2010 2:57 Comments ||
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#3
While the Norks are not the best equipped or trained dont be confused by the term Special Troops compared to our special forces (Navy Seals, Delta, etc.). Their special troops probably refer to troops with a specialized mission during hostilities. So they might have 20k designated to attack the power grid or 5k each to attack each power station. You thrown that many bodies at one site and you are going to disrupt it for at least the near term. And they have a TON of AN-2s to deliver the troops.
#4
The North Koreans are lucky if their Special Forces meet the criteria for a successful light infantry division in the US Army, let alone the USMC. The Army Rangers are still several steps above the NorKor SOCOM and they are the lowest ranked Special Forces in the US inventory.
#6
Stand back and toss nukes across the DMZ for about a week, and see how much Kimmie has left. Begin at the DMZ and work north. The photo of a black North Korea where the rest of the world shows light will no longer be true - it will glow a dull blue instead.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/31/2010 19:46 Comments ||
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Bombs went kaboom! on Thursday outside Greek targets in Athens and Buenos Aires, causing damage but no injuries nearly two weeks before the trial of Greek anarchists linked to a November parcel bomb campaign against embassies and foreign leaders.
In Athens a powerful device thought to be a time bomb detonated outside an Athens court shortly after police had evacuated the area, acting on warnings delivered by anonymous callers to media, police said."The anti-terror department is in a state of vigilance," Citizen's Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis told news hounds.
"All developments and cases are under scrutiny," he said.
Some 90 minutes earlier, a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at the Greek embassy in the Argentine capital, causing material damage but no injuries.
The bomb in the Greek capital smashed windows at the Athens administrative court and at neighbouring homes and buildings, mangling several vehicles parked outside and hurling debris over a wide area. Police sources said that at least eight cars were damaged in the attack.
Police had evacuated the area following a phone tip-off that revealed the licence plate of a stolen cycle of violence carrying the bomb, a police source said.
After the device detonated at 0620 GMT, television footage showed flames and smoke billowing in front of the court building in the district of Ambelokipi near the city centre.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
One of these days these leftist libtards are going to be in for a big surprise - the other side is going to shoot back. Guess which one will probably have both the largest artillery and will be more capable of hitting a target?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/31/2010 19:49 Comments ||
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[Maghrebia] A Tunisian national is among four alleged gunnies arraigned Thursday (December 30th) in Copenhagen on charges of plotting to attack the Danish newspaper that published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. A fifth suspect, a 37-year-old Swedish-Tunisian, was jugged in Stockholm. According to Danish intelligence agency PET, the suspects planned to shoot as many people as possible in the building housing the newspaper, the Copenhagen Post reported.
"Our assessment is that their plan was to try to get access to the Jyllands-Posten building and carry out a Mumbai-style attack," CNN quoted PET chief Jakob Scharf as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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A US missile strike killed eight terrorists alleged militants in northwest Pakistan on the final day of a year that has seen a major escalation in drone attacks targeting terrorists insurgents flowing into neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Four missiles struck a convoy of terrorists militants travelling by car and on foot near the town of Ghulam Khan in the North Waziristan tribal area along the Afghan border, the two officials said on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
Ghulam Khan is known to be dominated by terrorists fighters from a militant group headed by Maulvi Gul Bahadur.
It was the third day this week of missile attacks on the North Waziristan tribal region, part of a ramped-up US campaign to take out al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists fighters seeking sanctuary outside Afghanistan.
More than 110 such missile strikes have been launched this year - more than double last year's total. Nearly all have hit North Waziristan, a region that hosts several terrorist militant groups battling US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, including the feared Haqqani terrorist network.
[Pak Daily Times] Gunship helicopter on Thursday pounded a terrorist hideout in central Kurram Agency, home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, killing at least 20 Orcs and similar vermin and injuring 25 others, an official said. The army launched the strike in Chinarak area of Kurram tribal region after receiving intelligence reports about Orcs and similar vermin gathering there. The choppers also destroyed an explosives-laden vehicle being prepared for a suicide kaboom, the official said. Kurram is located near the Afghan border. Many Taliban Orcs and similar vermin escaping the army operation in the nearby Orakzai Agency ... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar... are believed to have decamped there. The area where forces targeted the Orcs and similar vermin is believed to be the hub of Taliban outfits and al Qaeda operatives.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A civilian man was killed and six others wounded when two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) went off separately in the capital Baghdad on Thursday evening, a security source said.
An IED ripped through al-Dareeba street, al-Ghadeer area, near Christians houses in central Baghdad, leaving a civilian killed and three others injured, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Three others were wounded in an IED blast near a restaurant on 62 street, he added, not giving further information.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Unidentified gunmen blew up two houses belonging to two Christian and Sabian families south of Baghdad on Thursday, according to a local security source.
But don't worry, the speaker of the parliament is against violence to Christians ...
The gunmen detonated two houses, one of them belongs to Christians and the other to Sabian Mandaeans, in al-Aalam neighborhood, south of Baghdad, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The attacks left a number of people killed or wounded, the source added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
A Real Estate Broker/Agent in Dallas contacted me about a conversation she had yesterday afternoon with a Muslim from Bangladesh.
She is on the Board of the Country Music Association. So when one walks into her office in her Real Estate business you will see the walls covered in portraits of famous C & W stars that she knows. So when two sets of customers walked in, a Muslim from Bangladesh who was coming to ask her to find an acre in Dallas county where he and 3 other (Obama Admin open door policy) Bangladesh immigrants could build a compound, and an American couple there to ask her to manage their rental property things became interesting real fast.The Muslim sat down across the desk from her and surrounded on all sides with walls of C & W stars immediately launched into her with a "god does not allow music" spill. Was that a mistake!
Last week on her 2000 acre ranch she and husband shot, gutted, and drained two big 8 point bucks. So you now have an idea of what happened next in this meeting!
She launched into him with scripture of how God commanded and instructed Moses and his people upon that nation's exit from Egypt in the making of musical instruments and instructed him regarding the Book of Psalms and the songs of the book set to musical instruments. The couple that were also in the office waiting to speak to her (she was wary of this guy before his appointment and asked the couple to be in the office as well) supported the lady.
The Bangla Muslim then shot back and said, "I have read the Bible. But the people of this world are not decended from Moses, they are all descended from Mohammed!". She replied, "No, people are descendents of Adam and after the flood the family of Noah." Then she told him to shut up and get down to business.
Of which his requests for how the property was to be purchased and deeded was against the law, per her replies to his stated requirements. She then informed him he needed to go else where.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The anti-terror forces seized on Thursday a silenced weapons factory in Baghdad.
The forces, in cooperation with the information department, seized a silenced weapons factory in Sheikh Omar region, central Baghdad, al-Iraqiya satellite channel said in a breaking news.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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HEBRON, Palestinian Territories Israeli troops on Thursday seized a Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament, the fifth to be rearrested recently after serving previous prison terms, local officials said.
MP Khalil Al Rabai was arrested at his home in the village of Yata, south of the city of Hebron, early on Thursday, municipal council officials said. Hamas sources said that his house was also thoroughly searched. The Israeli military confirmed his arrest, but had no further comment.
Rabai was released last year after three years in an Israeli prison.
On Tuesday, troops arrested Hamas MP Mohammad Al Tal in a similar dawn raid on his home in the village of Zakariya, also near Hebron. Like Rabai, Tal was set free last year after a three-year stretch in jail.
On December 1, Israeli troops arrested Naif Al Rajub just months after he was freed after four years in prison. The former Palestinian minister for religious affairs had been released in June.
In November, Hamas lawmaker Mahmud Al Ramahi was rearrested, weeks after his colleague Hatem Qafaish was seized, Hamas said.
Israel rounded up more than 60 elected Hamas officials in June 2006 after Gaza militants captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a deadly cross-border raid. Many of those officials were freed in batches towards the end of 2009.
With Rabais arrest the number of Hamas MPs in Israeli custody is now believed to be 13.
I'd set them free the day after Shalit is freed, and in the same physical condition Shalit is...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2010 00:00 ||
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Two women were injured, one seriously, in an attack in Yala province late Wednesday night. They were attacked while driving a motorcycle back home by gunmen hiding in a roadside rubber plantation.
Halfsoh Pochi, 23, was injured slightly, but her younger sister, Mariya, 18, was shot in the neck and is in critical condition. Miss Halfsoh was able to keep driving and took her sister to the home of a relative, who later took them to the hospital.
Terrorists Militants fired M-79 grenades at a field army base in Pattani province on Thursday. Police said there were no injuries and no property damage as the grenades blew up in an empty area. This was followed by an inconsequential exchange of gunfire that lasted for a minute.
Thailands state railway service (SRT) will step up security for all routes to the three southernmost provinces to prevent terrorist attacks untoward incidents during New Year's celebrations. The SRT is working with military and provincial police to help monitor the stations.
Explosive detection devices have been installed and women rangers will help inspect luggage at Hat Yai junction in Songkhla, the major railway station in the south. Trains will be randomly inspected and special units along the routes will coordinate to provide security. Luggage at all stations will be randomly checked.
Meanwhile back in the jungle, a village security volunteer was wounded in an ambush by gunmen in Pattani province, only three days after the emergency decree was lifted in another part of Pattani.
Narin Chomsawang, 44, a village security volunteer was driving his motorcycle bringing his son to school. He was shot by two teenagers also on a motorcycle. The victim was sent to to a nearby hospital, but fortunately his son was uninjured.
On Tuesday, the Thai cabinet cancelled the emergency decree that has been in effect for the past five years in Pattani's Mae Lan district. The government has planned similar actions revoking the decree at Yala's Kabang and Narathiwat's Sukhirin.
With an eye on the nuclear arms race led by its neighbor Iran, Saudi Arabia has arranged to have available for its use two Pakistani nuclear bombs or guided missile warheads, debkafile's military and intelligence sources reveal. They are most probably held in Pakistan's nuclear air base at Kamra in the northern district of Attock. Pakistan has already sent the desert kingdom its latest version of the Ghauri-II missile after extending its range to 2,300 kilometers. Those missiles are tucked away in silos built in the underground city of Al-Sulaiyil, south of the capital Riyadh.
At least two giant Saudi transport planes sporting civilian colors and no insignia are parked permanently at Pakistan's Kamra base with air crews on standby. They will fly the nuclear weapons home upon receipt of a double coded signal from King Abdullah and the Director of General Intelligence Prince Muqrin bin Abdel Aziz. A single signal would not be enough.
Our military sources have found only sketchy information about the procedures for transferring the weapons from Pakistani storage to the air transports. It is not clear whether Riyadh must inform Pakistan's army chiefs that it is ready to take possession of its nuclear property, or whether a series of preset codes will provide access to the air base's nuclear stores. The only detail known to our Gulf sources is that the Saudi bombs are lodged in separate heavily-guarded stores apart from the rest of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
This secret was partially blown by Riyadh itself. In recent weeks, Saudi officials close to their intelligence establishment have been going around security forums in the West and dropping word that the kingdom no longer needs to build its own nuclear arsenal because it has acquired a source of readymade arms to be available on demand. This broad hint was clearly put about under guidelines from the highest levels of the monarchy.
Partial nuclear transparency was approved by Riyadh as part of a campaign to impress on the outside world that Saudi Arabia was in control of its affairs: The succession struggle had been brought under control; the Saudi regime had set its feet on a clearly defined political and military path; and the hawks of the royal house had gained the hand and were now setting the pace. I honestly can see it as possible, just not probable.
#1
Debka.. tons of salt needed.
However..then Pak PM Benazir Bhutto asked to see the Kahuta nuclear facility. She was denied on national security grounds. Yet Saudi Prince Sultan was given a guided tour of the place when he visted Pakistan.
The Saudis paid for the place. They obviously got something for their money.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/31/2010 10:12 Comments ||
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#2
Great! They can nuke Iran themselves, and save us the trouble.
#3
Actually, this makes sense. It is a nightmare beyond nightmare for Sunnis that Shiites would ever get control of Mecca. And for their part, Iran doesn't hesitate for a minute in saying that it wants, and deserves, to control Mecca.
In the mid-1980s, there were at least three serious plots by the Iranians to muck up Saudi Arabia. The first was to blow up the quarters where most Iranian pilgrims lived, with the idea that it would be blamed on Saddam.
In 1986, they then tried another plot against the Saud, who they saw as too America friendly. Then in 1987 they fomented riots in Mecca, with the idea of taking over the main mosque and rabble rousing. About 500 Iranians got killed in that one.
So yes, I can imagine that if Pakistan has a couple of extra nukes, it would be more than willing to let Saudi use them if attacked by Iran.
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.
Bombs 
A US missile strike killed eight 
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Unidentified gunmen blew up two houses belonging to two Christian and Sabian families south of Baghdad on Thursday, according to a local security source.
HEBRON, Palestinian Territories Israeli troops on Thursday seized a Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament, the fifth to be rearrested recently after serving previous prison terms, local officials said.
With an eye on the nuclear arms race led by its neighbor Iran, Saudi Arabia has arranged to have available for its use two Pakistani nuclear bombs or guided missile warheads, debkafile's military and intelligence sources reveal. They are most probably held in Pakistan's nuclear air base at Kamra in the northern district of Attock. Pakistan has already sent the desert kingdom its latest version of the Ghauri-II missile after extending its range to 2,300 kilometers. Those missiles are tucked away in silos built in the underground city of Al-Sulaiyil, south of the capital Riyadh.
