Hi there, !
Today Sun 07/06/2008 Sat 07/05/2008 Fri 07/04/2008 Thu 07/03/2008 Wed 07/02/2008 Tue 07/01/2008 Mon 06/30/2008 Archives
Rantburg
531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 101 articles and 174 comments as of 10:58.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Bulldozer Attacker's Dad: Is My Son a Dog? He's not a Terrorist
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
2 00:00 Grunter in Newport, TN [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 .5MT [] 
8 00:00 .5MT [] 
1 00:00 liberalhawk [] 
1 00:00 Frank G [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 .5MT [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
9 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
3 00:00 anonymous5089 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
6 00:00 ed [1] 
Page 2: WoT Background
1 00:00 Bright Pebbles [1]
1 00:00 liberalhawk []
1 00:00 Muggsy Gling [1]
0 []
1 00:00 Bobby []
1 00:00 Anonymoose []
4 00:00 anonymous5089 []
1 00:00 tipover []
2 00:00 Nimble Spemble [1]
0 []
1 00:00 trailing wife []
0 []
18 00:00 Omith Darling of the Algonquins7250 [1]
0 []
0 []
2 00:00 tipover []
1 00:00 Excalibur []
1 00:00 Procopius2k []
0 []
1 00:00 Ulogum the Fat1701 []
0 []
4 00:00 rjschwarz []
1 00:00 bigjim-ky []
1 00:00 tu3031 []
0 []
0 []
3 00:00 liberalhawk []
0 []
0 []
1 00:00 JosephMendiola []
0 []
1 00:00 tu3031 []
1 00:00 tu3031 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
1 00:00 ed []
0 []
10 00:00 Crimp Hitler2110 []
2 00:00 Vlad []
3 00:00 Procopius2k []
0 []
0 []
5 00:00 mojo []
4 00:00 bigjim-ky []
0 []
0 []
0 []
11 00:00 Phealet Johnson7479 []
8 00:00 anonymous5089 []
1 00:00 Anonymoose []
0 []
0 []
0 []
4 00:00 ed [1]
Page 4: Opinion
0 []
2 00:00 Abu Uluque []
0 []
0 []
2 00:00 Nimble Spemble []
0 []
3 00:00 Procopius2k []
7 00:00 Rob06 []
5 00:00 trailing wife []
2 00:00 mhw []
2 00:00 Punky Ebbique 4-5789 []
3 00:00 anonymous5089 []
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
4 00:00 anonymous5089 [1]
4 00:00 swksvolFF []
0 []
4 00:00 mrp [1]
0 []
0 [1]
2 00:00 Excalibur []
1 00:00 gromky []
2 00:00 Deacon Blues []
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Darn. She had really nice .... teeth.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 07/03/2008 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  And huge. . . tracts of land. So I'm told.
Posted by: Scott R || 07/03/2008 0:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Good God.
Posted by: Excalibur || 07/03/2008 8:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Eggs????? I like mine over easy.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/03/2008 9:37 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm healed!
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/03/2008 9:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Damn Ima aging rapid. Seems like yestereday Vera Vague was our gal.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/03/2008 11:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Ah, before Hollyweird went overboard with skinny women who looked like teenage boys with implants.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/03/2008 11:44 Comments || Top||

#8  Dang, Ima just noticed she got purdy good teefs. Trust this is something to look for in a matriamonialy project.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/03/2008 13:38 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Aussies in contact , Afghanistan - Put another Talibunny on the Barbie
Added: Jul 1 2008

Note the Austrian Steyr Stg.77 AUG assault rifles

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/03/2008 00:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bush says US to send more troops to Afghanistan
Read and watch the AP move the goalposts again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan by year's end. He conceded that June was a "tough month" in the nearly seven-year-old war. In fact, it was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the conflict began.

"One reason why there have been more deaths is because our troops are taking the fight to a tough enemy, an enemy who doesn't like our presence there because they don't like the idea of America denying safe haven (to terrorists)," Bush told reporters. "Of course there's going to be resistance."

Bush said it was a tough month too for the Taliban. But the once-toppled Islamist regime in Afghanistan has now rebounded with deadly force.

More U.S. and NATO troops have died in the past two months in Afghanistan than in Iraq, a place with triple the number of U.S. and coalition forces. In June, 28 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan. That was the highest monthly total of the entire war, which began in October 2001.

For the full U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan the death toll was 46, also the highest of the war.
Bush confronted the grim direction of the Afghanistan conflict during a sun-splashed Rose Garden appearance. "We're going to increase troops by 2009," Bush said, without offering details about exactly when or how many.

The Pentagon predicts the pace of attacks in Afghanistan by a resurgent Taliban is likely to rise this year, despite U.S.-led efforts to capture key leaders.

It amounted to a reiteration of a promised buildup of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by Bush. He said coalition forces have doubled in size over two years, and pledged that the twin strategy of fighting extremists and supporting Afghanistan's civil development "is going to work."

The Pentagon's top military officer said Wednesday that if security continues to improve in Iraq he is hopeful he will begin to have troops available to shift to Afghanistan by the end of this year. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more troops are essential to stem the violence. "The Taliban and their supporters have, without question, grown more effective and more aggressive in recent weeks, and as the casualty figures clearly demonstrate," Mullen said. He added that "there's no easy solution, and there will be no quick fix."
Posted by: Steve White || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bushitler
RINO
Mex Lover
Dumb Fuck

Wish he could run again.
Posted by: .5MT || 07/03/2008 11:36 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Clashes in Somalia kill 53 and dozens wounded
At least 53 people were killed in Somalia when Islamist insurgents clashed with Ethiopian troops and Ugandan peacekeepers in separate battles, a human rights group said on Wednesday. The interim government and Ethiopia both declined comment on the clashes or any casualties.

The latest flare-up in the 18-month-old insurgency came a week before a U.N.-mediated ceasefire between an Islamist faction and the interim Somali government is to take effect.

Hardline Islamists have been waging an almost daily Iraq-style insurgency against the interim government and its Ethiopian backers since they were ousted from Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia in 2007.

'A total of 47 people died yesterday in central Somalia and in the capital Mogadishu last night,' Ahmed Sudan, chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights organisation, told Reuters 47 people were killed on Tuesday and overnight in central Somalia and Mogadishu. He said six more had since died of their wounds.

Sudan said 11 civilians were killed when Islamists ambushed Ethiopian troops and Ugandan peacekeepers in the capital Mogadishu overnight, while dozens of others were wounded. Another 36 people, including civilians and insurgents, were killed when rebels struck an Ethiopian troop convoy in Mataban, 410 km (255 miles) north of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Among the dead on Tuesday were Moalim Farhan, commander of the militant group that attacked the convoy, and Abdullahi Ali Farah, also known as Sheikh Aspro, a spokesman for the insurgents told Reuters. Aspro is deputy to hardline Islamist Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on U.S. and U.N. lists of al Qaeda associates.

'We buried 27 Somalis,' shopkeeper Ismail Olad told Reuters from Mataban. 'We do not know the number of Ethiopians killed.'

A Somali ship was hijacked on Sunday near El-Ma'an sea port, close to Mogadishu. 'The ship, MV Solsea, was on its way to tow another Somali fishing vessel which developed mechanical problems near El-Ma'an when pirates seized it,' Andrew Mwangura, director of the Kenyan Seafarers Assistance Programme, told Reuters.

Three Germans are still held captive by Somali pirates in a forest near the Gulf of Aden in the northern Puntland region, while five Somalis working for an Italian aid agency, who were seized on Monday, are still in captivity.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Africa North
Egypt uses water cannon as Paleos storm border
RAFAH, Gaza Strip - Egyptian security forces used water cannon on Wednesday to keep thousands of Palestinians from storming across the border from Gaza, where Israel was due to ease a punishing blockade by opening crossings and allowing in truckloads of supplies. 'Egyptian security forces are using water cannons to control thousands of Palestinians who are trying to enter Egypt,' a Palestinian security official said, adding that calm was later restored.

Egypt had deployed dozens of extra troops near the Rafah crossing itself and many more along the border with the Gaza Strip. Witnesses on the Gaza side of the border said hundreds of Palestinians had stormed the border terminal in Rafah as Israel was easing the blockade of the impoverished territory. Six members of Egyptian security forces were lightly injured when Palestinians threw rocks at them, the official said, adding that Egypt later gave security forces an order 'not to respond to Palestinian provocation.'
Pity.
'This was done in agreement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip who have taken control of the situation,' the official told AFP. 'Palestinians are angry because they say the numbers being allowed into Egypt are limited,' the official said.

He said no Palestinians had entered Egypt from Rafah on Wednesday and just over 200 had entered on Tuesday, adding: 'Palestinians had expected that many more would be allowed in.'
Posted by: Steve White || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They were probably afraid that if they were washed, they would melt.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/03/2008 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  "...Palestinians from storming across the border from Gaza, where Israel was due to ease a punishing blockade by opening crossings and allowing in truckloads of supplies."

To be followed by rocket attacks in 5, 4, 3, .....
Posted by: USN,Ret. (from home) || 07/03/2008 0:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Egypt uses water cannon as Paleos storm border

It'll take more than water to sanitizes paleos.
Posted by: RD || 07/03/2008 0:48 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought I read an article that told of the Egyptian police throwing rocks back at the paleos.

I don't know, the whole thing is very...palestinian.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/03/2008 8:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Quagmire!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/03/2008 8:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Is Heavy Water?
Fire fur effect!
Gimme a wiff of Perrier!
Posted by: .5MT || 07/03/2008 11:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Reminds me a movie where two actors have been catured by Touareg guerrillas in Sahara and propose to enact the classic "water bucket overr the door" number so one goes out of the scene while the other preperes to fill the bucket. But the chief Touareg disagrees: "It is a crime to squander water, use camel piss instead".
Posted by: JFM || 07/03/2008 11:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Will someone please call the ACLU & PETA!
Posted by: Icerigger || 07/03/2008 11:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Use sea water - they'll itch for days. Besides, there's PLENTY of that.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/03/2008 12:39 Comments || Top||


Dozens of Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Morocco
Thirty-five alleged recruiters for Al-Qaeda operations in Algeria and Iraq were arrested by police in Morocco, where they are also accused of planning attacks, the Moroccan news agency said Wednesday. "This network recruited and sent around 30 candidates for suicide operations in Iraq and three volunteers to fight alongside members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," a police source told Map. "The suspects were also planning acts of terror in Morocco," the source said.

This is the third such group Morocco has claimed to have broken up since the beginning of the year. The specific dates of the arrests, which took place throughout the kingdom, were not given.

Moroccan police in February announced the arrest of 36 people alleged to have been part of an Islamist terror network led by Belgian-Moroccan Abdelkader Belliraj. In May, police in Morocco claimed to have dismantled an alleged terrorist network planning attacks in Morocco and Belgium. Two of the suspects have since been acquitted.

The Algerian-based group previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) vowed allegiance to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda last year. Though most of its attacks are still launched in Algeria, it has also carried out operations in other North African countries.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
66 killed in Chad violence over 'holy war'
Chad said on Wednesday its security forces had killed 66 followers of a Muslim spiritual leader who was threatening to launch a holy war against Christians and atheists from Africa to Europe.

Ahmat Ismael Bichara, 28, was arrested after hundreds of his disciples armed with swords, spears, bows and clubs fought gendarmes armed with automatic rifles at a southeastern village on Sunday and Monday. Four members of the Chadian security forces were also killed and six wounded in the one-sided battles at Kouno, 300 km southeast of the Chadian capital N'Djamena.

Bichara, his lip bloodied, wearing a white robe and reciting verses from the holy Quran was presented by the authorities to journalists in N'Djamena on Wednesday along with seven of his captured followers. Ministers in the landlocked ethnically mixed African country, where just over the half the population is Muslim, said the government had been obliged to act against the Islamic holy man to stop him triggering a religious war in the country. "Since June 3, he has been calling on all Muslims to prepare to engage in a holy war against Christians and atheists, saying that the war would be launched from Chad to as far as Denmark," Security Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir told journalists. "Ahmat Ismael Bichara's actions could have plunged the country into fire and blood," Information Minister Mahamat Hissene said, explaining the government's use of force.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  hundreds of his disciples armed with swords, spears, bows and clubs fought gendarmes armed with automatic rifles

Kickin it old-timey style in Chad.
Party on, Ahmat!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/03/2008 8:32 Comments || Top||

#2  They made the key mistake of bringing swords, spears, bows and clubs to an automatic weapons fight.
Probably thought Allah made them immune to bullets. InshAllah, boys...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/03/2008 10:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Still, given the disparity of weaponry, kill ratio was not so good, 1/16 (compare it to the brits Vs the mahdi); I wonder what were the respective sizes of the forces? If they were really mismatched, and hence the number of killed among the security guys, then kill ratio is even worse. Seems like even outmatched by superior tech, antique weapons can kill just as well today than in days bygone.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/03/2008 11:16 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
More on the Colombian hostage rescue
From TerrorWonk: 'There are many implications to this tremendous success. It indicates both the FARC’s rot and impressive Colombian capabilities. That Colombian intelligence could manage this elaborate ruse shows how much information they have gathered about the FARC’s internal workings.'

From Counterterrorism.org: 'This is a classic demonstration of how a country can use a mixture of law enforcement, intelligence, military, diplomatic and other mechanisms together, with a great deal of patience and tenacity, to achieve profound results against terrorism. It's an operation that needs to be studied, understood, to see what its lessons are for handling other hostage situations and other terrorist groups.'

From Lawhawk: "It's curious to look back at some of the reporting and punditry surrounding the March cross border raid and the opining of pundits that it put the lives of those hostages in jeopardy. It now looks like the raid helped gather intel to crush the terror group and rescue hostages. Far from putting lives in jeopardy, it appears to have been the straw that broke the camel's back."

Good show! In addition to the comments made above and yesterday on the Burg, the operation shows how success becomes cumulative, and how once you get an opponent moving down the slippery slope you can keep them going that way. Previous successes generated intel and understanding that made yesterday's success possible. And the FARC commanders seized in the operation will sing, count on it, since there's really nothing out there for them now. That means we'll be reading about another operation in the near future.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What is interesting is that the two blogs quoted (and linked) say nothing about any 'embedded' reporters or any journalists having ben briefed ahead of time. Almost like they knew that Jimmy Olson and his kin would be unable to keep a secret. Maybe we should try that sometime.
Posted by: USN,Ret. (from home) || 07/03/2008 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Thank you Columbia. It's not exactly Entebbe, but as a strike for freedom, It'll do. Happy 4th.
Posted by: Bin thinking again || 07/03/2008 2:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I learned from the rescue by reading "Die Welt"s web site. According to it America had provided support for the operation. In Le Figaro's (France supposedly conservattive newspaper) thee was no mention of America's role.
Posted by: JFM || 07/03/2008 11:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Let's hope it either speeds the approval oif the Columbia trade deal or the relesae of the information about FARC's ties with Pelosi & Co.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/03/2008 11:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Dis from Miguel Octavio care of Daniel:

This is an unexpected guest post. Miguel Octavio of the Devil's poop is out of the country traveling and is having problems to post on his blog. Thus he sent me this e-mail as he wants to express himself on the wonderful freedom of Ingrid Betancourt yesterday. He will be reposting the post below at his blog at some point. Meanwhile you can leave your comments here if you wish or go to his latest post there and comment anyway even if "off topic".

--- --- --- --- --- ---

As Ingrid Betancourt is freed today, Alvaro Uribe scores a huge victory and Hugo Chavez loses big, as his bid to gain worldwide fame, helps Colombia defeat the FARC and the most symbolic hostage is out. This puts the FARC in a corner, where it makes no sense anymore to hold the remainder hostages and their decades old terrorists' war, which turned into drug trafficking and kidnapping to support the effort, is over.

While the news is great, as long held Betancourt is finally freed in good health, it throws some uncertainty over the remainder hostages, as the former Presidential candidate represented the most visible hostage the world was ready to fight for. Thus, there will be a period of uncertainty for the remainder people suffering the horror of years in captivity, treated badly and without good medical care.

Its already been hours since the surprising rescue by the Colombian Government and there has been no reaction by the Venezuelan Government. Perhaps Chavez is calling Cuba to map out a strategy for his response, perhaps he is depressed, but is certainly a bad day for him. The Venezuelan President tried to play a high stakes game, the way he has tried with us in the last ten years, but he had a more formidable opponent, used to playing tough and they actually used him to raise the communications levels among the FARC commanders and in the end Uribe got the upper hand on both the FARC and the Venezuelan President.

French President Sarkozy is another winner as he made the liberation a point of honor and made the media and his country focus on it.
But most of all, it is a great day for Ingrid Betancourt, the three American hostages and the eleven Colombian hostages who may now attempt to escape the horror they have lived through and regain some semblance of their lives.

The world also has to learn from recent events, not to sympathize with terrorists, not to defend them. Uribe was painted as the bad guy too many times in his fight to return peace to his country, while the FARC kidnapped and traded drugs to survive. The terrorist criminals of the FARC should be given one last chance by the world to give up the remainder hostages and return to civilian life. If they don't, the world should back the Colombian President.

It is not a matter of ideology, it is simply a defense of humanity and people's rights.


Read here.

English only unless you make Hiakoo.

Verily it is quiet in Vz, notebooks telling a big damn tale evidently.



Posted by: .5MT || 07/03/2008 12:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Colombian intelligence tricked the FARC into believing that the hostages, who had been divided in three groups by the FARC, should be brought together in a single group to be handed over to FARC leader Alfonso Cano for a possible diplomatic, negotiated solution to the hostage crisis that would achieve FARC political objectives. As a result, FARC's high command agreed to travel with the hostages as a means of transferring them to Cano on a helicopter that actually belonged to the Colombian military and was actually manned by Colombian intelligence personnel.

According to Minister Santos, not only were all of the hostages safely rescued, but two senior FARC officials and some 15 other FARC soldiers were arrested in the process, also without violence.


Schweet. Cherry on top if the fake order was given in the name of Hugo Chavez.
Posted by: ed || 07/03/2008 14:24 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
11 militants, soldier dead in 2-day IHK clash
Eleven militants and an Indian soldier have been killed in two days of fierce fighting in an Indian-held Kashmir district bordering the Pakistani-administered part of the disputed state, the Indian army said on Wednesday. The gun battle took place in Kupwara district, near the Line of Control dividing Kashmir, and broke out after militants sneaked into Indian territory from Pakistan, an army spokesman said. “The two days of fighting left 11 terrorists dead. We are looking for more militants in the mountainous area,” he said, adding that an army officer was also killed and the fighting was among the fiercest so far this year.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding militants who are engaged in an 18-year-old insurgency in the Indian part of the scenic Himalayan region. Pakistan denies the charge and says it is doing its best to prevent militants from crossing into Indian-held Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Missile attack kills two in Bajaur
Two people were killed and two wounded on Wednesday when a missile fired from Afghanistan landed near a border post in Bajaur Agency, a senior security official Javed Khan said. It was not clear if Taliban militants in Afghanistan or international forces fighting them had launched the missile, Khan said. An Afghan refugee and a local resident were killed, and two others including a security official and a taxi driver were wounded, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Probably wasn't the US - the casualty level is too low. We wouldn't waste an attack inside pakiland for less than a dozen or so terrorists. Probably talibunnies forcing the Pak Army to get its head down so they could re-enter Pakistan without being seen.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/03/2008 13:03 Comments || Top||


UN offices in Islamabad receive threats
Rejecting the reports of closure of United Nations (UN) offices in Pakistan due to threatening phone calls, UN Communication Officer Amna Ali Kamal said on Wednesday that everything at the UN offices in Pakistan was routine and normal.

Talking to Daily Times, she confirmed however, that a threatening phone call was made Tuesday to their staffers at one of the UN project offices (Gender Support Programme) situated in the capital and investigations were underway.

“One of our staffers working at the office of Gender Support Programme being run in collaboration with UNDP had received a threatening phone call and the police is tracing out the unidentified caller as the government cannot take such things lightly,” Amna added.

She said the UN higher authorities had asked the staffers of just that office to remain at home but keep in touch via the Internet. She rejected the news content aired by some news channels that the UN has shut all of its offices due to threatening phone calls. Amna said the security at the UN offices is already tight and the offices are open as routine.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


US identifies new aliases of 2 blacklisted Pakistan-based groups
The Bush administration on Wednesday accused two blacklisted Pakistan-based groups, operating under “new aliases”, of trying to evade financial sanctions.

The Treasury Department identified numerous alleged aliases for Al Rashid Trust and Al Akhtar Trust International, two groups that the United States has previously accused of supporting Al Qaeda.

Al Rashid was designated in September 2001 and Al Akhtar was put on the blacklist in October 2003. That action meant that any assets found in the US were frozen and Americans were barred from making donations and doing business with the groups.

The department alleged that Al Rashid was now operating under other names, including Al Amin Welfare Trust and Al Ameen Trust, while Al Akhtar was using other names, including Pakistan Relief Foundation and Azmat Pakistan Trust. “We are very concerned about designated entities reconstituting themselves under new names in attempts to circumvent sanctions and continue funnelling money to terrorist activities,” said Treasury Office Foreign Assets Control Director Adam Szubin, which oversees the US financial sanctions programmes.

“We will continue to put the public on notice when we find that a designated entity is trying to operate under the cloak of a new alias,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


JUI leader held for 'training female terrorists'
Security forces on Wednesday arrested Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulvi Samiullah and his son in Tank district for allegedly training would-be female suicide bombers, Geo TV reported. The forces arrested Samiulllah and his son, Sohaib, from the Pai village in Tank. He was accused of training Madrassa Binatul Islam female students to carry out suicide attacks, the channel reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami


Seven terror suspects on judicial remand
Anti-terrorism court (ATC) No-II on Wednesday sent seven suspected terrorists to Adiala Jail on a 14-day judicial remand in two separate terror cases and adjourned hearing till July 16. The police had arrested Saddiqur Rehman, Abdul Khaliq, Niaz Ahmad, Abdul Basit, Abdul Majid and Abdul Saboor in connection with a suicide blast outside Ojhri Camp in Rawalpindi. The remaining one, Umar Adeel, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a suicide bombing at a GHQ checkpoint on November 24, 2007. The suspects were brought to the court in armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and produced before judge Sakhi Muhammad Kahoot. Elite Force and the police cordoned off the area during the hearing. Journalists were denied access to the accused, who were later shifted to Adiala Jail.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Seven killed, 16 injured in fresh Tirah Valley clashes
Yummy red-on-red clashes:
Fresh clashes between two militant groups on Wednesday killed 7 men and injured 16 others in the Tirah valley of Khyber Agency.

The clashes between Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam and Maulvi Mahboob’s Ansarul Islam have now continued for 12 days in the valley just miles off the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The death toll has risen to 89 following the fresh clashes, while 110 persons have been injured. The fighting between the rival militants has killed 500 men in last two years.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami


Militants burn college and police post in Swat
Militants burnt a college and a police post in the Matta tehsil, while unidentified gunmen killed a local religious leader in Kabal.

Around 100 armed men set on fire an abandoned police post and Fazle Haq College in the Matta tehsil of Swat district on Wednesday, locals said. The men started the fire with petrol, gutting the two sites, the locals said, adding that the fire damaged a nearby mosque. The assailants stayed at the site until the two buildings were burnt down, before fleeing the area.

In a separate incident, police officials in the Kabal Police Station said that unidentified gunmen shot dead Jamiat Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat Swat chief Maulvi Samiullah in his native Ningolai village late on Tuesday. A stray bullet also killed Ali Sher, 15, in the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


30 arrested on 5th day of Bara operation
Paramilitary forces arrested 30 more people on the fifth day of the ongoing security operation in the Khyber Agency on Wednesday, bringing the total number of people arrested in the largely bloodless operation to 52.

Quoting a government statement, AFP reported that the operation “continued successfully” on Wednesday. “So far no untoward incident has been reported. Security forces have arrested 52 militants — 22 on Tuesday and 30 on Wednesday — while three of their vehicles were seized along with a motorbike,” the statement said.d.

However, around 100 college students from Bara staged a rally in Peshawar on Wednesday condemning the operation, officials and witnesses said. They said the offensive was launched at the behest of the United States and called for it to be stopped immediately because it was causing food shortages.

Bagh supporters: According to AP, the arrested included 10 suspected supporters of local militant chief Mangal Bagh, and confiscated weapons from their pickup truck. A senior officer, seeking anonymity, said the men were detained as they attempted to transport the weapons to Tirah Valley.

In Bara, the bazaar was empty due to a curfew, AP reported. However, 20 people were arrested on Wednesday for violating the curfew.

According to a recent order issued by a magistrate, security forces have the right to shoot curfew violators on sight.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami


Iraq
Combined forces raid Missan governor's house
(VOI) – Combined forces on Wednesday raided Missan governor's house, and arrested 30 of his guards, said a governmental source in the province. Missan's Sadr office commented that the forces tried to execute a warrant to arrest the governor. "A combined Iraqi-U.S. military forces raided the house of Adil Mhoder, Missan's governor, at Awasha neighborhood, central Amara," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI) on condition of anonymity. "The forces arrested 30 of Mhoder's guards," he said. "Mhoder was not at home during the raid," he added. He denied the news that depicted Mhoder was arrested, describing it as "incorrect."

Sheikh Adnan al-Selawi, Missan Sadr office's director, confirmed the raid and arrests. "Security forces issued a warrant to arrest the governor," he said. "Security forces arrested three of the provincial council's members, including the council's head," he added. "They all belong to the Sadr movement," he noted.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  showing even a provincial governor is not immune
Posted by: liberalhawk || 07/03/2008 9:44 Comments || Top||


Iraqi army wound, arrest gunman in Mosul
(VOI) – Iraqi army forces on Wednesday wounded and arrested a gunman when he was attempting to plant a roadside bomb in northern Mosul, said a source from Ninewa police. "Army forces opened fire targeting a gunman who was attempting to plant a roadside bomb in al-Rashediya area, northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI) on condition of anonymity. "The gunman was wounded in his right leg, before the forces arrested him," he said. He did not mention further details, but said that army forces "detained the wounded gunman, to interrogate him after he receives medical treatment."
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  interrogating before he receives treatment, a la Dirty Harry, would prolly be more efficient
Posted by: Frank G || 07/03/2008 6:29 Comments || Top||


Interior Ministry forces detain 15 wanted persons, defuse roadside bomb in Basra
(VOI) - Police forces on Wednesday arrested 15 wanted persons and defused a roadside bomb during search operations conducted in Basra, a security source said. "Interior Ministry forces working in Basra conducted raid-and-search operations in different parts of Basra, capturing 15 persons who were on a wanted list," a Basra police source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). "An explosives ordinance disposal team defused a roadside bomb in Hamdan district, 10 km south of Basra," the source added.

Since April, the Iraqi government has conducted search operations in Basra in a bid to disarm the southern oil-rich city that was the battleground of fierce clashes between security forces and militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army


One policeman killed, 3 wounded in Mosul
(VOI) - One policeman was killed and three wounded by violence acts in Mosul, a Ninewa police source said. "One policeman was killed and one civilian wounded in clashes between a police patrol and unknown gunmen in al-Sinai (Industrial) area, east Mosul," a Ninewa police source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). Meanwhile, the same source noted "a roadside bomb went off targeting a police patrol in Sheikh Fathi district, west Mosul." The source did not elaborate on the details about the two accidents. U.S. and Iraqi authorities view Mosul, the provincial capital of Ninawa, as one of the last remaining al-Qaeda strongholds in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a military crackdown in the northern city in May.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  I often wonder if the news about police being killed etc... in U.S. cities were compiled and reported if it would not be worse than Iraq.
Posted by: bman || 07/03/2008 11:47 Comments || Top||

#2  I often wonder if the news about police being killed etc... in U.S. cities were compiled and reported if it would not be worse than Iraq

Sounds good but no. I have no link. Nor do you. With a little work you could workup the KIA in Caracas, thet might be purdy enightener.

Posted by: .5MT || 07/03/2008 13:45 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Two killed by terrorists in southern Thailand
A school principal was killed in a drive-by shooting in this southern border province Wednesday evening, while a woman was shot dead after dropping her child off to school.

Veera Muenjan, 54, a principal at Baan Ma Hae School in Raman district was killed while on his way home after school. In a separate incident in the neighbouring province of Narathiwat, a 27-year-old woman was found dead on a roadside in Rue So district. Police reported she had been shot in the head while riding a motorbike after dropping her child off to school in the morning. A note, addressed to government officials, was found beside her body.

Plus:

Thailand closes 55 schools after principal was gunned down
Posted by: ryuge || 07/03/2008 04:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency

#1  The interesting part is how Islamists throughout the world -- whether in Pakistan's tribal region, or southern Thailand -- love to attack beneficial infrastructure like schools, electric lines, or cell phone towers. Then they WHINE WHINE WHINE about the lack of development and neglect and discrimination by the government and powers-that-be. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Islam has a truly Satanic influence, just like Salman Rushdie warned us, so long ago. A prince of lies. Was MOHAMMED the Antichrist???
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 07/03/2008 8:35 Comments || Top||

#2  I aint religious, Scooter, but on a secular, pragmatic level, the answer is yes.
Posted by: Grunter in Newport, TN || 07/03/2008 13:18 Comments || Top||


Mayor's son pushed for Ces Drilon kidnap, says guide
The son of the mayor of Indanan, Sulu, encouraged the kidnapping of an ABS-CBN news team and said it would prove profitable, according to the team's guide who has turned state witness.

Juamil 'Maming' Biyaw made the claim in a statement he submitted to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at Camp Crame national police headquarters, a copy of which was obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). 'Go ahead with that plan because it's a good plan and we can make money from it,' Biyaw quoted Haider 'Jun' Isnaji, son of Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, as saying.

Biyaw also confirmed that the ABS-CBN team--composed of reporter Ces Drilon and cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama--had traveled to Sulu province to interview Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron. Drilon and her crew, along with Mindanao State University Prof. Octavio Dinampo, were kidnapped in Indanan on June 8 by armed men believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf. Valderama was released on June 12 and the rest on June 17, purportedly after payment of ransom. The Isnajis served as negotiators along with Sulu Vice Gov. Lady Anne Sahidulla.

The CIDG has filed kidnapping-for-ransom charges against the Isnajis. Father and son, now detained in Camp Crame, have denied the charges. Reached for comment Tuesday on the phone, Drilon said: 'Biyaw should be charged. If he knew that a crime was going to be committed, he could have warned us. But he did nothing.'

Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon told reporters on Monday that Biyaw would serve as state witness in the case against the Isnajis. On the phone with the Inquirer in Zamboanga City, Professor Dinampo was incredulous. 'How could Biyaw become a state witness when he was among those behind our kidnapping?' Dinampo said. 'If the authorities will take him in as state witness, there is something wrong with our judicial system.'

The Isnajis' lawyer also expressed surprise at Biyaw's statement. 'We are surprised,' Jose Aspiras told the Inquirer on the phone. 'The mayor cannot recall having met Biyaw until Tuesday (Monday).' Aspiras also said Biyaw had made a first statement. 'We think there are discrepancies [between the first and second statements]. We are studying all the issues for our counteraffidavit,' the lawyer said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Nine Terror Suspects With Cache of Powerful Bombs Arrested in Indonesia
A Singaporean who met several times with Usama bin Laden was among nine terror suspects arrested Wednesday in western Indonesia, police and a local TV station said. A cache of powerful bombs packed with bullets was also seized in the raid.

The men had been planning an attack on Western tourists, but decided to postpone their strike after realizing their intended target on Sumatra Island could result in too many Indonesian casualties, TVOne quoted anti-terror police as saying. They were considering an attack in the capital, Jakarta, instead.

Police told TVOne the 20 bombs seized Wednesday in Palembang, a coastal city on Sumatra, were packed with bullets, probably to maximize the impact of the blast. In the past, terrorists have been known to use ball-bearings.

Only the nationality of one suspect — the Singaporean — was identified. He was said to have met with bin Laden on several occasions, but TVOne provided no further details. The other men allegedly had ties with Southeast Asia's most wanted terror suspect, Noordin Top, who is believed to head a breakaway faction of Jemaah Islamiyah that is committed to Al Qaeda style attacks on Western, civilian targets. Recently arrested Muslim militants have said he may have fled the country.

Police documents obtained by The Associated Press indicated that JI has maintained the ability and desire to forge international links despite a crackdown that has resulted in the arrest and convictions of hundreds of terrorists.

The nine suspects detained Wednesday will be transferred to Jakarta within 24 hours.

Police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira confirmed the arrests and the recovery of explosives, but provided few other details, saying the investigation was ongoing. Another police source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, confirmed however that nine were detained and eight bombs seized.
This article starring:
Jemaah Islamiyah
Abubakar Nataprawira
Noordin TopJemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Fred || 07/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah



Who's in the News
70[untagged]
5Taliban
4Lashkar-e-Islami
3Govt of Pakistan
3Hamas
2al-Qaeda in Iraq
2Global Jihad
2Mahdi Army
2al-Qaeda
1Thai Insurgency
1Abu Sayyaf
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Iraqi Baath Party
1Islamic Courts
1Jaish-ul-Islami Pakistan
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Jemaah Islamiyah

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
Thu 2008-07-03
  Bulldozer Attacker's Dad: Is My Son a Dog? He's not a Terrorist
Wed 2008-07-02
  Many hurt, 7 killed in Jerusalem bulldozer attack
Tue 2008-07-01
  'MMA no more an electoral alliance'
Mon 2008-06-30
  Ahmadinejad target of 'Rome X-ray plot', diplomat says
Sun 2008-06-29
  Afghan, U.S. troops kill 32 Taliban
Sat 2008-06-28
  N. Korea destroys nuclear reactor tower
Fri 2008-06-27
  Muslim anger at sniffer dogs at station
Thu 2008-06-26
  Israel shuts Gaza crossings after rocket attacks
Wed 2008-06-25
  Attempted coup splits Hamas military wing in two
Tue 2008-06-24
  US Special Forces: 1 Al Qaeda's emir in Mosul: 0
Mon 2008-06-23
  Israel opens Gaza crossing points
Sun 2008-06-22
  25 Christians kidnapped in Peshawar
Sat 2008-06-21
  Sadrists collapse in Missan
Fri 2008-06-20
  Israel-Hamas truce begins
Thu 2008-06-19
  Talibs flee Arghandab for their lives

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.
3.85.241.10
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (36)    Non-WoT (20)    Opinion (12)    Local News (9)    (0)