The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (1-3ID)is currently engaged in street to street fighting in central Ramadi. The much anticipated attack follows months of hands off policy as troops were routinely sniped and attacked with orders not to retaliate.
After much planning U.S. forces along with a collection of hired local tribesmen from nearby Sofia (a suburb of Ramadi) and other groups are attacking and clearing the are house by house. The tribes have been formed into paramilitary units called "Emergency Response Units" and are linked with U.S. troops. The Sheikhs have really begun to assert themselves against the Al Qaeda invaders and their local agents. This is very risky for them since they know the Democrat Congress could pull their US support at any time.
The 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (1-9), 2nd Infantry Division has been given the dirty job of house to house combat in Ramadi's center. Many of the houses have been booby trapped in anticipation of the attack. The U.S. Military estimates that there are around 60 insurgents remaining in the area of 15,000 people. Initial estimates put the insurgent numbers at between 100 and 200.
The city of half a million is a Sunni stronghold and the objective is to establish a foothold in a rundown collection of abandoned and destroyed homes called the Mulaab district. Ultimately the U.S. and Iraqi forces hope to build and hold nine fortified police stations to control the city.
#3
Oh boy...
Attacking after months of being told not to retaliate? There are gonna be some exterminated (with extreme prejudice) Al-qaeda dickheads after this!
#4
Any chance those guys that got beat up in that fight yesterday with the Iraqis came from Ramadi? If so, the insurgents in Ramadi might be short a hundred or so fighters today. Would be a good day to thump on em a little before they can replace those losses.
In southern Helmand province on Wednesday, residents discovered the body of a doctor, who was kidnapped and killed by suspected Taliban militants earlier in the week, said Gen Mohammad Eisah, provinces deputy police chief. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett visited the southern Afghan province of Helmand where thousands of British troops are deployed to fight the Taliban, a statement said.
This article starring:
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett
Gen Mohammad Eisah
Mohammad Qasem Bayan, the chief of public health department for Farah province
Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Police arrested 10 suspected activists of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) including an alleged associate of Siddiqul IslamBangla Bhai at Bagmara upazila in Rajshahi early yesterday. The alleged close aide to Bangla Bhai, Abdus Sattar of Sakoa in the district, was arrested twice before since the August 17, 2005 countrywide bombings. He was released on bail later on.
Failed bomb attacks on London's transit system in July 2005 were a hoax intended to protest Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, a suspect claimed in transcripts of a police interview read out in the trial. Explosives containing a mixture of flour and acid were made the day before the attacks on July 21, 2005, and were supposed to cause fear but not injuries, suspect Hussain Osman told Italian investigators. He fled London after the failed attacks and was arrested in Rome on July 29, 2005. Osman, 28, is one of six men accused of conspiring to bomb subway trains and a bus, two weeks after four suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 commuters in London. No one was injured in the July 21 attacks.
Osman; Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29; Adel Yahya, 24; Manfu Asiedu, 33; Yassin Omar, 26; and Ramzi Mohamed, 25 all deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. The court was told Omar gave his interview in Italian. Born in Ethiopia, he spent five years in Italy before moving to Britain in 1996. "We made some false, fake explosives to frighten people, to stop them, because of the (Iraq) war basically," he said, in translated transcripts read out to jurors at Woolwich Crown Court. "There was a plastic (tub) and inside there was a type of flour and liquid mixed together to make it seem like explosive. It wasn't real," Osman added, describing the contents of rucksacks that he and some of the other accused carried on to the transit system.
Osman said Ibrahim and Omar had come with the idea, as they discussed the Iraq war and injustices against Muslims. "They had the idea. I said if this (hoax) could change things, I would do it," he said. When asked what things, he replied: "Change the war, the violence."
This article starring:
ADEL YAHYA
al-Qaeda in Europe
HUSEIN OSMAN
al-Qaeda in Europe
MANFU ASIEDU
al-Qaeda in Europe
MUKTAR SAID IBRAHIM
al-Qaeda in Europe
RAMZI MOHAMED
al-Qaeda in Europe
YASIN OMAR
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Explosives containing a mixture of flour and acid were made the day before the attacks on July 21, 2005, and were supposed to cause fear but not injuries, suspect Hussain Osman told Italian investigators. He fled London after the failed attacks and was arrested in Rome on July 29, 2005.
sure no probs asshole, and this rope won't burn your neck either.
#3
What terms do you think they'll receive, Nails? Looking at over 20? - I'm tempted to say they'll get around 10-15 yrs.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/02/2007 5:54 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Well , I would expect a precedent and an example for these fools . I would hope at least 25 years , but you know our judical system , they'll prolly be out after 5 years , possibly 3 on appeal :(
#5
Know what you mean. I have a nagging sense that they'll be washing graffiti off tube trains as a punishment - to be hired later by the tube company as drivers as part of their rehabilitation programme. You watch :(
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/02/2007 6:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I'd like to see them get the same as the Soho nail bomber. 50 years.
As they are from a "more equal community" I'd say 10 years.
1. it would have been engineered to make a lot of noise and smoke
2. nails wouldn't have been part of the equation
3. a fizzle - as in this case - wouldn't be a convincing strategy from the get go.
The London jury lives in a world of Red Ken's making, where that dhimmi apologizes for and rationalizes every muslim action, no matter how treacherous or despicable. I hope the jury hasn't drunk his kool aid.
"An intriguing tale of Venezuela/Iran/Argentina triangulating the purchase of a nuclear reactor for Iran.
There is this intriguing article in Argentinean news site total news, which also appeared in in an Argentinean investigative reporting site called "Tribuna de Periodistas" here, which contends that an Argentinean -made nuclear reactor arrived in Iran via a triangulation in which the Venezuelan Government participated.
Which explains the interest Iran has been showing our "friends" south of the border
The article says that it is not clear whether Argentina's President Kirchner knew the true destiny of the reactor, stating that it was taken to Iran in a Venezuelan ship which was being repaired in Rio Santiago, Argentina.
Venezuela is known to have expressed interest in buying an Argentinean nuclear reactor in 2005, when meetings between the Ministry of Energy and Argentina's INVAP took place both in Caracas and Buenos Aires.
If this news is confirmed, which should happen shortly given the fact that so many people would have participated in it, it is significant for the case of Physicist Claudio Mendoza, who is still under the threat of being fired from his tenured position at IVIC. This is because supposedly, Claudio injured the prestige of IVIC, where "all" nuclear activities of Venezuela supposedly take place. If it can be proven that the Ministry of Energy purchased a nuclear reactor from Argentina, to send to Iran, IVIC's claim to centralized nuclear activities in Venezuela would be proven incorrect and Claudio could not be fired for the reasons given.
Of course, if this story proved out to be true, which the author has assured fa friend of mine that it is, it would have important repercussions for the three countries involved in the triangulation, which I will discuss when we have more information on the matter.."
Site for whole article in Spanish: http://www.totalnews.com.ar/detalle_noticia.asp?cod_noticia=16870&fecha=20070228
#1
Last I heard Iran either Couldn't or wouldn't pay Russia for it's currently being-built Reactor, so work was stopped, No Cash, No Fueling, No Russian Brainpower Help, So now this pops up? just HOW is Argentina expecting to get paid after Iran's stiffed Russia?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2007 9:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hugo bought the Argentinan reactor with his oil money. Maybe he told them who it was for, maybe not. He shipped it to Iran for future favors. Maybe missiles, maybe even a warhead. Perhaps he wants to pickup where his hero Fidel left off when the Russians pulled their nukes out of Cuba.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/02/2007 9:55 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Chavez may also have promised a little backup if the Argies make another try for the Falkland Islands.
#4
Chavez has made a lot of promises and purchased a lot of gifts, and the credit card bills are a-comin' in. He better call a debt management firm---pronto.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/02/2007 10:48 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Something sounds fishy here. I can't see how a single ship could carry a power producing reactor, much less the fuel for it. I could see it being a low power research reactor, which could probably breed Plutonium after running for several years, but then you'd have to chemically separate the stuff.
#11
I think the British public would be up in arms if the Falkland islands were retaken. I would be, shame to say that I would defend the last tiny little bit of empire we have.
At least eight people were wounded when Colombian guerrillas exploded a car bomb in a suspected assassination attempt on the mayor of a southern city, authorities said. Local television showed a bus in flames near the wreck of the car and debris scattered over the street. Eight people were wounded in the blast in Neiva, 300 kilometres south of the capital Bogota, the civil defence agency said. "Everything points to an assassination attempt on the mayor of Neiva," Police Colonel Miguel Angel Bojaca told local radio.
Neiva Mayor Cielo Gonzalez has received threats from leftist guerrillas fighting a four-decade-old conflict. A grenade was fired at her house in 2003 and a bodyguard was killed during an assassination attempt on her father.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
The US military announced that it had sent home two Afghans and three Tajikistani detainees at Guantanamo Bay, meaning that more prisoners have now been released or transferred than remain at the naval base. The five men, who had been held at the isolated detention centre in southeastern Cuba without being charged, were flown out early Wednesday and transferred to the custody of governments in their native countries, Navy Cmdr Robert Durand said. They were cleared for departure by a military review process that assesses whether prisoners have intelligence value or pose a threat to the United States.
The military does not provide details about individual cases including the names of those released. Since the Guantanamo prison opened in January 2002, some 390 detainees held on suspicion of links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban have been released, according to the Pentagon. Roughly 385 prisoners remain, including about 85 who have been deemed eligible for transfer or release through a series of review processes, according to a Pentagon statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Pakistan intelligence sources say a second high-ranking Taliban leader has been taken into custody, as the country appeared to be responding to Vice President Dick Cheney's showdown meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Pakistani officials told ABC News the new arrest also took place in Quetta, where on Monday, the former Taliban defense minister was arrested just hours after Cheney had left the country.
Pakistani officials identified him as Amir Khan Haqqani, a Taliban commander for Zabul province. "Isn't it amazing how quickly they were able to find these men?" scoffed one intelligence source familiar with the Cheney meeting.
Pakistani officials say both men were arrested at the same Quetta hotel based on information provided by the United States.
#3
the new arrest also took place in Quetta, where on Monday, the former Taliban defense minister was arrested just hours after Cheney had left the country.
Or just after They made you THINK he had left the country. I take it back. Cheney IS Chuck Norris-good.
Peshawar, 2 March (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani security forces have captured Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, deputy to the elusive Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar, from Quetta, a federal government official told Dawn. Mullah Obaidullah, former Taliban defence minister, was arrested on Monday, the official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. The Taliban leader carries a 1 million dollar reward and is the most senior Taliban figure captured since the ouster of the puritanical militia from power in November 2001.
His arrest came the day US Vice-President Dick Cheney arrived in Islamabad on an announced visit to deliver what was widely believed to be a warning that the new Democratic Congress could cut aid unless Pakistan became more aggressive in hunting down Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives.
The official, however, said the arrest of Mullah Obaidullah, who was defence minister in the ousted Taliban regime, had no link with Cheneys visit and the action which led to his arrest had been planned in advance based on good intelligence.The official declined to give further information but said that two others, who were captured along with Mullah Obaidullah "could be"Amir Khan Haqqani, a Taliban commander in Zabul, and Abdul Bari, the former governor of Helmand province.
Mullah Obaidullahs arrest comes amid reports that the Taliban are preparing for a `spring offensive in Afghanistan that has seen dramatic upsurge in violence over the last one year. He was on Americas most wanted list and was a member of the 10-man Taliban Leadership Council announced by the Taliban supreme leader in June 2003. NATO officials and western diplomats consider Mullah Obaidullah as one of those closest lieutenants of Mullah Omar. The other two were Mullah Akhtar Osmani and Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor.
Mullah Osmani, who was a former Taliban army chief, was killed in a US airstrike in Helmand in December last year.
Hailing from Punjwai district of Kandahar province, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund was widely considered as the military chief of Taliban forces.
Former Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi, who was captured by Pakistani security forces in Quetta in 2005, had told the media in March 2005 that Mullah Omar had told Mullah Obaidullah to initiate an attack that would send a clear signal to the world that the Taliban were a force to be reckoned with. That Mullah Obaidullah was close to Mullah Omar was also evident from the fact that 14 commanders appointed by the Taliban leadership for two war zones in southern and eastern Afghanistan had been asked to report directly to the 10-member leadership council, which was later expanded to 18 members. Hakimi had said that the council was supervised by Mullah Obaidullah and Mullah Beradar, who were to report matters directly to Mullah Omar.
When asked if the arrest of Mullah Omars deputy had put the security agencies anywhere close to the elusive Taliban leader, the official said: Had he been in the same city, he would have been taken by now.
This article starring:
ABDUL BARI
ABDUL LATIF HAKIMI
AMIR KHAN HAQQANI
MULLAH AKHTAR MOHAMAD MANSUR
MULLAH AKHTAR OSMANI
MULLAH MOHAMAD OMAR
MULLAH OBAIDULLAH AKHUND
Posted by: Steve ||
03/02/2007 08:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
24 hour rule in effect. Since it's Pakistan, 36 to 48 may be better..
A Taliban spokesman denied as "rumour" the arrest of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, who is regarded as one of the two top deputies of Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar. Akhund was captured with four other suspects in a raid on a home in the south-western city of Quetta on Monday, three intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorised to speak to journalists.
Pakistani government spokesmen have made no comment on the arrests. Late last night, Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, a senior interior ministry official handling counterterrorism issues, denied a top Taliban figure had been arrested. Tariq Khosa, police chief of Baluchistan province where Quetta is located, said he was not aware of Akhund's arrest.
Afghan and Nato officials could not confirm the arrest either. "To the best of my knowledge we were not involved in anything associated with him," said Colonel Tom Collins, the spokesman for the Nato's international security assistance force. "We were not involved in that operation."
Posted by: Steve ||
03/02/2007 9:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Why does the Pak Govt support Taliban when the whole of the West are breathing down their neck????
#3
If they've got him then we'll see how close the CIA get to him. The British Pakistani facilitator of the attempted Bojinka Plot Mk2 wasn't let near UK security forces - maybe for fear of him revealing that the ISI are the Taleban. Don't get while the International Community tolerate the duplicity... we shall see...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/02/2007 9:25 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Howard
There was a major trial in London where a guy said the ISI had threatened his family.The ISI are involved in alot of the terrorism resulting from Pakistan.
Perv and The ISI are part of the problem not the cure!!!!
#6
ABC tried to claim last night that this is a result of Cheney reading the riot act to Pervert. Wishful thinking? Pervert throwing us a bone? Might need some salt with this.
Multan, 2 March (AKI) - At least three people were killed and eight injured - including the judge of an anti-terrorism court - when a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded near a flyover in the central Pakistani city of Multan. According to a report on the website of Pakistani television channel GEO TV quoting a regional police office, Judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti was crossing the flyover with his two guards and a driver when the bomb went off killing his driver and two bodyguards on the spot.
The report said that the eight injured people including the judge were sent to hospital with one of them said to be in a critical condition.
Pakistan is in a state of high alert after a series of suicide bomb attacks that began after the Pakistan military conducted an air strike in January against alleged militant camps used by al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the country's tribal area which lie close to the Afghan border.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/02/2007 08:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
WASHINGTON - American forces on Afghanistan's eastern border routinely fire upon and pursue Taliban enemies into Pakistan, defense officials told Congress on Thursday, offering the most detailed description to date of U.S. action in that region.
They said the Taliban threat is greater now than it was a year ago, and they agreed that the Pakistan government can and must do more to get at the large, ungoverned sectors along the remote Pakistan border that are safe havens for Taliban insurgents. I'm not at all sure they can. Perhaps the best we can hope for is they won't do more than talk 'sternly' at us when we act in those regions.
"We have all the authorities we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border," said Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Lute, who is chief operations officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said soldiers can respond if there is an imminent threat. But he said they would have to seek the Pakistan government's permission to go after a munitions factory further inside the Pakistani border.
The discussion came just days after Vice President Dick Cheney met with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in an effort to urge a more aggressive Pakistani effort to hunt al-Qaida and Taliban fighters who are expected to increase attacks into Afghanistan this spring.
Lute, meanwhile, provided a detailed description of when U.S. forces can fire on and pursue insurgents across the border into Pakistan. He said they can respond when faced with a hostile act, or anyone "demonstrating hostile intent." The final decision is made by the commander at the scene.
He would not say, however, if there are restrictions on how far into the country soldiers can go. He said the decision is based not on distance, but on the immediacy of the threat involved. But is the policy more or less restrictive than at the Mexican border?
"If just across the border, inside Pakistan, we have surveillance systems that detect a Taliban party setting up a rocket system which is obviously pointed west, into Afghanistan, we do not have to wait for the rockets to be fired. They have demonstrated hostile intent and we can engage them," Lute said.
He added that if U.S. forces learned of a munitions factory inside Pakistan, they would have to share that intelligence with the government, and would have to get permission to strike the building. Which would only be granted once the building was emptied, if ever.
Asked if Pakistan had ever turned down such a request, Lute said he would have to answer that in a closed, classified setting. "Yes." (But we can't say that in public or it might make our Pakistani allies look bad.)
#3
A good question is why there was such firm opposition to Pakistan building a Kashmir-like fence along the border. I suspect that it is precisely because we don't want it to become like Kashmir.
If enough of them are allowed to cross the border to get killed, it will "bleed out" their supply of Jihadis, who otherwise would reinforce the Wazoo enclave. Everyone who crosses makes it that much easier for the eventual return of control of the Wazoos to Pakistan.
Police have arrested five Afghans with suspected links to the Taliban in a raid in Quetta, officials said on Thursday. The five men were seized late on Wednesday in a hotel in central Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan, police official Qazi Abdul Wahid said. They appeared to be affiliates of the Taliban and we are interrogating the suspects about their links, Wahid said, adding that the arrests were made on a tip-off. The Afghans arrived in Pakistan few days ago and did not have valid travelling documents, he said.
These are either the Taliban leaders discussed in the other stories (dates are different) or possibly fallout from those arrests
Separately, police arrested a suspected member of an outlawed militant group and seized seven kilogrammes of explosives in a raid in Hyderabad, about 150 kilometres northeast of Karachi, an official said on Thursday. Azimud Din, 26, a suspected member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), was arrested from a home in Sarfaraz Colony neighbourhood in Hyderabad on Wednesday night, said Khalid Korai, a police officer in the city. Police found the explosives in Dins home and will investigate if he planned any terrorist attack, Korai said. Din was arrested following information from three other alleged Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members who were arrested in Hyderabad last month, Korai said.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group, was outlawed by the government in 2001 over allegations that it was involved in sectarian killings. The group is also suspected of links with Al Qaeda.
This article starring:
AZIMUD DIN
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Khalid Korai
police official Qazi Abdul Wahid
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Read this , from a freelance reporter .
I cannot confirm his legitimacy but hey , it sums up what we've all known for the past 10-15 years .
On February 23, 2007 the USMC awarded PVI a first order for 60 low rate initial production vehicles, representing the first order for Golan vehicles. This 15 ton armored, wheeled troop carrier is configured to accommodate 10 troops in a highly protected environment.
The vehicle uses an armored monocoque structure. The integrity of this structure provides the strength to absorb the deformations generated by mines and IED blasts. The V shaped hull has a "floating floor" panel to mitigate the blast effects of mines. It thereby provides an optimal solution to protect the crew and vehicle against the identified threats. The vehicle has an effective armor suite to defeat small arms and RPG threats, medium size IED's, 7 kg mines under belly and 14 kg under wheels. The spall liner was eliminated, assuming the efficiency of external armor to prevent hull penetration by most threats.
Unlike vehicles utilizing off-the-shelf commercial chassis, the Golan does not have a chassis at all. Instead, the 4x4 automotive system axles, and suspensions link directly to the armored structure, which acts as a frame. This approach is similar to that used with tracked APCs and tanks. It retains good off-road mobility, and is particularly suitable for operations in dense urban terrain.
All three protection level configurations present the same physical silhouette. In the light and medium level configurations, there are no reactive armor tiles attached to the outer crew compartment structure. In their place, passive armor tiles (that include storage boxes) with an identical outer shape are attached.
The vehicle can be equipped with remotely controlled weapon station mounting a machine gun, and optronic equipment, as well as the gunshot detection system. More pics and info at site
#4
In find it disconcerting in these times that our armed forces have chosen to acquire a vehicle that, so obviously, wastes the planets limited resources through it's reliance on an exorbitant amount of fossil fuels and most likely has an extremely high carbon footprint which could have a deleterious effect on global climate change..
P.S.: Where can I get one?
Posted by: Al Gore ||
03/02/2007 14:10 Comments ||
Top||
#5
These Golans have been available to purchase for how long? You'd think...you'd think...maybe... just maybe it would be somebody's job in the Pentagon or DOD or civilian contrator services or somewhere to know these vehicles exist and somebody might have thought about asking to buy them say perhaps...oh...I don't know ... 4 years ago. Then again, maybe it's just me and I'm a f**kin' idiot to want the best money can buy for the troops in the field. How long has the Golan been out there and why are we now just reading about it? (sorry, but I'm pissed.)
Posted by: Mark Z ||
03/02/2007 14:17 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Looks like A HUMVEE on Steroids. Call Arnold, bet he'll want one.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2007 14:39 Comments ||
Top||
#9
IQAQ, Call Aflak their duck is heeded here.
Qwak, Qwak.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2007 14:42 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Glad you guys like my spelling!
Mark Z, from the article, I'm not sure it's been for sale. I didn't post this part:
Responding to the need for wheeled armored vehicles for use in asymmetric warfare, RAFAEL developed the Zeev (Wolf) armored utility vehicle. More recently, RAFAEL teamed with US based PVI and the Merkava program Office (Mantak), to develop the Golan Heavy Wheeled Armored vehicle.
This 15 ton armored, wheeled troop carrier is configured to accommodate 10 troops in a highly protected environment. Golan has been proposed for the IDF and USMC. Testing of the vehicle began in September 2006. In January 2007 Golan was selected, along with nine other candidates, to compete for the Joint US Marines/NavyArmy Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Program.
PVI is leading the team for th MRAP opportunity while RAFAEL is in the lead for Israeli and other overseas sales.
On February 23, 2007 the USMC awarded PVI a first order for 60 low rate initial production vehicles, representing the first order for Golan vehicles.
Also the Golans are Cat 1 level MRAP vehicles or rather the MRUV (mine resistant utility vehicle) rather than the larger cougar or buffalo sized version.
An update on the whole order can be found here as well
#12
Since their deployment to Iraq in 2003 the Cougar and Buffalo vehicles employed with explosive ordnance disposal teams and engineers units have taken about 1,000 IED hits without a loss of life,
Impressive! Very impressive.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/02/2007 16:03 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Sherry, Val,...thank you for your follow-up posts.
I'll shut up and go back to lurking. Your updates are much appreciated.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
03/02/2007 16:06 Comments ||
Top||
#14
It was a good question, Mark Z. Do that some more, 'k? :-)
Baghdad, 2 March. (AKI) - The corpses of 14 policemen have been discovered near the city of Baquba, the interior ministry said Friday. It is feared that they may be those of interior ministry officials kidnapped by group close to al-Qaeda in Iraq. On Friday a message was posted to the Internet by "the Islamic Iraqi State" which said it was holding the men and would kill them in 24 hours unless the government handed over three policemen accused of raping a Sunni woman and all female Sunni prisoners in Iraqi jails. The Iraqi authorities on Friday morning announced the disappearance of 14 government security employees in Diyala province.
The internet message was accompanied by photos of the hostages, most of them in police or army uniforms, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs.
The message made a specific reference to the controversial rape allegations of a woman, whose name was given as Sabrin al-Janabi. During an emotional television interview to satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera last month she accused Shiite policemen of raping her when she was detained briefly on suspicion of harbouring militants. The controversy raised sectarian tensions within the fragile government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.
When the accusations emerged al-Maliki's office initially promised a full inquiry then, several hours later issued a second statement formally denying the allegations, ordering that the accused officers be commended and accusing "known groups" meaning Sunni political parties of fabricating the story in a bid to discredit the security forces.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/02/2007 11:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Phueching Baquba is very bad juju. I wish they'd go in there and clean em out!
Unclassified Highlights IP and Coalition Forces Discover Large EFP Cache:
An informants tip led Iraqi Police (IP) officers from Judidah, in the Baquba area of Diyala province, and Coalition forces from the 1st Cavalry Division to a large improvised explosive device cache February 24 containing over 130 disks capable of producing Explosively-Formed Projectiles (EFPs) and two EFPs in various stages of assembly.
Additionally, the cache contained one completed improvised mine and more than a dozen others in various stages of construction, more than two dozen mortar rounds and 15 rockets, six rocket launchers, five anti-aircraft rounds, over two dozen rocket-propelled grenade warheads, more than 400 plastic and steel containers in various stages of fabrication for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) construction, and large quantities of various IED-making material.
IA Detains 16 Suspects During Operations Against Rogue JAM:
Special Iraqi Army (IA) forces detained 16 suspected militiamen during operations February 27 with Coalition advisers in Sadr City, targeting the leadership of several rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) cells who allegedly direct and perpetrate sectarian murder, torture, and kidnapping. The wanted individuals are reported to operate out of Sadr City and are also linked to attacks on Coalition Forces (CF) and the supply of weapons and munitions which support continued rogue JAM violence.
IP Conduct Operation Shurta Nasir to Clear Hit of Insurgents:
Nearly 500 IP from Hit in Anbar province recently conducted Operation Shurta Nasir (Police Victory) meant to clear the town of terrorists and identify locations for new police stations.
IP planned and led this large-scale operation in western Iraq, which included nearly 100 recent graduates from the Jordanian International Police Training Academy. A combined force of 1,000 soldiers from both the Iraqi and US armies cordoned off the area to assist the police during the operation.
During operations in the city of roughly 100,000, the Hit police captured 13 known terrorists, one large weapons cache, and began construction of two new police stations to meet the demands of the growing department.
Suspected AQI Emir and 11 Others Detained in Raids:
CF detained 12 suspected terrorists, including a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) emir during raids the morning of February 27, targeting foreign fighter facilitators and the AQI network.
IA Sends Troops to Support Fardh al-Qanun:
Soldiers from the 2nd Division Iraqi Army (IA), based in Iraqs Kurdish provinces, arrived in Baghdad February 25 to train and eventually augment the 6th and 9th IA Divisions in protecting Baghdad as part of Fardh al-Qanun (Baghdad Security Plan). An Iraqi Air Force C-130 flew the troops into Baghdad International Airport where they conducted a brief ceremony before heading out for training in preparation for their Baghdad security missions. Wait...An Iraqi Air Force plane? They have planes? Pilots? Does Congress know?
KRG President Ready to Confront PKK:
The President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masud Barzani, says he is ready to discuss operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group with his Turkish counterparts. He made the comment during an interview broadcast February 26.
Turkey, which previously threatened cross-border military action to quell the PKK threat, recently signaled that it would be open to talks to resolve the issue.
Senior Iraqi Official Narrowly Escapes Assassination Attempt:
Iraqs Shia Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when an explosion occurred near the government building he was visiting in Baghdad. He was taken to a hospital after suffering minor wounds in the blast at the Public Works Ministry.
A second member of the Iraqi government, Public Works Minister Riyad Ghraib, also a Shia, is thought to have been seriously injured in the attack.
Electricity:
The completed US Army-funded rehabilitation of the ED 400V overhead distribution network in the Muhalla 883 area of Karkh, Baghdad province, provides increased electrical capacity that will benefit more than 14,000 local residents. Now there's a big step!
The Ninewa Ministry of Electricity (MoE) provided positive feedback on the quality of workmanship and the high level of coordination between the MoE, Gulf Region North District, Gulf Region Division and ABB regarding the completion of ET-900 Mosul 400 kV Substation Rehab (URI 16032). The projects objective was to rehabilitate the existing substation and expand its capacity to receive and distribute power from Turkey, Syria, the Mosul Dam, and the Mosul Gas Turbine generation plant. The substation will benefit over four million citizens across the region. That's a bigger step!
During the week of February 22-28 electricity availability averaged 6.2 hours per day in Baghdad and 9.7 hours nationwide. Electricity output for the week was 6% below the same period in 2006.
Council of Ministers Passes Draft Hydrocarbon Law:
On February 26, the Council of Ministers approved a draft of the hydrocarbon framework law. The next step is for the draft legislation to be submitted to the Council of Representatives for deliberation. This law is a vital component necessary for long-term economic growth in Iraq.
GOI Announces Creation of New Budget Execution Task Force:
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, Finance Minister Bayan Jabr, and Minister of Planning and Development Ali Baban discussed the formation of a new budget execution task force with Ambassador Carney. They will lead the task force and will have a special focus on Sunni areas.
They also announced a March 5 conference on ministerial and provincial spending agencies, as well as a March 7 conference in Anbar province to underscore Iraqi government support for local development.
KRG Reopens Borders to US Poultry:
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has re-opened the Turkish-Iraqi Kurdish border to US poultry imports, provided they are not sold locally in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. However, the permanence of this solution is unclear. US poultry imports? The Iraqis can't grow chickens? There must be more than meets the eye, here!
Trade Bank of Iraq President meets with Ex/Im Bank:
President Hussein al-Uzri of the Trade Bank of Iraq met with representatives from the Export/Import Bank in Washington, DC February 27. In addition to meeting with the Export/Import Bank, Uzri also met with US Department of Treasury officials, and with World Bank, International Finance Corporation and JP Morgan representatives.
Weekly Average {oil production} (February 19 25) of 2.14 Million Barrels Per Day (MBPD) This is the first time they've met their goal since I've been Reporting for Rantburg. They did lower the goal several weeks ago, perhaps because of some sort of reduced capacity - like maintenance or rehabilitation?
Iraq to Hold International Trade Exhibit:
Iraq will hold its first international trade exhibit since before the start of the war in 2003, in an effort to gain international investment and reconstruction help. The event will be held March 24-26 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Center in Manama. The trade exhibit is being organized by the Iraq government in association with Bahrain's Magnum Events and Exhibitions Management.
Japan Announces Additional Iraq Funding through the UN:
Japan will provide additional funding to Iraq through a number of United Nations agencies, with a total of $104.5 million being provided to the UN Development Program, the UN Children's Fund, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Program, and the World Health Organization for humanitarian and reconstruction aid. $104.5 million is barely enough to cover the cost of cocktails, caviar, and crackers.
Pakistan Hosts Summit on Iran, Iraq:
Foreign ministers from seven Muslim nations: Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, met in Pakistan to discuss possible ways to resolve tensions in the Middle East - including in Iran and Iraq - and to curb the spread of terrorism. That's easy; just 'wipe israel off the map'!
Neighbors Conference Planned for Iraq in March:
The Iraqi Foreign Minister said that officials from regional states - including Syria and possibly Iran - will join US and British envoys at a meeting in Baghdad next month, which will seek ways to stabilize Iraq. Ambassadors from the five permanent members of the UN who are based in Baghdad confirmed they would also participate. The UN? In Baghdad? Who knew?
Egypt Ends Transmission of Iraq Satellite Channel:
An Information Ministry official said February 26 that Egypt has stopped its satellite transmission of the private Iraqi channel al-Zawraa. The chairman of the board of Egyptian government-owned satellite channel NileSat said the feed was cut for technical reasons and was not an act of censorship. Al-Zawraa's owner said the move was politically-motivated and plans to sue Egypt.
Al-Zawraas pro-Sunni programming which has come under criticism from both the US and Iraqi governments - has accused the Shiite-led Iraqi government of killing Sunnis and being a front for Iran. Al-Zawraa is also transmitted via ArabSat.
Here's some News You Can Use!Saddams Lawyer to Publish Book About the Former Dictator:
Saddam Husseins former chief lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said February 25 that he plans to publish a book this year disclosing secret information about the former dictator.
Dulaimi also said he would reprint as many as 300 personal letters, poems and other works penned by Saddam.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/02/2007 06:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
US poultry imports? The Iraqis can't grow chickens? There must be more than meets the eye, here!
Breeding stock to improve Iraqi chickens in terms of meatiness and egg laying, perhaps? I see that they aren't allowed to be resold in the local markets.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/02/2007 8:24 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Outskirts of Moscow last week, Turkey and Kurdistan this week, Don't look good folks.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2007 9:40 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Raising chickens isn't as easy as most people think. It takes about five months for a newly-hatch poult to reach eating size. If you grow your own eggs, it's one per day per chicken, max. A chicken will brood between eight and fourteen eggs at a time, with about 80% hatching. There are more than 400 different breeds of chickens, with some doing better in some locations than others. Chickens need a certain amount of lime in their diet, or the eggshells are too thin and crack. They also need small gravel to work in their gizzard, helping digest food. Chickens are also susceptible to about 800 different infections, including a half-dozen that can be passed to humans, and vice-versa.
I think we're going to see oil exports grow slowly but steadily throughout the rest of this year. A friend of mine works for a company that has people over there. Apparently they're laying pipe to move oil out of the fields into the refineries or export hubs. There's also work being done to build larger storage facilities at both of Iraq's deep-water ports, and the plans for a pipeline to Kuwait to move oil to Kuwait's terminals. Production from Kurdish fields is expected to double in the next 18 months, mostly shipped through pipelines in Turkey.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2007 14:31 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Op's done be read the Egg & I but don't worry, it ain't that hard if you keep after 'em.
#7
Ship - when I was about 14, my mother ordered 400 poults from Sears. We had chickens coming out our ears. I learned a LOT about chickens, fast. I also got pretty tired of chicken, in any form. We'd always had a couple of dozen Rhode Island reds, along with a dozen or so turkeys, so poultry wasn't "new" to me. I just hadn't realized until we got 400 of them at once, how much work they were.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2007 19:57 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Ha! Yeah, raising chickens for fun and profit has been with us for awhile.
Iraqi security forces has killed dozens of al-Qaeda militants who attacked a village in western Anbar province, during fierce clashes that lasted much of the day, police officials say. Sunni tribal leaders are involved in a growing power struggle with Sunni al-Qaeda for control of Anbar, a vast desert province that is the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq.
In Baghdad, US and Iraqi troops are engaged in a security crackdown to stop bloodshed between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs. US and Iraqi military officials said troops would soon launch aggressive operations to seize weapons and hunt gunmen in the Shi'ite militia bastion of Sadr City, signalling resolve to press ahead with the plan even in sensitive areas.
Dozens of loud explosions that sounded like mortar bombs rocked southern Baghdad in quick succession on Thursday evening, Reuters witnesses said. Iraqi military spokesman Brigadier Qassim Moussawi said the blasts were part of the new security offensive, Iraqiya state television reported, without giving details. A US military spokeswoman said she had no information on the explosions.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said foreign Arabs and Afghans were among some 80 militants killed and 50 captured in the clashes in Amiriyat al Falluja, an Anbar village where local tribes had opposed al Qaeda. A police official in the area, Ahmed al-Falluji, put the number of militants killed at 70, with three police officers killed. There was no immediate verification of the numbers.
A US military spokesman in the nearby city of Falluja, Major Jeff Pool, said US forces were not involved in the battle but had received reports from Iraqi police that it lasted most of Wednesday. He could not confirm the number killed. Another police source in Falluja put the figure at dozens. "Because it was so many killed we can't give an exact number for the death toll," the police source told Reuters. Witnesses said dozens of al Qaeda members attacked the village, prompting residents to flee and seek help from Iraqi security forces, who sent in police and soldiers.
The growing power struggle within the Sunni community in Anbar comes as US and Iraqi troops concentrate efforts in Baghdad to stem violence between Shi'ites and Sunnis. American-led forces have conducted targeted raids in the teeming slum of Sadr City aimed at death squad leaders, but have held off any major sweep into the Mehdi Army militia stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. But US and Iraqi troops are gearing up to set up joint checkpoints in Sadr City and conduct large-scale, door-to-door operations on houses and buildings, signalling a significant escalation in the plan, officers in eastern Baghdad said.
Details of the plan emerged during a meeting of senior US and Iraqi military commanders on Thursday in Sadr City, which was also attended by the city's mayor. Sipping mint tea in a crammed police station as four helicopter gunships hovered overhead, they agreed to set up a joint security station in Sadr City in a few days. "We have conducted special operations in Sadr City for some months but this will be the first time we will launch full-scale operations there and the first time we will have a permanent presence there," said Colonel Billy Don Farris, coalition forces commander for the Sadr City and Adhamiya neighbourhoods.
In Stockholm, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said there would be an announcement in a few days to reintroduce 1,000 mid-ranking officers from the former Iraqi military into the new army as a "sign of reconciliation".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The growing power struggle within the Sunni community in Anbar comes as US and Iraqi troops concentrate efforts in Baghdad to stem violence between Shi'ites and Sunnis.
So it's a bad thing, caused by the US leaving a vacuum in Anbar, right? Couldn't be a sign of desparation by the anit-Iraqi forces? Couldn't be a sign that the local police and increasingly self-reliant army are taking the battle to the 'insurgents'?
Sometimes I wish I was as ignorant as the MSM seems to think we are; then I'd just be one sheep among many sheep.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/02/2007 5:54 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If a suicide bomber kills 80, the headline would be Nearly 100 killed . But when it's good news, it's dozens.
A car exploded outside an Iraqi policemans wedding reception in the western city of Fallujah on Thursday, killing at least seven people, police Captain Ahmed Faisal said.
Lieutenant Naim al-Jumaili and his bride survived the blast, but three more guests are missing and presumed also to have died, he added. Separately, fierce clashes between insurgents and police left at least eight people dead and 11 wounded south of Baghdad on Thursday, police sources said. The clashes occurred in the religiously mixed town of Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad, and police said both sides suffered casualties. A police source said the clashes were still in progress and they expected the casualty toll to rise.
Baghdad appeared quieter on Thursday, with only one person killed in a roadside bomb, police said. Also on Thursday, the US military said American and Iraqi troops killed 10 militants and seized six weapons stashes in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. The raids took place over the past three days, it said. The 10 were killed on Monday in Muqdadiyah, a town in Diyala about 95 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. Five others were detained in the operation. Soldiers also discovered more than 50 rocket-propelled grenades, bomb-making materials and a stolen fire truck that was being loaded with explosives, the statement said. Another cache was discovered the same day in Baqouba, the provincial capital of Diyala, that included a complete mortar system and 150 rounds of ammunition, the military said.
A US Army helicopter made a hard landing in northern Iraq on Thursday, but the military said the problem was mechanical and not the result of hostile fire. Two pilots were injured and evacuated to an American military hospital in Kirkuk, about 290 kilometres north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. The military also announced the killing on Wednesday of a US Marine in the western Anbar province. The Marines name was withheld pending family notification. The death brought to 79 the total number of Americans killed in Iraq in February. At least 3,163 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. The secular party led by former Iraqi interim prime minister Iyad Allawi threatened on Thursday to quit the countrys embattled government of national unity, accusing officials of sectarian bias. Allawis Iraqi National List is the only major political party in Iraq to include high-ranking members from both the Sunni and Shia community. It has five ministers and 25 members of parliament. The List says Malikis government has failed to honour promises to allow more Sunnis into public service and of persecuting its enemies under the guise of fighting corruption and terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
(KUNA) -- A big fire erupted in Shatt Al-Arab Hotel, where British soldiers live, due to heavy mortar rounds' attacks, eyewitnesses told KUNA Thursday. Flames and smoke could be seen coming out of the building in Basra in southern Iraq, as sirens from within the hotel, taken by British troops as headquarters, could also be heard, according to eyewitnesses. British helicopters were seen extensively hovering in the sky, as damage to the base was not clear yet.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
(KUNA) -- Iraqi Police Commander in the city of Mosul Major General Watheq Al-Hamdani survived on Thursday an assassination attempt after an improvised bomb exploded targeting his patrol South of Mosul. Al-Hamdani said in a press release that the explosion which occurred in the Al-Wehda area in Mosul resulted in the killing of one of his body guards and that another was injured.
Meanwhile, Al-Hamdani said that police forces have conducted raid operations in the city, arresting 20 terrorists and siezed a huge amount of weapons cache. Iraqi police patrols also discovered six dead bodies, two of which were beheaded.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hi Richard, We Miss you, you were a superb villian.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2007 11:33 Comments ||
Top||
In a rare victory for government security forces in Thailand's troubled deep South, a patrol of para-military troops on Friday killed five suspected insurgents after a 30-minute clash.
The Thai patrol ran into an ambush near Kutong village, in Rangae district of Narathiwat province, 790 kilometres south of Bangkok, at about 10 a.m. Friday. A 30-minute gun battle ensued before the suspected separatists withdrew, leaving behind five dead, two M-16 assault rifles and one rifle. There were no casualties reported on the government side.
Also:
The incident happened not far from where unidentified gunmen shot a military bus carrying primary students who were returning from a visit to a zoo in Songkhla province yesterday. Five students were injured in the attack.
A military guard nabbed a separatist rebel trying to plant a bomb beside a military camp in northern Sri Lanka, a senior military official said Thursday, as the Sri Lankan air force bombed a purported rebel training camp further north. Brig Prasad Samarasinghe, the militarys spokesman, said the air raid was aimed at destroying a training camp run by the rebels in Mankulam. Damage or casualty estimates were not immediately available.
Separately, at a military camp near Vavuniya, the man was overpowered and handed over to the police late Wednesday, said Lt Col Upali Rajapakse, a senior officer at the Defence Ministrys Information Centre. Rajapakse said the man was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The man was carrying a remote control device, a stand to set up a Claymore roadside bomb, a detonator, a roll of wires and a hand grenade. The Claymore fragmentation mine fires steel balls and nails across a wide area, and is normally set up on a stand or other surface for greater effect. There was no immediate comment from the rebels on the incident.
Plane crash: A Sri Lankan air force trainee pilot and his instructor were killed Thursday when their plane crashed, an official said Thursday. The Chinese-built training aircraft crashed at Anuradhapura, 200 kilometres north of the capital during a routine exercise, an airforce official said, adding that investigations were underway. The instructor was Chinese, the airforce said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Proof of GLOBAL WARMING > Lucianne > California wants to award US$500.0 for each newborn baby; + MILD EARTHQUAKE. Several Tremors felt here in Guam this AM, and still tremorin' in the PM.
#4
They've been having mild earthquake tremors ongoing since yesterday in Guam, and he approves of today's Miss Rantburg. Oh, and California may start paying mothers a $500 baby bonus.
#7
Doing quite well thank you. Met some Fijian lads at the DEFAC the other night, had a nice chat. All is calm in Suva they report. Wish I knew how to post pics to this site, I'd send a few discreet ones.
#9
Oh, great, a $500 bonus inducement for more illegals to make anchor babies. Hopefully, the hospitals will get first dibs on that money to recover some costs before the reproductive unit. Bonus plus sucking up the medical costs ain't fair I say. Then again, that's why I don't live there. Just hate the tax refugees who abandon the cesspool they voted for coming to my part of the country to do the same stupid stuff again.
#11
Besoker---What is the feelings of the Fiijians about Commodore Frank?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/02/2007 10:45 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Besoeker, perhaps if you e-mailed them to Fred? (See the yellow sidebar for the link). Or, get an account at Photobucket, upload the photos there (no, I don't know how to do that either, but it can't be hard, trailing daughter #1 does it), then tell us where to go -- maybe in the Good Morning thread.
#13
Paul: It was just a quick Bula Bula and some light chat, comparing 3.2 DFAC beer to kava which drew some laughs. Nothing discussed about Frank. I mistook them for well fed Nigerians, (off to my usual poor start, whahaha). If I run on to them again, I'll look for an opportunity to ask.
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.
Police arrested 10 suspected activists of the banned 
Failed bomb attacks on London's transit system in July 2005 were a hoax intended to protest Britain's involvement in the Iraq war, a suspect claimed in transcripts of a police interview read out in the trial. Explosives containing a mixture of flour and acid were made the day before the attacks on July 21, 2005, and were supposed to cause fear but not injuries, suspect 
The US military announced that it had sent home two Afghans and three Tajikistani detainees at Guantanamo Bay, meaning that more prisoners have now been released or transferred than remain at the naval base. The five men, who had been held at the isolated detention centre in southeastern Cuba without being charged, were flown out early Wednesday and transferred to the custody of governments in their native countries, Navy Cmdr Robert Durand said. They were cleared for departure by a military review process that assesses whether prisoners have intelligence value or pose a threat to the United States.
Peshawar, 2 March (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani security forces have captured 
Multan, 2 March (AKI) - At least three people were killed and eight injured - including the judge of an anti-terrorism court - when a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded near a flyover in the central Pakistani city of Multan. According to a report on the website of Pakistani television channel GEO TV quoting a regional police office, Judge Bashir Ahmed Bhatti was crossing the flyover with his two guards and a driver when the bomb went off killing his driver and two bodyguards on the spot.
Iraqi security forces has killed dozens of al-Qaeda militants who attacked a village in western Anbar province, during fierce clashes that lasted much of the day, police officials say. Sunni tribal leaders are involved in a growing power struggle with Sunni al-Qaeda for control of Anbar, a vast desert province that is the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq. 
A car exploded outside an Iraqi policemans wedding reception in the western city of Fallujah on Thursday, killing at least seven people, police Captain Ahmed Faisal said.
(KUNA) -- Iraqi Police Commander in the city of Mosul Major General Watheq Al-Hamdani survived on Thursday an assassination attempt after an improvised bomb exploded targeting his patrol South of Mosul. Al-Hamdani said in a press release that the explosion which occurred in the Al-Wehda area in Mosul resulted in the killing of one of his body guards and that another was injured.
In a rare victory for government security forces in Thailand's troubled deep South, a patrol of para-military troops on Friday killed five suspected insurgents after a 30-minute clash. 
