Al Qaeda based in Pakistan were behind last weeks assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistans intelligence chief said on Sunday. The head of Afghanistans National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh, said foreign governments should put pressure on Pakistan to target militant bases within its own borders.
Taliban gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at a state parade last Sunday, sending Karzai, his cabinet, top military officials and foreign diplomats diving for cover. Three people were shot dead before Afghan troops killed the three Taliban attackers.
They had links with Al Qaeda in Miranshah, Pakistans tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, Saleh said, and branded the network the mastermind of the attack, the most brazen by the Taliban since they were driven from power in 2001.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
government-issued weapons
Would that be the Afghan government or the Pakistani government?
Afghan authorities have arrested two men and accused them of involvement in last week's attack on a military parade attended by President Hamid Karzai. One worked for the defence ministry and the other for the interior ministry, intelligence chief Amrulleh Saleh said. He said the government still believed that Pakistan-based militants linked to al-Qaeda were behind the attack, which killed three people. The Taleban said they were responsible.
These two aren't feeling so well right now, I'm betting ...
President Karzai escaped unharmed. Security forces whisked him away as shots rang out. An MP and a 10-year-old child were among the dead.
"Al-Qaeda's role and involvement in the attack is very clear," Mr Saleh told reporters in Kabul on Sunday. He added that those responsible had bases in Pakistan, where he said they faced "little and sometimes no pressure".
After the attack, a Taleban spokesman said the group had not targeted Mr Karzai directly, but wanted to show how easily they could get access to such events.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
BAJAUR: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) warned people on Sunday against shaving their beards, giving people two months to comply with their directive. TTP spokesman Maulvi Umar said that any violation after the two-month deadline would be punished. The TTP has earlier warned barbers against shaving customers beards as this was against Shariah law.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Sort of like a two-month long trial period to weed out the dissenters, isn't it?
MINGORA: Militants set ablaze a portion of a girls school at Char Bagh late on Saturday night. Over 100 militants entered the Girls High School in Char Bagh after midnight on Saturday and proceeded to tie up school watchman Tooti, and set a portion of the school on fire. No casualties were reported. The militants also planted three powerful bombs inside the school building before leaving the institution. The authorities, however, defused the bombs. Security forces imposed a curfew in Char Bagh tehsil and arrested several people.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
The Frontier Corps (FC) has been withdrawn from its checkposts in the Quetta and Gwadar districts of Balochistan, with police taking control of the pickets of the two districts.
According to a staff report, the paramilitary force has decided to extract its personnel from the checkposts on the directives of the federal government in order to reduce tensions in Balochistan. It said that the decision had been taken by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) reconciliatory committee formed by PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to pave the way for a successful All Parties Conference on the issues being faced by the province.
Decision-making: A government source told Daily Times that the checkposts would remain intact, adding, Once the FC withdraws, the district police, controlled by the district government, would decide whether the presence of the checkposts is essential, or whether they should be completely weeded out. He said that if there was a need for the continued presence of the checkposts due to the prevailing law and order, then the onus of ensuring security would be given to the police.
Meanwhile, quoting FC sources, Dawn News reported on Sunday that FC personnel had been withdrawn from 28 checkposts in Quetta and 12 in Gwadar. It said that two wings, comprising 1,200 personnel, had been recalled from the two districts. The channel reported that the Gwadar chief security officer, who was from the FC, had been replaced by the deputy inspector general of police as security in charge of the district.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Fighters from the Lebanon-based pro-Iranian Hezbollah group have been training Iraqi militia members at a camp near Tehran, The New York Times reported Monday.
No doubt the Kos Kiddies can rationalize this one ...
Citing US interrogation reports, the newspaper said the account of Hezbollah's role was provided by four Shiite militia members who were captured in Iraq late last year and separately questioned by US interrogators. The State Department neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Information gleaned from the questioning was given to the Iraqi government before Baghdad sent a delegation to Tehran last week to discuss allegations of Iranian aid to militia groups, the paper said. It is not known if the delegation confronted its Iranian hosts with the information, or how the Iranians responded, The Times noted.
"We have experienced in the past that Iran interfered and has special groups in Iraq, but Iran also had evidence that they were participating in positive ways in security," Ali al-Dabbagh, a senior Iraqi government spokesman, was quoted in the report as saying. "We would like the Iranians to keep their commitment, the commitments they made in meetings with the prime minister and with other groups that have visited them," he said. "They had made the promise that Iran would be playing a supportive role."
Militiamen mostly loyal to Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who according to his Najaf-based office is currently in Iran, have been battling US troops in Baghdad's Sadr City. Sadr's Mahdi Army militants have fought running streetbattles with US and Iraqi forces since late March in the district, killing hundreds of people. Mostly...them.
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said: "I'm not sure where that story came from," adding: "I'm neither confirming nor denying any of the individual elements of it. He referred reporters to the multinational forces in Iraq.
The government is massing troops for an imminent attack on the northern city of Mosul, the interior minister said. The minister Jawad al-Bolani said the government has deployed elite units in the city, home to nearly three million people and currently one of the most violent places in the country.
U.S. troops will assist with aerial bombardment, logistics and artillery. U.S. marines will intervene if necessary.
The battle to overtake Mosul is billed as the last major offensive Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki intends to launch to bring the country under control. Mosul is now a bastion of al-Qaeda whose fighters have been under extreme pressure from the so-called Sahwa (Awakening) Council, a newly formed militia of Sunni tribesmen financed by the U.S., in other Sunni-dominated areas.
Bolani said the troops sent to calm down Basra were being redeployed in Mosul.
But let's not surrender what we've gained in Basra, 'k?
Analysts say the battle for Mosul is expected to be one of the bloodiest since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
Mosul is a mixed city. Though predominantly Sunni Arab, it holds sizeable communities of Kurds, Christians, Shebeks and Yezidis.
The battles in Basra are over. The armed forces and police have completed their preparedness for the battle of Mosul. The Qaeda gangs and criminals face dark future there, the minister warned. He predicted the attack to be swift with minimum damage and casualties.
But the analysts expected a long and difficult street-to-street and house-to-house fight as the city is almost completely under the Qaeda and other forces resisting U.S. occupation.
#6
I am sorry. I am so sorry for using the 'G' word. I am positive that radical Islam would never wipe out all the joos or Christians. They would never do that. They would save a few of us for whatever fun they require. But never the 'G' word. I don't know what I was thinking. Someone must have snuck up behind me and untied one of my hands. From now on I'll fight 'fair', I promise.
I do have a suggestion though. Maybe if and when we stop all the 'fair' play and get down with the blood and guts then maybe radical Islam will fade into the past. Till then, they appear to have the motivation and will, while we have time restrictions and global warming to consider. Then again, I'm using logic, and this is 2008, an era sans logic.
#9
yeah but we have already been thought this miosul shitseveral times. if the iraqi army can't hold off the insurgents then what is there use. especially since these ppl have been fight for 1000' of years maybe they could learn too aim alil nbetter or completely do away with them since we are goonna have bases there for yrs too come. the iraqis except for a few are bunch of fuckin imbeciles who couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with a cannon
#10
IIRC, Yon started out covering Deuce-Four in Mosul and was there when Lt. Col. Kurilla got shot. We've had people in Mosul since and have been making progress. I've read that some of the rats driven from Baghdad and Anbar have relocated in Mosul. If that's true, we've got to eradicate that nest. Still, it's got to be a better situation that Basra if only since we've had boots on the ground there who could and did act, as opposed to the politically hamstrung and undermanned Brits in Basra. This is going to be a fight up there but it's going to end in our favor. I'm thinking that after this the days of open war with AQI will be over. There will still be hit-and-runs, maybe forever, but they won't have any ground they could even suggest is a "liberated zone" in Iraq. That is an extremely important fact, as the Malayan Emergency clearly showed.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
05/05/2008 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#11
ION RIAN > POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF A GEORGIAN-ABKAZIAN WAR.
* Small dedicated force or group can hide from larger opposing = enemy force, and fight on, from high mountain areas for a long time, as dependent of Aggressor's level of training and proficiencies.
* Reliance of THIRD PARTY POLITICS AND ORGANZATIONS, e.g. RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS [UNO?].
April saw 49 U.S. casualties in Iraq, the highest total in seven months. Does this mean, as some insist, that the enormous progress we have made since the start of the military surge is being lost?
As one who has spent nearly two years with American soldiers and Marines and British Army troops in Iraq - having returned from my last trip a month ago - here's my short answer: no.
We are taking more casualties now, just as we did in the first part of 2007, because we have taken up the next crucial challenge of this war: confronting the Shia militias.
In early 2007, under the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus, we began to wage an effective counterinsurgency campaign against the reign of terror Al Qaeda in Iraq had established over much of the midsection of the country. That campaign, which moved many of our troops off of big centralized bases and out into small neighborhood outposts, carried real risks.
In every one of the first eight months of 2007, we lost more soldiers than we had the previous year. Only as the campaign bore fruit - in the form of Iraqi citizens working with American soldiers on a daily basis, helping uncover terrorist hideouts together - did the casualty numbers begin to improve.
Now we are helping the Iraqis deal with a much different problem: the Shia militias, the most well-known of which is "Jaysh al-Mahdi," known as JAM, largely controlled by Moqtada al-Sadr.
To comprehend our strategy here, we need to understand the goals of these militias, which pundits, politicians and the press all too often gloss over. Al Qaeda's aim was to destroy Iraq in civil war. Allegedly devout Muslims, the terrorist savages were willing to rape, murder and pillage their own people just as long as they could catch America in the middle. One reason Al Qaeda in Iraq can regenerate so quickly, despite being hated by most Iraqis, is that, armed with generous funding from outside Iraq, they mostly recruit young men and boys from Iraqi street gangs, giving them money, guns and drugs.
In contrast, JAM and the other Shia militias do not want to destroy Iraq; they want power in the new Iraq. They did not, for the most part, start out as criminal gangs, but as self-defense organizations protecting Shia neighborhoods from the chaos of post-invasion Iraq, including Al Qaeda.
Because the militias are strong, well-organized and long had deep support among the population, and because their goal is political power, not random destruction, some have argued that we should have nothing to do with taking them on. They predict a bloody and futile campaign that would make us once again enemies of the Iraqi people rather than their defenders.
These critics miss a crucial on-the-ground reality: Virtually all insurgencies, however noble their original purpose, eventually degenerate into criminal organizations, classic Mafia-like protection rackets, especially as they achieve their original goals.
With Al Qaeda mostly wiped out of Baghdad, the militias that once defended Shia neighborhoods now prey on them. In Basra to the south, where al Qaeda always feared to tread, the situation is even worse. Practically speaking, that city has been ruled by an uneasy coalition of rival Shia gangs for years.
The great victory of the past year and a half has been the decision of Sunni citizens to turn against Sunni outlaws. Now, neither we nor the Iraqi government can maintain our credibility with the Sunni if the Shia militias are allowed to remain outside the law.
The militias, unlike Al Qaeda, are not insane; we can negotiate with them. But we and the Iraqi government can only capitalize on the shifting sentiments of the Shia neighborhoods if we first demonstrate that we and the government - not the gangs - control the streets.
That means, for the next few months, expect more blood, casualties and grim images of war. This may lead to a shift in the political debate inside the United States and more calls for rapid withdrawal. But on the ground in Iraq, it's a sign of progress.
Yon is an independent reporter and blogger (michaelyon-online.com). His new book is "Moment of Truth in Iraq."By Michael Yon
#3
The militias, unlike Al Qaeda, are not insane; we can negotiate with them.
Comment to a particular anonymous poster last week, whose Arab-vocabulary seemed limited to 'hudna' and 'taqqiya': since Yon appears to be truth-incarnate here at Rantburg, is the idea acceptable now?
#4
"The great victory of the past year and a half has been the decision of Sunni citizens to turn against Sunni outlaws. Now, neither we nor the Iraqi government can maintain our credibility with the Sunni if the Shia militias are allowed to remain outside the law."
#5
#3 - I tend to agree, I even think we can negotiate with Muqty, as long as from a position of strength (which is what Yon calls for) and realizing what he is, and not trusting farther than we can shake a stick at him.
OTOH, even if we CANT negotiate with Muqty, doesnt mean we cant negotiate with local leaders who may have been aligned with him in the past.
#6
Tater Tot is not 100% synonymous with the Shia militias. Probably there are militias we should be speaking to. But not Tater. He has got to go.
Recall that even some of the "insane" AQI affiliates wound up switching sides and fighting with us. No doubt similar techniques will work with the Shia gangs. Neutralize those you can and obliterate the rest.
#8
A head on a Pike at the gate reduces the martyr syndrome
Posted by: Dorf ||
05/05/2008 21:12 Comments ||
Top||
#9
A head on a Pike at the gate reduces the martyr syndrome
Posted by: Dorf ||
05/05/2008 21:14 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Yon was writing at an op-ed level of generalization, but he's wrong (in an irrelevant way) about "all" insurgencies, and in a slightly less irrelevant way about the JAM. Many of its components started, and remained, little more than predatory gangs. There was no sustained Sunni terror war in most of the south, or the east. But JAM affiliates there were sometimes so awful that the locals themselves took up arms agin 'em.
The militias are best "negotiated" with not just from a position of strength, but after their leading members have been killed, or imprisoned, or humiliated (in the case of the many that are little more than criminal enterprises, and especially in the case of those that are very Iran-aligned). That is, if you want your "progress" to last more than a month or two. But if not, I suggest you consult current CoS Casey about his wildly successful strategy of treading lightly and carrying a small stick.
The wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has escaped unhurt after a bomb exploded near her motorcade in Baghdad, the president's office says. Hiro Ibrahim Ahmed was travelling to a cultural festival at the city's National Theatre at the time.
Four of her bodyguards were injured in the attack. The attack on Ms Hiro Ibrahim's motorcade occurred in the capital's Karrada district. It is unclear whether she was specifically targeted. The president's office said: "One of the vehicles of Ms Hiro Ibrahim's convoy hit an improvised explosive device in the road this morning. She was heading to the National Theatre."
Ms Hiro Ibrahim is a daughter of Ibrahim Ahmed, one of the founders of the Kurdish Democratic Party, and married Mr Talabani in 1970. She owns a media group and is a children's rights activist.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Not a good sign(s) for the USA as per 2008-2012/13.
(SomaliNet) Police officials said at least nine Iraqi civilians were killed and 26 wounded when a car bomb aimed at a US patrol went off on Thursday. According to news sources, the explosion occurred just after 9am in a busy commercial area in eastern Baghdad. Three women and child were among the civilians killed.
In a separate incident, seventeen militants were also killed by US troops killed 17 militants as violence escalated in Sadr city. One US soldier was also killed bringing the military death toll to 50. Further clashes in Sadr City also left eight people, including two women and a child, dead and wounded 18 others, including women and children.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Nice job Al Q. I was hoping we could add seventeen and 17, but probably just bad editing.
MOSUL, Iraq - Gunmen dragged a woman freelance journalist from a taxi in Iraqs northern restive city of Mosul on Sunday and killed her in broad daylight, a local police officer told AFP.
Tharwat Abdul-Wahab, 30, was on her way to work when a group of gunmen pulled her out of the vehicle and shot her in the head in eastern Mosuls Al-Baqar neighbourhood, the policeman said on condition of anonymity.
Mosul, one of the most dangerous cities in the country, has seen a number of local journalists killed since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
The IDF was forced on Sunday to halt deliveries through the Karni border crossing and the Nahal Oz fuel terminal, as vehicles came under Palestinian mortar shell fire whilst attempting to transfer food and fuel to Gazans, reported Israel Radio. Police said that approximately 50 trucks of supplies were forced to turn back as a result of the barrage.
Meanwhile, Hamas has started using police cars to ferry around Palestinians because of severe fuel shortages.
Orange stickers reading, "We are ready to drive you for free," were affixed to blue units of the Hamas-run police force.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
One Gaza resident, a 33-year-old named Jamal, has a clue. It's a start. Jamal, olde buddy, I would watch your six, if I were you.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/05/2008 2:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Dog bites hand that feeds. Feeding hand withdrawn, end of story.
JERUSALEM - A Palestinian rocket fired from the Gaza Strip has struck a supermarket in southern Israel during the latest visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Israeli medics say there were no injuries when the market was hit in the border town of Sderot, but five people were treated for shock. Another rocket struck a home, while two others exploded in a graveyard and damaged some tombstones. The Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility.
I guess they're not covered under the Hamas offer of a 'truce'.
Rice is in the region to boost Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. She was meeting Sunday with Israeli officials in Jerusalem and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank. There are no talks with Gazas ruling Hamas movement.
Gaza militants fire rockets into southern Israel almost daily. Egypt has been trying hopelessly to mediate a cease-fire.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
all meetings and hotel accomodations for Condi should be held in Sderot
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/05/2008 8:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The fool Rice wants to dismantle all checkpoints so the criminals can move the weapons freely into position. I really don't know what's her major problem. She should be made to spend two solid weeks walking the streets of Sderot to adjust to local sentiments. The fact that Bush lets her pursue this idiocy is beyond belief. She makes Hillarious look positively brilliant in saying the proper course is to obliterate Iran or any other thughole wishing to perpetuate their follies.
Police in the troubled southern Thai province of Narathiwat met on an emergency basis Monday morning after at least 12 persons were wounded Sunday night in a bombing at a fashionable annual charity event, while two schools were burned by terrorists separatists, police said.
The explosion occurred at the annual Thai Red Cross fair, held in a Narathiwat municipality park, when a bomb hidden inside a canned milk container left in a garbage drum exploded, they said. At least 12 persons were wounded and sent to hospital for treatment. One of the victims was later discharged.
Continued on Page 49
COLOMBO - Heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka killed at least 35 Tiger rebels and eight soldiers, the defence ministry said on Sunday. Government troops battled the rebels in the Mannar district on Saturday and claimed to have killed 35 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres and wounded 39 guerrillas, the statement said.
Eight soldiers died during Saturdays clashes while 13 troops were injured, it said.
There was no immediate comment from the LTTE, but the rebels in the past have rejected military casualty claims.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/05/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Afghan authorities have arrested two men and accused them of involvement in last week's attack on a military parade attended by President Hamid Karzai. One worked for the defence ministry and the other for the interior ministry, intelligence chief Amrulleh Saleh said. He said the government still believed that Pakistan-based militants linked to al-Qaeda were behind the attack, which killed three people. The Taleban said they were responsible. 
The government is massing troops for an imminent attack on the northern city of Mosul, the interior minister said. The minister Jawad al-Bolani said the government has deployed elite units in the city, home to nearly three million people and currently one of the most violent places in the country.
The wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has escaped unhurt after a bomb exploded near her motorcade in Baghdad, the president's office says. Hiro Ibrahim Ahmed was travelling to a cultural festival at the city's National Theatre at the time.
JERUSALEM - A Palestinian rocket fired from the Gaza Strip has struck a supermarket in southern Israel during the latest visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
COLOMBO - Heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka killed at least 35 Tiger rebels and eight soldiers, the defence ministry said on Sunday. Government troops battled the rebels in the Mannar district on Saturday and claimed to have killed 35 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres and wounded 39 guerrillas, the statement said.
