A minibus carrying workers to an American base blew up in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Thursday, killing 10 people and wounding 15 others in an incident thought to be caused by the detonation of explosives planted on the vehicle.
The blast happened during the recent start of a major combat operation aimed at a resurgent rebel force. Called Operation Mountain Thrust, more than 10,000 U.S., Afghan and coalition forces have fanned out across Kandahar and neighboring Oruzgan, Helmand, and Zabul provinces to conduct sweep operations against safe havens. Working with Afghan forces they expect to spend several days rooting out Taliban safe havens. The coalition forces include Canadian and British troops.
Sher Shah, a Kandahar police official, said Thursday's accident -- which took place at 7:40 a.m. -- occurred after a Toyota Coaster mini-bus blew up after a collision between the bus and a car. "The Coaster was carrying some laborers and also some translators to the American base in Kandahar," he said. "We think that the explosives were hidden in the bus and perhaps they were originally supposed to blow up later when the vehicle reached the base. The bus is much more damaged than the car. Some of those injured were passers by."
Kandahar's main hospital has received seven dead bodies and treated 17 injured people, a doctor there told CNN.
KHOST: At least 30 Taliban were killed in violence across Afghanistan on Wednesday, while four civilians died in rocket attacks on the same day. Afghan and coalition forces killed 26 Taliban militants on the country’s border with Pakistan on Wednesday, a provincial governor said. The militants were killed in an operation in south-eastern Paktika province that was launched in response to attacks in the Ziruk district, Governor Mohammad Akram Khapelwak said. “Twenty-six Taliban have been killed so far in the fire-fight. The operation is still ongoing,” he said. “It was a joint Afghan forces and coalition operation,” he said. Four civilians were killed in the same province on Wednesday by three rockets that landed on homes in the Barmal district, also on the border with Pakistan, the governor said. Another 18 civilians were wounded, he said. Two Taliban fighters were killed in a gun battle in the province of Zabul after they ambushed a US convoy, wounding two American soldiers. Taliban officials could not be immediately contacted.
Regional military Corps Commander General Samiul Haq said that the target might have been army units in the area but the rockets landed on civilian houses. He put the death toll at two with nine wounded. An American soldier died in an ambush in the southern province of Helmand on Tuesday, said Major Quentin Innes, a spokesman for international forces in southern Afghanistan. The US military said that another foreign soldier had been killed in the eastern province of Kunar on Tuesday but did not give his identity.
Colonel Tom Collins, a coalition spokesman in Kabul, said that US, British and Canadian troops were launching Operation Mountain Thrust in the volatile and largely lawless south to combat the Taliban and extend the control of the government of President Hamid Karzai. “Operation Mountain Thrust is not about just killing and capturing extremists and militants threatening the security of the Afghan people,” he told a news conference. “It is very much about establishing the condition for the government of Afghanistan that can extend authority in the areas where it currently does not have a presence.”
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Wednesday's hump bump day for Taliban too!
30 is a good start, kill em all the way back into Pakland and continue
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/15/2006 8:58 Comments ||
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#3
Nice, RD. Don't let's forget all the underreported undercounts as well. I make it around 500 in real numbers...(based on estimation, guesswork, and blind faith in the ability of Our Boys, whatever their nationality). ;-)
KABUL (AIP): In claims made to Afghan media, the Taliban today said they killed nine US soldiers in the Dara Hazarbuz Cochak area of the Dai Chopan District in Zabul Province.
"Yup. Killed 'em all. They're dead now."
A statement issued by the coalition forces on Wednesday said, "This is another false Taliban claim in their attempts to gain support for their cause. No U.S. Soldiers were killed in Zabul Province today."
"They lyin'! Really! We killed 'em all! Nobody left!"
Afghan and Coalition forces are on the offensive, not only enhancing security to the regions, but also bringing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to the people of Afghanistan . “The Taliban try to scare people with these claims and shake the Coalition’s commitment. They will fail in their efforts,” said Col. Thomas Collins, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan spokesman.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Lol. Back to the same old idiocy of wild claims. Didn't they claim more destroyed tanks, US Troops killed, planes shot down, and fluffy bunnies with intentionally and cruelly stubbed toesies, than existed in the inventory way back when? IIRC it was reported as purest fact, way back then, on Al Jiz and IslamOnLine.
#2
Can't wait for the LLL and their buds the MSM to start using these wild claims as the basis once again to bring up again that the government is 'hiding' the number of 'true' casualties. Ignoring of course, that every death has been reported and posted by CENTCOM, that there is a free flow of communications between families and friends for personnel deployed in theater, etc. Facts don't matter to the LLL, only feelings/beliefs. Next, why the Earth is the center of the universe and the sun, planets, and stars move around it. Because we believe. You do call it sunrise and sunset don't you?
#3
Didn't they claim more destroyed tanks, US Troops killed, planes shot down, and fluffy bunnies with intentionally and cruelly stubbed toesies, than existed in the inventory way back when?
I remember a very nice story in kavkaz, a couple of years ago, about a 12-years old afghan boy killing a score of Us and afghan soldiers with grenades, destroying a tank in the process, then vanishing without trace, all this motivated by the desire to restore his infidels-occupied country's Islamic Honor(Tm). Of course, this was the Truth, pure Truth, as pure as the driven snow.
KHOST (AIP): A Talib fighter was killed during a clash with Afghan police in Paktika last night, governor said Wednesday. Taliban attacked district headquarters of Omna in Paktika province last night, governor of Paktika province Muhammad Akram Khpalwak told Afghan Islamic Press. He said the firefight continued for one hour in which one Talib fighter was killed while the police did not suffer any damage.
"Come out witcher hands up, Mahmoud!"
"You'll never take me alive, coppers!"
"Hokay. [BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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KHOST (AIP): Four civilians were killed and 18 others wounded in bordering Paktika province when Pakistani security forces targeted bordering Barmal district, governor alleged Wednesday. Security forces of Pakistan targeted Angor Ada area of Barmal district closed to Pakistan border today which left four civilians dead and 18 wounded, Governor of Paktika province Muhammad Akram Khpalwak informed Afghan Islamic Press. Afghan forces also retaliated and the firing continued for two hours.
A bit of fire support for the Talibrothers?
Angor Ada situated inside Afghanistan closed to Pakistan border where clashes between Afghan forces and Taliban happen time by time. The governor Paktika province several times in the past alleged that insurgents infiltrate from Pakistan into Afghanistan and attack Afghan soldiers. However, Pakistan repeatedly rejected these allegations.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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JALALABAD (AIP): A roadside bomb detonated soon after the passing of coalition troop in Agam district of Ningarhar province on Wednesday, officials said. Incharge of Agam district in eastern Ningarhar province, Haji Sayed Rahman while confirming the incident to Afghan Islamic Press said, “A landmine exploded in Manoo area of Agam district today minutes after the passing of coalition troops.” He added that the explosion did not cause any damage.
There was no claim of responsibility from Taliban or any other group till the filing of this report. Agam district is situated 35 kilometers to southwest of Jalalabad near the famous Tor Bora area.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Baidoa 15 June. 06 ( Sh.M.Network A plane carrying military supplies has landed at Baidoa Airport where Somalia Transitional Federal Government is based. Sources in Baidoa told Shabelle Radio the plane was the third of its kind bringing such supplies. The military supply is the biggest rumor in the town today while people are asking military shipment that poured into Baidoa where the government based.
The Cargo plane landed 10:00 am local time yesterday and being unloaded last night, sources confirmed. Ordinary local airport staff have been temporarily suspended in order to keep the activities secret. No more details are available about where the supply has been brought but independent sources confirmed the plane marked with Yemeni Flag.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 10:40 ||
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Guess the arms import freeze is officially off.
Ir-Togt gun bazaar takes its name from the sound of AK-47 assault rifles being fired into the air as buyers test the merchandise. But today its streets are quiet.
"This is an American gun - an M16. And there, those are all Russian," says Ali Mohamed, smiling to reveal a mouth filled with metal teeth. He has sold rifles and ammunition to all sides in the anarchy of Mogadishu ever since the collapse of President Siad Barre's brutal regime in 1991.
Things have never been so quiet, he says. Two weeks ago AK-47s sold for $550 as fresh fighting consumed the city. This week, he cannot move them for $350. "Before, there were always two or three groups that I could sell to. Now there is just the Islamic courts and we are worried that they will bring peace here and put us out of business," he says.
A sense of calm has descended on the rubble-filled capital of Somalia since a coalition of Islamists, promoting a strict adherence to sharia law, announced their militias had taken control of the city last Monday. Their victory ended the 15-year rule of the warlords - a motley bunch of armed businessmen, gangsters, and militia leaders.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/15/2006 00:12 ||
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"Among the more hard-line elements of the courts is Sheikh Mohamed Siyad. "We are Muslims and must work at implementing Koranic law - democracy will not work," he says."
#2
"Before, there were always two or three groups that I could sell to. Now there is just the Islamic courts and we are worried that they will bring peace here and put us out of business," he says.
(SomaliNet) Reliable sources say former trade minister Muse Sudi Yalahow and warlord turned businessman Bashir Rage Shirar in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia announced on Wednesday that they gave up the membership of anti terror alliance after having consultation with intellectuals of their clan.
"Yeah. We quit."
'Intellectuals'? Aren't they supposed to put that in BBC-style quotes?
Both men who lost in more than months fighting with Islamic fighters in the capital, said they grasped that they were misled by non-peace loving people who led them into disaster and now back to the right path, aide official said.
"We never liked him. We only joined the Party for the business contacts."
Sudi and Rage threatened that they will fight against any foreign troops entering in Somalia but it is not clear whether they joined supporting Islamic courts. Earlier, Colonel Abdi Hassan Aawale ‘Qeybdid’, former Somalia police chief, told the reporters in Mogadishu he withdrew the coalition of counter terrorism after accepting an advice from his clan men.
"You better quit now, before they kill you, Abdy."
The back out of these three men is another severe blow to the US backed alliance for restoration of peace and counter terrorism (ARPCT) which contained of powerful warlords who faced unrecoverable lose in more than decade. Just in reports say that former minister of religion Omar Mohamud Mohamed known ‘filish’ who remains in Mogadishu is now considering to back out the alliance after facing hard pressure from his clan men who advise him give up membership quickly. Mogadishu’s Somalinet correspondent Mohamed Abdi says the alliance of warlords born with constant failures and got huge collapse after they lost key strategy towns including the capital city.
So mostly what they were good for was slapping civilians around and strutting their stuff for the girlies to admire.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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The 'US backed alliance' meme seems well established, despite the absence of evidence to support to. Guess the desire to portray the USA as losers is too strong in the MSM.
The Pakistani government on Wednesday confirmed that alleged terror suspect Khalid Rashid was currently in its custody.
That's nice to know
The statement comes on the same day that Pretoria again denied involvement in "heinous renditions" or that it had violated Rashid's rights. Rashid was arrested by South African authorities on 31 October last year and handed over to Pakistani officials on November 6. His whereabouts remain a mystery.
Hopefully a dark, windowless cell where he visited by large mustachioed men bearing truncheons.
"Presently he is in the custody of the government of Pakistan," Javed Jalil Kattak, first secretary at the Pakistan High Commission in Pretoria, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The cabinet on Wednesday again rejected allegations from Rashid's legal representative, Zahir Omar, that Pretoria was "ever involved in such heinous acts as renditions". "Our government would never do those kind of things," cabinet spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said. "If indeed Mr Omar is genuinely interested in assisting Mr Rashid's family to establish his whereabouts, government believes he should do so in Pakistan and not in our country. "We do not quite understand why he is not using the legal processes in that country to establish these facts."
"Go away, you're bothering me!"
While there was not enough information for a formal extradition, Rashid was deported because he was an illegal immigrant, Netshitenzhe said. He denied that Rashid's status as an illegal immigrant had made it possible for South Africa to deal with a terror suspect in a "convenient" way.
But it works real well
The South African government on Wednesday also said it believed a complaint by Omar to the International Criminal Court in The Hague would not fly. "I suppose the first hurdle that anyone would need to deal with in this regard is whether such a complaint would have any standing in the court. We believe that it wouldn't."
"It's not like we handed him over to the Americans"
Netshitenzhe repeated that it was the responsibility of the South African government to ensure the country was not used as a hideout "for any individual who might be connected with international terrorism organisations" or that it became a target for "these kind of activities". Netshitenzhe was not able to provide any details about Rashid's alleged links to terror organisations and referred reporters to the South African police.
Khalid Rashid was wanted by British authorities for alleged involvement in terrorist activities. Rashid has not been seen since his arrest on October 31, 2005.
Omar said on Wednesday night the government had besmirched the country's name by agreeing to a British request to forcibly remove Rashid. He said he would file an affidavit in the International Court on Thursday. Netshitenzhe insisted that South Africa had followed the correct procedures and that, unlike those arrested with him, Rashid had not taken the opportunity to appeal against his deportation.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 12:12 ||
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Send him to the RAB in Bangladesh. I hear they have an extra shutter gun lying around...
June 14: Two persons were killed and another one was injured in a bomb blast while they were making bombs at Beel Jhikra Lakhipur under Noapara pourashava of Abhoynagar upazila in the district last night. The victims were identified as Billal Hossain (30), son of Shahidul Islam of Taltola and Sumon (25) son of late Tipu Master of Masorhati village under Abhoynagar upazila. Aminur Rahman (30), son of Amjad Hossain of village Moshorhati under same upazila was injured and admitted to general hospital of Jessore in critical condition. According to police all the three persons were the activists of Purba Bangla Communist Party.
Self-inflicted "crossfire"
This never happens in Gaza ...
Immediately after the incident local people came forward and found all of them lying there.
"Wow man, that's gonna leave a mark!"
Later they informed it to Abhoynagar thana police . Police rushed to the spot and brought them out and admitted them to Jessore General Hospital. After half an hour Sumon and Belal succumbed to their injuries at the hospital
"They're dead, Jim"
and Aminur was sent to Dhaka for better treatment. Police said all the three persons were accused in several cases including BNP upazila secretary murder case.
Is there anyone in Bangladesh who isn't accused of something?
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 10:27 ||
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Is there anyone in Bangladesh who isn't accused of something?
There is no innocence--only degrees of guilt.
Posted by: N guard ||
06/15/2006 16:25 Comments ||
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The commander of Australian forces in East Timor says he expects rebel soldiers to begin surrendering their weapons as early as today.
Brigadier Mick Slater says Australian troops have been working on gaining the confidence of the rebels in the hills outside Dili over the last week.
He has told ABC Radio's AM program that they are getting close to handing in their guns.
"I think we'll see the first of those weapons handed in by the end of today," he said.
"I don't for a minute fool myself into thinking that we'll see all of the weapons handed in today. I think this will be a gradual process over a number of days."
It could be a key step in encouraging thousands of East Timorese to return to their homes.
Around 600 soldiers and military police have been staked out in the mountains outside the capital Dili for several weeks, many with high-powered rifles.
It was their defection from the army that sparked the civil unrest which has left more than 20 people dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed.
It is understood East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has supported a surrender, and once he gives the order the rebel forces would comply.
Autopsies
Meanwhile, Australian forensics officers in East Timor have begun conducting autopsies on the bodies of many of those killed in the recent violence in the country.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) are doing much of the preliminary investigative work into the deaths of 10 East Timorese police officers in a gunfight last month, and at least five protesters on April 28.
The United Nations yesterday announced criminal investigations had begun into the various killings to find how they died and who was responsible.
AFP officers have played a key role in collecting and preserving evidence to help in investigations.
A PARIS court sentenced 25 Muslim militants yesterday for planning attacks against the Eiffel Tower and other targets with explosives in support of rebels fighting Russian forces in Chechnya.
The five main defendants, of Moroccan and Algerian origin, received prison terms of eight to ten years for planning terrorist acts. The others received lesser terms for criminal association. Two were acquitted in a trial which prosecutors said demonstrated the “globalisation of the jihad movement”.
Prosecutors at the six-week trial, which ended last month, said that the group was planning to hit the Eiffel Tower, Les Halles underground shopping centre, police stations, and Israeli interests. The group, which was under police surveillance, was close to preparing its action at the end of 2002 when officers raided homes on housing estates in Romainville, la Courneuve and other suburbs. They found electronic devices and chemicals that could be used for bomb-making as well as a chemical protection suit, a large sum of cash and false identity papers.
In a second wave of arrests, in January 2004 in Venissieux, near Lyons, investigators found chemical products, including traces of what was believed to be ricin, a deadly toxin. The judges said in their verdict that the prosecutors had not been able to prove that the defendants were developing chemical weapons.
The men were said to have belonged to a “Chechen connection” — Muslim extremists who received training in the Caucasus.
Among those convicted was Chelali Benchellali, the imam of a mosque in Lyons and father of Menad Benchellali, 32, who was given a ten-year sentence for being one of the group leaders. Another of the imamÂ’s sons, Mourad, was one of seven French detainees held at the US base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Released in July 2004, he now faces terrorist-related charges iin his home country.
Merouane Benhamed, 33, described as the groupÂ’s chief, was also jailed for ten years. Said Arif, 40, who was extradited from Syria to stand trial, and Nourredine Merabet, described as the groupÂ’s financier, were sentenced to nine years.
Benhamed’s lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre denounced the verdict, saying that the defendants had been convicted because they were Muslims. “This serves the interests of the US, Algeria and Russia,” said Mme Coutant-Peyre. “France has the job of convicting Muslims who are a problem to these powers.”
The lawyer is a sympathiser with what she calls revolutionaries. Three years ago she married Ilich Sanchez Ramirez, the terrorist assassin known as Carlos the Jackal, who is serving a life sentence in a Paris prison.
The “Chechen gang” was rounded up as part of a continuing operation by police and intelligence services against activists among France’s six million Muslims.
#3
planning attacks against the Eiffel Tower and other targets with explosives in support of rebels fighting Russian forces in Chechnya.
Because it's the French Foreign Legionnaires who are attacking Chechen strongholds in Russia? Clearly there's no requirement for a strong attachment to reality to become a terrorist.
#10
Heaven forbid that the French might actually use this experience to purchase a teensy weensy little ol' clue as to what awaits the further proliferation of Muslims in their country.
Suspected Kurdish rebels set off a small bomb inside a trash container in a busy Istanbul neighborhood Thursday, injuring at least four people, police and reports said.
Police suspect the bomb was planted by Kurdish militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast, a police official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists.
The explosion occurred near a bus terminal in the district of Eminonu, a busy commercial and historic neighborhood.
At least four people were rushed to a nearby hospital, Sky-Turk television reported. CNN-Turk television said one person's arm was blown off.
Charred, metal pieces of the trash can were strewn 15 yards away. Police cordoned off the area, and a 10-person forensic team was picking up pieces.
(KUNA) -- A member of the banned organization of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was killed on Wednesday in a clash with Turkish security forces in the eastern province of Tunceli, said a military source. According to the source, the PKK militant was killed during a military operation in the Geyikusu village.
Violence escalated in the last few weeks on the aftermath of killing a number of Turkish soldiers in scattered military operations in southeastern Turkey. These operations were executed by the northern Iraq-based PKK, which launched military operations against the Turkish government in 1984 in order to establish an independent Kurdish state. The Turkish government holds PKK responsible for the death of more than 37, 000 people since launching its military operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Islamabad, 15 June (AKI) - Five people including the deputy prison chief have been killed in a shooting in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi. According to a report on Pakistan's GEO TV, eight gunmen on four motorcycles opened fire on the vehicles carrying the deputy superintendent of the Karachi Central Prison, Amanullah Niazi, killing him, two bodyguards and two passersby. The incident occured on a busy street in the city's business district.
The two bodyguards were killed instantly while the deputy police chief and the other two died as they were being transported to hospital. Niazi had just left a court room and was headed toward the prison.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 08:42 ||
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QUETTA: Police have arrested 12 members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Balochistan Police Inspector General Chaudhry Yaqoob told an impromptu press conference on Wednesday. He said that the arrested men had confessed to their involvement in the Mach bombing, bomb blasts and rocket attacks on national installations in various parts of the province. They have confessed to their involvement in 14 terrorist acts, he added.
Three of the arrested - Shaukat Ali, Mohammad Bakhsh and Akbar - were involved in a bomb blast at a house that killed two children and injured 14 others, the IG said. "All of them testified in the court of a judicial magistrate that they were involved in various terrorist activities." The IG said that local contractor Habibullah Marri was providing financial assistance to the terrorists. Earlier talking to a foreign radio station, the IG held Nawab Akbar Bugti responsible for the terrorist attacks in the province. He said that some sardars were disturbing law and order in the province "to please their masters".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Militants abducted an Iraqi civilian in the northern oil city of Kirkuk and people took to the streets in a rally against terrorism in the same city on Thursday.
Kirkuk police sources told KUNA the militants kidnapped Waad Allah Khalil Khalfo, a construction agent, in the city. Also in Kirkuk, some 150 people gathered in the southern part of the city in a rally against terrorism, calling on the authority to protect the citizens against terrorism.
Daily incidents of violence have been taking place in the Kirkuk region, killing and injuring tens of local people. A number of improvised explosive devices (IED) blew in the region, but no casualties were reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 20:47 ||
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The U.S. military said Thursday the man claiming to be the new al-Qaida in Iraq leader is Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said al-Masri apparently is the same person that al-Qaida in Iraq identified in a Web posting last week as its new leader — Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, a nom de guerre. Al-Muhajer claimed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and vowed to avenge him in threatening Web statements in recent days. The military showed a picture of al-Masri wearing a traditional white Arab headdress at a Baghdad news conference.
The Afghanistan-trained explosives expert is a key figure in the al-Qaida in Iraq network with responsibility for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters from Syria into Baghdad, Caldwell said. He has been a terrorist since 1982, "beginning with his involvement in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was led by al-Zawahri," Caldwell said.
The spokesman added that raids in April and May in southern Baghdad recovered material confirming his high-level involvement in the facilitation of foreign fighters. "Al-Masri's intimate knowledge of al-Qaida in Iraq and his close relationship with (al-Zarqawi's) operations will undoubtedly help facilitate and enable them to regain some momentum if, in fact, he is the one that assumes the leadership role," Caldwell said.
He said, however, that al-Masri's ability to exert leadership over al-Qaida cells remained unclear and there were other "al-Qaida senior leadership members and Sunni terrorists" who might try to take over the operations.
More red-on-red? Please let it be so ...
Caldwell singled out Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, who in the past had been identified as al-Qaida in Iraq's deputy leader in statements by the group, and Abdullah bin Rashid al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Mujahedeen Shura Council — five allied groups in the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/15/2006 12:38 ||
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THE reign of terror of al-Qaeda in Iraq is nearing its end, the Iraqi Government said today as a massive security crackdown in Baghdad entered its second day. The mine of information from al-Qaeda documents seized after its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed spelt "the beginning of the end" for the terror group, according to Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie.
"We believe al-Qaeda in Iraq was taken by surprise, they did not anticipate how powerful the Iraqi security forces are and how the government is on the attack now," Mr Rubaie told a news conference. He said the documents had given Iraq an "edge over al-Qaeda and will also give us the whereabouts of their network and their leaders and their weapons, and the way they lead the organisation and the whereabouts of their meetings".
The documents were seized from the rubble of Zarqawi's safe house on June 7 following its destruction in a US airstrike, and in a series of subsequent raids in Baghdad.
The Prime Minister's office, citing one of the documents, disclosed that Zarqawi had sought to widen the rift between the United States and Iran with kidnappings and assassinations against US interests falsely attributed to Iran. In what the Government dubbed Zarqawi's "plan of death and destruction", he voiced doubt whether "America is truly an enemy of Iran because of the large support that Iran provided America in its wars against Afghanistan and Iraq". "On that basis, it is vital to work towards inflating the danger of Iran to America, and show America and the West in general the real danger presented by Iran," the document read.
Earlier reports on the documents found at the safe house showed that al-Qaeda was intent on stirring up conflicts between the Shi'ites and US forces and, as well, between various Shi'ite leaders. The group also planned to carry out terrorist attacks in the West and then leave evidence at the sites implicating the Iranians, according to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office.
Zarqawi's organisation was also going to spread misinformation that Iran had weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons.
So he wasn't entirely stupid; this could have gained some traction. At the very least it would have forced us to spend considerable intel time and resources to knock it down as phony.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — American and Iraqi forces have carried out 452 raids since last week's killing of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and 104 insurgents were killed during those actions, the U.S. military said Thursday.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said the raids were carried out nationwide and led to the discovery of 28 significant arms caches. He said 255 of the raids were joint operations, while 143 were carried out by Iraqi forces alone. The raids also resulted in the captures of 759 "anti-Iraqi elements."
Iraq's national security adviser called the information seized after the raid on Zarqawi's hideout a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records that had given the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against Al Qaeda in Iraq. National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie also said he believed the security situation in the country would improve enough to allow a large number of U.S. and Coalition forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year, and a majority to depart by the end of next year. "And maybe the last soldier will leave Iraq by mid-2008," he said.
Al-Rubaie said a laptop, flashdrive and other documents were found in the debris at the house outside Baqouba, and more information has been uncovered in raids of other insurgent hideouts since then. "We believe that this is the beginning of the end of Al Qaeda in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed Al Qaeda is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.
#1
Wow--it's great to read that enough good and useful information survived the bombing.
Zarqawi dead... papers and hard-drives salvagable... I'd call that a win-win situation!
Posted by: Dar ||
06/15/2006 12:06 Comments ||
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#2
May also lead to Binnie. They'd been arguing a lot in recent months. That would be so ironic - and really piss of Binnie. An ideal way to be captured - oh the Humiliation.
#4
So they are rolling up jihadis like a carpet, eh? But Iraq is *still* a quagmire, right? So many people would be sooo disappointed if it wasn't.
It seems to me that people who don't understand or agree with the war will be calling it a quagmire and making other references to Vietnam until we get out or Iraq. Anything to accomplish their goal. Too bad they don't really have a goal or plan themselves. Just bi+ching.
I don't know how, but most of my friends seem to be strongly against the war. They are always aware of unrelated historical events and weird ideas that seem to be the product of commiseration about speculation. I asked some of them "Do you read the blogs?" Of course the answer is always "Yes".
I guess I have to start asking them which blogs they read . . . . :-)
Posted by: grb ||
06/15/2006 13:33 Comments ||
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#5
Don't miss the 759 captured. Quite a haul!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/15/2006 14:07 Comments ||
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#6
Too bad they don't really have a goal or plan themselves. Just bi+ching.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Security forces found bombs planted throughout a cemetery Thursday after an Iraqi woman and her daughter were wounded by one as they were visiting the grave of a young man killed in a sectarian attack northeast of Baghdad earlier this month. The woman and her daughter were visiting the grave of one of the young men killed on June 4 when masked gunmen stopped two minivans carrying students northeast of the capital, ordered the passengers off, separated Shiites from Sunni Arabs, and killed the 21 Shiites. A witness said at the time that one of the gunmen told the victims they were being killed "in the name of Islam."
Qara Tappah's mayor, Serwan Shokir, said security forces responding to the attack against the woman and her child on Thursday found bombs planted throughout the cemetery, apparently aimed at the families of those killed on June 4. The village of some 35,000 people is 75 miles northeast of Baghdad, near the volatile area where terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 10:14 ||
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Actualy quite a good idea, we've said here to boom the funeral processions, simply another variation on "Kill the Swarmers", you show up at the gravesite, Kaboom.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/15/2006 12:34 Comments ||
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"Cemetery in Iraq Rigged With Explosives"
What, the dead aren't dead enough? The terrorists want to kill them again?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/15/2006 18:51 Comments ||
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#3
In general, Sunnis do not mark graves nor do they visit them after death. Shiites do. This is one reason why Shiites are often called "grave worshipers" in al Qaida propaganda. So this was probably a Sunni act against a Shiite cemetary. A Sunni wouldn't be visiting a grave. For Sunnis, when you die, you are just gone. Even the grave of the late Saudi kink is unmarked.
Gunmen shot and killed 10 Shiites on Thursday after pulling them off a bus in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, police said. The 10 men, nine workers at the city's industrial area and the driver, were aged from 20 to 45 and were heading back to their homes, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media. Baqouba is located 35 miles northeast of Baghdad and is near the site where an airstrike last week killed al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The gunmen were in two black Opel sedans and the workers included three brothers and six other relatives except for the driver.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 10:12 ||
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Families in Iraq are allowed a gun. Why not pistols with concealed arms permits? A LOT of these civilian massacres could be stopped cold by just one man with a pistol.
#2
When you have multiple attackers with automatic AK47s, you stand little chance of getting off even one shot with a pistol. Even if any of these victims were armed, I doubt they'd want to provoke an attack by pulling a pistol but rather cling to the hope that the gunmen were only going to threaten them and let them go.
Posted by: Dar ||
06/15/2006 12:04 Comments ||
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#3
Thus DAR illustrates the fallacy of the pistol as weapon.
"Hours later, they decided to raid a third house based on suspicious behavior. The first Marine to enter spotted four men inside, one holding an AK-47. The Marine's M-16 jammed. He pulled out a 9mm pistol and killed all four." This quote is from the link today at rantburg about the marines at Haditha.
KERBALA - US and Iraqi forces detained a senior Shia official after raiding his home in the holy southern city of Kerbala early on Thursday, Iraqi officials said. The US military said it could not confirm the reported arrest of Akeel Al Zubaidi, head of the provincial council in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad. Akeel Al KhazaÂ’li, governor of the province of Kerbala, told Reuters the raid took place at about 1 a.m. (2100 GMT) and said US and Iraqi forces had carried out the operation.
Zubaidi belongs to the Shia Fadhila party, a member of Prime Minister Nuri Al MalikiÂ’s ruling Shia Alliance coalition. KhazaÂ’li said a security plan was in place in Kerbala to prevent possible violence following the raid.
A spokesman for Fadhila said the arrest was “illegal” and demanded an investigation. “The house of the Sheikh Akeel Al Zubaidi was brutally raided by the U.S and Iraqi forces,” Hassan Al Shemari told a news conference in Baghdad.
"Help, help! We're being oppressed!!"
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 09:26 ||
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Was his name found in the rubble of the Z mans safehouse.
#2
"Zubaidi belongs to the Shia Fadhila party, a member of Prime Minister Nuri Al MalikiÂ’s ruling Shia Alliance coalition"
actually IIUC Fadila left the coalition after being denied the (lucrative) Oil Ministry. Unless theyve returned. Note well - Fadila party follows the Khomeini ideology of the Sadr family, though not loyal to young Muqty Al Sadr.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's national security adviser said Thursday a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records was seized after the raid on terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout, giving the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaida in Iraq. National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie also said he believed the security situation in the country would improve enough to allow a large number of U.S.-led forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year, and a majority to depart by the end of next year. "And maybe the last soldier will leave Iraq by mid-2008," he said.
Al-Rubaie said a laptop, flashdrive and other documents were found in the debris after the airstrike that killed the al-Qaida in Iraq leader last week outside Baqouba, and more information has been uncovered in raids of other insurgent hideouts since then. He called it a "huge treasure ... a huge amount of information." When asked how he could be sure the information was authentic, al-Rubaie said "there is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his pocket."
"We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaida is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media. "Now we have the upper hand," he said at a news conference in Baghdad. "We feel that we know their locations, the names of their leaders, their whereabouts, their movements, through the documents we found during the last few days." Every bad guy is now worried his name might be on the list and is looking over his shoulder
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 08:37 ||
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When asked how he could be sure the information was authentic, al-Rubaie said "there is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his pocket."
#4
The media asked how he knew the info was authentic.
Now we know how stupid the media are. Only a sofisticated organization would have false info planted within it's headquarters. The media is not aware that alQaeda are operating out of tents and caves. The entire left, media included base their belief system on the constant slanted MSM bilge. They have escaped reality and are now charting the unknowable. Some may never return.
But, who cares ?
BAGHDAD, Iraq - American and Iraqi forces have carried out 452 raids since last week's killing of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and 104 insurgents were killed during those actions, the U.S. military said Thursday.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said the raids were carried out nationwide and led to the discovery of 28 significant arms caches. He said 255 of the raids were joint operations, while 143 were carried out by Iraqi forces alone. The raids also resulted in the captures of 759 "anti-Iraqi elements." Yup, it's a Quagmire.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 08:35 ||
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damn...only 104? :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/15/2006 8:38 Comments ||
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The other 759 have an excellent chance of dying in Iraqi captivity.
Posted by: ed ||
06/15/2006 9:13 Comments ||
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hehe, it's a minor setback, but the Dems still vow to fight on.....
#5
It seems to me to be a race against time now. The MSM will hopefully soon have to deal with explaining their behavior before the people who pay too much attention to them start figuring it out.
Posted by: grb ||
06/15/2006 13:40 Comments ||
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A Marine Corps police transition team is working here to equip and train Iraqi police. While there are many obstacles to surmount, there are signs of progress, U.S. officials here said.
When Marine Maj. Robert Marshall, the officer in charge of the Police Transition Team here, arrived in April, there were two half-built police stations and three or four officers. Now there are hundreds of police on the rolls and officers to lead them.
The coalition team has 17 members split between U.S. military active-duty and reserve personnel and civilian police officers from the International Police Liaison Office. "The PTT team is a guide to help the Iraqi police stand up and be an effective force in the area," Marshall said.
Unlike Iraqi army soldiers, police officers must be recruited locally. Iraqi men have stepped forward in this predominantly Sunni area to serve. Once selected, police recruits go to a 10-week training academy in either Baghdad or Jordan and report back here.
The Iraqi police are the true local security force, Marshall said. "Most of them live within walking distance of their stations, which is what makes them so dangerous to the insurgents, because they know who doesn't belong in their neighborhoods," the major said. "When something goes wrong, we have no clue what's going on out here, and they are tapped in."
But there are many obstacles. Most police squads do not have adequate vehicles, radios or gear to be effective, Marshall said.
Fallujah and Ramadi -- key cities in the area -- get the lion's share of resources in Anbar province. Qaim has a lesser priority, U.S. officials said.
The goal in the area is for 2,000 Iraqi police. But a 40 percent literacy rate in the region cuts the number of potential recruits and makes that goal difficult to achieve. The Iraqi army is more established and drains the pool of recruits even more, officials said.
A saving grace is the good working relationship the police team has with the U.S. Marine Military Transition Team in the area and with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines -- the coalition security force in the region.
Pay is another problem for Iraqi police. Interior Ministry officials are working to deal with the problem, but often the money just doesn't arrive, U.S. officials said.
Marshall said the transition team members thought they would be working to help the police learn investigative techniques. But for the most part, the team is working to strengthen logistics and "giving moral support."
There have been disappointments. Marshall said local police have been left waiting for high-frequency radios, digital cameras and ammunition.
"Yet, with all the problems, we still have hundreds show up for work every day," he said. "This is their home. They tell you what it was like here two years ago. They don't want it to be like that again.
"They want us to leave too, but they understand they can't do it on their own. After the al Qaeda nutcases they had to deal with out here, they certainly prefer us to them."
Marshall said relationships count for everything out here. "The last time I was out with the (Iraqi police), I slept in their barracks rather than come back out here," he said. "It showed that I trust them.
"You need to let them know you trust them so then they trust you back," he continued. "When things are down -- they are not getting paid, they are not getting uniforms, they are not getting equipment -- and they know you actually give a damn about them, then they will stay and keep with you.
"If they think you don't care," he added, "they'd be out of there the next day."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/15/2006 00:43 ||
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US working with Iraqi police in Qaim
The Iraqi police are the true local security force, Marshall said. "Most of them live within walking distance of their stations, which is what makes them so dangerous to the insurgents, because they know who doesn't belong in their neighborhoods," the major said. "When something goes wrong, we have no clue what's going on out here, and they are tapped in."
key work and it won't be easy or done by tomorrow night but it can be done.
The pay deal for govt employees has to be fixed real soon. At some point Iraq has to get a secure banking system, even if It's run by a foreign enity.
Clashes broke out between insurgents and Iraqi security forces and a car bomb killed at least two people in Baghdad yesterday as the government launched a security clampdown to root out Al Qaeda militants. Gunmen carrying automatic rifles blocked roads with stones and tree trunks and exchanged fire with Iraqi troops in Adhamiya, a Sunni insurgent stronghold that is one of Baghdad's most dangerous areas, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. Civilians fled the area but there were no immediate reports of casualties. Three Iraqi army tanks were dispatched to Adhamiya. The clashes subsided later yesterday. In northern Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed two people and wounded seven. A Reuters photographer who was 10 metres (yards) from the blast saw a man and a teenager burning amid wreckage after the bomb caused a big fireball. The clampdown, which included extra checkpoints and Iraqi security patrols backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, came a day after US President George W Bush met new Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, who is under pressure to rein in violence.
With a population of seven million, Baghdad has been the scene of daily carnage and kidnappings. Restoring some security in Baghdad would be a symbolic victory for Maliki, a tough-talking Shi'ite who last week overcame fierce wrangling among his Shi'ite and Sunni coalition partners to fill the key Interior and Defence ministries. Despite growing domestic unease, Bush has resisted setting a public timetable for the withdrawal of 130,000 American troops, making clear this will depend on the capability of US-trained Iraqi forces to take over security. Maliki told Bush during his second visit to Iraq since the 2003 war that the Iraqi government was determined to defeat the insurgents so US and other forces could withdraw.
Reuters reporters saw additional army checkpoints backed by armoured vehicles in Baghdad's western Mansour district and an Iraqi tank in religiously mixed Amiriya, which has seen frequent clashes between Sunni Arab insurgents and US and Iraqi forces. American forces were not in sight. There was little evidence of additional troops in the dangerous, mostly Sunni area of Dora, where the government said it would also focus its security efforts. As Bush talked to Iraqi leaders in the heavily fortified Green Zone on Tuesday, a Web statement said al Qaeda's new leader in Iraq had vowed to avenge the killing of Zarqawi. "The day of vengeance is near and your strong towers in the Green Zone will not protect you," said the statement, posted on an Internet site often used by Islamist militants and signed by the new leader Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir.
US and Iraqi officials have hailed the killing of Zarqawi, a Sunni Arab like most guerrillas in Iraq, as a major blow to Al Qaeda militants while cautioning it will not end bloodshed. "There are going to be tough days ahead, and more sacrifice for Americans, as well as Iraqis," Bush told US troops. "Our military will stay on the offensive. We will continue to hunt down people like Mr Zarqawi, and bring them to justice," he said to applause. Iraqi officials billed Wednesday's clampdown as one of the biggest such operations in the last three years. "It is an operation to step up pressure on Al Qaeda in Baghdad," national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told state television on Tuesday.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/15/2006 00:33 ||
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Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir...put the crosshairs on him too.
An Egyptian associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claims to have succeeded him as the new leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, even though an Islamic Web site said Monday that another man was in power.
Brig. Gen. Carter Ham said at a Pentagon news conference on Wednesday that Abu al-Masri, whose name surfaced shortly after reports of Zarqawi's death became widespread as a successor, had claimed to be in charge of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
"This individual said he is the successor for the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq," Ham said. "I think we'll have the intelligence effort in theater try to make that assessment if he is in fact exercising the leadership role in Al Qaeda in Iraq."
With several names emerging on Web sites and elsewhere, Ham said it's not clear whether they all refer to the same person.
"There is an individual who has claimed to be the successor to Zarqawi in Iraq," Ham said. "We have a variety of intelligence capabilities that will try to determine if there is an individual or individuals who are trying to step forward or exercise control."
An Islamic Web site Monday said a man named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer had been named to replace Zarqawi. A U.S. counterterrorism official said it's possible that this name could be an alias for al-Masri but said "we don't know for sure.
"It's not entirely clear whether this is a deliberate attempt to confuse or whether this is a name put out there as a placeholder of sorts. It is possible that this name could be the same person," the official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/15/2006 00:16 ||
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Shoot them all and let God sort them out.
Posted by: grb ||
06/15/2006 4:22 Comments ||
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isnt this what I said the other day?
BTW, Dan, I eagerly look forward to your analysis of the Zarqi document allegedly found in the not-so-safe house, which has been translated and published by the Iraqi govt.
It basically distills to two big points
1. The resistance (sic) is under heavy pressure, from the training of Iraqi forces, the breakup of finances, the loss of territorial havens, the loss of image within Iraq, the cooperation between the Americans and the "Sistani Shia" etc, etc.
2. Zarqis last best hope is that the US will go to war with Iran, and he will do whatever he can to provoke it, including trying to implicate Iran in his operations.
A man the Iraqi army described on Wednesday as a top aide of slain al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been killed in a raid on the same village where the militant chief was bombed to death last week. Ezzat Ahmed Salman, also known as Ezz al-Arab or the Pride of the Arabs, was the head of Zarqawi's group for the Baquba region, north of Baghdad. He was killed late Tuesday in clashes with Iraqi soldiers in Hibhib where the Al-Qaeda leader himself was slain.
"The Iraqi army raided his hideout in the village at around 9pm. Clashes lasted for five hours, during which he was killed along with another person," said a security official. He said security forces found fake IDs of Salman posing as a police officer in the house which was raided. Salman was in charge of organising militant attacks for Zarqawi's group in and around Baquba, he added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
06/15/2006 00:15 ||
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the Pride of the Arabs gets humble raisins
huummm dropping like flies they are..nyuck nyuck nyuck nyuck...
BEIRUT - Two Lebanese businessmen thought to have been kidnapped by gunmen in Iraq are in fact being held by the Iraqi police, Lebanese security sources said on Wednesday. Jamal Ahmed Falla and his business partner Ahmed Suweidi were seized Friday from their home in the Iraqi capital by armed men, prompting relatives and officials to declare them kidnapped, the sources said.
However, the Lebanese authorities were informed on Wednesday that the two men are being held in police custody. There was no information on what charges they are facing.
Money laundering or supporting the jihadis?
Some 50 Lebanese working for private firms have been kidnapped in Iraq snce the US-led invasion of 2003, with most of them released on payment of a ransom. Two Lebanese were killed by their captors, while three others died in September 2004 during a foiled kidnap attempt in Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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(CNN) -- Iraqi troops Wednesday uncovered a kidnapping ring, seized weapons -- including three rockets -- and defused two roadside bombs after beginning a security clampdown on the often lawless streets of Baghdad. In the first day of the new government's push to restore order in the capital, Iraqi troops also enforced a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. and issued a weapons ban for civilians.
Four insurgents were detained at one checkpoint after three people emerged from a car "screaming for help," said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "We found eight people that had been kidnapped now for four days that we were able to return back under control of the Iraqi government," Caldwell said. "They worked for an electrical company down south of Baghdad."
Iraq's ministries of Defense and Interior would not give specific numbers on how many troops were stationed across the city Wednesday, but it appeared to be fewer than the 70,000 that the Interior Ministry initially said it would deploy. (Watch the violence that inspired the Baghdad crackdown -- 1:56) Hours after the operation began, President Bush said at a news conference in Washington that 26,000 Iraqi troops and 23,000 Iraqi police will be backed by about 7,200 U.S.-led coalition troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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This is a live fire, backed-up training isn't it? It was telegraphed for days, dress rehearsal or feint?
(KUNA) -- Two Iraqi civilians were killed on Wednesday and at least eight others were wounded in a booby-trapped car explosion in the district of Al-Qahira in northern Baghdad. An Interior Ministry source said the explosion took place near a large water tank and severely damaged cars in the area.
Meanwhile, an explosive device planted behind the Turkish Embassy in the Waziriya district, Baghdad, left a policeman wounded. Police patrol vehicles cordoned off the area minutes after the explosion. These explosions come hours after intensive security measures were imposed as part of a security campaign declared by the Iraqi government.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- An Iraqi police officer was injured when a booby-trapped vehicle blew up targeting a passing police patrol in the center of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, an Interior ministry source said. The injured policeman was wisked off to a hospital for treatment.
Investigations are taking place to know the reasons behind the explosion and to put plans in order to establish security in the city, the source said. Kirkuk witnessed five booby-trapped car explosions yesterday killing at least 14 individuals and injuring 41 others, most of them civilians. The police were able to diffuse the sixth bomb.
Kirkuk's governor Abdulrahman Mustafa held a meeting today to investigate the reasons for the explosions yesterday, a statement by the province of Kirkuk said. The meeting was attended by senior security officials and multinational forces including Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, who is in charge of police affairs in Kirkuk, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- The Iraqi police managed to kill an insurgent Wednesday before he could drive his booby-trapped car into a security check point in Kirkuk city in northern Iraq. A police source told KUNA that they have seized the car driven by the insurgent and disarmed the explosive chagre in it. The Police also said that another car was confiscated in midtown Kirkuk and found large amounts of explosives and other tools of mayhem. Meanwhile, weapon caches were found by Iraqi forces in southern Kirkuk.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Government forces fanned out across Baghdad Wednesday, setting up checkpoints and causing huge traffic snarls on the first day of the largest security operation in Iraq's capital since Saddam Hussein's ouster three years ago. Violence dipped slightly in Baghdad, with just one car bomb killing four and injuring six. Another four people died in separate shooting incidents around Iraq.
Operation Forward Together, involving tens of thousands of Iraqi army and police forces backed by US troops, began at a crucial time — one day after US President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad to reassure Iraqis of Washington's continued support and exactly a week after the death of Abu Mussab Zarqawi. It was also the first major action by Prime Minister Nuri Maliki since his new government of national unity was sworn in on May 20, and a week after he gained the consensus he needed from Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups to fill three key posts — defence, interior and national security.
Tackling Baghdad's tenuous security has been the aim of several counterinsurgency operations in the past — including one launched one year ago. That operation, code named “Lightning” failed to have any impact on the bombings, shootings and killings that have become daily fare in Baghdad. Maliki pledged Wednesday not to negotiate with those who had shed innocent blood, the latest in a series of tough statements he has made since American bombs last week killed Zarqawi. But it remains to be seen whether Maliki, a veteran politician with years of experience as an opposition activist in exile, can back up his uncompromising rhetoric with action.
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Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Bush confirmed some numbers according to WaPo. Operation includes 26,000 Iraqi army, 23,000 Iraqi police, about 7000 MNF
It seems to me that this early phase of the operation is about 99% aimed against Sunni terrorism and only about 1% to prevent Shia terrorism. Is that your understanding?
#3
MHW - thats the hints theyve thrown out, and the MSM reports all have mentioned Sunni or mixed areas. Havent heard anything about Sadr City. Sadrs only response so far was his protest march the other day. So, if theyre disarming folks in Sadr City, I havent heard about it.
Palestinian civil servants stormed the parliament building in the West Bank on Wednesday demanding back pay and chanting "We are hungry!"
Fistfights broke out as protesters hurled plastic water bottles at legislators from Hamas, the militant group that controls parliament, forcing the speaker to flee the building.
It was the second violent protest this week at parliament, in Ramallah, and underscored growing pressure on the Hamas government on several fronts.
Much of the Western aid that had been used to run the Palestinian Authority has been withheld since Hamas took over the government after winning January elections. Many Muslim nations had pledged their support, but international banks, most tied to the American system, have refused to transfer money from other donors.
So on Wednesday, the Hamas foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, crossed over into Gaza from Egypt carrying what Palestinian officials said was $20 million in cash in his suitcases. He was returning from a long trip to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, China, Pakistan, Iran and Egypt.
Hamas, responsible for many of the deadliest suicide attacks against Israel, has refused to renounce violence or recognize the Israeli state since it won control of parliament in January.
Though a substantial sum, the $20 million is a fraction of $120 million the Palestinian Authority needs each month just for the salaries of its 165,000 employees, most of whom have not been paid for four months. Its current budget would require an additional $45 million for all costs other than salaries.
A power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, the party it ousted from power, continues to worsen. About two dozen people have been killed in recent weeks in factional fighting, including a Hamas gunman in southern Gaza on Wednesday. The protesters at the parliament, which was also attacked Monday night along with two cabinet buildings, were reported largely to be loyal to Fatah.
"We deplore and regret these incidents," Ismail Haniya, the prime minister and a top Hamas leader, said after the death of the gunman, The Associated Press reported. "The government is going to carry out its responsibilities along with the security branches in order to maintain law and order."
To defuse the tensions, Mr. Haniya and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, have agreed to a series of talks, which continued on Wednesday.
Mr. Abbas, a moderate, has been pressing Hamas to accept even implicit recognition of Israel, a move aimed at freeing up foreign money and restarting peace talks with Israel. Barring that, Mr. Abbas has said he will schedule a referendum next month calling for a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders, a proposal that polls indicate most Palestinians support.
Hamas's leadership strongly opposes the referendum as illegal and an effort to undermine the party's election victory.
#4
If the Paleos are bailed out, they will never learn about actions===>consequences. It is vital that they sort this one out themselves.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/15/2006 15:39 Comments ||
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They Paleos still have (so I've been told) access to a legacy account (or accounts) of some sort from the Arafat years. It supposedly has about a billion $. The details about how this amount was amassed and who has control over the account(s)are murky.
However, the total backpay owed Paleo employees is already over $200M or so and increasing about $50 to $100M or so each month even with the funds that Hamas is able to weedle or extort out of the would be caliphate and the funds voluntarily given up by clueless or seditious infidels.
#7
165,000? So there is a civil servant for roughly every 23 people (West Bank and Gaza). Exactly what are these people doing? Everyone read the Airport story? They would go find work in another secto but who in their right mind would invest in Gaza or West bank? Bottom line is they made there own mess now they must clean it up.
#8
Palestinians Mount Violent Protest Over Lack of Paychecks
mhw,
I just recieved this in my e-mail, I hope this sheds some light on the financial crisis in Paleostine.
___________
Dear Friend,
I am MRS. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of late YASSER ARAFAT,the Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris. Since his death and even prior to the
announcement, I have been thrown into a state of antagonism, confusion, humiliation, frustration and hopelessness by the present leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the new Prime Minister. I have even been subjected to physical and psychological torture.
As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with everybody in the country at the moment.You view this website:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3965541.stm. You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank account and companies and the allegations of some huge sums of money deposited by my husband in my name of which I have refuses to disclose or give up to the corrupt Palestine Government.
In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the Government so far is in the tune of about $6.5 Billion Dollars. And they are not relenting
on their effort to make me poor for life. As you know, the Muslem community has no regards for woman, more importantly when the woman is from a Christian background, hence my desire for a foreign assistance.
I have deposited the sum of Fourty-Three million dollars with a Diplomatic Security firm in Europe whose name is withheld for now until we open proper and full communication. I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity.
This arrangement should be known to you and I alone and all our correspondence should be strictly on email alone because our government has tapped all my lines and are monitoring all my moves.
In view of the above,if you are willing to assist for our mutual benefits, we will have to negotiate on your Percentage share of the $43,000,000.00 that will be kept in your possession for a while and invested in your name for my trust pending when my Daughter,Zahwa,will come off age and take full responsibility of her Family Estate/inheritance.
Please note that this is a golden opportunity that comes once in life time and more so, if you are honest, I am going to entrust more funds in
your care as this is one of the legacy we keep for our children.
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The militant Islamic group Hamas is calling for a new ceasefire with Israel. translation: YOU cease fire
"Those Zionists are unfair! They keep shooting back! Make them stop!"
Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the governing Palestinian group, said Thursday Hamas is seeking what he calls "quiet" and is ready to rein in militants firing rockets at Israel if Israel ceases its attacks on Gaza first.
The statement came as Palestinian militants ... Geez. What does it take to be promoted to "terrorist?" Oh yeah. build a wall.
... in the Gaza Strip fired at least five rockets into southern Israel, wounding three Israelis and damaging a factory in the town of Sderot. Islamic Jihad, which did not accept a ceasefire with Israel, claimed responsibility for Thursday's rocket attacks. therefore Hamas can still be assured of a continuous volley of rockets during the "ceasefire."
Last week, after eight civilians died in an explosion on a Gaza beach, Hamas said it was calling off the one-year-old ceasefire. Palestinian officials blamed the beach explosion on Israeli artillery, but Israel has denied responsibility. You blow us up, we seek dire revenge. We blow ourselves up, we seek dire revenge.
After Hamas announced it was calling off the ceasefire, an Israeli official said Israel might resume an assassination campaign against Hamas officials, including Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. hence the resumption of the "ceasefire."
In other news, the Palestinian information minister, Youssef Rizka, entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt Thursday with two million dollars in his suitcases. how come they never used to write about all the millions going out of the paleo territories?
Palestinian officials have been carrying large amounts of cash into the Gaza Strip to alleviate a cash shortage after Western nations suspended aid to the Hamas-led government. Most Palestinian civil servants have not been paid since February. On Wednesday, some of them stormed the Palestinian parliament building in Ramallah, demanding their pay.
Lessee, 20 mil from the other guy, now 2 mil, hmmm, ... carry the 4, square root of -1, ... add 3 zeroes to adjust for inflation ... yup, looks like the Widows Ammunition Fund will be able to carry out its vital mission this month after all!
(KUNA) -- Israeli special forces disguised in Arabic dress assassinated in Jenin on Wednesday Mohammad Bargheesh, an activist with the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah. Witnesses told reporters that the special forces had entered the city in a car with Palestinian plates and opened fire on the 23-year-old activist, wounding him in several parts of his body. Israeli forces denied ambulances access to the scene of the shooting, and the activist could not be carried to the nearby Jenin Hospital.
This incident comes only one day after 11 Palestinian were killed in Gaza in two air strikes orchestrated by Israeli air force and aimed at activists of the Islamic Jihad.
Meanwhile in Gaza, Lieutenant Colonel Rifaat Kallab, security director in Khan Younis, escaped an attempt on his life. Witnesses said unknown militants had opened fire on him while he was heading to work in his car, adding that he was wounded in the attack and was rushed to hospital for treatment. This comes days after Gaza's director of general security Brigadier Abu Rashbak escaped a similar attack in which three of his bodyguards were wounded. Khan Younis had been a scene for armed confrontations between supporters of Fatah and Hamas, killing and wounding many from both sides.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Damn those Joooooooooooosssssss!!!!
Always disguising themselves as women, or mullahs, or rabbi's, or little children!
Have they no shame?
Oh, wait, Mahmood - wouldn't that be us Paleostinians that do that?
#2
Humph, this really, really, really needs to be confirmed (by Gromgoru, perhaps), but IIRC israeli units specialized in covert infiltration like that are called Mits HaAravim, which supposedly translates as "arab juice".
Note I do not speak hebrew at all, so this might be completely bogus, but this name cracks me up.
Anyway, I vaguely recall many specialized israeli units have weird translated names, like walnut, or others fruits.
#3
(a) There is nothing on channel-7.
(b) Such units called (as near as I can transliterate) "Mista'arvim", which means disguised as Arabs (Hebrew is a very compact language---that's why G*d used it to write the Bible :-)).
(c) Mista'arvim is job description, not a unit name. And many of Israel's top units bear names of plants & flowers---we likes it that way.
#5
Ok, thanks for the correction.
The translation I got was "jus d'arabes", which doesn't mean much, (except perhaps on an imagery level, IE concentrated arabness or something?), but I thought this was very funny in itself.
As for the IDF vegetal names, well, french army tends to name its african operations as animals/mythological creatures, and both beat the lookat-me-I'm-so-macho stuff of the Martyrs Brigade of the Islamic Lions of The Peninsula and all, I'd say.
(KUNA) -- The Palestinian security forces and HAMAS exchanged blame Wednesday on the gun-fire incident in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza Strip. The incident caused the death of an HAMAS activist and injured three people including a security officer.
The Security Forces said in a statement that the HAMAS fighter started attacking them by firing at the officer's convoy in Khan Yunis. They added that this incident proves HAMAS' ill intentions towards the national unity of the Palestinians and stated that the movement's leader must not start civil war.
Sami Abu Zhari, a HAMAS spokesman, said that the security convoy started the fight earlier on by attacking a unit of Ezzeddine Al-Qassam Brigades killing an activist. He said that this crime committed by the security forces is a crime against all Palestinians.
In other developments, unidentified gunmen burned down the house of the injured officer in Khan Yunis.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2006 00:00 ||
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We don't care who started it as long is there is an impressive casualty list. Which, by the way, this one isn't---you'd have to work harder.
At least seven small bombs exploded in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south today, wounding at least seven people, police said.
The bombs exploded almost simultaneously at police stations, checkpoints and local government offices in Pattani and Yala, two of the three southernmost provinces where more than 1300 people have been killed in the two-year separatist insurgency.
The most serious explosion took place in front of Kokpoe police station in Pattani province, wounding seven civilians, a Kokpoe police officer said by telephone.
Two bombs were planted in a toilet of Yala City Hall and a toilet in the Yala police station, they said.
#6
It's so painful for us Burgers to stand by and witness yet another culture slowly...sloooowly learn that Islam wants us all dead, and will not rest unless and until we are room temperature.
Painfully, sloooowly, Thailand turns....sloooowly.
At least 61 people have been killed after a civilian bus was struck by a mine in northern Sri Lanka, police say. Another 45 people were wounded in the explosion in Anuradhapura district, 200km (125 miles) north of Colombo.
The government says the Tamil Tigers were responsible for what is the worst incident involving civilians since a 2002 ceasefire came into force. The Tigers deny responsibility. The government has responded with air strikes on Tamil Tiger positions.
Thursday's bus attack was in an area with an ethnic Sinhalese majority. Correspondents say the Tamil Tigers have in the past attacked the main military barracks in the area. The bus was packed with villagers travelling to work and school when it was hit by a claymore mine, officials said. Army officials said the bus overturned and hurtled 25 metres down a road after it hit the mine in the town of Kabithigollewa in Anuradhapura district.
A doctor at the local hospital said at least 15 children were among the dead. "This is the most barbaric attack of the Tigers," government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.
The Tigers immediately issued a statement denying responsibility saying that "directly targeting civilians... cannot be justified under any circumstances".
Claymore mines are widely used by the Tamil Tigers. But a Tamil Tiger (LTTE) spokesman, S Puleedevan, told the BBC's World Update programme that the attack may have been the work of a paramilitary group linked to the government. "The Sri Lankan armed forces are using various paramilitary groups. They are engaged in a lot of claymore attacks, penetrative attacks, against the LTTE, against the Tamil civilians, in the north-east," Mr Puleedevan said.
Anuradhapura was the ancient capital of Sri Lanka. Correspondents say Thursday's attack has extra significance as it was carried out in the Sinhalese Buddhist heartland.
Shortly after news of the attack emerged, the Sri Lankan military launched air strikes in rebel-held areas of Sampur and Kilinochchi. The pro-Tiger TamilNet website said two air force bombers had begun bombing rebel-controlled Mullaitivu and its suburbs. It is not clear what impact the air attacks have had.
Iran's defense minister on Thursday vowed that his country would "use nuclear defense as a potential" if "threatened by any power."
Speaking following a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Hassan Ali Turkmani in Teheran on Thursday, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar emphasized that Iran "should be ready for confronting all kinds of threats."
Teheran has denied accusations by the US and its allies that Iran was seeking uranium enrichment technologies in order to develop nuclear weapons, saying its program was only meant to generate electricity.
Meanwhile, Turkmani told reporters that Syria and Iran's "policy is the policy of strengthening resistance and tackling the threats of United States and Israel."
He added that he wouldn't give details of joint defense plans against Israel, although the plans were "not secret."
Answering a question regarding a newly-developed Shahab 4 missile, Najjar said that research activities were underway. Iran would continue production of "different missiles and research," Najjar declared.
The most recent Iranian missile was the Shahab 3, and Iran recently claimed to have followed it up with the development of the Shahab 4.
Probably two small mammals. Oh, boy, this is so tempting, I could say she's most certainly got a beaver or a pussy (I'm talking about the animals, of course, mind you!) hidden under her clothes, but since I'm a dignified person, I won't go there. I'm such a nice boy.
She's my favorite so far, btw.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/15/2006 6:36 Comments ||
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#9
A5089, the expression that comes to mind is 'two ferrets in a sack'. I couldn't find an online reference and I suspect the phrase's meaning has been morphed in recent years.
If you don't get the ferret reference, imagine the young lady above jogging without a bra.
Posted by: ed ||
06/15/2006 7:37 Comments ||
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#14
Them legs just keep going and going and going.....
Posted by: Steve ||
06/15/2006 8:10 Comments ||
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#15
The phrase you're looking for is "Two Gophers fighting in a gunny sack".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/15/2006 8:14 Comments ||
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#16
Looks like CatWoman
Humm, thinking of it, wasn't Julie Newmar (whose name I think I recognize) one of the first Catwoman in the 60's show? Angavith, I should check with imdb, but I think you're right!
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.
KHOST: At least 30 Taliban were killed in violence across Afghanistan on Wednesday, while four civilians died in rocket attacks on the same day. Afghan and coalition forces killed 26 Taliban militants on the country’s border with Pakistan on Wednesday, a provincial governor said. The militants were killed in an operation in south-eastern Paktika province that was launched in response to attacks in the Ziruk district, Governor Mohammad Akram Khapelwak said. “Twenty-six Taliban have been killed so far in the fire-fight. The operation is still ongoing,” he said. “It was a joint Afghan forces and coalition operation,” he said. Four civilians were killed in the same province on Wednesday by three rockets that landed on homes in the Barmal district, also on the border with Pakistan, the governor said. Another 18 civilians were wounded, he said. Two Taliban fighters were killed in a gun battle in the province of Zabul after they ambushed a US convoy, wounding two American soldiers. Taliban officials could not be immediately contacted. 
KABUL (AIP): In claims made to Afghan media, the Taliban today said they killed nine US soldiers in the Dara Hazarbuz Cochak area of the Dai Chopan District in Zabul Province.
KHOST (AIP): A Talib fighter was killed during a clash with Afghan police in Paktika last night, governor said Wednesday. Taliban attacked district headquarters of Omna in Paktika province last night, governor of Paktika province Muhammad Akram Khpalwak told Afghan Islamic Press. He said the firefight continued for one hour in which one Talib fighter was killed while the police did not suffer any damage.
KHOST (AIP): Four civilians were killed and 18 others wounded in bordering Paktika province when Pakistani security forces targeted bordering Barmal district, governor alleged Wednesday. Security forces of Pakistan targeted Angor Ada area of Barmal district closed to Pakistan border today which left four civilians dead and 18 wounded, Governor of Paktika province Muhammad Akram Khpalwak informed Afghan Islamic Press. Afghan forces also retaliated and the firing continued for two hours.
JALALABAD (AIP): A roadside bomb detonated soon after the passing of coalition troop in Agam district of Ningarhar province on Wednesday, officials said. Incharge of Agam district in eastern Ningarhar province, Haji Sayed Rahman while confirming the incident to Afghan Islamic Press said, “A landmine exploded in Manoo area of Agam district today minutes after the passing of coalition troops.” He added that the explosion did not cause any damage.
(SomaliNet) Reliable sources say former trade minister 
The Pakistani government on Wednesday confirmed that alleged terror suspect Khalid Rashid was currently in its custody. 
June 14: Two persons were killed and another one was injured in a bomb blast while they were making bombs at Beel Jhikra Lakhipur under Noapara pourashava of Abhoynagar upazila in the district last night. The victims were identified as Billal Hossain (30), son of Shahidul Islam of Taltola and Sumon (25) son of late Tipu Master of Masorhati village under Abhoynagar upazila. Aminur Rahman (30), son of Amjad Hossain of village Moshorhati under same upazila was injured and admitted to general hospital of Jessore in critical condition. According to police all the three persons were the activists of Purba Bangla Communist Party.
(KUNA) -- A member of the banned organization of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was killed on Wednesday in a clash with Turkish security forces in the eastern province of Tunceli, said a military source. According to the source, the PKK militant was killed during a military operation in the Geyikusu village.
Islamabad, 15 June (AKI) - Five people including the deputy prison chief have been killed in a shooting in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi. According to a report on Pakistan's GEO TV, eight gunmen on four motorcycles opened fire on the vehicles carrying the deputy superintendent of the Karachi Central Prison, Amanullah Niazi, killing him, two bodyguards and two passersby. The incident occured on a busy street in the city's business district. 
QUETTA: Police have arrested 12 members of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Balochistan Police Inspector General Chaudhry Yaqoob told an impromptu press conference on Wednesday. He said that the arrested men had confessed to their involvement in the Mach bombing, bomb blasts and rocket attacks on national installations in various parts of the province. They have confessed to their involvement in 14 terrorist acts, he added. 
(KUNA) -- Militants abducted an Iraqi civilian in the northern oil city of Kirkuk and people took to the streets in a rally against terrorism in the same city on Thursday.
BEIRUT - Two Lebanese businessmen thought to have been kidnapped by gunmen in Iraq are in fact being held by the Iraqi police, Lebanese security sources said on Wednesday. Jamal Ahmed Falla and his business partner Ahmed Suweidi were seized Friday from their home in the Iraqi capital by armed men, prompting relatives and officials to declare them kidnapped, the sources said.
(CNN) -- Iraqi troops Wednesday uncovered a kidnapping ring, seized weapons -- including three rockets -- and defused two roadside bombs after beginning a security clampdown on the often lawless streets of Baghdad. In the first day of the new government's push to restore order in the capital, Iraqi troops also enforced a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. and issued a weapons ban for civilians. 
(KUNA) -- Two Iraqi civilians were killed on Wednesday and at least eight others were wounded in a booby-trapped car explosion in the district of Al-Qahira in northern Baghdad. An Interior Ministry source said the explosion took place near a large water tank and severely damaged cars in the area.
(KUNA) -- An Iraqi police officer was injured when a booby-trapped vehicle blew up targeting a passing police patrol in the center of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, an Interior ministry source said. The injured policeman was wisked off to a hospital for treatment.
Government forces fanned out across Baghdad Wednesday, setting up checkpoints and causing huge traffic snarls on the first day of the largest security operation in Iraq's capital since Saddam Hussein's ouster three years ago. Violence dipped slightly in Baghdad, with just one car bomb killing four and injuring six. Another four people died in separate shooting incidents around Iraq.
(KUNA) -- Israeli special forces disguised in Arabic dress assassinated in Jenin on Wednesday Mohammad Bargheesh, an activist with the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah. Witnesses told reporters that the special forces had entered the city in a car with Palestinian plates and opened fire on the 23-year-old activist, wounding him in several parts of his body. Israeli forces denied ambulances access to the scene of the shooting, and the activist could not be carried to the nearby Jenin Hospital.
(KUNA) -- The Palestinian security forces and HAMAS exchanged blame Wednesday on the gun-fire incident in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza Strip. The incident caused the death of an HAMAS activist and injured three people including a security officer.
At least 61 people have been killed after a civilian bus was struck by a mine in northern Sri Lanka, police say. Another 45 people were wounded in the explosion in Anuradhapura district, 200km (125 miles) north of Colombo.
