Afghan authorities have discovered a mass grave containing at least 100 bodies believed to be victims of a Taliban massacre in the 1990s, security officials said on Saturday. The grave was discovered in the northern province of Balkh, about 15 km (10 miles) from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Provincial security official Abdurrauf Taj said about 100 bodies had been found in the grave, which is about 100 meters from a residential area. "We expect the number may rise," Taj told Reuters.
Residents of the area said they suspected the dead were members of the Hazara ethnic minority, massacred after the Taliban captured the area in the late 1990s. "These were all innocent people killed by the Taliban," said shopkeeper Mohammad Sami.
Provincial security commander Sardar Mohammad Sultani said the dead may have been massacred by the Taliban and investigators hoped to determine the truth. None of the bodies were being moved until a team from Kabul inspected the site, Sultani said.
Mass graves from Afghanistan's three decades of war are occasionally unearthed in different parts of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 07:01 ||
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A suicide bomber killed three Indian road engineers and an Afghan in southwestern Afghanistan on Saturday in the second deadly attack on road builders in a week. In a separate incident, 24 Taliban were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and foreign troops in Zabul province on Friday night, deputy provincial governor Gulab Shah Alikheil told reporters. Intermittent violence has broken out in different parts of Afghanistan in recent weeks following a traditional winter lull.
The suicide attack on the road crew was in the remote southwestern province of Nimroz, said provincial governor Ghulam Dastagir Azad. "The bomber got out of a car and then blew himself up," Azad told Reuters. Three Indians and an Afghan were killed and three people wounded, the Interior Ministry said.
A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 06:58 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Why do they hate roads? Even in Mo's time they had roads.
KABUL - An Afghan doctor and a driver from a German aid group are missing in northern Afghanistan and police are investigating whether they have been kidnapped, a police commander said on Friday.
KinderBerg International, which helps disabled Afghan children, said two of its workers had disappeared while travelling between the capital Kabul and the northern province of Kunduz. The pairs vehicle was found abandoned in Chaharikar, the capital of Parawan province, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Kabul, police said.
We found the vehicle of the NGO workers and they were missing. Right now we dont know what has happened to them, provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziayee told AFP. Weve launched an investigation into the case and are trying to find out whether they have been kidnapped or not. Theres a strong possibility that theyve been kidnapped, the police chief added.
The aid group named the pair as Abdul Rab, a 44-year-old doctor and his driver, Abdul Hafiz.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
French commandos have seized a gang of Somali pirates and bags of ransom cash, ending a week-long operation to free 30 hostages from a luxury yacht.
The troops swooped on a village in north-eastern Somalia, arresting six pirates and recovering "interesting bags" - money paid by the owners of the 288ft Le Ponant for the release of the crew, 22 of whom were French. The yacht had been seized last Friday in the Gulf of Aden as it sailed towards the Suez Canal, bound for the Mediterranean, from the Seychelles. France dispatched two helicopter carriers carrying around 50 commandos to Djibouti in response.
French officials said the owners of the yacht paid a ransom - reported to be about £1 million - to obtain the freedom of the crew. As soon as it was clear that they were all safe, the commandos went into action aboard helicopters to track down the pirates. Gen Jean-Louis Georgelin said the soldiers tracked the pirates, believed to be Somali fishermen, after they reached land and moved in when they saw some of the gang getting away in a car. He said a sniper in one helicopter disabled the car engine while another helicopter dropped off three soldiers who captured the six pirates. They were quickly transferred to a French navy vessel off the coast.
"Monsier Mate, toss them into le brig!"
"Oui, mon capitaine!"
The crew, which beside the French included six Filipinos, a Ukrainian and a Cameroonian, will be flown to Paris in "two to three days". The pirates will be tried in France. "It is the first time an act of piracy in this area has been resolved so quickly... and it is also the first time that some of the pirates have been apprehended," Adml Edouard Guillard said.
France said that no "public funds" had been used to pay the ransom. "We don't know how much they paid and really, we don't want to know," said Karim Meghoufel, whose brother-in-law was the yacht's chief pastry chef, after a meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
There were conflicting accounts last night of the rescue operation. Mr Sarkozy said it had been executed "without incident" and Bernard Kouchner, his foreign minister, welcomed a "happy ending" to the stand-off. However, regional Somali governors and witnesses claimed that the French troops killed up to five local people.
The district commissioner of Garaad, where the attack took place, said the helicopters landed and troops jumped out to grab 14 pirates who had just come ashore where three pick-up trucks with heavy weapons were waiting. "Local residents came out to the see the helicopters on the ground. The helicopters took off and fired rockets on the vehicles and the residents there, killing five local people," he said.
Mohamed Ibrahim, a witness, said: "I could see clouds of smoke as six helicopters were bombing the pirates. The pirates were also firing anti-aircraft machine guns in reaction. I cannot tell the exact casualties."
French officials "categorically" denied any casualties, insisting that the operation had been conducted with minimal force for fear of causing collateral damage. They said the only shot fired was by the sniper to disable the engine of a vehicle containing the pirates, who "gave themselves up without too much difficulty".
Pirates seized more than two dozen ships off Somalia last year, despite United States navy-led international patrols in the region. France said it would present new anti-piracy measures to fellow members of the United Nations Security Council next week aimed at toughening the war against sea bandits.
Jean-David Levitte, the French president's chief diplomatic adviser, said: "We are confronted by a real, real threat," adding that over the past 10 years 3,200 sailors had been kidnapped by pirates, 500 injured and 160 killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 08:40 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
However, regional Somali governors and witnesses claimed that the French troops killed up to five local people.
If true, they're lucky. I'd have flattened the village.
A sniper in one helicopter shot out the car engine while another helicopter dropped off three French soldiers who captured the six pirates and hauled them off to French navy helicopter carrier waiting off the Somali coast.
***
Georgelin said no public money was paid to free the hostages but he indicated that the ships owner had paid a ransom, part of which was found with the escaping pirates.
...
Local witnesses said an unknown number of people were killed by the rocket fire, which also destroyed three vehicles.
"I could see clouds of smoke as six helicopters were bombing the pirates. The pirates were also firing anti-aircraft machine guns in reaction. I cannot tell the exact casualties," witness Mohamed Ibrahim told Reuters by radio telephone.
The district commissioner of Garaad, where the attack took place, said the helicopters landed and troops jumped out to grab members of a group of 14 pirates who had just come ashore where three pickup trucks with heavy weapons were waiting.
"Local residents came out to the see the helicopters on the ground. The helicopters took off and fired rockets on the vehicles and the residents there, killing five local people," Commissioner Abdiaziz Olu-Yusuf Mohamed told Reuters by phone.
In Paris, French officials said that the operation was conducted with minimal use of force for fear of causing collateral damage.
They said a Gazelle helicopter with a sniper on board and a Panther helicopter with three commandos on board were involved in the incident. In addition two more missile-armed Gazelle helicopters stood by in support but did not intervene.
They said the only shot fired was by the sniper to disable the engine of a vehicle containing the pirates.
"No shots were fired directly at the pirates," Jean-Louis Georgelin, chief of the armed forces general staff, told a news conference.
"The shot from the first Gazelle was enough to stop the vehicle and get out the pirates, who gave themselves up without too much difficulty," he said.
#5
"Local residents came out to the see the helicopters on the ground. The helicopters took off and fired rockets on the vehicles and the residents there, killing five local people," he said.
Yeah. Right. I'm sure there was a huge need to lay waste to lots of women and children who were there to gawk at the proceedings. I'm sure you'd feel that way if your name was Mohamhead, anyway. That seems to be the only way they can think.
Mohamed Ibrahim, a witness, said: "I could see clouds of smoke as six helicopters were bombing the pirates. The pirates were also firing anti-aircraft machine guns in reaction. I cannot tell the exact casualties."
Anti-aircraft weapons?! Probably in a technical vehicle. Makes me wonder if the pirates were locals.
#7
I'm sure the French will use "kinder, gentler" interrogation techniques on the pirates, to find out where the rest of their herd is holed up. THEN we might see some ground action. I doubt any of the pirates that were captured will be back to "work" any time soon.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/12/2008 13:11 Comments ||
Top||
#8
"kinder, gentler" interrogation techniques
off the Somali coast, that technique would be shark and the interrogatee would be chum.
#13
He said a sniper in one helicopter disabled the car engine while another helicopter dropped off three soldiers who captured the six pirates. They were quickly transferred to a French navy vessel off the coast.
The French GIGN specialize in this sort of operation. And they are very VERY good at it.
I don't have many nice things to say about the French, so I feel obligated to give credit where it is due.
An explosive-laden Jeep was halted only meters away from airline passengers at Glasgow airport last year when two men attempted a suicide attack as part of a plot to bomb London and Scotland, a prosecutor told a court on Friday.
Two men inside the sport utility vehicle, which they had set on fire, hurled petrol bombs and repeatedly attempted to ram their way into an airport terminal during an attempted terrorist strike in June, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said. Laidlaw said driver Kafeel Ahmed was engulfed in flames as he emerged from the Jeep and attempted to hurl petrol bombs at the terminal. Ahmed later died in hospital from severe burns.
So he roasted before he got to Hell. Good.
Many details of the case were outlined publicly for the first time by Laidlaw after Kafeel's brother, Sabeel Ahmed, pleaded guilty to an offense of withholding information about the attacks from British authorities. The Indian-born doctor will be sentenced later Friday.
Two other men are due to go on trial over the attacks in October.
A day before the attempted attack in Glasgow, two Mercedes packed with gas canisters were discovered in London's entertainment district. Around 500 people were evacuated from a nightclub after one of the cars was discovered outside.
Laidlaw said the men attempted the suicide attack at Glasgow's airport after their plot to bomb London failed. He told the Old Bailey criminal court in central London that cell phone detonators in the cars failed, likely because dense fuel vapors caused them to malfunction.
The attacks came in the week British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office, replacing Tony Blair as leader. "The attack to be conducted at Glasgow was to be a suicide attack likely to result in the loss of both their lives," Laidlaw said. Their attack caused panic within the terminal, Laidlaw said, and some vacationers suffered minor injuries as passengers fled and ran through the building.
Laidlaw said Kafeel Ahmed made repeated attempts to drive the blazing Jeep Cherokee through entrance doors to the airport. "Despite his efforts, the vehicle became trapped," he told the court. "Those who witnessed him described a set and determined face as he stared forward."
Laidlaw said the vehicle came to rest six meters (20 feet) away from passengers lining up at check-in desks. Ahmed's passenger threw a petrol bomb toward a taxi rank as the driver "began to pour and splash fuel from a can on to the area outside the car window," Laidlaw said. The driver "got out of the vehicle and was engulfed in flames that swept around the Jeep and terminal building," he said.
Kafeel sent his brother a text message between the London and Glasgow attacks, which included suggestions on how to mislead investigators in the aftermath of the planned strike, Laidlaw said. "This is a project I was working on for some time now," part of the message read, Laidlaw said. "Everything since last week was executed by me and my team."
This article starring:
Kafeel Ahmed
Sabeel Ahmed
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain
A mortar shell hit the Awami Market in Chinar Chowk on Friday, killing two people and injuring three others, while two more people died of sectarian violence in other parts of Kurram Agency.
The people killed in the mortar blast have been identified as Muhammad Ismail and Muhammad Wakhan, sons of prominent tribal leader Saleh Khan. Ajmal Khan was injured in the blast and a pickup was completely destroyed.
Also on Friday, sectarian clashes continued in various parts of the Agency for a seventh consecutive day. Both sects used heavy weapons in Balish Khel and Khar Kalay, wounding several people. In an attempt to stop the fighting, security forces used heavy artillery and fired upon hilltop positions of both sects, resulting in the death of one Haji Masood Khan.
One of the shells hit the house of Haji Banaat Khan, a prominent tribal leader of the Sadda area, killing his 13-year-old son, Kausar. The shelling also injured his two nephews, Yousuf Khan and Naseeb Khan, who were then taken to hospital.
According to reports, the sectarian fighting also continued in various areas of Parachinar on Friday. The government and a peace jirga have failed to broker a ceasefire thus far. Elders on both sides have said that they want peace in the agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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The Interior Ministry on Friday warned law-enforcement agencies that five Al Qaeda-linked terrorists had arrived in Lahore to carry out subversive activities, Geo News reported. According to the channel, the five include two Arab and three Afghan nationals. Their group commander is already in Lahore to welcome them, the channel said, adding that the ministry said terrorists were holding meetings at hotels around the Minar-e-Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Thanks for the info.
How about you go kill them?
Unidentified gunmen shot dead an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer in Charsadda on Friday, police told Daily Times. Inspector Khaliqur Rehman was killed on his way home after Friday prayers.
Rehman is the second IB officer killed in Charsadda district and the 9th in Pakistan who has been killed since the countrys joining of the US-led war on terror, Daily Times learnt. Two other officials from the bureaus anti-terrorism wing were killed in Karachi on March 27.
Men in a red coloured car sprayed bullets on Khan as he walked along a road, killing him on the spot, police official Muhammad Iftikhar told Reuters. Another official of the same agency was killed in Charsadda a few months ago and militants had claimed responsibility for the attack. The IB is one of three Pakistani intelligence agencies and is controlled by the Interior Ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq Coalition forces detained a suspected Iranian-trained Special Groups weapons facilitator Saturday during operations northeast of Baghdad. The targeted individual allegedly carried out attacks against Coalition forces and Iraqi citizens.
Coalition forces entered the targeted building where they secured the area and detained the suspect without incident. Coalition forces also confiscated a heavy weapon (machine gun) and a sniper rifle.
Coalition forces will continue to pursue and bring to justice Special Groups members and other criminal elements that refuse to comply with the rule of law, said Cmdr. Scott Rye, MNF-I spokesman.
Iraqi tanks, with U.S. air support, are "attacking Sadr City," the office of Muqtada al-Sadr said Friday, just hours after the Shiite cleric called for calm in the wake of the assassination of one of his top aides in the southern city of Najaf.
Iraq has tanks now?
Eyewitnesses and media in the heavily Shiite Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, home to the cleric's power base in the capital, reported heavy fighting between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia. The witnesses said U.S. aircraft had been bombarding the area for hours, and media reported rockets slamming into houses and many casualties. Witnesses and al-Sadr's office said mosques were making loudspeaker announcements about Mehdi Army attacks on U.S. military armored vehicles.
U.S. Army Maj. Mark Cheadle said the fighting began when a U.S. Army patrol, supporting Iraqi soldiers who were working to establish a checkpoint in the northwest of Sadr City, was hit by 10 roadside bombs followed immediately by small-arms, machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire from nearby buildings. The soldiers fired back at the snipers, killing at least four, Cheadle said. Two subsequent rounds from an M1A2 Abrams tank killed "an undetermined number of criminals and end(ed) the small arms attack," Cheadle said. Cheadle also said that the U.S. Air Force, operating an unmanned aerial vehicle, fired a Hellfire missile at three men setting roadside bombs, killing all three.
Tank shells and Hellfires do tend to snuff out an .. argument .. rather quickly.
Earlier, al-Sadr issued remarks about the killing of Sayyed Riyadh al-Nuri, who was shot outside his house in Najaf's Adala neighborhood after returning from Friday prayers. "The hands of the occupiers and their collaborators have treacherously reached our beloved martyr Sayyed Riyadh al-Nuri," al-Sadr wrote in a statement on the Web.
Al-Nuri is one of 17 people killed over 24 hours in airstrikes, fighting and attacks in areas wracked in recent weeks by fighting among Shiites. The assassination prompted an immediate vehicle ban in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, anger among mourners and an intensification of fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki issued a statement deploring the killing and ordering an investigation. Al-Sadr issued remarks about the killing in a statement on a Web site. Spokesman Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi emphasized that the cleric is not accusing anyone in particular of the killing but believes that the killers "are the ones who are following the occupiers' steps and don't want stability for the country." But al-Obeidi called the killing an "act of provocation" after the "siege of Sadr City." The al-Nuri assassination prompted officials to expand the daily curfew in Hilla. Police said a ban on all outside movement that usually begins at 11 p.m. and ends at 8 a.m. will instead start at 8:30 p.m.
Violence continued Friday in several places in Iraq. Suicide bombings killed at least four people -- three of them police -- and wounded 15, officials said. The first bombing was in Ramadi, the provincial capital of the predominantly Sunni Anbar province west of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. At least three national police officers were killed and five wounded, the official said. The second attack took place at a checkpoint about 20 km (12 miles) north of Baiji, according to police, who said the bomber and one other person were killed and 10 were wounded. The casualties were members of a local Awakening Council who were manning the checkpoint, police said. The suicide bomber was driving a pickup carrying sheep. Awakening Councils, or Sons of Iraq, are made up of Sunnis who have turned on al Qaeda in Iraq.
Also, at least three people were killed and five wounded in a mortar attack on Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, an Interior Ministry official said. The Palestine Hotel -- across the Tigris River from the International Zone, the heavily guarded seat of U.S. power in Baghdad -- is in the path of many of the rockets and mortars aimed at the zone. The U.S. military has blamed Iranian-backed Shiite militants for recent mortar and rocket attacks in Baghdad and International Zone, also known as the Green Zone.
Unmanned aerial vehicles targeted and killed six suspected insurgents in Basra on Friday and six "heavily armed criminals" in northeastern Baghdad on Thursday night, the U.S. military said. Watch the Baghdad drone attack »
The U.S. and Iraqi militaries have consistently said they have not been targeting specific groups in their recent battles in Shiite areas. Iraqi and U.S. government officials say they differentiate between Mehdi Army members obeying al-Sadr's seven-month cease-fire pledge and "gangs," "criminals" or "outlaws" who aren't obeying al-Sadr's orders.
On Thursday, a high-level Sadrist delegation held talks with Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni who is one of Iraq's two vice presidents, his office said in a statement. The delegation, headed by senior al-Sadr aide Sayyed Hazim al-Araji, told al-Hashimi that the Sadrists don't plan to be "an extension of any other country," a reference to Iran. The delegation said it doesn't object to the disarming of militias as long as it includes all militias.
Al-Hashimi told the delegation the Sadrists need to "act in a better way and allow the government and its forces to confiscate illegal weapons and detain suspects without any obstacles." He emphasized that the Sadrists "should be limited to peaceful political activity." At the same time, al-Hashimi said, security forces should conduct themselves professionally and respect human rights.
This article starring:
Sayyed Riyadh al-Nuri
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Bad grammar. Then again I expect that from CNN's partial locals.
Objective reporters are claiming that civilians are collaborating with the terrorists. Ergo: they are legitimate targets. Of course, CNN wouldn't want to offend third worlders by reporting the facts.
#6
Instaguy on fighting in Sadr City: InstaPundit correspondent John Tammes sends this: "Just a quick follow up - it is game on down here, and the early results are good. A high ranking Iraqi officer said to me that they 'struck some gold.'"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/12/2008 15:04 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Iraq has tanks now?
IIRC- we have been 'refurbing' T-72s for an 'elite' mech brigade.
Eeeeeeek! They're ELITE! Run for the hills!
At least eight people have been killed and more than 50 wounded in an explosion in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, Iranian media reports say. The blast occurred in a mosque in the city either during or after evening prayers, the reports said.
Fars said the mosque is the site of weekly speech about extremist Wahabi beliefs and the outlawed Bahai faith.
Iran's Fars news agency was quoted as saying that the explosion was caused by a bomb. It said at least three of the wounded were seriously hurt. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Fars said the death toll was expected to climb.
Shiraz is a major tourist destination because of its closeness to a number of important ancient sites. Deadly bomb attacks are unusual in Iran. The last major bombing was by suspected Sunni rebels in the south-eastern city of Zahedan in February last year. Thirteen members of the Revolutionary Guard were killed in that blast, which was caused by a car bomb.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/12/2008 15:53 ||
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[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So were they fur extremist beliefs, or agin' em?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/12/2008 16:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Love the wine. Were the vineyards damaged?
/yeah, I know....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/12/2008 16:50 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Hopefully it will be the start of a "bombing campaign" by persons unknown.
#4
Wahabists and Baha'i? Those two are on extreme opposite ends of the bell curve of Muslim beliefs, the Baha'i believing in peace, love, happiness, and their messiah (Christian variety, the fleshly incarnation of God) who superseded Mohammed.
Iranian boats engaged in a mild and taunting confrontation with a US warship in the Gulf, CNN television reported Friday. Late Thursday the three small Iranian boats approached the U.S.S. Typhoon, the report said. One of those Iranian boats coming within 200 yards of the navy boat, CNN reported, leading the crew onboard the Typhoon to fire a warning flare.
The Iranians were manning in a taunting manner, CNN said citing an unnamed US official.
In January five Iranian speed boats approached three US Navy war ships in the same area, fuelling tension between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
200 yards is too close for comfort. The ideal time to hit Iran would have been: the last 3 Novembers. We had the pretext, but not the will. It looks like the Ayatollahs are going to get their nuke tipped ICBMs, and the President will coast out of this regime.
#4
Nimble S:
I have been thinking that US troops are holding back, pending a major operation aimed at toppling the Ayatollahs. The problem is: I have been thinking that for 3 years. And winter is coming to a close. Foiled again.
#5
It's one thing to hold back, it's another to let them get to within 200 yards in the open water. Didn't they learn anything from the Cole? Or the Brits? Not enough people fear the USN.
#7
We don't need a confrontation right now. Whatever we're going to do with Iran, it should be on our schedule and not theirs. The Mad Mullahs are hoping for an over-reaction on our part, so that's what we shouldn't give them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2008 13:50 Comments ||
Top||
#8
The MM are testing and learning our ROE. We should not have ROE that allow hostile vessels within 200 yards of one of our vessels on the high seas. Period. If we announced and followed such a policy consistently, it would not be a confrontation, it would be a consequence. Allowing this to go on does not give us the initiative, it gives them the initiative.
The Navy gives us great leaders like "Fox" Fallon,who abandons a command in wartime and doesn't have the gumption to explain to American parents why he is no longer willing to lead their children into war.
The Navy can't design or build a ship at an affordable price. Right now the Navy appears to be rudderless. They need to get their act together and understand that without command of the sea, we're going to lose any war we're in. And they seem to no longer have the will or the means to establish command of the sea for the next 50 years.
I am very disappointed in the USN as would be Jones, Lawrence, Decatur, Preble, Truxton or Porter.
#9
I wonder about the reporting of this incident and reaction to it. Seems fishier than appears, perhaps to the extent that we're testing Persian ROE.
Also, I believe the Typhoon is still USN, rather than USGS, but in any event it is a smallish coastal patrol ship, probably as fast and maneuverable as anything the Iranians are piloting.
Combine this with our air and space resources, and I suspect we're just picking up data points for future naval activity in Iranian shallows.
Course, the first time one of he "small" Iranian craft actually does something, we better have operation "Sea Sterilization" ready to unravel.
#10
I wonder about the reporting of this incident and reaction to it. Seems fishier than appears, perhaps to the extent that we're testing Persian ROE.
Also, I believe the Typhoon is still USN, rather than USGS, but in any event it is a smallish coastal patrol ship, probably as fast and maneuverable as anything the Iranians are piloting.
Combine this with our air and space resources, and I suspect we're just picking up data points for future naval activity in Iranian shallows.
Course, the first time one of he "small" Iranian craft actually does something, we better have operation "Sea Sterilization" ready to unravel.
#11
I wonder about the reporting of this incident and reaction to it. Seems fishier than appears, perhaps to the extent that we're testing Persian ROE.
Also, I believe the Typhoon is still USN, rather than USGS, but in any event it is a smallish coastal patrol ship, probably as fast and maneuverable as anything the Iranians are piloting.
Combine this with our air and space resources, and I suspect we're just picking up data points for future naval activity in Iranian shallows.
Course, the first time one of he "small" Iranian craft actually does something, we better have operation "Sea Sterilization" ready to unravel.
#14
One has to ask, "What does this gain the Iranians". It's like chest beating among Gorillas or the "counting coup" with native Americans. I think this is no more than trying to show the Iranian populace haw they can come so close to an American Warship and nothing happens. Bravado and nothing more.
Reminds me of the scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when the French soldier says, "Come back and I will taunt you a second time".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/12/2008 20:45 Comments ||
Top||
#15
DB:
I thought of the EXACT same scene! I was actually surprised the mods hadn't inserted a still photo of that scene in the post already.
Posted by: BA ||
04/12/2008 21:51 Comments ||
Top||
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.
A suicide bomber killed three Indian road engineers and an Afghan in southwestern Afghanistan on Saturday in the second deadly attack on road builders in a week. In a separate incident, 24 Taliban were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and foreign troops in Zabul province on Friday night, deputy provincial governor Gulab Shah Alikheil told reporters. Intermittent violence has broken out in different parts of Afghanistan in recent weeks following a traditional winter lull.
KABUL - An Afghan doctor and a driver from a German aid group are missing in northern Afghanistan and police are investigating whether they have been kidnapped, a police commander said on Friday.
Iraqi tanks, with U.S. air support, are "attacking Sadr City," the office of Muqtada al-Sadr said Friday, just hours after the Shiite cleric called for calm in the wake of the assassination of one of his top aides in the southern city of Najaf. 
