Hi there, !
Today Thu 04/10/2008 Wed 04/09/2008 Tue 04/08/2008 Mon 04/07/2008 Sun 04/06/2008 Sat 04/05/2008 Fri 04/04/2008 Archives
Rantburg
531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 82 articles and 300 comments as of 10:38.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Sadr City assault strains cease-fire
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 Pancho Elmeck8414 [3] 
0 [3] 
15 00:00 Slappy [4] 
0 [3] 
4 00:00 Gabby Cussworth [3] 
11 00:00 Pancho Elmeck8414 [3] 
0 [3] 
7 00:00 OregonGuy [4] 
1 00:00 ed [3] 
0 [3] 
0 [3] 
2 00:00 Chief Running Gag [3] 
5 00:00 Richard Gere [4] 
0 [3] 
0 [3] 
3 00:00 JohnQC [3] 
14 00:00 Pappy [4] 
0 [3] 
1 00:00 phil_b [3] 
1 00:00 Unique Battle [3] 
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [3] 
2 00:00 Pancho Elmeck8414 [3] 
0 [3] 
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [3]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
1 00:00 tu3031 [2]
0 [2]
6 00:00 Matt [3]
0 [2]
3 00:00 JohnQC [2]
4 00:00 JosephMendiola [2]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
18 00:00 twobyfour [3]
0 [2]
3 00:00 trailing wife [4]
9 00:00 Pancho Elmeck8414 [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
12 00:00 BA [2]
0 [2]
1 00:00 Abu Uluque (aka Ebbang Uluque6305) [2]
1 00:00 tu3031 [2]
0 [2]
1 00:00 Formerly Dan [2]
7 00:00 tu3031 [2]
17 00:00 SR-71 [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
1 00:00 newc [2]
0 [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
10 00:00 newc [5]
8 00:00 trailing wife [4]
2 00:00 tu3031 [3]
2 00:00 RD [3]
10 00:00 Redneck Jim [4]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
1 00:00 Vladdy [4]
2 00:00 Sonny Angusomble6910 [3]
2 00:00 Grunter [3]
4 00:00 Hector [3]
13 00:00 Frank G [3]
0 [3]
11 00:00 Mark J. Penn [3]
2 00:00 McZoid [3]
0 [3]
Page 4: Opinion
2 00:00 Woodrow Slusorong7967 [4]
4 00:00 Injun Elmealing3304 [4]
2 00:00 Spot [3]
1 00:00 The Rev [3]
5 00:00 Silentbrick [3]
1 00:00 Crolusing tse Tung2745 [3]
25 00:00 SR-71 [4]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
2 00:00 Spot [4]
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [3]
8 00:00 USN,Ret. [4]
5 00:00 Rex Mundi [3]
0 [3]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
3 00:00 tu3031 [3]
5 00:00 Excalibur [3]
8 00:00 Frank G [4]
Afghanistan
Taliban commander arrested, over 15 killed in Afghanistan
Afghan police arrested a senior Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, while more than 15 other insurgents were killed and several detained in separate Afghan- and internationally-run operations, officials said Sunday.

Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Jabar was arrested by police forces in southern Kandahar province on Saturday, the Interior Ministry said in statement. The statement described Jabar as deputy commander for Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, another senior Taliban commander, who was arrested by Pakistan forces in February this year while crossing the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Mansoor Dadullah succeeded his brother Mullah Dadullah, a feared Taliban commander who was killed in combat in southern Helmand province last year.

The Afghan army said Sunday its forces backed by NATO troops killed at least 15 suspected Taliban members in Zherai district of Kandahar province on Saturday during an operation that began in the area one week ago. 'Five terrorists were killed in Zareen Khail village of Zherai district, while 10 other terrorist were killed in Zafar Khail village of the district,' the defence ministry said.

Meanwhile, Afghan and coalition forces killed several suspected insurgents in eastern Nuristan province on Sunday, the US military said in a statement. The combined troops came under fire by a group of insurgents from several compounds in Kendal and Shok villages while the joint forces were conducting a cordon-and-search operation in the area, the statement said. The joint forces returned fire and called in air support to eliminate the insurgents' positions, it said, adding that several suspected insurgents arrested, while the combined forces discovered fully-loaded weapons and stores of ammunition.
This article starring:
Mullah Abdul JabarTaliban
Mullah Mansoor DadullahTaliban
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Did they get Mullah Lew Al-cindor?
Posted by: Unique Battle || 04/07/2008 16:33 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Pro-Khartoum militias loot Darfur town, kill one
Pro-Khartoum "Janjaweed" militias ran riot in Darfur's main town of el-Fasher on Sunday, killing one person, injuring four others and looting shops in the market, former Darfur rebels said. "The militias which belong to the government known as the Janjaweed did not get their money from the government and they looted the market where the (army) and the police could not control them," said Mohammed Dirbeen, military spokesman of the Sudan Liberation Movement's (SLM) Minnawi faction.

SLM-Minnawi, named after its leader Minni Arcua Minnawi, was the only one of three rebel factions to sign a 2006 Darfur peace deal and join Khartoum's government. But little of the deal has been implemented, causing distrust between the parties.

"They killed one citizen and injured four," Dirbeen said, adding the militiamen tried but failed to loot local banks. He was speaking from Khartoum after being briefed by colleagues in el-Fasher.

Government officials in North Darfur were not immediately available to comment, but witnesses told Rooters from el-Fasher they had heard heavy gunfire in the market and seen shops that had been looted.

The joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur was also not immediately available to comment.
They were too busy keeping the peace ...
The Janjaweed are accused of war crimes including systematic rape and killings -- violence Washington calls genocide. Khartoum sez the Janjaweed are criminals and denies any links to them. It rejects accusations of genocide.

Khartoum does say it has trained tribal militias it calls the Popular Defence Forces. The PDF troops were incorporated into official forces but the government has struggled to keep them under control. The PDF troops were recruited mainly from Arab tribes who wanted to protect their Legitimate rights against the mostly non-Arab rebels who took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglect.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 04/07/2008 08:32 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Pirates holding French yacht shoot at militia
BOSASSO, Somalia (Rooters) - Pirates who hijacked a luxury French yacht off Somalia last week have opened fire at local gunmen who stopped them from coming ashore in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation, witnesses said on Monday.

The Ponant was seized on Friday with its 30-strong crew as it sailed through the Gulf of Aden. Of the ship's 30-strong crew, 22 are French, and most of the others are Ukrainian or Korean. Six are women.

France, which says officials are in contact with the pirates, has sent a police team to help deal with the pirates. The group of roughly 10 members of the GIGN, a police force trained to deal with hijackings and hostage situations, was due to arrive in neighboring Djibouti on Monday.

Residents said late on Sunday the hijackers tried to land at Garaad, a fishing village in central Somalia, but gunmen working for the local authorities made it clear they were not welcome. "The pirates opened fire, killing two men after the local militia told them to go away," radio operator Mohamed Ibrahim told Reuters. The men onshore did not return fire, he said.

The yacht was now moored at Garacade, near the town of Eyl in the northern region of Puntland, French officials said.

Piracy is lucrative off lawless Somalia and most kidnappers treat their captives well in anticipation of a good ransom. "The pirates have made no terrorist demands. The act of piracy is motivated solely by financial reasons," a French diplomat said on condition of anonymity. "The preferred option is negotiation and preserving the hostages' lives," the diplomat added.

Sources close to the pirates said the hijackers had yet to state any demands and thought they were seeking a safe haven before opening negotiations with the vessel's owners. "We spoke to them last night. They said they're fine and that the crew are safe and in good health," an elder who is related to some of the pirates told Rooters by telephone from the northern town of Garowe.

A small French warship is tracking the yacht and planes are regularly flying over to film its progress.

Asked by French radio on Sunday whether Paris was ready to pay a ransom to secure the release of the crew, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said: "We'll see." France has 2,900 troops stationed in Djibouti. It also has a naval force in the Indian Ocean.
Who won't be used, more's the pity ...
The boat's owner, the Compagnie des Iles du Ponant, has told anxious relatives that they were all well. "The crew has not been ill-treated. They are all together and were able to have breakfast and take showers this morning," the mother of one of the hostages told French radio on Sunday, relating what company officials had told her.

The crew had been sailing without passengers from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean when they were hijacked in one of the world's most dangerous waterways.

French media showed navy pictures on Sunday of pirates sitting on the deck of the Ponant, which was towing the two motorboats they had apparently used to launch their attack.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 04/07/2008 08:22 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


#2  Something like this, perhaps?:

"You on the Ponant, this is the GIGN. Surrender or die."

Stay back! We have hostages!"

"Fuck your hostages. Surrender or die, no other choices."

"Uh-oh..."
Posted by: Chief Running Gag || 04/07/2008 11:07 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd like to know how the pirates captured the yacht, what kind of boat they used, how far off Somalia this incident took place and if there was any kind of a chase. One would think by now that most yacht captains would know enough to avoid Somalian waters as much as possible. But it might be fun to get the French navy involved.
Posted by: Abu Uluque (aka Ebbang Uluque6305) || 04/07/2008 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  The Ponant was seized on Friday with its 30-strong crew as it sailed through the Gulf of Aden.


Not very "strong", were they?

Of the ship's 30-strong crew, 22 are French, and most of the others are Ukrainian or Korean. Six are women.

Ah. THAT explains it. The French, not the women, that is...
Posted by: ptah || 04/07/2008 12:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Of the ship's 30-strong crew, 22 are French, and most of the others are Ukrainian or Korean. Six are women.

Actually it explains a lot, these are more like hotel staff, not real Seamen, the women are probably along the lines of stewardesses and Cabin cleaners (Maids).
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/07/2008 14:01 Comments || Top||

#6  I will not mock the nationality or any other attribute of the members of the crew of this ship.

They are crewing a pleasure craft, and ought to be able to consider themselves safe from Islamothugs piloting zodiacs and bristling with grenade launchers.

Working on these ships is crummy enough without having to worry about becoming a hostage of the caliphate.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/07/2008 14:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Agreed. Once upon a time the world had a navy that delighted in hunting down and hanging pirates. We should revive that tradition.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/07/2008 14:42 Comments || Top||

#8  Unfortunately, the RN hsa disappeared. But the French will arrive soon.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/07/2008 14:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Perhaps some 30mm through the bridge would help...
Posted by: Chief Running Gag || 04/07/2008 15:04 Comments || Top||

#10  Some of you who are more familiar with the area's geography will already know this but the Google map on Nimble Spemble's link makes it much more clear what the situation off Somalia is. Anyone who wants to use the Suez Canal must pass through the Gulf of Aden, through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait to get to the Red Sea and the canal. Somalia, then, is in a very strategic location and so it seems that somebody's navy really should be on patrol there. And pirates, of course, must be hanged. Maybe it's not a high priority because Islamonuts and common criminals still find luxury yachts easier prey than a super tanker full of oil . But it would be gratifying if some of these pirates were blown out of the water.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/07/2008 15:38 Comments || Top||

#11  You'd think that just parking a frigate out in the area, as Abu Uluque says, would help deter the pirates.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/07/2008 20:49 Comments || Top||

#12  I'd run some bait out and shoot the shit out of attackers, but I'm that way....
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2008 21:01 Comments || Top||

#13  Yup a very Nice Sailing Schooner crewed by U. S. Marines should so it.
(Armed to the teeth almost goes without saying.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/07/2008 21:25 Comments || Top||

#14  I'm sorry, some Rantburgians don't have thumbs.
Could you give coordinates for Africa please.
Posted by: Squinty Threreger7693 || 04/07/2008 22:52 Comments || Top||

#15  How bout a sub with an itchy trigger finger.

Make some good reality tv.
Posted by: Slappy || 04/07/2008 23:20 Comments || Top||


Africa North
2 Brothers savagely killed in Sidi Belabes
A terrorist group last Saturday night has cut the throat of two brothers when shepherding their cattle, at Bir Elhamama region, southern Sidi Belabes, western province. After killing the brothers, the terrorists have stolen the 60 heads cattle, then they have managed booby trapping their corpses, bearing the initials H.S, 25, and M.S, 18, fortunately the joint security forces have noticed the fact, the hand made bombs have been dismantled by the specialized units. On Saturday evening, the shepherds’ parents have informed the joint security services about their sons, who unlike previous days have made a delay to join their familial house. Consequently the security services stationed in the region have launched a large scale searching, which has been concluded in founding the first victim late in the night, while the second has been discovered early in the morning during the same night.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Usually, Muslims kill in such highly civilized fashion
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/07/2008 14:30 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Mortars fired at residential housing of foreigners in Yemen
(KUNA) -- Three mortars were fired on Sunday at a residential housing complex of Yemeni citizens and westerners in the Hiddah neighborhood in the capital, The Interior Ministry revealed. A statement by the Ministry said no casualties or materialistic damage were reported. The statement added that the mortars were fired from a distance, pointing out that the security authorities were currently investigating the incident. The targeted villas are behind a residential compound in the Al-Hadda neighbourhood of southwestern Sanaa. Foreigners, including Westerners and Arabs, live in the compound which also houses the offices of Safer oil company. Police cordoned off the area, residents said. They also closed off roads leading to the US embassy in the northwestern sector of Sanaa.
More from the Khaleej Times:
SANAA - A blast shook a complex housing Americans in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday, residents said, but the nature of the explosion was not immediately clear. Resident said they saw security forces arriving outside the high-security area. Yemeni officials were not available for comment.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Last time they hit a girl's school. Maybe this time an orphanage.
Posted by: ed || 04/07/2008 6:29 Comments || Top||


Europe
France expels two Algerians
French Authorities have decided expelling two Algerians to their country of origin this month, on grounds of contributing in forming criminal conspiracy targeting to prepare terror acts and forging official documents, French judicial sources told El Khabar. The French Justice has issued expel decisions, being supported by the Interior Ministry, against two Algerian nationals, served more than 4 years prison, because Paris considers them as threat to its security, the same sources added. If the French Justice expel decisions were implemented, the first expelled is to arrive to Algeria as by 14 April, while the second expelled is to arrive in 20 April.

The expel file has been joined with remarks banning the expelled to enter French territories or any other European country within Schengen space, the sources told El Khabar. France has charged them with preparing terror acts in France and abroad, yet they are not prosecuted by the Algerian Justice, the same sources mentioned.

However, one of the two defendants has been arrested for having links with An Algerian national, namely Djamel Beghali who is serving prison after being charged with participation in preparing terror attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Britain, Germany, Spain and France.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  French Authorities have decided expelling two million Algerians to their country of origin this month

Seems to be a scaling problem here somewhere.
Posted by: Excalibur || 04/07/2008 9:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Excalibur,

My thoughts exactly. Two million would be a damned good start. Head 'em up and move 'em out.
Posted by: Pancho Elmeck8414 || 04/07/2008 18:43 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Bomb explodes in Kathmandu near planned electoral assembly venue
A bomb went off in Nepal's capital of Kathmandu on Monday afternoon near a venue where a political gathering was planned, but only one person was injured, police said.
An unidentified pedestrian was injured in the blast that occurred in the Baneswore area where members of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party were scheduled to gather, Senior Superintendent of Police Surendra Bahadur Shah said.

"A police team has reached the site to initiate an investigation," Shah said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Nepali Congress later in the day went ahead with the electoral gathering despite the explosion, the fourth to occur in the capital in the past four days.

Nepal is electing a key Constituent Assembly on April 10 to cap a peace process with former Maoist rebels whose 10-year insurgency that ended in 2006 left over 13,000 people dead.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 04/07/2008 06:09 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Abducted policemen killed in Kashmir
SRINAGAR — Two policemen, who were abducted in Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday, was found murdered. They were killed by suspected rebels.

The policemen were seized by gunmen from a remote area in hilly district of Kupwara on Thursday, hours after police in capital Srinagar announced that they had captured chief spokesperson of frontline indigenous rebel outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Abdul Khaliq Dar alias Junaid-ul-Islam and one of a string of top-ranking rebel leaders to have been arrested or killed in past two weeks.

Officials in Srinagar said that the policemen Tariq Ahmed and Nazir Ahmed working at a police station in Sogam deep inside northwestern Kupwara district, were waylaid on Thursday afternoon. Their corpses were yesterday found lying in woods in the Sogam neighbourhood, they added. "They have been killed by slitting their throats," a senior police official said. Local news agency reported that militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed had admitted to the killing.

Meanwhile, security across the state has been beefed up further ahead of a one-day strike called by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani against what he alleges is inhuman treatment being meted out to Kashmiri political prisoners in jails. Various separatist outfits have endorsed the shutdown call for Saturday.
Posted by: john frum || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin


3 suspected Afghan militants arrested in Mingora
The Mingora police arrested three suspected Afghans militants on Sunday, police sources said.

They said police arrested the suspects at the Fizaghat checkpost and recovered an amount of Rs 209,750 in addition to 150 Afghanis from the suspects’ possession. The suspects — Saeedullah, Abdullah and Abdul Malik — have been moved to an undisclosed location for investigation. Also on Sunday, NWFP Minister for Forests Wajid Ali Khan, while talking to a local delegation of Gulkadak residents, said that he would speak with officials responsible for opening the Gulkadah Road.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Blast destroys 6 shops in Bajaur market
Two music shops were among six shops destroyed on Sunday morning as a powerful bomb explosion rocked Khar, the capital of Bajaur Agency. Several other shops were partially damaged in the explosion. The explosives were planted close to the two music centres, locals told Daily Times. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the blast so far. Political administration officials said that security had been beefed up in and around Khar city. Traders and retailers in the area demanded that the government ensure the safety of their lives and property. The blast has scared away consumers and there was little trade at shops and business centres on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
Mehdi Work Accident in Basra?
BASRA – Coalition forces surveillance indicates a large unknown explosion destroyed a house April 6 in the Hayy Al Asdiqa area of Basra City. Casualties are unknown at this time.

Coalition forces and Iraqi Security Forces were not involved in the incident.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  Perhaps an Eggplant Recipe Went Awry?
Posted by: RD || 04/07/2008 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Faulty pressure cooker.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2008 4:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Too much hummus in the diet and an open flame.
Posted by: ed || 04/07/2008 6:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Spontaneous hummus combustion?
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 04/07/2008 16:13 Comments || Top||


US air strike kills nine in Baghdad
A United States air strike in Baghdad’s Shia district of Sadr City killed at least nine people on Sunday, the American military told AFP. The strike killed “nine criminals in Sadr City at around 8:00 am”, the military said, without providing further details.

Meanwhile, at least 20 people were killed and 52 wounded on Sunday, following clashes between Shia fighters and US forces in Sadr City, a stronghold of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s powerful Mehdi Army militia, Iraqi security and medical officials told AFP. Officials from Iraq’s security and defence ministries said that women and children were among the dead and wounded. Medical officials said 20 bodies had been transferred to hospitals, where over 50 people had also been brought for treatment.

The firefights started around midnight and continued sporadically overnight, defence and interior ministry officials said. US forces cordoned off areas in the district and prevented police from using radio communications equipment. Some police in Sadr City are accused of being Mehdi Army sympathisers.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  Likely this event (MNF press release, cited in Burg yesterday. but for some reason I can't get links to work from this 'puter):
MND-B aerial weapons team kills 9 criminals
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD – An aerial weapons team from Multi-National Division – Baghdad killed nine Special Groups criminals who attacked Iraqi Army soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades in Baghdad at approximately 8 a.m. April 6.

After they were observed firing rocket-propelled grenades at the Iraqi Army soldiers, the air weapons team engaged the attackers by firing a Hellfire missile killing three.

The team identified four more criminals fleeing the scene and attempting to their hide weapons in a vehicle. The AWT fired a missile and destroyed the vehicle, killing six criminals.

No Coalition forces or civilian casualties have been reported.

Posted by: Menhadden Snogum6713 || 04/07/2008 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  All of them kids I'm sure.
Not a militant in sight.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Shavirt5970 || 04/07/2008 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  What will run out first, the supply of virgins, or the supply of fluffy bunnies?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/07/2008 16:11 Comments || Top||

#4  What will run out first, the supply of virgins, or the supply of fluffy bunnies?

They'll probably move on to gerbils.
Posted by: Hupomoger Ghibelline8342 || 04/07/2008 22:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Someone say Gerbil?
Posted by: Richard Gere || 04/07/2008 23:26 Comments || Top||


Death Toll Climbs in Clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City
Iraqi authorities say U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling gunmen in Baghdad's Sadr City district, leaving at least 22 people dead. The fighting erupted Sunday in a neighborhood where radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has many armed loyalists. Officials say at least 78 people, including women and children, are wounded. The Jamila market - one of Baghdad's biggest food bazaars - was set ablaze during the clashes.

U.S. military spokesman, Colonel Steve Stover accused criminals of firing missiles at the market. He said that earlier today, U.S. helicopters attacked and killed nine "criminals" in the area.

Authorities have enforced a vehicle ban on Sadr City since deadly street fighting erupted between al-Sadr's militia and Iraqi and foreign forces late last month. The cleric called a ceasefire last week.

The latest fighting broke out a day after Iraq's Political Council for National Unity called for militias to disband and hand over their weapons to the government.

Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  Footnote to the original article:
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

I never would have guessed!
Posted by: Bobby || 04/07/2008 6:36 Comments || Top||

#2  "at least 22 people dead"

This kind of "reporting" is fecking stupid and distorting as hell as to whats going on.

Lets apply it to sports (as seen elsewhere)

In basketball news, there were 150 points scored in the Kansas vs North Carolina game in the NCAA Semi-Finals.

See what I mean? It hides the fact that Kansas blew out Carolina by 18, 84-66.

This kind of shit reporting has to be put to an end.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/07/2008 13:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Moqtada al-Sadr = chickenshit. He no a live in the country, he no a hava the say so. Tell him to either come back and help build a country or STFU.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/07/2008 18:33 Comments || Top||


Sadr City assault strains cease-fire
Sadr City, the capital's teeming Shiite district where Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army is entrenched, erupted in violence again Sunday, one week after a truce ended battles pitting Mr. Sadr's militia against US and Iraqi troops. Although sporadic clashes continued between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi forces even after the cease-fire deal, Sunday's flare-up has been the worst and threatens to undo the lull in fighting in the capital and in the southern oil city of Basra.

Police sources cited by Reuters said that at least 22 people were killed and 55 wounded in the battle that started overnight. Although it's unclear what started this latest round in fighting with the Mahdi Army, the US military said it killed nine "criminals" in an assault by one of its helicopters in Sadr City.

Inside the vast Shiite slum, home to roughly 2.5 million people, the situation is increasingly tense as the area's squares and apartment blocks are destroyed by Iraqi or American strikes, its streets used as Mahdi Army positions, and its residents increasingly caught in the middle of this fight.

On a visit Sunday during the fighting, this reporter witnessed the devastating toll on a district that remains besieged by US and Iraqi forces. On Sunday, a convoy of US Abrams tanks and Bradley and Stryker combat vehicles patrolled at the entrance of Sadr City as dozens of Iraqi soldiers took positions on balconies.

Once inside the district, people shouted, "Quick, run into the alleyways."

Two artillery shells hit nearby, probably fired from the US tanks. Dust and smoke rose in the distance. A newly issued Iraqi Army Humvee emblazoned with the Iraqi flag was on fire farther down the road. One of the teenagers milling around said: "This belongs to the dirty bunch."

Deeper into Sadr City, it was militia territory. Young militants were everywhere. They carried sniper rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. They were on street corners and rooftops ready to fend off any advance by US and Iraqi forces. "Watch the [US] airplanes … they are killing civilians and civilians are everywhere," shouted a fighter dressed in military fatigues.

Every now and then, a civilian shouted: "Raise your hands in the air like you don't care so they do not shoot at us."

Two fighters ran out. "They have just struck the home of Abu Rahman, and they killed three members of his family," said one.

A man who appeared to be the leader of this group hugged the fighter, and they both broke out in tears. "No, they were not killed," said the presumed leader. "I saw their blood with my own eyes," responded the fighter.

The offices of Sadr's movement offered relative safety. The muezzin in a nearby mosque was already calling for the noon prayers. Inside, fighters prayed.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  heh. This is written by the Christian Science Monitor. When I first read it, I assumed it to be written by a foreign paper and that the computer had translated it. The sentences don't flow together and the quotes are just hanging out there all by themselves.
Posted by: Woodrow Slusorong7967 || 04/07/2008 4:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Two artillery shells hit nearby, probably fired from the US tanks.

Unless the reporter's mistaking mobile artillery pieces for tanks, I call bullshit.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 04/07/2008 5:49 Comments || Top||

#3  By Awadh al-Taiee

Who in the WW2 generation doesn't remember picking up the morning paper and reading tear jerking dispatches from guys name Gunter?
Posted by: ed || 04/07/2008 6:14 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't think the Govt. ever agreed to any ceasefire. That was Mookie. So I really don't think they're worried about breaking it.


Game on!
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Shavirt5970 || 04/07/2008 8:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Deeper into Sadr City, it was militia territory. Young militants were everywhere. They carried sniper rifles, machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. They were on street corners and rooftops ready to fend off any advance by US and Iraqi forces. "Watch the [US] airplanes … they are killing civilians and civilians are everywhere," shouted a fighter dressed in military fatigues.

Well, Ahwad, think maybe this might have something to do with your "young militants" being everywhere and hiding behind them?
This is Hideki Yamashita live from Iwo Jima. Back to you Katie...
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/07/2008 9:16 Comments || Top||

#6  This seems like it was a much longer article with both narrative buildup and then narrative detail but the editor cut it way back and left most of the former and little of the latter.
Posted by: mhw || 04/07/2008 11:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Civilians should be smart enough to flee this kind of fighting even if it means life in a refugee camp. If they don't flee they're either not civilians or else they're making themselves eligible for Darwin awards.
Posted by: Abu Uluque (aka Ebbang Uluque6305) || 04/07/2008 12:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Civilians should be smart enough to flee this kind of fighting...

Anyone that runs, is a VC. Anyone that doesn't run, is a well disciplined VC! - Full Metal Jacket
Posted by: Mad Eye Short3739 || 04/07/2008 12:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Assault strains cease-fire? Gawd, that's funny stuff. I actually choked on my coffee. Didn't the Christian Science Monitor used to be, like, a newspaper and stuff?
Posted by: SteveS || 04/07/2008 12:33 Comments || Top||

#10  Movie War - this is the one the press seems to think is going on. Not the one we are fighting.



Easy, ya just don't lead them so much.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/07/2008 13:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Set it on "rubbleize", boys.
Posted by: Chief Running Gag || 04/07/2008 14:22 Comments || Top||

#12  Per Video. Wasn't John Kerry in the Navy? He should be in a boat not a helicopter.....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/07/2008 15:15 Comments || Top||

#13  REUTERS [paraph] > VIDEO: SADR WILL DISBAND MEHDI ARMY IF CLERICS ORDER IT.

But whatzabout the MAHDI ARMY, which may explain TOPIX > MAHDI ARMY MILITANTS PROMISE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/07/2008 19:27 Comments || Top||

#14  When I first read it, I assumed it to be written by a foreign paper and that the computer had translated it.

Probably because it was written by a stringer:

Awadh al-Taiee - Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

And there's this tidbit from 2005: "Awadh al-Taie is a trainee journalist with IWPR in Baghdad ...The Institute for War & Peace Reporting is a London-based independent non-profit organisation supporting regional media and democratic change."

Its list of supporters is here.

Posted by: Pappy || 04/07/2008 19:32 Comments || Top||


ISF kill two suspected criminals, detain four
Iraqi Security Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, killed two suspected criminals, detained four others and captured one al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist in three separate operations April 3.

In the Dhi Qar province, south of Nasiriyah, the Nasiriyah Iraqi Special Weapons and Tactics Unit detained one suspected improvised explosive device manufacturer. The suspect is accused of supplying the IED network that is responsible for the vast majority of IED and explosively formed penetrator attacks in the Dhi Qar region. According to reports, he procures IED materials through a foreign contact. One additional suspect was detained for questioning. ISWAT was attacked throughout the operation with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. A close-air support aircraft provided cover and killed two persons who were firing at ISWAT.

In Mosul, Ninewa ISWAT detained one suspected IED cell leader who is reported to operate in east and west Mosul. One other suspect found in the target area is being held for questioning. In Baghdad, 9th Iraqi Army Division Soldiers detained one suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist cell facilitator. The suspect is reported to be responsible for the movement of weapons, ammunition and other equipment for the terrorist cell’s use against Iraqi and Coalition forces.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Al Qaeda kills seven from Iraqi guard unit: police
Seven members of an Iraqi neighborhood security force were killed during fighting with al Qaeda militants north of Baghdad, police said on Sunday. They said the incident took place on Saturday when the unit raided an al Qaeda stronghold near the city of Samarra in Salahuddin province, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched several operations against al Qaeda this year. "Seven of the group, including a local tribal leader, were killed in a security operation near Samarra," Mohammed Omar, a police captain in the nearby provincial capital Tikrit said. "Al Qaeda killed them yesterday."

The U.S. military refers to the mainly Sunni Arab neighborhood guard units as "concerned local citizens" (CLCs) and has credited them with contributing to a sharp drop in violence across Iraq since last June.

Police captain Muthana Shaker in Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, said the unit had been raiding an al Qaeda safehouse when fighting erupted. It was unclear if any al Qaeda militants were killed.

CLC units, which mainly man checkpoints in their own neighborhoods, first emerged in late 2006 in western Anbar province after Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs turned against Sunni Islamist al Qaeda because of its indiscriminate killings. The U.S. military has been keen to encourage the units, which have grown to comprise roughly 80,000-90,000 members, although the Shi'ite-led government has been wary of the armed groups, whose ranks include former Sunni Arab insurgents.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  concerned local citizens" (CLCs)

I guess 'Neighbourhood Watch' was trademarked.
Posted by: phil_b || 04/07/2008 2:14 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Eight Hamas members 'arrested' in the West Bank, Hamas says
Ma'an – Hamas said on Sunday that Fatah-allied Palestinian security forces arrested eight Hamas supporters in the West Bank.

Hamas claimed that five of their members were seized in the southern West Bank villages of Husan and Nahalin, west of the city of Bethlehem. Two others were arrested in the Hebron region one in the Tubas region.

A Hamas statement added that 33 warrants were served to Hamas affiliates in Hebron summoning them to security stations for questioning.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Israeli tanks kill Palestinian child, injure two others in Gaza
Ma'an – Shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell killed a five-year-old Palestinian child and injured two others in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon, witnesses and medics said. Palestinian medical sources identified the deceased child as Abdullah Bhar. Witnesses said that Israeli military helicopters are flying over the central Gaza Strip. On Saturday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 35-year-old Palestinian farmer in the northern Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  A farmer! Get him!!!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat.
I got that stinky farmer Moshe!
Good! Lets go blow up some kids now Simon!


Libs must just eat this shit up with a spoon.
Telling half the story is kind of like lying.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Shavirt5970 || 04/07/2008 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Israeli tanks kill Palestinian child, injure two others in Gaza

Probably someone just left the keys in the ignition and the tank started itself up and went on a murderous rampage. You know how irritable and easily provoked main battle tanks are.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/07/2008 12:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Gazians are lucky it wasn't an SUV on the rampage.
Posted by: bman || 04/07/2008 15:26 Comments || Top||

#4  It may not have even been the Israelis...

The boy, Abdullah Buhar, was hit by shrapnel to his head and chest, the officials said. It was not immediately clear whether the boy was killed by Israeli forces operating in the area or by Palestinian militants who may have misfired a mortar shell.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/07/2008 15:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Who knows if there was even anyone killed? Remember the Paleo "funeral procession" where the "mourners" panicked at the sound of a helicopter and the "corpse" got up and ran away?
Give them credit for one thing, they play their willing Western press associates like a Stradivarius.
Posted by: Pancho Elmeck8414 || 04/07/2008 18:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Two Words: Human Shield
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/07/2008 18:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Luckily, the tank wasn't built by Caterpiller.
Posted by: OregonGuy || 04/07/2008 21:51 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka military says kills 49 rebels, bombs north
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 04/07/2008 08:38 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We don't talk about this much but I'm real glad for the Sri Lankans. The sooner they crush this murderous rabble of Tamils, the better.
Posted by: Pancho Elmeck8414 || 04/07/2008 18:41 Comments || Top||


Senior Minister, 11 Others Killed in Bomb Attack in Sri Lanka
As Sri Lankan Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle was flagging off a marathon run outside the capital early Sunday morning, a blast tore through the crowd, killing him. Also among the reported dead are the country's national athletic coach, a former Olympic marathon runner and other top athletes.

Sri Lankan Mass Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena says the security around Fernandadopulle was not as strict as it would normally be. "He has good security but this time, early morning, he came to this place without full security," Abeywardena said.

The blast, in the town of Weliveriya, 25 kilometers north of Colombo, is the latest in a series of suicide attacks blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Mass Media Minister Abeywardena says the assassinated government minister, a confidante of the President, always reached across ethnic lines to try to end the conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils, which has plagued Sri Lanka for decades. "He was always trying to solve this problem with the help of the President and the other parties. He played a key role in the Parliament, very popular in the Parliament," Abeywardena said. "He was a leader of the Catholic but he always helped other religions - the Buddhists, the Hindus. He was very close to all communities.

Fernandopulle, who was regarded as a potential future prime minister, is the second government minister assassinated this year. His death comes as Sri Lankan troops in the north of the island are engaged in a fierce clash with the LTTE to recapture areas held by the Tigers.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian witness in Hariri assassination disappears in France
Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a major Syrian witness in the assassination of Lebanon's former PM Rafik Hariri, had mysteriously left his self-chosen exile in France to an unknown destination, the daily newspaper as-Safir has reported.

Siddiq had implicated Syria in the Hariri crime. Damascus had denied the charge. "Siddiq has probably left for the side that facilitated his departure from Riyadh to Paris two years and a half ago." The report said Siddiq has been moved to a "prosperous Arab state in the gulf." It did not disclose further details.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Assef Shawkat under House arrest over Mughniyeh murder
General Assef Shawkat, the brother in law of Syrian president Basher al Assad has been put under heavily guarded house arrest following the assassination of Lebanon's Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh , according to former Syrian VP Abdel Halim Khaddam. Speaking from self-imposed exile in France, Khaddam said Shawkat is banned from traveling.

Khaddam, who was closely allied with former Syrian president Hafez Assad ( Bashar's father) , told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal that the arrest was made after Shawkat claimed the probe he was conducting into Mughniyeh's death showed that the explosion occurred inside Mughniyeh's booby trapped car , whch implied that the assassins came from Syria. "Following this revelation, Shawkat was removed from the investigation which was transferred to General Hafez Makhlouf (Assad's first cousin)" said Khaddam.

Khaddam asserted that Assad used the assassination of Mughniyeh to bring about the dismissal of Shawkat and to appoint his cousin Makhlouf instead . Khaddam said that Syria's attempts to blame the killing of Mughniyeh on Arab intelligence services were "stupid" and "naive."

"The Syrian regime tried to exert pressure on several Arab countries, to blackmail them and force them to participate in the Arab Summit in Damascus," claimed Khaddam.

Khaddam noted that Mughiyeh managed to hide for 25 years from foreign intelligence agencies, from his associates in Hezbollah and from his neighbors. "During that time, he was subjected to Iranian and Syrian monitoring, so how is it possible that Arab agencies were involved in the assassination?" On Sunday, Syria is set to announce the results of the probe into Mughniyeh's death.

The Ba'ath Party expelled Khaddam from Syria in 2005 after he blasted Syrian President Bashar Assad's "political blunders" in dealings with Lebanon. He has since been living in exile in Paris. In 2006, Khaddam announced that he was forming a "government in exile" to end Assad's. He also said he believed that Assad ordered the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Ya Libnan has reported Saturday that Bushra al Assad , Shawkat's wife and sister of Syrian president Bashar al Assad has been living in Paris along with her two children since Lebanon's Hezbollah commander was murdered. She was expecting to be joined by her husband as soon as gets fired.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Speaking personally, the warm fuzzy glow I got when Mugniyeh was killed has had the longest half-life of the WOT so far.
Posted by: Grunter || 04/07/2008 8:55 Comments || Top||

#2  This is one of Dad's hold-overs that pencil-neck can't do anything about.
Posted by: Chief Running Gag || 04/07/2008 14:28 Comments || Top||


Good Morning
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh...I'll take whatever she's having as long as she's serving.
Posted by: anymouse || 04/07/2008 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  She was soooooooo beautiful as a young woman.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 04/07/2008 1:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Definitely half-full.
Posted by: Excalibur || 04/07/2008 9:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Didn't age well and was a definite moonbat in her day.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/07/2008 10:33 Comments || Top||

#5  What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?

Just staying on it, I guess. As long as she can .... And nothing's more determined than a cat on a hot tin roof. Is there? Is there, baby?


Posted by: lotp || 04/07/2008 10:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Over-rated airhead. Should have dropped out of sight in the late 60's. It's been downhill ever since.
Posted by: Darrell || 04/07/2008 10:40 Comments || Top||

#7  "I'm out of gin. And I seem to have lost my dress somewhere."
Posted by: Chief Running Gag || 04/07/2008 11:11 Comments || Top||

#8  #3: Definitely half-full.

Negative Excalibur, that dress is definitely full, in fact over-full.(Delightfully so)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/07/2008 14:06 Comments || Top||

#9  I'da said BUtterfield 8, but I can't recall a single snappy line from the movie, just that picture and Laurence Harvey driving on the Taconic Parkway.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/07/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Actually, all downhill from "National Velvet".....
Posted by: Marilyn Phusolet8854 || 04/07/2008 16:00 Comments || Top||

#11  I saw a picture of her when she was about five or six. Even at that age, it was clear from her facial features that she was going to be a spectacularly beautiful woman. Airhead? Yes, without a doubt. That said, if a woman is pretty enough she can get people, especially men, to watch paint drying and be happy about it. She was.
Posted by: Pancho Elmeck8414 || 04/07/2008 18:39 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
52[untagged]
7Mahdi Army
3al-Qaeda in North Africa
3Taliban
3al-Qaeda
3Govt of Syria
2al-Qaeda in Iraq
2Hamas
1Hizbul Mujaheddin
1Fatah
1Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
1Palestinian Authority
1Govt of Sudan
1Govt of Pakistan
1Hezbollah

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2008-04-07
  Sadr City assault strains cease-fire
Sun 2008-04-06
  US troops move into Sadr City
Sat 2008-04-05
  Jalaluddin Haqqani not dead, releases video, still 71
Fri 2008-04-04
  Maliki Vows Crackdown in Baghdad
Thu 2008-04-03
  Iraq commander leads convoy into Basra
Wed 2008-04-02
  45 Qaeda suspects held in Turkey
Tue 2008-04-01
  US charges Foopie with Africa bombings
Mon 2008-03-31
  Iraqi govt lifts curfew across Baghdad
Sun 2008-03-30
  Sadr orders fighters off Iraq streets
Sat 2008-03-29
  Maliki extends ultimatum for gunmen to drop the hardware in Basra
Fri 2008-03-28
  Iraqi forces say kill 120 militants in Basra operation
Thu 2008-03-27
  Twenty killed, 239 wounded in Sadr City clashes in 24 hrs
Wed 2008-03-26
  Maliki overseeing Basra operation
Tue 2008-03-25
  Tater urges 'civil revolt' as battles erupt in Basra
Mon 2008-03-24
  Ayman urges attacks on Israel, U.S.

Better than the average link...



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.
18.232.185.167
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (28)    Non-WoT (15)    Opinion (7)    Local News (9)    (0)