KANDAHAR -Troops from the US-led coalition have killed between 15 to 20 Taleban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, a statement said on Monday. A coalition patrol killed 15 to 20 Taleban fighters in Sangin district of Helmand late Saturday during operations to rid the area of enemy influence, the coalition forces statement said.
It said a patrol spotted a large group of men armed with AK-47 rifles and RPG-7 grenade launchers moving towards them in pickup trucks. The pickup trucks tried to outmaneuver the convoy and move into an ambush position -- after having confirmed there were no friendly forces operating in the area, the coalition patrol opened fire, said the statement. Three pickup trucks were destroyed and there were no coalition casualties. Coalition forces succeeded in destroying a sizable Taleban force...thereby improving security in Sangin district, said Brigadier-General David Fraser, commander of the multinational brigade in southern Afghanistan.
In the southeastern province of Khost a suicide bomber who planned to target an anniversary ceremony was killed in a premature blast and an accomplice was wounded early Monday, officials said. The bomber with explosives strapped to his body was walking to Khost city from Ismail Khail district along with two accomplices when his bomb went off prematurely, provincial governor Mirajudin Patan told AFP.
"Abdul, will you quit playing with that....KABOOM!....vest"
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 08:48 ||
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Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan fought two battles with insurgents over the weekend. No Canadians were hurt, but Maj. Todd Strickland, the deputy commander of Canada's battle group, said the Taliban suffered heavily in one engagement.
"I think there are dead. Our own assessment is between 15 and 20."
Strickland led the Canadian Forces in a second fight, a 72-hour battle in the Punjiwai district 45 kilometres southwest of Kandahar. It started as at least 150 Canadians with Afghan soldiers and police swept the area for militants. Several dozen were cornered against the Arghandab River. The Canadians blocked the escape routes, used the heavy guns on their LAV III vehicles to pin down the Taliban and then called in attack helicopters. "Throughout the night, artillery was used firing illumination rounds to keep the Taliban's heads down," Strickland told reporters. "They don't like our guns. When our guns are firing, they're not moving." Afghan authorities said seven insurgents were killed, nine were wounded and a dozen men captured by Canadians were being interrogated.
He showed reporters marks on his LAV. The Taliban bullets just bounced off, an encouraging sign for the soldiers. Strickland was not involved in the other battle, in Helmand province early Saturday, but briefed reporters about it.
A supply convoy consisting of two LAVs, a jeep and a large truck was headed for Forward Operating Base Robinson in the mountains when three Taliban vehicles were spotted setting up an ambush. After confirming none of the coalition's Afghan allies was in the area, the LAVs fired at the vehicles with their 25-mm guns. Strickland believes the fire destroyed the vehicles and probably killed the 15 to 20 occupants.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:08 ||
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#1
Did the USMC loan the Canoodians those LAV3s? I heard that the Canuckistan government pretty much de-funded all military acquisitions under former PM Martin.
#5
I b'lieve the current Conservative gov't up north is re-funding the military as quickly as can be managed. I saw something here not long ago that surprisingly the Government, which only just squeaked past the incumbents, is becoming more popular and effective instead of less.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/01/2006 9:31 Comments ||
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The LAV III is a Canadian product: Piranha III is a family of armoured wheeled vehicles developed by Mowag Motorwagenfabriken of Switzerland, now part of General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems (ELCS). Over 8,000 Piranha family vehicles have been ordered and delivered. General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada (formerly General Motors Defense) also produce a version of the Piranha III known as the LAV III. The vehicles are constructed in a 6x6, 8x8 and 10x10 configuration. BAE Systems Land Systems (formerly Alvis) of the UK is also licensed for production and marketing of Piranha 8x8 and 10x10 light armoured vehicles. The vehicles are available as Armoured Personnel Carrier, Command Vehicle, Reconnaissance, Fire Support, Repair and Recovery Vehicle, Ambulance, Mortar Carrier, Observation, Load Carrier and Mortar Fire Control variants.
The first deployment of the LAV III was with Canadian Forces during UN operations in Eritrea in early 2001. The LAV III forms the basis of the US Army's Interim Armoured Vehicle (IAV) program and has been named the Stryker.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 9:47 Comments ||
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Another good story our Terrorist Supporting Media will not do.
Four years after being ousted from power by the US-led coalition, the hardline Taliban militia is regrouping in eastern and southern Afghanistan and even finding support among locals. Lately, there has been a spate of skirmishes and attacks on the coalition forces and the Afghan government by the Taliban, the latest being the kidnapping and brutal murder of Indian telecom engineer K. Suryanarayana Sunday.
The resurgent ambitions of the Taliban, known for its puritan code and fanaticism, can be gauged from the fact that it gave an ultimatum to the Indian government to withdraw nearly 2,000 Indian workers from Afghanistan in return for releasing the captive.
Recently, two Taliban fighters and two Afghan soldiers died in a gun battle in Zhawara district of Afghanistan's volatile eastern province of Khowst. The Taliban targets aid and reconstruction projects in the region.
At the end of March, US-led coalition forces concluded "Operation Valiant Strike," the third-largest conducted this year against the remnants of Al Qaeda and Taliban rebels in the south.
With the killing of a Red Cross delegate in Oruzgan province and regular skirmishes with coalition troops in the south and southeast, the spotlight has turned to the areas of Taliban influence and the key men controlling them.
Zabul province, one of the key areas from where the Taliban men cross into Afghanistan via Pachena and Anganay from neighbouring Quetta, is the main route for the militia to go to other southern provinces. The Taliban has been controlling most of the area in this region. There are reports of the Taliban finding new supporters among locals who see them providing better security to people than the government does.
Even the voting for parliament from these areas last year could not be conducted as the election materials and the polling parties could not reach their respective places due to the militants' control over the routes.
Dai Chopan district is one of the worst districts as far as insurgency is concerned. The insurgency is headed by Mullah Dadullah, who has about 400 fighters. Most of the Al Qaeda fighters travel with him and he mostly stays between Quetta and Zabul.
Dadullah is also the military commander for the Taliban in the south. The guerrillas have weapons from AK-47 rifles to heavy machine guns to rocket launchers and mines. Lately, they have been making their own bombs, sources told IANS.
In Atghar district, Mullah Razaq is heading Taliban operations in the area and his deputy is Mullah Agha.
Around 40 Taliban fighters are working in small groups in Nawbahar district.
In Khake Afghan district, foreign fighters, mostly Arabs and Chechens, have their base. It is being headed by a Taliban commander, Mullah Qahar, who was the commander for a Taliban frontline during the fight against the Northern Alliance.
Commander Amir Khan Haqqani has 120 fighters who are working in Arghandab and Mizan districts.
In Sewaray district, there are at least 600 fighters in and around the Sewaray district that shares a border with Quetta. Amir Khan is an ex-senior Taliban military commander who was head of the Qargha Division in Kabul under the Taliban.
Qalat, the provincial capital of Zabul province, is headed by Taliban commander Mullah Assadullah who has around 300 fighters. Five months ago, Assadullah masterminded the killing of a Turkish engineer and kidnapped Indian engineer Maniyappan Ramankutty in the Tarnak area.
Besides, these are the areas from where the Taliban crosses over to the other side to receive training in Pakistan.
Recently, Afghan President Hamid Karzai confronted Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf with evidence of Islamabad's continued patronage of the Taliban. However, Musharraf denied the charges and said that Islamabad was as much a victim of terrorism as New Delhi and Kabul.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:02 ||
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#1
I think they have been regrouping since the day after the libertaion of Kaboul, that is more than 4 years. Most snails regroup faster.
#2
What we are fighting now is the tribal mercenaries/thugs/gangstas that the Pushtans produce in such numbers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taliban has been recruiting them with money from drug sales and sending them across the border, trying to help themselves back to power. The Pushtans are the largest tribe around and think they are entitled to lord over all the smaller tribes. So now, we enter the slow but sure grinding down phase.
#3
With the Marines and Canadians killing them 15-20 at a pop, I don't see how they can last for very long. They may do good to get 1 or 2 coalition forces on a good operation, and lose 10 in doing so.
Hopes for a breakthrough in peace talks on the Darfur conflict were dashed last night when two of the main rebel groups refused to sign a proposed agreement only hours before a deadline expired.
The Sudanese government and the rebels had been under enormous pressure from the US, Europe and other African states to reach a deal over the conflict that has seen up to 3 million people displaced and tens of thousands killed. The African Union, the pan-continental organisation representing most African states, had set a deadline of midnight last night for agreement at the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, which had been running for two years.
The Sudanese government offered to sign the agreement, but two of the three main rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement and a faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army, said late last night that they would refuse to accept the 85-page document in its present form.
Ahmed Tugod, the JEM chief negotiator, told Reuters: "We are not going to accept this document unless there are fundamental changes made."
The African Union's deadline for a peace deal was set because of frustration at the lack of progress. Speaking before the rebel failure to sign, the AU said this was its final attempt to mediate a settlement and warned that it would not reopen talks on the fundamental issues if the deal was rejected.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, last week secured a Nato promise that the organisation would become more involved in trying to resolve the conflict. The United Nations is proposing to take over peacekeeping from the AU. The question is a much bigger public issue in the US than in Europe. Thousands joined a protest on the Mall in Washington yesterday calling for intervention. The actor George Clooney, who visited Darfur last week with his father, a former journalist, spoke at the rally. He said he had been moved by reading about the conflict, had got on a plane to Chad and then gone briefly over the border into Darfur. Another speaker, Elie Wiesel, the Nobel peace prize winner and Holocaust survivor, said: "Darfur deserves to live. We are its only hope."
In Abuja, the head of the Sudanese government's negotiating team, Majzoubal-Khalifa, said: "The government ... wishes to confirm its decision to formally accept this document and its readiness to sign." Mr Khalifa said that "any difficulties that might come up in the implementation stages can be resolved by consensus between all the parties".
With humanitarian conditions continuing to deteriorate in Darfur, the UN last week warned that a surge in fighting had led to a third of the 2.4 million displaced people being cut off from aid. The World Food Programme said a lack of funds had caused food rations to be halved, even though malnutrition rates were rising.
Part of JEM's concern is over the arrangements for the disarmament of the government-backed militias known as the Janjaweed. Diplomats at the Abuja talks said the rebels were also upset that their demands for a regional government and a new national vice-president from Darfur had not been met.
The conflict began in early 2003 when the rebels, accusing the government of discrimination and neglect, attacked a military base in Darfur. In retaliation, the government, which has a strong Arab bias, launched a scorched-earth policy against black civilians in Darfur. Military aircraftbombed villages, while the mainly Arab Janjaweed militia raped and pillaged. Up to 300,000 died by some estimates.
Despite a 2004 ceasefire and the deployment of 7,000 AU troops, fighting has continued. Since December 2005, more than 200,000 civilians have been displaced. A Human Rights Watch report last week said the government had bombed villages in south Darfur as recently as April 24.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 00:58 ||
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#1
"We can't quit now!"
"We got em just where we want em!"
incidentally, the protest in Washington DC was probably 25-40% Jewish; blacks were only about 1-3% of the crowd
The Washington Post dishonestly reported the event as a festival of diversity which is no doubt what the organizers of the protest wanted it to report.
#3
3% mhw? I was there, and id say definitely more blacks than that. At least 10%, maybe 20%. Certainly at least as many blacks as there were white gentiles. Maybe I should have wandered over to the Unitarian-Universalist sign, but it seeemed that there were relatively few white gentiles, at least in identifiable groups. My sense was of a black-Jewish cause in essence (albeit with more Jews actually present) plus a scattering of other support.
Of course the mix of speakers at the podium was different. I also dont know the numbers at the other rallies.
#4
I had the impression that the DC rally was more heavily Jewish. At least that's what it seemed to me while I was walking from the Metro to the rally. I'm still trying to figure out what the significance of the sign “Vegan Jews Against Genocide” is.
The diffuseness of the offered solutions disappointed me, but really I expected that. Rapper Russell Simmons saying that we shouldn't do anything military because it will seem we're just interested in the oil—What? Al Sharpton seemed sane, for a change. James Zogby got his traditional dig at Israel in. And, Clooney did not speak, for which we are all grateful.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
05/01/2006 22:05 Comments ||
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EL-ARISH, Egypt - Security forces Monday fatally shot three men wanted in terrorist bombings that killed at least 18 people in a coastal Sinai Peninsula resort last week, officials said.
So this is a different "encounter" than Sundays 'incident'
A policeman also died in the gunfight near Risan, about 25 miles south of el-Arish, a Mediterranean coastal city near the Egyptian border with Gaza, security and police officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
"We can say no more."
The three men fatally shot Monday brought to six the number of wanted men killed in the past three days as Egyptian authorities swept the barren, mountainous and forbidding Sinai interior.
"Round up the usual suspects, and shoot them"
Authorities found the remains of 21 people after the April 24 triple bombing in Dahab, a popular coastal resort, and were awaiting DNA test results to see if three of the dead were suicide bombers.
On Wednesday, two suicide bombers targeted vehicles carrying international peacekeepers and police not far from el-Arish. Only the attackers died.
Egyptian authorities have blamed the attacks on local terrorists, pointing the finger at disaffected Bedouin tribesmen who inhabit the peninsula. Terrorism experts, however, have said the attackers more likely were from al-Qaida-linked terrorist cells given shelter by the semi-nomadic Bedouins.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 14:34 ||
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#1
Authorities found the remains of 21 people after the April 24 triple bombing in Dahab, a popular coastal resort, and were awaiting DNA test results to see if three of the dead were suicide bombers.
The things you can tell from DNA nowadays! I had no idea they were a separate species... I thought they were just warped.
A man suspected of involvement in last Monday's bomb blasts in the Red Sea resort of Dahab that claimed the lives of 18 people was killed in a armed clashes with security forces in Sinai peninsula, the interior ministry said on Sunday. In its statement, the ministry said the personnel killed the suspected bomber in clashes that broke out at dawn today in Jabl Al-Maghara north of Sinai in a search for culprits involved in the Dahab blasts. Explosives and an instruction paper on how to make a bomb were found near his body, the statement added. Government newspapers identified today one of the suicide bombers in the Dahab blasts as Attallah Al-Sawarki.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Four suspected militants were arrested in the southern Russian region of Chechnya on suspicion of involvement in bomb attacks on federal interior troops, the local interior ministry said Sunday.
According to the ministry, one of the militants is believed to have been involved in a bomb attack on a police car in the Urus-Martan district in the troubled North Caucasus republic on April 26, 2004, which killed one policeman and wounded two others.
The second militant is charged with setting off a remote-controlled bomb on June 4, 2005, which killed one interior troops soldier and injured two others, the ministry said.
The other two gunmen are accused of preparing an attack on police in the capital of Grozny on April 11, 2002 by planting a roadside bomb. The bomb attack failed because no one was hurt in an explosion.
According to the ministry, all the four detained persons are active members of armed gangs in the republic. Police have launched investigations into the militants' possible involvement in other attacks on federal troops.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:59 ||
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Three years into the conflict in Iraq, the front line in the American drive to prepare troops for insurgent warfare runs through a cluster of mock Iraqi villages deep in the Mojave Desert, nearly 10,000 miles from the realities awaiting the soldiers outside Baghdad and Mosul and Falluja.
Out here, 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles, units of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., are among the latest war-bound troops who have gone through three weeks of training that introduce them to the harsh episodes that characterize the American experience in Iraq.
In a 1,000-square-mile region on the edge of Death Valley, Arab-Americans, many of them from the Iraqi expatriate community in San Diego, populate a group of mock villages resembling their counterparts in Iraq. American soldiers at forward operating bases nearby face insurgent uprisings, suicide bombings and even staged beheadings in underground tunnels. Recently, the soldiers here, like their counterparts in Iraq, have been confronted with Sunni-Shiite riots. At one village, a secret guerrilla revolt is in the works.
With actors and stuntmen on loan from Hollywood, American generals have recast the training ground at Fort Irwin so effectively as a simulation of conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 20 months that some soldiers have left with battle fatigue and others have had their orders for deployment to the war zones canceled. In at least one case, a soldier's career was ended for unnecessarily "killing" civilians.
"We would rather you got killed here than in Iraq," said Maj. John Clearwater, a veteran of the Special Forces who works at the training center.
The troops who come here are at the heart of a vast shift in American war-fighting strategy, a multibillion-dollar effort to remodel the Army on the fly. Here, the Army is relearning how to fight, shifting from its historic emphasis on big army-to-army battles to the more subtle tactics of defeating a guerrilla insurgency.
The changes in the Army's emphasis are among the most far-reaching since World War II, all being carried out at top speed, while the Iraqi insurgency continues undiminished and political support for the war ebbs at home.
American commanders say publicly that they still believe they can win the war, especially now with a more coherent strategy to combat the insurgency and train their soldiers to fight it.
The lack of such planning â indeed, the refusal in the first months after the invasion to acknowledge the presence of the insurgency â is at the heart of the criticism leveled recently at Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld by six former generals.
Beneath the public veneer, some American officers say they believe that public support for the war will probably run out before the changes will begin to make a major difference. The more probable chain of events, they say, is a steady drawdown of American forces from Iraq, long before the insurgency is defeated.
#1
San Diego's Iraqi community is almost all Chaldean christians
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2006 20:38 Comments ||
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The lack of such planning â indeed, the refusal in the first months after the invasion to acknowledge the presence of the insurgency â is at the heart of the criticism leveled recently at Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld by six former generals.
Sigh. The little traitor freak of a reporter just couldn't stand not letting an otherwise interesting, informative article go by without spraying it with irrelevant BDS. Its like seeing someone prepare a beautiful, delicious steak dinner...then s%#t all over it.
Get over it, all ready. The cited graf has nothing to do with the article, and just leaves you open to the charge of flaming bias. The only explanation I can think of is that it is either a macro inclusion, or the editor was asleep at the switch.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/01/2006 20:40 Comments ||
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or it's the NYTimes....(hint, NG, pick the latter)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2006 20:44 Comments ||
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I know it was the NYSlimes. I was just hoping that they would have an attack of decency or something. Silly me.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/01/2006 20:57 Comments ||
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#5
:-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2006 21:11 Comments ||
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TAMPA, Fla. -- A judge sentenced former professor Sami Al-Arian on Monday to another year and a half in prison before he will be deported in his terrorism conspiracy case. Al-Arian, 48, was sentenced to four years and nine months, but he will get credit for the three years and three months he has already served while being held. He signed a plea agreement April 14 in which he admitted providing support to members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a State Department-designated terrorist group responsible for hundreds of deaths in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Al-Arian took the plea deal despite a jury failing to convict him of any of the 17 charges against him after a six-month trial last year. His family said he agreed to the deal to get out of jail and end their suffering. It was not immediately clear where Al-Arian would be sent. Born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugee parents, he was reared mostly in Egypt before coming to the United States 30 years ago. He has been jailed since his arrest in February 2003 and was fired from the University of South Florida, where he was a computer engineering professor, shortly after his indictment.
The failure to convict Al-Arian was a stinging rebuke for the federal government. His case was once hailed by authorities as a triumph of the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act, which allowed secret wiretaps and other information gathered by intelligence agents to be used in criminal prosecutions. As part of the plea agreement, Al-Arian admitted to being associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad from the late 1980s and providing "services" for the group, which included filing for immigration benefits for key members, hiding the identities of those men and lying about his involvement. Al-Arian admitted to considerably less guilt than prosecutors tried to prove at trial. They described Al-Arian then as the leader of a North American cell of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, raising money for suicide bombings and spreading the word in what was described as a "cycle of terror."
Al-Arian was acquitted in December of eight of the 17 federal charges against him while the jury deadlocked on the rest. He pleaded guilty to one count in the indictment that charges him with "conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad." Two of his co-defendants were acquitted of all charges, which were mostly based on hundreds of hours of intercepted phone calls and faxes. A fourth, Hatem Naji Fariz, was acquitted on 25 counts while the jury deadlocked on eight others. The case against him on the remaining counts is pending.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 09:47 ||
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Canada will hold a public inquiry into the attack on Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 people in history's deadliest bombing of a passenger airliner, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday.
The broad-ranging inquiry will examine if security lapses that allowed the 1985 bombing have been fixed, and if police and Canada's spy agency have resolved problems that critics say led to a bungled criminal investigation and allowed two key suspects to walk free.
The probe will also examine if Canada has "adequate constraints on terrorist financing, in, from or through Canada," and if the court system is prepared to handle large and lengthy criminal trials such as the Air India case.
Harper's Conservative Party had criticized the previous Liberal government for agreeing to hold only a limited inquiry into the bombing, despite demands from victims' relatives for a broader review.
"It is hoped that our action will bring a measure of closure to those who still grieve for their loved ones," Harper told the House of Commons in Ottawa.
Air India Flight 182 was destroyed on June 23, 1985, off the Irish coast, killing 329 people on a flight from Canada to India via London. A near-simultaneous attack on a second Air India flight killed two Tokyo airport workers.
Investigators allege the bombings were the work of radical Khalistan terrorists living in Western Canada.
Despite one of the longest and most expensive police investigations in Canadian history, prosecutors were unable to convict the two men charged with murder. A third person pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.
Police and prosecutors have said that they were not able to get enough evidence to charge other people linked to the bombings, although the investigation is still considered to be ongoing.
The criminal investigation was marked by controversy from its early stages, including charges that fighting between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada's spy agency led to the destruction of potentially key evidence.
Posted by: john ||
05/01/2006 18:56 ||
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#1
Liberal party holdovers soon to be seen fleeing for the exits? They won't want to be there to answer the charge that they still haven't got round to fixing any of the problems, I hope.
QUETTA, Pakistan, May 1 (Reuters) - Tribal militants fighting for greater autonomy in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan blew up a railway track and bridge on Monday, officials said. The attacks came a day after the government banned Baluch nationalist leaders from travelling outside Pakistan. Three of the ten leaders on the government blacklist were members of parliament.
The militants used heavy explosives to blow up a railway track and bridge in Noushki and Kohlu districts. Railway officials said six bombs were planted on the track linking the provincial capital Quetta with the Iranian border town of Zahidan, but only two exploded. "God saved us from great damage as four other bombs did not go off and were defused," Mushtaq Ahmed, a railway official in Noushki, told Reuters. A banned militant group, Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), claimed responsibility for the attacks.
On Sunday night, rebels in Dera Bugti district fired rockets at a paramilitary wounding two troopers.
Dera Bugti sits atop Pakistan's largest gas reserves, and is a stronghold of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a rebel chieftain who accuses the central government of exploiting Baluchistan's resources without passing on the benefits to ethnic Baluchs. A simmering conflict in Baluchistan flared anew in December after tribesmen mounted a rocket attack during a visit by President Pervez Musharraf.
Militants regularly blow up gas pipelines, railway lines and electricity transmission lines, and launch rocket attacks on government buildings and army bases.
To win back support in the poorest of Pakistan's four provinces, Musharraf has announced plans for major infrastructure projects in Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 12:28 ||
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Bugti hate Iron Horse too.
The Tribal Areas thing is starting to make sense to me.
ISLAMABAD - The continuing hostilities between the military and the militants have claimed the life of another pro-government tribal leader in Pakistans troubled North Waziristan region, officials confirmed on Monday. Maulvi Janat Mirs body was discovered near a graveyard of Mir Air area, some 10 kilometres east of regions headquarters Miranshah, a week after he went missing. Yes, we have found his body, a senior official in the town of Mir Ali, Fida Mohammad told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone. He had been strangled, he said.
Mir was actively mediating between the government and the suspected Islamic militants in the region where military operations since July 2005 have left about 324 suspected terrorist dead including 41 foreign miscreants. Suspected militants have killed about 124 pro-government tribal leaders during the last two years.
Violence in North Waziristan has surged since March after some 146 suspected militants were killed in a military operation. At least 55 alleged Islamic terrorists were killed during different military operations in the North Waziristan region in April alone.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 08:59 ||
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Against the background of growing public concern that Pakistan is losing out to a process of Talibanisation of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), military officials in Miranshah, North Waziristan, have told a team of foreign journalists that Pakistan has full control of the agency and that the Talibanisation of the area is a thing of the past. However, just two days earlier, President Pervez Musharraf had actually said that, far from being countered effectively, Talibanisation was spreading into other areas of the country.
Now the foreign media has been told that the army has killed 324 militants over the past nine months in 39 major operations since July 2005. The military official who briefed the foreign media claimed that 142 militants have been captured, and 76 foreign militants and 56 soldiers killed in this period. But this is at variance with the figure quoted by the foreign minister on BBC three days ago in which he said, in response to the mantra of the international community to do more, that nearly 600 soldiers and para-military men had lost their lives at the hands of terrorists and Taliban forces in Waziristan. In Miranshah alone, said the ISPR, there were 1,500 pro-Taliban militants in March, out of which the army had killed 145 militants, including 23 foreigners. The death of a senior Al Qaeda operative and explosives expert, Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, indicted in the United States over the 1998 twin embassy bombings in east Africa, has also been claimed, although it is admitted that the body of the suspect has never been found. According to the military spokesman in Miranshah, some 31,000 regular troops and 14,000 paramilitary soldiers are deployed in North Waziristan. According to the same spokesman, 80 percent of the local population is sitting on the fence and not openly siding with the government.
The spokesman could have added that this was so because 150 of the local leaders who supported the government had been put to death by the Taliban and others were being slaughtered daily on charges of spying for the Americans. The rest of Pakistan is also sitting on the fence because of the way the government has handled the trouble in Waziristan. Sealed off from normal reporting because the army didnt allow local journalists to go to the area, the public has been vulnerable to the denial propaganda of the MMA, the clerical alliance in power in the NWFP, and the combined opposition in parliament which sees the Waziristan trouble as a chink in the armour of the Musharraf regime.
The fact is that the government has been hurt by its policy of not allowing local journalists to report from the tribal areas. The area was declared out of bounds, not because the government was doing anything illegal there but because it steadily botched operations it undertook in the earlier phase. There was a difference of opinion between two men who handled the operations: the Peshawar corps commander and the NWFP governor. This resulted in many of the early operations going wrong and ending in the deaths of Pakistani soldiers. There was also some evidence of lack of resolve and conviction among those who conceived and led these operations, especially with regard to the terms of surrender of some of the militant leaders and the policy of offering massive bribes to some others.
Was the policy of disallowing local journalists to report and to prevent the flaws from being made public correct? It is now clear that it was not. Much of the Talibanisation was spread by the very militants who were handed out massive bribes. Had the national press been around this policy would not have gone on till it was too late. In this vacuum of information, the version of facts about Waziristan put out by the clergy became the burden of reportage on the issue. Those from among the NWFP politicians who dared to speak out lived in fear of being attacked; and journalists who snuck into the area gathered hair-raising facts about the doings and undoings of the Taliban that would have strengthened the governments position if they had been allowed to be aired. But such sneaky reportage was not trusted and not published. The result is that now no one believes what the government says about Waziristan.
Once again it has been deemed more important to satisfy the foreign press. The reason for this is easily understood. The pressure of making a clean breast on Waziristan comes from the top and cant be resisted, and Pakistan has to tell the world that it is trying its best against Al Qaeda. Back home, no one has taken another look at the policy of keeping the national press off the scent of developments in the affected areas. In the environment created by this policy, the militants have been kidnapping and killing the random journalists operating there without the support of fellow-professionals. Had the press corps been allowed in, it would have taken a stand against the terrorists and strengthened the governments hand despite the normal expectation of critical coverage.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:15 ||
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The remote Shawal valley in Pakistans North Waziristan tribal region has long been known as a haven for Al Qaeda militants and their allies.
Standing on one of the highest summits in the pine-dotted valley, Pakistani military officials say that Shawal no longer offers sanctuary to militants after security forces gained a foothold in the area last year.
We have set up our posts at almost every kilometre and a half, Brigadier Imtiaz Wyne, military commander in Shawal, said as two of his soldiers sat in a post keeping a watchful eye on the unmarked border with Afghanistan.
I have now almost full control over the area, he told journalists who made a brief weekend visit to the area arranged by the military.
Shawal is a beautiful upland valley, with forests and meadows where tribesmen graze their flocks in summer. The valley, at about 1,300 metres (4,000 feet), is criss-crossed by ravines and ridges soaring up to 3,400 metres (11,000 feet).
While hardly any signs of habitation could be seen on Kundi Garh, one of the highest summits overlooking the valley, officials said many militants, including Arabs, Central Asians and Chechens fleeing army operations in neighbouring South Waziristan had taken refuge in the valleys forests.
This was a major sanctuary for the militants, an intelligence official said.
But Wyne said the army had launched up to 10 operations in Shawal since it secured the area over the past year.
Shawal is now almost clear of miscreants, he told Rper cent.
But despite the militarys claims, clashes between security forces and militants go on unabated in rugged Waziristan.
On Saturday, militants ambushed a convoy of paramilitary troops on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.
There were no casualties and officials said such attacks had become almost routine in North Waziristan.
We have become used to such clashes. Hardly a day passes when we dont have such clashes, an intelligence official said in Miranshah.
The rugged mountains and forest-clad gorges on the Afghan frontier provide a natural hideout for militants and many believe that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his key aide Ayman al-Zawahiri could be hiding in the region.
Pakistani officials say they had no information on the whereabouts of the two al Qaeda leaders.
We always keep a list of the wanted men with us and whenever we find anyone of them here, we go after him, the intelligence official said, citing the death of Atwah and Abu Marwan Hadid al-Suri, a man believed to a bag man for the families of al Qaeda fighters, killed in the Bajaur tribal region this month.
We are basically chasing leaders of the militants more actively then their foot-soldiers. These leaders are the real instigators and we are after them, he said.
About 1,000 foreign militants from Arab and Central Asian countries are operating in Pakistans tribal belt, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:12 ||
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I think this is the same massacre Fred notes in a story below, but I'm not sure -- four or 22, it demonstrates the total amorality of the terrorists. India needs to find and whack them.
JAMMU, India (AP) - Suspected Islamic militants raided a village and killed 22 Hindus after lining them up outside their homes in India's portion of the disputed territory of Kashmir, police said Monday.
An additional five Hindus were wounded in the attack Sunday night in Thava, about 100 miles northeast of the city of Jammu in India's Jammu-Kashmir state, said Sheesh Pal Vaid, inspector-general of police. The assailants fled the village by the time security forces reached the area, he said.
Also Sunday, police found the bodies of four Hindu cattle grazers who were abducted over the weekend by suspected Islamic militants, said L. D. Mohanty, the deputy inspector-general of police. The bodies were recovered near Basantgarh, a village in Udhampur district in Jammu-Kashmir state. Five other cattle grazers also abducted from the village Saturday were still missing, Mohanty said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Islamic Terrs Butcher Hindus
Yawn - nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
/bitter sarcasm
But I do expect reports condemning Indian "heavy-handed tactics" and "cycle of violence" by HRW and AI and their ilk.
JAMMU: Suspected rebels kidnapped nine civilians and shot four of them dead in revolt-hit Indian held Kashmir on Sunday, police said. Three of the dead were brothers and police said they were searching for the five still being held. "Early morning, militants kidnapped nine Hindus when they were grazing their cattle. We have recovered four bodies," said SP Vaid, police chief of Jammu, winter capital of held Kashmir. The kidnapping took place in Udhampur district, 150 kilometres northeast of Jammu.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"rebels"
Amazing how citizens of Pakistan, born and bred in Pakistani Punjab are called "rebels" when they infiltrate into India and slaughter villagers.
What are they rebelling against?
They owe some sort of allegiance to India? How?
Posted by: john ||
05/01/2006 17:03 Comments ||
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Gunmen ambushed a pickup truck carrying prominent tribal militant Asmatullah Shaheen on a road in near Tank in South Waziristan on Sunday, seriously wounding him and his two bodyguards, police and a militant said. Other tuff guyz fighters took the pro-Taliban Shaheen and the two other wounded men to an undisclosed private hospital in Wana, the official said. It was not clear who targeted Shaheen, he said. Shaheen was in serious condition with a bullet wound in his head, a fellow fighter said.
"Aaaarrr! Drilled 'im right through the turban, they did! In one side an' out t'other!"
Shaheen is the leader of a band of militants in Jandola. A week ago, Shaheen held a meeting in Jandola with hundreds of local tribal supporters where he issued a warning for men to grow beards. He also warned local clerics not to solemnise the weddings or funerals of men without beards, an intelligence official in the region said.
"Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for a beardless man with a warm gun! That is all!"
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I just don't get the beard thing. Is it an aversion to personal hygiene in general, or is there some real significance to it?
Ask the Imam "Growing a beard is considered a great Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is also one of the great legacies inherited from all of the previous prophets and messengers of Allah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered us: Grow your beards and trim or clip the moustaches. In light of such precedents, most of the past scholars and Imams go as far as declaring that growing a beard is obligatory on males.
What we stated above makes it clear that no Muslim should take the issue of the beard lightly. At the same time, we must also state categorically that one should not conclude from what has been said earlier that growing a beard in Islam has the same religious significance as that of the other prescribed rituals. This is definitely not the case. Thus it is important for us to recognize that we are not allowed to ostracize men who do not have beards nor are we to question their basic faith.
Since beard is undoubtedly a great Sunnah, every Muslim male should try to practice this Sunnah according to the best of his ability. Allah does not take us to task for what is beyond our power or ability. We are told to fear Allah as best as we can."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 10:48 Comments ||
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#3
Islam requires a great deal of outward spiituality. You must be seen to be growing your beard, or wearing a sack, or else. You must be seen at prayers five times a day. Or else. You only get a pass if you are a university professor, a London or Washington spokesman, or on infidel TV a lot. Also if you are on jihad and blending in with the dull witted kufrs.
Quetta police have arrested two Afghans suspected of planning to carry out suicide bombings here, reported Aaj television. The two men were arrested on the basis of information gleaned from another suspected suicide bomber, Syed Muhammad, the channel quoted Quetta's Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Ghulam Muhammad Dogar as saying. Muhammad was arrested while attempting to blow himself up on Quetta's Circular Road a few days ago.
"You, there! Drop the detonator! Yer under arrest!"
"Hokay."
Dogar said the two bombers had confessed that they had entered Quetta for suicide bomb attacks. "India's Research and Analysis Wing has trained and sent 600 terrorists to Balochistan," he added.
And I, for one, believe him!
The provincial government of Balochistan has put security on high alert in the entire province to foil any act of terrorism, he said.
"Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for Hindoo terrorists in Balochistan! This is all!"
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Al-Qaeda late on Saturday claimed a suicide bomb attack in early March, which killed five, including an American diplomat and a US Consulate employee in Karachi just before US President George W. Bush visited. "Dozens of suicide operations have been carried out in Pakistan and Afghanistan within the large Al-Qaeda campaign against Zionists and crusaders, including the attack against the US Consulate in Karachi a day before the arrival of the biggest crusader (US President George W. Bush)," the organization said.
The statement, signed "Al-Qaeda, of the Afghanistan Jihad (holy war)" vowed that 2006 "would be decisive and that this summer would be hell for crusader soldiers and their agents among the renegades". No organization had previously claimed responsibility for the March 2 attack.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Iranian forces shelled Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq for the second day on Monday, forcing dozens of Kurdish families to flee, a rebel leader said. The Iranians shelled PKK positions from 9 pm (1700 GMT) on Sunday until 5 am (0100 GMT) on Monday, Rustom Judi, a leader of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraqs northern province of Sulaimaniyah, told AFP. Dozens of families were forced to leave their homes, he said. We have casualties, he added, but did not provide further details.
Iranian troops targeted positions around the villages of Laradu, Rushga and Qalaa Tuka about 190 kilometers (118 miles) north of Sulaimaniyah in the regions rugged mountains, Judi said. On Sunday Iraqs defence ministry said Iranian forces had entered Iraqi territory and shelled PKK positions over a period of 24 hours.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 09:02 ||
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Sounds like a really good reason to saturation bomb every Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit within 30 miles of the border.
Posted by: ed ||
05/01/2006 9:43 Comments ||
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So... if cross border shooting at potential terror camps is OK by IRAN....
When do we do it?
US and Iraqi forces on Saturday attacked buildings being used by foreign insurgent groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq, and captured seven militants and detained more than 50 suspected ones, said the US command on Sunday.
Also, three British contractors were killed when a roadside bomb struck their convoy, a spokesman for the British military said on Sunday. The attack occurred about 30 kilometres northwest of Basra, the spokesman said of the violence on Saturday.
American and Iraqi forces have killed more than 20 foreign insurgents, some wearing suicide vests, during raids in and around Youssifiyah, an area being used by militants to stage attacks in Baghdad, said the US military.
Also, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Sunday that the United States was in promising talks with seven insurgent groups. The Americans have entered into negotiations with some of these groups with my blessing and I think it is possible to reach an agreement with the seven armed organisations, Talabani said in a statement released by his office.
He did not name the groups but said they were fighting what they regarded as US-led occupation. There was no immediate reaction from US officials.
Meanwhile, insurgent attacks continued in Iraq killing three Iraqis. The bullet-ridden bodies of seven Iraqi men were also found.
Despite the violence, Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki continued to meet with politicians to choose his cabinet for Iraqs new national unity government. Al-Maliki has promised to finish the job in the next two weeks, but it could be difficult for him to fill top Cabinet posts with politicians who are not affiliated with parties that have maintained armed militias being blamed for sectarian violence.
A roadside bomb killed a US soldier southwest of Baghdad on Saturday, raising the American death toll for April to at least 70. But the US military would not give the precise location of Saturdays attack, or say whether it was related to the coalition raids in and around Youssifiyah.
In Baghdad, two drive-by shootings killed Talib Niama, an employee in the Trade Ministry, and the owner of an auto parts shop, police said.
The bullet-ridden bodies of seven men were found in three areas of the capital. All of them had been tortured and killed in captivity, police said. Such sectarian violence by Sunni Arab and Shia death squads has become common lately in Baghdad.
A roadside bomb hit a US military convoy in Tikrit, the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein, said Police Maj Ahmed Awad said. He said the blast set a Humvee on fire, causing US casualties, but the US command could not immediately confirm that.
In Ramadi, gunmen attacked three policemen travelling in a car carrying the salaries of police in Fallujah, killing one, wounding another, and kidnapping the third with the bag of money, police said.
Two roadside bombs targeting separate Iraqi police patrols exploded within a half hour of each other, wounding two policemen and a civilian driving nearby, police said.
In Sadr City, a bomb exploded aboard a minibus near a gas station, wounding three Iraqi civilians, said Police Lt Thair Mahmoud. Many Iraqis pay small fees to travel around the capital in privately owned minibuses. A roadside bomb in Musayyib missed a police patrol but wounded a civilian, said police Capt Muthana Khalid said.
A roadside bomb exploded near a US convoy in Rawah, said witnesses but casualties were not immediately reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:14 ||
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#1
"captured seven militants and detained more than 50 suspected ones"
WHEN is the press going to stop doing this and use the word that describes what they are: TERRORISTS.
With the press, until it can call our enemy what it is, they have already surrendrered by giving in ot the terrorist's terms and info warfare strategy. This pisses me off so much wehenever I see it!
A militant is a PO'd butchy femnist. Guys that behead teachers, murder women and children with suicide bombs, and crash airplanes into buildings are terrorists.
Call things what they are - lying for the enemy does the world harm by clouding the debate with false terminology.
#3
Denial is a powerful motivator. If you could admit to your readers that these 'militants' were really terrorists, then you might be forced to acknowledge that the "so called" War on Terror is for real; and that George Bush might be right; and that John Kerry and the rest of the Dems are wrong; and that the MSM is misleading the public.
Logic is a bitch. So militants they remain. War on Militants sound so childish, so unimportant.
Posted by: john ||
05/01/2006 10:55 Comments ||
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In Ramadi, gunmen attacked three policemen travelling in a car carrying the salaries of police in Fallujah, killing one, wounding another, and kidnapping the third with the bag of money, police said.
One Iraqi was killed and seven others were wounded in an explosion of a booby-trapped bus in the eastern suburb of the Iraqi capital, police said Sunday. The explosion occured in the densely-populated suburban district of Al-Sadr. The wounded, some in serious condition, were taken to hospital for treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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A combined force of Iraqi soldiers and Multi-National troops have detained 57 gunmen including foreign fighters in a wide-scale security operation in the southern sector of the Iraqi capital.
Foreign fighters like, y'know, Samoans. Lapplanders. A Chinaman or two. A couple of Swissers, yodeling and cutting cheese...
Any Esquimoux?
The Multi-National Forces said in a statement released on Sunday that seven wanted terrorists were among the gunmen, who were detained in the operation, carried out on Saturday. The operation that targeted hideouts of the gunmen was carried out according to tip-offs, it said, adding that among the nabbed gunmen were a number of members of Al-Qaeda. It added that more than 20 fighters were killed in several operations, carried out in the same region during the past days. The statement also reported that 15 foreign fighters were killed in a separate operation in the town of Al-Yusufiah south of Baghdad on the 25th of this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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An Iraqi citizen was killed and another injured in two explosions north and central Kirkuk, while a child was kidnapped in northern Iraq. A booby-trapped car blew up on the Shen-Agha Darka town road resulting in the death of its driver, while another explosive device blew up central Kirkuk targeting a Domeez Police patrol injuring one close by civilian, an Iraqi Police source said. The source added that Housam Kamal, an eight year old boy, was kidnapped at the celebration grounds of Kirkuk. In addition, Al-Hawjiya Police patrols discovered an explosive device on the Al-Riyadh Al-Hawjiya road, which was later disarmed by Multi-National Forces (MNF).
Meanwhile, 9, 82mm mortar shells landed in agricultural areas in Al-Yayji area, while another two mortar shells landed on Al-Yayhi MNF troop base. No injuries or casualties have been reported yet. A MNF statement said that soldiers under the American Army killed yesterday two members of Al-Qaeda in Al-Taji area north Iraq, pointing out that one of the killed individuals; Abou Osama is wanted by the Iraqi security troops for connection with suicidal attacks and aiding foreign militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"A booby-trapped car blew up ... resulting in the death of its driver..."
Was the driver an intended victim, or an ineffective terrorist?
Otherwise, this does not report a very successful operation by the bad guys: targetted a police patrol and injured a bystander instead; overpowered an 8-year old and abducted him; had a bomb disarmed; blew up some crops with mortar fire; and the one mortar attack on a real target, results not yet known. Is the continual loss of #2 guys beginning to be felt on down the chain of command?
#2
Sounds like a busy blotter report day in Kirkuk. We had days like that in Diyala. The carbomb is typical. The bad guys will trick or force some dumb shmoe to drive a car to a location, telling him that it is a vbied (non-suicide stationary carbomb). Trigger it remotely when it nears the target, before the driveer can bail out.
-OR-
It is a s-vbied (suicide car bomb), and the badguys have a backup detonator tied to the dome light door switch, so if our brave sha-heed has an attack of common sense...or decency 2nd thoughts and trys to bail out before reaching the target...kaboom. Also insures that the fool fiend wont survive, be captured and rat out his former comerades.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/01/2006 20:54 Comments ||
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Actually Page 2 stuff, but it goes well with the blood-curdling warnings issued to the Medes and the Persians by the PKK, doesn't it?
A Kurdish official Sunday denied reports about Iranian forces' incursion into Northern Iraqi territories to hunt down Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) militants. The official of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) said in press remarks the Iranian forces were doing routine military movements within the Iranian territories. He added the borders of Kurdistan were fully protected and no country could penetrate into them. He affirmed that the Iraqi defense ministry said today that Iranian forces penetrated earlier this month into Iraqi territories and bombed Kurdish parties sites.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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ANZI: While Turkish Kurdish guerrillas based in northeast Iraq continues to wrestle their foes in Turkey, tensions have been brewing with neighbouring Iran. Lodged in northern Iraq in an area flanked by NATO member Turkey and Washingtons foe Iran, elements of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have accused Teheran of attacking their encampments.
Sucker punched you, did they?
The separatists, fighting for the creation of a Kurdish state in Turkeys southeast, said Iranian artillery on April 20 bombed their positions in Iraq killing two fighters and wounding 10 others. There is an agreement between Turkey and Iran to attack our positions, the commander of the group, Rustom Judi said that in Anzi, a small village in rugged mountains, located near the Iranian border some 135 kilometers northeast of Sulaimaniyah. Iranian forces have no reason to do this because the fighting has been between our men and soldiers inside Turkey, far from the Iranian border, he added. I warn Iran that their aggression against our partys positions in Iraq will have consequences, Judi said.
"Youse guyz are really gonna get it!"
A female Kurdish fighter from Syria, Mezkin Jurdit, added: Iran has attacked our forces for the past year, arresting many of us. Recently, the Iranians started reinforcing their military positions on the border. If they continue their attacks, we will start a merciless guerrilla war within Iran. Currently our strategy is defensive, but that can change if the Iranian attacks continue.
I've got no use for the PKK, but I'd consider an Iranian attack on them at this point evidence of some sort of a tit being traded for a tat with Turkey. I doubt Bush, given the experience of the runup to the Iraq war, is putting many eggs in the Turkish basket this time, but I'd advise him to put none.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Why don't we give the PKK some stinger missiles and night vision goodies for christmas this year?
#3
I dont think we have much choice but to deal with Turkey. Both vis a vis Iraq, and for support if things get hot with Iran. Doesnt mean they wont look out for their own interests, and going after the PKK is a more immediate concern for them than Iran. Im not sure thats so unreasonable from the Turkish POV.
#5
Right now we want Iranian Kurdistan as separatist as possible without endangering themselves. The PKK, by irritating the Iranian government, is risking large number of Iranian forces tamping down the entire Iranian Kurdish territory.
Ironic that by their effort, they could forestall the creation of "greater Kurdistan".
#6
Anonymoose - it would be a great pretext for some US action. f.e. an attack on the PKK inside Iraq is an invasion of US occupied Iraq. We must protect a state we occupy. Ero it would require an appropriate responce... like maybe a defanging of Iran's nuclear ambitions?
#7
The PKK is every bit as nasty as the Shining Path or the Khmer Rouge, except that neither of those used suicide bombers. The Turks thought that they'd decapitated them several years back when they captured their leader Abdullah Occalan and threatened to invade Syria if they didn't cease their support for the group. Siding with Stalinists, especially when we don't have to, is a good way to alienate both Turkey and our Iraqi Kurdish allies in the KDP and PUK, who have helped Turkey fight the PKK in the past and are currently trying to convince the group to lay down its arms according to today's issue of Cumhuriyet. What could possibly be gained by supporting the PKK at this (or any other juncture) is beyond me.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 13:25 Comments ||
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#8
This is simply the Moolahs playing the Turkey card. Note that Turkey proclaimed they would not assist the US vis-a-vis Iran.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/01/2006 14:05 Comments ||
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#9
when the turd hits the fan, I hope the Kurds hit Iran
American and Iraqi forces have killed more than 20 insurgents during raids in areas used by militants to stage attacks in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Sunday. In violence Sunday, a roadside bomb hit a U.S. military convoy in central Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, police Maj. Ahmed Awad said. He said the blast set a Humvee on fire and caused U.S. casualties, but the U.S. command could not immediately confirm that.
The U.S. military said the raids have taken place in and around Youssifiyah, a town about 12 miles south of Baghdad, where an American helicopter apparently was shot down by insurgents nearly a month ago, killing the two soldiers aboard. In the latest operations Saturday, U.S. and Iraqi forces attacked buildings used by foreign insurgent groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq, capturing seven militants and detaining more than 50 suspects, the U.S. command said. Insurgents have been using the Youssifiyah region as a staging ground for suicide attacks Baghdad, the command said. Several of the 20 insurgents killed in the last few weeks were wearing suicide vests, it said. Twelve of the militants, at least five of them foreign, were killed Tuesday when U.S. troops backed by a helicopter and jets struck a suspected safe house in Youssifiyah, the U.S. military said.
Mujahedeen Shura Council, purportedly a new umbrella organization that includes al-Qaida in Iraq and smaller insurgent groups, claimed responsibility for April 1 attack on the Apache helicopter. The U.S command said at the time it believed the chopper was shot down. The U.S. military did not say whether those killed in the latest raids were believed to have been involved in the helicopter crash. The area is part of the infamous "triangle of death" and the scene of numerous ambushes against U.S. and Iraqi troops, foreigners and Shiite civilians.
On Saturday, a roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier southwest of Baghdad, raising to 70 the number of American service members killed in April the highest monthly figure since November, when 84 died. The U.S. military would not give the precise location of Saturday's attack or say whether it was related to the coalition raids. On Sunday, two roadside bombs targeting separate Iraqi police patrols exploded within a half hour of each other in two areas of western Baghdad, wounding two policemen and a civilian driving nearby, police said. In the Sadr City section of Baghdad, a bomb exploded aboard a minibus near a gas station, wounding three Iraqi civilians, said police Lt. Thair Mahmoud.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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Security has been beefed up for the Fatah leadership, including Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, after an unknown group claiming affiliation to Al-Qaeda distributed leaflets here threatening to slaughter them, a media report said.
We hereby declare that we have begun operating in Palestine, the leaflet distributed in the name of Al-Tawhid and jihad said heaping praises on Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi. We have decided to revive the Sunnah (one of the sources of Islamic jurisprudence) of slaughter against these people to avoid dissension, the Jerusalem Post quoted the leaflet circulated in Gaza as saying.
The leaflet specifically mentioned names of five Abbas loyalistsMuhammad Dahlan, Yasser Abed Rabbo, Samir Mashharawi, Nabil Amr and Abu Ali Shaheen, who it said would soon be slaughtered as apostates. The threats have prompted PA security forces to take strict measures to guarantee the safety of the leaders, including Abbas whose villa in Ramallah has been cordoned off. This is the first time the group, believed to be headed by Jordanian terrorist Zarqawi, has issued a leaflet in Gaza.
A Hamas spokesman denied any connection to the threats, saying they did not believe Al-Qaeda had set up cells in Gaza. Hamas does not have any links with Al-Qaeda, government spokesman Ghazi Hamad was quoted by the daily as saying.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:00 ||
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#1
We have decided to revive the Sunnah of slaughter against these people to avoid dissension
B-b-but John Kerry said that Thomas Jefferson said that dissent is patriotic!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/01/2006 12:15 Comments ||
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#5
Lotta good that nom de guerre did your bunch of thugs, Abu Mazen. Time for some real fighting to begin instead of plinking at Israeli women and children. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of @ssholes.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/01/2006 18:22 Comments ||
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#9
Sounds akin to Mother Cindy and HAMAS calling for the liberation of "occupied" PA = NOLA/USA from Fascist Male Brute FATAH??? Its NOT "Creeping/
Gradual Socialism-Communism", but mere, lowly alleged "ANTI-FASCISM"!?
Israel decided to reopen Karni Crossing and cargo terminal, eastern Gaza, to allow goods to move from and into Gaza Strip, Israeli forces announced Sunday. The Israeli army closed this crossing last Tuesday after Palestinian security aborted a planned bombing using a booby-trapped car. The crossing will be reopened in spite of intelligence of militants intending to target the crossing, a source told Radio Israel.
The Israeli army also said Sunday it launched 250 mortar shells on North and East Gaza. The areas targeted are locations used by Palestinians to launch rockets on Israel, an Israeli army spokesman claimed. The spokesman added the shells did not target civilians but stressed Israel will punish those who attack it severely. Eight Palestinians including a woman, four children, and three young men were seriously injured due to shelling by the Israeli forces which lasted till late hours last night, Palestinian medical sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
A better idea would be to close it forever.
Posted by: Adrian Veidt ||
05/01/2006 1:56 Comments ||
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#2
How would you like to be assigned to that post?
The IDF has my sincere admiration for their restraint in dealing with those animals.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Three Islamic militants were convicted and sentenced to prison Monday for helping shelter Southeast Asia's top terrorist mastermind and financing bombings in Indonesia. The South Jakarta District Court said all three had connections with the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for a string of deadly suicide attacks that has left more than 240 people dead over the last four years.
Abdulah Sunata and Joni Ahmad Fauzani both admitted meeting Noordin Top, believed to be one of the group's key leaders, but denied terrorism charges. They received prison terms of seven and four years respectively. The third defendant, Joko Sumanto, was found guilty of financing terrorism and gunrunning and was sentenced to four years, the presiding judge said.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 09:13 ||
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Police in Indonesia say they have found explosives in central Java of the type used in an attack in Bali last year. The material was uncovered following a tip-off from a man arrested on Saturday during a raid targeting the fugitive militant leader, Noordin Mohammad Top. Noordin, one of South East Asia's most wanted men who is accused of helping to mastermind a series of bombings, evaded capture but two militants were killed. Three suicide bombers killed 20 people in an attack in Bali last October. More than 200 people died in bombings in Bali in 2002. Also on Monday, an Indonesian court sentenced two men to four and seven years in prison for helping Noordin.
According to officials, the men killed in Saturday's raid in the village of Binangun were senior members of Jemaah Islamiah, an Islamic militant group blamed for the attacks in Bali, elsewhere in Indonesia and further afield.
National police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam said that important evidence had been uncovered during the raid - two weapons, a laptop, SIM cards for mobile phones and a handwritten document. Noordin is wanted over a series of attacks in Indonesia
Information gleaned from two men the police arrested led investigators to a storage unit in a town close to the site of the raid. There police say they found explosives and other equipment, which suggested a bomb-making operation was well under way. "They found a bomb like those used in the Bali blasts," said Mr Alam.
Indonesian and foreign intelligence agencies have been warning for some time that militants could be planning another attack. It may be that those plans have now been thwarted, at least for the time being, according to the BBC correspondent in Jakarta, Rachel Harvey. The Indonesians have been successful in tracking down many of those implicated in some way with the Bali bombers.
On Monday 32-year-old Joni Akmad Fauzani was jailed for four years for harbouring Noordin in early 2005. Abdullah Sonata, 27, was jailed for seven years for withholding information about terrorists. But the man the security forces would most like to track down, Noordin himself, continues to evade capture. He is wanted in connection with a string of attacks across Indonesia, including Bali. The man thought to be his closest ally, bomb maker Azahari Husin, was killed in November after police tracked him down in east Java. As long as Noordin remains at large, the threat of further attacks remains, our correspondent says.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 08:40 ||
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Security forces are on heightened alert in the southern Philippines following intelligence reports of a possible bomb attack by the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiya (JI), officials said Sunday. Police earlier sounded the alarm on possible attacks by Indonesian militants who are members of the JI on key cities in the southern region, Davao, General Santos, Koronadal and Zamboanga. "We are in heightened alert. There are reports that JI is planning an attack on civilian targets. Security forces are in red alert and we appeal to citizens to report to authorities any suspicious person or abandoned package or bag in public places. We should stay vigilant," said Army's 4th Infantry Division spokesman Francisco Simbajon.
Simbajon said soldiers were also monitoring the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and the New People's Army (NPA), which may also mount attacks. "The terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf and the New People's Army are also in top of our battle plan," he said. No details were made available about the supposed plan by the JI. Regional police chief Florante Baguio said he also ordered a tight security in northern Mindanao, particularly Cagayan de Oro City. "We are strengthening now our security in the region. Our policemen are now on alert," Baguio said.
A police intelligence report identified the Indonesian militants as Jeya Ewal and six others are allegedly targeting Davao City; Siyah Muhar, with seven members, were tasked to mount bombing attacks in General Santos and Koronadal cities, and Abdul Muhamad and six others in Zamboanga City. Seven other Jemaah militants led by Basit Alharem were also planning an attack in the country's financial district in Makati City, it said.
Last month, Navy Admiral William J. Fallon, chief of the United States Pacific Command, tagged Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines as a sanctuary and recruiting and training grounds for terrorists. "The southern Philippines, Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago remain a sanctuary, training and recruiting ground for terrorist organizations," he told US Senate Armed Services Committee. He said Southeast Asia remains the command's focal point in the war on terror.
He said winning the war on terrorism is his highest priority and to achieve that goal, the command is striving to eliminate the violence that now threatens the people and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. "We continue efforts to create a secure and stable environment," Fallon said.
Fallon said activities by terrorists and their supporters have been centered in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and that these countries are cooperating with the US. "With the cooperation of those nations, we have been building capacity and strengthening the ability of those countries to resist the activities of the terrorists and to actively seek their capture or demise," he said. He said the command is also working to mature joint and combined war fighting capability and readiness.
"Fundamental to success in the war on terror and continued stability in the Asia-Pacific region is our joint and combined war fighting capability and readiness," Fallon said. "As virtually every operation and activity is conducted jointly and in concert with allies, it is important that we train to operate more efficiently as a multinational team," he added. Fallon did not say what terrorist groups were operating in the southern Philippines, but Manila previously admitted that dozens of members of the Southeast Asian terror group JI, including Dulmatin and Pitono, linked to the deadly 2002 Bali bombings, were hiding on Mindanao.
Aside from the JI, the Abu Sayyaf group, implicated in the spate of bombings and kidnappings of foreigners in Mindanao, and the NPA and renegade members of the local separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, are also active in the southern Philippines.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/01/2006 01:23 ||
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#1
I'll say it again.
Dad already liberated Mindanao once.
At least five people have been killed in a mine attack in north-eastern Sri Lanka blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels, local military officials say. The explosion in the port town of Trincomalee was apparently aimed at a navy patrol, officials said. In a separate incident, the navy says five sailors have been wounded in an exchange of fire with the Tigers. It follows recent violence that has strained a fragile ceasefire and thrown peace talks into doubt.
There's more strain on this ceasefire than in one of Dolly Parton's bras
Four Tamil civilians and a navy official were killed in the blast in Trincomalee which took place in a residential part of the town. Eight others, including four navy sailors, are said to have been injured. "The people who did it are not humans, there are small children and ladies around," Kamalachandran, a local resident whose daughter was hurt in the blast, told AP.
Separately, the Sri Lankan navy said boats from the Sea Tigers - the rebels' naval wing, attacked one of its vessels off the coast of Trincomalee. "They have opened fire and attacked our Dvora," Reuters quoted navy spokesman DKP Dassanayake as saying, referring to the Israeli-built Dvora fast-attack craft.
"We retaliated in self-defence."
The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says the attacks are a sign that bloodshed is once again increasing.
Can't slip anything past the BBC
International mediators have been scrambling to save a truce between the rebels and the government, which has been threatened by a fresh outbreak of violence this month. Last Tuesday, a rebel suicide bomber killed at least 11 people at a military base in Colombo, triggering government air raids, which killed at least 12 people. More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) launched its campaign for a separate state in the north and east of the country in 1983.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 08:42 ||
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"International mediators have been scrambling to save a truce between the rebels and the government"
The unbiased and trustworthy Norwegians will make it all better.
Tamil rebels attacked a camp of a rival group in north-central Sri Lanka Sunday, killing at least 15 people and capturing 20 others as violence escalated in the island nation. The camp, located in Kasankulam in North-Central Sri Lanka, was raided in the early hours of Sunday. At least 10 injured cadres of the rival group known as the Karuna faction were found near the camp and admitted to a government hospital in the area, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.
A regional military wing leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) known as V. Muralitharan alias Karuna broke away from the rebels in 2004 and formed his own group. His group has carried out a series of attacks on the LTTE and has posed a threat to the rebels. The existence of the group and the government making use of it in its military operations has been cited as one reason for the LTTE not returning to the negotiating table, the agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/01/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
It could work - the Ayatollah started out with very little. But the odds are against it. The Ayatollah was a self-made man. The Shah's son inherited his status, meaning he's probably nowhere near as able as the Ayatollah. If I were a betting man, I would bet against the Persian prince.
#2
The Ayatollah's grandson is pretty much in agreement with the Shah's boy. If Iran is to somehow reform before we have to take out the nukes, these 2 are likely to play a role.
#3
Iff previous articles about his intent is correct, the Shah's son doesn't appear to intend to restore the Monarchy per se but to lead Iran towards democratic statehood - this does not mean, however, that the family or Clan of the former Shah will not become involved in national democratic politics. Given the on-going threatening rants of MadMoud towards the USA and Israel, the Iranian people may have to go thru a de facto ground war against America before democracy can finally be installed. The Mullahs and MadMoud want their nukes and want it quickly before food- and work riots forces Iran to go the way of famine-happy Commie North Korea.
Some guy named Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi emailed the photos of the Iranian May Day protests to Cliff May at National Review. I could not locate a news link. Not sure if this is a legit Rantburg post so take it down (and my apologies) if I'm wrong to post it.
The people depicted are probably not pro-American but they may be anti-Mullah so I'm hoping they can gain influence. Hard to tell from a few photos, but the protestors look a bit more mature than the anti-regime students we always read about but who have thus far posed little threat to the regime. We had a lively discussion about the odds of internally driven regime change a couple days back. Hopefully these people in the streets will show that I was wrong to be so pessimistic.
#1
Not aimed at the submitter of teh article. Call us when they are carrying AK-74s and not signs.
Since I don't read Persian those signs could say death to the great satan or what me worry. How would I know?
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/01/2006 15:38 Comments ||
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I just came back from my noon walk and there wee about 100k on the Capital mall in Sacramento. Too bad the INS didn't have 1,000 buses handy to send them back to Mexico.
That's Iran. They aren't protesting at all.
They are demonstrating support for their government's position
on "international worker's day ".
Even in the picture you can see the little gov. handouts with Mahmoud and the gear of progress or whatever the F it is.
#7
TEHERAN, May 1 (IPS) - Workers around Teheran who had planned to demonstrate May Day against low minimum wages, now plan to protest because they were not allowed to demonstrate.
ight in the middle of the second picture down a man holds a cad with a graphic that I recognize as their "right to nuclear power" graphic.
A Palestinian man was killed and another seriously wounded Monday in clashes in Lebanon's largest refugee camp, officials said. Mainstream Fatah guerrillas battled members of Jund al-Sham, a small, radical Islamic group in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Palestinian officials said. It was not clear what triggered the fighting, in which heavy machine guns were used.
A Fatah official in the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the fighting began when Jund al-Sham gunmen tried to assassinate Mahmoud Abdul-Hamid Issa, a Fatah military official, as he walked with his bodyguards. One of the bodyguards, Abu Omra al-Aswad, was seriously wounded, the official said. A bystander, Mohammed Tayssir Awad, 20, was hit by a stray bullet and died instantly, other Palestinian officials in the camp said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the media.
Jund al-Sham, which means Soldiers of Syria, is a Sunni Muslim group of Syrian, Palestinian and Jordanian militants with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq. The group was founded in Afghanistan and emerged in Ein el-Hilweh in 2004. Its estimated 50 members, who brand Christians and Shiite Muslims as "infidels," have had tense relations with Fatah guerrillas who control the camp, and have clashed with them in the past.
Ein el-Hilweh, home to about 75,000 Palestinian refugees, has been the scene of frequent bombings, assassinations and shootings among rival Palestinian factions. The camp is also believed to house many fugitives wanted by Lebanese authorities. The Lebanese army mans checkpoints outside the camp, but its troops do not enter.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/01/2006 10:54 ||
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#1
Gang wars. That oughta clue in some folks, but of course it won't.
#2
"Jund al-Sham, which means Soldiers of Syria, is a Sunni Muslim group of Syrian, Palestinian and Jordanian militants with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq. The group was founded in Afghanistan and emerged in Ein el-Hilweh in 2004. Its estimated 50 members, who brand Christians and Shiite Muslims as "infidels," have had tense relations with Fatah guerrillas who control the camp, and have clashed with them in the past."
Veddy interesting. IIRC, from reading Pipes, Al Sham is a name used to refer to Greater Syria, including Jordan-Palestine-Lebanon. Shur is normally used for "lesser Syria" But Greater Syrianism was historically a secular ideology - Sunni Islamists in Syria leaned toward either Pan Islamism, Pan Arabism, or lesser Syrian nationalism - since a Greater Syria would include more Christians, Allawis, Druze, and Shiia, thus endangering Sunni control. That there is a Sunni extremist group with a greater Syrian identity, is an interesting element in the pot.
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.
KANDAHAR -Troops from the US-led coalition have killed between 15 to 20 Taleban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, a statement said on Monday. A coalition patrol killed 15 to 20 Taleban fighters in Sangin district of Helmand late Saturday during operations to rid the area of enemy influence, the coalition forces statement said.
Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan fought two battles with insurgents over the weekend. No Canadians were hurt, but Maj. Todd Strickland, the deputy commander of Canada's battle group, said the Taliban suffered heavily in one engagement.
QUETTA, Pakistan, May 1 (Reuters) - Tribal militants fighting for greater autonomy in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan blew up a railway track and bridge on Monday, officials said. The attacks came a day after the government banned Baluch nationalist leaders from travelling outside Pakistan. Three of the ten leaders on the government blacklist were members of parliament.
The remote Shawal valley in Pakistans North Waziristan tribal region has long been known as a haven for Al Qaeda militants and their allies.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Gunmen ambushed a pickup truck carrying prominent tribal militant 
Quetta police have arrested two Afghans suspected of planning to carry out suicide bombings here, reported Aaj television. The two men were arrested on the basis of information gleaned from another suspected suicide bomber, Syed Muhammad, the channel quoted Quetta's Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Ghulam Muhammad Dogar as saying. Muhammad was arrested while attempting to blow himself up on Quetta's Circular Road a few days ago. 
Al-Qaeda late on Saturday claimed a suicide bomb attack in early March, which killed five, including an American diplomat and a US Consulate employee in Karachi just before US President George W. Bush visited. "Dozens of suicide operations have been carried out in Pakistan and Afghanistan within the large Al-Qaeda campaign against Zionists and crusaders, including the attack against the US Consulate in Karachi a day before the arrival of the biggest crusader (US President George W. Bush)," the organization said.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Iranian forces shelled Kurdish rebel positions in Iraq for the second day on Monday, forcing dozens of Kurdish families to flee, a rebel leader said. The Iranians shelled PKK positions from 9 pm (1700 GMT) on Sunday until 5 am (0100 GMT) on Monday, Rustom Judi, a leader of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraqs northern province of Sulaimaniyah, told AFP. Dozens of families were forced to leave their homes, he said. We have casualties, he added, but did not provide further details. 
One Iraqi was killed and seven others were wounded in an explosion of a booby-trapped bus in the eastern suburb of the Iraqi capital, police said Sunday. The explosion occured in the densely-populated suburban district of Al-Sadr. The wounded, some in serious condition, were taken to hospital for treatment.
A combined force of Iraqi soldiers and Multi-National troops have detained 57 gunmen including foreign fighters in a wide-scale security operation in the southern sector of the Iraqi capital. 
ANZI: While Turkish Kurdish guerrillas based in northeast Iraq continues to wrestle their foes in Turkey, tensions have been brewing with neighbouring Iran. Lodged in northern Iraq in an area flanked by NATO member Turkey and Washingtons foe Iran, elements of the separatist 
Security has been beefed up for the Fatah leadership, including Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, after an unknown group claiming affiliation to Al-Qaeda distributed leaflets here threatening to slaughter them, a media report said.
Israel decided to reopen Karni Crossing and cargo terminal, eastern Gaza, to allow goods to move from and into Gaza Strip, Israeli forces announced Sunday. The Israeli army closed this crossing last Tuesday after Palestinian security aborted a planned bombing using a booby-trapped car. The crossing will be reopened in spite of intelligence of militants intending to target the crossing, a source told Radio Israel.
Tamil rebels attacked a camp of a rival group in north-central Sri Lanka Sunday, killing at least 15 people and capturing 20 others as violence escalated in the island nation. The camp, located in Kasankulam in North-Central Sri Lanka, was raided in the early hours of Sunday. At least 10 injured cadres of the rival group known as the Karuna faction were found near the camp and admitted to a government hospital in the area, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.
A Palestinian man was killed and another seriously wounded Monday in clashes in Lebanon's largest refugee camp, officials said. Mainstream Fatah guerrillas battled members of Jund al-Sham, a small, radical Islamic group in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Palestinian officials said. It was not clear what triggered the fighting, in which heavy machine guns were used.
