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Jordan frees al-Maqdessi
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
41 Taliban put to good use in south Afghanistan
Hey, fertilizer is useful, isn't it?
"Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms." -- Josie Wales.
Afghan and international forces killed 41 Taliban militants in a battle in southern Afghanistan, and a suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of U.S. troops left six Afghan civilians dead in Kabul, U.S. and Afghan officials said Thursday.

None of the four American troops traveling in the two armored vehicles of the convoy was badly wounded in the Thursday attack, said Lt. Col. David Johnson, a spokesman for U.S. forces. The troops were traveling in one SUV and one truck, he said. Six Afghan civilians were killed and up to 20 others wounded in the blast, Deputy Interior Minister Munir Mangal said.
That's going to make the locals happy.
The attacker was driving a white Toyota Corolla, he said, a favorite among suicide car bombers.
"Mahmoud, this car's the bomb! It's a total babe magnet and gets great mileage, too!"
In a mobile phone text message to an Associated Press reporter in Pakistan, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid identified the suicide bomber as Abdullah.
Great. That's only about 10% of the population. Shouldn't take long to find him.
The suicide car bomb turned into a fiery hull that burned on the main airport road long after the attack, which also damaged several other vehicles. U.S. troops and international security contractors surrounded the area after the blast.

In southern Helmand province, Afghan and international forces attacked Taliban militants Wednesday morning as they traveled by motorcycle toward the Pakistan border, said Ghulam Dastagir Azad, governor of neighboring Nimroz province. The troops employed airstrikes during the four-hour battle and killed 41 militants, including 17 from Nimroz, he said. A Taliban commander from Nimroz was among the dead.
Must have been up-armored motorcycles.
The U.S.-led coalition could not confirm the attack. NATO said they were looking into the report, but did not immediately have any information.
Sorry, no evidence left to confirm or deny the report.
In other news violence, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces killed nearly a dozen suspected militants in Helmand during a clash Tuesday in Garmsir district, the coalition said in a statement. The troops had been searching compounds for Taliban traffickers of weapons and foreign fighters when they were came under fire.
By the suspects, of course.
In Wardak province, a remote-controlled bomb hit a police vehicle Thursday in Saydabad district, killing one policeman and wounding four others, said district police investigator Mohibullah Khan.

In Zabul province, Afghan security forces and NATO troops launched an operation Wednesday against Chechen fighters meeting in Daychopan district, said district chief Fazel Bari. The ensuing two-hour gun battle left three Chechens dead and six wounded, he said.

On Wednesday in Farah province, authorities recovered the dead body of the Pusht Rod [sic - maybe they meant pushrod?] district police chief, a day after he was kidnapped along with five other policemen, said Bariyalai Khan, spokesman for the Farah provincial police. There was no information on the fates of the five other men.
Check the local Starbucks to see if they're being questioned by the Taliban.
Posted by: gorb || 03/13/2008 05:50 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Leave the bodies to the vultures.
Posted by: anymouse || 03/13/2008 13:48 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a start....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/13/2008 22:26 Comments || Top||

#3  they better compost well....you can't apply shit directly without E Coli concerns...
Posted by: Frank G || 03/13/2008 22:27 Comments || Top||


Battle Company Is Out There
Very, very long NYT article about Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, to secure the Korengal Valley in the northeastern province of Kunar, Afghanistan. Multimedia as well. Written by an NYT contributor who apparently was an embed, there is lots and lots of hang-wringing but also some interesting nuggets of information about life on the ground in hostile territory.

But be warned: stop-loss, prozåc, "what are we doing out here", gloom, despair, combat fatigue, aimlessness, and defeatism, as only the NYT can do it.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  ION, DEFENSETECH.ORG > NAVAL UCAVS [Carrier-capable/borne Squadron(s)] BY 2015 + RADAR TECH CAN SHIFT MILITARY MIGHT.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2008 2:32 Comments || Top||

#2  TOPIX > MEDVED - THREE [US] OPTIONS FOR DEALING WITH TERROR. OBAMA's versus RON PAUL'S versus MCCAIN's, etc.; + TERROR WAR WORKHORSE IS FALLING APART [C130 series] + AFGHANISTAN:SEARCHING FOR AVAILABLE NATO MIL HELICOPTERS [too few/aren't any].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2008 2:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Will the NYT ever learn?
Posted by: Chanter Smith3492 || 03/13/2008 7:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Just so everyone knows, some feedback from the unit involved suggests they were yanking her chain just a bit. The Captain is well-liked and well-respected by his peers and the situation is not what was reported.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 03/13/2008 9:46 Comments || Top||

#5  But be warned: stop-loss, prozåc, "what are we doing out here", gloom, despair, combat fatigue, aimlessness, and defeatism, as only the NYT can do it.

I chewed right through my T shirt while reading it.. me Hands hurtz too...
Posted by: RD || 03/13/2008 12:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Chuck: no, reeeeaaaallly?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2008 13:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Ever since the first part of the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), I realized that reporters, if they look hard enough, can always find one or two dissatisfied soldiers and quote only them as if they are representative. And probably every soldier on a battlefield has times when they are blue and/or angry. If they look hard enough, they can find a newby officer who gets confused sometimes, makes mistakes, gets laughed at behind his back, and represent those officers as typical.
Reason #45223523 why I don't bother to read the MSM anymore.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 03/13/2008 14:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Soldiers bitch? Who knew?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/13/2008 16:02 Comments || Top||

#9  NS - didn't Patton or some other WWII general say something to the effect that he didn't worry if the men were bitching. It was when they stopped bitching that he got worried.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 03/13/2008 16:48 Comments || Top||

#10  "Why, with all our technology, were we killing so many civilians in air strikes?"

Because:
1) We're not; a lot of the civilian deaths are fictional,
2) We're not; a lot of the deaths are actually militants in civilian clothes, and
3) The Islamists routinely use civilians as human shields, either with or without their consent.

350 civilians killed, per Human Rights Watch - even if that was accurate and unfortunate, it pales in comparison to ANY other war ever. NYT, you have a REAL story in front of you but you don't even see it, because it doesn't fit the template.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/13/2008 17:32 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm going to do a little background on this NYT reporter. More tomorrow perhaps
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2008 17:45 Comments || Top||

#12  gloom, despair and agony on me ....
Posted by: legolas || 03/13/2008 21:07 Comments || Top||


Afghan militants torch telecom tower
A telecommunications tower was set ablaze in western Afghanistan, a police official said Wednesday, the latest such attack since insurgents warned phone companies to shut down the towers at night.

Five militants set fire to the generator, fuel tank and antenna of the tower Tuesday night in the Obe district of Herat province, said Raouf Ahmadi, a regional police spokesman. The tower belonged to the Areeba company. The Taliban believe US and other foreign troops are using mobile phone signals to track insurgents and launch attacks against them. A Taliban spokesman issued a threat last month saying militants would blow up towers across Afghanistan if telecom companies did not switch off their signals at night.

At least two other Areeba towers have been hit, as well as three more owned by the Roshan company. Most attacks have been in the insurgency-plagued southern provinces, though one of the Roshan towers was hit last week by a rocket-propelled grenade in northern Jawzjan province, said Gen Khalil Aminzada, the provincial police chief. It was not clear if the arsonists in the Herat attack were linked to Taliban fighters.

Communications experts say the US military can use satellites and other means to pick up mobile phone signals. The Taliban rely on mobile phones to communicate and coordinate their operations.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  TOPIX > MUSLIM TERROR: LOS ANGELES, MANHATTAN, MANILA, JERUSALEM, AND IRAQ. Short summary of Islamist terror designs-violence, + just to name a few major mom-NYC world cities.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2008 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Why aren't the cell towers being guarded by snipers?
Posted by: gorb || 03/13/2008 1:54 Comments || Top||

#3  TOPIX > US TO PURSUE OWN NATIONAL INTERESTS IN PAKI/PAKISTAN; + THE INDIAN-PAKISTAN THAW CONTINUES, + US ME COMMANDER: NO NEW TALIBAN OFFENSIVE THIS YEAR.

For SPRING 2008 anyway - NO PROMISES ABOUT FALL 2008, THOUGH!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2008 2:47 Comments || Top||

#4  That's what you get when a bunch of illiterate yokels are devising strategy. I assure you that NATO is tracking cell phones, and I can also assure you that they don't need active towers to do it. I guess it has more to do with the Taliban telling their followers to not use their phones at night (or any other time)...

My sister's friend was building towers there a couple of years ago. More work for him, I guess. Good pay, but the bombings would suck.
Posted by: Vanc || 03/13/2008 3:34 Comments || Top||

#5  If that's what they are worried about, it seems to me that it would be more effective for the terrorists to just turn off their cell phones at night and be done with it. After all, if they burned down all the cell phone towers, they couldn't use their phones!
Posted by: gorb || 03/13/2008 3:40 Comments || Top||

#6  But then everyone wouldn't be able to use their phones. The idea is, when the Taliban suffers, the innocent civilians also suffer. Thus, the Western media is able to put the blame on the USA once again.
Posted by: gromky || 03/13/2008 4:40 Comments || Top||

#7  That's a totally stupid idea, gromky. In fact, it's stupid enough that the MSM might actually fall for it! ;-)
Posted by: gorb || 03/13/2008 6:09 Comments || Top||

#8  Might?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2008 8:23 Comments || Top||

#9  The MSM would jump at the chance to blame it on Bush.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/13/2008 8:40 Comments || Top||


Afghan unrest kills five civilians, NATO soldiers wounded
Bomb blasts struck two NATO convoys in Afghanistan Wednesday, wounding four foreign soldiers, while five civilians were killed in separate extremist-linked unrest, officials said.

In an attack claimed by Taliban terrorists insurgents, a suicide car bomb struck a Canadian armoured vehicle driving through the southern city of Kandahar, the Canadian military said. An Afghan man was killed, his body badly burned by the blast, which also set a house alight, and at least one civilian was wounded, witnesses and officials said.

A Canadian soldier with NATO's International Security Assistance Force was also injured, said ISAF spokesman Captain Mark Gough. "It was a suicide car bomb attack against a Canadian convoy.... One military vehicle was damaged," said another ISAF spokesman, Captain Fraser Clark.

The Taliban, an Islamic terrorist militant group that was in government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, confirmed it was behind the blast -- similar to scores of others carried out by the insurgents.

A roadside bomb, another favoured Taliban terrorist weapon, meanwhile struck a vehicle containing Romanian troops also serving with the ISAF, wounding three of them, the Romanian defence ministry said in Bucharest. The soldiers were hit on a road linking Kandahar to neighbouring Zabul province, it said, adding the wounded were in a stable condition.

ISAF reported meanwhile that two Afghan women and two children were killed Tuesday when troops returned fire at terrorists insurgents who had attacked them in southern Afghanistan. "Tragically, a group of civilians received fire causing the death of two women and two children," a statement said, without saying where the attack occurred.

Britain voiced regret after the counter-strike by its forces, which also left one civilian injured. The Ministry of Defence said an investigation had been launched after the incident. "We can confirm UK forces were involved in an operation in the south of Helmand Province," the MoD said in a statement. "We deeply regret that this incident happened and do everything we can to mitigate this from happening. This incident is currently under investigation and it would be inappropriate for us to comment."

According to British media reports citing military officials, the incident happened when air strikes were called in by the British ground forces against Taliban positions.

Civilian casualties by international soldiers helping the Afghan government defeat a Taliban-led uprising are deeply sensitive and President Hamid Karzai has regularly called on troops to take more care.
When was the last time the Taliban apologized for killing civilians?
In the western province of Farah meanwhile, police were searching for five officers missing following a clash with the terrorists rebels on Monday, provincial police commander Jalilullah Rahman said. A policeman seized in the same incident was believed to have been killed by his Taliban captors, Rahman said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  They never apologize to anyone at all. They are on a mission from "Allah".
Posted by: newc || 03/13/2008 2:35 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Austrian police get new lead in 'al-Qaeda' kidnap case
Austrian officials are examining a fresh message from the suspected kidnappers of two tourists whose abduction has been claimed by the north African wing of al-Qaeda. Vienna's Foreign Ministry said the information posted on a website included up-to-date passport details for the couple, identified by relatives as 51-year-old tax consultant Wolfgang Ebner and his companion, 43-year-old Andrea Kloiber. They disappeared while on holiday in Tunisia last month. Reports since then claim they have been taken to a hideout in either Mali or Algeria.

The passport details are evidence of an abduction but not proof according to Austria's Interior Minister Rudolf Gollia who said: "The document numbers were found to be consistent with those of the two Austrians. But of course, we do not know where that data actually came from and how the senders of the posted message obtained this information."

The group, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, linked its action to the recent Israeli offensive in Gaza. But analysts think the aim could be to raise money by negotiating the couple's release.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Bangladesh
Bangladesh jails nine militants for life
A Bangladesh court sentenced nine militants to life in prison on Wednesday for blasts carried out as part of nationwide bomb attacks that shook the country in 2005, police said.

Six of the nine militants of the banned group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were present in the courtroom in southern Barguna district when the judge announced the verdict, court inspector Mohammad Yunus said. Three others were tried in absentia, he added. “All nine JMB members were found guilty of carrying out a series of bomb blasts in the district town on August 17, 2005,” he said.

Authorities say the JMB was behind 400 nearly simultaneous blasts in all but one of the nation’s 64 districts on the day, which prompted a nationwide crackdown by the then government. At least 28 people were killed and hundreds injured in the attacks and an ensuing crackdown saw 1,000 JMB members arrested and prosecuted.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

#1  How long is a 'life' sentence over there? Here they tend to serve 20 years or so and get released, but would anyone survive 20 years there?
Posted by: Menhadden Snogum6713 || 03/13/2008 8:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Jhal Magsi blast mastermind held
DERA MURAD JAMALI: The Sindh police said on Wednesday that they had arrested the alleged mastermind of Fatehpur (Jhal Magsi) blast, which claimed 42 lives in 2005. Shikarpur District Police Officer Faiz Muhammad Jamali told reporters that suspect Abdul Rehman belonged to a banned religious outfit and carried Rs 5 million bounty on his head.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Ten civilians killed by mortar shells
At least 10 people, including three women, were killed and 12 injured when mortars fired by security forces hit a house in the Nawagai tehsil of Bajaur Agency late on Tuesday. The security forces had fired the mortars after a militants’ remote-controlled bomb went off, injuring a security official. “They fired mortars at militant positions in retaliation for the improvised explosive device blast, but one of them hit a house in the Nawagai area of Bajaur,” deputy local administration chief Jamil Khan told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Two cops among four killed in Swat blasts
Two policemen and as many suspected militant facilitators were killed in separate bomb blasts in Swat on Wednesday, police said.

ASI Mustafa and Constable Suleman were killed and ASI Wasiyat Khan and Ibrahim Khan injured when the roadside bomb they were defusing went off in the Charbagh area.

A curfew was imposed in the area following the explosion. Separately, two people, presumably Taliban facilitators, were killed when the bomb they were making exploded in Kabal tehsil.

The AP quoted the army as saying that security forces had arrested five suspected militants and seized a cache of weapons and ammunition in Swat. Five militants were also arrested at various checkpoints in the valley, AP added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


'Killer of 300' killed in Lakki Marwat
Dang! I loved that movie!
Residents of Lakki Marwat on Wednesday shot dead Saiful Asad, the alleged killer of 300 people, Aaj television reported.

Lakki Marwat Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Umar Faraz Khattak told the channel that Asad was killed along with three accomplices in shootout with tribesmen and security forces when they tried to abduct local leader Malik Adris. The DSP said one militant was arrested, adding that the dead had been buried in the Mehsud area of South Waziristan. He said Asad was the right-hand man of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan chief Tahir Yuldashev. According to police, Asad allegedly killed at least 300 people. Most of his victims were killed after being kidnapped or on the charges of being police informants.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan


More than 50 held over Lahore suicide attacks
Police on Wednesday arrested more than 50 suspects in province-wide raids over Tuesday’s suicide attacks in Lahore, and were investigating whether Al Qaeda was behind the attacks.

Police sources said the suspects, most of them from banned militant organisations, were held from Lahore, Faisalabad, Okara, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur. A senior police official said law-enforcement agencies had recovered the chassis (number 3L3849728) of the vehicle used in the attack on the FIA regional headquarters.

The vehicle was registered by one Chaudhry Imtiaz Kamboh from Faialabad. Three suspects that he identified were held in raids in Kot Lakhpat and Nishtar Colony. A suspect identified as Hafiz from Bahawalpur had been using the vehicle. He led the police to more suspects, the official said.

Law-enforcement agencies held Bund Road resident Qari Rehmatullah Taunsvi and four “guests from Dera Ghazi Khan” from his house, Rehmatullah’s wife told a private television channel. Police also held a Sipah-e-Sahaba office-bearer and his friend Maulana Muneer Ahmed from Jahania. Senior police and government officials attended a special funeral ceremony for 12 employees of the Federal Investigation Agency who died in the attack on the FIA regional headquarters.

Remains: Deputy Inspector General (Investigations) Tasadaq Hussain said police had collected the remains of the two attackers. Part of the head and a leg of the FIA building attacker were found from the roof of a nearby building, he said. He said the attacks had targeted the US-trained Special Investigations Group (SIG) that had been working on the third floor of the building. Plastic explosive C4 was used in the attacks, he added.

FIA DG Tariq Pervez said the Model Town attack was aimed at the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) that worked under the Home Department and not the FIA. The SIG in the FIA building was a separate organisation that collected evidence from crime scenes and helped the police in forensic analyses. He said it was not investigating any cases of terrorism or interrogating any suspects.

Record: Pervez said the FIA record was safe because most of it was on the fifth and sixth floors and backed up in computers in Islamabad.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


"Ultras were on terror mission"
The two suspected terrorists of Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), shot dead by the police here on Tuesday night, possessed two kg of RDX, enough to trigger serial blasts in six sensitive places in the city.

The encounter occurred on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the March 12, 1993 terror attacks.

The terrorists were gunned down at Kashimira off Mira Road in Thane district in a joint operation by the Pune and Mumbai units of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police.

ATS chief and Inspector-General Hemant Karkare told journalists here on Wednesday that the duo was moving about with a pre-determined plan to strike at sensitive installations in Mumbai.

The ATS believes that the two were couriers as well as attackers. A Bangladeshi passport found at the site established the identity of one of them as Mohammad Ali. The identity of the other is yet to be established. But the ATS calls him Babu. The police also found fake currency, one Smith and Wesson revolver and a pistol, besides RDX.

Mr. Karkare said: “It is a major success for us and we are taking the investigations further.”

Mohammad Ali, who had crossed over to India three days ago, came under the surveillance of an intelligence agency. The Pune ATS unit got the tip-off and soon joined its Mumbai counterpart.

But, ATS sources said, the duo’s link with the HuJI was yet to be fully established.

Currency officers of the Reserve Bank of India have been asked to examine the fake notes to find out whether these were linked to earlier seizures. About a fortnight ago, ATS sleuths arrested six Bangladeshis who were carrying fake notes with a face value of Rs. 1.78 lakh. Earlier, the Railway police also seized fake currency. .

Mr. Karkare said a forensic laboratory was analysing the RDX to determine its quality and match it with the seizures made earlier. The task now was to reach the source of the explosives and weapons and sleeper cells these couriers were supplying to.

Last month, the ATS questioned Faheem Ahmed Ansari alias Abu Zarar, an alleged operative of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS, along with seven other terrorists for the attack on the Rampur CRPF camp.

During the interrogation, Faheem told the Maharashtra ATS that he had reconnoitred 12 sensitive spots of Mumbai including the Churchgate Railway Station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Haj House, the Haji Ali Dargah, the headquarters of the Mumbai and Maharashtra police, the Gateway of India and the BSE .

Now, the ATS is working to find out whether the Bangladeshis killed on Tuesday worked for the same group with which Faheem was involved.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Iraq
Five beheaded in Al Qaeda attack on Iraq village: police
Suspected Al Qaeda militants have attacked a village in Diyala province north of Baghdad and beheaded five members of a local group fighting the jihadist network, police have said.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Najim al-Sumaidaie said the militants raided the village of Benizad, south of the provincial capital Baquba, and attacked a newly created outpost of a local anti-Al Qaeda 'Awakening' group. "Five people from the Sahwa (Awakening) group were shot dead and later beheaded by the militants," the police officer said, referring to groups of mostly Sunni Arabs who have allied with the US military to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq.

One of the members of the group who survived the attack with injuries said they had established the outpost. "We set up the outpost with the help of Iraqi army soldiers who later left us to man the post. However, this afternoon we were attacked," he said from his bed in a hospital in Baquba where he is being treated for his wounds. "Five of our number were killed after we ran short of ammunition. Another 10 of us escaped. We later alerted the army, who went to the village and found that the five men who were shot dead had been beheaded. Their bodies were mutilated."

Diyala is one of the most dangerous regions of Iraq where US and Iraqi troops are fighting Al Qaeda militants.

The Awakening groups began in western Anbar province where Sunni tribal leaders in September 2006 turned on their former Al Qaeda allies and put them to flight.

Since then, they have sprung up across the country, supported and paid for by the US military, which sees them as essential to help hold areas cleared by an American "surge" of some 30,000 troops.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan frees al-Maqdessi
Jordan on Wednesday released from jail Issam Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi, the former mentor of slain Al Qaeda front man in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for “humanitarian reasons”, a security official told reporters. “Al-Maqdessi will be handed to the Red Cross today (Wednesday), which will take him to his family in Jordan,” said the official, adding, “He went on a hunger strike last month and ended it on Sunday. He was freed for humanitarian reasons after promising to stay home and not to give any press remarks.”

A Jordanian of Palestinian origin, Maqdessi, whose real name is Issam Barqawi, was arrested in Jordan in June 2005 after remarks he made to Al-Jazeera television. In 1999, he met Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who later joined his Sunni militant group. The pair were detained for five years for membership of an outlawed Islamist organisation but freed as part of a general amnesty in 1999.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Tawhid


Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan troops kill 32 rebels
Sri Lankan troops killed 32 Tamil Tiger rebels in a series of clashes in the island’s north, the military said on Wednesday.

One soldier was also killed and three others wounded in eight confrontations on Tuesday, said a military spokesman who asked not to be identified in line with government policy. The military said they had also captured a rebel held area and destroyed Tamil Tiger bunkers along a ‘border’ that separates rebel-held from government territory in the northwestern district of Mannar.

Rebel bases: Elsewhere, air force fighter jets pounded three suspected rebel bases in Mannar on Wednesday, it said. “The targeted LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) locations were identified as commanding bases,” a ministry statement said. The military has moved to capture areas in Mannar as part of a wider strategy to gradually retake the Tigers’ northern stronghold.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who want to create an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment on the latest fighting. Pro rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com said 60 soldiers had been killed in heavy fighting on Sunday and Monday in Mannar.

The military denied the rebel claim. The government and rebels trade death toll claims that are rarely possible to independently verify. An estimated 70,000 people have died since the civil war began in 1983.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Good Morning...
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now that is something.
Posted by: Scott R || 03/13/2008 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Anybody confuse her with Hillary?
Posted by: anymouse || 03/13/2008 1:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Dibs on pulling her hair when she's done with it!
Posted by: gorb || 03/13/2008 6:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Anybody confuse her with Hillary?

Only correlation I can see is they would both end up with all my money.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 03/13/2008 6:25 Comments || Top||

#5  *GURK*
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/13/2008 9:52 Comments || Top||

#6  well, she might be able to play "the Girl Next Door".... it all depends where you live.
Posted by: Ulating Sforza2772 || 03/13/2008 22:28 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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6Taliban
5al-Qaeda
1al-Tawhid
1Global Jihad
1Govt of Pakistan
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1Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Palestinian Authority
1TNSM
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda in North Africa

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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2008-03-13
  Jordan frees al-Maqdessi
Wed 2008-03-12
  Israel-Hamas Hudna
Tue 2008-03-11
  Qaeda in North Africa grabs two Austrian hostages
Mon 2008-03-10
  Jaber al-Banna released on bail in Yemen
Sun 2008-03-09
  Chinese aircrew thwarts hijacking attempt
Sat 2008-03-08
  Police Believe Recovered Bike Was Times Square Bomber's
Fri 2008-03-07
  Viktor Bout arrested in Bangkok, indicted in U.S.
Thu 2008-03-06
  Times Square recruiting station boomed
Wed 2008-03-05
  Double kaboom at Pak navy college kills 5
Tue 2008-03-04
  Hamas claims 'victory' as Olmert dithers, IDF pulls out of Gaza
Mon 2008-03-03
  U.S. bangs Qaeda big in Somalia
Sun 2008-03-02
  70 Gazooks titzup in IDF operation
Sat 2008-03-01
  Colombia bangs FARC 2nd in command in Ecuador
Fri 2008-02-29
  Predator zap kills 10 in South Wazoo
Thu 2008-02-28
  VA imam thought to have aided al-Qaida

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