Hi there, !
Today Sun 07/10/2011 Sat 07/09/2011 Fri 07/08/2011 Thu 07/07/2011 Wed 07/06/2011 Tue 07/05/2011 Mon 07/04/2011 Archives
Rantburg
532993 articles and 1859928 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 68 articles and 162 comments as of 12:08.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Syrian troops kill 22 in Hama
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
8 00:00 CrazyFool [1] 
12 00:00 tu3031 [2] 
9 00:00 rhodesiafever [1] 
1 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [2] 
7 00:00 swksvolFF [2] 
0 [1] 
0 [3] 
0 [2] 
0 [7] 
0 [5] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [2] 
0 [1] 
2 00:00 tipper [1] 
0 [6] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
2 00:00 Barbara [10] 
1 00:00 trailing wife [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
5 00:00 mojo [] 
9 00:00 Rhodesiafever [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
3 00:00 Rhodesiafever [1]
4 00:00 Richard Aubrey [2]
1 00:00 rhodesiafever [2]
1 00:00 SteveS [1]
2 00:00 Glaviter Unolush2987 [1]
0 [2]
3 00:00 Barbara [2]
8 00:00 Rhodesiafever [2]
9 00:00 Frank G [4]
2 00:00 rhodesiafever [1]
7 00:00 Anonymoose [1]
4 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
2 00:00 Barbara [7]
0 [1]
3 00:00 Fred [1]
1 00:00 American Delight [1]
0 [1]
0 [1]
0 [1]
0 [1]
0 [1]
2 00:00 PBMcL [1]
0 [1]
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 [1]
9 00:00 swksvolFF [1]
7 00:00 Procopius2k [2]
0 [1]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [7]
0 [1]
4 00:00 mojo [1]
Page 4: Opinion
1 00:00 Alaska Paul [2]
3 00:00 Barbara [3]
6 00:00 Procopius2k [4]
0 [1]
0 [1]
1 00:00 Pappy [1]
2 00:00 g(r)omgoru [7]
2 00:00 g(r)omgoru [1]
4 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [1]
Page 6: Politix
2 00:00 bman [1]
12 00:00 Frank G [1]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Julianna Guill aka Bree in "Friday the 13th (2009)" aka Eva in "Costa Rican Summer" aka Katy Hartman in "Road Trip: Beer Pong" aka Madison Penrose in "My Super Psycho Sweet 16" aka Mel in "Altitude" aka Madison in "Crazy, Stupid, Love. (Post Production)" (age 24)



Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/07/2011 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2  That must be a really nice photo under there as it shows that I am Forbidden Access. Drat!
Posted by: tipover || 07/07/2011 2:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Tech Tip: Copy the links URL and paste into the address window on a new browser tab.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 07/07/2011 6:56 Comments || Top||

#4  As compensation
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIKINI: 65 Years In The Life Of The Two-Piece

Posted by: tipper || 07/07/2011 7:41 Comments || Top||

#5  I hadn't heard of, much less seen, a single one of those movies.

Man, I must be getting old...
Posted by: Steve White || 07/07/2011 12:02 Comments || Top||

#6  Ditto what Steve said.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 07/07/2011 12:16 Comments || Top||

#7  It's not you who're getting old, it's the movies.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/07/2011 12:25 Comments || Top||

#8  tipper__ I was so afraid your link would turn out to be a65 year-old in a bikini,,,,,
Posted by: Butch Jineling8238 || 07/07/2011 13:41 Comments || Top||

#9  mmmm! Tasty scizo mouse for me please.
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 13:49 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan Forces Unable to Take Security Responsibility in Panjsher
Afghan cops are unable to take responsibility for security in Panjsher province, one of the seven handover areas, local officials said on Wednesday.

General Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, Panjsher police commander said as Panjsher province is bordered by insecure provinces, after the foreign troops' withdrawal the province will face many challenges.

"Due to limited number of forces in Panjsher, we cannot take the security responsibility for this province. And because Panjsher is bordered by insecure provinces, we need a huge force," Mohammad Qasim said.

However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
Panjsher governor, US ambassador in Kabul and security transition chief accepted that there could be challenges after foreign troops withdraw, but said that Afghan cops will be able to take the security responsibility for the province.

"We are facing some challenges in security of Panjsher province, and lack of police forces. But we try to solve these challenges in cooperation with Ministry of Interior Affairs," Keramuddin Karim, Panjsher governor said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Tex and his new-found Indian friend were preparing a little surprise for the bandidos...
security transition chief, Dr Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai said that after the withdrawal, International Community's aid to Afghanistan will be decreased.

"The world will decrease its aid, because the International situation is changing and due to that our responsibility for protecting our national interests are increasing too. We should know the situation clearly," Dr Ahmadzai said.

But US ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry
...retired United States Army Lieutenant General currently serving as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan...
, said it is important that Afghans take the responsibility for security.

"In the years ahead now, What the Afghan people I believe aspired for is now they want their own illusory sovereignty; they have the confidence of standing on their foundation and increasingly now they want to be providing for their own security. They want their own government to be in charge," Mr Eikenberry said.

US President Barack B.O. Obama has announced that in the next summer about 33,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Panjsher is among 7 provinces where Afghan cops are to undertake security responsibilities.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  They want their own government to be in charge even if it consists of terrorists, extortionists and bribetakers.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 07/07/2011 10:47 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Coast Guard Releases Saudi Oil Tanker off Yemen
[Yemen Post] Two Saudi sailors went missing when Yemen's Coastguard released early Wednesday a Saudi oil tanker after Somali pirates.

The pirates hijacked the tanker 20 nautical miles off the port city of Aden while en route to Britannia, it said.

The website quoted sources at the Aden Coastguard as saying that the tanker sent a distress signal and coastguards rushed to its site and clashed with the pirates.

"Yemeni coastguards could force the Somali pirates to abandon the tanker and run away," the sources said, adding that a blaze broke out onboard the tanker during the festivities.

When the fire broke out the coastguards transported the crew of 22 members to onboard a U.S. warship and then the fire was brought under control, they said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


Africa North
Libyan rebels say they lack weapons and Nato support
Rebel leaders in Misrata say progress towards the capital Tripoli is being hampered by a lack of ammunition and inadequate support from Nato.

On Wednesday, officials in the rebel-held city said 17 of their fighters were killed and more than 60 wounded.

Rebel forces and soldiers loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi have been locked in a stalemate to the west of Misrata for more than six weeks.

A rebel spokesman said Nato air cover was patchy, with deadly consequences.

"When the aircraft is flying in the sky... it means Gaddafi's forces cannot use rocket launchers on the ground, they are afraid [of] aircraft... observing them and... striking them," Fatti Bashada told the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse, near Misrata.

Mr Bashada said that despite repeated requests to keep patrolling the skies, Nato aircraft have, in recent days, disappeared half-way through a battle.

"When there's no flight, it means they are free to use any weapons against us," he said, adding that rockets fired by Col Gaddafi's fighters were killing an increasing number of rebels.
Posted by: tipper || 07/07/2011 10:36 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought yesterday they said they don't want any more weapons?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/07/2011 10:54 Comments || Top||

#2  ...you can't black market guns you don't have. Stocks and bonds, yes. Guns, no.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/07/2011 11:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm guessing these would be Team Sporting Rebels, not Team Footsie Rebels United who received the recent airdrops.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/07/2011 11:29 Comments || Top||

#4  If you don't like a Libyan news story, grom, wait a day, you'll see the exact opposite in tomorrow's virtual paper.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 07/07/2011 11:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh, BTW, these are the Misrata coasties bitching about being undersupplied. Yesterday's story was about how the French had adequately supplied the mountain Bedouin rebel faction.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 07/07/2011 11:33 Comments || Top||

#6  If all it takes is for NATO aircraft to be overhead to keep Gaddafi's boys from launching rockets, then by all means let's have the Euros get planes overhead. Airbus makes them, I'm told. Perhaps the Fighting 515th Heavy Belgian Barbers could fly some sorties.

This isn't hard. The rebels do the heavy lifting on the ground; NATO provides support, intel and logistics, along with enough air cover to ground Gaddafi's air force. But the rebels have to do the heavy lifting.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/07/2011 11:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Indeed, Mitch. Applies to dis-Int/Int from the Sudan and most, all places Islamic. It's real name is Taqiya, and it means lying, or Pure BS. On a grander scale, if there is one, heh, it is elevated to Propaganda and everyone loves it because it's so shiny and new.
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 14:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Yes, JUSTICE. We understand that you only have one useful hand because the other is devoted entirely to wiping your ass. That's because you don't know how to use toilet paper and you never heard of soap and water. Too bad.

As for gazing into the eyes of members of the opposite sex, that's called Natural Selection. A fellow named Darwin wrote about it. You sound at least halfway literate, you might try reading his book On the Origin of Species. Er, the Koran isn't the only book in the world, you know. The benefit is that people with good genes marry other people with good genes thus ensuring our survivability. Helps to explain why inbred morons like yourself would still be digging in the sand if God hadn't seen the humor in giving you oil. But remember, if we hadn't shown you what to do with the oil, you inbred morons would have never figured it out in a million years.

We're not ashamed of the bodies that God gave us. That facilitates our enjoyment of sports in general and water sports in particular. We learn how to swim in water whereas your people would drown because they don't have sense enough to unburden themselves of all those layers of cloth that cover their shame. Let's see...when was the last time one of your people won an Olympic event?

And, of course, after exercise we take showers so we don't stink the way I've noticed that you people do.

Afraid of dogs? Again, that's just too bad. They are useful, friendly and fun to have around. I wouldn't know, of course, but I don't imagine they're any good for buggering the way you do with goats.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/07/2011 15:02 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, he was there. I saw him. Mods must have gotten tired of him and removed him.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/07/2011 15:06 Comments || Top||

#10  He was indeed there, Ebbang Uluque6305 -- twice. The inbred little idiot likes to visit on Thursday nights. He gets to stay up later because in Saudi Arabia they don't have school on Friday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2011 15:42 Comments || Top||

#11  Yes, TW Friday's are filled with caterwauling and head bonking.
Posted by: Beavis || 07/07/2011 15:47 Comments || Top||

#12  ...and dreams of silky haired goats.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/07/2011 15:56 Comments || Top||


Hundreds Try to Storm Govt. Buildings in Egypt's Suez
[An Nahar] Hundreds of people torched police cars and tried to storm government buildings in the Egyptian city of Suez on Wednesday, after a court confirmed the bail of police accused of murdering protesters.

Witnesses said angry people erupted into the streets of the canal city, burning police cars, pelting government buildings with stones and some trying to storm security headquarters.

The protesters, who included families of victims who died in protests that ousted president Hosni Mubarak,
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
were furious when a court rejected the public prosecutor's appeal against a decision to free the coppers on bail.

On Monday, a court bailed the seven officers sparking festivities in Cairo, where the trial was being held because of the sensitivity of the case in Suez.

The seven are among 14 facing trial over the murder of 17 protesters and wounding of 300 others. The other seven are on the run and being tried in absentia.

The case comes amid heightened tensions in Egypt over the handling of legal proceedings against security forces who used deadly violence in the uprising, killing 846 civilians and wounding thousands, according to official figures.

Activists are calling for protests on Friday against the slow pace of justice and calling for those responsible to be punished.

Mubarak was forced out of office on February 11 following 18 days of protests.

Egypt's new government, led by the military, has sought to calm the situation by announcing the creation of a fund to assist victims' families, which it said on Monday would be worth about $16 million.

Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Libya Rebels Seize Desert Hamlet in Tripoli Push
[An Nahar] Libyan rebels Wednesday seized the desert hamlet of Gualish Wednesday on the first day of a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
-backed push on the capital Tripoli and captured a number of African mercenaries, Agence La Belle France Presse reported.

Buoyed by French arms drops and NATO-led air strikes, the rebels attacked positions in the Gualish area, in the plains north of their enclave in the Nafusa mountains southwest of Tripoli.

An AFP correspondent, embedded with the rebels, said myrmidon fighters were searching houses in Gualish, while gunfire could be heard in the distance.

During the operation, they captured a number of mercenaries, some of whom were seen in a pick-up truck and told AFP they were from Ghana and Mali.

Earlier, a rebel leader from the hill town of Zintan said his forces had coordinated their assault with NATO, which has stepped up its bombing campaign by destroying frontline armor of Moammar Qadaffy's regime in the past week.

"We waited before launching this assault and finally got the green light from NATO this morning and the offensive began," the rebel leader said.

There were intense exchanges of artillery, mortar and cannon fire between the rebel fighters and government troops dug in around Gualish, the AFP correspondent reported.

The area targeted by the rebel offensive is seen as strategic as it also features the garrison city of Gharyan, a government stronghold in the Nafusa mountains.

In an operational update, NATO said it struck four tanks and two armed vehicles in Gharyan, along with command and control centers near the rebel-held western city of Misrata and eastern oil town of Brega on Tuesday.

After a retreat from around the plains town of Bir al-Ghanam last week, front man Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani had pledged on Saturday that the rebel army would soon try to push the front line northwards.

Wednesday's offensive comes a day after La Belle France said it no longer needs to drop weapons to the rebels fighting the Qadaffy regime since they are getting more organized and can arrange to arm themselves.

However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet cautioned against the rebels' prospects of defeating Qadaffy and pushing toward the capital.

Gay Paree acknowledged last week it has made a series of parachute drops of weapons, including rocket launchers, to Berber rebel fighters in the Nafusa mountains, in a move criticized by Russia and the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
.

Last week the rebels also seized regime bunkers containing rockets, machine guns and other munitions in the desert about 25 kilometers south of Zintan.

On Tuesday, shelling by forces loyal to Qadaffy killed 11 people and maimed dozens more -- mostly civilians -- around the besieged enclave of Misrata, 200 kilometers east of Tripoli, the forces of Evil said.

The attacks marked another bloody milestone for Misrata, Libya's third-largest city that has been shelled almost continuously since March.

On the diplomatic front, an unnamed senior Russian official was quoted Tuesday as saying Qadaffy would consider stepping down -- an offer that, if carried out, would meet the rebels' central demand.

The rebels have thus far rejected any deal that would leave Qadaffy in power.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
preparations were underway for an international meeting on Libya in Istanbul on July 15-16, as diplomats increasingly mull what post-Qadaffy Libya might look like, with many hoping to avoid Iraq or Afghanistan-style chaos.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday the alliance would like to see the United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
assume the lead role in Libya's transition to democracy in the event Qadaffy leaves power.

Ahead of the Istanbul meeting, Rasmussen said rebel leaders will hold talks in Brussels on July 13 for the first time with the 28-nation North Atlantic Council.

The rebel delegation will also meet the same day with Rasmussen and European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
president Herman Van Rompuy.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Alamo, Davey was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results...
thousands of Libyans opposed to Qadaffy were spilling into the streets of Benghazi on Wednesday, hoping to bolster rebel moral and send a message to Tripoli.

A Tripoli-based group calling itself "The Free Generation Movement" called on people in Benghazi to go out in force. "We call upon you to come out and show the world and show our nation where we stand."

And in Tripoli, a judge charged rebel leaders with sedition and espionage, saying they would go on trial before a special court.

Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Al-Qaeda attacks Mauritania army base
Noukchott - Mauritanian soldiers patrolled the town of Bassiknou on Wednesday after al-Qaeda-linked extremists attacked a nearby army base which houses an anti-terrorist unit, a military source said.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) launched the raid ten days after one of its camps was destroyed in a raid by the Mauritanian army in western Mali, as it sought to flush out extremists in the desert region. A military source speaking on condition of anonymity said soldiers were keeping watch around the town in the extreme south of the country, ready against any eventuality.

The area was rocked by gunfire and explosions as the army, backed by military aircraft, battled AQIM militants in a counter-attack which lasted "less than an hour".

"The army riposte was strong and effective, causing 20 deaths among the assailants. Ten were taken prisoner and at least three vehicles were destroyed," the military source said. Soldiers, assisted by military aircraft, then pursued those who had fled, into Mali. It was not yet known whether they had made any arrests.

AQIM on Wednesday denied the death toll reported by the Mauritanian army, saying only two of its followers had been killed. "The mujahedeen lost two of their fighters: Algerian Eness Abou Fatima Alazairi and Abdel Halim Al Azawadi from northern Mali," an AQIM spokesperson told the private Nouakchott news agency, which often publishes AQIM statements.
But, as has frequently been said elsewhere, Al Qaeda affiliate spokesmen are known to be exceedingly frugal with the truth.
Proxy war

The spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said AQIM had managed to recover the body of the Malian, but the other was left "on the battlefield." Others who took part in the attack had "arrived back at their bases safe and sound", he said.
Again, truth frugality.
At least four Mauritanian soldiers were injured, said a source at the Bassiknou hospital where they were admitted.

On June 24, the Mauritanian army destroyed an AQIM base during a raid in the Wagadou forest of northwestern Mali. The military said the base had housed heavy anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons which posed a threat to the country, and reported the deaths of 15 AQIM members and two Mauritanian soldiers.

On Monday, AQIM released a statement saying at least 20 Mauritanian soldiers were killed and 12 army vehicles destroyed in the raid.
How to calculate the probability that any of that is true?
AQIM once again accused Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of fighting "a proxy war on behalf of France", urging Mauritanians to denounce this, learn from their losses "and save themselves from a war which is not theirs".

Regional force

AQIM has bases in northern Mali from where it carries out armed attacks and kidnappings in the Sahel desert region where the group is also involved in arms and drugs trafficking.

Mali and Mauritania are among the countries hardest-hit by AQIM activities, along with Niger and Algeria, where the organisation has its roots. The nations work closely together in efforts to crack down on the organisation. Since July 2010, Mauritania has carried out military operations on AQIM camps in Mali.

AQIM is holding four French citizens kidnapped in Niger in September 2010 as well as an Italian woman taken hostage in Algeria in February. It has demanded that French President Nicolas Sarkozy withdraw his troops from Afghanistan as a condition for their release.

Mali has called for a regional push to train up to 75 000 troops within the next 18 months to combat extremists in the Sahel desert region.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Several People Killed as Army Continues Battles in Abyan
[Yemen Post] At least three citizens were killed and seven others injured in an air strike that targeted the house of Deputy Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Shadadi in Yemen's southern Abyan province on Tuesday.

Al-Shadadi defected from the ruling party and announced support to the popular youth-led uprising, and then formed along with other defected MPS from various parliamentary blocs a coalition of 115 MPs.

Military sources were quoted by alsahwa-yemen.net as saying that the airsrike targeted suspected Al-Qaeda hard boyz stationed near the house in Zinjbar, as the army continued to battle Islamists who have fiercely fought back and have taken over more areas in Abyan.

Furthermore, a citizen was killed and two others injured when the army targeted a suspected Al-Qaeda position near Al-Razi hospital in Zinjbar.

Eyewitnesses were quoted as saying that the house of Al-Shadadi and one of his relatives were attacked and those injured were at death's door.

At least six Al-Qaeda suspects or Sharia supporters were killed in Arclight airstrikes in Abyan today.

The past few days, tens of soldiers and Islamists were killed in several parts of Abyan, with Al-Wahda stadium as one of the main battlefields where rotten bodies were seen in large numbers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Yemen Military Leader Against Extension in Rule for President Saleh
[Yemen Post] Yemen's most powerful military leader, General Ali Mohsen said he would not allow President-for-Life Saleh
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
to extend his time in power, and that the 30 day grace period the Gulf Cooperation Council GCC power transfer proposal mentions is the only option on the table for Saleh.

Mohsen defected from the president's military after the March massacre in Sana'a when pro government gunnies killed more than 50 peaceful protesters in change square.

He insists that he did not join the revolution to flow with the waves.

"I did not join the revolution to gain power. I was very powerful even before I joined the revolution."

Though giving strong comments on Saleh, the general said that President Saleh must have an honorable exit from power after ruling the country for more than 30 years.

The government is demanding that the 30 days that Saleh stays in power after the signing is increased to six months, while the opposition say that with Saleh out of the political arena, there is no need for a thirty day grace period.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Eyes of 7 pirates gouged out
[Bangla Daily Star] A mob gouged out eyes of seven pirates at Char Kukrimukri in Bhola district yesterday.

The pirates were initially identified as Sohrab Hossain, 31, Ruhul Amin, 40, Abdur Rahman, 35, Nur Nabi, 35, Abdul Mannan, 44, Shahid, 29, and Lokman.

Md Saifuddin, assistant police superintendent of Bhola, said they sent the injured to Char Fashion upazila health complex under police custody.

Police and locals said a pirate gang last Wednesday kidnapped fishermen Babul, Ali Abbas Majhi and Harun Mridha along with their fishing boats from Diamonura and Dakatia Ghat on Meghna estuary.

The pirates later claiming themselves members of Rana Bahini gave a cellphone number to the abductees' families to negotiate ransom.

To rescue the kidnapped fishermen and their trawlers, law enforcers from Char Aicha Police Post and Char Fashion Police Station started an operation and as a part of the initiative they chased several pirate trawlers yesterday to find a lead to catch the abductors.

One of the pirate trawlers had to land in Char Kukrimukri as its engine broke down amid heavy downpour. The pirates then took shelter in Uttar Mohammedanpara Primary School in the area.

Locals said when they heard about the men, they thronged and besieged the school and informed police about it around 11:00am.

Police reached the spot around 1:30pm and rescued the pirates from the mob. They also recovered two pistols, a pipe gun, 22 bullets, a detached gun barrel and some sharp weapons from the pirates, said Sub-Inspector Alamgir of Char Fashion Police Station.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  'They're blind, Jim."
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 07/07/2011 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  No rescidivism. Guaranteed.
Posted by: gorb || 07/07/2011 1:33 Comments || Top||

#3 
They have Fashion Police in Bangladesh? Who Knew?
Posted by: Parabellum || 07/07/2011 7:56 Comments || Top||

#4  They must have failed the Flying Spaghetti Monster, by secretly consorting with ninjas, their sworn enemy.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/07/2011 10:39 Comments || Top||

#5  C'mon, Sammies, we know you want it. You can still eat without your eyes, we be doin' you's a favour.
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 14:32 Comments || Top||

#6  What has seven eyes, seven arms and seven legs?
Seven pirates! Arrr!
Posted by: Blinky Creans2803 || 07/07/2011 18:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Aye, catch one more and ye got pieces of eight.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/07/2011 22:39 Comments || Top||


3 ex-investigators sent to prison
[Bangla Daily Star] Three former Criminal Investigation Department Sherlocks accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases were sent to jail after they surrendered before a Dhaka court yesterday.

The three are also accused of misleading the probe into the grenade attack cases.

Metropolitan Magistrate Keshob Roy Chowdhury sent them to jail when former special superintendent of police Ruhul Amin and two former assistant superintendents of police Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid appeared before the court seeking bail.

They sought bail in the case filed in connection with the killing of 24 people in the grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004.

During the hearing on bail petition, their lawyer Abdus Sobhan told the court that his clients were implicated in the case as part of a conspiracy to harass them. He said the rules allow his clients to have bail. Moreover, another case was filed against them in connection with misleading the probe and they have received bail in that case, he said.

Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu told the court that the charges brought against the accused were primarily proved. The three accused had earlier misled the probe into the grenade attack cases and he prayed for sending them to jail rejecting their bail.

On Monday, three former police chiefs--Ashraful Huda, Khoda Baksh Chowdhury and Shahudul Haque--were also sent to jail after they had surrendered before the same court seeking bail.

Two cases were filed after the attack. One for murder of 24 people and the other under Explosive Substances Act.

EXPLOSIVES CASE

Hearing on the charges against 30 new accused, including BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, in the case filed under Explosive Substances Act will be held on July 14.

After scrutinising the case dockets and other relevant documents, Judge Mohammad Zohurul Haque of Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court fixed the date for hearing on taking into cognizance the charges against the accused.

The court also directed the jail authorities to produce 12 accused, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, on that day.

BACKGROUND

Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina narrowly beat feet when a barrage of grenades went kaboom! at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004, killing 24 people.

President Zillur Rahman's wife and Awami League leader Ivy Rahman died and 500 others were maimed.

In 2008, the CID submitted charge sheets against 22 people including former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and 21 Harkatul Jihad men including thug kingpin Mufti Hannan.

On August 3, 2008, a Dhaka court ordered the CID Sherlocks to further probe the grenade attack as the earlier investigation failed to reveal the sources of the grenades and identify the criminal masterminds.

After 14 time extensions, the CID on Sunday submitted the supplementary charge sheet accusing 30 more people.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Cops nab 'Shibir men' with AK-47
[Bangla Daily Star] Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) yesterday in separate drives nabbed three Shibir cadres from Chittagong and Brahmanbaria, and recovered five firearms including an AK-47 rifle from them.

The arrestees, identified as Nurunnabi alias Maxon, 28, Sarwar alias Babla, 24, and Manik alias Gittu Manik, 24, however, said they are not Shibir cadres.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
They all hail from Chittagong and have several cases filed against them with different cop shoppes of the port city, said police sources.
"We are but simple hunters of game to feed our families!"
Acting on a tip-off, a team of CMP led by Assistant Commissioner Abdul Mannan early yesterday raided Singer Beel of Brahmanbaria and nabbed Maxon.

Upon information extracted from Maxon, the team conducted another drive at Chalitatala under Bayezid Police Station in the port city and held the two others.

Five firearms-- an AK-47 rifle, an automatic pistol, a one-shooter gun, a locally-made rifle and a light gun-- were recovered from the two, said police.

AC Abdul Mannan told The Daily Star that the arrestees work for runaway Islami Chhatra Shibir
... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh...
cadre Sazzad Khan who was given a death sentence by a Chittagong court in a sensational eight-murder case.

The trio used to threaten local businessmen and realise extortion from them in the name of Sazzad Khan, he said. They also asked an official of CMP over the cell-phone to leave Chittagong and told him that he will be killed otherwise.

Meanwhile,
...back at the buffalo wallow, Tex and his new-found Indian friend were preparing a little surprise for the bandidos...
CMP yesterday noon organised a presser at its headquarters at Laldighir Par where the arrestees were present.

The arrestees admitted to owning the firearms and told journalists that Shibir cadre Sazzad Khan gave them the firearms before he decamped the country.

Sarwar and Maxon said they have recently taken shelter at the house of a local Awami League leader in Feni to escape frequent police drives in Chittagong.

Additional Commissioner Shafikur Rahman at the presser said police will look into the allegation against the AL leader.

"We have information that the arrestees possess another AK-47 rifle," he said adding that they will be produced before a Chittagong court with a 10-day remand prayer for each.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Europe
French flotilla ship confirmed detained by Greeks in Crete
A French boat participating in the flotilla hoping to break the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip was detained along with its crew by Greek authorities in Crete on Thursday, CNN reported.

On Tuesday afternoon, organizers announced that the small French yacht Dignity had left waters near Greece with eight passengers on board en-route to Gaza. The Dignity was stopped while attempting to refuel in Crete, CNN quoted Maxime Gimberteau of "A Boat for Gaza" as saying.
"Andreas, call the cops. We don't want their kind round here."
Boneheads. They departed illegally from a Greek port, have the Greek legal authorities and coast guard after them, and then decided it would be perfectly safe and reasonable to go to a Greek island to refuel. These people aren't smart enough to be chum.
Greek coast guard spokesman Elias Sambatakakis said that authorities were "checking the identities of the passengers" and "the ship's documents."
Ah yes, Greek bureaucrats. They've been developing their techniques for a long time.
"It is not yet clear what will happen once procedures are completed," CNN quoted him as saying. "Obviously if the ship asks for permission to go to Gaza, this will be declined," he added.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2011 11:26 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A "thank you" to the Greeks for being so diligent in keeping this flotilla from reaching it's final destination. They've been doing double duty.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/07/2011 12:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, they don't like Rhodesians either. Mmmmmm, cue Bad Company song....
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 14:35 Comments || Top||

#3  "Merde!"
Posted by: mojo || 07/07/2011 16:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think the US can afford to bail out the Greeks in their financial crisis, but maybe we can help in some other way.
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 07/07/2011 17:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Busting out of a harbor without authorization is a criminal offense; and doing so when your departure has been forbidden is a much worse criminal offense.

By the Law of the Sea, using a ship for criminal activities is defined as "piracy". And on top of an expressed desire to break a blockade, an even *more* serious offense, they're looking at years in prison.

Right now, if they can determine the captain of the vessel, he and any ships officers are facing the jug. If they continue to deny their role, unless passengers obviously could not qualify, like minors, everyone on the ship could face criminal charges.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/07/2011 19:17 Comments || Top||

#6  "everyone on the ship could face criminal charges"

Works for me, 'mooose. Can the Greeks charge them with criminal stupidity too?
Posted by: Barbara || 07/07/2011 20:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Suppose they had one of those maps which Israel doesn't exist and all of Crete is Turkish?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/07/2011 22:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Ah yes, Greek bureaucrats. They've been developing their techniques for a long time.

Now you know the real reason it took Odysseus 10 years to get home from the Trojan War...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/07/2011 22:57 Comments || Top||


Gaza flotilla activists occupy Spanish embassy in Greece
Activists demand flotilla be allowed to leave for Gazoo; American captain of Gazoo flotilla ship released after Saturday arrest.

A group of Gazoo flotilla activists occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens on Tuesday, demanding that the Gazoo-bound flotilla be allowed to leave Greece for the Gazoo Strip.

The 21 Spanish activists intend on sailing on the Spanish boat Guernica, which has been docked on the southern Greek island of Crete for the past few weeks, awaiting an opportunity to sail as part of a flotilla that aims to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gazoo. The activists insist that they will continue to occupy the premises of the embassy until the Spanish government asks Greek authorities to allow them to sail to Gazoo.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, John Klusmire, the American captain of the flotilla boat Audacity of Hope, was released from custody on Tuesday after he was incarcerated on Saturday on charges of setting sail without permission and endangering passengers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dont you just love this soap opera? Oh, and how's that old Audacity of Hope, workin' out fer 'ya?

What is it about the Palestinians that attracts this wealth of resolve and character? It just seems to attract flies all over this kind of issue for some strange reason. "The Audacity of Hope", yeah, dont step in it, 'cause apparently a lot of fools have. Half the United States population standing there with their faces beaming in the supernal Light of the One. Greek columns. Rainbows. The Messiah who was going to bring a "better world".

It isnt going to get better anytime soon either, is it? They are going to default, you know? Sure they are. And then they wont accept responsibility, they will blame each other and still continue to do nothing. And eventually the lights will fail and your money will be paper stacked in a wheelbarrow.

And you can sit there late in the winter in your Perry Como sweater and look at the burned out neighborhood. Do you own a gun? You dont?
Well, there you are. How good is your Spanish?
Posted by: de Medici || 07/07/2011 1:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Spaniards occupying the Spanish Embassy?

So what else is new?
Posted by: mojo || 07/07/2011 1:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Yarrghh, we be copyright pirates!

Avast and take heed; we assault our own embassy!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/07/2011 11:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/07/2011 11:07 Comments || Top||

#5  "Now let us go a-way, or I will taunt you a second time-a!"
Posted by: mojo || 07/07/2011 16:41 Comments || Top||


Swiss company cancels deal to sell cement to Gaza flotilla organizers
Interbulk to return 25,000 euros to Swedish activists who intended on transporting some 3,000 tons of cement as aid to Gaza on flotilla.

The Swiss company that had sold cement to Swedish activists planning to sail to Gaza as part of an international aid flotilla said Wednesday that due to "force majeure,"
According to Wikipedia, force majeure includes things like war, embargo, government sanction, and the usual acts of God, which make it impossible for a contract to be fulfilled.
it had decided to cancel the deal.
Aw rats. How in the world can we send the flotilla to the bottom of the Med without good quality Swiss cement?
Interbulk has sold the Swedish delegation some 3,000 tons of cement, which were meant to be transferred to Gaza as aid on the Swedish-Greek-Norwegian ship, Free Mediterranean, as part of a Gaza flotilla.

Interbulk intends on returning the 25,000 euros it had gotten from the organizers, who gathered the money from thousands of donors in Sweden over the course of the past year.

In a letter it sent to the Gaza flotilla organizers, the Swiss company said that it had to cancel the deal due to "force majeure", and attributed the move to the Greek government's ban on Gaza-bound ships as well as to a letter by UN chief Ban Ki-moon discouraging Mediterranean countries from supporting the departure of the Gaza flotilla from their ports.
I suspect Interbulk got a letter from that Israeli legal group, too.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's hard to imagine the Swiss canceling a business transaction "force majeure" o non. Somebody must have offered a better price for their cement.
Posted by: regular joe || 07/07/2011 11:57 Comments || Top||

#2  They probably got two letters: one from the UN stating that their company will no longer be eligible for any UN contracts, and one from the Israeli legal firm that says "we'll tie you up in litigation for the next 40 years if you continue this deal." Either way, they decided it wouldn't be a good investment to sell the cement.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/07/2011 13:27 Comments || Top||

#3  They probably got two letters: one from the UN ...and one from the Israeli legal firm ...

The second one I can believe. The first one seems seems implausible.

As for "How in the world can we send the flotilla to the bottom of the Med without good quality Swiss cement?", howzabout cheap-ass torpedoes and limpet mines made by the lowest bidder.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/07/2011 14:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually I've been involved in an intensive, professional development course (too intensive for you all to handle), so I wasn't able to provide you with my enlightening comments.

Did you manage to caught one of the sheep?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/07/2011 14:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Air-drop, arclight, the 8 tonnes of cement and tell them it's a sample
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 14:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Oops, forgot. Send Justice the bill, c/o Soddy Arabia, LunaticsVille. Get the money.
Posted by: rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 14:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Less than is under you nails.
Posted by: Beavis || 07/07/2011 14:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Not to mention between his teeth...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/07/2011 14:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Sheesh, the sink-trap needs some natural chemical cleansing, (WP anyone), stinks worse than Grace Mugabe's mind. And that's nae racist, OK?
Posted by: Rhodesiafever || 07/07/2011 18:50 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Twin Indian Kashmir Blasts Wound 9 Policemen
[An Nahar] Suspected rebels in Indian Kashmire detonated two blasts outside a cop shoppe on Wednesday, injuring nine officers in one of the disputed region's most volatile towns.

Hospital staff said four of the coppers were in a critical condition after the morning attack in Sopore, 55 kilometers north of the provincial summer capital Srinagar.

The officers had rushed outside the station after a grenade was first set off, only to be hit by a much larger improvised bomb placed inside a parked scooter, a Sopore policeman who declined to be named told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Ten minutes after the grenade, the Islamic fascisti set off the second device when the cops came out to investigate," he said.

A paramedic at Sopore hospital said nine coppers had been treated for multiple injuries and splinter wounds. Four seriously injured men were then sent to Srinagar for specialist treatment.

Police also said an officer who was targeted in a hard boy attack on his home in Srinagar last week died of his injuries on Wednesday.

Militant groups in Kashmire have fought against New Delhi's rule for more than 20 years, killing police and soldiers in the highly militarized Himalayan region.

Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Six militants killed in Kurram
[Dawn] Six snuffies were killed during a clash with security forces in Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The snuffies were killed in the tribal region's Marghan area.

A military offensive was launched against snuffies in the central tehsil of the tribal region on Sunday and families had started fleeing the conflict zone.

At least 400 families in central Kurram, where the operation is focused, managed to leave the area and registered with a government-run camp in lower Kurram, a government official said.

The official had estimated that thousands of families might have left the region, but many of them opted to stay with relatives rather than go to the camp.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Sabotage acts in Peshawar, Khyber: Telephone exchanges, school blown up
[Dawn] Two telephone exchanges and a school were blown up in different sabotage activities in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar district and adjacent Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Also, a checkpost of Khasadar Force was partially damaged in a kaboom in Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber tribal region.

Sources said that a telephone exchange was blown up in the small hours of Tuesday in Gulshanabad area of Matani on suburbs of provincial metropolis.

"The blast occurred after midnight and destroyed the exchange completely," said Jehanzeb Khan, a supervisor of the exchange.

He said that the 1,200-line exchange had also been blown in 2008 but about 400 lines were restored in a container on emergency basis. "It is the second time that the exchange was destroyed," he added.

An official of Matani cop shoppe said that security guard of the exchange was taken into custody for investigation.

Qadir Khan, a resident of the area, said that they didn`t hear the blast but the exchange was destroyed. He said that it was the only exchange in the area. Its destruction caused problems for telephone subscribers of many urban localities, he added.

An official of Bomb Disposal Unit said that a local made explosive was planted under the container that went off at midnight, destroying the exchange board and its room.

He said that Ghuncha Gul, an operator of the exchange, was killed two days when a stray bullet hit him. He added that the father of the operator had died three days ago and he along with his guests was sitting outside his residence when a stray bullet hit him in the head. He died before he was shifted to Lady Reading Hospital, he said.

A case against unidentified gunnies was registered at Matani cop shoppe.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics:...
a school and a telephone exchange were destroyed in Akkakhel area of Bara tehsil. "Unidentified Orcs and similar vermin planted huge quantity of explosives inside the telephone exchange and primary school for boys in the area," officials said.

Two huge kabooms caused by the explosives at midnight destroyed the telephone exchange and school, they added. Militants had targeted the said exchange last year and taken away most of its equipment.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase...
Orcs and similar vermin also took away doors, windows and furniture from a primary school situated in Shalobar, a congested locality in Bara.

In Landi Kotal, a bomb kaboom caused damage to the outer wall of a recently established checkpost at Charwazai. The blast took place at around 10am on Tuesday but the khasadars posted at the post beat feet unhurt.

Security forces also defused an bomb planted outside a private school in Landi Kotal on Tuesday morning. Educational institutions in the area are closed these days for summer vacations.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bake sale, Umberto's Mom's cannoli were a big hit...
unidentified gunnies kidnapped two rustics from Alan Gudar area in Bara and shifted them to some undisclosed location.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Pakistan bars bin Laden family from leaving
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A Pak commission investigating how the late Osama bin Laden
... who used to be but now ain't...
lived undetected for years in the country has ordered the government not to repatriate his surviving family without its consent.

Pakistain took custody of the Al-Qaeda leader's two Saudi and one Yemeni widows and around 10 of their children, after US Navy SEALs killed him and flew off with his body from the army town of Abbottabad on May 2.

Pakistain has given CIA agents access to the wives but the commission's move is likely to delay their departure, after an official recently confirmed to AFP that the youngest widow, Amal Abdulfattah, could return to Yemen within days.

"The ministry of interior and ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) have been directed to ensure that the family of Osama bin Laden is not repatriated from Pakistain without the consent of the commission," the commission said.

The four-member panel, chaired by a supreme court judge, has the authority to summon anyone and a security official told AFP that bin Laden's family would be no exception. There is no timeline for it to complete its investigation.

"They will go back eventually but perhaps until such time that investigations are complete, they would want to talk to them as well," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"They can make demand and they will be given access," the official added.

The move is likely to disappoint Abdulfattah's family, who told AFP last month in Yemen that they expected her and her children home shortly.

The revelation that the world's most-wanted man lived in a garrison city just a stone's throw from a top military academy raised questions about complicity or incompetence within Pakistain's security services.

The discovery that bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, seemingly for five years, and the unilateral American raid have been described by critics in Pakistain as the military's worst disaster since Bangladesh separated from Pakistain in 1971.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Key Taliban commander killed in US drone strike in Pakistan
(KUNA) -- A key Taliban capo was reportedly killed in a US drone strike in Pak tribal region of North Wazoo on Tuesday night, it was reported here Wednesday.

The news of key commander's killing came as security forces clashed with gun-hung tough guys in the same area, giving rise to rumors that the military has launched an operation in the agency. However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
no official confirmation was yet available.

Citing unnamed official sources, local news channel Dawn reported that bully boy commander Saifullah, who was close to the late Osama bin Laden
... who abandoned all hope when he entered there...
, was among four gun-hung tough guys killed in a US drone strike in Mir Ali district of North Waziristan agency.

Earlier, in the morning, security forces exchanged heavy fire with gun-hung tough guys in Miramshah, the main city of the agency. Security sources told KUNA that gun-hung tough guys fired rockets at security check posts in the area. However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
there were no casualty reports available yet.

The festivities led to rumors that the forces have launched operation in the agency at the pressure of the United States. The US has been demanding the military to launch operation in North Waziristan. However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
Pakistain has rejected to succumb to pressure. The forces, although, launched operation in Upper Kurram agency on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of families to flee to safer areas.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  According to other reports he was an Anglo -Ausralian immigrant. So it is quiet possible it is Jach Roche.
Posted by: tipper || 07/07/2011 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Long War Journal is calling him an al Qaeda commander
Posted by: tipper || 07/07/2011 0:24 Comments || Top||


Peace body member killed in Bajaur
[Dawn] A pro-government tribal elder and member of Mamond Peace Committee was killed in a remote controlled blast in Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central on the night between Monday and Tuesday.

Sources said that hard boyz planted a bomb outside the house of Malik Gul Rehman in Gat Agra area of Mamond. The bomb went off when the tribal elder came out of his house. He was struck down in his prime, they added.

Meanwhile,
...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!...
security forces placed in long-term storage seven rustics during a search operation in Bajaur. Security forces launched the operation after attacks on checkposts in the area.

The rustics were placed in long-term storage under the collective responsibility law of the Frontier Crimes Regulation and on suspicion of their involvement in krazed killer activities.

Taliban chief in Bajaur Agency Maulana Faqir Mohammad has grabbed credit for the other day attack on a checkpost in Kit Kot area of the region. A security man had been killed the other day. Delivering a speech through his illegal FM radio at night, he said that Taliban had also attacked a checkpost in the agency on June 16. Five security officials had been killed in the attack. He threatened to continue attacking security forces in Bajaur Agency.

In South Wazoo Agency, five security personnel sustained injuries when Taliban fired rocket on a small army camp in Makeen tehsil on Tuesday.

Officials said that five Taliban were killed when security forces shot it out with the attackers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Cross-border militants attack villages in Upper Dir
[Dawn] Hundreds of hard boyz crossed into Pakistain from Afghanistan on Wednesday and attacked two border villages in the Upper Dir area, triggering a shootout with a local militia, police said.

At least one person was reported dead in the attacks.

Paramilitary troops and police were sent to the area to help armed rustics trying to fend off the cut-thoats, local police official Gul Fazal Khan said.

It was the latest in a spate of such cross-border attacks, which have raised tensions between Kabul and Islamabad and undermined efforts on both sides to crack down on al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Information from the area is difficult to verify independently because it is remote and dangerous.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Troops, Taliban clash in North Waziristan
[Dawn] Pak troops backed by attack helicopters clashed with Taliban fighters in the main town of the notorious North Wazoo tribal district on Wednesday, witnesses and officials said.

The rare festivities came one day after a bomb killed three Pak soldiers and although military officials confirmed troops were in action, there was no sign it was the start of a major offensive, long demanded by the Americans.

An AFP news hound heard several blasts and saw several Taliban fighters firing on Pakistain army checkposts with automatic weapons and rocket launchers in the town of Miranshah, 300 kilometres (188 miles) southwest of Islamabad.

The market shut down and the town was plunged into a black out after Talibs targeted an electricity transformer, the news hound said.

A security official said troops were retaliating with artillery, small and heavy weapons.

"An exchange of fire is continuing. There are no casualties on our side," a military official in the main northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar told AFP.

The official said troops were dynamiting a private hospital, where Taliban and other bad boy fighters were being treated.

On Tuesday, a remote-control kaboom near the same hospital killed three Pak soldiers and maimed another 15, security officials said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Death toll rises to 25 in Karachi violence
[Dawn] The total number of killings in Bloody Karachi in the last 24 hours rose to 25 on Wednesday as incidents of violence continued in the city, DawnNews reported.

Police sources said five bullet-riddled bodies were recovered from a mini-bus in Gulshan-i-Iqbal area. Three of the victims were identified as Mohammad Wali, Ghulam Jan and Ahmed Jan.

Sources said all five of them had been kidnapped.

Feelings are running high between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
(MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP), which represent different ethnic communities and straddle volatile political fault lines.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli forces raid tunnel in northern Gaza
(KUNA) -- Israeli army aircraft hit a tunnel in the northern Gazoo Strip late Tuesday evening, the IDF Spokesperson's office reported.

IDF Spokesperson told the Israeli radio on Wednesday "The tunnel was intended for infiltrating into Israel". On the other hand, Paleostinian security and medical sources said that one civilian was injured during this raid, which also targeted agricultural areas in Gazoo.

Sources added, "Two missiles were fired, causing a big fire which civil defense forces failed to contain." Those raids came hours after Israeli forces targeted central Gazoo Strip, killing two Paleostinian civilians and injuring three others.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  The Jerusalem Post has the names of the two "civilians" killed earlier in central Gaza:

Earlier Tuesday, two Palestinians were killed after the IAF bombed a Global Jihad terror cell preparing to launch a rocket into Israel in the central Gaza Strip.

The attack was a joint IDF-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operation and the two Palestinians killed were identified as Mohammed Said and Kamal Abu Moamer, two known Global Jihad operatives based in the southern Gaza Strip. Security officials said that the two were attacked as they were preparing to launch a rocket into Israel.

Posted by: trailing wife || 07/07/2011 8:59 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'Crimes against humanity' claims in Syria
[Al Jazeera] Syria has drawn strong condemnation for its deadly crackdown on protesters in the central city of Hama, with human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
campaigners hinting at the possibility of the country's leaders being tried for crimes against humanity.

Tuesday's attack in Hama killed 22 people and left more than 80 maimed as troops pushed through improvised road blocks made by residents, according to human rights groups.

As international condemnation piled on Syria, Amnesia Amnesty International said a deadly siege in May in Talkalakh, which lasted less than a week, may have amounted to crimes against humanity as a result of deaths of protesters in jug, torture and arbitrary detention.

"The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in [Talkalakh] paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent," said Philip Luther, Amnesia Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa deputy director.

"Most of the crimes described in this report would fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
. But the UN Security Council must first refer the situation in Syria to the court's prosecutor."

The London-based rights group's report, which was released on Wednesday, said the attacks "appear to be part of a widespread, as well as systematic, attack against the civilian population".

Al Jizz's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said on Wednesday that the protests in Hama pose a "very serious problem to the regime".

Government forces had pulled out of the city earlier in the protests, Amin explained, creating a political vacuum which encouraged people to take to the streets on Fridays, culminating in last week's mass rally against Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
last week.

But Assad sacked the city's governor on Saturday and mass arrests followed.

Western condemnation
Western powers condemned Syria for the crackdown, with William Hague, the British foreign secretary, saying Syria's actions raised questions on whether it was committed to any reforms.

"Violent repression in Hama will only further undermine the regime's legitimacy and raise serious questions about whether it is committed to the reforms it has recently announced," Hague said in a statement on Tuesday.

Victoria Nuland, spokesperson of the US state department, said: "We urge the government of Syria to immediately halt its intimidation and arrest campaign, to pull its security forces back from Hama and other cities, and to allow Syrians to express their opinions freely so that a genuine transition to democracy can take place."

"The government of Syria claims it is interested in dialogue at the same time that it is attacking and massing forces in Hama, where demonstrations have been nothing but peaceful," she added.

Some residents of Hama, the scene of a crackdown by Assad's father nearly 30 years ago, had sought to halt any military advance by blocking roads between neighbourhoods with garbage containers, and by burning tyres, wood and metal.

"Security forces had to use bulldozers in order to re-open the roads ... The government now says it was gangs that were trying to block the roads," Amin said.

Rights groups say that more than 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock by security forces since the revolt against Assad's rule began in mid-March.


La Belle France, which has taken a tougher stance on Syria than its Western allies, said on Tuesday there were signs Russia was beginning to question its Syrian stance.

Russia has opposed a French-led UN Security Council draft resolution, which condemns Assad's government and urges it to adopt rapid change, but stopped short of imposing sanctions or allowing military action.

Moscow has accused Western countries of exploiting the Security Council resolution that authorised limited military intervention in Libya and says it fears that could happen again in Syria.

Speaking of French negotiations with Russia, Alain Juppe, La Belle France's foreign minister said: "I think the point of no return has been crossed and the ability for Assad to make reforms today is zero in view of what has happened," Juppe said.

La Belle France has also failed to convince South Africa, India and Brazil to vote in favour, leaving the resolution short of the minimum 11 of 15 votes it feels it needs to submit the resolution.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Syrian troops kill 22 in Hama
[Emirates 24/7] Syrian troops killed at least 22 people in an assault on the flashpoint central city of Hama that prompted US calls for an immediate pullback, human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
activists said on Wednesday.

Troops also maimed more than 80 people as they pushed through improvised roadblocks put up residents after massive anti-government protests in the city of some 800,000 people, the National Organisation for Human Rights said.

"The maimed are being treated in two hospitals in Hama," the rights group's chairman Ammar Qurabi told AFP in Nicosia, adding that troops had entered the Al-Hurani hospital.

"A large number of Hama residents have decamped either to the nearby town of Al-Salamiya or towards Damascus,"
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
Qurabi said.

London-based watchdog Amnesia Amnesty International accused the authorities of committing crimes against humanity in its deadly crackdown on the unprecedented anti-government protests that have swept the country since mid-March.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the body of one of those killed in Tuesday's assault had been dumped in the Orontes (Assi) river in Hama, which is famous for its ancient watermills.

A 12-year-old boy was among three people killed by security forces on the outskirts of the city on Monday, activists contacted by telephone from Nicosia told AFP.

"Residents have mobilised. They're prepared to die to defend the city if need be rather than allow the army to enter," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory.

"Residents have been sleeping on the streets and put up sand barriers and tyres to block any assault," he told AFP on Tuesday.

Another activist insisted that Hama, where as many as 500,000 people erupted into the streets for a demonstration on Friday against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
regime, was putting up a "100 percent peaceful" resistance.

The US State Department urged the Syrian government to withdraw its troops from Hama and other cities, saying it too had no evidence that the protests had been anything other than peaceful.

"We urge the government of Syria to immediately halt its intimidation and arrest campaign, to pull its security forces back from Hama and other cities, and to allow Syrians to express their opinions freely so that a genuine transition to democracy can take place," spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.

She added Washington was "very concerned about the ongoing attacks against peaceful demonstrators in Syria."

"The government of Syria claims that it's interested in dialogue at the same time that it is attacking and massing forces in Hama, where demonstrations have been nothing but peaceful."

Since security forces bumped off 48 protesters in the city on June 3, Hama has beat feet the clutches of the regime, activists say. The next day, more than 100,000 mourners were reported to have taken part in their funerals.

Hama was the scene of a 1982 bloodbath in which an estimated 20,000 people were killed when the army crushed an Islamist revolt against the rule of the president's predecessor and late father, Hafez al-Assad.

On a visit to Soddy Arabia on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called on the Syrian president to make good on his repeated promises of reform.

"I made clear my view that President Assad's proposals for reform need to be implemented quickly and fully if they are to be of any significance," Hague said after talks in the Red Sea city of Jeddah with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal.

He stressed "the importance of the Syrian government taking rapid and concrete action to stop the violence and change the situation."

In a report released on Wednesday, Amnesty made allegations of torture, deaths in jug, and arbitrary detention during an assault by Syrian troops that lasted several days in May on Tall Kalakh, a protest centre near the Lebanese border.

"Amnesia Amnesty International considers that crimes committed in Tall Kalakh amount to crimes against humanity," the watchdog, said calling on the UN Security Council to refer the allegations to prosecutors of the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
.

"The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in Tall Kalakh paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa deputy director, Philip Luther.

Human rights groups say that more than 1,300 civilians have been killed and thousands more jugged since the protests started nearly four month ago.
Posted by: Fred || 07/07/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Who cares?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/07/2011 5:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Syrian gumming killing people in Hama?

Sounds like déjà vu phooey all over again.... :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 07/07/2011 22:19 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
44[untagged]
5Govt of Pakistan
4TTP
3al-Qaeda in Pakistan
2Govt of Iran
2Pirates
2Taliban
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Govt of Syria
1Commies
1al-Qaeda
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Hamas

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2011-07-07
  Syrian troops kill 22 in Hama
Wed 2011-07-06
  Afghan MPs Urge Karzai to Step Down
Tue 2011-07-05
  Hundreds of Gunmen Attack Pakistani Border Post
Mon 2011-07-04
  Bomb kills 10 in beer garden northern Nigeria
Sun 2011-07-03
  Assad sacks Hama governor
Sat 2011-07-02
  Swiss couple kidnapped in SW Pakistan: official
Fri 2011-07-01
  Report: U.S. Drone Wounds Top Islamists in Somalia
Thu 2011-06-30
  Pakistan tells US military to leave 'drone' attack base
Wed 2011-06-29
  Libyan rebels seize Gaddafi weapons depot
Tue 2011-06-28
  Breaking: Kabul Intercontinental Hotel under attack
Mon 2011-06-27
  Suicide car bomber kills 35 at Afghan clinic
Sun 2011-06-26
  25 killed in beer garden attack in Nigeria
Sat 2011-06-25
  60 dead in Afghanistan hospital bombing
Fri 2011-06-24
  Syrian Army Enters Village Bordering Turkey, Hundreds Flee
Thu 2011-06-23
  AL chief slams NATO bombing in Libya


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.
3.140.185.147
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (23)    Non-WoT (7)    Opinion (9)    (0)    Politix (2)