Afghan and NATO-led troops killed a regional Taliban commander and his associate in southern Afghanistan, and an explosion claimed the life a British soldier in a separate incident, officials said Thursday.
The joint NATO-Afghan forces killed commander Mullah Abdul Matin and Mullah Karim Agha in the southern province of Helmand on Monday, the alliance said in a statement. "As a result of this successful attack, the Taliban's networks have suffered another severe setback," said Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
This article starring:
Carlos Branco
IN THE SUTHERN PROVINCE OF HELMAND ON MONDAI
Taliban
MULLAH ABDUL MATIN
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
is this the start of the dreaded taliban spring offensive?
Ethiopia foiled a kidnapping attempt on a group of French and other tourists near the Eritrean border in northeastern Ethiopia, the government said. The attempt, which state media reported Wednesday night, occurred around midday and was unsuccessful, but state media said the would-be kidnappers shot at the tourists' vehicles. Further details were not immediately available.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Morocco said Thursday it has dismantled a terrorist network that raised funds through holdups and jewelry thefts in Europe and was plotting to assassinate Cabinet ministers, army officers and Jews in the North African kingdom.
Thirty-two suspected terrorists were arrested in the operation, including Muhammad Mirwani, who heads the unauthorized "Umma Party", and Hizbullah's Al-Manar satellite TV correspondent in Morocco, Abd Al-Hafid Sriti.
The official MAP news agency also reported Wednesday night that the North African kingdom banned an Islamist political party, Al Badil Al Hadari (Civilized Alternative), because some members were linked to the network. MAP said authorities discovered a vast stash of weapons while dismantling the network, which they believe is linked to Al-Qaida and local terror groups.
Among those arrested was CA General-Secretary Mustafa Mutasim. The Moroccan police said it had evidence proving a link between the CA and Al-Qaida.
Investigations by the Moroccan security authorities are said to have proved that Belliraj had contacts with Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, Morocco, and Algeria between 2001 and 2005, Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Benmoussa added that there were attempts in 2002 to arrange for training in Hizbullah training camps in Lebanon. He said some of the network members had been trained to handle weapons and explosives thanks to relations established by Abd Al-Qadir Belliraj with international terror organizations.
This article starring:
ABD AL HAFID SRITI
Hizbullah
ABD AL QADIR BELLIRAJ
al-Qaeda in North Africa
Chakib Benmoussa
MUHAMAD MIRWANI
Umma Party
MUSTAFA MUTASIM
Badil Al Hadari
Badil Al Hadari
Umma Party
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
only in that part of the world would we find a terrorist group called "civilized alternative"
The medical center at the US Military Academy (West Point) has been treating soldiers flown in with training and field injuries for several years since the staff have a lot of expertise in orthopedic surgery and rehab. Recently they've begun expanding services to wounded soldiers & their families. Video report online here
A top commander of Pakistan based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad and two of his associates were killed in a fierce gunfight with Indian army and police in North Kashmir, Thursday.
A top police officer told NewsBlaze that police received specific information that Jaish militants were present in Batnar, Kooligam area in North Kashmir. "After receiving the inputs, police and army personnel launched a combing operation in the area to flush out the militant hiding there," he said.
The police officer said that while the force personnel were conducting house to house searches, they came under fire from the militants hiding there. "The fire was returned by the soldiers, triggering an encounter. The ensuing gunfight lasted for more than eight hours during which three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants were killed," he said.
He identified one of the slain militants as Commander Pasha. "He was one of the most wanted commanders of Jaish and his killing is a major setback to the militant group in Kashmir," added the police officer.
He claimed that some arms and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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A plain clothed Indian policeman looks at bodies of two militants inside a police headquarters in Pulwama, 45 km (28 miles) south of Srinagar February 15, 2008. Indian police authorities said on Friday that they killed two militants including a commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistan based militant group, in an overnight gunbattle in Litter village of Pulwama district
Indian policemen stand guard near closed shops during a protest in Srinagar on February 11, 2008. Police in Indian-administered Kashmir detained dozens of demonstrators on Monday demanding the remains of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat, who was hanged and buried in an Indian jail 24 years ago, police said. Shops and businesses were shut in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, to mark the anniversary of Bhat's hanging.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/22/2008 14:46 Comments ||
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#3
Hey! Where's the toe tag in pic #3, John? Just ain't right not to have a toe tag on that guy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2008 18:54 Comments ||
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#4
I doubt they bother with the morgue. They'll just hand the body over to the nearest Imam for burial.
Some dead jihadis have been dumped into rivers flowing across the LOC...
Posted by: john frum ||
02/22/2008 19:10 Comments ||
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In first incident of its kind, a para-military soldier was arrested with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and a grenade in South Kashmir.
A police officer told NewsBlaze that during routine frisking of passengers at Pulwama in South Kashmir, a para-military soldier was found possessing an IED weighing about a half kilogram fitted in a steel glass. "A hand grenade was also recovered from his possession," the police officer said.
He said that the para-military soldier was immediately taken into custody. "He is being questioned to know where from he got the IED and where he had to transport it. It is being established whether he was working for any militant group," the police officer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Handcuff him to a post in some deserted spot, and "Test" the IED.
If it fails, "Test" the grenade.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/22/2008 14:35 Comments ||
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#2
I see the affirmative action program for surrendered 'militants'/aggrieved Muslims in the Indian security forces is going well...
Posted by: john frum ||
02/22/2008 15:25 Comments ||
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Police said on Thursday that three more militants had surrendered to authorities in Koza Banda, Swat district.
The militants surrendered themselves to the district administration through the Aman (peace) Committee. They were later released after three personal surety bonds and guarantee of the Aman Committee. In Swat, around 155 militants have surrendered since January 24. However, security at checkposts has been further tightened and routine patrolling was continuing. Curfew was relaxed from 6am to 8pm in the entire Swat district on Thursday. All bazaars and shopping centers were open and life was normal in the town.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Several lawyers were wounded when police fired tear-gas shells and baton-charged them for holding protests in Pakistan for the reinstatement of deposed judges last year by President Musharraf to get him re-elected for another five-year Presidential term by the outgoing assemblies.
Lawyers held protest demonstrations outside Sindh High Court building in Southern Karachi port city. Police to disperse them fired tear-gas shells and use baton-charge. While, according to police sources, several lawyers were also arrested.
Lawyers have re-activated their movement with full swing after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) came out as winners of Mondays elections. The two parties, likely to form coalition government, are likely to restore suspended judges however, they vary on their policies. Also, hundreds of lawyers and members of civil society groups held protests here Thursday afternoon outside Judges colony. Heavy police deployment had been made to prevent them from entering inside the colony.
The assessment, from a 22-year-old Marine toughing out physical therapy on two prosthetic limbs, is laconic, matter-of-fact. Sgt. David Emery lost one leg in February 2007 when a suicide bomber assaulted the checkpoint near Haditha, Iraq, where he and fellow Marines stood guard. Military surgeons were forced to remove his remaining leg when it became infected with acinetobacter baumannii -- a strain of highly resistant bacteria that since U.S. forces began fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has threatened the lives, limbs, and organs of hundreds wounded in combat.
"They could have saved it," says Emery. "They had a rod in it, but then the bacteria was in too bad and my white blood cell count was up to 89,000-and they told my mom on a Friday that they had to take it."
Continued on Page 49
#1
This is a nasty antibiotic resistant bacteria. It is also present in the U.S. in hospitals. In looking it up, it was mentioned that phage therapy has been used in treatment for this bacterial infection. I have read that phage therapy was used quite a bit before the advent of antibiotics but that there has not been much interest in this treatment method in the U.S. I know little about phage therapy. My understanding is that a tailor made virus (bacteriophage) injected into the body is used to kill the bacteria. Any medical types know something about this phage therapy? Why is it not used more? Any downside to this type of treatment? Effectiveness?
#2
I gather that Canadian researchers just discovered that a cholesterol drug has the bizarre side effect of sucking the pigment out of streptococcus and leaving it defenseless to the immune system.
Still way too early to tell if it could be used against a real infection, though.
#4
Seem to recall something about the Russkies sticking with phage research while the west went all out toward antibiotics after the discovery of penicillin. Could be remembering that wrong.
Interesting side note about drug resistant bacteria. Turns out we owe a lot of that to AIDS. It would have happened eventually anyway. AIDS sped it up. In the 80's there was a rapid appearance of a lot of people with suppressed immune systems dying of common infections. Doctors pumped them full of antibiotics, which kept them alive. But their bodies weren't strong enough to actually beat the infections. Tailor made set up to breed super bugs.
It looks like we caught this guy the day before the financier. Was HE the tipster?
BAGHDAD Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers captured a suspected Special Groups criminal cell leader in the Rashid District of the Iraqi capital Feb. 19. Soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to Task Force Dragon, noticed a man fitting the description of a suspected cell leader during a routine patrol of Abu TShir and detained him without incident.
It is believed the alleged Special Groups cell leader had taken over the day-to-day direction of the criminal cell after its previous leader was arrested by Coalition forces in the same area. The suspect was taken to a Coalition forces detention facility for further questioning.
The criminal activities of those who choose to dishonor the ceasefire pledge of al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr will not be tolerated, said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, MND-B spokesman. We will continue to work with Iraqi security forces to identify these criminals and bring them to justice.
Turkish troops have launched a ground incursion across the border into Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish rebels, the military said Friday - an action that dramatically escalates Turkey's conflict with the militants.
It is the first confirmed Turkish military ground operation in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, and it raised concerns that it could trigger a wider conflict with the US-backed Iraqi Kurds despite Turkish assurances that its only target was the PKK rebel group. Intresting
#1
Strategicly important in the current time frame, especially if there is a blow up between Syria Leb and Israel.......that is, if any iran blitzkrieg shows its hand, this well positioned blocking force would terminate all momentum.
#2
Turkey is not on our side. More likely they would be positioned to help Iran if a blitzkrieg were to occur. How hard is this to see? It drives me crazy because it seems you have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to have seen this coming years ago.
Erdogan is an Islamist. The Turkish military is not going to step in and maintain the secular nature of Turkey. No matter how often that stupid mantra is repeated and no matter how much we want that to be true, it is not.
The western world is not going to die from a major blow, but from a million stab wounds to the back.
#3
Turkey is not on our side.
Which side is Our are you referring to?
Erdogan is an Islamist. The Turkish military is not going to step in and maintain the secular nature of Turkey.
History says they would act to preserve Turkey as a secular state.
The western world is not going to die from a major blow, but from a million stab wounds to the back.
Well, you seem to know of what you speak, I am just not sure which side of your mouth is doing the talking.
#4
not on OUR side meaning that little man Erdogan believes he will wear the big Turban in the Caliphate. What more does he need to do to make it clear?
"Our" side would be the side that is against the concept of establishing a global caliphate and establishig Sharia.
History says they would act to preserve Turkey as a secular state.
That's what the "experts" kept saying before they stabbed us in the back by stringing us along to think we could use Turkey for the initial invasion. That's what they keep saying now. Always fighting the last war even in a case like this when it could not be more obvious that all those members of the Turkish military that were once such great guys and good friends are not the ones in charge. I keep hearing "the Turkish Military will step in, the turkish military will step in, the turkish military will step in. I guess if it is repeated often enough it becomes true.
Historically, Grant and Lee were once on the same side too. Things change. Times change. Turkey is working against us and the sooner the experts get a grip on that the more sense their actions will begin to make.
BAGHDAD Multi-National Division Baghdad soldiers detained a Special Groups commander during an operation in Baghdads Shaab neighborhood Feb. 20. The detainee is suspected of involvement in multiple murders and other criminal activities.
The suspect is a known Special Groups leader and financier believed to receive funding from Iran that was earmarked to support the Diyala criminal network, said Maj. Cameron Weathers, the 2nd BCT intelligence officer.
The money is typically used to pay and equip Special Groups criminals, procure vehicles and support criminal activities against innocent Iraqis. One presumes he kept good books so he could account for the funds with his bosses in Tehran. One hopes we have those books.These criminal elements who insist on ignoring al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadrs ceasefire pledge are certainly not working in the best interest of Iraqis, said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, MND-B spokesman. We will continue our efforts to bring these criminals to justice.
Paratroopers with 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, detained the suspect at approximately 7 p.m. after a tip on his whereabouts.
#1
These criminal elements who insist on ignoring al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadrs ceasefire pledge are certainly not working in the best interest of Iraqis.
Me thinks, the good Lt. Col. Steve Stover deserves a Rantburg SNARK of the Day.
Turkeys military and civilian leaders vowed to press ahead on Thursday with cross-border attacks against Kurdish militants in Iraq as Turkish artillery shelled suspected Kurdish militant targets across the Iraqi border. Turkish warplanes also attacked militant positions in northern Iraq on Thursday, according to NTV television, which cited Iraqi Kurdish officials. However, Turkish authorities did not immediately confirm the reports.
An Iraqi Army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Turkish shelling hit several villages in the Sedafan area, some 30 kilometres away from the Turkish border. Jabbar Yawar, a spokesman for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, said sporadic bombing was taking place in the border areas. He gave no information about casualties. Yawar said Turkish fighter jets had penetrated Iraqi air space, but had not dropped any bombs.
In Ankara, Turkeys civilian and military leaders issued a statement after a bimonthly meeting on national security, saying cross-border attacks by the military would continue as long they were deemed necessary. The military did not comment on the reports of shelling, but denied a news report out of Iraq that claimed that Turkish forces had clashed with Iraqi Kurd fighters in northern Iraq.
A ground operation against the militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, hiding in Iraq remained an option, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Tuesday. The timing of any operation would depend on weather, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
See TOPIX/OTHER > TURKEY INVADES IRAQ - AGAIN, + TURKEY SENDS TROOPS INTO NORTHERN IRAQ + PKK VOWS TERROR ATTACKS INSIDE TURKEY. Instanbul, major Turkish cities-areas will burn in the flames of PKK = Kurd vengeance.
(Xinhua) -- Palestinian security forces detained six members of Islamic Hamas movement in West Bank on Wednesday night, the Islamic movement said on Thursday. In Salfeet town, the security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah movement arrested two members of a municipal council and a third Hamas local leader, Hamas said in a statement faxed to the press.
Two other Hamas members were arrested in Qalqilya and a thirdone in Tubas after being summoned to the police station. Pro-Abbas forces has been cleaning up on Hamas men in West Bank since last June in response to Hamas' takeover of Gaza Strip by force. Fatah also accuses Hamas of cracking down on its supporters in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
That's what happens when you don't pay your Baksheesh.....
14 Palestinian prisoners from Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who are wanted by the IDF, escaped from a Palestinian Authority prison in Nablus Thursday. The prisoners said they had escaped "to protest the prison administration not living up to agreements" with them. The escapees were slated to speak to the media right after the arrest but ended up calling off the press conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#4
Oooooops. Probably figured they were safer inside Chez Prison than having the IDF hunting them down...
Fourteen Aksa Martyrs Brigades terror operatives gave themselves up to the Palestinian Authority Friday after escaping from a Nablus prison the previous day. Palestinian officials said that the inmates surrendered after negotiations with Palestinian security forces.
The prisoners, who are wanted by the IDF, said Thursday they had escaped "to protest the prison administration not living up to agreements" with them. Israeli officials said the escape demonstrated the PA's inability to fight terror.
Meanwhile, IDF troops arrested ten Palestinian fugitives in overnight operations in the West Bank. The detainees were transferred to security forces for interrogation.
#6
"Escape"? I rather doubt they traded chocolates for fake identity documents and tunneled for months. More like they walked out of the door when their demands for cable TV and weekly visits by comfort women were not met.
IAF aircraft struck a Palestinian Kassam rocket-launching cell in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday morning. According to the army, the cell was preparing to launch rockets in the direction of Sderot. It was not immediately clear if anybody was wounded in the air strike.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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An exiled Muslim terror rebel leader warned Thailand's new government that a violent Islamic jihad insurgency in the south could worsen if the region is denied sovereignty, renewing debate Friday over a possible referendum on autonomy. The comments from Lukman B. Lima, who heads the Pattani United Liberation Organization from exile in Sweden, were the first from the Muslim terror rebel movement since Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his interior minister made conflicting remarks on the issue earlier this month.
"The worst-case scenario can still be avoided, but only if Mr. Samak and the military forces allow the people of Pattani to determine their own future," Lukman said in an e-mailed statement received by The Associated Press on Friday. "If, in a referendum sanctioned by Bangkok, Pattani chooses independence, there will be one less border in the world marked by endemic conflict," he said.
Four small bombs exploded in the region Friday. Authorities blamed Muslim terrorists rebels.
It was not clear to what extent Lukman's comments reflected the views of the other shadowy groups involved in the jihad insurgency. PULO is the only rebel organization to comment on the fighting, and its leaders have been in self-imposed exile in Sweden for several years.
Nimukta Waba, a Muslim lawmaker from Pattani province, said Friday he did not believe Lukman knew what people in the region wanted. "The local people are only demanding justice, fair treatment and equal rights," said Nimukta, a member of the Puea Pandin Party a member of the government's ruling coalition. "I think at least 90 percent of people here do not want autonomy. It would be useless to hold a referendum."
#1
Oh, yes. I'm sure a referendum would make all this bad stuff just "go away". Unless, of course, they lose. Or win...
So sez Lukman B. Lima, deep within his frontline bunker in Sweden.
Two students and a school official were wounded when terrorists suspected insurgents detonated a bomb at Yala Rajabhat University on Friday morning. Police said a five-kilogramme bomb was placed inside its Science and Technology Faculty and was detonated by remote control at around 10am. The victims, all female, were rushed to Yala Centre Hospital.
Kraisorn Sritrairat, dean of the university, said police are still not sure who planted the bomb. However, he said he believes the attack must be staged by terrorists suspected militants. He said the university allowed security officials to search dormitories, and several students were called in for questioning. Although they are released later, he believes the insurgents may want to seek revenge. "Actually, I believe Yala Rajabhat University is not the location targeted by insurgents," he said. "But the fact that some students were interrogated, the insurgents may do this as a retaliation."
At least 92 Tamil Tiger rebels and three government soldiers died in intense battles for a bunker line in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Thursday.
Government forces destroyed five bunkers held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during fighting on Wednesday afternoon, a ministry statement said. As per the military reports received from the northern battlefronts, at least 92 terrorists were killed and over 15 suffered injuries during yesterdays confrontations, the statement said. Also, three soldiers were killed in action while another 20 sustained injuries.
The clashes came hours after suspected rebels struck in the deep south, away from the usual conflict zone, killing three soldiers guarding a highway in Buttala, 350 kilometres (220 miles) from the Tigers northern de facto state.
Artillery use: Meanwhile, the LTTE issued a statement accusing government forces of using artillery in civilian areas inside rebel-held territory, injuring children and farmers. Tamil civilians ... are paying dearly for the constant shelling by the Sri Lanka military. Thousands of families have (been) displaced from their homes, the guerrillas said. According to the defence ministry, some 1,450 rebels have been killed so far this year. The military estimates the rebel strength at 5,000 combatants.
The military said 83 soldiers and police have been killed in 2008. Casualty figures provided by both sides differ wildly and cannot be independently verified since the government bars journalists and human rights workers from frontline and rebel-held areas. The Sri Lankan government last month officially pulled out of a truce with the rebels, who have fought for more than three decades for an independent ethnic homeland in the Sinhalese-majority island.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
I'd make a joke open "open Dors", but I can't think of how to make one that isn't too explicit.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/22/2008 7:58 Comments ||
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#5
You should think lofty thoughts like me. I like Diana Dors for her mind. Her greatest film might have been Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951). Oh forget it--DD is a good lookin babe.
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.
Afghan and NATO-led troops killed a regional Taliban commander and his associate in southern Afghanistan, and an explosion claimed the life a British soldier in a separate incident, officials said Thursday. 
A top commander of Pakistan based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad and two of his associates were killed in a fierce gunfight with Indian army and police in North Kashmir, Thursday.
BAGHDAD Multi-National Division Baghdad soldiers detained a Special Groups commander during an operation in Baghdads Shaab neighborhood Feb. 20. The detainee is suspected of involvement in multiple murders and other criminal activities. 
At least 92 Tamil Tiger rebels and three government soldiers died in intense battles for a bunker line in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Thursday.
