Farah province Governor Muhaidin Baluch said on Tuesday that the Taliban had kidnapped 11 Pakistani construction workers from the province on Sunday night. Talking to the Associated Press, he said Afghan elders were in negotiations with the kidnappers and had secured the release of seven labourers. The other four remain captive, he added. Also in Farah, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives next to a NATO convoy on Tuesday and wounded one soldier, a spokeswoman for the alliance said. The attack also caused some damage to the NATO vehicle, said Major Richelle Dowdell of NATOÂ’s International Security Assistance Force. She said the incident was being investigated. Baluch said the attacker was a 22-year-old man. He did not say how he had obtained that information. Last year the Taliban launched more than 140 suicide missions - the highest number since they were ousted from power by the United States-led invasion of 2001. Insurgency-related violence in 2007 killed a record 6,500 people, most of them militants, according to a tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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Algerian government forces shot dead 17 members of an armed group that killed eight paramilitary gendarmes in an ambush claimed by al Qaeda, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. The al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb has said it was behind the February 7 attack on the gendarmes in the desert province of El Oued 500 km (300 miles) southeast of Algiers. The February 7 ambush was the deadliest attack in the oil- and gas-exporting OPEC state since a twin December 11 bombing killed at least 41 people, including 17 U.N. staff, in Algiers.
The top-selling El Khabar daily said the army killed five of the assailants in a clash shortly after the ambush. Troops backed by air power later surrounded other attackers and killed 12 of them, the Arabic-language daily added. Other militants travelling on 10 all-terrain vehicles joined the rebel group during the clashes, it said, adding troops were continuing to hunt for armed men in the neighbouring province of Biskra.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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Yemen's leading independent newspaper will shut down after a 'savage attack' in which tribesmen fired on the editor's home on Tuesday, his son said. The son, Bashraheel Bashraheel, said guards returned fire in the incident, killing one attacker and badly wounding another. He told Reuters at daily Al-Ayyam's headquarters in the southern city of Aden that his father Hisham Bashraheel, 62, had instructed him to close the newspaper and seek political asylum abroad for the family.
'I don't think we can continue as free journalists under such violent attacks,' said Bashraheel, the paper's general manager. 'We know that some very influential government people are behind the problems we have been facing. It has all culminated in this savage attack against us.'
A government official, who asked not to be named, denied the shootout had any connection with Al-Ayyam or its editorial line. 'This is a criminal incident and the prosecutor's office is investigating with all parties concerned. Those involved on both sides have been arrested. The matter is in the hands of the judicial authorities,' he said.
Al-Ayyam, which has angered the authorities with its reporting of a series of anti-government protests in Aden in recent months, says it is the top-circulation paper in Yemen, with a print run of 64,000 copies.
The younger Bashraheel said the attack on his father's house in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, by a tribal family claiming ownership of the land, was politically motivated. He added that the authorities were pressing his family to hand over one of its members in what he said was effectively a demand for a 'hostage'. Bashraheel said his father had been at home when the attack occurred, along with his wife and two grandchildren. None of the occupants was hurt in the shooting.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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(RIA Novosti) - A militant with links to al-Qaeda has been killed in Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia, an Interior Ministry official said on Tuesday. The body of a man with gunshot wounds, found at a militant base in western Ingushetia earlier on Tuesday, was identified as Jordanian-born Khalid Yusef Mohammad al-Elitat, who fought for the Islamist terrorist network in Russia's North Caucasus, distributing funds among militant groups active in Chechnya and neighboring Ingushetia.
Investigators have suggested the fighter could have been killed during a clash with other militants.
Last month General Nikolai Rogozhkin, the commander of the Interior Troops, said that up to 700 militants were operating in the North Caucasus at present and that there could be up to 70 foreign fighters among them.
This article starring:
KHALID YUSEF MOHAMAD AL ELITAT
al-Qaeda
Nikolai Rogozhkin
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Investigators have suggested the fighter could have been killed during a clash with other militants.
"Moneyman", huh?
Maybe he was holding onto a little extra for himself? Like for a rainy day...
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/13/2008 04:49 ||
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#1
Bad economic news. Bad election news. But wait, a true breath of fresh air to start the day. Bring out the bands, the confetti, the parades. Another shitbag bites the dust!
Fifteen miscreants surrendered on Tuesday as security forces continued their operation in SwatÂ’s Kabal tehsil, locals said. They said the miscreants surrendered after a local peace committee had intervened, adding that the surrendered militants also handed over their ammunition and weapons to local elders.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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A senior army officer, who had gone missing near Peshawar on Monday, was recovered on Tuesday, official sources told Daily Times. The serving brigadier was recovered today, said the source who would not disclose whether his safe release was made possible through a military operation or payment of ransom to the kidnappers. Rumour about the missing of the senior army officer spread in the city late Monday night.
However, police and intelligence officials did not confirm the reports that day. The exact location of the ‘kidnapping’ was also not clear as some officials said the officer had gone missing in Nowshera instead of Peshawar.
The source, however, said the officer was recovered from Matani area of Peshawar, located on the border with the semi-tribal area of Darra Adam Khel. The army and paramilitary forces recently ended its operation against militants in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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Authorities were interrogating a top Taliban commander on Tuesday, a day after he was wounded and arrested in a shootout with security forces, police said.
Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, a leader of the insurgency against NATO and US-led forces in southern Afghanistan and brother of the Taliban’s slain military chieftain, was captured in a town near the Pak-Afghan border on Monday. “We have handed Dadullah over to the security agencies. He is under interrogation and details will be known later,” Saud Gohar, the police chief of Balochistan, told AFP.
The army and Interior Ministry have also confirmed Dadullah’s arrest in the remote Qila Saifullah district. Gohar said that Dadullah had narrowly evaded capture in another shootout in January that left two militants dead. “The incident took place in the same district about three weeks ago. Police flagged a car but it did not stop and the occupants opened fire,” the police chief said. “They escaped into an orchard and the exchange of fire lasted half an hour. Two of his guards were killed but Dadullah managed to flee,” he added.
No terrorists: “Since then we continued to collect information from different sources and finally, we captured him alive yesterday. Dadullah’s arrest reflects our resolve that we will not allow terrorists on our soil.”
Dadullah had succeeded his elder brother — the Talibann’s overall military commander Mullah Dadullah — who was killed in a joint Afghan-NATO operation in southern Afghanistan in May 2007.. The Taliban said in late December that they had sacked Mansoor Dadullah because he disobeyed orders. But a spokesman for the commander denied that he was fired, leading to speculation about infighting among the rebels.
This article starring:
Mullah Mansoor Dadullah
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I am thinking that the interrogation methods may not be up to the Democratic Party standards.
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Sakhi Muhammad Kahoot on Tuesday granted an eight-day physical remand of Aitzaz Shah and Sher Zaman, accused in Benazir BhuttoÂ’s assassination case, to a joint investigation team (JIT) and adjourned the case till February 20. The accused were brought to the ATC in two armoured personnel carriers under tight security. Media was not allowed to cover the court proceedings. On Friday, the ATC had granted a 12-day physical remand of the other two accused in the case, Husnain and Rafaqat, and adjourned the case till February 20.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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A bomb attached to a bicycle exploded outside the office of an election candidate in Khuzdar on Tuesday, wounding nine people including four journalists, police said. The blast happened as Sardar Aslam Bizenjo was addressing a press conference at his office, local police chief Hamid Shakil said. “Someone parked a bicycle outside Bizenjo’s office which exploded during his press conference,” Shakil said, adding that Bizenjo was unhurt and that the injured were shifted to a local hospital. A wave of bomb blasts has gripped the country ahead of the February 18 general elections, claiming the lives of about 100 people so far this year. A suicide car bomber killed around eight people and injured dozen others in an attack on an election candidate’s convoy in North Waziristan on Monday, fuelling fears about the increasingly bloody campaign for the polls. Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Nisar Ali Khan was slightly injured in the blast. On Saturday, a bomb ripped through a similar ANP gathering in Charsadda district.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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Local Taliban on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the abduction of Pakistani Ambassador to Kabul Tariq Azizuddin and said they would release him in return for Taliban commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, Online news agency quoted Geo television as saying.
Tariq Azizuddin had gone missing on his way from Peshawar to the Torkham border crossing on Monday when he lost contact with authorities in the Khyber Agency. Mansoor Dadullah was arrested in Quetta on Monday. Geo quoted the bureau chief of an Arab television channel as saying that the local Taliban had asked tribal elders to convey their message to the Pakistani government. “We have heard this news on TV channels,” Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters after a weekly press briefing at his office. “However, we have not received any formal information to this effect.”
During the briefing, Cheema had said the government did not know who had kidnapped Azizuddin or what had happened to him. Asked if the government would trade Dadullah for Azizuddin, Cheema said, “I cannot say anything.”
Vehicle found: Political administration officials said they had received reports that Azizuddin’s vehicle had been found in Taghyan area of Landi Kotal, after a daylong search operation by tribal police (Khasadars) and Levies. The Foreign Office did not confirm the report. “He is still missing and search is underway for his recovery,” Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq told Daily Times. He did not comment on why the ambassador had not asked the political administration for security officials to escort him.
Or on why he didn't fly.
Not informed: An official said the Foreign Office usually informed the political administration through the FATA secretariat or the Home Department when embassy officials travelled to Afghanistan on the Peshawar-Torkham route. “But no such information was conveyed to the political administration in this case,” he said.
He said the Landi Kotal assistant political agent had complained to the authorities three months ago that Tariq Azizuddin used to travel on the route without escort and without informing the political administration. A television channel quoted its sources in PresidentÂ’s House as saying that President Pervez Musharraf had expressed anger at the envoyÂ’s disappearance and had directed the interior ministry to find him immediately.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday that he hoped for Azizuddin’s quick rescue from “terrorists”, AFP said. “May God make it happen that our brother and neighbouring country, Pakistan, is able to rescue him from the abductors, the terrorists,” Karzai said.
A search operation led by the Khyber Agency political agent began on Tuesday morning. Tribal elders were part of the operation. Officials said the envoy had not gone ahead of the Ali Masjid area, notorious for kidnappings of travellers on the route.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Hey, vendor man. I'm gonna need to buy a program. All the players are wearing the same shirts. And then send the beer man over this way. Ima pow'ful thirsty."
#2
Once they've finished the interrogation they should make him a DBIED (Dadullah Borne Improvised Explosive Device) and release him. Sort of like those pesticides where the workers carry it home to the nest to kill the queen. If they can use mental-defectives as bombs, so can we.
Pakistani authorities were searching tonight for their country's Ambassador to Afghanistan and two nuclear officials who appear to have been kidnapped separately in the tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan. Police were also interrogating Mullah Mansour Dadullah, a top Taleban commander who was captured in the northwest yesterday, amid reports that Islamist militants had offered to swap him for the Ambassador.
The envoy is one of the most senior government officials to have been kidnapped in Pakistan's tribal areas. The apparent abductions highlight the security risks in nuclear-armed Pakistan as it prepares for parliamentary elections on Monday that are being seen as a test of President Pervez Musharraf's popularity and commitment to democracy.
Pakistan's Army is locked in a conflict with Taleban and al-Qaeda militants based in northwestern Pakistan whom President Musharraf blames for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December. Tariq Azizuddin, the Pakistani Ambassador to Kabul, was driving there with his driver and a bodyguard yesterday when they disappeared in Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal district, local officials said.
Pakistan's Embassy in Kabul said that it last had contact with Mr Azizuddin yesterday morning as he was travelling into Khyber district - long a hotbed of bandits and smugglers - from the northwestern city of Peshawar. “Our law enforcement and other agencies in Khyber are carrying out a search operation,” said Javed Iqbal Cheema, the Interior Ministry spokesman. “We hope we should be able to trace and recover him soon.”
Police also confirmed that two technicians from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission had been abducted at about the same time by masked men near the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier Province. The technicians were on their way to do a routine geological survey in the area when they were kidnapped along with their driver and five local people, who have now been released, local police said.
Pakistani officials declined to say if Mr Azizuddin had been kidnapped, but Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, said that he was sure that the envoy had been abducted. “May God make it happen that our brother and neighbouring country, Pakistan, is able to rescue him from the abductors, the terrorists,” Mr Karzai said during a conference on education in Kabul. “I hope he is safe and I hope he will be released soon.”
It was not immediately clear, however, whether the alleged abductors were Islamist militants or members of a criminal gang simply out to make money.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hint: He's in the guest house of Mullah Omar's guest house.
WASHINGTON — A surge in military operations and a shift in local support in northern Iraq has driven many al Qaeda fighters out of cities that once provided them safe haven and into the desert, or even out of the country, a commander in the region said Monday.
Citizens in the four-province region of Multi-National Division - North have begun shifting their support to Coalition and Iraqi forces in “droves,” and security gains are increasingly putting extremists on the run with no clear place to go to be safe, said Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multi-National Division - North and the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division. The northern division is about the size of Pennsylvania and includes Diyala, Salahuddin, Ninevah and Tamim provinces.
Some foreign fighters are returning to their home countries of Syria and Saudi Arabia, he said, taking with them funds earmarked for fighters in Iraq. Some are trying to reorganize outside the countryÂ’s borders, but HertlingÂ’s troops are watching the border and have arrested some as they try to return, he said. Others, who no longer feel safe in the cities because they are afraid that local citizens will turn them in, are hiding out in abandoned mud huts, canals or caves in the desert.
“That's their biggest fear. So many of them are going to the desert regions to just get away from being ratted out by the citizens by being pointed out and captured,” Hertling said.
But, even their desert hideaways are targets under six-week-long Operation Iron Harvest, part of the countrywide Operation Phantom Phoenix.
“Some of them are saying it's not even safe in the desert because the night raids are coming to get them,” Hertling said. “And that's a good thing. We want them to keep thinking that they can't sleep well at night because we're coming after them, because, quite frankly, we are.”
Hertling could not give specific numbers on how many fighters have left or an estimate of the size of the enemy force remains in the region, but he said fewer al Qaeda fighters are in the province now than six weeks ago.
“We’re doing exactly what we’re trying to do, and that is make the cities safer for the Iraqi citizens while continuing to target al Qaeda and the other extremist groups,” the commander said.
Diyala province, specifically, is much safer today than it was a month ago, Hertling said. Citizens are less afraid to go out on the streets, and markets are opening, he said.
Hurtling attributed the gains in the province to the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, the installation of local bases in the province, and improving local and national governments.
In Iron Harvest operations over the past 45 days, Coalition and Iraqi security forces there have conducted 74 missions. They have captured or killed more than 70 high-value individuals, and “hundreds” of enemy fighters, the general said. They found more than 430 caches with tons of explosives and weapons, he added, and they have cleared 653 homemade bombs, 42 house bombs, 35 car bombs and three bomb factories.
Attacks have leveled off in the region since December, following a drastic drop. Attacks range from about 20 to 50 daily, Hertling said.
#3
"...Some foreign fighters are returning to their home countries of Syria and Saudi Arabia, he said, taking with them funds earmarked for fighters in Iraq."
Seems a shame as they could have invested them in some muni bonds or donated to the DNC.
In Berkely AQ would be hailed and welcomed as heroes. - Spit - ...even though they "support" the troops. Problem being: nobody ever asks them which troops they support. But we know the answer to the question that is never asked.
#13
I spent last night AT the Berkeley City Hall with my fellow former Marines. My message: the terrorists don't need to follow us home...they are already HERE! CodePink is alQueda in a pink sash!!
No mention this time on how they were found - local tips or what?
BAGHDAD – Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division found 3,000 pounds of munitions Feb. 6, collectively the largest find since the start of Operation Marne Thunderbolt Jan. 1. Both the 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment and 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment are conducting ongoing operations in southern Arab Jabour in support of Marne Thunderbolt.
Company C, 1-30th Inf. Regt. discovered 12 55-gallon barrels of homemade explosives. Either the drums weren't full, or the explosives were very light weight, or someone can't do math - even if the whole 3000 pounds were in these drums that's only half the weight of water. And why 'homemade' explosives? Can't be nearly as good as military stuff, which is supposedly everywhere - have the militias and Sunni watch groups etc. managed to get control of most all of Saddam's old stuff so AQI is forced to scrounge and improvise?
Company B, 1-30th Inf. Regt. found a pressure-plate improvised explosive device consisting of three 122 mm rounds and one mine of unknown origin. Another find yielded a cache of two mines, one 57 mm projectile, one jar of HME, one artillery shell filled with HME and one 155 mm artillery round.
“We try to find out how long the munitions have been there,” said Maj. James Wilburn, from Las Cruces, N.M., chief of daytime operations, 2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div. “It may indicate whether there was a cell operating there recently, or if the weapons were abandoned long ago. It gives a sense of what our troops may be up against.”
Soldiers from Company A, 5-7th Cav. Regt. discovered an anti-aircraft gun, completely operational, with an extra barrel. Good find. Makes you wonder why we haven't lost more helicopters - maybe AQI has been afraid to try because everytime they uncover a big gun the crew immediately gets UAV-zapped.
Company B, 5-7th Cav. Regt. Soldiers found 45 cans of DSHKA rounds, one DSHKA barrel, 20 rockets, two 120 mm rounds, 90 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 20 RPG fuses, 130 charges and four hand grenades. In a smaller find the same day, they located a cache of three 120 mm rockets.
The items found reveal a history of al-Qaeda in Iraq’s presence in the area. “The stuff they are finding is largely inoperable,” Wilburn said. “Even though they are degraded or worn out, it is an indication that an anti-aircraft cell may have been operating in the area at one time.”
#1
Not likely full. Since they aren't going to have forklifts handy to move those around, they probably are no heavier than two people can lift and carry in a hurry. 55gal of water is close to 450lbs. No two men are going to be carrying that by hand anywhere in a hurry.
#2
I would have supposed that the homemade explosives would be something like ANFO which is substantially lighter than water...
of course as pointed out by crosspatch logistics of moving the stuff would keep you from overfilling.
if you had a tight lid, and the stuff was stable (big if for homemade boom boom)you could lay the barrels on their side and roll them.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/13/2008 17:56 Comments ||
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#3
another idea...
You can bury a 55gal drum and hide stuff in it. then you only need to uncover the top and lift our your goodies at a later time. in that kind of scenario, you would definitely not have it completely full, but would have containers, sacks, and boxes of stuff in there with a fair bit of empty space...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/13/2008 18:00 Comments ||
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More than 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces have begun operations against al Qaeda in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said on Monday, paving the way for what Iraqi officials say will be a decisive strike.
Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced plans to drive Sunni Islamist militants out of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, which U.S. commanders call al Qaeda's last major urban stronghold. While the United States says attacks have fallen across Iraq by 60 percent, U.S. commanders have said al Qaeda remains a great threat to security and a dangerous enemy.
Tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are taking part in several offensives in Iraq's northern provinces, where al Qaeda and other insurgents regrouped after being ousted from western Anbar province and around Baghdad last year. Extra Iraqi troops, backed by helicopters and tanks, have been sent to Mosul. The U.S. military said Monday an operation had begun to clear insurgents out of bases in the east of the city, where five U.S. soldiers were killed last month. "As of right now there are 1,000 plus ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) and CF (Coalition Forces) conducting (the) ... operation," said Maj. Gary Dangerfield, a spokesman for U.S. forces in the area. "It is a preparation for the military operation which will be conducted soon to take control of volatile areas," said Wathiq al-Hamadani, police chief for Nineveh province, where Mosul is located.
While Iraqi officials have spoken of "cleansing" Mosul of al Qaeda fighters, U.S. commanders have been less emphatic, saying the forthcoming offensive was part of wider operations. U.S. Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of troops in northern Iraq, said al Qaeda fighters were being pushed out of northern cities and into more remote areas. He also said some fighters were leaving Iraq, with plans to return. "We are seeing some indications in various forms that there is an attempt at reconsolidating outside of the country and coming back in, so we're watching the borders very closely," Hertling told reporters at the Pentagon. "Some of them we have seen specifically leaving to Syria, some of them are going back to Saudi Arabia and Qatar," he told reporters by videolink from Iraq.
Dangerfield said Al Qaeda currently launches about 20-25 attacks a day on coalition forces, although most fail. However in a reminder of the group's influence, a suicide bomber used a fuel tanker to kill four Iraqi soldiers and wounded seven others in a blast in western Mosul on Sunday. Last month a huge blast in a building the U.S. military said al Qaeda used to store explosives killed up to 50 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"...paving the way for what Iraqi officials say will be a decisive strike."
If this goes well and the ISF do most of the heavy fighting, it will be a very, very good sign. What would be even better is if a true ISF commander-hero emerges out of this operation- someone who can eventually be elected and run a government with rudimentary efficiency.
Fearing Israeli targeted killings, Hamas has instructed members of its armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, not to wear uniforms and to avoid displaying their weapons in public, Channel 2 reported on Tuesday. The group has also stopped holding meetings in its official buildings in Gaza, according to the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#8
Izzadin El Kassam....
Izzadin.....
Do not wear Uniforms...
Do Not carry your AK 47 in public...
Cause it makes it eassier...
for the Hellfire missile...
to get you.....
BOOM......
Lirics: the Mossad
Guitars: Avi Dichter
Base: Shin Bet
Drums: IDF
Should be sung slowly and deliberately to the tune of Sultans of Swing.....
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/13/2008 11:05 Comments ||
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#9
Whatdja mean not wear uniforms Yussuf ?
we cant go Kassam firing stark nekkid, its against the spirit islamic....
Besides than everyone will see we have short shlongs and we get no virgins ...
#12
Not wearing uniforms and hiding among the populace is what turns soldiers into guerrillas. And stops them from being covered under the GC's as "lawful combatants".
Attacking non-military targets and civilians is what turns guerrillas into terrorists. And should stop them from being accorded any rights. Non-human killer: Shoot on sight.
Yet another reiteration of the "if you kill them that'll just make things worse" fallacy.
"Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation," Palestinian Authority President Mahoud Abbas said Tuesday. "We are opposed to targeted killings. Hamas are our brothers and part of the Palestinian people," Abbas said in a interview on Bahraini TV.
Abbas went on to say that Israel would likely announce a suspension of peace negotiations if the situation continues to escalate, but he stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not take such measures. In addition, the PA president claimed that negotiations on Jerusalem had already begun.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Abbas continued: "As I were saying, we are opposed to targeted killings by Israel. It's haram. Only we have the right kill our Hamas brothers."
#3
Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation
Rrrright Mahmud - if we kill'em all who is going to be left to send rockets on Israely southern towns. you would be handicapped because you will no longer be able to speak with the famous and oh, so useful "two voices" : Mahmud the peace negotiator + Hamas his brothers the Terrorists and naysayers. Ya can't properly negotiate without your murdering brothers Huh...?
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/13/2008 5:30 Comments ||
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#4
"Hey! How can I play the good cop if the bad cop gets fired (upon)?"
#5
Yeah, well, we could learn to live with it.
Collective punishment™, targeted killings. About the only thing that wouldn't further complicate the situation in their eyes is if the Joooos rolled over and died...
#6
Typical. You don't see this a-hole addressing any real problem, but he's first out of the box telling Israel what NOT to do.
Don't target leaders. Don't build a wall. Don't go after "militants." Don't build settlements. Don't search for tunnels. Don't close crossings.
How helpful he is.
So tell me, Abbie, baby, how do you propose stopping the rockets? Or did it not even occur to you that stopping them would be a thing worth doing (after all, they're only targeting Israeli women and children)?
#7
Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation," Palestinian Authority President Mahoud Abbas said Tuesday. "We are opposed to targeted killings. Hamas are our brothers and part of the Palestinian people," Abbas said in a interview on Bahraini TV.
Abbas went on to say that Israel would likely announce a suspension of peace negotiations if the situation continues to escalate, but he stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not take such measures. In addition, the PA president claimed that negotiations on Jerusalem had already begun
Ok, what hes saying is, even if the Israelis kill Hamas leaders, the PA will NOT break off relations with Israel. Killing Hamas leaders would be a complication, of which the PA could never approve, it wouldnt bother them so much as to distract them from the more urgent task of determining exactly which chunks of land in and around Jerusalem would pass under their control. I mean they look up from their maps long enough for a moment of silence, but thats about it.
This is as close to a green light as Abbas can possibly give in public, I think.
#9
"Killing Hamas senior leaders will further complicate the situation,"
Well dear, life is complex....
for example.. I've heard that there is an entire division in the R&D center of the IDF dedicated to complex number theory (and thankfully- practice) :)
Posted by: chefra the II ||
02/13/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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#10
Abbas went on to say that Israel would likely announce a suspension of peace negotiations if the situation continues to escalate, but he stressed that the Palestinian leadership would not take such measures.
Meaning the 'further complicate the situation' statement is for public consumption.
#14
Hmmm. In most games, removing players from the board simplifies rather than complicates the situation. Especially if more of the removees come from your opponent's side than yours.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2008 20:57 Comments ||
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#16
by the way, logically, I'd have to agree with their argument: if there are less Hamas terrorists due to killing their leaders, then negotiating with their replacements will undoubtedly be more difficult. They have to be briefed, assume new "safe" houses, find Mahmoud, it's all a tumble, isn't it?
Nevertheless, I'd say "smoke em if you got 'em" and I ain't talking cigs, Avner
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2008 21:12 Comments ||
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Sri Lankan troops backed by artillery fire killed 48 Tamil Tiger fighters in a series of battles in the north of the island, the military said on Tuesday, as it pressed on with attacks on rebel strongholds.
Ten soldiers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the fighting that erupted on Monday in the northern Jaffna peninsula and the districts of Vavuniya, Polonnaruwa and Mannar, a military spokesman said The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not available for comment. “Forty-eight LTTE terrorists were killed and 28 wounded on Monday in day heavy confrontations,” the spokesman said. Fighting between the military and the LTTE rebels has intensified since the government scrapped a six-year ceasefire pact last month. The government says the rebels had used the truce to re-arm. The Tigers continue to mount deadly suicide attacks and roadside bombings, which are increasingly scattered with some in the capital Colombo.
Tiger rebels shelled a key base in northern Sri Lanka Tuesday. The rebels attacked the Thallady military camp in the district of Mannar early Tuesday, drawing retaliatory fire from security forces, a military official said. The defence ministry said that the Tigers had also hit a Catholic church while firing at the Thallady military camp on Tuesday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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The Hizbullah terrorist organization late Tuesday night lost a top commander in a powerful car bombing the group said was carried out by Israeli operatives in Damascus. Journalists were prevented by Syrian police from approaching the vehicle following the blast. Imad Mughniyeh, considered to be the mastermind behind most, if not all of HizbullahÂ’s terror attacks, was one of the groupÂ’s most senior commanders in Lebanon. He lived in hiding for years and was able to evade the public eye until Tuesday nightÂ’s attack.
An unconfirmed report by Iranian sources said Hajj Hussein Halil, politburo director and deputy to Hizbullah chief terrorist Hassan Nasrallah, also was killed in Tuesday night's car bombing. Hizbullah has not commented.
"We got nuttin' to say!"
Mughniyeh was involved in numerous terror attacks on Israel's border with Lebanon, including the kidnapping of IDF soldiers Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad. He was also apparently behind the abduction of IDF reservists Elad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in July 2006, the cross-border raid that ignited the Second lebanon War.
He was indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, in which the airlinerÂ’s passengers were held hostage for six days at the Beirut airport. The Hizbullah terrorists severely beat US Navy diver Robert Stethem, a passenger on the June 24 flight, before killing him and dumping his body onto the tarmac. The dead terrorist was on the US governmentÂ’s Most Wanted List for having organized an attack on a US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. The October 23 car bombing killed 241 American military personnel who were stationed in Beirut as part of a peace-keeping force.
That's something that's seldom brought up: the Marines weren't there as an occupying force, but as peacekeepers. In fact, they were remarkably even-handed, and had several fairly tense run-ins with the Israelis.
Mughniyeh was also behind the 1994 attack on the Jewish-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) Community Center in Buenos Aires. Eighty-five people were murdered and 300 others were wounded in the attack. “He has been the target of the Zionists™ for 20 years,” the Hizbullah terrorist organization said in a statement to the media that claimed Mughniyeh “became a Martyr™ at the hands of the Zionist™ Israelis.”
He was also Hizbullah's main liaison with the terrorist group's main patron, Iran. The Islamic Republic provides massive support in the form of funding, equipment, weaponry and terrorist training to the group, as does Syria. Both countries have remained silent on the assassination.
The bombing is also likely to cause further upheavel in the current political crisis in Lebanon, which has been wracked by conflict between pro- and anti-Syrian forces. Anti-Syrian parties have fought off attempts by Hizbullah to increase its power in the Lebanese Cabinet. The impasse has forced a delay in Lebanon's presidential elections by several months.
#2
1, 2, 3.....all together now !
Too bad
Mughniye is dead
Too bad
Mughniye is dead
They got you in the end
now youre' gonna join the viper bed
together with the Arafish
and Achmad Yassin
and the rest of the snakeheads
no virgins for you imad
cause whats left of you is a little shred
on the front of your white pajero
Police chief Ashraf Rifi identified the dead officer as Captain Wisam Eid, whose vehicle was caught in the blast as he was on his way to work. A bodyguard was also killed.
Eid worked for an intelligence unit which is widely viewed as close to anti-Syrian ruling coalition leader Saad al-Hariri.
"Eid had a role in all the files linked to terrorist bombings," the police chief told reporters at the scene.
Eid took up his post after his predecessor Samir Shehadeh was wounded by a roadside bomb south of Beirut in 2006.
The police intelligence unit has been closely involved in the U.N.-led investigation into the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, and in a crackdown on al Qaeda-inspired militants. more at link
#10
Too bad that "huge explosion" wasn't thermonuclear, and took out pencilneck and the rest of the Syrian Baath heierarchy, plus whatever other Hizzyfits might have been hiding there. Collateral damage would have been pretty high, but it might have been worth it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/13/2008 16:37 Comments ||
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#12
The fact it's a car bomb is significant. The car bomb and roadside bomb are Iran and Syria's preferred method of attacking their opponents. Whoever set the bomb has sent the message we are going to retaliate in kind.
Imad Mugniyah, a terrorist mastermind on American and European Union most wanted lists, was killed in a blast in Damascus on Tuesday, according to a report by Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station. The militant Shiite organization said Mugniyah was assassinated by Israeli agents.
Mugniyah, who has been in hiding for years, was among the fugitives indicted in the United States for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed and the abduction of westerners in the country during the 1980s. The United States considers Mugniyah to be the man behind the bombing at the American embassy in Beirut and the attack against the US Marines' headquarters in Lebanon in 1983, which killed over 200 Americans. "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs ... The brother commander hajj Imad Mugniyah became a martyr at the hands of the Zionist Israelis," said a statement carried on Hizbullah's television.
The statement did not say how he was killed, but the announcement came a few hours after a late night explosion in Damascus destroyed a vehicle. Witnesses in Damascus said at the time that a passerby was killed as security forces sealed off the area.
Iran's English-language satellite station Press TV on Wednesday said the person slain in the Damascus explosion turned out to be Mugniyah. It said an Iranian school and a Syrian intelligence office were in the same area of Kafar Soussa where the explosion occurred. "We have released no statement on this matter," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Hizbullah accused Israel of being behind Tuesday's attack.
Mugniyah is believed by Israel to have been involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish center two years later that killed 95. The Hizbullah commander was also involved in numerous terror attacks on Israel's border with Lebanon, including the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad, and apparently also the abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. As ye sow so shall ye reap.
Also coulda been an attempt to go off the radar screen. Anybody check the DNA?
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/13/2008 6:25 Comments ||
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#2
This is great news indeed. The shia terror mastermind that was responsible for planning the bombing of the American Embassy in beirut in 1983 killing over two hundred of our nation's finest.
I would capitalize this development at the top of the page, and also include some fireworks display.
This is a big defeat for the terror masters in Teheran and Qom.
#5
I like the way this year is starting out so far. Abu Laith al-Libi dead, Mansoor Dadullah captured, Adam Pearlman missing and now this. Take out the fishing poles boys, the big fish are biting.
#7
I have the same thoughts as Bobby - plus the news sources are Hizbullah and DEBKA. So, good news, IF true, but my doubt-meter is still reading pretty high.
#8
i doubt this is an attempt to go to ground. The story is too embarassing to Baby Assad. the guy was offed, in the middle of Damascus, right outside a Syrian Intell office. Theyd have made up something that sounded more like a real accident, or an illness, or a death somewhere less embarassing.
I also dont think he was doing bombmaking work in his car, and he was more of an organizer than a bombmaker, IIUC.
No, somebody offed him. The list of folks who would want to is rather long, but the subset of those who could actually pull it off, again in the heart of Damascus is much shorter.
And Franks comment is right on. This sends a very loud message to the Hamas types hiding in Damascus that they are not safe there. I cant help but think that was the main reason to off this guy.
#10
no, Syria wouldnt kill someone nominally under their protection in an overt act of violence in the middle of Damascus. It kinda guts the reputation of Damascus as a place for folks to hide. Iran wouldnt do it for similar reasons.
The list of folks who would want to do it, is Israel, the US, the anti-Hezb Lebs, and the Argentines. The Argies certainly dont have the tradecraft/networks etc to do it. The Lebs might have the networks, but does anyone really think the younger Hariri, or heaven help us, Jumblatt, could pull this off?
Maybe an Arab intell agency, egypt, but do they have the competence for this?
#11
Wally was promising Hezbollah war just a day or two ago. I suppose this could be the opening shots. He wasn't bad at this sort of thing 20 years ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 9:57 Comments ||
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#12
I strongly agree with all of liberalhawk's comments (he's an organizer, not a bombmaker; if a plot to disappear they'd have picked a less embarrassing way) except the last sentence. The Israelis had more than enough reason to kill him for his own sake (Argentina, etc) rather than killing him mostly to message Hamas. The Hamas leaders are far easier to reach than Mugniyah, who was as elusive as anyone on the planet (see Bob Baer's books). If you want to reach for secondary reasons for the Israelis to get him, the most obvious is American gratitude because of the bombings and kidnappings he organized that targeted us. But it's clear he was killed the first time anyone got a clear bead on him rather than as a message. A message would imply the Israelis (or whoever pulled it off) could have gotten him any time and only chose this moment to send a message. Instead the mission was opportunistic and well executed.
#13
ok, maybe wally and his folks are better than I give him credit for. Given the Syrian Druze pop, it wouldnt be hard for him to have very extensive networks of sympathizers, and even formal operatives, in Syria generally and in Damascus in particular.
I would THINK that Damascus is a very tight security situation, where its harder to pull something off than in, say, Beirut. But I defer to your superior judgement on these things.
Of coures theres no particular reason it couldnt be some combination of Mugniyahs enemies at work.
#15
what Oddy says is persuasive, BUT - given the urgency to the current govt of Israel of getting quiet in Sderot and ending the Hamas effort to interfere with the Abbas talks, and given their trepidation at doing that via a large scale ground op in Gaza, the timing of this is fortuitous.
Israel has been gunning for him steadily, for the reasons oddy says. Wally has declared war on hezb, more or less. Israel has a need to go after Hamas guys in Damascus. At some point in the recent past, Mossad and Wally, who have probably been talking for some time, decided to increase the level of cooperation to major joint ops in Damascus - for intel, and for targets of opportunity. Utilizing Wallys networks inside Syria, and Israels financial and technical resources. In the course of this joint op, they got a bead on Mujniyah, both sides agreed he was a worthwhile target, and bam - he gets his virgins.
#20
Mugniyah, who has been in hiding for years, was among the fugitives indicted in the United States for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed and the abduction of westerners in the country during the 1980s.
#22
I'm not saying it was Wally, only that he could be the one to get the credit. It could also be the Frenchies. Remember, they lost 58 Paras 20 seconds after the Marines were boomed in Beirut. Muggsy was not well-liked by many people who have pretty long institutional memories.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 11:00 Comments ||
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#23
How did the Israelis or the Americans finger him? He's been successful in hiding from retribution for twenty years, and was in the heart of Terrorland. It was a one-man boom, car bomb instead of a helizap or cross-border JDAM.
I'm thinking he was screwing somebody's sister. Somebody with access to a "workshop" and his car.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/13/2008 11:03 Comments ||
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#24
Is this "The beginning of the end"?
The mass defections from AQI, plus previously mentioned successes make me think that the recent clearouts at Gitmo were in anticipation of a new crop of inmates resulting from a major intel coup.
Or better still, winding it down; having served its purpose.
#25
no, Syria wouldnt kill someone nominally under their protection in an overt act of violence in the middle of Damascus. It kinda guts the reputation of Damascus as a place for folks to hide. Iran wouldnt do it for similar reasons.
Deadeye pretty much summed it up. Iran might have done it as a condition for future... diplomatic developments.
Or - the Iranians intend to tighten their grip on Hesb'allah and Muggsie was a problem to achieving that.
Syria likewise regarding a quid pro quo, or they could have done it as a favor to the Iranians, to get rid of a 'guest' that's overstayed his welcome.
#27
Others: The killing of Mr. Mugniya, HezbollahÂ’s No. 2 and one of the top wanted men by the FBI, was neatly executed in Syria, using a small bomb planted in his vehicle that took him out immediately. The usual and likely suspects are the CIA or the Mossad, who had the highest interests in taking him down.
If that is true, then this would be a resounding success for those intelligence services, and a huge embarrassment to the Syrian authorities, not least because of the location of the killing -next to an Iranian School- and its timing -coinciding with a 2-day visit by the Iranian foreign minister to Syria-
But should we totally dismiss conspiratorial thinking? After all, this is Syria, with its famously draconian security apparatus. Could such a significant killing happen on its turf without the regimeÂ’s knowledge? Could it be that Syria is sending Mr. Obama a peace offering that precedes Mr. BrzezinskyÂ’s visit to embarrass Mr. Bush?
What about Lebanon? Mr. Walid Jumblat said yesterday that the Lebanese could “no longer coexist with Hezbollah”, and alluded to a Hezbollah role in Killing captain wissam Eid. Did Mr. Jumblat know something we didn’t know? And finally, is it a coincidence that Hezbollah will hold a funeral for Mr. Mughniya at the same day that March 14 is planning to demonstrate en mass?
#28
In Bob Baer's first book, he ID this cat as the biggest fish in the pond. IMHO, very few nations have the means and motive to do the hit. Reap sow rinse - repeat as required.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
02/13/2008 12:06 Comments ||
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#29
"Do you think you feel anything? Or does it all just fade to black?"
Posted by: Tony Sopranos Brother in law ||
02/13/2008 12:24 Comments ||
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#30
i can well understand that Syria or Iran or both might have wanted to off this guy - I have trouble imagining they couldnt have found a less embarassing time and place to do it.
An offering to Zbiggy? Kind of early for that, eh? I mean whats to lose from waiting to see who actually wins the US election?
#39
i can well understand that Syria or Iran or both might have wanted to off this guy - I have trouble imagining they couldnt have found a less embarassing time and place to do it.
True, but maybe they had no choice but to yield control over time and place in order to keep their hands clean.
#42
maybe they had no choice but to yield control over time and place in order to keep their hands clean
Mugniyah made it a habit to be difficult to track. Likely he wasn't easily accessible even to the Iranians or Syrians (tho it'd be easier for them than, say, the CIA).
Likely a matter of taking the opportunity when it arose.
#45
One thing for sure is even tho there will be Bushel Baskets full of Conspiracy Theories only one will connect Bird's Eye Peas and ole Shit Mouth's trip [Arlen Spector] as a signed, sealed and delivered proof dat da CIA and Mossad had their sneaky mitts all over dis.....
Posted by: Nick ||
02/13/2008 05:17 ||
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#1
We thank you very sweetly for doing it so neatly
You've killed him so completely
That we thank you very sweetly
Let the joyous news be spread
Imad Mughniyeh at last is dead
And he's not only merely dead
He's really most sincerely dead
Posted by: Mike ||
02/13/2008 8:25 Comments ||
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#2
That's great news to wake up to!!!! Must be true if its on al-Manar television!!! I personally think he's responsible for far more chaos than has been attributed to him, probably even Rafik Hariri's assassination and one of the League of Evil masterminds along with Bin Laden & Zawahiri. May terror strike their hearts, too.
Lebanese group Hezbollah says one of its leaders, Imad Mughniyeh, has been killed in a bombing in Damascus, and blamed Israel for assassinating him.
"Yup. They dunnit. We seen it."
Mughniyeh is widely believed to be behind a wave of Western hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s. Correspondents say he had been in hiding for years and was high on US and Israeli wanted lists. There has been not been any word about the incident from either the Syrian or Israeli governments.
Fox News reported an Israeli government statement this morning that it wasn't them. Dunno if that's true or if it's a polite denial.
Syrian police kept media and other onlookers well away from the scene of the blast in the well-to-do Kafar Soussa district. "Scores of police and intelligence officers rushed to the site. People in the neighbourhood are shocked. We are not used to such things in Syria," said one resident quoted by Reuters news agency.
"Usually we export that sort of thing to other countries."
"We saw security officers hauling the body away," said one witnesses quoted by Reuters news agency.
Damascus has witnessed a number of bomb attacks in recent years, some blamed on Israel and others on Islamic militants. Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. Hezbollah-owned Manar TV in Beirut announced the death saying: "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs... the brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyeh". Hours after the blast, Syrian state TV confirmed one person had been killed in a car bombing, but did not identify the victim.
#9
Unsatisfying. He probably never knew what hit him. Think of CIA Station Chief Buckley and how he was tortured.
Posted by: Herman Omeating7835 ||
02/13/2008 18:28 Comments ||
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#10
Yep, we got him with our transmorphigizer.
Just goes to show you what a ten place grid coordinate and a dachyon flux drive accellerator on the particle beam focal port will do for belly slithering, lice infested, untermenche types like this blob of primordial ooze...........I hope he suffered.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/13/2008 04:56 ||
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#1
The United States indicted him for the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, which resulted in the death of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem.
Which is an antiseptic way of saying Stetham was singled out because he was American and in the military, that we was beaten and tortured in front of other passengers, that he was shot and his body dumped on the runway in front of the cameras of the world. That this was done as an act of hatred against the United States and against free people everywhere (whether or not they knew or had the hear to appreciate it).
I demand revenge for his death. One is not enough.
One of the top military commanders of Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh, has died in an explosion in Syria, Hezbollah TV said Wednesday. Mughniyeh is listed as one of America's most wanted terrorists by the FBI. Mughniyeh died Tuesday in an explosion in a residential section of the Syrian capital, Damascus, according to Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar. Red wire/green wire? Cell phone battery explosion?
More likely we found him, or the Israelis found him, or Jumblatt's making good on his threat to poke Hezbollah in the eye.
Our CIA has the competence and stones to whack someone in Syria? Who knew?
The FBI says on its Web site that Mughniyeh was wanted "for his role in planning and participating in the June 14, 1985, hijacking of a commercial airliner which resulted in the assault on various passengers and crew members, and the murder of one United States citizen."
The fugitive militant Imad Mughniyeh, who was indicted in the U.S. for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a Navy diver died, has been killed by Israeli agents, Hezbollah announced Wednesday.
Mughniyeh, among America's most wanted, had been in hiding for years. "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs ... The brother commander hajj Imad Mughinyeh became a martyr at the hands of the Zionist Israelis," said a statement carried on Hezbollah's television.
Israel, in a statement, applauded his departure from the gene pool, declined to take credit.
The statement from the militant group did not say how Mughniyeh was killed, but the announcement came a few hours after a late night explosion in Damascus, capital of neighboring Syria, destroyed a vehicle. Witnesses in Damascus said at the time that a passerby was killed as security forces sealed off the area.
A car bomb exploded in a residential area of the Syrian capital on Tuesday, killing one man and injuring two, witnesses said. "We saw security officers hauling the body away," one of the witnesses said.
Security officials at the scene refused to comment. Witnesses saw a mangled white car being towed away by police who cordoned off the area, which houses an Iranian school, a police station and a main Syrian intelligence office. No further details were immediately available but the witnesses and a Palestinian source in neighboring Lebanon said the blast was caused by a bomb planted inside the vehicle. It was not clear what the target was.
My guess would be the driver. What's yours?
Witnesses said some officials from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas were at the scene but there was no indication any of its members had been the target. Some Hamas officials, including leader Khaled Meshaal, are exiled in Damascus. At least one mid-level Hamas official has been killed in Damascus by a bomb attack in recent years.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Fred,
Indeed the driver - however Rumor has it that this time the driver is no else than the infamous dog Imad Murniye
I have posted an Article citing Debka on this piece of news ( this has also been verified by Ynet - internet site a magor Israeli news source)
I think it's time to open a bottle of Dom Perignion Extra dry Champaigne
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
02/13/2008 5:51 Comments ||
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#5
Yes, definitely. Much better to hold the Mayo. For a while anyway. Then squeeze the Mayo and spread the Mayo. Then eat the Mayo, of course. Does the Mayo go well on salami? Hee hee! Managed to get the Mayo on the table, I did! Ack! The folks are coming up the driveway! Better clean up, wouldn't want them to know I've been in the Mayo!
#7
Wow, gorb, that was impressive. The only jokes left are ones I'd rather not say.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/13/2008 8:57 Comments ||
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#8
I just heard about Imad M. That news deserves its own EXTRA! EXTRA! ReadAllAboutIt! edition of the RDS&TP, featuring the Fat Lady on the front page!
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.
Farah province Governor Muhaidin Baluch said on Tuesday that the Taliban had kidnapped 11 Pakistani construction workers from the province on Sunday night. Talking to the Associated Press, he said Afghan elders were in negotiations with the kidnappers and had secured the release of seven labourers. The other four remain captive, he added. Also in Farah, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives next to a NATO convoy on Tuesday and wounded one soldier, a spokeswoman for the alliance said. The attack also caused some damage to the NATO vehicle, said Major Richelle Dowdell of NATOÂ’s International Security Assistance Force. She said the incident was being investigated. Baluch said the attacker was a 22-year-old man. He did not say how he had obtained that information. Last year the Taliban launched more than 140 suicide missions - the highest number since they were ousted from power by the United States-led invasion of 2001. Insurgency-related violence in 2007 killed a record 6,500 people, most of them militants, according to a tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.
Algerian government forces shot dead 17 members of an armed group that killed eight paramilitary gendarmes in an ambush claimed by al Qaeda, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. The al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb has said it was behind the February 7 attack on the gendarmes in the desert province of El Oued 500 km (300 miles) southeast of Algiers. The February 7 ambush was the deadliest attack in the oil- and gas-exporting OPEC state since a twin December 11 bombing killed at least 41 people, including 17 U.N. staff, in Algiers.
Yemen's leading independent newspaper will shut down after a 'savage attack' in which tribesmen fired on the editor's home on Tuesday, his son said. The son, Bashraheel Bashraheel, said guards returned fire in the incident, killing one attacker and badly wounding another. He told Reuters at daily Al-Ayyam's headquarters in the southern city of Aden that his father Hisham Bashraheel, 62, had instructed him to close the newspaper and seek political asylum abroad for the family. 
(RIA Novosti) - A militant with links to al-Qaeda has been killed in Russia's southern republic of Ingushetia, an Interior Ministry official said on Tuesday. The body of a man with gunshot wounds, found at a militant base in western Ingushetia earlier on Tuesday, was identified as Jordanian-born 
Authorities were interrogating a top Taliban commander on Tuesday, a day after he was wounded and arrested in a shootout with security forces, police said.
A bomb attached to a bicycle exploded outside the office of an election candidate in Khuzdar on Tuesday, wounding nine people including four journalists, police said. The blast happened as Sardar Aslam Bizenjo was addressing a press conference at his office, local police chief Hamid Shakil said. “Someone parked a bicycle outside Bizenjo’s office which exploded during his press conference,” Shakil said, adding that Bizenjo was unhurt and that the injured were shifted to a local hospital. A wave of bomb blasts has gripped the country ahead of the February 18 general elections, claiming the lives of about 100 people so far this year. A suicide car bomber killed around eight people and injured dozen others in an attack on an election candidate’s convoy in North Waziristan on Monday, fuelling fears about the increasingly bloody campaign for the polls. Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Nisar Ali Khan was slightly injured in the blast. On Saturday, a bomb ripped through a similar ANP gathering in Charsadda district.
Local Taliban on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the abduction of Pakistani Ambassador to Kabul Tariq Azizuddin and said they would release him in return for Taliban commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, Online news agency quoted Geo television as saying.
Pakistani authorities were searching tonight for their country's Ambassador to Afghanistan and two nuclear officials who appear to have been kidnapped separately in the tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan. Police were also interrogating Mullah Mansour Dadullah, a top Taleban commander who was captured in the northwest yesterday, amid reports that Islamist militants had offered to swap him for the Ambassador. 
Some foreign fighters are returning to their home countries of Syria and Saudi Arabia, he said, taking with them funds earmarked for fighters in Iraq. Some are trying to reorganize outside the countryÂ’s borders, but HertlingÂ’s troops are watching the border and have arrested some as they try to return, he said. Others, who no longer feel safe in the cities because they are afraid that local citizens will turn them in, are hiding out in abandoned mud huts, canals or caves in the desert.
More than 1,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces have begun operations against al Qaeda in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said on Monday, paving the way for what Iraqi officials say will be a decisive strike.
Fearing Israeli targeted killings, Hamas has instructed members of its armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, not to wear uniforms and to avoid displaying their weapons in public, Channel 2 reported on Tuesday. The group has also stopped holding meetings in its official buildings in Gaza, according to the report.
Sri Lankan troops backed by artillery fire killed 48 Tamil Tiger fighters in a series of battles in the north of the island, the military said on Tuesday, as it pressed on with attacks on rebel strongholds. 
by Hana Levi Julian
An unconfirmed report by Iranian sources said Hajj 
"We have released no statement on this matter," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, after Hizbullah accused Israel of being behind Tuesday's attack.
Lebanese group Hezbollah says one of its leaders, 
Damascus has witnessed a number of bomb attacks in recent years, some blamed on Israel and others on Islamic militants. Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. Hezbollah-owned Manar TV in Beirut announced the death saying: "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs... the brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyeh". Hours after the blast, Syrian state TV confirmed one person had been killed in a car bombing, but did not identify the victim.
One of the top military commanders of Hezbollah, 
The fugitive militant 
