[Al Arabiya Latest] More than 100 people were killed when tribesmen raided a south Sudan village, burning buildings and attacking churchgoers, officials said on Monday, in a further escalation of violence in the oil-producing region.
A surge of tribal killings this year has sparked fears for the stability of Sudan's underdeveloped south, still emerging from two decades of civil war.
Fighters from the Lou Nuer tribe attacked the village of Duk Padiet, home to a rival Dinka group, on Sunday morning while many of the villagers were in church, officials told Reuters.
"It's just revenge"
William Khor Reath, executive director
The extent of the carnage only emerged on Monday when officials reached the remote settlement in Jonglei state.
A total of 51 villagers and 28 southern soldiers, national security and police officers guarding the settlement were killed, said southern army spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol. "From the attackers 23 bodies were found on the ground. These attackers were found in uniform with arms and organized in a military organization in platoons with G3 rifles," he said.
More than 2,000 people have died and 250,000 been displaced in inter-tribal violence across southern Sudan since January, according to the United Nations, which says the rate of violent deaths now surpasses that in Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur.
Clashes between rival ethnic groups in southern Sudan erupt frequently -- often sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources, while others are in retaliation for previous attacks.
Members of the Lou Nuer tribe this month denied their fighters had joined militias, telling Reuters most of the recent raids were revenge attacks for past cattle rustling.
"It is just cattle raiding ... It's just revenge," said William Khor Reath, executive director for Akobo County, a mostly Lou Nuer area in Jonglei state.
" This is not a raid for cattle but a militia attack against security forces "
Major General Kuol Diem Kuol
Major General Kuol Diem Kuol of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) denied this was the case in Monday's attack. "This is not a raid for cattle but a militia attack against security forces," he told AFP
Traditional disputes have been exacerbated by a ready supply of guns left over from the civil war. Some of the fiercest fighting has been in Jonglei, parts of which are included in a largely unexplored oil concession operated by France's Total.
Southern politicians have accused their former civil war foes from north Sudan of arming rival tribes to destabilize the region in the build-up to elections in 2010 and a referendum on southern secession in 2011. Khartoum denies the accusation.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] At least 19 people have been killed in violence involving the militant al Shabaab rebel group since Sunday afternoon, Somali government officials and residents said on Monday.
Al Shabaab, the main rebel group, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, hit the African Union peacekeeping mission's (AMISOM) main base in Mogadishu with twin suicide car bombs on Thursday, killing 17 peacekeepers.
Late on Sunday the Islamist group seized control of a town on the border with Ethiopia from government forces after clashes that killed at least 14 people.
Residents said militiamen of the Ethiopian rebel group the Ogaden Liberation Front (OLF) helped al Shaabab drive out government forces from Yeed town in the Bakool region.
"Al Shabaab and OLF militias took Yeed town from us," Abdi Mohamed, Bakool region's governor, told Reuters by phone.
"They also crossed the border and looted property from an Ethiopian mining company. At least seven soldiers died on our side and 11 were wounded. We also killed many al Shabaab fighters."
The international community is trying to bolster President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's U.N.-backed government, which until this week controlled only four districts of Somalia's coastal capital Mogadishu. Most of the country is in the hands of al Shabaab and allied groups.
Yeed resident Nur Mohamud said the fighting in his town started on Sunday afternoon and intensified in the evening. There were at least 14 dead bodies lying on roads and in alleys, mostly dressed in government uniforms, he said.
"We have destroyed the enemy's base from where they used to attack us," Sheikh Hassan Maalim Takow, an al Shabaab commander, told Reuters. "From our side, four people died and of course some were injured, but to us that is not a loss."
In the southern village of Qoryole, a farmer detonated a hand grenade and killed himself and two al Shabaab gunmen who had seized him.
"They had ordered the farmer to show them where some weapons had been buried but he said he was not aware. Another farmer who was also arrested is missing," farmer Farah Ali told Reuters.
Elsewhere, al Shabaab fighters shot dead two demonstrators protesting the arrest of three religious leaders in Wanlaweyn, 90 km (56 miles) south of the capital. "They picked three sheikhs from a mosque and people demonstrated violently against al Shabaab. The protesters threw stones at the fighters who then opened fire indiscriminately," Osman Olad, a local elder, told Reuters.
Western security agencies say Somalia, which has been torn by civil war for the past 18 years, has become a haven for militants plotting attacks in the Horn of Africa and beyond.
The United Nations has said it is investigating a lead that the vehicles used in last week's suicide bombing at the AU base in Mogadishu could have been from an Eritrean peacekeeping mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] Calm returned to the streets of the northern Yemeni city of Saada on Monday, after more than 140 Houthi militants were killed in an assault on the government's regional headquarters at the weekend. A military official said that the fighters launched their pre-dawn attack from three points on Sunday in a bid to take the presidential palace, a key symbol of power in the centre of the city.
"The army killed more than 140 rebels after thwarting an attempted attack on Saada," an official said. It was the most intense fighting since the military launched an offensive in August.
Shia rebels led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi have been conducting a low-level insurgency to challenge president Ali Abdallah Saleh who has been in power since 1978.
Yemen's army recently intensified its offensive against Shia Houthi fighters after government security chiefs rejected a truce offer from the president.
The Red Cross said recently more than 25,000 people had been displaced by the conflict in the provinces of Saada and Amran and staff were working around the clock to provide urgent relief.
The Houthis released a statement saying that the army's allegations were inaccurate and designed to justify military offensives in residential areas of Saada.
The group did, however, say that fighting was continuing in a number of locations across Saada province, including the directorates of al-Malahid and Shada.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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The Queens imam arrested in the Denver terrorism probe is an FBI informant the feds say became a double agent - tipping suspects that they were in the government's crosshairs.
Ahmad Afzali, 37, insisted he's been loyally helping the government root out extremists since 9/11.
His lawyer, Ron Kuby, calls him a fall guy. "I think the FBI is angry that they blew this case, and they want to blame poor Imam Afzali for blowing the investigation," Kuby said.
Afzali told the News just hours before he was arrested Saturday night for lying to the feds that "someone is trying to set me up."
His parents immigrated to Fresh Meadows from Afghanistan when he was 7. They owned pizzerias and were wealthy enough to give their son every new gadget, schoolmates said.
He became religious in high school, and preached at the Masjid Hazrat Abu Bakr Islamic Center, New York's largest Afghan mosque, until 2007, when he opened a funeral business.
Afzali has a wife, three kids, and a taste for luxury cars - always in white, neighbors said.
In interviews last week, he told The News he was always happy to help the FBI. "They come for information, and I always help," he said. "I have helped them many times."
According to the government, agents approached Afzali Sept. 10 and showed him a photo of Najibullah Zazi, 24, a fellow Afghan immigrant who moved from Queens to Denver.
The next day, Sept. 11, FBI wiretaps caught Zazi's father telling his son he'd gotten a call from Afzali warning him the FBI was showing his photo. The father was urging his son to call Afzali when call-waiting beeped: Afzali was on Zazi's other line.
"They asked me about you guys," the imam told the suspected terrorist, according to a transcript. "They came to ask me about your characters." He continued, "I'm not sure what happened. And I don't want to know ...I told them that 'they are innocent, law abiding.'"
Afzali told Zazi to take comfort that the FBI was just asking around about them. "Trust me, that is a good sign," he said. "The bad sign is for them coming to you guys and picking you up automatically."
Afzali told Zazi: "Listen, our phone call is being monitored."
Hours later, Zazi called the imam to say his rental car had vanished. Afzali allegedly asked if there was any "evidence" in the car and Zazi said no.
The car contained bomb making notes, the FBI says.
According to the government, when questioned April 17, Afzali said it was Zazi who called him, not the other way around. He allegedly denied tipping Zazi to the probe or asking about evidence in the car - and even denied saying the call was being taped. More on pg 2
Posted by: ed ||
09/22/2009 00:56 ||
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#3
The only thing worse is when a case is compromised by a double who is in law enforcement or Intell Community.
Posted by: Hammer Head ||
09/22/2009 9:56 Comments ||
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#4
Cousin John Afzali, 42, manager of the family-owned pizzeria Valentino's, called the charges "bogus."..."This guy's got more money than God," said Steven Hayes, 37, who went to Parsons Junior High and Jamaica High School with Afzali. "I'm shocked. Not this guy."
He is famous in the neighborhood for his parade of fancy new cars, from Jaguars to BMWs to Hummers, which he polishes lovingly in his driveway."Whatever the latest car comes out, he's got it," said neighbor Yossi Matato, who said he recently saw a new white Jaguar at the house.
An imam with a family-owned pizza parlor and a funeral business and can afford to drive a Jaguar? Someone pays well but I don't think it is the FBI.
Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorist interest in attacking stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York.
Posted by: ed ||
09/22/2009 13:08 ||
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#1
What are the best seats in a stadium for watching a bomb? And if I get special bomb viewing tickets for the next Superbowl can I get it in a package with a hotel bomb suite? Oh yes, don't forget the bomb tickets for the transportation.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/22/2009 13:21 Comments ||
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That sign outside the Holiday Inn that says "Welcome Al Queda" might be a hint.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/22/2009 13:45 Comments ||
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#3
Or Ramadan Inn with an All You Can Eid dinner menu? ; )
But seriously (link): When University of Oklahoma (OU) student Joel Henry Hinrichs III blew himself up on October 1, 2005, the FBI and OU officials held a hurried press conference to assure the public that the incident was merely a tragic suicide by an emotionally disturbed student, with no connection whatsoever to terrorism. That is the line that most of the media have followed in the months since, discounting evidence pointing toward--as we reported in "Terrorists in Mid-America," in our October 31, 2005 issue--Mr. Hinrichs' involvement with an Islamic terror cell in Norman, Oklahoma. The bomb inside Hinrichs' backpack detonated on his lap as he sat on a park bench outside the OU stadium, where 85,000 fans had turned out for the OU-Kansas State game. If the bomb had detonated inside the stadium, there could have been many more deaths besides that of Mr. Hinrichs.
(UPI) -- A New York City Muslim imam, who acted as a police informant, betrayed his handlers by tipping off a terrorism suspect, authorities say.
Ahmad Wais Afzali, of the New York borough of Queens, was among three men arrested during the weekend in connection with an alleged bombing plot. In court records released Sunday, authorities allege Afzali, 37, tipped off suspected plotter Najibullah Zazi that federal agents were looking to arrest him and then lied to police about what he had done, The New York Times reported Monday.
The documents show that Zazi, 24, of Denver, abruptly left New York and returned to Colorado after having wiretapped phone conversations with the imam, which the FBI alleges contained talk of how police were interested in Zazi, mentions of events in Afghanistan and Pakistan and refers to "evidence," the newspaper said.
Federal authorities say that Zazi attended an al-Qaida terrorism training camp in Pakistan and was arrested in possession of notes detailing how to make explosive devices. Court documents indicate that FBI agents moved hurriedly to conduct raids at New York apartments last week based on information gleaned from Zazi's conversations with Afzali, the newspaper said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Investigators said they found notes describing how to make bombs in the handwriting of an airport shuttle driver arrested as part of a terrorism investigation, and they also discovered his fingerprints on materials -- batteries and a scale -- that could be used to make explosives.
The emerging details show that Najibullah Zazi, who has admitted receiving weapons training from al-Qaida, played a direct role in an alleged terror plot, authorities said in court documents released Sunday.
Zazi, 24, has publicly denied being involved in a terror plot. Zazi, his father, and an imam in New York City were arrested late Saturday on charges of making a false statement to the government, though legal experts say more charges could be coming.
Zazi's defense team denied reports that Zazi considered a plea deal related to terror charges, and Zazi's attorney, Arthur Folsom, dismissed as "rumor" any notion that Zazi played a crucial role. Zazi's defense team did not respond to repeated attempts to reach them Sunday.
Federal officials in Denver declined to comment.
Zazi admitted to FBI agents that he received instructions from al-Qaida operatives on subjects such as weapons and explosives. Court documents filed in Denver say Zazi was speaking with agents under an agreement where he might avoid prosecution.
He received the training in the federally administered tribal areas of Pakistan, the documents say.
The FBI said it found images of nine pages of handwritten notes on a laptop containing formulas and instructions for making bomb, detonators and a fuse.
Zazi told the FBI that he must have unintentionally downloaded the notes as part of a religious book he downloaded in August. Zazi said he "immediately deleted the religious book within days of downloading it after realizing that its contents discussed jihad."
However, an arrest affidavit says the handwriting on the notes appeared to be Zazi's. The affidavit doesn't mention that they were part of a book, but that they were e-mailed as an attachment between accounts believed owned by Zazi in December, including an account that originated in Pakistan.
"It appeared to be consistent with the handwriting as it appeared in the document," an FBI agent wrote of comparisons of Zazi's handwriting with the notes.
In addition, agents found Zazi's fingerprints on a scale and double-A batteries seized during a raid at a home in the New York City borough of Queens on Sept. 14.
Zazi, who lives in the Denver suburb of Aurora, underwent three days of questioning by the FBI before his arrest.
Also arrested were his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, in Denver; and an associate, Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, of New York City, the Justice Department said Sunday. Both also were charged with making false statements to federal agents, which carries a penalty of eight years in prison.
Court appearances for all three were set for today.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
...notes as part of a religious book he downloaded in August.
I just looked in my bible and didn't find in the index or table of contents the bomb making section, so Mr. Zazi, could you help me with this?
Posted by: Hammer Head ||
09/22/2009 10:02 Comments ||
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#2
It was that other religious book, Hammer. The one titled "Death to Infidels".
In one of the most bizarre moments, the three 9/11 conspirators who are acting as their own attorneys refused to come to court Monday, FOX News has learned. The prosecution says the men should be forced to attend, even forcibly extracted from their cells, but the judge declined to do so.
A military judge agreed Monday to another delay in the war crimes trial of five Guantanamo prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Army Col. Stephen Henley agreed to the U.S. government's request for a 60-day continuance, a delay intended to give President Barack Obama's administration enough time to decide whether it should move the case to a civilian court or a revamped war crimes tribunal.
Henley had scheduled a hearing at the U.S. base in Cuba to allow Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants -- all three of whom are serving as their own lawyers -- to voice any objections to the Obama's administration's third continuance in their case.
But Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, and the other defendants sent a note to the judge saying they did not oppose the delay, and Henley granted a written order without a hearing.
Mohammed was still expected to address the court later on a series of legal motions from the three defendants, including a request to dismiss lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union assigned to help with their case.
The two other Sept. 11 defendants have not yet been ruled mentally competent to act as their own lawyers and were expected to be excluded from the hearing.
The chief prosecutor, Navy Capt. John F. Murphy, said a decision on where to try Mohammed and four others charged in the Sept. 11 attacks will be made by Nov. 16. Even if the case remains in the hands of the military it would have to be moved from Guantanamo if Obama keeps his pledge to close the detention center at the U.S. base in Cuba in January.
The U.S. holds about 225 prisoners at Guantanamo. Murphy said about 65 are "viable" cases for prosecution.
Military prosecutors are ready to try the cases, but four U.S. attorneys' offices in New York and the Washington DC area are reviewing the files for possible federal civilian trials, he said.
Mohammed has made nine appearances before the war crimes court. He has proudly proclaimed his role in the attacks and call for the dismissal of the lawyers appointed by the court to assist with his defense.
Mohammed, captured by U.S. authorities in Pakistan in 2003, has said he wants to be executed by the United States to achieve martyrdom.
Declassified 2004 CIA documents, released Aug. 24 by the Obama administration, detailed some of the treatment that Mohammed and other terrorism suspects underwent as part of a harsh regime of interrogation.
Among other things, interrogators him that "if anything else happens in the United States, 'We're going to kill your children,"' and continuously poured large volumes of water on a cloth covering his mouth -- the practice known as waterboarding. Previous documents revealed that he was waterboarded 183 times.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Shackle them, Ball gag them, and drag them to "Court" whenever they say "Allah" zap them with a stun stick.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/22/2009 11:57 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Riot police in Kashmir used tear gas Monday to disperse hundreds of anti-India protesters on Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Riot police in the summer capital Srinagar fired volleys of tear gas shells at Muslim demonstrators chanting 'We want freedom' and 'Allah is greater', an AFP correspondent saw.
The crowd tried to march to the residence of hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who is under house arrest.
They retaliated against the police with stone pelting and over 25 people, including four policemen, were injured in ensuing clashes, a police officer said, refusing to be named.
Several thousand Muslims, including women and children, gathered to offer Eid prayers inside a ground near the 'martyrs graveyard' in Srinagar where many of those killed in the 20-year-old insurgency against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region are buried.
The region's main moderate separatist leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, used the occasion to urge New Delhi to resolve the long-standing dispute over Kashmiri sovereignty.
Farooq accused New Delhi of being 'stubborn' and warned that peace in the sub-continent could only be achieved by "resolving the core issue of Kashmir".
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. The dispute has triggered two wars between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.
Separatist groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir are divided between those who favour accession to Pakistan and those demanding Kashmiri independence.
Late Sunday police released five senior separatists, including Aasiya Andrabi, the head of region's leading women separatist group.
'The five were set free on the orders of the chief minister,' an official spokesman said, adding it was to allow the separatists to celebrate Eid with their families.
However, senior separatist Shabir Shah continues is still in detention since being arrested in June for leading anti-India rallies.
Indian troops shot dead two militants overnight in northern Kupwara district, bordering Pakistan-ruled Kashmir.
In southern Kulgam district, suspected militants shot dead a 24-year-old woman and wounded her 16-year-old sister, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Police say they have foiled a plan to assassinate the North West Frontier Province Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak by confronting the plotters, including a teenage suicide bomber who then blew himself up.
An informant tipped off officers that insurgents had gathered in a government high school in North West Frontier Province after midnight and were planning to kill provincial Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak and attack government installations and security forces, police officer Noor Jamal Khan said.
Police confronted the militants and a firefight ensued. A loud explosion rocked the building and three of the men escaped, including one who was wounded, Khan told The Associated Press from Tatalai district.
'We have collected the body parts of the young suicide attacker and these will be sent for identification purposes,' said Khan.
No other deaths were reported.
Pakistan's northwest continues to see near-daily violence with attacks by Islamist extremists on security forces and civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistan on Monday arrested a badly wounded Taliban commander and alleged mastermind of suicide bombers in the northwest Swat valley, the military said.
Mohammad Nasim Shah, known by his alias Abu Faraj, was arrested during a Pakistani security operation in which he was badly wounded on the first day of the Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr, officials said.
Abu Faraj is said to have trained bombers for suicide missions and was close to Taliban Swat cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who led thousands of followers in a two-year uprising to enforce Islamic law in the former tourist district.
The military announced the arrest of the commander as an 'Eid gift from the army for the people of Swat'.
Colonel Akhtar Abbas said Abu Faraj was an expert in making suicide jackets and training people to carry out attacks. He was trained in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are fighting against Western troops, Abbas added.
Officials said he prepared improvised-explosive device attacks and was also wanted in connection with two bank robberies.
Monday's arrest was the fourth high-profile detention over the last 10 days in Swat, where the military are effectively in charge after a blistering campaign designed to crush the Taliban this summer.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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The death of six commandos in an offensive against Naxalites in Chhattisgarh should not be seen as a reverse. The Centre feels security forces for the first time stormed the Maoist stronghold, setting the stage for a bigger, bolder strike.
At least 24-30 Naxalites were killed in the offensive in the dense jungles of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, an official in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said.
"Retreating extremists took away most of the bodies. Security forces found nine bodies. We have the Naxalites on the backfoot now... they are feeling the pressure," the official said.
Six commandos of CoBRA or Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, an elite anti- Naxalite force, died battling Maoists, as part of Operation Green Hunt that began on Friday and continued on Saturday.
The Centre, which has lost a record 260 securitymen to Naxalites this year, feels the tables are finally turning.
For the first time, MHA officials say, security personnel in large numbers - almost 600 men - could enter the Naxal stronghold on the border of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to launch a strike and bust a factory that produced guns for the Maoists.
"This lays the foundation for a bigger offensive to follow. Naxalites are for the first time worried about their losses and were forced to retreat," said Chhattisgarh DGP Vishwaranjan.
Naxalites control nearly 40,000 sq km of countryside - mainly in Dantewada - on the Chhattisgarh-Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border, Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai recently told a parliamentary panel.
The MHA, planning a big offensive in November, is moving five BSF battalions and two ITBP battalions to Chhattisgarh next month to bolster the strength of 14 CRPF battalions stationed there for anti- Naxalite operations.
"Eighteen more CoBRA teams will join the battle. Crucially, BSF intelligence units have also set up their base in Chhattisgarh. We expect them to provide pinpoint intelligence on Naxalite hideouts," a top MHA official said.
Whether to enlist the Rashtriya Rifles in the battle is still being debated. The Indian Air Force has assured to provide four-six choppers for ferrying paramilitary forces.
"Twelve helipads are being constructed in Chhattisgarh. The civil aviation ministry has also been asked to make Raipur airport operational at night to allow 24X7 operations," the official said.
In all, 22 paramilitary battalions are being pushed into Naxal-affected states next month to supplement the existing 40 battalions there. "That means there will be almost 75,000 securitymen deployed for taking on Naxalites in November. The forces will move in after the Maharashtra polls are over," the official said.
The initial strike at the arms factory between Kistaram and Chintagufa villages by a joint team of CoBRA and the Chhattisgarh Police on Friday morning was successful and left 24 Naxalites dead.
But CoBRA suffered casualties that evening as some of their wireless messages being radioed to Jagdalpur base were apparently intercepted by Naxalites, who launched a guerrilla attack.
Two CoBRA assistant commandants, S. Manoranjan Singh and Rakesh Chaurasia, were killed along with sub-inspector Sushil Kumar and constables Lalit Kumar, Manohar Lal and Uday Kumar.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Naxalites control nearly 40,000 sq km of countryside -- that's a 400x100km block or from another point of view - TWICE the size of ISRAEL!
A Maoist politburo member, who studied in Doon School and Elphinstone College before he went underground with his wife, has been arrested in Delhi, sources said.
Khobad Ghandy, the 58-year-old member of the CPI (Maoist) politburo, was apparently arrested last night but police did not make any official announcement through the day. The politburo has 13 members, which puts Ghandy among the top 13 Maoist leaders in the country.
I have no official information on this (the arrest), said Delhi police public relations officer Rajan Bhagat.
But the sources said Ghandy, said to be in charge of the publication wing and of spreading the organisations influence in urban areas, had been produced before a magistrate who remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.
Ghandys reported arrest swings the spotlight back to the early seventies when a generation of the brightest used to be drawn to extremist ideologies.
He was born into an affluent Parsi family that had a house famed for its antique furniture in Worli Sea Face in Mumbai, an ice-cream factory and a resort in Mahabaleswar. The young Ghandy went to public school and later to Elphinstone College in Mumbai.
He married Anuradha who hailed from a Konkan family that owned a coffee plantation. Anuradha died this year of cerebral malaria.
The couple disappeared from the mainstream years ago, friends recalled today. They took care to destroy most of their photographs, even those from their younger days, as they did not want them to fall into the hands of the police. When Anuradha died, we could not find any photograph, a friend said tonight.
The couple chose not to have any children because of the risks associated with their lives, the friend added. He is the only one in our circle to have joined the Naxalites. Most others are now in the corporate sector or, of late, with NGOs, the friend said.
The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), a rights group, asked the government to confirm whether Ghandy had been arrested. Given that many a Maoist leader in (the) recent past has been killed in custody, we urge the ministry of home affairs to confirm whether they have arrested the Maoist leader. And if they have, to produce him before a magistrate in order to ensure that he is not tortured or killed in fake encounter, a statement said.
Security sources said the arrest could be the result of heightened activity by the government ahead of an expected crackdown on Naxalites in central and eastern India. Last month, a Maoist central military commission member was arrested.
The Centre is planning the joint operation in November after elections conclude in Maharashtra and Haryana where 200 companies of paramilitary forces are engaged in poll duty.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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Israeli fighter jets have bombarded three tunnels near the southern Gaza Strip border with Egypt on Islamic Hopliday of Eid ul-Fitr.
Israeli military claims the overnight attack on Sunday targeted tunnels that were used for importing arms into the Gaza Strip, DPA reported.
All the jet pilots and their crews were Jewish, so they didn't have to observe the Muslim holiday.
No one has been reported killed as a result of the airstike.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli shells killed two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalia near the border with Israel, a Palestinian official said.
The Israeli and Egyptian-imposed siege of the Gaza Strip has left the Palestinian people in the coastal sliver with no options but to use tunnels to get a small portion of food and fuel they need.
But they get all Kassem rockets they can use, so that's ok.
The blockade has created harsh living conditions for the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/22/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The Israeli and Egyptian-imposed siege of the Gaza Strip
It is sad state of affairs that it takes an Iranian news source to tell us that it is a joint Israeli Egyptian siege of Gaza.
Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai reported on Tuesday that the Fatah al-Islam militant group is trying to infiltrate several Palestinian refugee camps, especially the Beddawi camp in North Lebanon and the al-Bourj al-Shamali camp in South Lebanon, in an attempt to form small cells capable of launching terrorist attacks against Palestinian and Lebanese officials as well as UNIFIL. A man identified as Fadi Ibrahim has recently been discovered in the Ain al-Hilweh camp to be working with both Jund al-Sham and Fatah al-Islam to form terrorist cells, a source said.
The daily added that the Fatah Movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is coordinating with the Lebanese Armed Forces to gather information on Fatah al-Islam members and launch an awareness campaign inside the camps, so that residents will report any suspicious individuals.
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.
[ADN Kronos] Calm returned to the streets of the northern Yemeni city of Saada on Monday, after more than 140 Houthi militants were killed in an assault on the government's regional headquarters at the weekend. A military official said that the fighters launched their pre-dawn attack from three points on Sunday in a bid to take the presidential palace, a key symbol of power in the centre of the city.
In one of the most bizarre moments, the three 9/11 conspirators who are acting as their own attorneys refused to come to court Monday, FOX News has learned. The prosecution says the men should be forced to attend, even forcibly extracted from their cells, but the judge declined to do so.
[Dawn] Police say they have foiled a plan to assassinate the North West Frontier Province Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak by confronting the plotters, including a teenage suicide bomber who then blew himself up.
[Dawn] Pakistan on Monday arrested a badly wounded Taliban commander and alleged mastermind of suicide bombers in the northwest Swat valley, the military said.
Israeli fighter jets have bombarded three tunnels near the southern Gaza Strip border with Egypt on Islamic Hopliday of Eid ul-Fitr. 
