Hi there, !
Today Tue 08/05/2008 Mon 08/04/2008 Sun 08/03/2008 Sat 08/02/2008 Fri 08/01/2008 Thu 07/31/2008 Wed 07/30/2008 Archives
Rantburg
531183 articles and 1854386 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 83 articles and 222 comments as of 23:00.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Taliban deny al-Qaida No. 2 hit by missile
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 00:00 Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) [336088] 
0 [336067] 
1 00:00 ryuge [336102] 
3 00:00 tipper [336092] 
0 [336087] 
1 00:00 Muggsy Glink [336068] 
2 00:00 Pappy [336090] 
3 00:00 Red Dawg [336069] 
13 00:00 Gravins B. Hayes5697 [336087] 
0 [336071] 
3 00:00 Darrell [336068] 
3 00:00 Richard of Oregon [336075] 
9 00:00 Procopius2k [336079] 
0 [336070] 
0 [336067] 
0 [336068] 
2 00:00 Redneck Jim [336071] 
2 00:00 imoyaro [336079] 
4 00:00 Pappy [336075] 
0 [336075] 
0 [336071] 
0 [336073] 
0 [336073] 
0 [336066] 
6 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [336078] 
2 00:00 Old Patriot [336071] 
0 [336069] 
0 [336091] 
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [336082]
0 [336100]
4 00:00 bigjim-ky [336107]
2 00:00 Gravins B. Hayes5697 [336067]
10 00:00 Gravins B. Hayes5697 [336068]
2 00:00 bigjim-ky [336065]
3 00:00 gorb [336068]
5 00:00 Old Patriot [336072]
0 [336066]
2 00:00 tipover [336071]
12 00:00 3dc [336077]
1 00:00 McZoid [336069]
0 [336065]
0 [336067]
4 00:00 trailing wife [336065]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [336068]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [336066]
0 [336069]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [336072]
0 [336068]
0 [336070]
1 00:00 Perfesser [336068]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [336068]
5 00:00 Old Patriot [336072]
0 [336076]
0 [336075]
2 00:00 bigjim-ky [336071]
0 [336076]
2 00:00 Richard of Oregon [336077]
10 00:00 trailing wife [336065]
Page 3: Non-WoT
3 00:00 Procopius2k [336071]
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [336072]
3 00:00 john frum [336068]
0 [336075]
6 00:00 OldSpook [336094]
7 00:00 john frum [336072]
2 00:00 Jack is Back! [336070]
15 00:00 OldSpook [336077]
5 00:00 bigjim-ky [336067]
1 00:00 Jack is Back! [336068]
4 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [336075]
Page 4: Opinion
0 [336099]
0 [336082]
4 00:00 swksvolFF [336077]
2 00:00 3dc [336071]
4 00:00 john frum [336071]
8 00:00 Darrell [336077]
1 00:00 Bobby [336069]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
2 00:00 Procopius2k [336085]
2 00:00 Frank G [336071]
2 00:00 bigjim-ky [336091]
3 00:00 Abdominal Snowman [336071]
10 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [336071]
7 00:00 Leonard Plynth Garnell [336097]
4 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [336093]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hippies?
Posted by: Iblis || 08/02/2008 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  the first trophy wives
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2008 5:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Training for the Antwerp Olympics?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/02/2008 5:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Sort of remind me of Chinese girls, with their frumpy clothes, lack of pretense, and natural beauty.
Posted by: gromky || 08/02/2008 6:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Is this from Kafka's pr0n collection?
Posted by: Scott R || 08/02/2008 8:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Insufficient data.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/02/2008 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Their cups do not runnith over.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/02/2008 13:24 Comments || Top||

#8  Those pre-bikini bathing suits may have had a bit more cloth to them than today's models, but when they got wet... Whoa.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 13:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Now showing the latest Martha Stewart line at Walmart....check your Sunday inserts for more bargains, "Save money, Live better".
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/02/2008 20:53 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Tech Note; Site Meter
It appears Site Meter did an update on its flagship product last night that will will likely bring down every website to its knees for users using using ANY version of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

The problem resides with Site Meter and Internet Explorer. There are two workarounds: 1) Don't use Internet Explorer or 2) One temporary server centric fix we are considering.

Please bear with us.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov || 08/02/2008 08:09 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yep. IE has the problem and Firefox doesn't.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/02/2008 8:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't use Internet Exploder? Not a problem for us Mac users ...
Posted by: Steve White || 08/02/2008 9:16 Comments || Top||

#3  People having problems connecting to web sites.
If you have sitemeter and us Internet Explorer, they are not working together and will not allow
you to get into your blog. What it also means that I cannot read any blogs with sitemeters on them.
THIS was a HUGE problem in blogspot land last night and right now.
What you do is:
go to blogspot.com
log in
get to your dashboard
then layouts
remove sitemeterÂ….

THAT is the only reason my blog was working lst night
hope this helps some of you

1. Open menu item: ToolsÂ…Options
2. Click “Security” tab
3. Select “Restricted Sites”
4. Click “Sites” button
5. Under “Add this website to this zone”, enter “*.sitemeter.com” without the quotes
6. Click “Add” button
7. Close windows using “Close” or “OK”, not “Cancel”.
This is a wide spread problem that I have noted in comment sections of quite a few sites yesterday.

Posted by: Ulitle the Full Bosomed1072 || 08/02/2008 9:23 Comments || Top||

#4  If it drives people away from the buggy, non-standard pile of crap that is IE, then I can only applaud Sitemeter.
Posted by: gromky || 08/02/2008 9:48 Comments || Top||

#5  must be the same guy that designed the Zonealarm update last month. Don't they test this shit before pushing it out the door?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2008 10:14 Comments || Top||

#6  I have good luck with Firefox.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/02/2008 10:23 Comments || Top||

#7  I generally block sitemeter.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2008 11:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Yep, I have site meter on my home page and intend to keep it. They'll fix it soon enough.
Posted by: rammer || 08/02/2008 11:05 Comments || Top||

#9  That is why I use Firefox.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/02/2008 12:36 Comments || Top||

#10  I've found that some browsers are better than others at handling certain sites, so I use them. I have Opera, Firefox, Netscape, and IE on my computer, and use them in that order. I very, very rarely use IE - maybe once every three months. I use Opera and Firefox daily. Fred, I have one problem with Opera and Rantburg: I frequently don't get the full article after I post a comment. Other than that, everything works great!
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/02/2008 14:45 Comments || Top||

#11  I use Firefox and no problems with the Burg. On comments, I have to copy or hand type the html formatting commands, as the buttons don't work. However that is a small price to pay for a stable browser.
Posted by: Alaska Paul back home || 08/02/2008 14:51 Comments || Top||

#12  Working fine with IE.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/02/2008 15:14 Comments || Top||

#13  IE 8 (still in beta) DOES NOT gag on the sitemeter code update. It is a known issue that MS never bothered with and sitemeter previously worked around. I'd say sitemeter is going to be the big loser in this when all's said and done...
Posted by: Gravins B. Hayes5697 || 08/02/2008 19:08 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Mine hits bus with Afghan wedding party; 10 die
A road mine blasted a bus carrying a wedding party in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 10 civilians, a police official said. Provincial police chief Matiullah Khan blamed Taliban militants for planting the explosive in Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province.
...
Meanwhile, officials said that U.S.-led coalition troops used airstrikes to kill more than a dozen Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan. The troops were in a joint patrol with Afghan forces when their convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in Uruzgan province on Friday, the coalition said in a statement. The joint force retaliated against the attackers and also called in the airstrikes, it said. There were no casualties among Afghan or coalition troops.
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2008 16:27 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Used to be a bus would hit a mine...
Posted by: Muggsy Glink || 08/02/2008 16:51 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali Islamists Attack Ethiopian Army Convoy, Claim 12 Killed
(Bloomberg) -- Islamist fighters in Somalia said they killed at least 12 Ethiopian soldiers and captured some of their weapons in a combined assault on an army convoy.

The attack occurred at Jero Kulow, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of the capital, Mogadishu, yesterday, said Farhan Abdi Eelmoge, a spokesman for Jabha al-Islamia Somalia, a faction of the Islamic Courts Union. Colonel Dahir Mohamed Hersi, a spokesman for the Somali national army, didn't answer his mobile phone when called today for comment. ``Twelve Ethiopians were killed during the battle waged together by the Islamic Courts Union and our brothers Jabha Islamia al-Somalia,'' Sheikh Abdi Rihin Isse Adow, a spokesman for the Islamic Courts, said in a mobile-phone interview today. He wouldn't disclose his location.

The Islamic Courts Union controlled parts of southern Somalia in 2006 before being ousted by United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government soldiers and U.S.-supported Ethiopian troops. Yesterday's clash is the latest in a series of attacks by Islamists after last month's cease-fire between the government and the opposition Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts

#1  Ethiopia has ZERO allies; Somali Islamofascists have the entire Muslim world in their pockets.
Posted by: Ho Chi Clereper5135 || 08/02/2008 17:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Ethiopia has the U.S. as an ally.
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2008 18:02 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm beginning to think Mr. Ho is really Mr. Troll.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/02/2008 18:51 Comments || Top||

#4  It's our B.C. visitoire:

Hostname: humanities-110.library.ubc.ca
ISP: University of British Columbia
Organization: University of British Columbia
Proxy: None detected
Type: Cable/DSL
Posted by: Pappy || 08/02/2008 20:00 Comments || Top||


Bomb kills Ugandan peacekeeper in Somalia
A roadside bomb killed a Ugandan peacekeeper in the Somali capital Friday, witnesses and an official said, breaking a brief period of relative quiet following a peace agreement between some of the fighting factions.

The explosion occurred near the Ugandan base at Mogadishu's international airport, said Ugandan commander Col. Godfrey Golooba.

Keyse Ali, a witness, said the bomb was hidden in a pile of garbage and exploded as the soldiers were making routine checks on the road. The blast knocked Ali back several yards.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Bangladesh
Two outlaws killed in 'shootout'
Two underground operatives were killed during a "shootout" between their cohorts and members of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) at Mirzapur village under Atrai upazila of Naogaon district early yesterday.
A "shootout" is a "crossfire" is an "encounter", etc, etc....
The outlaws were identified as Naser Ali, 55, of Atgram village and Saiful Islam Palowan alias Kajol, 28, of Jamgram village under Atrai upazila.
..and, no, we don't where that is.
Acting on a tip-off,
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Rab recovers arms, ammo
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday recovered nine different types of firearms and 99 bullets from a pond in Bhoran area under Tongi Police Station.

The firearms include three foreign made revolvers, four shotguns, one .22 bore rifle and a one-barrel gun with 99 bullets.
That's it? Hell, I've got more guns under my bed. Course, I'm one of those bitter white guys.
Officials of Rab-1 said the firearms belonged to Prince Khan, a top terror in Tongi area who was killed in a gunfight with Rab personnel on May 3 at Tongi.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hell, the guns I've got under my bed weren't made in the late Victorian period... unlike the ones in the picture. Who in the hell owns a handgun like that? Sherlock Holmes?
Posted by: Secret Master || 08/02/2008 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Could those be the infamous "Shutter Guns"?
Posted by: Rob06 || 08/02/2008 13:19 Comments || Top||

#3  In the bigger picture, there's a shutter cun on this side of the table.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/02/2008 13:26 Comments || Top||

#4  That should be Gun. Where is my mind ?
Posted by: wxjames || 08/02/2008 13:27 Comments || Top||

#5  ...Can we at least get one pic of a shutter gun someday?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/02/2008 20:33 Comments || Top||

#6  "That should be Gun. Where is my mind ?"

I think we all know, wx. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/02/2008 22:52 Comments || Top||


Britain
British Muslims 'fighting with Taliban in Afghanistan'
Brig. Ed Butler, who spent six months commanding British forces in Afghanistan, also revealed fears that militant Islamic groups in south-east Asia are supporting terrorist plots in the UK.

The brigadier, a former head of the SAS, spoke exclusively to the Daily Telegraph in the week when the British death toll in Afghanistan reached 114, with 17 fatalities in the last two months. UK forces have uncovered evidence that British Muslims are actively supporting the Taliban and al-Qa'eda in attacks on coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, Brig Butler said.

He said: "There are British passport holders who live in the U.K. who are being found in places like Kandahar."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: mrp || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if they have a right to do that. Guess so.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/02/2008 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Better there then in London or Glasgow or Birmingham.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/02/2008 5:54 Comments || Top||

#3  A British passport doesn't help get them back home if they're dead.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 08/02/2008 9:52 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Turkey: suspects in deadly bombing arrested
Any consensus on which posting category Turkey belongs?
A number of suspects in last week's deadly bombings in Istanbul that killed 17 people have been arrested, Turkey's interior minister announced Saturday. Besir Atalay said most of the perpetrators of the bombings, which also injured 154, were in custody, but declined to say how many people have been arrested.

The two explosions, minutes apart, hit a packed square in a residential area of Istanbul on Sunday, July 25. It was the deadliest attack on civilians in Turkey in five years.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2008 16:51 || Comments || Link || [336102 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ed - I've usually seen them posted under Europe.
Posted by: ryuge || 08/02/2008 22:15 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Indian Navy deploys warships off Sri Lanka
RAMANATHAPURAM: The Indian Navy has deployed at least two warships off Sri Lanka, besides seven warships, including destroyers, in the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has left for Colombo to attend the SAARC conference. A few patrolling vessels of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) are also part of the security arrangements.

A top defence officer told The Hindu here on Friday that while four ships belonged to the Indian Navy, three were from ICG. Four ships, two each from Navy and Coast Guard, were deployed in the Gulf of Mannar. Three ships, two from Navy and one from Coast Guard, had been deployed in the Palk Strait and nearby areas.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/02/2008 08:31 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So India's taking a side after all.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/02/2008 10:22 Comments || Top||

#2  They've taken a side for a while.

Just not openly.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/02/2008 20:01 Comments || Top||


Jammu remains tense; army called in to maintain order
Jammu,India Aug 2 (PTI) Jammu woke up to a tense morning today as the army was called in to help the administration in maintaining law and order after violent protests over the Amarnath land row.
Isn't it interesting that Jammu is coming under major stress just as the world begins to focus on the ISI and on the various canoodling parties in Swat and Wazoo ...
The army was called in the Jammu city and other curfew bound areas of the district and continues to remain deployed along with police and paramilitary forces, a spokesman said here.

The army was deployed in the adjoining district of Samba since last evening in the wake of violence here in which two persons died and eight others were injured when police opened fire to control a mob. The protesters also burnt 14 houses in Khour area of the border tehsil of Akhnoor.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/02/2008 08:30 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is Hindu majority Jammu's reaction to the previous protests in the Muslim majority Kashmir valley. They've prevented gasoline tankers and most goods trucks from entering or leaving the valley for almost a week.
Posted by: john frum || 08/02/2008 11:06 Comments || Top||

#2  RE: Pakistan
For its small size, tiny GNP and overall piss ant Status, Pakistan, its people and national leader-ship have dominated events in the World.

Yes the Pakis have been a destabilizing force in Asia and shockingly the God Damn Bastards have become main players here in the West too!

By any calculation the Pakis have been the largest illicit Nuke dealers in the World and therefore are the World's largest destabilizing influence between Nations.

Let's not forget 911 and the Caliphate Hungry elements within ISI.

John is the ISI still loaded with Nuke selling Caliphate Hungry elements?
Posted by: Red Dawg || 08/02/2008 13:18 Comments || Top||

#3 
Pakland's ISI General

Caliphate Monkeypantz


Posted by: Red Dawg || 08/02/2008 14:26 Comments || Top||


Militants' bid to enter Pakistan foiled
KURRAM AGENCY: The Frontier Corps (FC) foiled a bid by militants to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan on Friday and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Atkeematai. There was an exchange of fire between the militants and FC troops when the former tried to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan, near Kurram Agency, sources told Online. The FC firing forced the militants to retreat to Afghanistan leaving behind a huge cache of weapons and explosives, which the FC took into custody, sources added.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban abduct two soldiers in Khar
Militants kidnapped two Bajaur Levies soldiers on Friday at Jar checkpost, 12 kilometres from the agency headquarters in Khar. Thirty-five armed insurgents stormed the roadside checkpost and whisked away two soldiers, AP quoted local commander Major Fazle Rabi as saying. "There were a few soldiers [there] when the militants stormed the small post at dawn," Rabi said. "They took two of our men and fled to an unknown place." Rabi said police have launched a search operation for the missing men.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


SMS message from Pakistan threaten blasts in Kerala
Indian southern cities of Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode have got three SMS messages reportedly from Pakistan warning of bomb blasts this month, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported on Saturday. The police control room in Kozhikode, Asianet's Chennai reporter Bimal Roy and an Amrita TV's PRO in Thiruvananthapuram got the messages late on Thursday, Police Commissioner Anoop Kuruvilla John told PTI Kozhikode on Friday. The messages, John said, were reportedly sent from Pakistani phone number +923332631538, asking to contact KISH on mobile number 9995336022, which had been traced in Kozhikode. The message read 'Calicut blasts planned this month', he said, adding that both individuals immediately alerted the police.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: ISI


Taliban announce Rs 10m bounty on Swat MPAs
The Taliban will award Rs 10 million to anyone who brings them the heads of NWFP Assembly members from Swat, Taliban leader Ali Bakhat Khan told reporters on Friday. He said this in response to the Awami National Party-led government's offers of Rs 5 million and Rs 4 million for the capture of Mullah Fazlullah and Muslim Khan, respectively.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  My first question would be where are they going to get Rs 10M?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/02/2008 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  #1: My first question would be where are they going to get Rs 10M?

Either Soddy Arabida or the ISI, Bigjim. This is beginning to be a very nasty, outside-funded civil war. It won't be pretty, and like the Brit Brigadier said, may last a few decades or more.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/02/2008 15:00 Comments || Top||


Swat death toll climbs to 103 as troops pound militant hideouts
Three civilians and five militants were killed in shelling in the Swat Valley, security officials said on Friday.

Requesting anonymity, a security official told AFP that troops continued to pound suspected militant positions overnight. According to Geo News, around 103 people, comprising 58 Taliban, 30 civilians and more than 12 security troops, have been killed in the ongoing operation thus far.

Schools: Meanwhile, unidentified militants torched three more girls' schools in Sakhara. A bomb disposal squad also defused two bombs in the district. Militants also blew up a NGO office in Dargai and a vacant police checkpost in Malam Jabbah.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Iraq
Basic soldiering lessons just the start for military transition teams in Iraq
'So far beyond training'

ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq -- Developing the Iraqi army to the point that it operates independently of coalition forces is essential -- not only to prop up the Iraqi government, but also to allow U.S. troops to leave the country, military officials have long said.

To do that, small military transition teams have been living, eating and sleeping with units of the Iraqi army for the last few years. They began by teaching Iraqis the basics of being soldiers.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/02/2008 18:59 || Comments || Link || [336088 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Man for man, the best Arab Army since the Crusades.
Posted by: penguin || 08/02/2008 20:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually, a hell of a lot better. In those days, individual combat was all that mattered beyond sheer numbers.

There has never been an Arab army this good. Egypt comes close, but it does not have anything like the cohesion and experience of the Iraqis. Several nations have better weaponry, but this is subject to change in a hurry.

Iraq has achieved the ability to project force, which makes it one of only a few elite nations. In the future, there is a possibility that they may become the peacekeepers throughout the Muslim world.

Economically, their rise is going to be faster than Japan after WWII, and being Iraqi will be synonymous with wealth and power. They are going to be on the map for a long, long time.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/02/2008 21:45 Comments || Top||

#3  From your keyboard to God's monitor, Moose!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 08/02/2008 22:27 Comments || Top||


256 Al Qaeda suspects jugged
BAGHDAD: Iraq said yesterday that its military backed by US forces arrested hundreds of suspects during an offensive aimed at stamping out Al Qaeda in a restive central province.

"Our forces have arrested 265 suspects so far during our operations in Diyala," a defence ministry spokesman said.

The raids have taken place throughout Diyala province where 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and police began a major push against insurgents to secure the volatile region.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/02/2008 18:23 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


More than 10,000 detainees released in Iraq
The U.S. military said Saturday it has released more than 10,000 detainees in Iraq so far this year -- more than in all of 2007 -- as it continues to try phase out its running of Iraqi prisons.

The military said about 21,000 people remained in custody, and it is currently releasing about 45 detainees and detaining 30 a day.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2008 16:32 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under:


US military in Iraq says it holding 'cameraman'
BAGHDAD - American forces in Baghdad said on Friday they are holding an Iraqi cameraman working for Reuters news agency, and a media rights group said he has been held for nearly a week without charge. Ali Al-Mashhadani was arrested last Saturday by US troops at the Iraqi parliament press centre in Baghdad's heavily fortified government and diplomatic Green Zone compound, the news agency said.

It said Mashhadani also works freelance for the BBC and US-based National Public Radio, and urged the American military to free him immediately or produce evidence that would justify his continuing detention.
He also free-lances for the dead-enders as a publicist and spotter ...
A spokesman for the US military confirmed to AFP that Mashhadani was in custody.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Next time, have some reliable Iraqis arrest then lose him.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/02/2008 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Working for Rooters, BBC and NPR? If he was working for Fox or NewsMax then it would be a story. No wonder the press is going out of business. No irony left in the world.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/02/2008 5:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Third strike. Take him out.
Posted by: Darrell || 08/02/2008 18:18 Comments || Top||


Police forces detain highwaymen in Wassit
(VOI) - Police forces on Friday arrested a kinapping and plandering gang on a main road leading to a border town in Wassit, the police chief said. "A forces from Wassit police department captured a five-person gang suspected of involvement in kidnapping and plunderin on Jassan-Dibouni road, 65 km north Kut", Brig. Gen. Abdel Haneen al-Imara, Wassit's police chief, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

The police official noted "the arrest operation was based on intelligence tips-off stating an armed group was plundering on Jassan-Dibouni road. The road is main way for passengers and lorry drivers travelling to Iran via Zurbatiya border crossing. He added "the gang hid kidnapped people in a cellar inside livestock farm in al-Aziziya district.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Along the coach roads I did ride, with sword and pistol by my side. Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade, many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade. The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five...
Posted by: gromky || 08/02/2008 10:43 Comments || Top||

#2  But I am still alive.

Don't leave off the best line.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/02/2008 17:04 Comments || Top||


Iraq forces arrest five in Al-Qaeda offensive
The Iraqi military backed by US forces on Friday arrested five suspects during an offensive aimed at flushing out Al-Qaeda in a restive northern province. "Our forces arrested five wanted (suspects) in the last few hours," said Colonel Shawkat Ahmed, spokesman for the Diyala operation, told AFP.

The raids took place in the centre of Baquba, capital of Diyala province, where 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and police began a major push against insurgents on Tuesday to secure the volatile region.

Since the start of the manoeuvres, Iraqi soldiers have detained dozens of suspected insurgents as well as liberated a group or six people who had been kidnapped and held by militants, the military says.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Chief of Kirkuk police escapes assassination attempt
(VOI) -- The chief of the Kirkuk police survived an attempt on his life on Friday when an improvised explosive device went off targeting his motorcade in the southwestern part of the city, a security source said. "An explosive charge was detonated this evening near the Garage Baghdad in southwestern Kirkuk, while the motorcade of General Jamal Taher, the chief of the Kirkuk police, was passing," the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq -- Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The general was not in the motorcade at the time of the explosion," he added. "The blast caused material damage to five cars, two of them are civilians," he also said.

Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


U.S army nab 21 individuals in Baghdad, Mosul-statement
(VOI) - US army on Friday announced its troops arrested 4 wanted and 17 suspectd during operation targeting al-Qaeda network in Baghdad and Mosul. "Fifteen suspected terrorists, including two wanted men, are in Coalition custody after an operation in a village southwest of Mosul," said a U.S military statement received by Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

The announcement noted "one man is reportedly a liaison between Al-Qaeda network in Iraq(AQI) leaders in Mosul and the foreign terrorist network in northwest Iraq", adding "the other wanted man is allegedly a leader in that foreign terrorist network and is suspected of moving suicide bombers into Iraq for attacks". U.S army highlighted it "captured an alleged close associate of a senior AQI leader in Mosul who oversees the terrorist network's finances along with three additional suspects".

In Baghdad, U.S. forces detained "an alleged associate of a senior AQI leader in the area, as well as one additional suspected terrorist".
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian infighting in Gaza escalates, 4 killed
Hamas forces battled Fatah-linked fighters with mortars and machine guns in a crowded Gaza neighborhood Saturday, leaving at least four dead in the worst Palestinian infighting in nine months. About 80 people were injured, 12 of them children, hospital officials said.

Loud explosions and gunfire could be heard throughout the day in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyeh, a stronghold of the Fatah-allied Hilles clan. Hamas accuses the clan of hiding suspects behind a car bombing last week that killed five activists of the Islamic militant group.
...
The Gaza clashes began when Hamas raided Shijaiyeh under heavy morning fog. Security forces stormed several high-rise buildings and rounded up rooftop snipers, gunmen and wounded fighters, said Islam Shahwan, a Hamas police spokesman.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2008 16:43 || Comments || Link || [336092 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I hope they aim better than usual
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2008 17:47 Comments || Top||

#2  4 dead, 80 wounded. Maybe they were aiming at feet.
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2008 17:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Up to nine dead now
Posted by: tipper || 08/02/2008 21:27 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Teacher gunned down in southern Thailand
A Muslim religious teacher was shot dead early Saturday, police reported, and have issued a warrant for the arrest of one of several bombers responsible for wounding nearly 20 persons in an explosion earlier this week, police said.

Police said the 29-year-old victim was killed while he was driving a motorcycle in Raman district of the troubled southern province. Shot three times in his head and torso by two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle, he died at the scene, while the gunmen escaped, police said.

Meanwhile, police in nearby Narathiwat province said a surveillance camera showed that not less than four persons were responsible for Thursday's bombing incident in which 17 persons, including a six-month-old girl and a 70-year-old man, were wounded. The bomb exploded at a market in Narathiwat provincial seat after the five-kilogramme bomb hidden inside a black motorcycle was detonated by cell phone. The identities of two of the bombers were already known, according to police.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ryuge || 08/02/2008 05:30 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:


Abu Sayyaf abducts two women in Sulu
Islamic militants linked to the Al-Qaeda network abducted two women who were selling cosmetics in Sulu province, police and government officials said on Friday.

The two women, a mother and her daughter, were seized by members of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group in Parang town on Thursday, said Amilbahar Amilasan, a special undersecretary in charge of the southern Philippines.

The gunmen, led by Commander Albader Parad, fled to a forested area in Jolo which was last used as a hiding place by Abu Sayyaf members after they seized popular television presenter Cecilia Drilon and two TV crew members in June. That group was later released reportedly after a hefty ransom was paid.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf

#1  Reduced to kidnapping a cosmetics sales woman and her daughter. Pathetic!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/02/2008 18:40 Comments || Top||

#2  That's one way of getting a date...
Posted by: imoyaro || 08/02/2008 19:50 Comments || Top||


Sayyaf man with P150,000-bounty held in Zamboanga
A police counter-terrorist team and elements of the Special Action Force arrested a suspected member of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf who has a P150,000-bounty on his head as the man was disembarking from a ferry in the vicinity of Zamboanga City port Friday morning.

Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal, regional police chief for Zamboanga, identified the suspect as Hadji Ahmad Edris of Barangay Bulanza of Lantawan municipality in Basilan. Police collared the suspect as he disembarked from the M/V Estrella del Mar from Basilan.

Edris was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for kidnapping and frustrated murder issued by Judge Hussin Amin of the Jolo Regional Trial Court. No bail was recommended for Edris.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Abu Sayyaf
Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal
Hadji Ahmad EdrisAbu Sayyaf
Judge Hussin Amin
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336091 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf



Who's in the News
50[untagged]
6Taliban
5Govt of Pakistan
4Hezbollah
3ISI
3al-Qaeda in Iraq
2TNSM
2Abu Sayyaf
2Islamic Courts
2Mahdi Army
1Fatah al-Islam
1PFLP
1Iraqi Insurgency
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
Sat 2008-08-02
  Taliban deny al-Qaida No. 2 hit by missile
Fri 2008-08-01
  189 arrested, curfew lifted in Diyala
Thu 2008-07-31
  Qaeda big turban in Afghanistan killed in US airstrike
Wed 2008-07-30
  Gilani in Washington; Paks raid Haqqani's empty madrassa in N Wazoo
Tue 2008-07-29
  Military offensive under way in Diyala
Mon 2008-07-28
  Mudhat Mursi: Dead Again?
Sun 2008-07-27
  3 people killed in second day of Tripoli festivities
Sat 2008-07-26
  India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Fri 2008-07-25
  Serial booms in Bangalore
Thu 2008-07-24
  'Mohmand Agency now under Taliban control'
Wed 2008-07-23
  Sheikh Aweys claims Somali opposition leadership
Tue 2008-07-22
  Another Paleo Bulldozer Operator Goes Jihad
Mon 2008-07-21
  Death-row Bali bombers forgo presidential pardon
Sun 2008-07-20
  B.O. visits Afghanistan on grand tour
Sat 2008-07-19
  Mighty Pak Army zaps 10 Hangu Talibs

Better than the average link...



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.
18.208.203.36
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (30)    Non-WoT (11)    Opinion (7)    Local News (7)    (0)