(KUNA) -- At least six Taliban militants have been killed in a clash with Afghan police in southern Afghanistan, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. A statement from the ministry said the dead included two local commanders, Mullah Zikria and Mullah Agha Jan, and their four colleagues. They were killed in an encounter in Zerai district of Kandahar province on Monday.
The statement said several more suspected militants were captured for their alleged links with the Taliban in the neighbouring district of Arghandab in the same province. The militants so far did not issue any comment on the fresh government claim. A day earlier, a few dozen Afghans saged a protest demonstration against the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by British troops in the neighbouring province of Helmand. However, some locals as well as Afghan officials disputed the reports.
Both the locals of Helmand province and police said such reports were spread by Taliban militants to provoke the people of Helmand province against the foreign troops and the government. About two months back, the militants had suffered a set back in the district of Musa Qala in the same province as it was retaken by the foreign and Afghan troops in a joint operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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An outlaw leader was killed in 'encounter' between Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and his accomplices at Ratowal village in Raninagar upazila in Naogaon district yesterday. And no, we don't know where that is.
The deceased, Ajit Pramanik Swadhin, 22, of Bhatkoi village, was the second in command of red flag faction of Swadhin Purba Bangla Communist Party (M-L) and accused in a number of cases on twelve systems including five for murder with Atrai and Raninagar police stations, said a Rab press release. Another commie bites the dust Tipped off, a Rab team from Atrai camp went to Ratowal village If you drop a dime on a commie leader, does that make you Comrade Mahmoud the Rat?
when criminals opened fire, "It's da law! Open random useless fire!"
forcing the law enforcers to fire back, it added. "You may fire when ready, Gridley."
After a shootout for 15 minutes, the criminals fled away, "Curley toed track shoes, don't fail me now"
leaving Ajit critically wounded. He was declared dead at Raninagar Health Complex, said the press release. "He's dead, Jim"
Rab Contable Aynul Haque was critically injured during the shootout, it said.
A foreign pistol, some ammunition and local-made arms were also recovered from the spot.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Something's wrong with this article - it's like it missing important elements.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/23/2008 7:01 Comments ||
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#2
Sorry, getting a late start today.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/23/2008 8:36 Comments ||
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A special judge court in Jamalpur sentenced three cadres of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to 34 years' rigorous imprisonment in an explosives case Monday. Judge Abdus Sobahan handed down the verdict as per two sections of the Explosive Substances Act and also fined the three convicts Tk 8,000 each, defaulting on which carries additional 18 months' rigorous imprisonment (RI).
The convicts are Habibur Rahman Yousuf, 25, of Satpoa village in Sarishabari upazila, Sultan, 30, and Sohel, 22, of Charaildar village in Melandaha upazila of the district. Five other accused were acquitted on all charges.
After hearing 18 witnesses, the court handed down 20 years' RI to the JMB men and fined them each Tk 5,000 under section 4 (kha) of the Explosive Substances Act. Defaulting on the fines carries one year's RI. The judge also gave the three 14 years' RI and fined them Tk 3,000 each under section 5/6 of the same act. Failure to pay the fines carries another six months' RI. The sentences will run consecutively. The three JMB cadres were present in court during the verdict.
According to the prosecution, Habibur Rahman Yousuf was arrested in connection with a grenade attack on police at Bhatara in Sarishabari upazila in 2007. Following his confession, Rab raided the houses of Sultan and Sohel at Charaildar village in Melandaha upazila on March 24 last year and recovered 75 grenade bodies, 77 grenade caps and 27 packets of power gel from there. A Rab sub-inspector later filed a case with Melandaha Police Station against eight people including the three convicted.
This article starring:
Abdus Sobahan
HABIBUR RAHMAN YUSUF
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Police arrested two people on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding Stockholm taxpayers of millions of kronor, on the pretext that the money was to be used to finance preschools. The money was allegedly transferred to accounts in Africa and the Middle East, in a case that is reported to have links to a terror financing probe. The arrests are related to the arrest on Friday of a 41-year-old preschool principal on suspicion of tax and bookeeping offences.
Prosecutor Björn Rosenlöf told Dagens Nyheter that at least 9 million kronor has been illegally transferred from Stockholm daycare centres to accounts in Africa and the Middle East. The money was paid to the principal's company, Bismilahi AB, by Stockholm council. It was then forwarded by four charities based in Rinkeby, one of Stockholm's western suburbs. Bismilahi received a total of 23.5 million kronor of government money in 2006 to run Muslim preschools.
The investigation into the daycare swindle is linked to an investigation into a 42-year-old man suspected of financing terrorism, Dagens Nyheter writes.
The 42-year-old, who runs a not-for-profit organization, is suspected of serious breach of bookeeping rules and of hindering tax controls. Svenska Dagbladet reports that the man's organization is suspected by the Swedish Security Police (Säpo) of transferring a large sum of money to foreign terrorist groups. The man is also suspected of having used his own money to fund terror organizations.
The man, who denies all accusations against him, was arrested in late November and was released on bail one month later. He is the subject of a travel ban and must report to the police once a week. Incredible.
Posted by: mrp ||
01/23/2008 08:21 ||
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Islamic militants launched new attacks on border forts in Pakistan Tuesday, leaving seven troops and 37 rebels dead even as President Pervez Musharraf dismissed fears of a takeover by Al-Qaeda.
The attacks in the rugged belt of mountains bordering Afghanistan underlined growing insecurity across the nuclear-armed nation and came just before a top US commander flew in for talks on tackling the rebels.
Fighting has escalated sharply in nuclear-armed Pakistan since former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated last month, an attack blamed on an Al-Qaeda-linked tribal warlord based in the tribal region.
In Paris for the second leg of a European tour aimed at shoring up his battered image, Musharraf dismissed fears that Pakistan could slip into Al-Qaeda's hands, saying there was a "zero percent chance" of a takeover.
The only way for that to happen, he said, would be if Al-Qaeda or the Taliban "defeated the Pakistani army entirely" or if extremist religious groups won next month's elections.
Musharraf has been keen to bolster his credibility as a pivotal ally in the fight against terrorism, which has garnered Pakistan more than 10 billion dollars in US aid since September 11, 2001.
In the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi on Tuesday, Admiral William Fallon, head of US Central Command which deals with the Middle East, met Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kiyani for talks. "He (Fallon) remained with him for some time and discussed matters of professional interest with particular reference to (the) security situation in the region," a Pakistani military statement said.
But Pakistan's claims about being tough on militancy have been undermined by the death of Bhutto and by the wave of violence, in which rebels have adopted a new tactic of massing by the hundreds to attack isolated military outposts.
Militants early Tuesday tried to raid a fort and observation post at Ladha in South Waziristan, sparking a fierce four-hour gunbattle, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. "It was an intense attack," Abbas said, adding that five soldiers were killed and seven injured. He later said 37 militants were also confirmed dead.
Two civilians were killed and five wounded when Pakistani jets later pounded suspected militant hideouts in Ladha, said injured resident Dildar Khan, who was brought to a hospital in neighbouring North Waziristan.
A clash also erupted in North Waziristan's Razmak town, near Ladha, in which two security personnel were killed and six injured, the army's Abbas said.
Last week militants overran another fort in the town of Sararogha in South Waziristan. The army, meanwhile, denied reports that troops abandoned a third border outpost in the region, in the village of Siplatoi.
Abbas denied the army was planning an offensive against Baitullah Mehsud, the Al-Qaeda-linked warlord blamed by Pakistani and US officials for orchestrating Bhutto's killing at a political rally on December 27.
Mehsud has denied any involvement in Bhutto's killing but warned Pakistani forces not to attack his stronghold and accused the army of killing civilians. "Pakistani forces will face the worst resistance if they try to enter my area," Mehsud said in a statement released by his spokesman, Maulvi Mohammad Omar.
Meanwhile British detectives helping Pakistan probe the former premier's murder may question a teenage suspect and his alleged militant handler held in connection with the killing, officials said Tuesday.
The 15-year-old, named as Aitezaz Shah, was arrested on Friday in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan and allegedly told police he was part of a back-up squad tasked by Mehsud with killing Bhutto if an initial team failed. "The Scotland Yard team will be at liberty to interrogate the two suspects arrested from Dera Ismail Khan, as they are assisting us in Bhutto's assassination case," Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Militants blew up five Khasadar checkposts in the Pindyali tehsil of Mohmand Agency, around five kilometres from agency headquarters Ghalanai, late on Monday night, but no casualties were reported.
Sources said militants attacked two checkposts at Waran Pul and one each in the Baqi Tambu and Jan Sher areas. The Waran Pul checkposts were totally destroyed, while the rest were partially damaged, they added.
Militants also attacked the tehsil office with explosives, leaving the building damaged. However, security forces did not retaliate, the sources said. The Frontier Constabulary launched a major operation in the agency earlier this month. Many locals fled the area as the military pounded militant positions.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Security forces recovered a large quantity of weapons in the Shakardara area of Matta tehsil in multiple search operations conducted in Swat on Tuesday, sources said.
The forces dug up two sacks filled with mortar shells, hand grenades arms snatched from Frontier Constabulary personnel and two cartons of ammunition from the garden of militant commander Iqbal Hussainins house. They also raided the house of another militant commander, Qari Mushtaq, in Khawzakhela tehsil, where they seized weapons, 21 computers and a fax machine looted from the PAITHAM institute in Gulibagh. Police discovered and disarmed a bomb planted in a pressure cooker in the house of a retired policeman, Jamal, in the same area.
On Monday, security forces took control of Chaparyal, a key locality in Matta tehsil. In a subsequent search operation, they arrested a would-be suicide bomber and 35 other suspected militants, and seized weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Law-enforcement agencies rounded up five suspected militants in several raids on Tuesday. A well-placed source told Daily Times that law-enforcement personnel took Jahangir Bhatti, a suspected militant who had just arrived from Saudi Arabia, into custody at the Karachi International Airport and moved him to an undisclosed location.
The source said that Yousuf Mehsud, a close aide of Baitullah Mehsud arrested on Monday in Sohrab Goth Police Station precincts provided the information about Bhattitis arrival, on which law enforcers arrested him from the airport. The personnel also raided the house of Aitzaz Shah in the Pirabad area and arrested his father Zahir Shah and uncle Zohaib Shah, the source added.
They later raided a madrassa at Old Golimar, Pak Colony area where Aitzaz Shah used to study before leaving for Afghanistan, and arrested two suspected militants. However, when contacted, Capital City Police Chief Niaz Ahmed Siddiqui said he did not know about the raids and arrests, saying it was possible that some other agencies might have conducted the operation. When contacted, Senior Superintendent of Police (Crime Investigation Department) Raja Ummar Khattab refused to comment.
This article starring:
AITZAZ SHAH
Taliban
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Taliban
JAHANGIR BHATTI
al-Qaeda
Niaz Ahmed Siddiqui
Raja Ummar Khattab
YUSUF MEHSUD
al-Qaeda
ZAHIR SHAH
Taliban
ZOHAIB SHAH
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
so from this I gather that the pakis, despite losing control over the FATA, are still maintaining control over Karachi, which the Jihadis are still trying to use for ingress/egress to pakiland.
In a major breakthrough, the security forces have extracted sensitive information relating to command structure, financing pattern, armoury, VVIP targets and forward planning of Maoists through sustained interrogation of a high-ranking member of the Politburo, the supreme decision making body of the CPI (Maoist).
Misir Besra, who is also in-charge of the intelligence unit and eastern regional command of the outlawed outfit and a permanent member of its nine-member central military commission, was arrested late last month from Giridih district of Jharkhand. He also heads the outfit's "central instructors team" (CIT) and is a member of the editorial board of Awam-e-Jung, the mouthpiece of the outfit.
According to the interrogation report, (which is in possession of The Pioneer) the VIP targets identified by the CPI (Maoist) include top politicians and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers who have acted tough against Left-wing extremism in various States, particularly from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. The "central action team" of the outfit has tasked its "urban combat teams" to eliminate these high-profile targets.
The list of the targets identified by the "central military commission" (CMC) of the outfit includes Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi, former Home Minister of Jharkhand Sudesh Mahto and Congress leader Mahendra Karma who is heading Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh.
This hit list also includes former Director General of Police of Andhra Pradesh HJ Dora and Deputy Inspector General Anil Palta, currently deputed to the Central Bureau of Investigation in Kolkata. Maoists have to their credit killing of Sunil Mahto, MP of East Singhbhum and a failed bid on former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Janardhan Reddy. Maoists had last year also eliminated son of Marandi.
The weapons composition of the outfit includes over a dozen light machine guns (LMGs), 75 AK-47 rifles, about 300 self-loading rifles (SLRs), over 1,800 .303 rifles, about 200 short-range weapons, about 120 .12 bore rifles and 20 mortar launchers, according to the 26-page interrogation report.
Besra (48) also revealed that the outfit has proposed to form base areas in Dandkaranya forests of Chhattisgarh comprising North and South Bastar and Maad, surrounding areas of Saranda, Palamau and East Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur and Deogarh in Orissa, Midnapore and Purulia in West Bengal and Koyal-Kaimur in Bihar.
The CMC has allocated Rs 60 crore for two years, including a maximum Rs 42 crore for arms and ammunition and logistics, Rs 10 crore for central technical committee (responsible for production of weapons), Rs 5 crore for communication, Rs 2 crore for intelligence gathering and Rs 1 crore for technical work. The central technical team has proposed to form a unit to manufacture gelatin slurry and has requisitioned a chemist and an electronics engineer from the outfit's northern regional bureau.
The CMC has established contacts in Assam for procurement of arms and ammunition and is getting supplies of hand grenades from West Bengal. Besra further revealed plans of targeting police stations in the urban areas of Jharkhand as the same in the rural areas have been well fortified by the administration.
The interrogation of Besra also revealed that the 9th Congress of the CPI (Maoist) was held in the forests of Bheemband in Bihar for 10 days in January 2007. The intelligence agencies had failed to establish the location of the area where the 9th Congress was held after a gap of over 30 years and attended by 100 hardcore delegates.
Delegates of the outfit from Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Panjab, Haryana, Orissa, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and United Kingdom had attended the secretly held 9th Congress, according to the interrogation report.
The Maoists hold Raman Singh responsible for Salwa Judum movement in Chhattisgarh and recruitment of local people as SPOs and other anti-Maoist operations in the State.
Marandi as Chief Minister of Jharkhand had launched anti-Maoist campaign in the State and the police force had registered significant success against the militants during his tenure. Maoists hold him responsible for the alleged misuse of POTA against its cadre.
Sudesh Mahto was also a Minister for road construction and had initiated and completed a number of road projects in the Maoist strongholds. When he became the Home Minister of the State, he recruited locals as Special Police Officers for the counter Maoist offensive. The decision to recruit SPOs was taken by him after the local people at Lango in Jamshedpur had lynched nine Maoists. He did not allow the Maoists to gain a foothold in his home constituency of Silli in Ranchi district.
Palta was superintendent of police (SP) of Palamau in Jharkhand and had busted Maoist bunkers in the district. He had also successfully choked the funding channels of the outfit in the State. Palta as SP of Bokaro had also smashed the training camp of the outfit at Jhumra hills, considered a Maoist stronghold.
The Intelligence Bureau has already warned that VVIPs/ VIPs figure high on the agenda of Maoists.
Apart from the CPI (Maoist), there 33 other outfits spreading ultra-Left terror over vast areas of Indian mainland and pose the biggest threat to internal security.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
I recommend that all the prisoners at Guantanamo and in Iraq be transferred immediately to India, and let them "extract sensitive information" from them, for a small fee. I'm sure the Indians would be glad to take the "outsourcing".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/23/2008 12:59 Comments ||
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#3
IIRC Indian subcontractors (who brought in construction workers from India) built part of the Gitmo prison.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/23/2008 15:29 Comments ||
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#4
"Extracted sensitive information and several internal organs".
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2008 15:34 Comments ||
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DIBRUGARH: Two hardcore ULFA militants were killed in separate incidents in Assam on Tuesday.
In the first incident, Rupak Moran was killed at Raidang area in Tinsukia district in a shootout with security forces, police said. Moran and another rebel had come to the area to collect extortion money. When the troops asked them to stop, the militants fired in a bid to escape. The security forces retaliated and in the ensuing gunfight Moran was killed while the other escaped.
Not quite a crossfire, but just as satisfying.
A .32 US made pistol, three bullets, three SIM cards, two mobile phones and several documents were recovered from Moran.
In the other shootout with the army in Baksa district, Naba Saikia was killed at Bogamati area.
Meanwhile, six hardcore militants of the group were apprehended from different parts of the state during stepped- up security measurements to prevent incidents of violence in the run-up to Republic Day. Four militant groups of the north east, including the ULFA, have called for a boycott of Republic Day celebrations.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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H/T Neptune Lex -- rest of article behind subscription
Circling 3,000 feet above a heavily traveled convoy route north of Baghdad, U.S. Army Shadow and Warrior Alpha UAVs trained video cameras on four men planting a roadside bomb at a busy intersection. The images beamed to an Army ground station, whose operators radioed targeting data to a nearby Apache attack helicopter. The aircraft swooped in and killed the men with a 30mm automatic chain gun. Later, a bomb squad neutralized the explosive.
This March 2007 attack, depicted in an Army video that the service allowed a reporter to see but declined to release publicly, was one of hundreds of successful missions by a high-tech, once-classified Army unit called Task Force ODIN, for observe-detect-identify-neutralize. The 14-month-old unit uses a network of Army UAVs, 10 modified C-12 surveillance planes and ground stations to spot and destroy improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and people who plant them.
#3
It's always a good sign when they select Asatru (Aesir) names. You know there is going to be some blood spilled with names like Odin, Thor, Tyr, and Ragnarok bandied about.
They'd probably use Aztec gods as well, but they are so damnably hard to spell and pronounce right.
BAGHDAD, Iraq Coalition forces killed 15 terrorists Tuesday and today during operations targeting al-Qaeda networks north of Baqubah.
During an operation Tuesday, Coalition forces conducted an operation targeting an alleged leader for the al-Qaeda in Iraq network operating in the Diyala province. The targeted individual is believed to be an improvised explosive device specialist involved in coordinating IED and suicide-vest attacks in the region. Reports also indicate the targeted individual has ties to several al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders.
As Coalition forces arrived in the target area, they observed several individuals reach for their weapons. Coalition forces fired warning shots in an attempt to get the men to cease their actions, but they did not comply. Perceiving hostile intent from the armed men, Coalition forces engaged, killing two terrorists, to include the wanted individual.
Upon clearing the area, the ground force discovered improvised explosive devices and grenades, which were safely destroyed, along with a vehicle in the target area.
Coalition forces returned to the region this morning, targeting another alleged leader of the Diyala network associated with the terrorist killed during operations the previous day. As Coalition forces arrived in the target area they observed a group of enemy personnel moving into fighting positions. Responding in self-defense, the ground force called supporting aircraft to engage the hostile force, killing 10 terrorists.
Coalition forces continued to clear the area and called for the occupants of the target building to come out, but they did not comply. Several terrorists were then observed maneuvering toward Coalition forces and they engaged the perceived hostile threat, killing three terrorists. As Coalition forces secured the building, they discovered a cache of weapons to include machine guns, military style assault vests, rocket propelled grenade propellant and various ammunition.
Nearby, the ground force discovered additional weapons caches to include rocket propelled grenades, artillery and mortar rounds, improvised IEDs, and suicide-vest materials. All of the weapons were safely destroyed on site.
Iraqi and Coalition forces are committed to ending the terror of al-Qaeda in Iraq and creating a safer country for all Iraqis, said Maj. Winfield Danielson, MNF-I spokesman.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
01/23/2008 13:28 ||
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Coalition forces detained 19 suspected terrorists Monday and today during operations targeting al-Qaeda networks in central and northern Iraq.
During an operation north of Taji Monday, Coalition forces captured a suspected terrorist believed to be a key member of the al-Qaeda in Iraq network operating in Baghdad. He is allegedly a direct subordinate of the networks senior leader and previously served in Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad. The suspected terrorist was involved in attacks against Coalition forces, beheadings, sniper and improvised explosive device attacks, and foreign terrorist facilitation. During the operation an additional four suspected terrorists were detained.
During another operation targeting associates of the network north of Baghdad, Coalition forces detained three suspects in the capital city this morning while targeting a terrorist involved with kidnapping operations.
During operations in Baqubah, east of Samarra and in Mosul today, Coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists while targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq associates involved in improvised explosive device attacks and foreign terrorist facilitation. Iraqi and Coalition forces continue our efforts to drive al-Qaeda in Iraq members and other extremists from their hiding places, and bring them to justice, said Maj. Winfield Danielson, MNF-I spokesman.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Four of al-Sahwa (Awakening) militia were killed during a clash with al-Qaeda militants in Falluja western Baghdad, police said on Monday. The confrontation took place when al-Qaeda armed men attacked a check point set by the militia in the nearby area of al-Karma, an Iraqi police source told KUNA.
The attack also resulted in injuring one al-Sahwa member and killing two of the attackers, who then fled the scene, he added. This is the third day in a row where security breakthroughs were reported in the volatile Province of al-Anbar, last of which occurred yesterday when a suicide bomber blew himself up after penetrating into a crowd in front of a US-set prison in Falluja.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
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As tens of thousands of Palestinians clambered back and forth between the Gaza strip and Egypt today, details emerged of the audacious operation that brought down a hated border wall and handed the Islamist group Hamas what might be its greatest propaganda coup.
Hamas, which took control of the coastal territory last June after a stand-off with Fatah, has denied that its men set off the explosions that brought down as much as two-thirds of the 12-km wall in the early hours.
But a Hamas border guard interviewed by The Times at the border today admitted that the Islamist group was responsible and had been involved for months in slicing through the heavy metal wall using oxy-acetylene cutting torches.
That meant that when the explosive charges were set off in 17 different locations after midnight last night the 40ft wall came tumbling down, leaving it lying like a broken concertina down the middle of no-man's land as an estimated 350,000 Gazans flooded into Egypt.
The guard, Lieutenant Abu Usama of the Palestinian National Security, said of the cutting operation: "I've seen this happening over the last few months. It happened in the daytime but was covered up so that nobody would see." Asked whether he had reported it to the government, he replied: "It was the government that was doing this. Who would I report it to?" Good point...
The skill of the Hamas demolition operation was clear to see along the border today, although The Times could not visit the entire length of the border. Where the charges had been laid, the wall was heavily damaged. Elsewhere it appeared to be clearly cut.
The destruction of the wall prompted hundreds of thousands to cross into Egypt and Egyptian border guards did not try to stem the tide of humanity.
Instead Rafah became a huge Middle Eastern bazaar. Thousands of people were herding back cows, sheep and even camels from Egypt into the Gaza strip. Others brought back motorbikes while many women lugged back cans of olive oil and men could be seen weighed down with jerry-cans full of fuel.
Moneychangers flocked to the border, offering Egyptian pounds and American dollars for the Gazans' Israeli shekels. The shops soon began to run out, however, and those returning were complaining of sky-rocketing prices.
Instead, many people jumped into taxis - or even on the roofs of taxis - to take themselves to El Arish, 45km away, the nearest town with shops.
In no-man's land, along the stretch that the Israelis used to call Philadelphia Road before their disengagement in 2005, Hamas gunmen raced along in pick-up trucks flying the group's green flag. Egyptian riot police waited by the gates of the old border crossing, leaning with nonchalance against their riot shields.
Egyptian shopkeepers swiftly raised prices of milk, taxi rides and cigarettes, but that did not deter the Gazans, for many of whom it was their first trip out of the territory.
Some staggered back into Gaza carrying televisions, and others sported brand-new mobile phones. In Gaza City, prices of cigarettes - which had skyrocketed during the total blockade of the past week - fell by 70 per cent in a few hours.
#3
WND > EGYPT ALLOWS WEAPONS TO RUSH INTO GAZA. EGyptian security forces reportedly failed to interfere as weapons shipments plied back and forth in trucks from Egypt into Gaza.
#4
We pay Egypt $2 billion per annum to ensure that things like this do not happen in Sinai. Aftr more than two decades the rationale for keeping the Multinational Force in Sinai is wearing thin.
#6
JPOST > ANALYZE THIS - MUCH MORE THAN JUST A BORDER PROBLEM. Author argues that HAMAS remains intent on using GAZA = PA as a forward deployed staging area for attacks agz Israel, and that any failure by Israel, Egypt, + International negotiations to empower a stable reality vv Paleos will suppor the HAMAS other major agenda of defeating the Two-State Solution, etc I.E. COMPROMISE WID ISRAEL.
#7
HAARETZ > ISRAELI DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT ANGRY AT EGYPT FOR GAZA BREACH; + YNETNEWS >OP-ED:MY TALKS WITH HAMAS. Among other thingys, HAMAS is offering 10-25 years of "quiet" [read - NOT peace] in return for Israel opening up the GAZA borders to allow Paleos into Israel; + GAZA: MASSES RETURN FROM EGYPT WITH COWS/LIVESTOCK. "They're starving in Gaza" - in addition, Egyptian authors claim that PALEOS HAVE NOT PURCHASED OR PROCURED ANY WEAPONS TO BRING BACK INTO GAZA FOR USE AGZ ISRAEL. PALESTINIANS > ITS EASIER TO BUY/FIND WEAPONS IN GAZA THAN MEDICINE FOR CANCER OR COCA-COLA.
#9
But a Hamas border guard interviewed by The Times at the border today admitted that the Islamist group was responsible and had been involved for months in slicing through the heavy metal wall using oxy-acetylene cutting torches.
In all likelihood, Mubarak knew what was going on before the first torch was sparked.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt Wednesday after masked gunmen with explosives destroyed most of the seven-mile wall dividing the town of Rafah, which straddles the border. The Gazans crossed on foot, in cars or riding donkey carts to buy supplies made scarce by an Israeli blockade of their impoverished territory. Police from the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, directed the traffic. Egyptian border guards took no action.
The gunmen began breaching the wall dividing Rafah before dawn, according to witnesses and Hamas officials, who told The Associated Press that they later closed all but two of the gaps in the wall. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they were allowing Palestinians to move freely through the two gaps.
Thousands of Gazans began crossing into Egypt and returning with milk, cigarettes and plastic bottles of fuel, the Hamas officials and witnesses said.
An Associated Press reporter arrived after first light and saw that about two-thirds of the Rafah wall had been demolished. The reporter also saw the crowd of Palestinians crossing into Egypt swell into the tens of thousands. Guards directed the crowds over the fallen metal through two main crossing areas, inspecting some bags. One man returning to Gaza carried seven pistols that were confiscated by Hamas police. Others walked unhindered over the piles of scrap metal that once made up the border wall.
The identity of the gunmen who breached the border was not immediately clear. But in a statement, Hamas expressed support for the move, saying, "Blowing up the border wall with Egypt is a reflection of the ... catastrophic situation which the Palestinian people in Gaza are living through due to the blockade."
Before dawn Wednesday, Palestinian gunmen began blowing holes in the border wall running through Rafah, along the Gaza-Egypt border. There were 17 explosions in all, Hamas security officials said. All Egyptian security and police officers were pulled out from the immediate vicinity of the border, Egyptian security officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. They did not explain why the officers had been withdrawn.
An off-duty Hamas security officer who identified himself as Abdel Rahman, 29, said this was his first time out of Gaza. "I can smell the freedom," he said. "We need no border after today." Abdel Rahman said no weapons were being smuggled in from Egypt. "You can buy weapons in Gaza, guns and RPGs," he said. Weapons are generally brought into Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.
"returning with milk Kassam missiles, cigarettes and plastic bottles of fuel explosives"
What are they using to pay for this stuff? Zimbabwe actually has some economic activity and Zimbucks aren't worth anything, so what backs Gaza money? I'd say Euro donations, but doesn't all that go into Swiss bank accounts
Police from the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, directed the traffic. Egyptian border guards took no action.
Hamas did not take responsibility for knocking down the border barrier erected by Israel as fighting intensified with militants after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. But it seemed unlikely the move could have been undertaken without Hamas' approval.
The group's supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, said from Damascus, Syria that Hamas was willing to work out a new border arrangement with Egypt and Hamas' rival, moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that he had ordered his troops to allow the Palestinians to cross into Egypt from the Gaza Strip because they were starving.
Mubarak told reporters at the Cairo International Book fair that when Palestinians began breaking through border in force, he told his men to let them in to buy food before escorting them out. "I told them to let them come in and eat and buy food and then return them later as long as they were not carrying weapons," he said.
#10
Mubarak cant have Egyptian troops shooting at Pal civilians coming through, however well fed they may be. The TV images would create riots in Cairo.
#13
Palestinians have broken through the Egypt border several times since Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 and stopped patrolling the border. But none of the previous breaches approached the scale of Wednesday's destruction, which demolished two-thirds of the seven-mile border barrier.
The destruction of the barrier began before dawn Wednesday, when Palestinian gunmen began using land mines, blowing holes in the border barrier that runs through Rafah, witnesses said. There were 17 explosions in all, Hamas security officials said. At first, Hamas and Egyptian security officers prevented people from getting through, witnesses said, but by morning thousands of Gazans had massed at the border and overwhelmed police began letting people cross.
Posted by: Ron Paul ||
01/23/2008 12:20 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Just the solution we were hoping for: now the Israelis can seal their side of the Gaza border and turn off the gas/water/power. Let the Egyptians provide the basic services, and let the Israelis build an even-higher wall.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2008 13:30 Comments ||
Top||
#18
And with regard to the pics Seafarious noted: #2 shows a Paleo front-end loader knocking down the wall. Never mind the obvious Saint Pancake reference, the Paleos have front-end loaders? Working? With fuel? Methinks someone hasn't been forthcoming with the news of that area, and methinks the initials are MSM.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2008 13:33 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Too bad the Israeli's didn't convince the Gaza folk to move into Sinai before they gave away the penninsula.
Sort of like a dog with fleas putting a stick in its mouth and slowly going into the water so that the fleas move up to the stick to stay dry. Then the dog releases the stick into the water.
The pics posted here were topical and refered to by others so I posted them.. But they aren't from the RBee Archive, Is this a proper usage of outside pics?
#23
Only problem I see here is they are going BACK to Gaza.
This is not going to solve any problems, they're just rearming.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/23/2008 14:15 Comments ||
Top||
#24
And, of course, the obligatory...
But rivals Fatah and Hamas blamed Israel, calling the breakout an inevitable consequence of the blockade."Israel is responsible for what has happened -- this is the consequence of the blockade imposed on Gaza," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
#25
"We want to buy food. We want to buy rice and sugar, milk and wheat and some cheese," Abu Taha said, adding that he would also get some cheap Egyptian cigarettes. He said he could get the food in Gaza, but at three times the price.
Says it all,
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/23/2008 14:19 Comments ||
Top||
#26
Sort of like a dog with fleas putting a stick in its mouth and slowly going into the water so that the fleas move up to the stick to stay dry. Then the dog releases the stick into the water.
You must own a Border Collie.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/23/2008 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#27
Mubarak told reporters at the Cairo International Book fair that when Palestinians began breaking through border in force, he told his men to let them in to buy food before escorting them out. "I told them to let them come in and eat and buy food and then return them later as long as they were not carrying weapons," he said.
How do a handful of border guards escort 300,000 people back to Gaza? How do they check for weapons?
-----------------------
... guard, Lieutenant Abu Usama of the Palestinian National Security, said of the cutting operation: "I've seen this happening over the last few months. It happened in the daytime but was covered up so that nobody would see."
Asked whether he had reported it to the government, he replied: "It was the government that was doing this. Who would I report it to?"
-----------------
#29
I love the overheated rhetoric that Israel is doing this and that to Gaza. The shoreline is open and trade can happen along the Egypt border but those do not make for interesting stories.
#30
RD: pics (small) in the comments are okay as long as we don't over-do. These are topical and right on point.
RJ: the Gazook shore is NOT open; the Israelis closed it and keep it patrolled. Little moves in/out that way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2008 16:15 Comments ||
Top||
#31
this IS an opportunity for Israel to disengage totally from Gaza and to smack the living shit out of it every time a rocket flies. Cut off the power, water, and fuel, including the capacity to deliver. They are Egypt's problem now. Use the money savings for 155 shells, counterbattery radar, and UAVs (with hellfires)
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/23/2008 16:48 Comments ||
Top||
#32
One man returning to Gaza carried seven pistols that were confiscated by Hamas police.
Yep, free guns for Hamass.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/23/2008 17:57 Comments ||
Top||
#33
Watch the Euros bid over these lower forms of humanity. Human termite-feeding has been going on since Israel was founded.
#35
Sort of like a dog with fleas putting a stick in its mouth and slowly going into the water so that the fleas move up to the stick to stay dry. Then the dog releases the stick into the water.
Fitting analogy!
Posted by: Clinetle Prince of the Hemps6270 ||
01/23/2008 20:41 Comments ||
Top||
#36
Debka's take on this is that the Gazans, under Iranian direction, have seized the norther Sinai from Egypt and are occupying it. There were already 40k Paleos there, and with the inrush of Gazans, who are being ordered to remain there, they have a de facto control of the place.
In other words, the Palestinians have invaded Egypt in a territorial conquest.
Even more important is that Mubarak is terrified that the Muslim Brotherhood is about to launch a coup attempt. So all the Interior Ministry troops are bogged down in the cities and can't drive the Paleos out.
#37
Moose - you've answered my question, so here's another: Is there currently, or should there be created, an organization along the lines of a "Coptic Liberation Front"? As Ike said, if you cannot solve the problem, enlarge it.
(KUNA) -- Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday arrested in Al-Quds city the Adviser of the Palestinian Prime Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Hatem Abdelqader. Abdelqader has been taken to a detention center for interrogation, Fatah movement said in a statement. The movement added that his detention was a result of his participation in a rally of solidarity with the Gaza Strip and his condemnation of the Israeli siege imposed on the sector.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
A special Palestinian Authority security court on Tuesday sentenced two Fatah men to 15 years in jail for the murder of two Israeli hikers near Hebron about three weeks ago. The court found the two, Ammar Taha, 26, and Ali Dandis, 24, guilty of murder on the basis of their confessions. They were also convicted for "harming the national interests of the Palestinian people."
Taha served as a policeman in the Palestinian security forces, while Dandis was a clerk in the Islamic religious (sharia) court in Hebron. The two belonged to Fatah. A third member of the cell, Basel Natsheh, was killed when the two hikers, Ahikam Amihai and David Rubin, opened fire at their attackers. The shooting occurred near the village of Beit Kahil west of Hebron.
Immediately after the attack, Taha and Dandis sought refuge with the PA's General Intelligence Force in Hebron out of fear of being caught by the IDF. The two also handed their weapons over to the PA security forces, which later delivered them to Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
good, but I wonder how long they will actually serve.
Fist fights broke out between Palestinians loyal to rival Hamas and Fatah during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday to protest Israel's sealing off of Gaza.
Men swung fists at each other in scuffles in downtown Ramallah after youths from the Fatah youth movement tried to break up a protest by the Islamic Hamas. The Fatah men, waving the black and white checkered flag of their movement, waded into the protest by some 150 Hamas activists, and pushed them out of the square, setting off the fistfights.
Associated Press TV filmed two men pushing a youth against a car, appearing about to hit him, before others intervened. "We want your head, Zahar," the Fatah loyalists shouted, referring to Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Terrorists Presumed insurgents on Wednesday detonated a bomb as a bus carrying 30 troops passed through Pattani's Tung Yang Dang district, and unleashed a hail of gunfire on them, wounding seven soldiers, police said. Police investigators were uncertain as to whether the explosive device, hung on a roadside tree, was timed to explode or was manually detonated by remote control. The bus was riddled with bullet holes and its windshield shattered. The wounded soldiers were rushed to a nearby hospital where they are undergoing treatment.
Thailand has sought cooperation from the neighbouring country to track down six suspected Thai Muslim terrorists militants who escaped from police custody in southernmost Narathiwat province bordering Malaysia earlier this month, a senior Thai Army officer said Wednesday. Lt-Gen. Viroch Buacharoon, Fourth Army Region Commander, said the fugitives were now confirmed as being at large in Malaysia and that coordination with the neighbouring country is underway to return them back to stand trial in Thailand. The six men escaped from Tanyong police station in Narathiwat's provincial seat. The fugitives had been in custody for several days while awaiting trial related to more than ten cases of violence in the rtsstive South.
Gen. Viroch also said that progress is being made in the investigation of a group of suspects detained in connection with the killings of eight soldiers in Narathiwat last Monday.
A few simple reminders as we get into the new year:
Check for duplicates before you post. We've had a number of these lately, so please check on the Burg, particularly if it looks like 'breaking news'.
I say this again in salmon color: check for duplicates!
Provide a source for your post. If you don't your post will be deleted. None of the moderators have enough time to look for the source of your post.
Shorter, not longer, titles. Remember, the URL does NOT go into the title box. Snarky and catchy titles are fine.
File it in the right place. If it's about the current intifada in Frankistan, don't file it under 'Great White North'.
We focus on the WoT and matters related to the WoT. That includes general thuggery around the world, such as Zim-bob-we, and the politics surrounding the WoT. The farther away it is from that, the less likely people here want to read it here on Rantburg. We assume y'all read other weblogs for the other news. Wierd animal stories, of course, are always welcome: they go into the SAST as a 'non-WoT' item. But domestic issues in Australia, surface crawlers on Mars, and the general state of Lindsey Lohan's rehab shouldn't be posted here. Unless Fred does it in which case it's okay.
Opinion pieces go into the 'Opinion' category. Tricky, eh? This includes blog pieces. Some exceptions exist: VDH, Lileks, and Marc Steyn can go into any appropriate category. All the rest go into Opinion. And that's not an invitation for other blog-owners to post stuff in Opinion just to advertise their own blog.
Your opinion is welcome. Opinion is also for your own original articles, for everyone, but especially for Rantburg regulars. If you have an opinion, post it there. And don't forget your byline.
Please format the post. Help us make the post readable. Think of it as a chance to teach English composition to the MSM. Delete the fluff and the stuff we already know. If there are no line breaks, put some in. If there are too many line breaks, take some out. Some gentle editing to make a post readable helps all of us, especially the moderators who then don't have to go back and re-edit stuff.
No ellipses and no 'snips'. Readers assume you're editing the post to just the good stuff (see above). Therefore you don't need ellipses or [SNIP]'s to tell us that you edited the post. Since you gave us the source URL (right?) a reader can always go to the original.
Your comments are in hilite (yellow) text. Use the 'HILITE' button. Start your comments on a separate line. If you do it will look like this. This is the ONLY acceptable format for your comments.
Don't put a leading line space before or after, as illustrated. And don't bury it like this. Do not use italics instead of hilite. Do not insert FONT commands: Fred has already settled the proper font and size for your snark. And do NOT put your comments into blockquotes.
Strikout text can be placed in-line in the text. Some here complain when we use too much of it. Unless you've got a sure-fire 'mad-libs' winner, use strikeout text sparingly.
Don't embed pics from outside Rantburg. We have an ever-expanding library of pics (even after Fred cleans out the attic we have more than when we started). Embedding a pic with a URL takes bandwidth and it may upset the owner of the site from where you're getting the image. We'd love to allow users to upload images, but if we did we'd be dumping 100k erectile dysfunction ads and pictures of nekkid 40-year-old teen hotties all day and not have time for any posting of our own. Finally, outside posts also die, in many cases. A Rantburg image will be around as long as there's a Rantburg.
Submitting pics to the Burg. E-mail us the pic, but format it first. 250 pixels width for portrait, 300 for landscape or square. On a case-by-case basis, max 600 pixels (width of the yellow comments box) wide for charts, diagrams, and maps. Please compress: images should be under 20k if at all possible. It's not the single image we have to worry about, but 80 articles x 20k. Too many images will slow page load dramatically.
And as always, thanks for all your support. You make Rantburg a special place.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Can we somehow view the image library? There are tons of them, and "preview" doesn't show the picture until it gets posted. "12 systems" and "122 rocket" don't make any sense to me...
#4
I say this again in salmon color: check for duplicates!
I had a few, sorry, will be more cautious.
And, hum, "salmon", yes, you're right, it's "salmon", not pink. We believe you, we do. Nobody here judges you, you know.
#6
Would it be good to post picture repository links that the Rantburg mods might peruse and help themselves?
For example, individual posters could put up a bunch of pics they would like on photobucket, then give just a link for a "display all" on an administrative thread, the mods could wade through there with bare feet, and download whatever caught the eye.
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.
(KUNA) -- At least six Taliban militants have been killed in a clash with Afghan police in southern Afghanistan, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. A statement from the ministry said the dead included two local commanders, Mullah Zikria and Mullah Agha Jan, and their four colleagues. They were killed in an encounter in Zerai district of Kandahar province on Monday.
An outlaw leader was killed in 'encounter' between Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and his accomplices at Ratowal village in Raninagar upazila in Naogaon district yesterday.
Tipped off, a Rab team from Atrai camp went to Ratowal village 
Islamic militants launched new attacks on border forts in Pakistan Tuesday, leaving seven troops and 37 rebels dead even as President Pervez Musharraf dismissed fears of a takeover by Al-Qaeda.
Law-enforcement agencies rounded up five suspected militants in several raids on Tuesday. A well-placed source told Daily Times that law-enforcement personnel took 
In a major breakthrough, the security forces have extracted sensitive information relating to command structure, financing pattern, armoury, VVIP targets and forward planning of Maoists through sustained interrogation of a high-ranking member of the Politburo, the supreme decision making body of the CPI (Maoist).
DIBRUGARH: Two hardcore ULFA militants were killed in separate incidents in Assam on Tuesday.
As Coalition forces arrived in the target area, they observed several individuals reach for their weapons. Coalition forces fired warning shots in an attempt to get the men to cease their actions, but they did not comply. Perceiving hostile intent from the armed men, Coalition forces engaged, killing two terrorists, to include the wanted individual. 
Coalition forces detained 19 suspected terrorists Monday and today during operations targeting al-Qaeda networks in central and northern Iraq. 
A special Palestinian Authority security court on Tuesday sentenced two Fatah men to 15 years in jail for the murder of two Israeli hikers near Hebron about three weeks ago. The court found the two, Ammar Taha, 26, and Ali Dandis, 24, guilty of murder on the basis of their confessions. They were also convicted for "harming the national interests of the Palestinian people." 
Fist fights broke out between Palestinians loyal to rival Hamas and Fatah during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday to protest Israel's sealing off of Gaza. 
A few simple reminders as we get into the new year:
