(AKI) - The Taliban has proposed exchanging female South Korean hostages for an equal number of detained female Taliban prisoners. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi made the fresh offer of an exchange in a telephone interview with Korean news agency Yonhap, even though he did not know how many female members of the Taliban were detained. "We do not know the exact number of Taliban women imprisoned by the Afghan government, but if (Kabul) lets them go, we will release the same number of female hostages," Ahmadi said.
He said the jailed women were supporters, convicted for providing food or shelter to Taliban fighters. "The Taliban do not have any female ministers or female fighters," he added.
The proposal came as Afghan president Harmid Karzai and US president George Bush adamantly refused to meet the rebels' demands, amid reports that two of the South Koreans were seriously ill. The South Korean government is under growing pressure to free the 21 hostages taken almost three weeks ago on their way to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar from Kabul. Two of them have already been killed by the insurgents.
African Union chairman Alpha Oumar Konare on Tuesday added his voice to international condemnation of the kidnappings and urged the Taliban to release the South Korean hostages. "The South Koreans went to Afghanistan to help the poor," he told South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. "The entire African countries condemn the Taliban captors."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week said it was shameful and "un-Islamic" to kidnap females while some 300 Afghans in the southern city of Kandahar on Monday called for the immediate release of the South Koreans in a street rally.
Seoul reportedly opposes a military operation to free the hostages and is pursuing diplomatic channels to prevent further loss of life. Eight senior South Korean legislators flew to Washington last week to lobby for support. South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon has also had meetings at the US state department. A top-level delegation, including the South Korean ambassador to Kabul, is continuing negotiations with the Taleban.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Hmm. Let me see. Ho about you let ALL hostages go immediately or you get slaughtered no matter where you are? Sound like a deal?
#4
"We can make this quick, or we can make it seem like all eternity has passed - twice - before we let you die. Your choice." Release the #^&$^%&^(*&^ hostages, you idiots.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/08/2007 14:00 Comments ||
Top||
In southern Afghanistan, Dutch soldiers fatally shot a motorcyclist who approached their convoy and failed to heed warning signals and shots, the Dutch Defence Ministry said. International forces are often the targets of suicide bombers, and they repeatedly warn Afghan civilian motorists to slow down or steer clear of convoys so they are not mistaken for attackers.
Guess Cycle Boy didn't get the memo, and he wasn't smart enough to figure it out for himself.
#2
The most interesting part of this story is the failure of Afghan motorists to get the message to stay away from military convoys in a war zone in a country that's been at war since 1979. Is there some kind of learning disability in that population, or is the story being reported somehow incomplete?
#4
My kid told me about an Iraqi with a similar problem, but three rounds from the Kid's 50-cal convinced him to stop. Kid said he was shaking when they took him out of the car to chat.
Still, there are folks on the D.C. Beltway with a similarly low level of situational awareness....many on cell phones.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/08/2007 7:34 Comments ||
Top||
#5
When My brother and I used to play Squad Leader, we often joked about motorcycle-riding Ghurkas. Little did we know how close we were.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
08/08/2007 9:12 Comments ||
Top||
#6
there are folks on the D.C. Beltway with a similarly low level of situational awareness....
Lowest situational awareness I've ever seen was in Biloxi. Dude riding his bicycle south, down to the beach, wearing headphones attached to a Walkman, plowed right into the side of a freight train engine.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/08/2007 15:06 Comments ||
Top||
The National Assembly on Tuesday was informed that PIA Flight PK-742 from Jeddah to Islamabad has been detained in Jeddah for the past 36 hours, causing a great deal of inconvenience to its passengers.
Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians leader Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah informed the house that he was unaware of the reasons that had caused the flight to be delayed for 36 hours. He said the "flight is held at the Jeddah airport and the luggage of the passengers is in the aircraft while they themselves are sitting in the departure lounge in helpless state". This, he said, has been causing a great deal of inconvenience to the passengers. He said untoward attitude of the PIA staff was also adding to the miseries of the passengers. Mehnaz Rafi, who was presiding over the session, directed the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence to look into the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Obviously, Pak's national Dignity has been trampled upon by the curly-toed slippers of Humiliation.
Maybe you ought to burn a few Soddy flags and chant some slogans. Call AP and Rooters so they can set up the right shots. Pitch a fit at the UN, even.
Another case was yesterday filed against former deputy minister for land Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu and 27 others on charges of patronising Islamist militants, extortion and looting. Munser Ali of Mominpur village under Naldanga Police Station filed the case with the cognizance court.
According to the allegations made in the case, Dulu demanded Tk 50,000 from Munser in May 2004 as he refused to join Bangla Bhai's militant group. Later, Dulu and his associates tortured Munser and realised Tk 12,000 from him in three phases. They also looted valuables worth about Tk 50,000 from his house. Dulu was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in arson and looting case on July 26.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
NEW DELHI: Indian intelligence agencies not only eavesdrop on domestic telephone lines but have also been intercepting international communication traffic passing through the SEA-ME-WE submarine cable connecting Western Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia, in violation of international laws. Set up in 2000, the cable is the main source of connectivity for telephones and broadband Internet services in the region. Major General VK Singh, former head of the Research and Analysis Wings (RAW) technical cell, claims that the agency has procured interception-technology from France. The equipment has been installed at the VSNL (Indias overseas communication service) gateway in Mumbai, he says.
Spilling the beans in his latest book Indias External Intelligence: Secrets of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Gen Singh says RAW, in its bid to emulate the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been unnecessarily tapping telephone traffic between, for example, Germany and Japan.
Gen Singh also claims in his book that the CIA has repeatedly tried to intrude on the Indian intelligence network over the past few decades. He believes honey traps are one of the favourite techniques employed by the CIA to hook Indians. As the latest case, he cites a woman officer in the US Embassy, Rosanne Minchews involvement in breaching the security of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
Gen Singh, who is the first officer to write a book on his former organisation, says earlier accounts written by civilian Ashok Raina in 1968, and reproduced by Fahmida Ashraf in Pakistan in 2004, were highly inaccurate.
In his book he lends credence to reports that Indian commandos did not storm the hijacked IC 814 aircraft in December 1999 when it landed at Amritsar because a senior RAW official was onboard. Quoting a report from Asianweek, he says the individual was Shashi Bhushan Singh, a senior RAW undercover officer posted at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, and the brother-in-law of NK Singh, the most senior bureaucrat at the time in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees office. The author also lashes out at the former NDA government for going public with the famous interception of a telephone conversation between Gen Pervez Musahrraf and his chief of staff, Lt Gen Mohammad Aziz, to prove Pakistans complicity in the Kargil war. Gen Singh believes India may have won some brownie points with the United States by going public with the intercepted conversation, but it led to Pakistan immediately closing the satellite link between Beijing and Islamabad, which RAW had been tapping into for quite some time. It is impossible to estimate the value of intelligence that would have been obtained if the link had continued to be used, he writes.
Demanding parliamentary oversight over intelligence agencies, Gen Singh says lack of accountability is the most glaring shortcoming of RAW. Incompetent leadership as well as mistrust are also eating into the credibility of the organisation.
Since RAW officials are not answerable to any outside agency, many officers treat themselves as being above the law, and in fact as a law unto themselves, he adds.
This sort of belief is often found in police and intelligence agencies in totalitarian regimes, but appear out of place in a democracy, writes the former chief of RAWs technical intelligence cell.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/08/2007 06:57 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The author also lashes out at the former NDA government for going public with the famous interception of a telephone conversation between Gen Pervez Musahrraf and his chief of staff, Lt Gen Mohammad Aziz, to prove Pakistans complicity in the Kargil war.
Yep... that bit of 'brilliance' ranks right up there with the bozos at the NSA who boasted of their interception of Osama's sat phone traffic...
Posted by: john frum ||
08/08/2007 7:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Demanding parliamentary oversight over intelligence agencies, Gen Singh says lack of accountability is the most glaring shortcoming of RAW. Incompetent leadership as well as mistrust are also eating into the credibility of the organisation.
Ah! They are trying to emulate the CIA!
Have they reached the point of politically-inspired leaks?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
08/08/2007 8:04 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Thank God I seldom go to indian smut websites! Otherwise, I couldn't bear the idea of being mocked by swarthy men in uniform with moustaches. That's way too homoerotic a tought for me.
An explosion near a police station in Bannu injured three people, including a child, Geo news reported late on Tuesday. According to the channel, miscreants planted explosives in a vehicle and parked it near the police station. The explosion injured three people passing by the vehicle. Bannu senior superintendent of police said the injuries were not severe. It was a low-intensity device weighing less than a kilogram, he added. Later, Aaj television reported that four loud explosions were heard in Bannu. The channel quoted police officials as saying that rockets might have been fired at the city, while the city administration alerted hospitals for emergency situations.
online adds: Police arrested at least 14 people, including 11 alleged militants, trying to illegally enter Balochistan from the NWFP and also seized a large weapons cache. Alleged foreign militants were on their way to Balochistan via Dera Ismail Khan in two pickup trucks, but security forces cordoned off the area and arrested them. Tajik nationals Agha Muhammad, Abdul Ghaffar, Samiullah and Bashir, Uzbek nationals Muhammad Hussain, Shah Wali, Muhammad Latif, Sheer Ahmed and Muhammad Taqqi, and an Afghan, Wahidullah, were arrested. Three local aides - Abdullah, Sarwar Khan and Hakeem Khan - were also arrested. They told interrogators that they were Taliban.
This article starring:
ABDUL GHAFAR
al-Qaeda
AGHA MUHAMAD
al-Qaeda
BASHIR
al-Qaeda
HAKIM KHAN
Taliban
MUHAMAD HUSEIN
al-Qaeda
MUHAMAD LATIF
al-Qaeda
MUHAMAD TAQQI
al-Qaeda
SAMIULLAH
al-Qaeda
SARWAR KHAN
Taliban
SHAH WALI
al-Qaeda
SHIR AHMED
al-Qaeda
WAHIDULLAH
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
A time-bomb exploded at a Peshawar bus terminal Tuesday, damaging a vehicle but causing no casualties, police said.
Witnesses said the bomb had been placed in a passenger coach and went off at around 1:30pm when most people had left the venue for Zohr prayers. The coach was in a parking lot away from the main bus stand. Peshawar SSP (Operations) Tahir Khan told reporters that it was a small bomb weighing 300-400 grams. He said security was tight at the bus stand, but the bomb was too small to be detected. "Police recently asked the authorities concerned to raise the bus terminal's boundary wall, as terrorists can easily scale it or may lob something dangerous inside."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
08/08/2007 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Hmmm. They tried to use a time bomb but it went off at the wrong time and didn't hurt anybody. Maybe the reason they use suicide boomers is they can't figure out how to set a clock.
Armed men abducted and beat 11 health workers sent to a tribal area to administer polio vaccinations to children on Tuesday, forcing the suspension of the campaign, officials said. Tribesmen in the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan refused to allow the vaccinations to take place after hearing rumours that the drive was a 'US plot' to sterilise Muslim children, residents said. "We have suspended the vaccination drive in Charming area after our vaccination team was kidnapped and beaten up by armed men there," local health director Chiragh Shah told AFP.
The health workers were held for four hours as their captors smashed vaccination kits, Shah said. Health officials had been trying to dispel rumours - sometimes spread by radio stations or from the loudspeakers of mosques - that the polio campaign was a Western conspiracy to reduce Muslim populations.
World Health Organisation officials have said they still face difficulties gaining access to what they regard as 'high-risk' tribal areas, including North Waziristan, Bajaur and Khyber. Pakistan, one of only four countries where polio is still endemic, launched a vaccination drive on Tuesday aimed towards inoculating 32 million children.
Forty people have been killed in a military raid and street fighting across Baghdad's Sadr City, the capital's volatile Shiite slum, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Wednesday. And the survivors ran away!
Iraqi and coalition troops overnight killed 32 militants in Sadr City -- most of them in an airstrike -- in an operation targeting a cell with alleged links to Iran, the U.S. military said. Twelve others were detained in the raid. Oh my, have they lost their minds by posting body counts? Who in their civilized mind would even care to know? (Besides those of us here at RB, of course.)
Separately, fighting broke out early Wednesday between U.S.-led coalition forces and Mehdi Army militiamen in Sadr City, leaving at least eight people dead and 10 wounded, according to Iraq's Interior Ministry. And the survivors ran away!
The U.S. military denied that civilians were among the casualties in the raid. Nobody had time to drop their guns or claim them as relatives for the blood money?
"There were women and children in the area when we conducted the operation but none were killed in the airstrike," Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said, according to Reuters.
The raid and the fighting in the densely populated neighborhood were announced as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki traveled Wednesday to meet top officials in Iran to discuss bilateral relations and security in Iraq. Some critics of al-Maliki, from the Shiite Dawa party, say he has been reluctant to take on other Shiite militants. Al-Maliki says the Iraqi military is targeting all insurgents, no matter what sect they hail from.
There is a lot of support for Iran in Sadr City. And the targeted terrorist cell is suspected of bringing weapons and the bombs called an "explosively formed penetrators" from Iran to Iraq and of "bringing militants from Iraq into Iran for terrorist training," the U.S. military said. Well, there's at least 50 more bodies who won't be helping!
The military said the raid was built on "a series of coordinated operations" that commenced with a raid in the southern Iraqi city of Amara in June. Amara is in Maysan province in the Shiite heartland and it borders Iran. "Coalition forces continue to attack the supply chain of illicit materials being shipped from Iran," the military said. One heck of a supply chain, isn't it?
The military was targeting an individual who "acts as a proxy between Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and an "the Iraqi EFP network." Great. Gotta give that intel away now, don't we? I can smell a putzer prize coming for that reporter!
"Reports also indicate that he assists with the facilitation of weapons and EFP shipments into Iraq as well as the transfer of militant extremists to Iran for training."
As troops headed to the location, "they observed two armed men in tactical fighting positions assessed to be early warning operatives for the individual targeted in the operation." Troops engaged the two and killed them, and then detained 12 militants in raids on buildings.
"During the course of the operation, the assault force and the overhead aerial support observed a vehicle and large group of armed men on foot attempting an assault on the ground forces. Responding appropriately to the threat of the organized terrorist force, close air support was called and engaged the terrorist vehicle and organized terrorist force, killing an estimated 30 terrorists," the military said.
The street fighting between the Mehdi army and the troops lasted about three hours and was fought in various locations. It was not immediately known if those killed and wounded were civilians or members of the Mehdi Army -- the militia of populist anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who enjoys widespread support among Shiites in the eastern section of the capital. I'm sure they'll all turn out to be civilians one way or another.
The fighting came as Iraq's government moved up a vehicle ban for Baghdad from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday. The official said the ban, which was imposed 15 hours earlier than expected, surprised residents who were headed to work and told by Iraqi security forces to return home. Hee hee! Gotta be inconvenient as heck for the bad guys!
The ban is part of an effort, the official said, to curtail potential bomb attacks targeting the thousands of Shiite pilgrims who are trekking to a major religious shrine in the northwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Kadhimiya for an annual religious commemoration Thursday.
The insurgent activity of Shiite militias in Iraq has been a great concern to the United States, which says the Iran has provided weaponry and training for fighters in Iraq. And frequently, the U.S. military announces raids against "rogue" Shiite elements of the Mehdi Army. Whatever is the difference between a rogue and conforming Shiite element of the Mehdi Army? Are conforming elements those who haven't been caught yet?
At the same time, there has been a diplomatic thaw between the United States and Iran Riiight. The countries have engaged in talks about security in Iraq and have formed a committee with Iraq to deal with the issue. The latest pointless meeting between the United States and Iran came on Monday.
Al-Maliki arrived with a delegation to Tehran on Wednesday after a visit to Turkey. He will meet with the top leaders of the country, including Not-So Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud "Nutjob" Ahmadinejad, Judiciary Head Ayatollah "GirlsAreIcky" Mahmoud Shahroudi, Majlis Speaker "TurbanTooTight" Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, according to Iran's Government Controlled Islamic Republic News Agency.
#1
The Shiite militias get direction and munitions from Iran. Tater should have been taken out early on. Iran should be jerked hard. I'm not even sure what that should mean at this time--covert action, direct action, support of subversive anti-government groups in Iran, more control at the border, sabotage, etc.?
#2
You should always go to great lengths to preserve the life of a truly cowardly, incompetent and ineffectual enemy leader. As long as he is in the job, nobody better will be.
#5
A: You should always go to great lengths to preserve the life of a truly cowardly, incompetent and ineffectual enemy leader. As long as he is in the job, nobody better will be.
That's always been my point. Sadr is great at the politicking needed to stay in power. He is lousy at commanding his forces. Even if we take him out, his men will continue fighting because the money is continuing to flow in from Iran. Better that Sadr be the guy allocating Iranian funds that a more capable, but less charismatic individual.
Why less charismatic? If he were more charismatic, he would have already taken Sadr down and become head honcho of the Shiite terrorists. A lot of political leaders are great at political infighting and lousy at commanding military operations. Sadr is one of them.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- A U.S.-led raid and airstrike targeting networks allegedly smuggling weapons and fighters from Iran killed 32 suspected militants Wednesday in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, the military said.
Word of the raid came after Iraqi police in Sadr City had said that a bombardment by U.S. helicopters and armored vehicles had killed nine civilians, including two women, and wounded six others. The police also said 12 people were detained.
The U.S. military said 12 suspects were detained during Wednesday's raids. "The individuals detained and the terrorists killed during the raid are believed to be members of a cell of a Special Groups terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq into Iran for terrorist training," the military said. Also today:
U.S. officials said more than a million pilgrims were expected Thursday in Kazimiyah, but some Iraqi officials put the figure at four million.
Posted by: Glenmore ||
08/08/2007 07:36 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#4
Iraqi and Coalition Forces killed 30 Special Groups Cell terrorists and detained 12 suspected terrorists during operations Wednesday in Sadr City.
The individuals detained and the terrorists killed during the raid are believed to be members of a cell of a Special Groups terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq into Iran for terrorist training.
As Iraqi and Coalition Forces approached the objective location, they observed two armed men in tactical fighting positions assessed to be early warning operatives for the individual targeted in the operation. Responding appropriately to the immediate threat, ground forces engaged the two armed men, killing them. While in the objective area, ground forces raided a concentration of buildings and detained 12 suspected Special Groups Cell terrorists. Ground forces received sporadic small arms fire throughout the course of the operation.
During the course of the operation, the assault force and the overhead aerial support observed a vehicle and large group of armed men on foot attempting an assault on the ground forces. Responding appropriately to the threat of the organized terrorist force, close air support was called and engaged the terrorist vehicle and organized terrorist force, killing an estimated 30 terrorists.
Building upon a series of coordinated operations efforts that began with the raid in al Amarah in June, Coalition Forces continue to attack the supply chain of illicit materials being shipped from Iran. Intelligence reports indicate that the targeted individual in last nights raid acts as a proxy between the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and the Iraqi EFP network. Reports also indicate that he assists with the facilitation of weapons and EFP shipments into Iraq as well as the transfer of militant extremists to Iran for training.
Iraqi Army Forces and U.S. Special Operations Forces detained five suspected insurgents believed to be part of a Thar Thar region al-Qaeda in Iraq cell during a helicopter assault raid Aug. 4.
With U.S. Special Operations Forces present as advisers, Iraqi Soldiers detained the five persons of interest without incident at a residence located in a rural area west of Balad. Seven assault rifles, one shotgun, assorted ammunition magazines, compact discs and propaganda materials were also seized during the operation. The detainees are believed to be members of an al-Qaeda in Iraq cell allegedly responsible for hijacking semi trailers, planting improvised explosive devices on Coalition Forces supply routes, and aiding foreign fighters.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Holy crap, we certainly seem to be rolling up some AQI these days!
#4
One thing I've noted over the years is the Science-Fiction-esque names of the places and some of the people in the middle east. Thar thar sounds like a place name from a Conan novel.
"a couple of years ago, they were just another snake cult..."
Posted by: N Guard ||
08/08/2007 5:43 Comments ||
Top||
#5
NG, it sounds like the stuff my dentist scrapes off my teeth. Maybe it's the waste dump for Mookie's dentist.
Iraqi Security Forces, with U.S. Special Forces acting as advisers, detained a rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi battalion commander Aug. 5 in Baghdad. The suspected Shi'a extremist is believed to command five companies of terrorists who conduct improvised explosive device, suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and mortar attacks against Iraqi Forces in the area. The suspect also allegedly participated in the murder of several local nationals. The suspect is being detained for further questioning.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Can we stop "detaining" these morons...and just KILL the sumbitches???
#3
Justrand, okay, ya' right. I did not see the other detentions below, and unfortunately they are not the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" type (Original movie almost at the end, not that bad serial substitute).
#4
As much as we're waxing AQI right now, we need to nail more of these Shi'a SOBs, especially in the south as the Brits get ready to bug out withdraw. We're beginning to convince the Sunni tribal chiefs that we'll protect them from AQI and the Shi'a, but the Shi'a people need to be convinced that we'll protect them from their own.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/08/2007 0:59 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Good point, Steve. All of which just reminds us of the central point - it's a war, wars are about security and above all a test of wills, and in Iraq in particular it's about who's going to prevail, which delineates the smart bets to be made by the populace. Do any high-falutin' "counter-insurgency" concepts appear in the foregoing? Didn't think so.
Saw somehwere that Bill Kristol is now wondering how Casey and the admin. allowed things to degenerate so badly in '06 without acting. Funny - that was the subject of innumberable DFAC lunch discussions all over the IZ back even into '05, before the Golden Mosque.
I don't much fear any serious "course correction" in September, but I do fear that while we're now at least doing something, even that is about half what's needed, and won't persist for long enough.
#6
the Shi'a people need to be convinced that we'll protect them from their own.
Forgive me, Steve, but the irony of your statement is simply indescribable. As America spends BILLIONS in the attempt to protect Islam from itself, radical Muslims must be falling all over themselves in hysterical laughter about our incredible naiveté.
Islam wants no protection from itself. Islam wants nothing more than incessant bloodshed, murder, slaughter, rape, inc*st, abuse, theft, molestation and capricious killing. Please let me know what redeeming aspects there are to Islam so that we might carry on with some sort of pertinent discussion.
#7
I knew several folks in Morocco who were far more generous to their fellow man than I.
Standing by the roadside in Morocco one day, with a French geologist, this guy comes out of a shack (literally!) nearby and insists we have lunch with him. The geologist convinced him our driver would be along momentarily, and he allowed us to have a glass of his tea, instead.
The same thing happened later in the day, in the city, where we were invited into a home for some tea. My maid brought me a large hunk of lamb she bought for the Eid festival commorating the sacrifice of Abraham. While lamb is not my personal favorite, I accepted her generousity.
Some of those folks are generous to a fault, and I think two or three are worth some effort, given the fact that our enemies would take a retreat as a victory - like Ho Chi Minh.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/08/2007 7:22 Comments ||
Top||
#8
What's with this "rogue" shit lately?
The JAM are terrorist asswipes. So how is one of their mucety-nucks a "rogue" for acting like a terrorist asswipe?
I truly believe you, Bobby. However, are you willing to assign all credit for that to Islam? Personally, my own read would be "despite Islam", which just happens to preach your conquest or death.
Coalition Forces killed eight terrorists and detained 14 suspected terrorists during coordinated operations targeting a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leader west of Tarmiyah Monday and Tuesday.
Coalition Forces conducted an operation Monday targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq emir of the northern belts around Baghdad, who is associated with deadly vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks in the city. Surveillance indicated the senior leader and his associates had entered a building in a remote area. Coalition Forces then declared the target hostile, and to engage the terrorists before they were able to disperse, called in an air strike on the building. Secondary explosions ignited after the initial strike, indicating there were explosives inside. Coalition Forces assess five terrorists were killed in the strike.
When ground forces attempted to approach the site to assess damage, one terrorist engaged them with small arms fire. Countering in self-defense, Coalition Forces returned fire and killed the armed man. The ground forces resumed their approach to the building but discovered multiple fighting positions, heavy machine guns, booby traps and vehicles wired with explosives. Coalition Forces evacuated the area and called in air assets to destroy the enemy weapons.
Acting on intelligence gained from the Monday operation, Coalition Forces conducted additional coordinated raids in the area Tuesday morning. During the first of those, Coalition Forces used explosives to breach a door and enter a targeted building. A woman standing behind the door was killed in the explosion. Iraqis on the scene told Coalition Forces her husband had told her to block the door from the Americans.
As ground forces secured the building, one man was discovered concealing himself in another room, armed with grenades and a rifle aimed at the assault force. Coalition Forces, responding appropriately to the hostile threat, engaged the armed man, killing him. As they secured additional buildings on the scene, a man rushed to a window and attempted to pull a rifle from behind the curtains. Coalition Forces reacted to the hostile threat by engaging the man and killing him.
During a raid on another building, ground forces brought the occupants of a building outside to secure the area. One man, after previously being compliant, turned and rushed back into the building. Coalition Forces, perceiving a hostile threat, engaged the man and wounded him. He was treated on site and taken to a military medical facility for further treatment. He and six other suspected terrorists were detained during the raid.
Coalition Forces detained three more suspected terrorists during raids on four more buildings in the area. "Taking down the bombing network in Baghdad is a top priority for us," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. "We will continue targeting the leaders who coordinate and execute murderous attacks on the Iraqi people."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11137 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Good job rolling them up!
It's like cleaning up a rats nest.
Posted by: Push over pushes back ||
08/08/2007 1:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
A woman standing behind the door was killed in the explosion. Iraqis on the scene told Coalition Forces her husband had told her to block the door from the Americans.
This is just horrible. Hiding behind your wife when it comes time to pay the piper? You could make a whole movie just around this one event, it's got gut-jabbing pathos. Too bad nobody ever will, and this incident will never be reported beyond the stale prose of a Centcom press release.
#3
The ground forces resumed their approach to the building but discovered multiple fighting positions, heavy machine guns, booby traps and vehicles wired with explosives. Coalition Forces evacuated the area and called in air assets to destroy the enemy weapons.
This raid must have been after someone high up in the food chain...the multi-layered defense is the give away.
#4
Chenter; muat've been real high up the food chain - not only multi-layered defense, but one of the layers was his wife. Only after many Muslim promotions does one attain that level of cowardice.
#5
Chuck, I hope you're keeping track of both the number of kills but also the number of captured. It's certainly in the thousands, just since April.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/08/2007 14:47 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The problems with 'captured' statistics are we have no information on:
1) how many are released almost immediately when it is determined there is no significant evidence they are guilty, and
2) how many are released by Iraqi authorities who choose not to prosecute despite significant evidence.
I suspect a large proportion of those captured are rather quickly released for one reason or another. I have seen where a number of them are repeatedly captured and released.
#9
As they secured additional buildings on the scene, a man rushed to a window and attempted to pull a rifle from behind the curtains. Coalition Forces reacted to the hostile threat by engaging the man and killing him.
This is almost beginning to sound like "Tales from the Crossfire Gazette." Do we have Bangla forces "embedded" with us in secret, LOL?
Posted by: BA ||
08/08/2007 22:10 Comments ||
Top||
Iraqi Special Operations Forces, with U.S. Special Forces acting as advisors, detained a suspected al-Qaeda emir in Radwaniyah.
"Right this way, effendi. Will you hold the door for us, Lieutenant? His Excellency seems to be having a little trouble walking just now."
The alleged Sunni extremist commander is believed responsible for conducting attacks against Coalition Forces and Iraqi Security Forces southwest of Baghdad. Another suspected extremist was also detained. Both individuals are currently being held for questioning and further investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Can we have the pic with pliers? I know that it does not have a correspondence with reality, but at leat the image... if nothing else.
#3
Call 'em "emirs", call 'em "imams", call 'em pig-farts - it doesn't matter as long as we continue to roll 'em up and wring 'em dry. This is what should have happened in 2003. I'm beginning to believe either Rumsfeld listened to some bad advice, or he didn't listen to anyone. Either way is bad. Glad Petreus is on the job, with the ROE to do what's necessary.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/08/2007 14:49 Comments ||
Top||
Elements of the 8th Iraqi Army Division, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained a suspected insurgent recruiter and organizer for the rogue Jaysh al-Madhi militia operating in An Najaf during an intelligence driven operation in southern Iraq Aug. 4. The alleged rogue JAM insurgent is suspected of using local charities as a front to screen and recruit individuals by offering them $500 to emplace IEDs.
He is also suspected of facilitating cross-border training, garnering financial support, and transporting equipment and weapons (to include Explosively-formed penetrators and improvised explosive devices) with Persian militant groups to be used against Iraqi and Coalition Forces. EFPs and IEDs are responsible for many Coalition Force deaths in the area. He is suspected of supplying the IED that killed two Coalition Soldiers in Karbala and is linked to other deadly attacks in Diwaniyah, An Najaf and Karbala.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
Iraqi Security Forces and Multinational Division - Baghdad troops responding to an explosion found five citizens injured in an apparent suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack in the Doura area of southern Baghdad Aug. 6.
At approximately 11:20 a.m., Soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., investigated an explosion in the area and found two men, two women and a child injured by the suspected car bomb. Elements of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army also responded. They found the vehicle had crashed into the side of a house.
Just after noon, an explosive ordnance disposal unit arrived on the scene with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment and confirmed the blast was a suicide car bomb, believed to be carrying more than 100 lbs. of homemade explosives. Four of the wounded were evacuated to Yarmouk Hospital while one was treated by the Iraqi Army.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Coalition Forces detained 15 suspected terrorists, including two alleged high-level operatives, during raids along the Tigris River Valley targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist network Tuesday.
Coalition Forces targeted and captured an individual north of Tikrit believed to be involved in terrorist activities in Salah ad Din province. Intelligence reports indicate the suspect is tied to al-Qaeda, and he controls sensitive operational documents and media for the terrorist group. The ground forces detained two additional suspected terrorists during the raid.
In Mosul, Coalition Forces captured a high-level member of a terrorist group whose leader was detained during a Coalition operation Aug. 4. The group is linked with al-Qaeda in Iraq and is known for placing improvised explosive devices.
Coalition Forces raided six buildings in Bayji targeting an al-Qaeda in Iraq leader there who allegedly oversees hundreds of terrorist fighters. On scene, the ground forces found a suitcase filled with Iraqi dinar and detained seven suspected terrorists for their alleged ties to the targeted individual.
In Baghdad, Coalition Forces targeted a cell leader in the city's vehicle-borne improvised explosive device network who is also believed to be involved in an April police station bombing. During the raid, the ground forces detained four suspected terrorists. "We're making it clear with our operations: no terrorist is safe," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. "We are targeting all those who are trying to derail Iraq's progress."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
It seems we're getting inside the "insurgent's" reaction cycle - getting intelligence, reacting with military force, getting more intelligence - before the terrs can react. That's essential in this kind of warfare, and to see it happening is heartwarming. Keep it up, guys & gals!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/08/2007 14:54 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Here's hoping that this unprecedented rollup of AQI is resulting from increased intelligence contributions by Iraqi civilians. After so much mayhem at the hands of Islamic terrorists one would think that they've had quite enough.
Iraqi Soldiers joined U.S. Soldiers from Task Force Steel in a joint operation dubbed Algeria III in support of Operation Marne Avalanche Aug. 4 in the Chaka III region of North Babil, to secure the area from insurgent activity.
Soldiers from 8th Iraqi Army Division and Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, moved from house to house searching for any presence of insurgent activity or violations of the rule of law set forth by the Iraqi government. "This operation was one of the biggest operations our company has done with Iraqi Security Forces," said Capt. Jim Browning, commander, Company A. "Everything on this mission was totally led by the Iraqi Army. We were just there for support."
This Iraqi-led operation yielded one pair of night vision goggles, three detainees and five AK-47 assault rifles with ammunition. "The operation was a complete success," Browning said. "The Iraqi Army Soldiers have made vast improvements since we last conducted an operation with them and I am confident that they will only continue to get better."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Twenty Iraqis were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near a bus Aug. 6 in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad. Soldiers with Company B, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, responded to the attack and sealed off the area. The wounded were transported to Medical City for treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Paratroopers captured a suspected rogue Jaish Al Mahdi (JAM) militia company commander wanted for a string of attacks using explosively formed projectiles, murder and intimidation against citizens in North Babil during Operation Marne Avalanche, August 5. Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, conducted an early morning raid in Musiyyib to capture the suspected cell leader. They also detained five suspected members of his ring. During Operation Marne Avalanche, the Paratroopers of the 4th BCT (Abn.) have killed 16 insurgents, conducted numerous precision raids, and captured more than 110 suspected insurgents, including eight cell leaders and other high value individuals.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
Extremists detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in the village of Qubuq, located 15 km north of Tal'Afar, killing more than 25 Iraqi civilians and injuring dozens more Aug. 6. The attack occurred in a marketplace a few minutes after 7 a.m., and initial reports indicate approximately 10 buildings were destroyed. Both Iraqi Army and police units assisted the victims. The wounded were evacuated to both Tal'Afar and Mosul for medical treatment.
"This is a heinous attack against the people of Iraq, and another example of the terrorists' complete disregard for Iraqi lives," said Maj. Rodger Lemons, operations officer, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Qubuq is a small village of mixed Sunni and Shi'ite ethnicities. The bombing is currently under investigation. Coalition Forces are supporting recovery operations and helping Iraqi Security Forces with logistical needs including blankets, water and food.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Extremists detonate VBIED against villagers, kill and injure dozens
You misspelled Freedom fighter and Patriot.
Posted by: Mike Al Moore & the DNC ||
08/08/2007 0:20 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Mikey Mooron needs to "experience" one of these "freedom fighters" IED explosions - up close and in person, with no protection. Anybody for lacing him to the outside of a Stryker or Hummvee?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/08/2007 14:57 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Nah, think of the poor Gyrene who has to clean the vehicle later.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/08/2007 16:56 Comments ||
Top||
Iraqi Security Forces and Paratroopers captured a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist wanted for a string of attacks against the security forces and citizens in North Babil during Operation Marne Avalanche, August 5.
The Iraqi Army, police and Paratroopers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division conducted an early morning raid in Snadeej near Jurf As Sukhr to capture the suspected insurgent. "More than 50 IPs, 20 IA soldiers and 50 paratroopers participated in the operation," said Capt. Henry Moltz, commander of Company A and Midlothian, Texas native. "The populace was very receptive to the ISF-led operation and a local source pointed the man out to us."
Thanks to joint operations like this one, the Jurf As Sukhr area is on the road to security and stability, Moltz said "This operation marks 50 days in Jurf As Sukhr with no attacks, as compared to six months ago when there was at least one attack every day," Moltz said. "The drop in violence is a testament to the Paratroopers and Iraqi Security Forces who have embraced the Joint Security Station concept and who have trained and fought side by side."
The JSS isn't the only key to success in the area. According to the soldiers and Paratroopers who work in the region, citizens are a big factor in their success. "The people in Snadeej and Jurf are tired of violence," said Moltz. "They are tired of being scared. They want a better life."
During Operation Marne Avalanche, the Paratroopers of the 4th Brigade have killed 16 insurgents, conducted numerous precision raids, captured more than 110 insurgents including eight cell leaders and other high value individuals.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
(AKI) - Iraqi security forces on Tuesday arrested what they said was a 60-year-old boom bitch female suicide bomber outside a bank in Baquba a city just north of Baghdad, a local news agency reported. The woman was apprehended as she was trying to detonate explosives strapped on a belt she was wearing, the NINA agency said. The woman's arrest comes just days after security forces took into custody several alleged al-Qaeda militants apparently specialising in the training of female suicide bombers.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
The take home clue here for guys,
"watch who ya take out on dates
or some innocent old lady could have your ass!".
Posted by: Push over pushes back ||
08/08/2007 1:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Some bay guys holding her grandchildren, perhaps? Or was she in it for the Virgins?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/08/2007 7:00 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Thanks to the words "boom b*tch" my keyboard narrowly averted coffee-related catastrophe.
Two health officials and a former village head were shot dead in two terrorist insurgent incidents, and two others were wounded in a third assault in the southernmost provinces on Wednesday.
An unknown number of gunmen gunned down two public health officials at a public health office in Pattani's Yarang district. Mrs. Atchara Sakhonthanawut, head of the Prachan subdistrict public health office in Pattani and Mr.Penpat Setin, a public health staff worker, were shot dead inside the health centre Wednesday afternoon.
In a separate attack, a former village headman was gunned down in his longkong orchard in Yala's Yaha's district. Thawat Hama, 66, a Muslim, was working in his orchard when he was attacked by an unknown number of gunmen. Police said they believed the killing was related to the southern terrorism violence.
In a third incident, two defense volunteers were wounded by an unknown number of gunmen in a rubber plantation, when they were patrolling the area in Songkhla's Thepa district. The volunteers exchanged gunfire with the attackers for five minutes before the gunmen retreated. Both volunteers were wounded and were rushed to hospital.
Meanwhile, in Narathiwat, joint police and military force raided a village in Rueso district and detained 49 suspects. The officials seized three weapons and explosive devices, spikes, and camouflage uniforms. Some suspects' clothes were tainted with explosive substances. All of the detainees will be sent to a military camp in Pattani for questioning.
Sri Lankan soldiers killed seven Tamil Tigers in the island's restive north, while another rebel wearing a belt packed with explosives blew himself up to avoid capture, the military said on Tuesday.
Troops killed six rebels in a gunbattle in the northern district of Vavuniya on Monday after they were ambushed, while one rebel was shot dead and the other committed suicide in a separate incident in the district on Tuesday. "The army fired and killed one terrorist who tried to attack them with a hand grenade and another blew himself when troops tried to arrest him," a spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security said, declining to be named in line with policy. Two soldiers were wounded in the explosion, he added. The Tigers were not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Running Tigers will comment as soon as they've restived. (Probably just misplaced the AP/al-Rooters phone numbers.)
Police have killed Fatah al-Islam's No. 2 man, the deputy commander of the al-Qaida inspired militants entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, the government said Monday. Abu Hureira was killed a few days ago by police in the northern port city of Tripoli, near the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where Fatah al-Islam militants have been fighting Lebanese soldiers for more than two months, said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi.
Being in Tripoli isn't the same thing as being surrounded in Nahr al-Bared...
"Cabinet was informed by Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa that Lebanese security forces have killed the Fatah al-Islam's No. 2 in the Abu Samra neighborhood" in Tripoli, Aridi told reporters following a Cabinet meeting. A senior police official said Abu Hureira was one of two men on a motorcycle who opened fire on a police checkpoint in Abu Samra. Police fired back, killing one and wounding the other.
The old Cycle of Violence™ trick, eh? That worked well.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements, said the wounded man disclosed during interrogation that his companion was Abu Hureira. He said DNA tests also indicated that Abu Hureira, and his parents provided a positive identification.
"Yep. That's Sonny. I'd recognize that turban anywhere!"
Police had been waiting for results of the genetic tests to announce the death. The whereabouts of Abu Hureira, a Lebanese whose real name is Shehab al-Qaddour, had been unknown since fighting at the Nahr el-Bared camp erupted on May 20. Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker Youssef Absi's whereabouts are still unknown. The police official said it was not clear how or when Abu Hureira had fled Nahr el-Bared or how long he had been in Tripoli.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam
The Lebanese army announced Tuesday that troops have seized a large number of weapons and ammunition in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon where it has been fighting Islamic militants for more than two months. Also Tuesday, Fatah Islam militants fired two rockets from the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, located near the northern port city of Tripoli, at the nearby town of Deir Amar but no casualties were reported, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
08/08/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hello! Help solve the problem.
Very often try to enter the forum, but says that the password is not correct.
Regrettably use of remembering. Give like to be?
Thank you!
#3
While the whole truth may never come to light, whatever backlash that occurred over the ransom paid for her yellow-headed summer with Pepe may indeed never be known. Going well beyond Mombasa, she suffered a severe backlash for her role in the Benny Goodman Story. The far horizons of her acting career would make anybody wonder about the last time I saw Paris and give everyone three hours to kill as they rode west. Whatever gun fury the caddy felt went straight from here to eternity as those raiders of the seven seas came up against the USSR today. While there might have been trouble along the way, the hangmans knot was never far from the scandal sheet that Saturdays hero submitted before his Chicago deadline. Beyond glory lay Green Dolphin Street no matter if its a wonderful life and despite however much I remain faithful in my fashion. While we can be certain that they were expendable, the picture of Dorian Gray inexorably gave gentle Annie pause to see here, Private Hargrove. Lustily would thousands cheer for the man down under regarding Dr. Gillespies criminal case. The human comedy would certainly need eyes in the night to follow the Apache trail when it came to calling forward that selfsame Doctor Gillespie. Mokey stood helpless during the courtship of Andy Hardy despite whatever way the bugle sounds for those babes on Broadway. We must remain forever thankful in how the shadow of the thin man allowed us the get-away that made her famous in the Donna Reed Show.
#11
Technical question: I've been trying to post a reply to the "burn center" thread several times, but it just won't post. I thought it might be too long, so I trimmed it down a lot. And I don't see any words in it that might be caught in a filter.
Posted to several other threads, too, with no problems.
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.
(AKI) - The Taliban has proposed exchanging female South Korean hostages for an equal number of detained female Taliban prisoners. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi made the fresh offer of an exchange in a telephone interview with Korean news agency Yonhap, even though he did not know how many female members of the Taliban were detained. "We do not know the exact number of Taliban women imprisoned by the Afghan government, but if (Kabul) lets them go, we will release the same number of female hostages," Ahmadi said. 
In southern Afghanistan, Dutch soldiers fatally shot a motorcyclist who approached their convoy and failed to heed warning signals and shots, the Dutch Defence Ministry said. International forces are often the targets of suicide bombers, and they repeatedly warn Afghan civilian motorists to slow down or steer clear of convoys so they are not mistaken for attackers. 
The National Assembly on Tuesday was informed that PIA Flight PK-742 from Jeddah to Islamabad has been detained in Jeddah for the past 36 hours, causing a great deal of inconvenience to its passengers.
An explosion near a police station in Bannu injured three people, including a child, Geo news reported late on Tuesday. According to the channel, miscreants planted explosives in a vehicle and parked it near the police station. The explosion injured three people passing by the vehicle. Bannu senior superintendent of police said the injuries were not severe. It was a low-intensity device weighing less than a kilogram, he added. Later, Aaj television reported that four loud explosions were heard in Bannu. The channel quoted police officials as saying that rockets might have been fired at the city, while the city administration alerted hospitals for emergency situations. 
A time-bomb exploded at a Peshawar bus terminal Tuesday, damaging a vehicle but causing no casualties, police said.
Armed men abducted and beat 11 health workers sent to a tribal area to administer polio vaccinations to children on Tuesday, forcing the suspension of the campaign, officials said. Tribesmen in the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan refused to allow the vaccinations to take place after hearing rumours that the drive was a 'US plot' to sterilise Muslim children, residents said. "We have suspended the vaccination drive in Charming area after our vaccination team was kidnapped and beaten up by armed men there," local health director Chiragh Shah told AFP.
Forty people have been killed in a military raid and street fighting across Baghdad's Sadr City, the capital's volatile Shiite slum, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Wednesday.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- A U.S.-led raid and airstrike targeting networks allegedly smuggling weapons and fighters from Iran killed 32 suspected militants Wednesday in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, the military said.
Police have killed Fatah al-Islam's No. 2 man, the deputy commander of the al-Qaida inspired militants entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, the government said Monday. Abu Hureira was killed a few days ago by police in the northern port city of Tripoli, near the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp where Fatah al-Islam militants have been fighting Lebanese soldiers for more than two months, said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi.
