[DAWN] Several bodies of Afghan soldiers have been found in a military base that Talibs stormed last week in the embattled southern province of Uruzgan, officials said on Thursday.
The attack in Chinartu district last Friday underlined the ferocity of fighting in many areas of Afghanistan even as speculation has increased about a possible ceasefire during Eid holiday this month.
"We have discovered and transported 40 bodies from the area, so far," district governor Faiz Mohammad said, adding that a number of members of the security forces were still missing.
News of the attack only began filtering out over the past two days. Muhammad Radmanish, a front man for the ministry of defence, said 27 Afghan soldiers were killed and five maimed.
The base was back under control of security forces, said Radmanish but the attack has caused significant damage and weapons losses.
Amir Muhammad Barekzai, a member of the provincial council, said some soldiers appeared to have been shot after they were captured but it was not possible to obtain independent confirmation.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a front man for the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... said 46 members of the Afghan cops were killed in the Uruzgan festivities.
"Afghan soldiers were not killed in Taliban detention centres," he said.
The attack underlines the heavy losses being suffered by security forces as they fight the Taliban.
A US Congressional watchdog, SIGAR, said in a report last year the losses were "shockingly high" but Afghan authorities no longer release overall casualty data.
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08/11/2018 00:00 ||
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[KhaamaPress] A former General of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has been killed in an attack by unknown armed men in capital Kabul.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials confirmed that the former General of the Ministry Zalmay Wardak was killed on Thursday night.
Deputy MoI spokesman Nusrat Rahimi confirmed that the incident took place in the vicinity of the 2nd police district of the city.
He said unknown attacked Mr. Wardak in Karte Parwan area of the city, leaving him dead.
According to Rahimi, an investigation has been launched in connection to the incident and efforts are underway for the arrest of the culprits.
In the meantime, a spokesman for the Kabul police commandment, Hashmat Stanikzai, says Gen. Wardak has been stabbed to death and his driver has been arrested.
No individual or group has so far claimed responsibility behind the attack.
However, the anti-government armed militants have stepped up their attacks against the former and current government and security officials in the key provinces and cities of the country.
Several similar attacks including magnetic bombings have been carried out against the officials in Kabul city during the recent months.
Zalmay Wardak, a former Afghan national army general, a military analyst and possible candidate for upcoming parliamentary elections, was mysteriously murdered at his residence in Kabul on Thursday night.
Kabul police said the cause of the murder seems to be personal enmity and that police have arrested his driver in connection to the incident.
In another incident, dead body of a 15-year-old boy was found in PD6 area in Kabul. Residents said the victim had been killed by his parents.
Statistcs by Kabul police show that 15 cases of murder and 10 IED blasts were reported in Kabul over last month.
[Tolo] The US forces in Afghanistan confirm that there were attacks on multiple government centers in Ghazni City on Thursday night.
“We can confirm that there were attacks last night on multiple government centers in Ghazni City, Ghazni province,” Lt. Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, told TOLOnews.
He said fighting has since ceased (at around 8am Kabul time).
The spokesman said the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces held their ground and maintain control of all government centers.
“US forces responded with close-air support (US attack helicopters) and conducted one strike (drone). In addition, US aircraft conducted a show of presence,” Mr. O’Donnell told TOLOnews.
Initial reports indicate minimal Afghan security force casualties, he said in a statement on Friday.
“This is yet another failed Taliban attempt to seize terrain, which will result in yet another eye-catching, but strategically inconsequential headline,” he said.
Taliban stormed Ghazni City – in the center of Afghanistan – 148 kilometers southwest of Kabul, at around 2am Kabul time on Friday. Taliban has said in a statement that the group stormed Ghazni City from different sides.
Ghazni police said Kabul-Ghazni Highway has been closed to traffic following heavy fighting between government forces and Taliban.
Hamidullah Nawrozi, member of Ghazni Provincial Council, told TOLOnews that "Ghazni city will fall to the Taliban if reinforcements were not sent".
Meanwhile, Ghazni Police Chief Farid Ahmad Mashal said the Ghazni City is under the control of government forces as he talked to TOLOnews at around 8:30am Kabul time. He rejected the claims that Taliban has entered the city. The police chief said clashes are ongoing in Khogyani, Khwaja Omari and Zanakhan areas on the outskirts of Ghazni City.
Recently, insecurity has increased in Ghazni province. The increasing insecurity has resulted in a decision by the Independent Election Commission to delay the upcoming parliamentary election in the province.
[Tolo] Taliban insurgents on Friday blocked Kabul-Kandahar Highway that connects Afghanistan’s capital Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar after the group launched an overnight attack on Ghazni City.
Taliban’s attack on Ghazni, about 180 kilometers southwest of Kabul, is the latest series of attacks by the resurgent group on provincial centers.
Afghan security officials in Maidan Wardak province said Taliban launched an attack on Salar area at midnight on Thursday and then engaged in a fierce battle with government forces in the area.
Passengers who stranded on the strategically important high said Taliban fighters have visible presence in some parts of Kabul-Kandahar Highway.
“They (Taliban) targeted the vehicles. Landmines were planted, bridges were destroyed, they also opened fire on us. Many drivers had been hit,” said Abdulhai, a driver.
“We stranded for two hours in Sayed Abad district. Clashws were ongoing in Chashm-e-Salar, so we returned,” said Mohammad Zia, a driver.
The US army in Afghanistan however has said that a series of air strikes were carried out on the Taliban in the area and that the group’s attempt to seize Ghazni City has failed.
“We can confirm that there were attacks last night on multiple government centers in Ghazni City, Ghazni province,” Lt. Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, told TOLOnews.
TOLOnews reporter Gulabuddin Ghubar who visited Maidan Wardak said government forces were trying to send reinforcements to the area to repel further advance of the group.
Soldiers describes the warfronts
“We checked the route and defused the mines. We also escorted the convoy towards Durani bazar and took the martyrs there,” said Mohammad Sediq, a soldier.
“We walked through Dasht-e-Top area. Taliban militants are fighting on multiple fronts. They cannot engage in direct battles,” said Emal Ibrahimi, a soldier.
“People have suffered from this war. The road is blocked. People are stranded on both sides,” said Sharifullah Hotak, member of Maidan Wardak Provincial Council.
[KhaamaPress] The Ministry of Interior (MoI) officials are saying that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) have full grip over the security of Ghazni city, the provincial capital of Ghazni province.
MoI deputy spokesman Nursrat Rahimi told reporters in Kabul that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are in full lead of the security of Ghazni city.
He said the Taliban militants have sustained heavy casualties during the attack on Ghazni city and in clashes with the security forces but added that no specific information is available regarding the exact toll.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Gen. Mohammad Radmanish said the attack was carried out jointly by the militants from Maidan Wardak, Paktia, and Zabul provinces.
Provincial security Chief Farid Ahmad Mashal says the dead bodies of at least 39 militants are left in the eastern parts of the city.
Provincial public health directorate officials had earlier said the bodies of at least 16 people including two civilians have been shifted to the hospital along with at least 30 others who have sustained injuries.
According to the officials, at least 26 security personnel are among those wounded during the clashes.
The provincial governor’s spokesman Mohammad Arif Noori had earlier said at least seven security personnel have sustained injuries during the attack.
Officials said Afghan special forces were also eing deployed to the southeastern city of Ghazni after the latest attempt by the Taliban to capture an urban centre, with the assault coming as pressure builds on the insurgents to enter peace talks.
At least one Afghan soldier has been killed and seven others wounded in the fighting, provincial governor spokesman Arif Noori said.
Civilian houses and army checkpoints have come under mortar attack and the bodies of dozens of Taliban fighters are in the streets, he added.
Rudaw adds still more details. At some point the fog of war will clear, and we’ll have at least a better idea of how many people belonging to which groups were killed:
Taliban fighters tried to overrun a provincial capital in Afghanistan early on Friday, hiding inside homes before slipping into city streets in the night to attack security forces and killing at least 14 policemen before being pushed back, officials said.
The overnight attack in the southeastern city of Ghazni, the capital of a province with the same name, also wounded at least 20 members of the security forces, said Baz Mohammad Hemat, the administrator of the Ghazni city hospital.
Another Taliban attack, this one on Thursday night in western Herat province, left six policemen dead in the district of Obe, according to the governor’s spokesman there, Gelani Farhad.
In Ghazni, the attack began around 2 a.m. with intense gunbattles raging and fires burning in several shops in the city’s residential areas, provincial police chief Farid Ahmad Mashal told The Associated Press.
After repulsing the daring assault, police conducted house-to-house searches for any remaining Taliban fighters. An investigation was also underway on how the insurgents had managed to infiltrate so deep into the city, barely 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Mashal said there were more than 100 other casualties but he could not give a breakdown of the dead and wounded. Most of the casualties were Taliban, he said.
Several bodies of dead Taliban fighters remained on the street after government forced pushed the insurgents from Ghazni, the police chief said. Bodies of 39 Taliban fighters were recovered from under a bridge on the southern edge of the city.
Airstrikes called in to quash the offensive also killed dozens of Taliban, Mashal said. Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said the army had helped the police and that the city was brought under control of government forces.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed parts of Ghazni had been seized and scores of people killed.
By mid-morning, sporadic gunfire could still be heard in city, some residents said. There were still Taliban fighters who had hunkered down in elevated positions from which they were still shooting, the residents said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear for their safety.
The Taliban have so far not confirmed being behind the earlier attack in Herat in which at least six policemen were killed at a district checkpoint.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Five snuffies were killed, while two others were locked away You have the right to remain silent... while attempting to infiltrate near the Iraqi-Syrian borders, the Security Media Center said on Friday.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasool, spokesperson for the center, said "border guards managed to kill five snuffies and arrest two others as they were trying to sneak through north of Qaim town, near the Iraqi-Syrian borders."
Troops from al-Jazira Operations Command and the military, backed by army jets, started an operation to secure the region, the statement added.
djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... (IraqiNews.com) An Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... member, who planted a bomb, which killed an explosive expert from Nineveh police, has been killed in west of Mosul, the Security Media Center said on Thursday.
In a statement, the center said the troops of the Interior Ministry, backed by Nineveh police, "managed to kill an Islamic State member who took part, along with two other Death Eaters, in planting a bomb to target the mayor of al-Quds district, west of Mosul. The bomb killed an explosive expert from Nineveh police. The two other Lions of Islam were killed few days ago."
The Death Eater, according to the statement, "was killed after besieging him. Two bombs and a hand grenade were found in his possession in west of Mosul."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Two Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... members, one of whom was a suicide kaboomer, were killed, while tunnels used by the bully boyz were confiscated, southwest of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... the Iraqi Federal Police Command said on Thursday.
In a statement, the command said troops "managed to kill two Islamic State members, one of whom was a suicide attacker, in a military operation in a village in Hawija town."
Troops also found several tunnels used by the bully boyz as well as four explosives, the statement added.
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A local official has been injured in a kaboom, west of Baghdad, a security source said on Thursday.
Speaking to Baghdad Today, the source said, "a bomb, placed on the side of the road, went off, as a vehicle, with a member of the municipal council on board, was passing in Abu Ghraib region, west of Baghdad, causing him serious wounds."
Ambulance, according to the source, "rushed to the blast spot and transferred the official to hospital for treatment."
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A Baghdad court has sentenced two Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... members to death and a third bad boy to life over carrying out terrorist operations and attacking security troops.
In a statement on Thursday, Abdul-Sattar al-Bayraqdar, a spokesperson of the High Judicial Council, said "Karkh Criminal Court reviewed cases of suspects who were convicted for joining Islamic State. They were sentenced to death over carrying out terrorist operations."
The convicts, according to the statement, "took part in fighting against security and military troops in Nineveh and Anbar. They fled then to Syria after the two provinces were liberated, before being locked away Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! by Syrian forces and turned in to Iraq."
The court also "sentenced another bad boy to life. He was arrested in Kirkuk and convicted for taking part in terrorist operations," the statement added.
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Diyala (IraqiNews.com) The Diyala Operations Command has announced killing three Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... members in operations, northeast of the province.
Speaking to Baghdad Today website, Maj. Gen. Mazhar al-Azzawi, the commander, said "joint security forces, backed by the army jet, managed to during operations to follow Islamic State holy warriors in Hamreen and al-Nada basin to kill three holy warriors and destroy 20 rest houses that contained explosives."
Earlier today, Azzawi announced carrying out two operations there to follow the myrmidons.
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One wonders what effect dropping seawater on the crowds from firefighting airplanes would have...
[IsraelTimes] Two Paleostinians said killed, over 100 hurt as thousands rally at border, hurl rocks, Molotov cocktails, try to breach fence; at least 6 fires reported in Israel due to airborne arson
Israeli tanks struck two Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, posts in the Gazoo Strip Friday evening after a grenade was hurled at troops and amid intense violence during mass riots in several locations along the border.
The strike came as Hadashot TV news reported that Israel is denying it ever agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas.
Around 9,000 Paleostinians were participating in weekly border protests. Some protesters were rioting near the fence, throwing makeshift bombs, Molotov cocktails and rocks at Israeli soldiers and burning tires to create a smokescreen. In one incident a grenade was thrown towards Israeli troops, but caused no casualties. Several attempts were made to breach the security fence.
The Hamas-run Gazoo health ministry reported that two Paleostinians were killed in the riots: 25-year-old medic Abdullah al-Qatati and 55-year-old protester Ali al-Alul. It said over 100 people were hurt, of which 25 were shot by Israeli troops.
Some rioters flew incendiary kites and balloons into Israel. Israeli officials said at least six fires had broken out in Israeli territory since the morning due to airborne arson attacks.
Hamas had earlier said the so-called "March of Return" border demonstrations would continue unimpeded, despite its announcement of cessation of hostilities with Israel the night before.
A senior Israeli diplomatic official insisted to Hadashot that Hamas’s announcement that Jerusalem had agreed to a truce was a lie. A senior defense official backed up the claim, and added that the army did not see the confrontation as over.
The implication was that Israel had ceased its attacks in the Strip because Hamas had halted rocket attacks on Israeli communities, but did not see itself obligated to a truce.
Hamas’s announcement of a truce came after a 12-hour lull in fighting, following two days that saw the heaviest exchange of Paleostinian rocket fire and reprisal Israeli Arclight airstrikes since the 2014 Gazoo war.
Hamas said a ceasefire had been reached "on the basis of mutual calm" and went into effect at midnight. It said the deal was mediated by Egypt and other regional players. Israel denied there was a truce, but a senior Israeli official told Israel Radio that "quiet would be met with quiet." There were no instances of violence reported along the border overnight.
On Friday evening the Israeli air force said it had completed deployment of Iron Dome missile defense batteries in central Israel, preparing for the possibility of further escalation.
Earlier on Friday Hamas front manSami Abu Zuhri ...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest... celebrated Hamas’s supposed achievements during the last round of conflict, saying it "proves Israel can be defeated."
[Bangkok Post] A Thai villager was gunned down and a defense volunteer was wounded by gunmen in Mayo and Kapho districts late Wednesday night.
In Mayo, Doha Jeha was shot in front of a grocery in Ban Balatae village of tambon La Nga. In Kapho, defense volunteer Lukman Mawaecha was shot in the thigh. Mr Lukman was on leave and was riding his motorcycle back home after sending off a friend. He was shot with a pistol.
On Tuesday, defense volunteers Muhammad Hafisi Muelee and Jehyunai Jehbueheng were gunned down on a road in tambon Toh Deng in Sungai Padi district of Narathiwat. They normally stood guard at a local school. About 100 spent shells were found at the scene. Police assumed at least six gunmen attacked them.
Local security officials believe it was an act of militants led by Toyeb Maekalong and Yaswan Ayee. They were active in tambon Riko and tambon Toh Deng of Sungai Padi district and have hidden on a mountain range.
[AnNahar] Heavy bombardment killed nearly 30 civilians across northern Syria on Friday, a monitor said, in some of the fiercest shelling of rebel-held areas there in months.
The air strikes and barrel bombs targeted the key opposition-held province of Idlib in Syria's northwest and a rebel town in the adjacent province of Aleppo.
Idlib is the largest chunk of territory still in rebel hands, and Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... has warned it would be his next target.
The province's southwest was shelled heavily on Thursday and the bombing the next day "moved further east," leaving 11 civilians dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"Air strikes by Russian warplanes and barrel bombs from Syrian helicopters hit southern parts of Idlib province today in very heavy shelling," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said Friday.
"It's the most intense bombing since Idlib was declared a de-escalation zone last year," he told AFP.
The shelling left eight civilians dead in the main town of Khan Sheikhun, and another three including a child died in nearby al-Tah.
The White Helmets, a rescue force operating in opposition-held areas of Syria, said its volunteers were responding to a bombing blitz on both Khan Sheikhun and al-Tah.
A White Helmets rescuer in Khan Sheikhun told AFP that residential districts had been hit.
Hours later, air strikes pummeled the main rebel town of Orum al-Kubra in the neighbouring province of Aleppo, the Observatory said, without being able to immediately identify if they were Syrian or Russian.
"The corpse count is now at 18 civilians including three children, and dozens of people injured," said Abdel Rahman.
Rebels have lost swathes of the territory they once controlled in Syria to regime forces over the last few months, including three areas that had been designated as "de-escalation zones" last year.
Assad's troops now appear to have set their sights on the last such area, Idlib.
The Britannia-based Observatory said regime reinforcements, including troops and equipment, had been amassing around the southwestern part of Idlib for several days.
But a full-fledged assault would be devastating for the estimated 2.5 million people living in Idlib, many of them rebels and civilians bused out of other areas that came back under regime control.
The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... appealed Thursday for talks to avert "a civilian bloodbath" in the province, which borders The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... "The war cannot be allowed to go to Idlib," said Jan Egeland, head of the U.N.'s humanitarian taskforce for Syria.
Around 60 percent of Idlib is held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is led by al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate.
Rival factions control most of the rest, but Syrian troops have carved out a small southeastern part.
Government helicopters on Thursday dropped leaflets over towns in Idlib's eastern countryside urging people to surrender.
Golly. So many possibiliites, a complete dearth of evidence.
[IsraelTimes] Syria’s air defense systems were activated overnight Friday-Saturday against a "hostile target" that penetrated the Syrian airspace west of Damascus, the country’s official news agency reported.
The report did not state if a strike on the capital had actually taken place.
The incident came eight days after Syria said its air defenses destroyed an unspecified enemy target during an attempted Arclight airstrike west of Damascus, as residents reported a series of loud kabooms around the Syrian capital.
The pro-government al-Masdar news service said August 2 that air defenses fired several missiles to fend off an attack near the el-Kisweh region and that it was not clear if the Syrian missiles were fired at an aircraft, drone or incoming rockets.
Israel has been blamed for previous attacks on a suspected Iranian military base in the el-Kisweh area. An attack in May killed at least nine Iranians.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
