Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/05/2009 1:17 Comments ||
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#3
Yvette Vickers, Playboy Playmate, July 1959.
(google is your friend) Fan bio
Short Cut to Hell (1957)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
Hud (1963)
. Her last film to date is the low-budget horror flick Evil Spirits (1990 resume
An Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan by a Taleban rocket attack, the Australian Defence Department says. The soldier, who was not named, was killed instantly when a rocket exploded in a compound in Afghanistan's southern province of Uruzgan. A group of Australian soldiers was stationed at an Afghan base there. The soldier had been in the country only a few weeks.
The casualty was the eighth suffered by Australian forces in Afghanistan since their deployment there in 2001. "Fighting in the war in Afghanistan continues as an important part of the fight against terrorism, the fight against al-Qaeda," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters in Sydney. "It's also part and parcel of our obligation to our allies and friends, given that this war in Afghanistan began following the terrorist attack on September 11 by al Qaida, resulting in the murder of thousands of innocent civilians."
Australia has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan and Mr Rudd said that the government had no plans to add more.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The soldier had been in the country only a few weeks.
Shades of Vietnam. The highest casualty rate was usually among the "new guys" that had just arrived "in-country". Survive the first three months, and the chances were pretty good you'd survive the tour.
The Aussies - always in the fight with us for freedom. God Bless 'em all!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/05/2009 13:29 Comments ||
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A French warship captured 19 Somali pirates on Sunday when it came to the rescue of two cargo ships threatened in the Gulf of Aden, the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
The French naval vessel Jean de Vienne was on patrol off the Somali coast as part of a European Union anti-piracy force when it came to the rescue of a Croatian cargo vessel and a Panamanian ship crossing the Gulf of Aden.
The 19 Somali pirates, armed and equipped with equipment to board the vessels, were captured and have been handed over to Somali authorities, the statement said.
The incident came three days after another French vessel captured eight Somali pirates who attacked a Panamanian registered vessel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Pirates
#1
Somalia has functioning "authorities"? Who knew.
#3
Likely the "Somali authorities" are Puntland or maybe Somaliland, both of which have functioning governments but which are regarded as part of Somalia, which has no functioning government. This has something to do with the UN's international point system, the price of prime vetch, and the phase of the moon. Don't ask me.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 7:50 Comments ||
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#4
Wait, there's more!
Residents: UN Georgia resident fishing license, Trout license, and WMA license. Senior (65+) Lifetime and Honorary License holders do not need a WMA license. Nonresidents: Nonresident Georgia fishing license, nonresident trout license, and nonresident WMA license. Florida residents more than 65 years of age must possess nonresident trout and WMA licenses.
Size limits: 22 inches for brown and rainbow trout and 18 inches for brook trout. It is a violation to possess a trout smaller than these limits while fishing on Waters creek.
Possession limits:
One (1) trout may be possessed daily
No person may take more than three (3) trout per season.
#5
Why don't the French take these guys home and teach them how to torch cars. That'll rehabilitate 'em.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
01/05/2009 8:50 Comments ||
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#6
This is the French navy, which hasn't been acting like your grandaddy's French navy. Perhaps they'd entertain the suggestion to put the pirates into the torchy cars?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 9:31 Comments ||
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#7
So, when is the UN going to official reclassify Somalia like the IAU reclassified Pluto? It's all a matter of bureaucracy and paper shuffling, which is why they exist to begin with.
#9
The real shame is that the French didn't take them in tow on a long rope (no boat, life vest, or swim fins) dropped over the stern. A few hundred miles through the Gulf of Aden would attract every shark in the ocean. No recidivism.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/05/2009 13:46 Comments ||
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#10
"Not like your Grandaddy's French Navy" > Ahhhh, finally proof positive that Dubya has been hell on the Brits + Euros - first the RISE OF EURABIA/BRITANISTAN, now the Brits can't even make fun of the Frenchies anymore!
D *** NG IT, LIFE IN THE FUTURE OWG-NWO EUROZONE IS NOT WORTH LIVING WIDOUT THE "I'M TOO PRETTY FOR WAR, WORK, OR PRISON" FRENCH SURRENDERING FIRST - WTFH IS A'GOIN ON IN THIS MAN'S EUROPE!?
#11
The good news for SARKEY's POST-COLD WAR/9-11 GRANDE NAVALE is that His Navy is NOT GERMANY's "TOO SOFT AND TOO LIBERAL" NAVY [alleged], as below:
* AFRICAN CRISIS > THE USELESS AND SOFT GERMAN NAVY AND THE SOMALI PIRATES [Der Kriegsmarine captured a bunch of Somali bad boyz only to have BERLIN = PM MERKEL order them to be RELEASED].
A British journalist and a Spanish photographer kidnapped in Somalia were released yesterday after being held in a series of caves for 40 days. Colin Freeman, 39, a Sunday Telegraph correspondent, and José Cendon, 34, were abducted in the northern Puntland region in November while reporting on piracy for the newspaper group. Speaking before flying out on a special charter to neighbouring Kenya yesterday, Freeman said they were "absolutely fine" and had suffered no injuries during captivity. "We survived on rice, goat meat and Rothmans," Freeman was quoted as saying on the Telegraph website. "I gave up smoking in 1992 and somehow decided now would be a good time to start up again."
The circumstances of their release remain unclear. Puntland's security minister Abdullahi Said Samatar said local elders had secured the pair's freedom and no money had changed hands. But local journalists in the port city of Bossaso, where the men were kidnapped, claimed a large ransom was paid.
A spokeswoman for the Telegraph, which had asked media outlets not to name the pair while they were being held, declined to comment on the claims.
Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous countries for foreign and local journalists. Freeman and Cendon, a freelance photographer based in East Africa, hired gunmen to protect them while they reported on the surge in pirate attacks on ships off the Somali coast. But the bodyguards appear to have betrayed them.
They were seized while travelling to the airport to board a flight home on 26 November and taken to a mountainous area south-west of Bossaso. The kidnappers moved the journalists between different caves to avoid discovery by rival gangs and the Puntland authorities.
The Telegraph yesterday singled out Spain's ambassador to Kenya for praise in helping negotiate the pair's release.
Kidnappers are still holding two freelance journalists, an Australian man and a Canadian woman, who were abducted near the capital Mogadishu in August. Murray Watson, a 69-year-old Briton seized by gunmen in April while working on an aerial survey for the UN, is also unaccounted for.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Gunmen hijacked a vessel belonging to French oil services group Bourbon off Nigeria's Niger Delta on Sunday as it travelled towards a Royal Dutch Shell offshore oilfield, security sources said. The vessel was carrying four expatriates from Cameroon, Ghana and Lebanon when it was attacked near the Bonny Fairway buoy, a major shipping route for the Nigerian oil services industry, one of the sources said.
"It was hijacked by gunmen in about five speedboats. The vessel lost contact with the control room around the Okwori oilfield area near Bonny," the source, a private security contractor working in the oil industry, told Reuters.
A second security contractor confirmed the vessel had been travelling to Shell's Bonga offshore field when it was seized.
Bourbon officials could not immediately be reached for a comment and no group claimed responsibility.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Pirates
BNP lawmaker-elect Salauddin Quader Chowdhury yesterday claimed that there are no war criminals in his party. "If the new government finds any war criminals among us it can try them...we have no objection to the trial of war criminals," said Salauddin, also parliamentary affairs adviser to former premier Khaleda Zia, talking to reporters at his Mohakhali office.
Replying to a query from the reporters, he said, "Those who had handed over 93,000 Pakistani soldiers to the Pakistan authorities can answer the question at ease about war criminals." Does that statement make any sense? Or is it just me?
Salauddin also said they regretted their disgraceful defeat in the election and therefore want to reorganize the party hierarchy. "BNP is ready cooperate with the Awami League-led government both in and outside the parliament without putting aside its 'nationalist ideals and Islamic values," said Salauddin. "We cannot compromise with the Islamic values, Bismillah and Islam, the state religion of our country," he added.
He lambasted Awami League's idea of forging a South Asian taskforce to combat terrorist activities in the region saying that his party does not support such idea.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Two alleged Al-Qaeda kingpins and a third man go on trial in Paris on Monday, accused of plotting the 2002 suicide bombing of a historic synagogue in Tunisia that left 21 dead.
Held at the US Guantanamo prison camp, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in absentia on terrorism charges but German national Christian Ganczarski and Tunisian Walid Nawar, the bomber's brother, will be in court.
Sheikh Mohammad, who has confessed to being the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks, is said to be Al-Qaeda's military commander responsible for all foreign operations.
The trial before a Paris court specializing in terror offenses will focus much of its attention on Ganczarski, a German of Polish origin who converted to Islam and allegedly played a leading role in Al-Qaeda's network in Europe.
The trio are charged in France with "complicity in attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise" and face a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail if convicted of the April 11, 2002, attack. On that day, suicide bomber Nizar Nawar detonated a fuel tanker rigged with explosives in front of the Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba, killing 14 German tourists, five Tunisians and two French nationals. Nawar is alleged to have contacted Ganczarski and Sheikh Mohammad shortly before the bombing in Tunisia. Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attack.
French and German investigators also charge that Ganczarski traveled several times between 1999 and 2001 to the Pakistani-Afghan border to meet Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The alleged top operative, who was reportedly in regular contact with Sheikh Mohammad, stands accused of putting his considerable expertise in radio communications and web production at the service of Al-Qaeda and helping recruit members in Europe, according to investigators.
Western intelligence agencies managed to track down Ganczarski after having intercepted a call from the Djerba suicide bomber's cell phone and he was arrested in June 2003 upon his arrival in France from Saudi Arabia. Ganczarski is said to have given Nawar the green light to carry out the attack during the phone call.
Tunisian national Walid Nawar is accused of having helped his brother carry out the Djerba bombing, notably by purchasing in France the cell phone from which he called Ganczarski and Sheikh Mohammad. The bomber's uncle, Belgacem Nawar, was convicted in Tunisia in June 2006 of involvement in the attack and sentenced to 20 years. The uncle was found guilty of helping his nephew build the bomb - a large fuel container and detonator - inside the truck.
The trial in Paris opens one month after Sheikh Mohammad appeared before a US military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to answer charges that he was the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. The Paris trial is scheduled to end on February 6.
Two other suspects in the attack - Jouar Suissi and Tarek Hdia - are to stand trial before a separate Paris court in February on minor charges of violating immigration rules and possession of fake documents.
This article starring:
Christian Ganczarski
Jouar Suissi
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad
Nizar Nawar
Tarek Hdia
Walid Nawar
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Europe
Security forces seized explosives and two suicide jackets during a raid on a house in Qambarkhel area of Bara on Sunday, officials told Daily Times. Sources said the troops demolished five houses in Qambarkhel area. A car, two suicide jackets and explosives were seized from another house in the same area, they said. Political administration officials said two people had been taken into custody. However, their identity was not disclosed. Another official said that an explosives laden vehicle, three suicide vests, improvised explosive devices, 29 hand-grenades and 12 rocket-propelled grenades were seized from the houses in Qambarkhel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
#1
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. Nice crop of purity you've got there, Pakistan!
Five people, including police personnel, were killed in separate incidents of violence in Swat on Sunday, as traders and shopkeepers closed their businesses for the day for fear of violence. Two slaughtered bodies were found in parts of Mingora while unidentified armed men killed three people in Matta tehsil. The bodies found in Mingora were identified as Frontier Constabulary personnel Mahi Khan and a police official Azizur Rehman. According to a private TV channel, a note was found near the bodies saying that they were killed to avenge the killing of Taliban in the valley.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
Local Taliban have warned women against going to the office of the NADRA and getting identity cards, BBC Urdu reported. Around 200 women from the region had recently submitted forms for computerised identity cards, which they require to benefit from the Benazir Income Support Programme. Women going to NADRA offices or coeducation schools would be punished in line with the sharia, the BBC quoted a pamphlet by the Hafiz Gul Bahar group as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Every woman needs to get into the habit of carrying a knife and using it. While some would get killed, a bunch of bad boyz would get slashed, which would have a Pavlovian effect on such dogs.
#6
We need 10,000 female Karate experts to deploy to the Tribal areas and instruct the women of the area in those gentle, femenine arts of crushing a larynx, breaking an arm or leg (or neck), and pushing testicles up the nose of the wearer. I'm sure things will get MUCH more peaceful - fast!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/05/2009 13:58 Comments ||
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A suicide bomber was killed while two people received injuries near a checkpost in Officers' Colony in Bannu on Sunday. The suicide bomber blew himself up in an attempt to target a checkpost but could not succeed as the bomb went off before he could reach his target. Meanwhile, three people were arrested for interrupting the proceedings of a jirga and hurling stones at the vehicle of the tehsildar of Parang Aar tehsil on Sunday.The jirga was being held to discuss a land dispute involving two groups of the Malik Deeni Khail tribe. The groups exchanged fire and started hurling stones at the tehsildar's vehicle.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
Five policemen and two civilians were killed yesterday in a suspected suicide blast in the northwestern Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan, a local government official said. The explosion, which also wounded 28 people, took place on a busy road in the centre of town, district coordination officer Syed Mohsin Shah told AFP.
Police said they believed it could have been a suicide blast, and that the police were the intended target. Bomb disposal experts were combing the scene for evidence.
Shah said the police had come to the scene to investigate a tiny explosion, when their vehicle was hit in a second blast.
Dera Ismail Khan is on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where hundreds of extremists fled after the Taliban regime was ousted from power in Kabul in a US-led invasion in late 2001. The town has in the past been the scene of sectarian violence between Pakistan's majority Sunnis and minority Shiites.
Muslims are currently observing the mourning month of Muharram, but the official said there had not been any Shiite processions taking place near the scene of the blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
The Pakistani army said it has discovered a van packed with almost 900 pounds of explosives in the country's northwest. It said militants planned to use the vehicle in a suicide bombing.
The army media center said the van was discovered during a raid Sunday on a house in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border. Six suspected militants were arrested in the raid. The army said it found suicide jackets, rockets, assault rifles and improvised bombs in the house.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
In Pakistan "explosive pack" ought to be an option package on all vehicles including bigwheels and baby coaches.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/05/2009 7:31 Comments ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Four suspected members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) were detained by Iraqi army forces in Mosul city on Sunday, a military source said. "Army soldiers today (Jan. 4) arrested four persons suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda network in al-Intissar neighborhood, eastern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The operation was conducted according to intelligence tip-offs," the source said, not giving more details.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
A woman hiding among Iranian pilgrims with a bomb strapped under her black robe killed more than three dozen people on Sunday outside a Baghdad mosque during ceremonies commemorating the death of one of Shiite Islam's most revered saints. The suicide attack, the most recent in a series that has killed more than 60 people in less that a week, was the latest to mar the transfer of many security responsibilities from the U.S. military to Iraqi forces.
Iraqi security forces have deployed thousands of troops in Baghdad and in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, just south of the capital, to safeguard against attacks during the ceremonies. Attacks by al-Qaida in Iraq, Sunni insurgents and even a Shiite cult have killed hundreds of people in recent years.
The attack in Baghdad's northern Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah, which also and wounded at least 72 people, comes two days after a suicide bomber slipped into a luncheon at a tribal leader's home south of Baghdad and killed at least 23 people. More than a dozen other people have died in other attacks since New Year's Day.
The Iraqi military held parades to mark the anniversary of its founding 88 years ago and to celebrate a security agreement with the United States that went into effect on Jan. 1. The agreement replaced a U.N. mandate that allowed the U.S. and other foreign troops to operate in Iraq.
Under the new agreement, U.S. troops in Iraq will no longer conduct unilateral operations and will act only in concert with Iraqi forces. The must also leave major Iraqi cities by June and withdraw all troops by the end of 2011.
In another sign of the transition in authority, the U.S. military on Sunday handed over control in Diyala Province of about 9,000 Sons of Iraq, a predominantly Sunni group of former insurgents and tribesmen whose revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq gave a significant boost to security in the turbulent province and helped turned the tide in the war against the terror group.
The United States paid the group's estimated 90,000 members countrywide about $300 a month. Eventually, the members are to be either integrated into the Iraqi military and police, or provided civilian jobs and vocational training.
Under the phased handover, which began last year in Baghdad, Iraqi authorities will continue that pay and education strategy.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabanbi told Iraqi army troops during a parade marking Army Day that "the Iraqi army has gained the trust of government and Iraqi people as the army of all Iraqis."
At a military parade that included recently purchased U.S. military equipment and armored vehicles, he told the troops that "the signing of the withdrawal of foreign troop's agreement and the end of the U.N. mandate on Iraq" on Dec. 31 that gave U.S. and other forces the legal standing to occupy Iraq.
Just as the parade took place around noon, hundreds of worshippers had gathered in Kazimiyah just a few miles to the north, home to the shrine of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, one of the holiest men in Shiite Islam.
The woman was among a group of Iranian pilgrims and she blew herself up just outside the gates of the mosque, a large building graced by four minarets. The office of Iraqi army spokesman Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi confirmed a woman wearing an explosives vest was responsible.
Iraqi army and police put the deaths at 38, although the Prime Minister's National Operations Center said it was 36. Conflicting reports on the number of dead and wounded are common in Iraq in the chaotic aftermath of attacks.
At least one report from the Health Ministry said the dead included 17 Iranian pilgrims, seven of which were women. There were also seven Iraqi women killed by the blast, which sent shrapnel hurtling across the crowded square.
"I saw many dead pilgrims on the ground after the explosion all covered in blood, some of them Iranians," one unidentified witness told Associated Press Television News.
Thousands of pilgrims from predominantly Shiite Iran visit during Ashura, celebrated on Jan. 7 this year. The evening before the explosion, thousands of men marched through the streets of Kazimiyah rhythmically beating their chests with bare hands and slashing their shoulders with iron chains, part of ceremonies leading up to the anniversary of 7th-century death of Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.
He was killed in a battle on the plains of Karbala near the Euphrates River. The battle, which was part of the dispute over the religion's leadership that began after Muhammad's death, was a key event in Islam's split into the majority Sunni and minority Shiite branches.
The Iraqi police and army have deployed thousands of forces to safeguard worshippers, mostly those heading to Karbala south of Baghdad. The city is home to the golden-domed mosques of Imam Hussein and his half-brother Imam Abbas. Hundreds of thousands are expected to pour into the city Tuesday and Wednesday night for the pinnacle of the pilgrimage.
Maj. Gen. Othman Ali Farhood al-Ghanimy, the Iraqi army commander in Karbala, said last week that thousands of foreign pilgrims had arrived.
Sunday's suicide attack bore all the hallmarks of the Sunni terror group al-Qaida in Iraq, which has killed hundreds of people in bombings against Ashura pilgrims in recent years. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. general in Iraq, blamed the group for the attack as well as a Friday suicide bombing that killed at least 23.
"These horrific attacks, along with the December 11 suicide bombing in Kirkuk, demonstrate that despite the great progress we have made, al-Qaida in Iraq remains a lethal and dangerous threat to innocent men, women and children of all faiths and groups," Odierno and Crocker said in a joint statement. The bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk killed 55.
Other Islamic extremist groups also have used Ashura to stage bloody attacks against Shiites.
Among the bloodiest attacks during Ashura were a series of mortar attacks and bombings in Baghdad and Karbala that year 2004 which killed nearly 200 pilgrims and wounded more than 500 others.
Last week, police in the southern city of Basra arrested a leading figure in a messianic Shiite cult, known as the "Soldiers of Heaven," that has battled with Iraqi and U.S. forces during the holiday.
At least 72 people died--mostly cult members--in ferocious battles with police in 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Is it Ashura season already...where does the time go?
Three IDF soldiers were killed and 20 others were injured, one critically and three seriously on Monday evening, in a friendly fire incident in northern Gaza.
Among the fatalities were two officers and a soldier. Colonel Avi Peled, commander of the Golani Brigade sustained minor injuries in the incident.
The injured were triaged and cared for on site and were later medevaced to the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Soroka University Advertisement
Medical Center in Beersheba, Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem and the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva. All of the families have been notified.
According to the IDF Spokesman's Unit, the grave incident occurred when a tank accidentally fired a live round at an abandoned building in Jabalya, in which Golani forces, who were operating in the area, took cover.
According to available information, shortly after 6 pm, a blast took out part of the building, causing some of its walls to collapse and injuring the entire force.
Earlier Monday, the IDF explored the possibility that the building collapsed due to the detonation of explosives in it an option which was ruled out as the details of the incident unfolded.
The extraction of the injured forces was done under IDF artillery fire, meant to provide cover for the rescue teams and with the assistance of IAF helicopters which dropped illuminating bombs in order light their way.
Colonel Peled reportedly refused to leave the scene despite his injuries, opting to see to the rescue and triage of his troops. He sought medical care only after the last of his troops were evacuated.
Peled's conduct and actions, said an IDF source, show courage and "personified the kind of behavior the IDF expects of its commanders in such times."
Peled, a former Egoz Brigade and Battalion 51 head, assumed command of Golani last summer. Prior to his Golani assignment Peled headed the Gaza Division's southern brigade. It was during that time that Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas, but a subsequent military inquiry found no fault in Peled's conduct.
#1
Bwahah... The Israhail-hitler Dick Faggots are too arrogant to admit they'd had an ass-whoopin' by a street gang they'd rather admit they're too fucking stupid they shot their own - 4th strongest army my ass.. first in the north by the ashoora head bangers, and now this.. bunch of fags!
#2
Hard to find a silver lining in this dark cloud, but the snarky side of my brain can't help noting that so far Hamas hasn't even been able to kill this many soldiers.
Hey! Can they do that?
The "Cast Lead" counterterrorist campaign has spread to cyberspace and cell phones, leaving Hamas's terrorist army in confusion, unable to issue and receive orders efficiently. Almost of all of Gaza's cell phone system is out of order, television stations have been hit and the Hamas website is down.
The local phone company Paltel said that 90 percent of Gaza's cellular system is out of order. Compounding the problem are the downing of landlines and the inability of technicians to reach work sites. Switchboards and mobile communications equipment have sustained heavy damage in air raids.
Hamas's leaders, who have been forced underground, have been forced to rely on old-fashioned walkie-talkies to maintain communication with terrorists. Most of the upper echelon orders are coming from Hamas headquarters in Damascus, manned by Khaled Mashaal. Fight to the last drop of blood, ya pansies!
Paltel has warned subscribers that they may be completely cut off from the outside world. Electricity blackouts have made it difficult for the population to receive radio and television programs, and television stations that have not been destroyed by aerial strikes often are not able to broadcast. Paltel said three of its technicians have died or have suffered injuries.
The Hamas website is down after several attempts to put in back on the Internet. Israel previously has hacked other Arab-language sites with messages to the public that it is being exploited by Hamas leaders. Hamas issued a statement accusing the "The Americans and Zionists" of trying to silence communications. One website that was hacked issued calls for Jihad, the Arabic term for "holy war" on Israel.
Major clashes between IDF troops and Hamas gunmen were reportedly taking place late Monday evening in the northern Gaza Strip....
Overnight Sunday, the IAF attacked more than 30 Gaza targets, including an underground Hamas bunker, weapons caches and sites from where Grad rockets were fired at Ashkelon.
In related news, the IDF announced on Monday that dozens of Hamas operatives have been taken prisoner since the start of the ground offensive, Israel Radio reported. Details regarding how the gunmen were captured [may not be part of N Gaza Op]
and when were not released.
#5
Is the IDF gonna hold the captured gunnies hostage?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 15:46 Comments ||
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#6
hostage as ask for a specific goodie or they get shot? No, course not.
But, they could make clear they will be held till a satisfactory cease fire (the terms for that are mentioned on other threads here) is reached. Meanwhile, while they are held, Hamas lacks the use of them in potential street battles with Fatah. For that purpose it matters not if Israel keeps them in pleasant accommodations - as long as they are deprived to Hamas as internal strategic assets.
#7
from the Muqata blog:
10:45 PM Important Update: Out of respect for the IDF Military Censor, we are unable to print more details about this evenings IDF ground operation in Northern Gaza. We'll provide details as soon as the censor allows...
10:10 PM The massive IAF bombing raids this afternoon and evening on the smuggling tunnels beneath the Philidephi corridor, could be due to the information we posted about Hamas smuggling in Fajr-4 70-kilomter range rockets.
#8
9:57 PM Israeli Intelligence sources say that Hamas succeeded in bringing in Fajr-4 missiles into Gaza. These missiles have a 70 km range and can reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas is trying to get these missiles into Northern Gaza right now. (Rotter)
#10
An interesting intelligence titbit; Israel has at least one blimp in position over Gaza.
While Israel and others make a show of Humint, I think it's mostly a blind for Techint. With permanent overhead monitoring, traffic analysis and data mining can produce results close to magic.
Paranoia is the most potent weapon against terror organizations.
#12
Holding them as leverage for a satisfactory cease would be a gigantic mistake. Hamas doesn't care about their gunnies. Certainly not enough to stop killing juice. For Israels sake, they can get some intel and then they'll try to escape or maybe they can get Fatah to take them off their hands.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/05/2009 16:33 Comments ||
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#13
Israel should not be taking prisoners unless they have no choice. They should have video cameras with each squad so surrenders can be recorded and the "Brave" Hamas fighters surrendering can be shown to help discredit them and their "brave" rhetoric.
#14
If Israel wants to capture Hamas fighters they should set up some flaming hoops. You know after all the training they've done jumping through flaming hoops (as shown on Little Green Footballs a number of times) they'd be helpless against the urge to jump.
Soldiers from the IDF's Golani infantry brigade were fighting in the northern part of the Gaza Strip when they entered a house on which they had previous intelligence it was used as a Hamas command center.
Upon entering the house, the soldiers discovered entrances to several tunnels; the Hamas terrorists holed in the house used these to escape underground to neighboring houses and were shooting into the building where the unit entered.
One of the soldiers followed the gunmen into a tunnel and managed to contain several Hamas fighters in a firefight while underground inside the tunnel, before teaming up with his comrades again. Two IAF helicopters were scrambled to support the infantrymen, Israel Radio reported.
The military assesses that the Palestinian terrorists were trying to lure the soldier to go after them alone into the tunnel in an effort to kidnap him.
In related news, the IDF dimissed Hamas claims that the group had succeeded in kidnapping two soldiers. A statement by the IDF spokesperson said the army does not comment on "rumors and mendacious reports" issued by Hamas, and emphasized that if an incident of Hamas kidnapping a soldier would occur, it would break the news to the public in a proper and timely manner.
#1
Why go after them? Run a hose from the tailpipe of the nearest vehicle into the tunnel. Idle said vehicle for several hours. Don SCBA, climb in and remove terrorist gophers. Alterately run a hose from a propane tank ....
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/05/2009 1:02 Comments ||
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#2
Hamas is not happy unless they are burrowing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/05/2009 1:08 Comments ||
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#3
you can only go so low... then you gotta dig.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/05/2009 1:20 Comments ||
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#10
Why be so nice about perserving the tunnels while destroying the vermin inside? A few well placed explosives will get rid of both. Half the work, twice the fun.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
01/05/2009 9:07 Comments ||
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#11
"Fire in the hole!!!!!!" does have a certain ring to it ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/05/2009 9:43 Comments ||
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#12
Can't they just plug up the holes with cement? Like a whole cement mixer's worth per entrance?
Y'know, to Protect the Children TM, so they don't get hurt playin' in them, and the puppies, kittens and baby ducks don't get hangnails.
#13
Carbon monoxide would probably be interpreted as a poison gas attack by the international media, and we'd never hear the end of it. Propane & a match, on the other hand, would probably fly with everybody except the "oooh! napalm is satanic!" fringe crowd.
No, I'm not saying that's a rational outcome - dead's dead, and burning to death's worse than keeling over quietly from CO poisoning - but I'm pretty sure that's the war crime algebra of the two hypotheses.
Well, that & I'm pretty sure neither would be all that effective in sandy soils.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/05/2009 10:40 Comments ||
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#14
Tunnel dwarf getting ready to escape on his getaway camel.
#23
Bangalore torpedos, pushed in as far as they'll go, then ignited. Look for where the smoke comes out. Follow up with the sewage, for proper HAMASS burial.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/05/2009 14:33 Comments ||
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#24
A tunnel crawling bot would be nice would be nice, rigged with a camera and an explosive charge.
Take a look-see what's down there before you blow it.
#25
Wasn't there a report about a Gaza sewage plant with problems just a few weeks ago. Perhaps said sewage could be stored underground in these tunnels.
"Hamas has already proved that it is not a partner [for peace] when it violated the cease-fire," a senior political source said Sunday in Jerusalem.
Israel will instead seek separate agreements with moderate Arab states, with the Palestinian Authority and with the international community. "The international community will initiate the agreements and will impose it on Hamas," the same source said. "The agreements will be with both the PA and Egypt and then if Hamas will not agree it will pay the price, mostly by even greater [diplomatic] isolation."
Israel is seeking three agreements:
On smuggling, a deal with Egypt, with American involvement, which already exists in the form of combat engineers working to uncover tunnels.
On the crossings, Israel would like to bolster a 2005 agreement with the PA, Egypt, and the EU, that will restore use of the Rafah crossing and deployment of PA and EU officials that will oversee its operation.
On a cease-fire, Israel would like to involve the U.S., France and moderate Arab countries, in a Security Council agreement that will grant Israel the right to respond to Hamas violations.
#1
This very much sounds like an Olmert mouthpiece.
"and then if Hamas will not agree it will pay the price, mostly by even greater [diplomatic] isolation."
Oh please
I'd rather hear the Tzipi version
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/05/2009 0:14 Comments ||
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#2
What is it! Jooooos are so shtupid. Jooos can't live with difference of opinion eh. We need to get rid of Hosni and his Joooos wife and attack Israel from the Egyptian side. Hezbollah, Iran, Syria and Egypt. And a few nukes. Chooose Jew...
#3
You know, I'm going to miss TS6893's wit when the Jooos drain his blood to make matzoh. On the other hand, that's as close TS6893 will ever get to making any contribution to humanity.
Posted by: ed ||
01/05/2009 6:50 Comments ||
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#4
That blood is poison man! Its prolly black.
Filled with venom and ignorance.
#5
The Egypt part seems to be working. Per JPost stories, Hamas slugs are in Cairo today begging Egypt for an open border and Egypt is lecturing Hamas on the need to respect Egypt.
#6
For the PA side of the equation, I noted Abu Mazen immediately flew to Ne York, ostensibly to press his case at the UN. My theory is that he felt an uncomfortably warm spot on his back right between his shoulder blades in Ramallah and decided NYC was safer.
The normative view, as I understand it, is that if the PA were, by EU/UN/Egypt mandate, to take control of Gaza, Hamas would be able to eject them again in 3 months.
#8
Yes mhw, there's a subtext not being reported (surprise, surprise, surprise) to the Israeli pounding of Hamas now, rather than later. Hamas has been insisting that Abu Mazen's term of office as head of the PA officially expires on January 9, and has been rattling sabres and stating that they would bodily remove him from office and install their own guy on that day. The official Fatah position has been that (by calculating from a different date) Abbas still has a full year left in his term.
Israel may be using the pre-inaugural power vacuum to maintain Abbas as head of "government", knowing full well that Hamas was certainly capable of kicking Fatah's skinny butt.
#9
Every whackjob Arab wants to nuke Israel. Of course, that means everybody in Gaza will probably be dead in two weeks from fallout, but with Israel gone, who needs them anymore, right?
#10
Hell, we had ground noise sensors that'd pick up footsteps from 100 yards in 'Nam, used 'em on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Bury some along the border, why dont'ya?
#13
check out the Martin Kramer piece in the Jpost. He makes clear that Israeli is looking for an endgame to the current op where Fatah gets back into Gaza under cover of some international presence, possibly Egyptian. Note Egypt is specifiying that the Rafah crossing will be opened up ONLY if the PA/EU monitors go back.
#18
Hamas in gaza is a pain for egypt, and a threat. Both directly as it borders them and hamas has ties with the Egyptian Muslim brotherhoo, and indirecetly, as Hamas interferes with the peace process, the success of which would take away one motive for the street to rise against Mubarak. They DONT want to occupy Gaza themselves, but theyd love Fatah to take it back, and might find a way to help achieve that end.
#19
Read today that Hamas' big brother, Iran, put a bounty on Mubarek's head and the Egyptians are taking it seriously. One suspects Egypt at least is lined up.
#22
JPost says that Mubarak just saw an EU delegation and told them bluntly that Hamas must not be allowed to claim victory. I can imagine the shock to the EU-types.
#23
Ed! I'm gonna miss Rantburg when Israel is going to disappear (nuke?). Judaism is a menace that preaches inequality and needs to be eliminated. Period. I'll feel sorry when Rantburg and its thugs arent around anymore.
#24
Of course, that means everybody in Gaza will probably be dead in two weeks from fallout, but with Israel gone, who needs them anymore, right?
Fallout isn't that big a deal. Yes, some people will get sick and die a little early. But two weeks is way too early. Hiroshima and Nagasaki started rebuilding in months.
The death toll of Palestinians killed in Israel's nine-day assault on the Gaza Strip hit 500 with thousands injured as Israeli troops advanced in their ground invasion supported by military helicopters that sporadically dropped bombs and caused mass panic as frantic families fled by car or on foot.
Since the ground invasion began at least 40 Palestinians have been killed and one Israeli soldier killed with some 35 injured, according to both Palestinian and Israeli officials.
Israel's assault worsened as world outrage continued, the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a solution, the Islamist group Hamas called for national dialogue and Israel's President Shimon Perez rejected calls for a ceasefire.
Israel launched a ground invasion late on Saturday, pouring tanks and troops into the Hamas-controlled territory after a week of air strikes, prompting many residents to flee their homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Gaza toll hits 500 as Israeli assault worsens improves.
#2
I wonder whether the plan is to go all the way through house to house like Fallujah or Najaf. I don't see much benefit in filling he prisons with deadbeats. That will only lead to incessant hostage taking and release demands.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/05/2009 7:23 Comments ||
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#10
"Subjects" who fire rockets and do suicide bombings against civilians should be tolerated, eh Shiwayit? Your people would have cut off Hamas heads if they were your subjects.
#12
Sure gettin' a lot of trolls today. Fred needs to issue some more troll licenses. Huntin' trolls without a license could get ya sink-trapped.
It's nice to know that a few Ayrabs have the intellect to actually make it to Fred's place. too bad they don't have enough intellect to detect the presence of their betters here.
SK - my money's on Israel. You might want to begin thinking of an alternate strategy as Hamass gets theirs kicked.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/05/2009 14:41 Comments ||
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#13
"Any nation that has behaved towards a subject people, as Israhell has to Paleos, is worthy only of utter contempt."
Any people who are utterly enslaved by Paleo propaganda, as SK is, are worthy only of utter contempt.
It is frankly laughable that you would post such a pronouncement in the apparent belief that it would persuade anyone of anything other than your submissive gullibility and brutality.
Abu Ali vows that once the war in Gaza ends he will quickly repair his tunnel under the frontier with Egypt, one of the many underground links used by Palestinian smugglers that have been blasted by Israeli warplanes. "Life cannot go on in Gaza if the tunnels are destroyed - they're our only opening to the outside world," he said, speaking inside the Palestinian enclave that has been blockaded by the Jewish state for more than two years.
Hundreds of tunnels have been carved out beneath the Gaza-Egypt frontier, providing a vital conduit to bring basic needs into the territory, which has suffered an increasing stranglehold at the hands of Israel. Foodstuffs, building materials, electric equipment and medicines are all brought from Egypt through the passages - as well as weapons and ammunition.
Such contraband provides smugglers with a profitable business. It is also a source of income for Hamas. The movement levies taxes on the smugglers' income from the tunnels which are linked to the territory's electricity grid with the blessing of Hamas.
Conscious that the goods flowing under the border are vital to Palestinians living in Gaza, Israel has bombed dozens of tunnels since Israel began its offensive on the Gaza Strip on December 27.
Abu Ali vows he will fix the bomb-damaged tunnel he shares with four partners, including a chief of Hamas' military wing. But for the moment, he dare not approach the area because "Israeli planes are attacking anyone approaching the frontiers."
Since the attacks on the smugglers' network began, Abu Ali, his wife and their daughter no longer sleep in the family home in Rafah for fear that he may also have been singled out for assassination by Israeli forces.
Another contraband operator, Ayman, operates two tunnels - one for goods and the second for fuel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
If you read the whole article, further down you find the following gem:
"Egypt does not want the people of Gaza to die of starvation, not forgetting that the tunnels bring Egyptian traders on the other side up to $45 million a month," he said, pointing out that Cairo is being constantly pressed by Israel to deal ruthlessly with the underground corridors on its side.
$45M/month? Where is this kind of $$$ coming from? As if we don't know. And do you suppose the donors are aware that this $$$ is being funneled directly into Egypt's economy? Probably at exhorbitant premiums? No wonder Egypt has turned a blind eye towards the tunnels. I wonder why they are even willing to allow the tunnels to be shut down, unless they are being paid directly somehow or otherwise compensated, or the $$$ isn't worth it for some reason.
#4
Follow the money, literally and figuratively. It sounds like Egypt turns a blind eye to the tunnel trade, as many Egyptians must be on the take.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/05/2009 1:11 Comments ||
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#5
Shalet and Tenille1168, theoretically, no. If Gazooks were normal people.
But if you go back in history, 500 years, 1000 years, etc. and find references about Gaza, they have nothing positive to say. I's been a hellhole, it is a hellhole, and likely will be a hellhole in the future.
#7
I think gods traffic has been limited to food and humanitarian supplies through both Israeli and Egyptian border crossings since the Hamas coup.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/05/2009 7:08 Comments ||
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#8
Gazans lose last lifeline as warplanes blast tunnels
I hate this BS. Israel has routinely let food and medicine cross into Gaza. Plus Gaza produces olives, citrus, vegetables, beef, and dairy products. And Gaza's tunnels are violations of sovereignty on the other ends.
Conscious that the goods rockets flowing under the border are vital to Palestinians living in Gaza
In yesterday's article the smuggler was concerned about his tins of jam. Yes, tins of jam -- vital.
#10
Israel withdrew from Gaza, basically giving them their own country. But instead of building a home they elected Hamas and ratcheted up the rhetoric about annihilating Israel. So they have built nothing, produced nothing, and cannot live without a welfare check every month.
#15
Juice have blockaded all seaport entry into GAza unless Sean Penn is on the manifest.... exceptions... different rules for different people. It has ever been the way.
Hamas said it captured two Israeli soldiers during fighting in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and was holding them hostage. The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also said it has struck two Israeli tanks and a military copter. "Two soldiers were captured," Hamas radio and television said.
The capture of Israeli soldiers by Hamas could have a large impact on public support in Israel for the Gaza offensive. Gaza fighters captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid in June 2006. Negotiations brokered by Egypt to secure Shalit's release have foundered.
The Israeli army responded by saying that it has no knowledge of any of its soldiers being captured during fighting on Sunday with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip, a senior army official told reporters. "As far as we know, this is not true," the official said of Hamas's claim to have captured two soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Lemme guess, they want to trade them for 1.5Million Gazans?
The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a Security Council statement calling for an immediate Israeli-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza and southern Israel and expressing serious concern at the escalation of violence.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said the US saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council."
France's UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, the current council president, announced that there was no agreement on a statement, though he said there were "strong convergences" among the 15 members to express serious concern about the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the need for "an immediate, permanent and fully respected cease-fire."
However, while France condemned Israel's military ground operation in Gaza, Jiri Potuznik, the Czech EU presidency spokesman in Prague, expressed support for Israel, saying that the Jewish state appeared to be acting defensively, Reuters reported. "At the moment, from the perspective of the last days, we understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action," he said.
Arab nations demanded that the council adopt a presidential statement calling for an immediate cease-fire following Israel's launch of a ground offensive in Gaza earlier Saturday, a view echoed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Ate least ONE opf the countries at teh un behaves like an adult and not a lemming. Why doesn't the un ever vote on a resolution about rockets fired from gaza?
The IDF is prepared to deepen and escalate its ground operations in the Gaza Strip, defense officials warned on Sunday, as the IDF split the Palestinian territory in half and began surrounding Gaza City. Hamas, the officials said, was encountering difficulties in commanding and delivering orders to its forces.
St.- Sgt. Dvir Emanuelof, 22, from Givat Ze'ev and of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion, was killed on Sunday from wounds he sustained in a mortar shell attack during clashes with Hamas terrorists near Jabalya.
Another soldier was critically wounded in the attack. Earlier in the morning, 30 soldiers from Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade were injured in clashes, and on Sunday night four soldiers were shot and wounded by Palestinian sniper fire.
By Sunday afternoon, the IDF had divided the Gaza Strip into two segments, in a move aimed at cutting off the flow of arms, supplies and fighters to the northern part of the Strip, as Palestinians claimed IDF tanks had taken up positions near the former settlement Netzarim and troops began surrounding Gaza City. Some 40 rockets landed in Israel on Sunday, scoring direct hits in Sderot and Ashkelon.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't forget the tunnels everywhere - they have this "we are the dwarfs of yore" fetish.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
01/05/2009 8:52 Comments ||
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#5
Apparently they've now divided Gaza into thirds, with the Khan Younis area cut off from both Gaza City to the north and Rafah to the south. Pretty good "divide and conquer" strategy - I hope it succeeds.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/05/2009 14:48 Comments ||
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Five people were killed when an IAF aircraft struck a mosque in the northern Gaza Strip Sunday afternoon, Palestinian sources said. The reports did not state whether the casualties were military or civilian.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Were they taken out by the initial blast or the secondaries?
One police officer was killed and his colleague was wounded early Monday after a brief exchange of gunfire with terrorists presumed insurgents in this southern border province, one day after the fifth anniversary of the resumption violence in the South.
The violence occurred as a police unit headed by Pol. Col. Piyawat Chalermsri, provincial police superintendent, raided a house in Ruso district after being tipped off that insurgents who had earlier killed two soldiers on December 29 might have taken shelter in the house. A hail of gunfire was fired as the police prepared to break into the house, the exchange lasting for about 10 minutes. Sgt-Maj. Thanat died of gunshot wounds. Police reinforcements arrived later to pursue the group of assailants who fled into the nearby mountains.
Forensic experts found more than 60 spent shell casings for M16 and AK47 weapons at the scene, collecting them as evidence for further investigation.
The Sri Lankan government says troops have reached the southern outskirts of the strategic Elephant Pass, which is the key link to the Jaffna peninsula. Troops have been pushing north since capturing the Tamil Tigers' de facto capital of Kilinochchi on Friday. There has been no comment yet from the rebels, who have held control of the pass since 2000. Tamil sources said the rebels killed 53 soldiers at the weekend. The army denies such losses. There is no independent confirmation of casualties and both sides regularly overstate the numbers that they inflict.
Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said troops had gained control of the southern outskirts of Elephant Pass. He said soldiers had overpowered the resistance of the rebels there and that operations were ongoing to "bring the entire area under our control". The website of Sri Lanka's defence ministry says troops have taken control of the village of Kurinchattiv and have entered Thamilamadam, both of which lie just to the south of the causeway. The loss of Elephant Pass would be another major blow to the Tamil Tigers, correspondents say, leaving Mullaitivu as their sole remaining major base.
Capturing Elephant Pass would allow government troops in the peninsula to link up with the mainland along the key A9 road. Further south, soldiers also captured the strategic town of Oddusuddan at the weekend, the army said on Monday. Oddusudan sits at an important crossroads to Mullaitivu. The pro-Tamil website TamilNet says the rebels killed 53 soldiers and injured 80 at the weekend in fighting on the main road towards Mullaitivu. Military officials denied that troops had suffered heavy casualties and said the army had recovered the bodies of 12 Tamil Tigers. Maj Gen Jagath Dias, who led the capture of Kilinochchi, said he was confident of taking the rebels' remaining strongholds in the north and east.
"Day by day, the Tigers' territory is shrinking and their numbers are dwindling," he was quoted by the Associated Press agency as saying. "The objective of finishing this war won't be that long off," said Gen Dias. The BBC's Roland Buerk was among a number of reporters taken by the army to Kilinochchi following its capture. Much of the town was in ruins, he said, with little sign of normal life - just 20 or so of the town's population remained. Troops were gearing up for operations further east. Attack helicopters flew overhead and every few minutes there was an artillery barrage, our correspondent added.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/05/2009 20:19 ||
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Sri Lanka's army said yesterday it was moving in on the jungle stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels, in a final assault aimed at ending the longest-running ethnic war in Asia. Flush with confidence after retaking their main city two days ago, the army vowed to capture rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as troops pushed deeper into northern territory long under the complete control of the guerrillas.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a New Year's address that 2009 would be the year of "heroic victory" over the Tigers, who have been waging war since 1972 to establish an independent homeland for ethnic Tamils.
Troops captured Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the rebel state within a state on Friday, and the general leading the assault said his forces were now advancing on Mullaittivu, their last major centre of control.
"We are taking the offensive to the Mullaittivu jungles where Prabhakaran is hiding," Major General Jagath Dias told reporters flown into Kilinochchi for a short and carefully supervised visit to show the city was in army hands. "We will hunt him down."
Journalists found a desolate town in which most of the buildings had been badly damaged or reduced to rubble by months of bombardment. The only remaining residents appeared to be a group of 22 Tamil women, children and older men sheltering at the town's defunct hospital, a AFP reporter said.
"We were ordered by the Tigers to leave but our family did not want to go," a 17-year-old girl named Komalasingham Thurasiha said. "We fled to the jungles and stayed there for a few days before returning today."
Gunfire and artillery barrages could be heard nearby during the press visit, but military officers said it was safe to travel within the town as all Tiger snipers had been driven away.
For nearly two years, Sri Lanka has banned independent reporters from rebel-held areas, including Kilinochchi.
The vastly outnumbered rebels, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had controlled the town for a decade and have frustrated government hopes of victory many times before. Hours after losing Kilinochchi Friday, a Tiger suicide bomber in the capital Colombo killed two people and wounded 36. Six months after a major strategic loss in 1995, the rebels overran an army base and killed 1,200 soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/05/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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 French warship captured 19 Somali pirates on Sunday when it came to the rescue of two cargo ships threatened in the Gulf of Aden, the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
A woman hiding among Iranian pilgrims with a bomb strapped under her black robe killed more than three dozen people on Sunday outside a Baghdad mosque during ceremonies commemorating the death of one of Shiite Islam's most revered saints. The suicide attack, the most recent in a series that has killed more than 60 people in less that a week, was the latest to mar the transfer of many security responsibilities from the U.S. military to Iraqi forces. 
Soldiers from the IDF's Golani infantry brigade were fighting in the northern part of the Gaza Strip when they entered a house on which they had previous intelligence it was used as a Hamas command center.
One police officer was killed and his colleague was wounded early Monday after a brief exchange of gunfire with 
