Despite the ages-old rifles in Taliban hands, reports suggest our soldiers may be outgunned in Afghanistan's hills. To counter, the Army plans a slew of upgrades to curtain weapons -- and several entirely new guns.
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are attacking U.S. Army soldiers with AK-47s, while the army relies upon the M4 Assault rifle. The AK-47 uses a larger bullet, which leads to more kickback upon firing. Some reports indicate that the U.S. Army is looking to upgrade the weapons being used in Afghanistan to larger caliber guns.
An AP report published over the weekend in Army Times argued that the M4 rifle's light bullets lack sufficient velocity and killing power in long-range firefights. The report states that the U.S. is considering a switch to weapons that fire a larger round, one largely discarded in the 1960s.
"What's the right caliber?" asks Jim Battaglini, executive vice president with Colt Defense and a retired major gen with the U.S. Marine Corps. "The debate has been ongoing for over 40 years, with pros and cons for all options being considered."
The 7.62mm round in the AK-47 is heavier and larger than the 5.56mm caliber bullet in the M4, and can therefore fly further on average. But Battaglini dismisses reports that the Army is considering rearming soldiers in Afghanistan. "On the battlefield, there are no reported operational issues with the M4. It's the weapon of choice in Iraq, and still the desired weapon in Afghanistan," he told FoxNews.com.
Colonel Douglas Tamilio, project manager for Soldier Weapons in the Army's Program Executive Officer (PEO) Soldier division, downplayed the report too, as well as the significance of discussions about adopting larger caliber weaponry.
"You look at the fight you're in and decide, do I need to go back and do that?" But Tamilio is unswerving in his loyalty to the M4, calling it simply better than the Ak-47.
"To me there is no comparison. The M4 is inherently much more accurate than the AK-47," he told FoxNews.com. Tamilio explained that there are far more factors at play in determining the lethality of a weapon than mere caliber.
"We look at the ability of our soldier to incapacitate a target based on the weapon he's carrying, the recoil, the round the weapon is chambered for, what situation the soldier is in, how many rounds can he carry, his training, does he have optics on him ... there are so many variables that determine lethality."
"They're different system, difficult to compare," agreed Daniel Wasserbly, land forces reporter for Jane's Defence Weekly. He points out other differences, such as the shorter barrel in the M4, which makes it somewhat more geared to urban combat and the close-in battles of Iraq than the more open warfare in Afghanistan.
"But all the M4s have fairly advanced optics, which really add to their capabilities," he told FoxNews.com.
Col. Tamilio, who's PEO group is responsible for developing, fielding and sustaining new weapons, explained that the M4 has evolved substantially over the years, and that new upgrades and even new guns planned for this summer should dramatically enhance our soldiers' capabilities.
For one thing, U.S. special forces will be given a new supergun this summer, the XM25 grenade-launcher, which is capable of showering the Taliban with grenades from more than 700 meters away.
To address the issue of snipers, there's the M14EBR, a 7.62 caliber rifle designed to handle the recoil from big bullets better. That gun will be accurate to 800 meters.
"It's not the AK-47s putting a significant threat on our soldiers, it's the sniper rifles," Tamilio said, citing the Soviet era guns capable of killing from 600 to 700 meters away. "We need the ability to answer back to those."
His division took old M14s and made them like new, added new stocks, rails, bipods, and powerful optics to create a new gun.
"It's not a sniper weapon, but it's pretty damn close to it."
PEO also plans enhancements to the M4, adding to the 62 improvements the U.S. Army has made to the M4 since it was released. The Army has over 500,000 M4s in its arsenal.
Tamilio's group has improved the ammunition for the guns, upgrading the standard 855 round to the 8551a, "which strips away the dependency on yaw and made it more consistent." The new rounds should be in guns in Afghanistan this summer, along with barrels 5 oz heavier, for increased sustained fire.
He also cites plans for a new bolt and an improved adapter, called a Picatinny rail, which allows mounting of flashlights, lasers, and so on. Why upgrade a weapon that's "outgunned"? Tamilio flat-out disagrees with the characterization.
"The M4 is getting a bad rep, and it's an unfortunate thing. It's the best weapon in the world today. "
#1
I like the AR platform. It has its drawbacks, but it is inherently decent. The problem is the caliber.
The M4, M16, and M249 all use the 5.56x45 round (based on a .223 Remington). The round used (SS109) is accurate in the rifle, but it only (usually) puts neat holes through the target. It is great to hit the target you aim at, but disconcerting to have to hit him multiple times to get him to notice he has been hit (slight overstatement).
In Viet Nam, a different bullet and different rate of twist in the barrel was used, which gave a highish probability of the round not making a nice neat hole but instead leaving a rather large wound cavity. Or not; sometimes they would zip through too. That was then and this is now.
The 'AK-47' class of weapons use a 7.62x39 cartridge (roughly .30 caliber, the bullets tend to .310 OD). It is a relatively short cartridge of medium power. It is not that accurate as a cartridge, particularly when used in the AK-47 type weapons. But it is good enough, and plays into the AK's strength, which is being reliable with low maintenance. Plus, the .30 caliber round hits the target harder, allowing for one shot disabling of the target. More energy is able to be imparted to the target largely due to the difference in bullet diameter.
The solution is obvious - go to .30 caliber - and change nothing else but the cartridge and the barrel. This is already being done. Everything else remains the same, so logistical impact is small. We will see if it flies.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/26/2010 13:46 Comments ||
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#2
it's interesting how we frame this debate into all or nothing, when we already have split ammunition logistics for 5.56 and 7.62.
Adding the new M-14 variant (my original USMC weapon) as an overwatch while keeping the M-4/16 for basic troop use and urban engagements. Nothing new in the zoo, just old reasoning revisited most of the time.
#6
Yes, caliber matters. My preference has always been 7.62 and yes I miss the HOG.
5.56 is very dependable in range and speed of fire. Its far more accurate. 7.62 is what you use when you want to stop someone in their tracks. 5.56 is what you use if you want internal spaghetti - but the guy is usually still coming after you once shot and sometimes when shot multiple times.
7.62 is heaver to carry with both round and weapon. Advantage is with 7.62 - depending on weapon, is the fact that you could use the enemies ammunition in your own weapon. And many soldiers have run out of ammo and picked up a dedder's AK to use to stay non parished.
I am not on the ground so I have no say. I just do not want politicians making these decisions anymore.
What do they prefer in the farm? I suspect M-4 is the answer in which case - if it is good enough for them....
#7
This debate was held a long time ago. It's better to have soldiers carry 6x5.56 magazines than 5x7.62 magazines. Throwing lead downrange is the issue.
Accuracy doesn't really matter because enemy casualties are not caused by small arms fire.
#10
Hits are what count with rifles, and you are more likely to hit someone using a M-4 than with an AK at anything over 200 meters. The major argument about 5.56mm is that it is too light and has a tendency to punch straight through -- not that you cannot hit someone with it. I would prefer if the US military went with the 6.8mm SPC II caliber but the M-4 series is a good rifle. So bump up the caliber but keep the rifle; changing from 5.56mm to 6.8mm requires a new upper receiver, a new magazine, and new ammo - NOT a new rifle.
#11
All good points. 6.8 is fine, mag issues, 6.5 is fine, no mag issues, fussy chamber tho, 7.62x44 only barrel and ammo change, too soon to tell if other problems, but 2950 fps ! 135 grain ! Only time will tell. If I were sitting inside a perimeter or humping short distance, the 7.62x51 M-14. Knock them down.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/26/2010 21:47 Comments ||
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#12
#1 son was initially issued an M-16 on setting foot in Iraq. Hated it due to better portability/folding stock of M4. We bought him a laser site for Christmas, because it's what the baby Jesus would've wanted, and it was on his wishlist. He seems happy with the M4
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2010 22:13 Comments ||
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#13
6mm Winchester Super Short Magnum w/ 90 grain bullets. It's also compatible w/ .223 type actions. I'm not crazy about the 6.8's velocity and think the 6.5 Gendel's bullet is a bit too heavy for controlled automatic fire.
Posted by: ed ||
05/26/2010 22:23 Comments ||
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#14
ION WAFF > WAKE UP CALL. France, Germany + Armed Forces rediscover in AFPAK what it means to fight a guerilla war agz a reslient Enemy, espec as per shortcomins of vital Mil Equipment, Sys + Logistics-Supply Flows.
NATO'S MAJOR POWERS GETTING OF THE COLD WAR RUST VIA BLOOD, SWEAT, INNOVATION + HANDS-ON.
#15
As far as I can tell from articles and discussions I read here, our guys shoot with their eyes wide open, the Afghans -- except for their snipers -- shoot with their eyes tightly closed and their guns pointed in almost random directions... so it seems to me in my ignorance that in this situation the bullet caliber and other details don't really matter.
[Quqnoos] The Afghan intelligence agency has arrested a group of Taliban it said was behind last week's Kabul attack which killed 20 people
Well done!
Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS)
We don't hear much from that bunch...
said the group had also planned and carried out a number of other attacks in the capital over the past several months.
The leader of the group, Eide Gul, has confessed to having planned the attacks from Pakistan, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
The seven arrested had organised eight suicide strikes against foreign and Afghan targets in Kabul since last year. Scores of people were killed or wounded, it said.
This article starring:
Eide Gul
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A bomb ripped through a minibus in western Afghanistan on Monday, killing five civilians and wounding another eight, some critically, the interior ministry said.
The Toyota Coaster bus had been taking passengers from the district of Pusht Rod in Farah province to Khaki Safed district. The attack was the latest sign of increasing violence in relatively peaceful western Afghanistan.
"Five civilians were martyred and another eight civilians were wounded,"said the ministry, blaming the "terrorist act" on "enemies of Afghanistan" a term frequently invoked by the authorities in reference to Taliban insurgents.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as "against all human and Islamic principles" and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
Roadside bombs are the weapon of choice for militants leading a nearly nine-year insurgency against Afghan and US-led foreign forces, which broke out after the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime.
In a similar incident on Sunday, militants opened fire on a minibus in northern Baghlan province, killing three civilians, said the ministry.
The Taliban threatened a new nationwide campaign of attacks from May 10 targeting diplomats, members of the Afghan parliament, foreign contractors and the international military force.
A police official said Monday that more than 60 Taliban insurgents were killed in raids in central Afghanistan, as Nato announced the death of another soldier in a bomb attack.
The Nato soldier, whose nationality was not disclosed, was killed on Monday in southern Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.
Khyalbaz Sherzai, the police chief of central Ghazni province, said more than 60 Taliban insurgents had been killed in separate raids across the restive province since late Sunday.
More than 30 rebels were killed by ISAF forces, Sherzai said. ISAF headquarters in Kabul said it was unaware of the operation.
About 30 other militants were killed in operations by local police and army in other parts of Ghazni, Sherzai added.
Much of Ghazni, the provincial capital which sits on a strategic highway linking Kabul to the restive south and western border with Iran, is regularly troubled by the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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KHARTOUM - Sudan has charged a detained opposition journalist with terrorism and espionage and he has been tortured in custody, his lawyers said on Tuesday.
U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch condemned the arrest earlier this month of opposition Islamist Hassan al-Turabi and four staff of his al-Rai al-Shaab paper, mouthpiece of Turabi's Popular Congress Party (PCP). The rights group urged Khartoum to end repression of opposition politicians and press launched after an April election returned President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) to power.
PCP lawyer Mohamed al-Alim said the deputy editor in chief of the paper, Abu Zur al-Amin, had been charged with terrorism, espionage and destabilising the constitutional system. Al-Alim said the other three newspaper staff had not been charged so far and Turabi has not even been questioned'.
The government has accused Turabi of directing rebel attacks in the strife-ridden Darfur region.
Al-Alim said al-Amin had been tortured in jail. The PCP sent Reuters a picture of al-Amin's back, with a large bruise which his brother said was the result of security forces beating him. Al-Amin remains isolated in police custody.
A security source denied any torture had occurred. This absolutely does not happen,' the source said.
Course not. Ask HRW -- they only report on Israel, right?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Soon to be the norm here in the US. How far away from it are we when the left acusses tea partiers of sedition. Next is the left "holding the press" accountable for fueling the sedition fires.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/26/2010 11:13 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A court in Mauritania on Tuesday sentenced three young Al-Qaeda members to death for the 2007 murders of four French tourists.
"The court has decided to sentence to death Mohamed Ould Chabarnou, Maarouf Ould Haiba and Sidi Ould Sidna," court president Ould Khaya said in Arabic as he read out the verdict.
The judge and his two assessors deliberated for several hours before delivering the sentences. It was the first time in 20 years that the death penalty has been applied in Mauritania.
The defendants were accused of shooting five French tourists on Dec. 24, 2007 near the city of Aleg in southern Mauritania. Four died and the fifth was seriously wounded.
They pleaded not guilty to the murders but presented themselves as "soldiers of al-Qaeda", acknowledging that they had been "trained in camps" of the organisation.
The three were on trial alongside 16 other al-Qaeda suspects as part of efforts by the governments of Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger to counter a wave of recent desert kidnappings of foreigners claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
"This ruling is completely unjust. The case found no tangible evidence at all," said Mohamed Ould Haiba, the father of one of the convicted, confirming plans for an appeal.
The last execution in Mauritania was in 1987 and carried out on three officers sentenced for attempting to overthrow the government of Maaouiya Ould Taya.
The death of the French tourists shook the country, which had a reputation of warmly welcoming visitors. Key word..."had".
A few days afterwards the Paris-Dakar motor rally, which passes through the Saharan nation, was cancelled just before it was due to begin.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A Yemeni airstrike targeting al-Qaeda missed its mark on Tuesday and killed a mediator by mistake, prompting members of his tribe to blow up a crude oil pipeline in clashes that followed, a provincial official said.
The mediator, who had been trying to persuade members of the global militant group to surrender, was killed instantly in a pre-dawn strike on his car in the mountainous Maarib province that also killed three other people.
"Jaber al-Shabwani, the deputy governor of Maarib, was killed with a number of his relatives and travel companions in an airstrike targeting the Wadi Obeida area, where al-Qaeda elements are present," said the official, a member of a local council in Maarib, who declined to be named.
"The deputy governor was on a mediation mission to persuade al-Qaeda elements to hand themselves over to the authorities, but it seems that the airstrike missed its target and struck his car, killing him instantly in addition to three companions," he added. Two others were wounded.
The strike provoked clashes between the army and members of Shabwani's tribe, and the tribesmen attacked the pipeline that ferries crude from Maarib, east of the capital Sanaa, to the Red Sea coast, the official said.
"Tribesmen blew up a pipeline that carries crude from Safir to the Ras Issa port on the Red Sea," he said, adding that the pipeline attack was "in response to the killing of the deputy governor of Maarib province".
Yemen, which borders the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, moved to the forefront of Western security concerns after al-Qaeda's Yemen-based regional arm claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound plane in December.
The United States and Saudi Arabia want Yemen, which is trying to end a conflict with Shiite rebels in the north while separatist sentiment bubbles over in the south, to focus its efforts on fighting al-Qaeda, which they see as a greater global threat.
Maarib province, where the strike took place, has seen air strikes in the past against al-Qaeda's regional wing.
Yemen's allies fear the global militant group will take advantage of instability in Yemen to spread its operations to Saudi Arabia and beyond.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Police have arrested JMB chief Maulana Saidur Rahman, his wife and three other top leaders of the banned Islamist outfit.
They made the arrests in the capital and Narayanganj on Monday and early yesterday.
Besides Saidur alias Zafar, the others detained are his third wife Naima Akhter, JMB's military coordinator Amir Hossain alias Sharif and ehsar (full-time) members Nur Hossain alias Sabuj and Abdullah Hel Kafi.
During the raids, the cops recovered a huge cache of bomb-making materials, firearms and ammunition and jihadi books.
The arrestees except Naima were paraded before the media at the police headquarters yesterday afternoon.
There, Inspector General of Police Nur Mohammad said several militant organisations are still operative in the country and they might have an alliance.
Replying to a query, he said that since militancy is now a global phenomenon, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh might have connections with militant groups in neighbouring countries.
He also said they are trying to gather if JMB has a suicide squad.
The police chief claimed they arrested Saidur, his wife and ehsar member Abdullah Hel Kafi at a house in the city's East Dania on Monday night.
A team drawing members from the police headquarters, DMP, SB, Criminal Investigation Department and Detective Branch conducted the swoops, he added.
Some sources in law enforcement agencies however say police arrested the JMB chief at least three days before they made the news public yesterday.
Additional IGP (admin) NBK Tripura, Special Branch (SB) chief additional IGP Zaved Patwary, additional IGP (rector) Naim Ahmed and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque were present at the press conference.
A handout issued by the police headquarters later said military wing coordinator Amir Hossain alias Sharif and ehsar member Nur Hossain were picked up from Sharif's house at Painadi in Narayanganj early yesterday.
A live bomb fitted to a belt usually worn by suicide squad members, several belts, one pistol, two magazines, hand-made bullets and a huge amount of explosives and bomb-making equipment were recovered from Sharif's house and a large stash of leaflets and jihadi books from Saidur's possession.
Saidur took over as JMB boss in February 2006, shortly after the arrest of Shaekh Abdur Rahman, the then JMB supremo.
The same month that year, Rapid Action Battalion raided his Shibganj house in Sylhet and recovered huge explosives.
Saidur had long been on the run. In absentia, he had been sentenced to 14 years in jail in an explosives case.
The IGP said JMB's organisational strength had waned much after the execution of Shaekh Abdur Rahman and other top brass. But in recent months, the organisation has been regrouping its cadres.
Since the serial blasts across the country in 2005, the law enforcers arrested over 600 JMB leaders and activists.
Of them, Shaekh Abdur Rahman, his deputy Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, Rahman's brother Ataur Rahman Sunny, brother-in-law Abdul Awal, suicide bomber Iftekhar Hasan Mamun and Majlis-e-Shura member Khaled Saifullah were executed on March 29, 2008 for killing two Jhalakathi judges on November 14, 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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Abdullah Faisal is one of the best known radical clerics on the Internet today. NPR set up an interview with Faisal weeks ago. But when he arrived to speak to us in Montego Bay last week, he demanded money for the interview. NPR refused. So he declined to speak on tape. But what he revealed in a conversation provided a peek into the mindset of an Internet cleric who is dancing along the line between free speech and incitement.
He is a compact man who, on that day, wore a pale blue button down shirt, jeans and a blue skullcap. Faisal, 46, is a Jamaican convert to Islam and is the island's most infamous Muslim largely because of his alleged connections to terrorist plots around the world.
While no one has accused him of playing a direct role in attacks, he has ties to shoe bomber Richard Reid, the so-called 20th Sept. 11 hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui, and one of the suicide bombers in the 2005 London attacks. More recently his name was raised in connection with Shahzad, the Times Square bombing suspect, a Pakistani-American man who allegedly tried to ignite a car bomb in Times Square on May 1.
Abdullah Faisal said he had a way of influencing people, "so the authorities are worried that I will send people to do things," explaining why he is being tracked by police since his return to the island earlier this year. "There are people who are inspired, and they take things into their own hands," he said.
Faisal openly supports and preaches violent jihad. Nonbelievers steal Muslim resources and rape Muslim women, he said. And even if a good Muslim didn't want to fight, he has no choice but to do so because "jihad is brought to your doorstep." It is the same kind of message Faisal delivers in his lectures on the Internet. And his words worry intelligence officials.
#1
He has been banned from speaking at any mosque or muslim school in Jamaica by the Muslim Council of Jamaica.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/26/2010 10:29 Comments ||
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#2
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) Jamaican security forces claimed a tenuous hold over the slum stronghold of a gang leader sought by the U.S., but only after battles that killed at least 44 civilians, the country's official ombudsman said Wednesday...The gunmen fighting for Coke say he provides services and protection to the poor West Kingston community all funded by a criminal empire that seemed untouchable until the U.S. demanded his extradition.
Coke has built a loyal following and turned the neighborhood into his stronghold. U.S. authorities say he has been trafficking cocaine to the streets of New York City since the mid-1990s, allegedly hiring island women to hide the drugs on themselves on flights to the U.S.
Another unholy marriage of drug traffickers and Islam?
More details on the raid in western Chihuahua by armed bad guys. Rinsed through Babelfish, and edited or rewritten for clarity
Elements of the Chihuahua CIPOL altogether with the Mexican Army and the Ministerial police began search operations tracking a group of more than 60 armed suspects who seeded terror and death in Huizopa and Arroyo Amplio farms of the Dolores district of Madera Sunday afternoon.
During the course of the invasion, the suspected executed three settlers, set afire houses afire and drove away local and state police detachments.
Armed suspects arrived at Porvenir at 17:50, on board between 15 and 16 vehicles, carrying arms Barret .50 caliber rifles, fragmentary grenades and other heavy weapons.
They then located two inhabitants and they executed and them. Then the suspects went to CIPOL quarters and burned two vehicles and the structure the CIPOL used as a command post.
Following its excursion by the town, the suspects damaged a vehicle that was back of another address, that also was set afire, as well as other two houses.
No one else was reported injured.
The police detachment consisting of four of CIPOL and five local policemen decided to retreat from the town.
Investigators at the scene say the men died from 9mm wounds to the head, and had been at the location about 12 hours. Investigators found 29 spent 9mm cartridge casings at the scene.
A Juarez police officer was found shot to death Tuesday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.
The victim, Servando Gonzalez, was found lying dead next to his Dodge Ram pickup truck which was assigned to the victim. A black Nissan was also at the scene which had a single bullet hole police think may have been used in the killing.
Late reports say the police officer shot two of his attackers as he tried to flee the attack. The man was apparently ambushed as he headed to work.
An unidentified man was abducted Tuesday morning by three armed men whom witnesses said claimed to be Mexican federal agents. The incident occurred at 3900 Pablo Meoqui street when the htree unidentified suspects emerged from a Chevrolet Tahoe, hanfcuffed their victim, and then hauled him away. The Tahoe had no license tag.
One unidentified man was shot to death and another was wounded inside a Juarez convenience store Tuesday, according to Mexican news reports. Investigators said the victims were shot with AK-47s before the suspect fled aboard a white Subaru in an unknown direction. Investigators found 20 spent rifle cartridge casings at the scene.
The store was called the Super la Luz at 2nd and Fresno streets in the Granjas Cerro Grande district of Juarez.
Two unidentified men were executed this morning in Chihuahua, according to Mexican newspaper accounts. Late reports the two were in the business of cleaning cars.
The victims were found near the intersection of Avenida Industrias and Calle Los Nogales. Investigators at the scene found eight spent weapon casings but did not release the type.
One man was killed and two others were wounded near the offices of the Public Prosecutor, according to Mexican news reports.
The victim who died, Horacio Rodriguez, was a criminal defense attorney with a federal practice. One of he wounded was his brother, Paul Rodriguez. The other wounded victim was unidentified. The shooting took place at the main entrance of the offices of the PGR at Hermanos Escobar and Lincoln avenues.
A Juarez mechanic in his late 30s was shot to death in Juarez Monday evening, say Mexican news accounts.
The shooting took place near Valerio Trujano and Niño Artillero streets in the Morelos I district of Juarez. Witnesses say armed suspects aboard a Ford F-150 drove by and shot the victim.
An unidentified man was executed at an auto parts store in Juarez, according to Mexican ndews accounts.
The victim was said to be a manager at the Mr Pickup parts store at Camino Viejo near Rosita and J. Clouthier streets. Witnesses say several armed men were involved in the murder.
A man was found murdered in far western Sonora, according to Mexican news reports. The man, Jesús Valenzuela Mendvil, 27, had been reported missing and presumed kidnapped the previous day. He was last seen in a white Chevrolet Lumina in the company of three men and a woman.
Mendvil's corpse was found about four kilometers from the Cerro Prieta volcano near Säric, Sonora. Reports say he had a single gunshot wound to his forehead.
An explosion tore through the center of a southern Russian city on Wednesday, killing five people and wounding at least 20 as locals gathered for a Chechen dance concert, officials said.
The blast bore the hallmarks of terrorist attacks that plague Russia's North Caucasus region, though the city of Stavropol rarely suffers the separatist-related violence that pervades Chechnya and other bordering provinces.
Posted by: ed ||
05/26/2010 14:38 ||
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#1
ION PAKISTAN DAILY > [Kissinger] NUCLEAR IRAN POSES A GREATER DANGER TO RUSSIA THAN US. DA HENRI' also says that RUSSIA'S "RESTIVE. MOSTLY ISLAMIC, POPULATIONS" DESIRE TO BREAK/SEAPARATE FROM MOSCOW + JOIN UP WID TEHRAN = IRAN???
ARTIC also read, NUKULAAR ISLAMIST-MILIT THREAT TO CHINA + CENTRAL ASIA.
I'm sure KIMMIE = DPRK well-knows the threat, espec as agz CHINA'S HOLD/CONTROL OER NORTH KOREA.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has ordered the military to be ready for combat, a Seoul-based defectors' group said Tuesday quoting a source in the reclusive country.
North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity said when South Korea announced the findings of a probe into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan last Thursday, O Kuk-ryol, the vice chairman of the North's National Defense Commission, in a statement said Kim ordered the entire military, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Security Department, the Worker-Peasant Red Guard, and the Red Youth Guard to be ready for combat."
Kim's order was relayed via wire broadcasting to a speaker installed in each home. These broadcasts are often used by the regime when it disseminates information that it does not want to be known abroad.
A South Korean security official said the government is "trying to verify" the report. According to the defectors' group, O, who is in charge of operations against the South, called the Cheonan incident a "plot to strangle" the North. Kim commanded that the North should "achieve the reunification of the fatherland by all means" since it failed during the Korean War, O said.
Kim Sung-min, the head of defector station Free North Korea Radio said North Korean soldiers on furlough or official trips have been ordered to return to barracks.
A North Korean source said security guards in the North Korea-China border regions were ordered to punish South Koreans in China found slandering the North over the Cheonan incident.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency the same day reported in detail on South Korean sanctions against the North. It threatened to "respond to any kind of punishment, retaliation, or sanctions with tough measures, including an all-out war" and repeated an earlier statement saying it regards the current situation as "a phase in the war."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Kim ordered the entire military, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Security Department, the Worker-Peasant Red Guard, and the Red Youth Guard to be ready for combat
Man your barbeque stations! Bring out the lighter fluid and the coals! Set up the banquet tables! Plug in the fans! Slaughter the cattle! Get the condiments ready!
#3
The PRC will probably let this go on a week or two then decide it is hurting their exports and tell dear leader to cool it.
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/26/2010 8:25 Comments ||
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#4
Kim's order was relayed via wire broadcasting to a speaker installed in each home.
Somebody's been reading their Orwell.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/26/2010 9:12 Comments ||
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#5
The Norks have over 10,000 artillery tubes of different calibers pointed at Seoul. Most are well hidden and protected inside mountains and such. If the weak, starving Nork troops manning those tubes only fire two rounds a minute from each, Seoul will be devastated before the SKors and US can do much about it.
That's the casualty fear that lotp was referring to, and it's a sobering fear.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2010 9:15 Comments ||
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#6
SKOR can't afford for Seoul to be attacked (in a serious manner) because they would have to fight back, and they would win, and then they would have to provide for the loser in a civilized manner. Kimmie may have been reading 'The Mouse That Roared.'
Well, two cows are technically cattle. They were Kimmie's private reserve.
Ever watched the scene where the dodo birds were preparing for war in Ice Age?
On a far more serious note, I was thinking of the easiest way for the SKors to completely derail an invading Nork army - hold a barbeque along the DMZ. One whiff and any tank will come to a complete stop and the crew will jump out because I doubt Kimmie invested in NBC gear.
#9
A couple of points:
April 6, 2010: The One announces a new policy that the United States is forswearing first use of nuclear weapons. The US will not retaliate to a chemical attack with nukes.
April 25, 2010 North Korea torpedoes a South Korean corvette.
#11
I wonder about those 10,000 artillery tubes pointed at Seoul. To start with, they and their ammo have been sitting there, probably with minimal maintenance, for decades. Their crews probably have minimal training as well, just "load round in gun and fire."
The Skor, on the other hand, know the location of those tubes, have trained and practiced crews, advanced computer fire control, both 155mm (1,040 M109A2/A3) (4 rounds a minute max fires) and 8" (? M115 on the DMZ, ? M110 SP guns) howitzers, as well as MLRS suppressing fires.
The Target Reference Points are likely prioritized, and every Skor gun crew knows exactly how many and which enemy guns to take out. The only big question is how long it will take the Skor to get its guns on line and firing.
And I wonder if the Skor have any strategically placed C-RAM (Phalanx) batteries pre-positioned to protect Seoul?
We have tons of CW that hasn't been de-militarized yet; although, delivering it would be difficult because of the lack of training for it. And those vaunted hardened artillery positions would be great targets for the stuff.
South Korea should begin a general mobilization and a set of "civil defense" evacuation exercises up near the DMZ to get the civilans out of harms way -- just in case.
Finally, all the submarines that the Norks put out to sea a few days back should mysteriously disappear.
#13
Squinty are did forget to read the whole of the policy? The policy was for WMD and countries in compliance with treaties. North Korea was specifically mentioned as being non compliant.
Posted by: No I am the other Beldar ||
05/26/2010 20:14 Comments ||
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#14
So are the Taliban and Al-Q - they are for the most part illegal combatants. Yet we treat them as honored enemies - we even put our own men on trail for 'mistreating' them.
The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com. The DHS alert was issued to police and sheriff's deputies in Houston, asking them to keep their eyes open for a Somali man named Mohamed Ali who is believed to be in Mexico preparing to make the illegal crossing into Texas.
The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a large-scale smuggling enterprise' responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami.
In recent years, American Somalis have been recruited by Al Shabaab to travel to Somalia, where they are often radicalized by more extremist or operational anti-American terror groups, which Al Shabaab supports. The recruiters coming through the Mexican border are the ones who could be the most dangerous, according to law enforcement officials.
An indictment was unsealed in Texas federal court earlier this month that revealed that a Somali man, Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane, led a human smuggling ring that brought East Africans, including Somalis with ties to terror groups, from Brazil and across the Mexican border and into Texas.
In a separate case, Anthony Joseph Tracy, of Virginia, who admitted to having ties to Al Shabaab, is currently being prosecuted for his alleged role in an international ring that illegally brought more than 200 Somalis across the Mexican border. Prosecutors say Tracy used his Kenya-based travel business as a cover to fraudulently obtain Cuban travel documents for the Somalis. The smuggled Somalis are believed to have spread out across the United States and remain mostly at large, court records show.
In addition to the Somali immigration issue, Mexican smugglers are coaching some Middle Eastern immigrants before they cross the border schooling them on how to dress and giving them phrases to help them look and sound like Latinos, law enforcement sources told FoxNews.com.
There have been a number of certain communities that have noticed this, villages in northern Mexico where Middle Easterners try to move into town and learn Spanish,' Neuhaus Schaan said. People were changing there names from Middle Eastern names to Hispanic names.'
Security experts say the push by illegal immigrants to try to fit in also could be the realization of what officials have feared for years: Latin American drug cartels are helping jihadist groups bring terrorists across the Mexican border.
ABDULLIAN (Indo-Pak border), RS Pura : "Wahan kuch harkat hai, jaldi check karo,'' a BSF official instructs his subordinate who grabs his binoculars and focusses in the direction of some bushes while holding his weapon at the ready.
"Kuch nahi, saab, khargosh hai,'' he replies.
"Cheh foot (six feet) ka khargosh toh nahi hain?'' the official asks the trooper smiling, an allusion to a Pakistani intruder who was shot dead trying to sneak in through the fence a few days earlier.
Though vigil on this border has always been high, it is getting tighter. India is realigning the fencing and shifting high mast lights closer to the zero line on its side of the border. This is making the Pakistan Rangers jittery, and cross-border firing is a live possibility.
Always started by Pakistan, or so it seems...
Also, all along the 192 km international border (IB) from Pallanwala to Lakhanpur, new bunkers are being built close to the zero line. Indian forces will soon be guarding the borders from very close to the zero line from vantage positions such as this one at Abdullian.
Fence realignment here is almost over and two new bunkers are ready for occupation, overlooking a stretch of the road leading to Sialkot, Pakistan, 14 km away on the other side. Once they move in, the BSF will be able to monitor movements along the zero line lit up by high mast lights.
Pakistan is yelling blue murder. "They argue during flag meetings or write protest letters. Otherwise, they open heavy gun fire. But the fact remains that the work is going on inside Indian territory,'' a BSF official said.
Efforts to move closer to the border have been made for several years but Pakistan Rangers and militants used to open fire, making it virtually impossible for the BSF to work on the fencing.
India had to be content with erecting the fence several hundred metres away from the zero line, making it easier for militants to sneak in under covering fire by the Rangers.
"We lost jawans even when we erected the fence 500 m from the zero line. The ceasefire agreement in Nov. 2003 enabled us to take up work on realignment of the fence and shifting the high mast lights,'' the BSF official said.
Standing atop a bunker at Abdullian border outpost, one can see Pakistani vehicles moving up and down the road to Sialkot.
BSF officials say Pakistan's fear is that the fence reaignment will place Indian forces at advantageous points at many spots along the borders including this one at Abdullian. "By getting closer to the zero line, we will be able to dominate the forward area. Pakistani forces have been objecting to the shifting of high mast lights but it does not matter as it is our territory,'' the official said.
The BSF and Pakistan Rangers were engaged in a war of words during a flag meeting in Samba sector recently.
BSF (182 battalion) commander B S Rawat categorically told Rangers Wing Commander Shahid Fareed that India was installing lights in its own area and Pakistan should not have an objection to that. The Rangers argued that light from the high mast lamps was falling on the advance pickets of the Rangers and wanted the angle of the lights changed.
"It is entirely unreasonable for the kaffir Hinjoos to insist on being able to see our mujahideen sneaking across the birder, in order to stop them," Wing Commander Fareed stated.
The BSF didn't budge.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/26/2010 15:03 ||
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#1
"your Kufir light is on our holy ground, the 5,976nd holiest place in Islam"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2010 19:59 Comments ||
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#2
ION PAKISTAN DAILY > [5000-km range LRBMS] AGNI V CAN TARGET CHINA, PAKISTAN BY 2011, says India DRDO.
OTOH POSTER > Given PAK's close geographic proximity to INDJUH, DRDO = INDIA had beter make sure that any LRBMS fired at PAK actually lands inside PAK, NOT ANOTHER SOVEREIGN MAJOR, MINOR ASIAN STATE.
#3
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM + INDIAN EXPRESS > US: LTTE POSES COMMON THREAT TO US, INDIA, PAKISTAN, + AFGHANISTAN; + LTTE POSES THREAT TO INDIA VVIPS [ V-ery V-ery I-mportant P-ersonS = GOVT, HIGH POLS-OFFICIALS], despite recent decimation of Group, aka TAMIL TIGERS, by Sri Lankan Govt-Army,
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [PoK-based Group HIZBUL MUJAHIDEEN = HM] HIZBUL:SNEAK INTO INDIA FAST AND DO SOMETHING BIG.
NEW DELHI: With the decision on his mercy petition prolonging, Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru has moved an application in Supreme Court seeking early disposal of his case, saying solitary confinement was worse than death.
Afzal had moved an application in the apex court in March seeking an early decision on his mercy petition which is pending with the government for the past four years, his lawyer N D Pancholi said.
During his last meeting with Afzal last week in Tihar jail, Pancholi said that the convict had told him that what he was "facing now is worse than death".
The death row convict has said he was "fed up with the solitary confinement" and the "delay" in deciding on his mercy petition, Pancholi said.
Pancholi said Afzal forwarded his application through jail officials in March after his first plea sent personally in January was returned asking him to approach through the proper channel.
"Afzal's contention is that he is sentenced to death and not solitary confinement. He has said the delay was not helping him and a decision should be taken as soon as possible," the lawyer said, adding his client was very much "disturbed" over the delay in taking a decision.
"He is saying it is better that he is hanged. He is saying he be hanged and he is ready for that. For him, solitary confinement is not helping him," Pancholi said.
Afzal had also requested that he be shifted to a jail in Jammu and Kashmir so that his family can meet him.
His mercy petition has come into limelight following the 16th reminder sent by Union Home Ministry to Delhi government asking it to send its response on his petition.
The Delhi government last week sent its views on his mercy petition file to the Lieutenant Governor Tejendar Khanna with comments that it had no objection to the hanging but its implications on law and order needed to be kept in mind.
Guru was awarded death sentence by a Delhi court on December 18, 2002 after being convicted of conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13, 2001, waging war against the country and murder.
The death sentence was upheld by Delhi High Court on October 29, 2003 and his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court two years later on August four, 2005.
A sessions court also fixed the date of his hanging on October 20, 2006 in Tihar jail.
Following this, Afzal filed a mercy petition with the President, who forwarded it to Union Home Ministry for its comments.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/26/2010 14:48 ||
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"hokay, death then. Stand up straight"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/26/2010 20:02 Comments ||
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[Dawn] At least 12 militants were killed in a clash with Pakistani troops in a restive tribal district Tuesday, officials said.
The fighting broke out during a search operation in Orakzai, one of seven lawless districts in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where troops have been battling the Taliban since March, security officials said.
A paramilitary spokesman told AFP that about 50 militants attacked troops during search and clearance operation in the district's Dabori area.
"At least 12 militants were killed and eight terrorist hideouts were also destroyed. There was no loss of security forces," the spokesman said.
He said helicopter gunships were also called in during the firefight.
Pakistani forces launched the Orakzai offensive on March 24 in a bid to flush out Taliban who escaped last year's major assault on South Waziristan, where the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leadership had its headquarters.
The TTP, blamed for a bombing campaign that has killed 3,300 people across Pakistan over the past three years, grabbed the global spotlight after the United States blamed it for the failed May 1 car bomb plot in New York.
Washington says Pakistan's tribal belt, which lies beyond Islamabad's direct control, is a stronghold for Al-Qaeda and militants plotting attacks on US-led troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Two people were killed and a dozen wounded, including several wedding party guests, when a bomb exploded in a rickshaw in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police said.
"It was an improvised explosive device which went off in a rickshaw,"senior police officer Shabbir Sheikh told AFP, adding that the rickshaw heading to the airport in Quetta.
They seem partial to using rickshaws for their VBIEDs in that part of the world...
Another police officer, Mohammad Riaz, said two people -- the rickshaw driver and a passenger -- were killed while about a dozen people travelling in a passenger van were wounded.
The injured included women and children who were going to a wedding party, Riaz said.
"It is possible the passenger in the rickshaw, who died in the blast, was carrying the bomb which exploded prematurely," he added
Mohammad Noor, a medical officer at Quetta's Civil Hospital, confirmed the casualties.
"We have received two dead bodies. There are about a dozen wounded, including six women and two children," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but similar bombings have been blamed on separatist, secular tribal rebels in Balochistan.
Hundreds of people have died in violence in the province since the insurgency flared in late 2004, with rebels demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's natural resources.
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has also been hit by attacks blamed on Taliban militants and sectarian extremists.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Relatives and colleagues of an Iraqi MP gunned down outside his home blamed government negligence for his death as the lawmaker, from ex-premier Iyad Allawi's bloc, was buried on Tuesday.
Security forces arrested one man in connection with the assassination of Bashar Hamid al-Agaidi, who was ambushed outside his home in the main northern city of Mosul and died of his wounds in hospital, the first such murder since parliamentary elections in March which have yet to result in a new government.
"This is a terrorist act -- where were the security forces and where was the government?" said Mohammed al-Agaidi, the MP's cousin, after his burial in al-Areij, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Mosul.
"This all happened because of the delays in the formation of the government. There is a security vacuum in the country... It is a great loss for Iraqis, he was a very good man and a leader in the Mosul community."
While Allawi's Iraqiya bloc won the March 7 election with 91 seats in the 325-member parliament, no group has yet assembled the parliamentary majority necessary to form a government.
"We asked the government to provide protection for our candidates before the elections, but the government refused," Osama al-Nujaifi, the head of the Sunni Arab al-Hadbaa faction of which Agaidi was a member, told AFP.
"Negligence on the part of the government led to this situation. We accuse the government of being negligent, and the terrorists of carrying out this crime."
The al-Hadbaa faction is centerd around Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, and is a part of Allawi's Iraqiya bloc.
Agaidi's uncle Nadhim Mahmoud al-Agaidi, however, partially blamed Nujaifi and the Iraqiya list, saying: "Osama al-Nujaifi has dozens of guards but Bashar had only two men.
"They have badges for their weapons, but they were not accepted by Nineveh security forces. Is that right?"
Nujaifi said two people had been detained in connection with the killing, but Iraqi security forces said only one had been captured.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Two security guards were killed on Tuesday in southern Mosul, according to a police source.
The two guards were killed late Tuesday (May 25) by gunmen, who used guns with silencers, in front of the Mosul train station in the southern section of the city,' the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The two bodies were sent to the forensic medicine department in Mosul,' he added, without giving further details.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli warplanes carry out multiple raids on the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, raising the prospects of more airstrikes as they hover over the coastal sliver. The Tuesday attacks targeted tunnels near a disused airport in the city of Rafah, a Press TV correspondent reported. No injuries have yet been reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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Twin bomb blasts rocked a town in Thailand's south on Wednesday, killing two people and wounding dozens in the latest violence of a six-year insurgency, police and hospital staff said. At least 55 people were wounded -- five seriously -- in the blasts in Yala, the main town in the province of the same name, said the provincial hospital.
The bombs were hidden on motorcycles and exploded near the business district of the town, police said, pointing the finger at Islamist terrorists militants.
"Provincial authorities had been warned of the attack beforehand, but the warning was for May 28 to 30," said Krisada Boonrach, the Yala governor. "Currently there is an 11-day provincial fair until June 5 and as security is strict in the town centre, the militants chose to attack in the outer part of town," he added.
The first bomb detonated at 10:15 am (0315 GMT) in front of a car showroom and the second went off close by ten minutes later, wounding rescue workers and police who had come to investigate the first attack.
"In the last few days they've tried to increase their operations because the situation in Bangkok has quieted down," said Srisompob of Deep South Watch, an independent monitoring group. "In the coming days or weeks maybe there will be more attacks. That is part of the political tactics of the insurgency," he added.
[Straits Times] FIVE people were killed as communist rebels facing an intensified government offensive attacked a group of soldiers in the southern Philippines, the military said on Tuesday.
Three soldiers and two New People's Army rebels were reported to have died in Monday's unrest, bringing the number of fatalities linked to communist unrest on restive Mindanao island over the past fortnight to 14.
The rebels attacked an army unit guarding a road construction project on the outskirts of Davao, the biggest city on Mindanao, local military spokesman Captain Emmanuel Garcia told reporters.
Cpt Garcia said three soldiers were killed and four others were wounded, while the construction firm reported finding two dead guerrillas inside an abandoned truck they had used in the attack.
The army had deployed the soldiers to the road project site after the construction firm complained the communists had been making extortion demands.
The NPA has stepped up attacks in and around Davao over the past month. President Gloria Arroyo has said that she wants the 41-year-old communist insurgency defeated by the time she steps down from office on June 30.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2010 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Despite the ages-old rifles in Taliban hands, reports suggest our soldiers may be outgunned in Afghanistan's hills. To counter, the Army plans a slew of upgrades to curtain weapons -- and several entirely new guns.
