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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan militants torch telecom tower |
| 2008-03-13 |
| A telecommunications tower was set ablaze in western Afghanistan, a police official said Wednesday, the latest such attack since insurgents warned phone companies to shut down the towers at night. Five militants set fire to the generator, fuel tank and antenna of the tower Tuesday night in the Obe district of Herat province, said Raouf Ahmadi, a regional police spokesman. The tower belonged to the Areeba company. The Taliban believe US and other foreign troops are using mobile phone signals to track insurgents and launch attacks against them. A Taliban spokesman issued a threat last month saying militants would blow up towers across Afghanistan if telecom companies did not switch off their signals at night. At least two other Areeba towers have been hit, as well as three more owned by the Roshan company. Most attacks have been in the insurgency-plagued southern provinces, though one of the Roshan towers was hit last week by a rocket-propelled grenade in northern Jawzjan province, said Gen Khalil Aminzada, the provincial police chief. It was not clear if the arsonists in the Herat attack were linked to Taliban fighters. Communications experts say the US military can use satellites and other means to pick up mobile phone signals. The Taliban rely on mobile phones to communicate and coordinate their operations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 The MSM would jump at the chance to blame it on Bush. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-03-13 08:40 |
| #8 Might? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-03-13 08:23 |
| #7 That's a totally stupid idea, gromky. In fact, it's stupid enough that the MSM might actually fall for it! ;-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-03-13 06:09 |
| #6 But then everyone wouldn't be able to use their phones. The idea is, when the Taliban suffers, the innocent civilians also suffer. Thus, the Western media is able to put the blame on the USA once again. |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-03-13 04:40 |
| #5 If that's what they are worried about, it seems to me that it would be more effective for the terrorists to just turn off their cell phones at night and be done with it. After all, if they burned down all the cell phone towers, they couldn't use their phones! |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-03-13 03:40 |
| #4 That's what you get when a bunch of illiterate yokels are devising strategy. I assure you that NATO is tracking cell phones, and I can also assure you that they don't need active towers to do it. I guess it has more to do with the Taliban telling their followers to not use their phones at night (or any other time)... My sister's friend was building towers there a couple of years ago. More work for him, I guess. Good pay, but the bombings would suck. |
| Posted by: Vanc 2008-03-13 03:34 |
| #3 TOPIX > US TO PURSUE OWN NATIONAL INTERESTS IN PAKI/PAKISTAN; + THE INDIAN-PAKISTAN THAW CONTINUES, + US ME COMMANDER: NO NEW TALIBAN OFFENSIVE THIS YEAR. For SPRING 2008 anyway - NO PROMISES ABOUT FALL 2008, THOUGH!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-13 02:47 |
| #2 Why aren't the cell towers being guarded by snipers? |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-03-13 01:54 |
| #1 TOPIX > MUSLIM TERROR: LOS ANGELES, MANHATTAN, MANILA, JERUSALEM, AND IRAQ. Short summary of Islamist terror designs-violence, + just to name a few major mom-NYC world cities. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-13 00:17 |