Islamist insurgents battled government forces in western Somalia and at least 17 people, mainly combatants, were killed, elders said on Monday, as both sides claimed victory. The fighting broke out late on Sunday when fighters from the Shebab, an al-Qaeda-inspired group that controls much of southern Somalia, attacked government forces in the town of Yet on the border with Ethiopia.
"We are getting that 17 people, mainly combatants, died in the fighting and some vehicles were destroyed," Ali Moalim Kerow, an elder in the nearby town of Rabdhure, said. A local aid worker speaking on condition of anonymity gave a similar death toll but warned that it could rise.
The Shebab claimed victory in their battle with government forces but local residents said on Monday that it was unclear who controlled the town after the previous night's fighting.
"We took control of the town after defeating the remnants of the apostate government who were planning attacks against us," Sheikh Hassan Mohamed, a Shebab commander for Hodur district, said. "Many of their dead are strewn in the streets of the town and our forces pulled out this morning," he said.
The Shebab commander said insurgent forces attacked government troops that had previously retreated from the city of Baidoa, further south, where the transitional administration's parliament was based.
A government military official acknowledged the attack but claimed his forces had defeated the Shebab. "They attacked us in the evening but with no success. They retreated and we killed more than 10 of their fighters. Our forces are in full control of the town," Shine Moalim Nurow said.
The leader of Somalia's anti-government Hizbul Islam group has called for more attacks against African Union (AU) peacekeepers, a week after a deadly suicide bombing targeted troops at a military base.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said on Sunday: "We are calling our brothers in the fight against Muslim enemies to increase suicide bombings, which I believe is an acceptable tactic."
The former ally of Sharif Ahmed, the UN-backed Somali president, said during Eid prayers on the outskirts of the Somali capital, Mogadishu: "People should kill with everything, even knives."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
said during Eid prayers on the outskirts of the Somali capital, Mogadishu: "People should kill with everything, even knives."
ROPMA ALERT!!!!
Ps : ever saw translations of traditional muslim prayers??? "Crush allan's ennemies", "Make their wimmen bare and sterile", "Humiliate™ them",...)...
#3
Yeah, contrast was given to a few Catholic prayers, dedication to the BVM and assorted topics, but nothing as blantalantly war-like and, well, un-religious and materialistical.
#4
"Dwive enemies before you! Hear the Wamentations of dere wimmin!"
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 8:21 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said on Sunday: "We are calling our brothers in the fight against Muslim enemies to increase suicide bombings, which I believe is an acceptable tactic."
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Yemeni army killed more than 140 Shiite rebels during fierce fighting in the rugged mountainous city of Saada in northern Yemen on Sunday, a military official said, after the failure of a truce offered by the government.
"The army killed more than 140 rebels after thwarting an attempted attack on Saada," the official said, describing the fighting as "the fiercest" since the start of the military offensive on Aug. 11.
" The army killed more than 140 rebels after thwarting an attempted attack on Saada "
Military official
The rebels started their attack on the city at 3:00 a.m. from three directions in an attempt to reach the presidential palace in Saada, but the army was able to foil the offensive, the official said. "So far more than 140 bodies have been found," he added.
The government on Friday announced a unilateral suspension of fighting, saying it would become a permanent ceasefire if the rebels abided by certain conditions. A rebel spokesman said they would "examine" the conditions but hostilities resumed on Saturday.
The main government demand is that they "respect the ceasefire and the opening of roads, evacuate their positions and free captured civilians and soldiers."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Barack Obama has demanded the Pentagon conduct a radical review of US nuclear weapons doctrine to prepare the way for deep cuts in the country's arsenal, the Guardian can reveal.
Obama has rejected the Pentagon's first draft of the "nuclear posture review" as being too timid, and has called for a range of more far-reaching options consistent with his goal of eventually abolishing nuclear weapons altogether, according to European officials.
Those options include:
Reconfiguring the US nuclear force to allow for an arsenal measured in hundreds rather than thousands of deployed strategic warheads.
Redrafting nuclear doctrine to narrow the range of conditions under which the US would use nuclear weapons.
Exploring ways of guaranteeing the future reliability of nuclear weapons without testing or producing a new generation of warheads.
The review is due to be completed by the end of this year, and European officials say the outcome is not yet clear. But one official said: "Obama is now driving this process. He is saying these are the president's weapons, and he wants to look again at the doctrine and their role."
The move comes as Obama prepares to take the rare step of chairing a watershed session of the UN security council on Thursday. It is aimed at winning consensus on a new grand bargain: exchanging more radical disarmament by nuclear powers in return for wider global efforts to prevent further proliferation.
That bargain is at the heart of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which is up for review next year amid signs it is unravelling in the face of Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions.
Gee, why should that matter?
In an article for the Guardian today, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, argues that failure to win a consensus would be disastrous. "This is one of the most critical issues we face," the foreign secretary writes. "Get it right, and we will increase global security, pave the way for a world without nuclear weapons, ...
except for Nork, Pak and Iranian nukes ...
... and improve access to affordable, safe and dependable energy -- vital to tackle climate change. Get it wrong, and we face the spread of nuclear weapons and the chilling prospect of nuclear material falling into the hands of terrorists."
They'll get it wrong.
According to a final draft of the resolution due to be passed on Thursday, however, the UN security council will not wholeheartedly embrace the US and Britain's call for eventual abolition of nuclear weapons. Largely on French insistence, the council will endorse the vaguer aim of seeking "to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons".
Gordon Brown is due to use this week's UN general assembly meeting to renew a diplomatic offensive on Iran for its failure to comply with security council demands that it suspend enrichment of uranium. The issue has been given greater urgency by an International Atomic Energy Agency document leaked last week which showed inspectors for the agency believed Iran already had "sufficient information" to build a warhead, and had tested an important component of a nuclear device.
Germany is also expected to toughen its position on Iran ahead of a showdown between major powers and the Iranian government on 1 October. But it is not yet clear what position will be taken by Russia, which has hitherto opposed the imposition of further sanctions on Iran.
Moscow's stance will be closely watched for signs of greater co-operation in return for Obama's decision last week to abandon a missile defence scheme in eastern Europe, a longstanding source of irritation to Russia.
"I hope the Russians realise they have to do something serious. I don't think a deal has been done, but there is a great deal of expectation," said a British official.
Russia has approximately 2,780 deployed strategic warheads, compared with around 2,100 in the US. The abandonment of the US missile defence already appears to have spurred arms control talks currently underway between Washington and Moscow: the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, said today that chances were "quite high" that a deal to reduce arsenals to 1,500 warheads each would be signed by the end of the year.
The US nuclear posture review is aimed at clearing the path for a new round of deep US-Russian cuts to follow almost immediately after that treaty is ratified, to set lower limits not just on deployed missiles but also on the thousands of warheads both have in their stockpiles.
The Obama strategy is to create disarmament momentum in the run-up to the non-proliferation treaty review conference next May, in the hope that states without nuclear weapons will not side with Iran, as they did at the last review in 2005, but endorse stronger legal barriers to nuclear proliferation, and forego nuclear weapons programmes themselves.
"The review has up to now been in the hands of mid-level bureaucrats with a lot of knowledge, but it's knowledge drawn from the cold war. What they are prepared to do is tweak the existing doctrine," said Rebecca Johnson, the head of the Acronym Institute, a pro-disarmament pressure group. "Obama has sent them it back saying: 'Give me more options for what we can do in line with my goals. I'm not saying it's easy, but all you're giving me is business as usual.'"
Posted by: john frum ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Not to beat a dead horse but if he were an agent of the enemies of the United States what would he be doing differently?
#2
"Obama is now driving this process. He is saying these are the president's weapons, and he wants to look again at the doctrine and their role."
These are NOT the president's weapons. He, despite the Lefts bleatings to the contrary, is the chief executive, not the bloody king. Changing nuclear doctrine this radically will involve the Congress, the military, the nation.
However, if everyone else wusses out, he is the de facto king, in this department.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/20/2009 18:21 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This move is two-fer for Obama.
It significantly reduces American power and security, but it also sets the stage to pressure Israel either to accept extinction by giving up its arsenal or become a pariah state forbidden US aid.
#4
"Not to beat a dead horse but if he were an agent of the enemies of the United States what would he be doing differently?"
I've been scratching my head over that very same question for several months now. And the best answer I've been able to come up with is "nothing." His first loyalty appears to be to the transnational progressive movement, not to America.
Barack Obama is either one of the stupidest, most boneheaded nincompoops ever to occupy the White House, or he's on a barely-clandestine mission to weaken America and destroy its standing as a world power.
I think we're in DEEP shit.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/20/2009 19:38 Comments ||
Top||
#5
time for some General Officers and Flag Rank equivalents to fire their "silver bullets" by going public about this! This man cannot unilaterally undo 65 years of defense policy at a whim! He most certainly is not the F*cking king, and will only stop acting like it when he gets a firm NO!
#6
Well, we already had Madeline Halfbright telling the Russians a few days ago the USA No Longer Intends To Be World's No.1 State. Obama just wants to make it official. Question is how low will we go? Oh, and another question, will the Pentagon's study take into account the combined number of nukes that Russia, China, North Korean, Iran and Pakistan all have pointed at us? Oh, and did Barry ever hear of nuclear blackmail?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/20/2009 20:08 Comments ||
Top||
#7
How many "own goals" can your team captain score before you pull him from the game?
Obama is a monstrosity - and I shudder to think of the magnitude of the damage he can wreak over the next 40 months.
#8
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, , promote the provide for the common defencegeneral Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Is the President upholding the Constitution of the United States?
As it reads "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
#9
Sorry first line garbled, it reads - We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America
#14
His first loyalty appears to be to the transnational progressive movement, not to America.
Someone smarter than me made the same point a couple of days ago. The tranzis are a blind spot to me- I can't understand how anyone takes them seriously who isn't blinded by anti-American rage.
Wasn't there some study done a while back that found via wargaming that the *minimum* nuke arsenals for the great powers should be around 2200? Otherwise a first-strike becomes too attractive?
#15
VARIOUS MIL FORUMS > NETTERS > seems RUSSIA has a MINIMA 5:1 ADVANTAGEZ, versus the USA = USSA/USR, in NON-STRATEGIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS ESPEC TACTICAL = BATTLEFIELD NUKES???
The good news is that US GMD-TMD gets to act like our Cold War OFFENSIVE strategic FBM submarines + USAF bombers, SAVE BUT FOR DEFENSE FROM TACNUCWEAPS + IRBMS + MILITANT NUKULAAR TEHWERRISM [NucTerror].
#17
Instead of just slashing our nuclear arsenal, he could sell the excess to Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, etc. and transfer the proceeds to help fund ObamaCare.
#21
This is also a test of the political reliability of the General Officer corps. Those who mumble but stay will be rewarded, those who resign will be id'd as 'unreliable'. Consider this a first step in a bloodless Stalinist purge phase of the military upper echelons.
#22
Of course, they could always do the study and conclude by stating that Obama's goals are insane. You know, don't resign, just tell the truth. Defending the Constitution doesn't mean they have to lie, does it?
#26
I'd like to see the nukes reduced on both the Russian and US sides, no matter who is President. But Free Radical brings up an interesting point; is there a link? I would have thought the number to be much smaller, especially since we're now deploying effective ABM.
GUAM PDN FORUMS > BREITBART.com > GATES: CHINA COULD UNDERMINE US MILITARY POWER IN THE PACIFIC [US Forward Air Bases + USN Carrier Strike Groups]. US Dominance under threat frm China + EMERGING POWERS.
* SAME > POSTER RELATED > GATES: CHINA COULD NEUTRALIZE GUAM.
#28
Pardon, it was Ronald Reagan who said the aim should not be arms limitation but arms REDUCTION, and faulted previous efforts for that reason.
1500 weapons each would dwarf rogue state arsenals, and would keep in the spirit of Reagan
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
09/21/2009 22:13 Comments ||
Top||
#29
SAME > OBAMA SAYS US NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE HIS AND HE IS GETTING RID OF THEM.
POSTER - WW3 = WWR Redux where widout Nuclear Deterrence, US may be too weak to intervene + save the Pacific [long lead time, iff any?]. CHINA will be able to take over TAIWAN + PALAU + GUAM-CNMI + JAPAN.
D *** NG IT, WE MISSED THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS + MINIMA 1/2 OF CONUS-NORAM FOR "LIVING SPACE", DIDN'T WE!? Many CHIN NETTERS > iff the US were mil or geopol weak enough, CHIN COULD + SHOULD + WILL DO SO ["GREAT GAME" + MURPHY'S LAW + "LAW OF SURVIVAL/JUNGLE [Darwinism] > STRONG NATIONS SHOULD NOT ONLY SURVIVE BUT SHOULD LEAD]???
#1
If 24 yo Zazi has lived in the US since 1999, and returned to Pakistan in 2007 & 2008 to visit his wife, when was he married? Also, Kuby rushed right in to defend him. Besides hosting on Air America, he defended El Sayyid Nosair, convicted of Meir David Kahane's murder and for conspiracy in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Other clients include Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, head of the Egyptian-based militant group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, the Chicago Seven, Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and accused of a plot against Farrakhan, and the Gambino crime family.
Nuff said.
#2
NPR report on the subject, with a link to the mp3 (or whatever it's called). Things I've read elsewhere: young Mr. Zazi was due to apply for American citizenship in one month, the Feds have other charges lined up, the last thing terror groups would do is get the truck for delivering a truck bomb, which the group in Queens tried to do last week, so the Feds and local police have been frantically looking for the bomb materials --"Mother of Satan" is notoriously unstable (You can tell exactly how notorious by the fact that I actually am aware of this). There has been a lot of information flowing from the Pakistanis, possibly because this is a group of Afghans (Pashtuns?) not Punjabis.
#3
The largest U-Haul available without a CDL license is the 26 foot truck. Now if one of them was a trucker or they went to other Afghan communities, say Albany, they could possibly get a truck without alerting authorities.
#4
I thoughts keep coming back to this: when the news broke that the Feds had this guy in custody, why didn't the other roaches set off whatever material they had ready? kind of a hail mary play. yes it would have been dis-jointed, but wouldn't (in their minds) a little boom been better than none? and the propaganda valus would have been huge: someting like" you might get one, but not all, allen provides" or some such drivel.
#5
USN Ret., you assume a level of rationality foreign to the jihadi mind.
Further, unless there are blood ties, I suspect these groups consist of one semi-charismatic bully leader who has roped in a bunch of village idiots who, once they have signed on, start having second thoughts and are more than happy to settle for 36 virgins once the leader is under wraps.
If these guys were anything other than clowns, we would have been hit again. The only thing they have going forthem is that we only have to blow it once.
Two FIRs against Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and "restrictions" on his movements may not be more than eyewash. The 26/11 mastermind remains a valuable "asset" for Pakistan's military establishment and was an esteemed guest at an iftar hosted by the army's 10th corps.
The JuD boss, who is also the head of the terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, is understood to have been present at the iftar held on September 12. The 10th corps is headquartered in Rawalpindi and is seen to be responsible for the Kashmir sector with a role in pushing infiltrators across the Line of Control into J&K. The LeT is a major recruiter of jihadis sent into J&K.
Official sources said the reports about Saeed's presence at the iftar only indicated how far the Pakistani authorities were from taking action against the man whom India has accused of planning the attacks on Mumbai.
The JuD chief is seen to be virtually a part of the military-ISI set up and his views can even count in army postings in the sectors that face J&K.
That the attention focused on Saeed and his LeT, who have been tagged by the UN for their use of terrorism, could not deter military brass from hosting him, is a testimony to his links with the Pakistani establishment.
On Monday, the Lahore police said Saeed had been confined to his residence on security grounds and was banned from leading Eid prayers. Police have since affirmed that the move was prompted by concern for the JuD chief's security, and was meant to thwart any "incident" - shorthand for an attack on him. "We are ensuring his security in view of terrorist threats," an agency quoted Lahore SSP Sohail Sukhera as saying.
The action follows FIRs lodged against Saeed for speeches in Faisalabad on August 27 and 28 glorifying "jihad" and are not linked to the Mumbai case. In one speech, he accused India of staging the terror attacks and labelling him a terrorist.
Like the reluctance of Pakistan to book Saeed for 26/11, the so-called house arrests seem nothing more than token measures.
The hob-nobbing of Saeed and elements of the military despite an Interpol Red Corner notice against him besides evidence that India has given to Pakistan of his role in planning and motivating the LeT squad that hit Mumbai, only points to his having a free run. "He is practically the creation of Pakistani agencies, he is one of them," said sources.
The 10th corps iftar took place just five days before the FIRs were filed.
Saeed had been briefly placed under house arrest in December last year after the JuD was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council. He was subsequently freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court in June. Later on India's request, the Interpol had issued an RCN against him.
The FIRs have come ahead of a meeting between Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week. Saeed has blamed former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf for a U-turn on the jihad in Afghanistan and despite the pressure on Pakistan from the US not to allow a high-profile attack in India, agencies point to a continued terror threat.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/21/2009 16:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Three persons were killed and several others sustained injuries after clashes erupted between two groups in Pat Bazaar here on Sunday.
The sources said the clashes broke out after owners and renters of some shops traded fire after differences developed over destruction of three shops in an explosion in Pat Bazaar late Saturday night.
They added that initially a scuffle took place between two groups, but later both the parties resorted to heavy firing at each other. As a result, three persons were killed and several others sustained injuries. Identity of the dead and injured could not be ascertained.
Police sources said that a number of wounded persons were lying in different parts of Pat Bazaar, but there was no one to shift them to hospital as the administration had clamped curfew in the whole Hangu city following the sectarian clashes.
They said that armed supporters of the two rival sects came out of their houses in large number and took positions in various localities of the city.
The district coordination officer (DCO) imposed curfew and called in the Frontier Corps, the Elite Police Force and police contingents to tackle the situation. All routes leading to Hangu were closed and personnel of law enforcing agencies started patrolling the streets and bazaars in the city. Meanwhile, the DCO convened a meeting of the Hangu Peace Jirga to discuss the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] Prime Minister Gilani, on the request of Federal Minister for Environment, has directed the concerned authorities to immediately release innocent persons arrested during the operation in the Khyber Agency, on the personal guarantee of Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi.
The Federal Minister for Environment had informed the Prime Minister that many innocent persons had been arrested in the Khyber Agency during the operation by security forces.
Gilani ordered the realease of those persons if the minister provided personal guarantees for them. He also gave directions to the Fata Secretariat that proper arrangements should be made for those displaced by the fighting in Khyber Agency. The prime minister assured of the federal government's support in this regard.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
[Dawn] Security forces, during search and clearance operations in Swat and Malakand, killed eight suspected militants and arrested 21 others, including a cousin of Muslim Khan. Officials also said that 22 other militants voluntarily surrendered.
According to the ISPR, security forces conducted operations at Bara Banda and killed two militants including a commander.
Four militants voluntarily surrendered to security forces at Chuprial while eleven surrendered at Bar Shaur. Four militants surrendered to security forces at Gwalerai.
Security forces conducted search operation at Jambil and killed three militants, while at Charbagh and Dakorak, three militants were killed and one was apprehended. One suspect was captured at Takhtaband during the operation.
Local Lashkar apprehended three militants from Shah Dheri, while three militants voluntarily surrendered to security forces at Galoch, Sarsanai and Kalla Kalle.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Geo News] Banned Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed has been put under house arrest at his residence. According to Geo News, police party has been deputed outside his residence restricting his movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] After dislodging Maulana Fazlullah-led militants from their strongholds in the Swat Valley, the Army and civil administration, with the help of elders, are accelerating efforts to form Lashkars to fend off the return of the militants to towns and villages which they previously controlled. The News has learnt that the authorities were planning to raise armed Lashkars in the previous strongholds of the Taliban -- Matta, Kabal, Charbagh and Khwazakhela. The militants have been defeated in these areas during the full-scale military operation launched in May this year. These Lashkars will guard their villages and would make sure that the militants do not return to implement their self-styled laws and slaughter, flog and insult local populations.
The sources involved in the process of forming Lashkars told The News that the first armed Lashkar, comprising hundreds of volunteers, had been formed in the Gat area of Matta. Gat is a village near Peuchar village located to the west of Matta town. Both the areas, nestled in sky-high tree-studded mountains, served as the nerve-centre of the militants in the post-November 2007 military operation, the first action by the Army to flush out Fazlullah and his gang when they had captured the government installations in cities and towns, ostensibly as a reaction to the Lal Masjid operation.
The sources said in another area of Matta Tehsil, Shangwatai, an armed Lashkar was being raised to resist any future attempt by the militants to return. "Now, the people have realised that the Taliban are their enemies," a senior official said.
Locals and sources said around 700 elders gathered in the Shangwatai area of Matta a couple of days ago to deliberate on the forming of the Lashkar. The Jirga of the elders decided to form the Lashkar to stop the return of the militants.
The locals and sources said the Lashkar would be raised very soon. They said the elders vowed not to tolerate the militant-terror rule in the valley anymore. They noted that it was high time for the residents of the area to stand up to the militants.
"They have blown up our mosques and schools and attacked funeral prayers. They exhumed the bodies of our own people from graves and insulted them," the elders said. "The Taliban are not amongst us, as they subjected the people of Swat to unforgettable cruelty," he said.
The people, the locals said, were quite encouraged after the recent military operation in which the militants were made to lick their wounds. "The date for raising the Lashkar is being kept secret because of security reasons, as the Taliban can strike to stop the formation of the Lashkar against them. However, it will be raised very soon, in days," the sources said.
The Taliban had ruthlessly acted to foil all the previous attempts by the people in different areas, particularly in Matta Tehsil, to raise Lashkars against them. They attacked some elders, trying to raise a Lashkar, at a mosque in the Gwalerai area of Matta last year and killed several of them, besides capturing scores of others. The people were suppressed effectively through their terror tactics.
Another Lashkar, led by Pir Samiullah in the Mandal Dag area of Matta, was also crushed. Samiullah was killed and his body, which was secretly buried by his followers, was exhumed by the Taliban last year. His body was hung from a pole at a square in the town and a couple of his followers were slaughtered publicly.
Another attempt to form a Lashkar in Wenai, which previously served as the borderline between security forces and the Taliban operating in Peuchar, also could not succeed. After a change in the security situation, however, the people have gathered courage to form Lashkars to guard their villages and towns.
Lashkars in Charbagh and Khwazakhela would soon be formed, the sources said, adding that the same was already in place in Kalam. The Lashkars will act jointly with the Army against the Taliban. "All the Lashkars will be linked up and closely coordinated with the Army," the sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Ma'an -- Israeli soldiers seized a Palestinian man at a military checkpoint at the entrance of the West Bank village of Jabara, south of the city of Tulkarem, on Sunday, according to Palestinian police.
Palestinian Authority police said in a statement that 35-year-old Yousef Mustafa Yousef Awad was detained after arguing with a soldier.
It's rarely a good idea to argue with the police or soldiers. It's entirely too easy for consequences to develop, you see.
The police also said that Israeli military checkpoints in West Bank villages caused a number of traffic jams as Palestinians traveled to visit friends and relatives on the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, which began on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Ma'an -- Two men were killed and three others injured after Israel's military shelled targets in northern Gaza on Sunday evening, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources. The two slain Palestinians were later identified by medics as Abdel Hafez As-Silawi, 21, and Muhammad Nasir, also in his 20s.
According to Dr Mu'awiyah Hassanein, the head of emergency and ambulance services in Gaza's Health Ministry, As-Silawi's body arrived at Kamal Adwan Hospital along with another three wounded, one critically. Hamas' militant wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that Israeli forces operating in northern Gaza had opened fire with tank shells, which an Israeli spokeswoman later confirmed in a telephone call. Other witnesses reported seeing seven artillery shells landing in or around Izbet Aved Rabbo, a town east of Jabaliya refugee camp, which two armed Palestinian groups cited as the apparent target.
The military spokeswoman said the attack came after soldiers, who were on what she called a routine patrol, witnessed Palestinians attempting to detonate an explosive along the border near the Nahal Oz crossing. She also claimed the two individual Palestinians were responsible for firing three mortar rounds into southern Israel on 24 August. One of the rounds injured an Israeli soldier, she said.
Ma'an could not independently confirm conflicting reports from Palestinian and Israeli sources regarding the men's allegiances, but both were thought to be fighters affiliated with the armed wings of separate factions.
In its statement, Hamas said As-Silawi belonged to its militant wing, while the Israeli spokeswoman said the Palestinian was a member of the Popular Resistance Committees. Both Israel and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine agreed that Nasir was affiliated to the leftist movement, while the PFLP's statement added that he was a member of its Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades.
Also on Sunday, Palestinian fighters fired two homemade projectiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel, according to Israeli reports. The projectiles reportedly landed in an uninhabited area near the border town of Sderot, causing no damage or injuries. A group calling itself "Sunnah members" later claimed responsibility for launching the attacks. In a statement, it said the launches were in response to recent reports that Israeli prison guards had sexually abused female Palestinian prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
This one is for 49 Pan, among others. Let the ululations begin!
Philippine authorities said soldiers killed as many as 17 suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group Sunday and discovered a heavily fortified bunker complex that appears to be the group's base of operations on an island that has given them years of trouble.
The discovery could explain why Abu Sayyaf has remained so elusive on the relatively small island of Jolo, about 590 miles south of Manila, despite years of U.S. military assistance and training in the area.
Philippine soldiers were tracking suspected Abu Sayyaf members when they stumbled on the complex, military officials said. The complex could accommodate as many as 500 people, and the various bunkers were connected by a network of trenches cut into the steep mountainside, said Ben Dolorfino, a lieutenant general in the Philippine army. During Sunday's six-hour battle, the military called in air strikes, he said.
Abu Sayyaf guerrillas Monday ambushed and killed eight Philippine soldiers who were returning to base after securing the rebels' lair, authorities said.
Clearly there is still mopping up to be done. Let us wish the moppers happy hunting!
The guerrilla group, which first came to international prominence in 2000 for kidnapping and ransoming tourists, has baffled Philippine military officials for the way its members seemingly melt away into Jolo's dense foliage. The unearthing of the bunker network suggests how Abu Sayyaf has been able to persist on the roughly 40-mile-wide island despite intensive manhunts and the use of U.S. satellites.
Philippine military officials are now preparing to examine the Jolo bunker complex for further clues to how the seemingly loose-knit Abu Sayyaf and its top leaders operate.
A map of all their hidden bunkers would be a lovely find...
Philippine authorities said Sunday's battle may already have disrupted a meeting between Abu Sayyaf chieftains who were being tracked in the area, including Isnilon Hapilon, for whom the U.S. is offering a bounty of $5 million for information leading to his capture.
Formed in the late 1980s with financing provided by one of Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, Abu Sayyaf was intended to radicalize the Philippines' more established Muslim insurgency, but for a period it degenerated into kidnapping for ransom.
The group later attempted to attract the attention of al Qaeda-linked financiers by teaming up with militants in neighboring Malaysian and Indonesia, including members of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah group, which orchestrated the Bali bombings. Philippine intelligence officials say Abu Sayyaf is still harboring two important Indonesian terrorist suspects, Umar Patek and Dulmatin, who are wanted for their alleged role in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed over 200 people.
The Abu Sayyaf rebels themselves have planned major terrorist attacks across the Philippines, including the firebombing of a crowded ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that killed 116 people.
Heavily armed mujahedeen guard the perimeter of a fortified bungalow office, as the veteran leader of the Philippines' decades-old Muslim insurgency makes a slow entrance. At 61 and bespectacled, Murad Ebrahim looks more like someone's benign grandfather than the head of the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that has been waging a bloody campaign for an independent Muslim homeland in Mindanao, the predominantly Catholic nation's southern third. His mangled fingers, however, are testament to his years on the field as chief of the MILF's fierce Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, before assuming the post as the organization's chairman and supreme leader in 2003.
Now in the twilight of his life and having been linked to countless deaths in battle, the civil engineering college drop-out says he wants to see peace and save the younger generation of Muslims from misery. "The MILF leadership is very sincere and very determined to push through with the peace process," Murad told a small group of journalists that visited him at the MILF's Camp Darapanan, a sprawling territory bordering several Mindanao towns recognized by the government as the rebels' political center. He said the quest for an independent homeland in the south had been paid for in too much blood. He wants to stem the flow before it spills over to younger fighters who are becoming increasingly radicalized by the continuing violence. "It has already been about 40 years and this could still be carried on into the next generation, and the next," he said.
It has been a long journey of discovery for Murad, who was born in 1948 in the impoverished Muslim town of Sultan Kudarat, part of which is now a rebel stronghold. He became involved in the Islamic movement ironically when he was a student at the Catholic-run Notre Dame University in Mindanao in the 1960s, Philippine government intelligence sources say. Although he will not confirm it, the sources believe Murad joined anti-Soviet forces fighting alongside future Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Murad went underground at 22, when he met the charismatic Nur Misuari and the Egypt-trained Islamic scholar Salamat Hashim, the Philippine leaders of a Muslim-independence movement called the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Internal differences would later force him and Salamat to split from the MNLF, and form the MILF in 1978. The MNLF would eventually forge their own peace deal with the government in 1996, while the MILF remained more militant. But now Murad talks with apparent angst about the horrors of conflict, particularly the past 12 months of violence in Mindanao. "We have seen the experiences of the civilian population during the last resumption of hostilities and they have suffered so much," Murad said.
Both sides finally declared unilateral ceasefires in July, and last week indicated fresh peace talks would be held soon. Those talks are the last chance to reach a settlement because those next in line to lead the MILF are fighters aged in their 30s or 40s who know little else beyond warfare, according to Murad. And true to his warrior instincts, Murad warned that although the MILF was pushing for peace, it was also building up its strength "to be ready to defend ourselves" in case the government reneged on a future deal. "Our training now (for young leaders) is geared towards nation building, geared towards the peace, but it is also geared towards a situation where they have to defend themselves."
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.
Islamist insurgents battled government forces in western Somalia and at least 17 people, mainly combatants, were killed, elders said on Monday, as both sides claimed victory. The fighting broke out late on Sunday when fighters from the Shebab, an al-Qaeda-inspired group that controls much of southern Somalia, attacked government forces in the town of Yet on the border with Ethiopia.
The leader of Somalia's anti-government Hizbul Islam group has called for more attacks against African Union (AU) peacekeepers, a week after a deadly suicide bombing targeted troops at a military base. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Yemeni army killed more than 140 Shiite rebels during fierce fighting in the rugged mountainous city of Saada in northern Yemen on Sunday, a military official said, after the failure of a truce offered by the government.
[Dawn] Security forces, during search and clearance operations in Swat and Malakand, killed eight suspected militants and arrested 21 others, including a cousin of Muslim Khan. Officials also said that 22 other militants voluntarily surrendered.
[Geo News] Banned Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed has been put under house arrest at his residence. According to Geo News, police party has been deputed outside his residence restricting his movement.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] After dislodging Maulana Fazlullah-led militants from their strongholds in the Swat Valley, the Army and civil administration, with the help of elders, are accelerating efforts to form Lashkars to fend off the return of the militants to towns and villages which they previously controlled. The News has learnt that the authorities were planning to raise armed Lashkars in the previous strongholds of the Taliban -- Matta, Kabal, Charbagh and Khwazakhela. The militants have been defeated in these areas during the full-scale military operation launched in May this year. These Lashkars will guard their villages and would make sure that the militants do not return to implement their self-styled laws and slaughter, flog and insult local populations.
Ma'an -- Two men were killed and three others injured after Israel's military shelled targets in northern Gaza on Sunday evening, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources. The two slain Palestinians were later identified by medics as Abdel Hafez As-Silawi, 21, and Muhammad Nasir, also in his 20s.
