An Afghan policeman opened fire on British soldiers in the volatile southern province of Helmand, killing five, British and Afghan authorities said Wednesday, raising concerns about discipline within the Afghan forces and possible infiltration by insurgents.
The incident came almost exactly a month after an Afghan policeman on patrol with U.S. soldiers opened fire on the Americans, killing two before fleeing.
Training and operating jointly with Afghan police and soldiers is key to NATO's strategy of dealing with the spreading Taliban-led insurgency and, ultimately, allowing international forces to leave Afghanistan.
The five British soldiers were killed in Helmand's Nad-e-Ali district on Tuesday afternoon, Britain's defense ministry said, bringing the total number British forces personnel who have died in Afghanistan to 229. Britain has 9,000 troops in the country.
"The soldiers concerned were mentoring Afghan national police. They were working inside and living inside an Afghan national police checkpoint, just outside Nad-e-Ali district center," Lt. Col. David Wakefield, spokesman for the British forces, told Sky News. "It is our initial understanding that an individual Afghan policeman possibly acting in conjunction with one other started firing inside the checkpoint before fleeing from the scene."
#2
Given the documented corruption of the current British government -- and the current American one, for that matter -- it seems a little hypocritical to cavil about Afghan corruption, which is cultural and independent of the individuals in office.
The only corruption in the UK Govt i know about is their dealing with the Saudis re military aircraft.
The expenses scandal is all about the MP's trying to make the most of an additional income to a relative low wage in line with other Civil servants ie Town Hall execs etc.
The Afghanistan Govt are involved in the drugs trade at a high level gg. Karzais brother.The admittance of voting violations/fraud and the Police taking bribes has pissed off the Locals!
The public dont trust Karzai govt from what i read!
#6
WORLD NEWS > VARIOUS - TALIBAN CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEATHS OF UK SOLDIERS.
ALso, the AFGHAN GOVT has repor ordered an immdiate review of the country's ENTIRE POLICE = HIRING PROTOCOLS, ETC. AS PER TALIBAN-MILIT INFILTRATION???
Approxi 200,000 Afghan cops includ recruits are affected.
#7
It's a tough hit to have to take, but the lesson here is simple - never let your guard down in the presence of local troops. Ever. Or pay the ultimate price.
Security forces arrested an important Taliban leader from Lower Dir district on Tuesday, sources said. The sources said Maulvi Shahid was among key Taliban leaders operating in Maidan area of Lower Dir district. The NWFP government had announced a Rs 500,000 reward for Shahid's arrest.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
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The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday approved the Anti-Money Laundering Bill 2009, declaring "terrorism financing" a criminal offence.
But they aren't terrorists, they're freedom fighters -- fighting for their freedom to take yours.
I think Michael Moore calls them "Minutemen" ...
Officials of the Finance Ministry and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) informed the committee members that Pakistan, being a signatory to various UN conventions, required laws in line with international standards to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
The committee meeting, presided by Fauzia Wahab, was attended by Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen, Finance Secretary Salman Siddique, the SBP deputy governor, SBP Banking Policy director and other senior officials.
The committee also approved increase in penalty from Rs 1 million to Rs 5 million for a company or its employees found guilty of an offence under the proposed bill.
The committee was informed that the amendments were in line with international standards on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. In the proposed bill, the definition of "financial institutions" includes any institution accepting deposits and other repayable funds from public, lending in whatsoever form, financial leasing, money or valuable transfer, managing credit and debit cards, cheques, travellers cheque, money orders, bank drafts and electronic money among other financial activities.
Smuggling is also one of the requisite predicate offences as per Financial Action Task Force (FATF). To include "smuggling" as a predicate offence, only bringing some provisions of the Customs Act, 1969 under the purview of the Anti-Money Laundering Bill 2009 was proposed. As per FATF recommendations, actions such as concealment, disguise, third-party laundering, facilitating and counselling have also been declared offences in the proposed bill.
Finance Secretary Salman Siddique informed the committee that Pakistan had already been issued a notice to upgrade the existing anti-money laundering laws before February 2010.
In case of a failure to amend the existing laws, Pakistan would be declared a high-risk country, its letters of credit (LCs) would not have been honoured abroad, which, he said, would create difficulties for the country's businessmen, the finance secretary added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
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Security forces continued their offensive against the Taliban in Bajaur Agency and destroyed the house of a key Taliban commander in Khar, officials said on Tuesday. Political administration officials told Daily Times that the forces had arrested five Taliban in Mamoond tehsil and blown up the house of Taliban leader Sher Khan in Khar. Two Taliban commanders surrendered along with weapons in Khar.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
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Security agencies on Tuesday claimed the arrest of two would-be suicide bombers from the Kot Ganesh area of Chakwal. According to news reports, one of the apprehended an Afghan national, Fakharullah, and his accomplice Ejaz alias Usman, a resident of Bhakhar. The arrested men were reportedly planning to target an Imambargah. The authorities said they recovered suicide jackets, hand grenades and ammunition from the two men.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
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[Associated Press of Pakistan] 21 more terrorists were killed while 2 suspects were apprehended during the on going operation Rah e Nijat in South Waziristan Agency (SWA). According to ISPR here on Tuesday, security forces suffered loss of one soldier Shaheed and two others injured.
On Jandola Sararogha Axis, security forces have commenced sanitization of Sararogha besides nuterilizing a number of IEDs.
During engagements with terrorists 16 terrorists were killed while one soldier embraced shahadat and another got injured due to mine blast. Two suspects were apprehended.
On Shakai Kaniguram Axis, security forces after completely securing Kaniguram have started search and clearance operations.
Arms and ammunition is being recovered from different compounds.
Forces are also extending on the adjoining ridges to increase their area of influence. Terrorists fired 6 rockets at Kaniguram. However no loss was reported.
Sanitization of Ghani Khel and surrounding area has commenced.
During engagements 5 terrorists have been killed.
On Razmak Makeen Axis, village China has been completely secured and area upto Mian Nur Khel has also been secured. Consolidation is in progress.
Security forces secured area up to south of Manza Sar Top and consolidation of positions is under process.
Terrorists fired with small arms and 2 rockets from northern direction near Razmak out check posts. No loss has been reported.
One soldier was injured near Chashmai Bridge while neutralizing an IED.
In Operation Rah e Rast, 21 suspects were apprehended from different areas of Swat and 10 terrorists have voluntarily surrendered.
During search operation at Cham, 2 SMGs with 2 magazines and 1 pistol,5 grenades have been recovered.
During search operation at Piochar and surrounding area following arms and ammunition was recovered, one Small Machine Gun with 7 magazines and 600 rounds, one Rifle 303 with 5 magazines and 210 rounds, one Grenade, 3 Grenade (Russian), one Light Machine Gun, one I Communication Set, 4 Bandolier, 3 Camouflage Jackets, two Rifle 8 mm, one Rifle 12 bore, 2 SSG uniforms, and one Russian ATM/IED.
Around 679 displaced families of Waziristan have moved to District Zhob, Balochistan while 7,326 cash cards have been distributed amongst the displaced families of Waziristan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
one Rifle 12 bore
Ummm, no speakie englitc so good?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/04/2009 10:42 Comments ||
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Security forces have killed 21 more Taliban in South Waziristan, the army said on Tuesday as troops secured a major success in the offensive by regaining control of the strategic town of Sararogha after intense battles with the Taliban.
"Yes, the forces entered Sararogha and gained control of this stronghold... after intense clashes with the Taliban," a defence official told Daily Times. He said troops were making steady progress towards winding up the operation before snow started falling in the region. A soldier was also killed in fighting. "We have reinforced positions in and around Sararogha and an advance on the Taliban headquarters of Makeen is under consideration," official sources told Daily Times.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
Only 21 bad guys dead? Something is wrong here. I doubt the Pak army would worry about civilians as much as coalition troops. Are they underreporting casualties? Did they strike a secret deal with the Taliban? I thought hundreds of bad guys were involved. I don't care how bad the Pak army may or may not be, I doubt a few dozen bad guys could hold them back for long. Where did the rest go? Arrested? Injured? Afghanistan?
More info about the Iranian ship, so posting the article -- It's DEBKA -- Mod
DEBKAfile - The Antigua-flagged arms ship Francop commandeered by the Israeli Navy early Wednesday, Nov. 4, near Cyprus, carried 40 containers of hundreds of tons of Iranian arms for Hizballah, said Israeli Navy commander Brig.-Gen Ronnie Ben-Yehuda in a news briefing Wednesday, Nov 3. Most of it was ammo, grenades, 122-km Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles, enough to keep Hizballah fighting for a month.
DEBKAfile's military sources report the first arms ship set out from Kish Island or Bandar Abbas in the third week of October and was detected by US satellites over the weekend while heading out of the Straits of Hormuz and into the Gulf of Oman. The USS Anzio guided missile cruiser of the US Navy's Task Force 151 shadowed the weapons ship as it sailed into the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. This task force leads the operations against piracy and Iranian arms smuggling under the command of Rear Adm. Scott Sanders.
Israeli military intelligence, navy and air force were kept informed of the Francop's movements, including the projected times of its passage through the Suez Canal and arrival in the Mediterranean. Tehran and Hizballah knew the ship had been spotted and expected it to be seized, although they did not know by whom.
The Egyptian Navy kept close to the arms ship as it passed through the canal to the Mediterranean.
The ship docked at Damietta, Egypt, where the arms freight was offloaded to the Francop, which then acquired an escort of US Sixth Fleet and Israeli Navy warships.
No action was taken then because the American and Israeli commanders of their joint Juniper Cobra ballistic exercise agreed to hold off seizing the ship until a few hours after the two-week war game ended Tuesday, Nov. 3. Washington was reluctant to embark on direct military action against an Iranian target so long as nuclear negotiations are still in progress for fear of provoking a fresh crisis with Tehran. This delay allowed the Francop to reach Beirut, but Hizballah held off unloading the shipment because it was under surveillance. The Francop then headed to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli where it docked until Oct. 30 when it set out for the Syrian port of Tartous. The Syrians were also wary of laying hands on the cargo under the eyes of the US Sixth Fleet and so the Francop set sail again this time toward Cyprus. Before reaching its next port of call, the ship was intercepted by Israeli commandoes who boarded early Wednesday 100 miles out to sea and directed it to the Israeli naval base at Ashdod for further examination.
DEBKAfile's military sources add: Iran is finding it increasingly difficult to smuggle arms to Hizballah because of US-Israeli intelligence and naval cooperation. Tehran is now sending out smaller shipments - this one masked by several dozen containers or civilian merchandize - hoping to draw less attention to its deliveries and incur smaller losses if they are impounded.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the Francop consignment was destined for attacks on Israeli cities, while defense minister Ehud Barak named Hizballah as the consignment's end-user.
#1
Good to see the US and Israel cooperating like this. Hopefully The One will keep this up.
Would it be correct to suppose Iran pulled out of the nuke talks because it saw this coming? Or maybe they were hoping that the West's fear of disrupting the nuke talks would keep western hands off the shipment until it could be offloaded and distributed?
Planet Iran has the details. The title comes from the chant of the protesters in Tabriz.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2009 10:38 ||
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#1
Well, he sure as hell is NOT on our(United States) Side, what makes you think he's on Your side? He's NOT on anybody's side But His own Fame and Wealth Side?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/04/2009 11:00 Comments ||
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#2
You may not want him to answer that.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/04/2009 11:02 Comments ||
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#3
He may not be on anybody's side, but he is definately AGAINST the United States, freedom, and anybody who wants freedom.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/04/2009 11:10 Comments ||
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#4
Too bad that the MSM will not be able to hear these pleas. Maybe after they've gone broke...
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/04/2009 11:27 Comments ||
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#5
Obama sees himself as a celebrity and a vain one at it!
Special navy forces discovered weapons and ammunition on a cargo ship overnight Tuesday, after boarding a cargo ship some 100 nautical miles west of Israel flying an Antiguan flag.
Defense officials said the ship was carrying arms sent by Iran and destined for Syria and probably Hizbullah.
The troops found the weapons and ammunition cache hidden behind what appeared to be a civilian cargo.
Continued on Page 49
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
An Afghan policeman opened fire on British soldiers in the volatile southern province of Helmand, killing five, British and Afghan authorities said Wednesday, raising concerns about discipline within the Afghan forces and possible infiltration by insurgents.
[Associated Press of Pakistan] 21 more terrorists were killed while 2 suspects were apprehended during the on going operation Rah e Nijat in South Waziristan Agency (SWA). According to ISPR here on Tuesday, security forces suffered loss of one soldier Shaheed and two others injured. 
Security forces have killed 21 more Taliban in South Waziristan, the army said on Tuesday as troops secured a major success in the offensive by regaining control of the strategic town of Sararogha after intense battles with the Taliban. 
