A suicide bomber disguised as a woman blew himself up at an army checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, killing five Afghans and wounding four, police said Thursday.
The blast occurred in eastern Khost province Wednesday as Afghan soldiers were checking the assailant's vehicle, said Mohammed Ayub, the regional police chief. The attacker, sitting in the back seat, detonated explosives hidden under a woman's burqa shroud when soldiers asked to see his ID, he said.
Three Afghan soldiers, the driver of the vehicle and a farmer working nearby were killed, Ayub said. It was not clear whether the driver was an associate of the assailant or an innocent victim. Three soldiers were wounded, as well as a second farmer.
Police initially reported the blast late Wednesday but said it was caused by a land mine and that only two soldiers were killed.
Ayub accused the Taliban of being responsible for the attack.
"The bomber probably wanted to go into Khost city for a suicide attack there, but panicked and blew himself up when the soldiers started checking," he said.
The bombing is the latest in an unprecedented string of suicide attacks in recent months. The tactic represents a new and disturbing security threat four years after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.
There have been a series of protests across Afghanistan in recent weeks against the suicide bombings. On Thursday, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in southern Helmand province, demanding an end to the attacks, regional administrator Ghulam Muhiddin said.
He said students, Muslim clerics and other civilians took part in the rally and demanded the international community urge Pakistan to stop its alleged support of the militants.
Afghan officials have repeatedly claimed that the Taliban and other militant groups have training bases in Pakistan and are receiving support from that side of the border -- an accusation Islamabad denies.
Al-Qaida militants are coming from Iraq to fight in the insurgency in Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Thursday after interrogating an Iraqi caught sneaking into the country illegally.
"There is a big group coming from Iraq," Nimroz provincial Gov. Ghulam Dusthaqir Azad said. "They're linked to al-Qaida and fought against U.S. forces in Iraq. They have been ordered to come here. Many are suicide attackers."
It was not immediately possible to confirm the governor's comments with officials in Kabul. A spokesman for the U.S. military, Lt. Mike Cody, said, "We don't discuss detainees or intelligence matters."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2006 20:28 Comments ||
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smells of running out of options to me .
As per usual , jihadi's meet up in a pre destined place (when things go 'tit's up ) and then go booom .. Nothing new , just positive news for all , except the mad'uns
"Hey! That ain't no virgin!"
"Yeah, she is!"
"No, she ain't!"
"Well, she used to be one. You know what they say: 'Once a virgin, always a virgin!"
"Who the hell sez that? Nobody sez that! And where's the rest of them?"
"That was a misprint. It was supposed to say 'One virgin, size 72.'"
Saifullah was tired of his exhausting job as a blacksmith in a Pakistani village when a friend suggested he join the jihad, or holy war, against United States troops in Afghanistan. The 20-year-old, who shared a simple mud-brick house with his father, mother and a brother, told Agence France-Presse he wasn't sure whether to accept the call to fight in the country of his forefathers or to continue with his hammer and anvil. "If you kill one American soldier, then you can keep his money, his gun, boots and clothes," he recalled his friend saying.
"And if I die?" Saifullah said he asked of the young man, himself a recruit of Taliban commander Mullah Samad who is said to be close to the fugitive leader of the ousted extremist Taliban regime, Mullah Omar.
"If you die, you will get seven virgin 'houris' in paradise," the man said, referring to the virgin angels the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an, says awaits good Muslims, especially martyrs, when they die.
"I accepted," Saifullah said on Tuesday from his hospital bed in the dusty Afghan border town of Spin Boldak hours after being shot in the legs in a clash with Afghan tribesmen.
He and nine other Taliban recruits -- all descendants of Afghan refugees in Pakistan -- were attacked late on Monday by the chief of Loy Kariz village, about 50km from Spin Boldak, and his men. They had been in the village under the command of Mullah Samad to look for and kill US troops and their "spies". They had also set up roadblocks to interrogate clean-shaven men and confiscate cassettes, in line with the Taliban's doctrine that shaving and listening to music are "un-Islamic". Two of Saifullah's comrades were killed in the clash. His own dreams were shattered when his injured hands were tied behind his back and he and another wounded fighter were handed over to Afghan security forces. The young blacksmith's experience of jihad had lasted 72 hours from the time of his recruitment.
Abdul Wasey Alakozai, the police chief of Spin Boldak, said one of the rebels had detonated a grenade at his feet, in a suicide attack, when he realised he would be arrested. The rebel and a villager were killed and 14 other locals were wounded, Alakozai said. The incident is a rare example of villagers taking on the Taliban, who are leading a guerrilla-style insurgency plaguing southern and eastern Afghanistan almost since the hardliners were overthrown in a United States-led invasion in late 2001. Most of the ousted government and its al-Qaeda allies fled to Pakistan, according to Afghan officials. Since then, they have been crossing the poorly controlled 2 400km border to carry out attacks on Afghan and foreign targets inside Afghanistan.
"Mullah Samad gave me a gun on the border," recalled Saifullah, who like many Afghans uses only one name. He and the others walked 48 hours to reach Loya Kariz village, he said. Alakozai and Asadullah Khalid, governor of Kandahar province which includes Spin Boldak, admitted they did not have enough security forces to control the rugged border. But Khalid also blamed Pakistan for propping up the militants. "They have training facilities in Pakistan and are being supported down there," he said in Kandahar. To support his claims, the governor said three of about 20 suspected rebels arrested in recent days for allegedly plotting attacks were Pakistani citizens. He said they were planning suicide attacks -- which have spiked in Afghanistan with at least 20 in the past four months in a trend analysts say shows rebels have adopted Iraq-style tactics. On January 15, a senior Canadian diplomat was killed and three Canadian soldiers were injured in a suicide attack in Kandahar.
The governor said the Taliban fighters had some support among Afghans in villages along the border, although this was low. From his hospital bed, the body of one of his slain fellow recruits nearby, Saifullah agreed, saying his band of men had no problem moving through the area until they were stopped by the village chief and his men. Mullah Samad had even been allowed to use a loudspeaker atop the Loya Kariz mosque to call people to jihad. He remembered the message as: "Join us in jihad. If you don't join us, God will punish you."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:44 ||
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#4
Demand for houris has gone up considerably and the value of dead shahids have plummeted. And not to yank the Viagra from their orgy, but the Saudis have bought up all the decent looking virgins.
Posted by: ed ||
02/02/2006 13:12 Comments ||
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Thanks for that image, CF, I shall now take a Brillo pad to my occipital lobe ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2006 13:33 Comments ||
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One of the Danish cartoons that are much in the news in the Muslim world today covers this subject. It shows Muhammad standing at the entrance to Heaven addressing a long line of suicide bombers saying, "Wait! Wait! We've run out of virgins."
#3. CF, go to your room.
#9
When I picture a "virgin" I have to get in the Waaay-Back Machine and what I recall is gum-smacking and constant makeup adjustment and "Ewwww!" and "Fer-sure!" and "You won't like tell anyone, will you?" and other equally depressingly scintillating backseat banter and, well, to hell with that noise! I wanna PRO! These clowns are idjits, lol.
Eight foreigners were arrested Monday and Tuesday by Afghan forces in charge of having relations with al Qaida in the southwestern province of Nimroz, the provincial governor said Tuesday.
"In the two seperate ope rations launched by Afghan security forces and intelligence service forces in Zaranj, the provincial capital of Nimroz, eight foreigners entered Afghanistan without any legal documents were arrested since being suspected of having relations with al Qaida," the provincial governor Ghulam Dastagir Azad said.
"Last night we arrested three persons including one Iraqi and two Kashmiris. Tonight another five Bangladeshis were arrested. After the interrogation, the eight persons were confirmed of being trained in religious schools out of Afghanistan," he added.
The interrogation is still going on, and the result will be announced after it comes out, he added.
Nine persons including two Pakistanis were arrested Saturday and Sunday in charge of terrorist activities in the southern province of Kandahar, the provincial governor said Sunday.
"We have found explosives, vehicles for car bombs, remote control bombs and so on. After the investigation, the two Pakistanis have confessed they had been trained in Pakistan for the suicide explosion," Assadullah Khalid told journalists in a press conference.
After the suicide explosions in the beginning of this month in Kanhahar, Afghan forces adopted security measures for the safety of the place. Perhaps because of this reason some suspected terrorists escaped to the neighboring provinces like Nimroz.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:28 ||
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Over-stayed their madrassah visas, did they?
"The interrogation is still going on, and the result will be announced after it comes out, he added."
Gosh, I hope they were Mirandized and given their milk 'n cookies 'n stuff. Dont' say anything mean to 'em, neither. I'm sure they're really just nice boys who got confused about what year it was or sumthin'. Students, sheesh, so distracted.
#2
Afghanistan's Nimroz [sic Nimruz]province is in the South West 'corner' of Afghanistan which in turn is right next door to the Baluchistan area in Iran. Map
#5
Two further steps to take: 1) Foreigners illegally present & caught with weapons in Afghanistan are treated as illegal combatants & executed summarily 2) Iraq starts doing the same with their infiltrators. US pays average Iraqi $X per "head", should be a thriving business until jihadis get the idea. Better than the flypaper concept, more like the roach motel concept...
KABUL -A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-filled car into an army convoy in volatile southeastern Afghanistan, killing three Afghan soldiers and a roadworker, the defence ministry said on Thursday. The attack in Khost province late Wednesday was the latest in a spate of more than 20 such blasts in the past four months, pointing to a change of tactics in an insurgency that erupted after the 2001 fall of the Taleban militia.
Three soldiers were also wounded after the attacker drove the vehicle into the Afghan army convoy in Khosts Bak district and set off the deadly blast, defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said. Three soldiers and one civilian were martyred and three soldiers were wounded in the car bomb suicide attack, he said.
The soldiers had been providing security for a road construction project, a local police officer said on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2006 10:58 ||
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In April 2004, while MDJT rebels kept Saifi handcuffed in a small cave near one of their mountain encampments, General Wald gave a talk at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington. Saifi was still technically at large, but Wald was optimistic about what the U.S. had done in Chad and Niger to pursue him. In his speech, Wald sketched out an ambitious African security plan. The current military cooperation across the Sahel, he indicated, might serve as a precursor for a transnational army. "The irony of all ironies is that Muammar Qaddafi, at the African Union meeting in Tripoli, about a month ago or so, recommended a 1 million- person standing army in Africa," he said. "Now I think that's crazy, don't get me wrong." But a bit later, Wald went on to suggest that establishing five 3,000-man brigades from various African military units might be a good way to police the continent. "That's a great thing," he noted. "We need to help encourage that. We need to help train that." Wald then laid out European Command's operating principle. "Our approach is basically to help Africans help themselves," he said. "Use nontraditional approaches that most people pretty much gag on, get over the stovepipes, quit worrying about who gets credit."
An Algerian newspaper has reported quoting a Muslim group linked to al-Qaida that the Algerian army has killed its spiritual leader. The Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by the acronym GSPC, announced the death of Ahmed Abou al-Baraa, whose real name was Ahmed Zarabib, on Tuesday on its internet site, the Algerian daily Liberte reported on Wednesday.
Oh, I do hope it was painful. Gut shot, perhaps, followed by sepsis, fever, thirst, delerium, finally culminating in a faint rattle, all the while writhing in unceasing agony...
Zarabib, a former mosque prayer leader said to be among the GSPC's founders, was killed on 17 January in mountains near Toudja, a town 260km east of the capital, Algiers, the newspaper reported.
An emaciated corpse, in an unmarked grave...
The killing of a GSPC figure by security forces would be yet another blow to the movement, born in 1998 of a split among dissidents of the Armed Islamic Group, blamed for numerous bloody massacres at the height of the insurgency. In 2003, then-GSPC leader Nabil Sahraoui announced allegiance to al-Qaida. Sahraoui was reported killed in June 2004 in an army offensive, along with other ranking members of the group. The movement, which rejects an amnesty offer from Algerian authorities, is now reportedly led by Abdelmalek Dourkdal. The first GSPC leader, Hassan Hattab, focused on attacking symbols of the state like soldiers, police officers and others, rather than civilians. While the GSPC danger is diminishing in Algeria, the movement is considered a threat in Europe, with suspected operatives arrested sporadically in France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere.
Yemen is preparing to try a number of prisoners who are accused of being associated with al-Qaeda terrorist activities in Yemen and abroad. The most notable prosecution involves Muhammad Hamdi al-Ahdal (also known as Abu Asim al-Makki) and his associate Ghalib al-Zaidi, who have been held since December 2003. Al-Ahdal is described as a veteran of fighting in Chechnya and Afghanistan (where he lost a leg) before returning to Yemen to conduct terrorist operations. He is a former deputy to Sinan al-Harthi, an al-Qaeda operative killed by an American drone aircraft in 2002.
U.S. lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights visited Yemen last week to meet with families of the men being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. A lawsuit is being prepared on behalf of 60 Yemeni citizens still held in the Cuba-based prison. On January 23, it was announced that four men released from Guantanamo a year ago will be tried on charges of being al-Qaeda members. It had been widely expected that the men would be released for lack of evidence. A fifth suspect released from Guantanamo is being tried in a separate action on charges of drug trafficking. Karama Sa'id Khamsan was arrested near the Afghanistan/Pakistan border by Pakistani police and was turned over to U.S. forces in 2001, although it is now alleged that he was there to take delivery of two tons of hashish bound for Yemen (Gulf Times, January 24, 2006).
In addition, 19 people suspected of planning the assassination of U.S. officials and planning other terrorist acts in Aden have been delivered for prosecution. The 19 are accused of having returned from jihad in Iraq with orders from Iraqi al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to begin operations in Yemen.
There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of Yemeni businessman and member of the ruling General People's Congress Abdul Sala'am al-Hilah. Last week, Amnesty International reported that al-Hilah was now in Guantanamo Bay, but the Yemeni Foreign Ministry claimed he was still in a prison in Afghanistan. Al-Hilah told Amnesty that he was kidnapped in Egypt in September 2002 before being transported to prisons in Azerbaijan and Afghanistan (Yemen Observer, January 21, 2006).
Also at Guantanamo, another Yemeni was put on trial by U.S. military authorities this month, one of the first two prisoners to face a military commission. In a 10 minute speech before the commission, Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al-Bahlul denounced American support for Israel, declined the services of his court-appointed U.S. military lawyer (who faced four prosecutors) and declared a boycott of the entire proceedings. Al-Bahlul was a media specialist for Osama bin Laden who created a video lionizing the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. Additional charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist activities means al-Bahlul could face a life sentence. The trial has been adjourned until May 15.
The government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been one of the United States' staunchest allies in the war on terrorism. Yet, while the Yemeni government cracks down on Sunni terrorism, it faces renewed fighting from Zaidi Shiite rebels in the mountainous north of the country. The insurgents, who ambushed an army column on January 19, are believed to be ex-followers of preacher Husayn al-Huthi, who was killed along with many supporters in battles with security forces in 2004. The renewed attacks are sure to disappoint the government, which has made concerted efforts at reconciliation with the restive North.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:20 ||
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If Ramsey Clark takes on the case for the defense, we're doomed, DOOMED, I tell ya.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/02/2006 16:26 Comments ||
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More than 650 Islamist terrorists purportedly belonging to the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and the Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HUJI-BD), including a handful of mid-ranking militant cadres have been arrested in the aftermath of the August 17, 2005, country-wide bomb blasts in the country. Newspapers, on a daily basis, do provide details of incidents of security forces raiding militant hideouts and recovering arms and explosives. On the face of it, it would appear that Bangladesh is making a sincere effort at curbing Islamist terrorism. The appearance, however, belies the reality. The data on terrorism related fatalities is a dead giveaway. A country that is riddled with Islamist extremist activity sees its principal threat and the primary target of security forces activity in a minuscule Left Wing extremist (LWE) movement concentrated in small pockets of the western Districts of Bangladesh. Bizarre though it is, 177 deaths were reported in 2005 in LWE-related violence, compared to just 35 killed in connection with Islamist militancy. The data assumes an even more sinister dimension on closer scrutiny. As many as 163 of the 177 LWE fatalities (92 per cent) were categorized as outlaws. 11 civilians and 3 security force (SF) personnel were killed by the LWE-related violence in the whole year. By comparison, just nine Islamist terrorists were killed through 2005
Further details fill out a twisted picture. While the state eliminated 60 LWEs between August and December 2005, only two Islamist terrorists were killed during the same period. Interestingly, the security forces had no role to play in the death of the Islamist terrorists, as both JMB cadres were killed during suicide blasts on November 29 and December 8 in Gazipur and Netrokona Districts LWE in Bangladesh, consisting of the PBCP, Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF), New Biplobi Communist Party (NBCP), remains in a high state of disarray and their activities have been confined to the limits of the western districts of the country such as Satkhira, Khulna, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Magura, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Kushtia, Pabna and Rajshahi. Once-influential, outfits such as Purba Banglar Communist Party, over the years have split into several factions such as Janajuddha, Marxist-Leninist, Lal Pataka and Communist War, each posing little or negligible threat to state and its populace. Some of these factions are also involved in bitter fratricidal clashes, periodically eliminating their rival cadres. And when not engaged in infighting, the LWEs, popularly referred to as Sarbaharas, are generally engaged in isolated acts of extortion and abduction.
The LWEs have been systematically targeted both by the state and the Islamist militants, and indeed the rise of the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and the notorious Bangla Bhai can be traced directly to a police-supported campaign to target and eliminate LW cadres. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), created in 2004 as a special para-military force under the Home Ministry, has been overwhelmingly targeted and eliminated LWEs and other criminals (mostly referred to as terrorists) in various fake encounters, referred to as cross fires over the years. A report by the BBC (December 13, 2005) suggested that 190 people had been killed in such cross fires in the last two years by the RAB. Occasional voices have been raised by the human rights activists over such periodic extra-judicial killings, but these have secured no Government response. A parallel campaign against the Sarbaharas was launched by the Islamist groups like the JMJB, propped up with adequate State sanction to deal with the menace of Left Wing extremism. As Islamist militants, through 2003, 2004 and the early part of 2005, went on a rampage in the countryside, hunting down the Sarbaharas and their supporters, Government Forces stood by as a mute spectator and in some cases facilitated such atrocities. In a series of campaigns that took place in 2003 and 2004, mutilated bodies of suspected LWEs were hung from trees and electric poles by the JMJBs private army.
The war on terrorism in Bangladesh, in spite of the formidable growth of radical Islam, remains essentially a prejudiced war on the peripheral Left Wing extremist movement, leaving out of its scope both the Islamists and the large number of Northeast Indian terrorist groups that operate out of Bangladeshi safe havens with manifest state support. With regard to the Islamist groups, the standard operating procedure appears to be a cycle of routine arrest, interrogation and release. Large scale arrests ordinarily of low level cadres have ordinarily been a response to growing international concerns (read, demands) rather than any firm commitment to address the problem of rising Islamist extremism and terror..Reports indicate that more than 650 militants have been arrested during country-wide raids from different districts. However, due to reasons including official slackness as well as intervention of politicians, most of them were either released, while even the elementary charge sheets have not yet been filed against others. Reports on January 21, 2006, indicated that the Netrokona District police was yet to submit the charge sheets against JMB militants arrested for their involvement in the August 17 explosions.
Bangladeshs false war on terror has enormously strengthened Islamist extremist forces in the country, and while many speak of the tremendous damage these forces will eventually do to the country, it is apparent that the current concerns of the political leadership, particularly the parties in power, appear to be based on a calculus that focuses on the significant and immediate partisan gains that they believe to be accruing to them, rather than the greater and eventual damage to the national interest. There is little within the political dynamic in the country that could reverse current trends, at least before the elections of 2007.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/02/2006 15:35 ||
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RB goes down for 2 days and the RAB is in trouble.
At least 150 people were injured as police opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells on agitators demanding expulsion of a Pir from Sunamganj on Tuesday night. Locals said the 'controversial' Pir [a cult leader], Maolana Dillur Rahman, along with 300 companions on January 30 checked into Nurani Hotel to hold a rally.
"How controversial was he?"
"Very controversial!"
The locals protested the rally and demanded expulsion of Rahman, also known as Rajarbaghi Pir, and his men for his 'anti-Islamic activities'.
Being anti-Islamic isn't controversial at all, though the method for killing someone who's anti-islamic sometimes is.
The police at 10:00pm removed a podium erected for the rally, but about 4,000 people under the banner of Imam Muezzin Oikya Parishad continued agitation for his expulsion. At one stage, Rahman's followers pelted the mob with stones from the roof of the hotel, resulting in a counter attack, witnesses said.
"Hey, youse can't do that! We're Islamic! Git 'em, boys!"
The police intervened and fired gunshots and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob. The area around the old bus terminal in the town turned a battlefield as the police and the mob chased each other for one and a half hours.
And a good time was had by all.
Officials of the district administration finally forced the Pir to leave the town with his men at 2:45am.
Off to a Motel 6 to lick his wounds and plan a career change into the bowling or service station industries in Detroit.
Of the injured, 25 were committed to Sunamganj General Hospital, sources said. Police said about 20 of their men were also injured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2006 10:37 ||
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#1
Immediately ripped this one from my rolodex:
Hotel Nurani
Address: Old Bus Station, Bandarban
Phone: (880-361) 459
#2
Don't forget to take out that Days Inn in NYC that will be populated by Red Chinese construction slaves for the forseeable future, building the new Chinese Embassy.
A southern Russian court on Wednesday handed 17-year prison sentences to four alleged rebels who had been accused of being on standby to take hostages in a second school if the Beslan school seizure had been foiled.
Thirty-two heavily-armed rebels demanding that Russian troops withdraw from the nearby breakaway province of Chechnya attacked Beslan's School No. 1, taking more than 1,100 children, parents and staff hostage. Some 330 victims were killed, along with all but one of the attackers. The only surviving attacker is currently on trial.
Prosecutors said Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev had prepared a reserve plan to seize hostages at a school in the Ingush village of Nesterovskaya if the Sept. 1, 2004, raid in nearby Beslan had failed.
But the jury did not agree that the four men on trial in Ingushetia's Supreme Court had been members of the group, and they were convicted on charges of banditry, participating in illegal military groups, terrorism and attempts on the lives of military and law enforcement officials. All four had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Meanwhile, police killed an alleged militant in Chechnya early Wednesday when police stopped his car for a document check and he tried unsuccessfully to detonate a grenade, the regional Interior Ministry said. Two passengers in the car escaped.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:45 ||
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Tajik authorities say they have detained an alleged local leader of a banned Islamist group. A police chief in the Soghd region, Makhmadsaid Jurakulov, said today that Moghadam Madalieva was detained on 30 January. She is suspected of leading Hizb ut-Tahrir's female wing in the northern region.
Tajik authorities announced on 16 January that they had arrested 99 Hizb ut-Tahrir members in 2005, including 16 women. Many were sentenced to lengthy jail terms for "extremist activities."
The Hizb ut-Tahrir, or Party of Liberation, calls for the establishment of a global caliphate. Its activities are banned in all Central Asian republics, although the group claims its activities are peaceful.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:34 ||
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A top aide to Chechen warlord Shamil Basyev was captured in Dagestan, a republic in the Russian Federation on the Caspian Sea, a report said.
Akhmed Yunusov, a field commander and a close associate of Basayev, was detained in a Derbent apartment during a special operation on Sunday, Interfax reported. Yunusov was wanted on charges of organizing illegal paramilitary formations.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:32 ||
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Five suspected militants have reportedly been captured in Russia's restive southern republic of Chechnya. The Russian Interior Ministry's Northern Caucasus department believes one of the men seized took part in an attack on a police patrol in 2004, in which one police officer was killed and two others were injured.
Another had allegedly been in a 30-strong group that killed five Russian troops in the village of Roshni-Chu in August 2005. Two men were detained for storing weapons for militants and gathering information on federal troops.
The arrests were made in a range in four different parts of Chechnya: in the town of Gudermes and in the districts of Nozhai-Yurt, Achkoi-Martan, and Shyolkovsky. One suspected militant gave himself up in the Vedeno district.
It was not immediately clear when the sweep operations took place.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:30 ||
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Beijing announced plans last week to build high-frequency radar on the South Pole. Analysts say the radar could be used to disrupt U.S. intelligence satellites. Or our new FALCON long range strike, our missiles headed for China, converted SSBN's to conventional missile subs (who were slated to hover in the South pole region for on call world strike.
The radar will be built at Chinas Zhongshan Station, where Beijing has set up of a space environment lab.
National security analysts say the South Pole site, because of its remoteness, could be used by China to develop anti-satellite lasers capable of blinding or disrupting U.S. reconnaissance satellites, most of which pass over the pole.
The station will consist of 20 antenna units, including 16 units for the main antenna and four for the auxiliary antenna. Each antenna is 20 meters high. I think HAARP has got around 200The high-frequency radar can detect ionospheric convection within a range of 3,000 kilometers. this is even worse our satellites have become critical to our warfare plans.
Chinese officials told Xinhua the station would be used to measure the polar space environment. Yes Yes nothing to see here nothing at all, "Ping time till spy sat 5comes in range"
Isnt the North and South poles neutral territory wouldnt that mean this should and could be stopped, and if not WHY would we let them do it. Whats next offshore rigs armed to the teeth 120miles off shore of San Fran ect..to watch the migrations of sea gulls?
Chinas space program, unlike the U.S. space program, is directly related to Chinese military operations.
A Pentagon report on the Chinese military last year said China was working on, and plans to field, ASAT systems.
#2
I must have missed something, I remember the HAARP project as welding two battleship guns barrel to breech and using the resulting very long gun to launch satelites into low earth orbit by shooting them into orbit from this made-up gun.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/02/2006 18:44 Comments ||
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Jim I remember the super gun dont remember it being called Harp may be wrong.
But HAARP is over a hundred antennas up in northern Alaska that is officially a research tool. Of course its been rumored to be many things from plasma ball weapon, earth penetrating sensor, alien crap, sub hunter, to what I lean to a powerful EMP used as a BMD system.
Most Russian ballistic missiles would travel over the North Pole a wall of overcharged EMP could wreak havoc on anything coming through. Who knows the truth? One thing is for sure this thing exist and is real and maybe coincidence or not check the date after the Bush BMD push it went from partial complete hold to bumped up to full power.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/missiles-04zi.html
http://www.darpa.mil/tto/programs/haarp.htm
Goggle: HAARP the results are from local crazy to official press releases.
Jim you were right it was called Harp and was a 16 gun. This links got a photo that is cool also some other interesting big gun ideas. Also at the bottom China built a 20m gun that could hit S. Korea or Taiwan.
A Turkish woman, who was detained in Istanbul on charges of having ties to Al-Qaida terrorist organization, was released on Tuesday.
The woman was detained at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport after she had been deported from Pakistan to Turkey.
She was released after her interrogation at the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office.
Speaking to reporters, the woman said that she was kidnapped by armed men in Pakistan where she had gone with her husband to help earthquake victims, adding that she returned to Turkey after kidnappers released them.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:36 ||
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An Egyptian man suspected of masterminding the March 2004 Madrid bombings appeared in a Miilan court on Tuesday at the start of his trial on charges of international terrorism, including conspiring to plan more attacks. Clad in white robes and a skullcap, a handcuffed Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed was escorted by police into the courtroom. He was placed in a caged enclosure from where he listened to the proceedings through an interpreter.
Ahmed's lawyer failed to show up, forcing trial judge Judge Luigi Cerqua, after a two hour delay, to appoint another attorney to represent the 34-year-old suspect.
Italian police acting on a tip from their Spanish counterparts picked up Ahmed in Milan three months after the Madrid attacks. He is accused of recruiting extremists as the head of a terrorist cell.
Spanish and Italian authorities consider Ahmed the main organiser of the bombings that killed 191 people and injured more than 1,500.
Ahmed has denied any wrongdoing and says he has never belonged to a terrorist group.
He claims he is not the person speaking in intercepted conversations that Italian police say prove his role in the attacks and show that Ahmed was indoctrinating militants for suicide bomb missions in Iraq and elsewhere.
Italian police said in a report summarizing the investigation that Ahmed was also trying ''to construct cells at a European level in order to carry out terrorist actions on the model of Madrid.''
Also standing trial is 22-year-old Egyptian Yahia Ragheh, picked up in the same operation as Ahmed and described by authorities as a would-be suicide bomber. He too appeared in court on Tuesday and joined Ahmed in the cage.
Ragheh's attorney, Roberta Ligotti, told reporters as she arrived at the tribunal that there was insufficient proof that Ragheh belonged to any terrorist cell and said prosecutors had only cited one phone call traced to her client in their evidence.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:35 ||
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I wonder if my neighbor was involved in that investigation? They've had some formerly retired FBI guys over there for about a year now to find this kind of thing, once the administrative phase was well under way. I am please the bad guys were caught. Try them publically, then hang 'em high.
On January 15, when a Lashkar sharpshooter pumped 15 bullets into the stomach of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Imtiyaz Ahmad, it signalled the beginning of a new kind of war.
A war where rules of engagement were blurred, making the boundary between enemies and friends indistinct.
Forget jihad. Kashmir today is witnessing a clash of arms that is evoking reactions from unbridled joy to unadulterated anguish depending on which side of the divide one stands.
For security forces, there couldnt be any better news. Mentors of militants across the border are shell shocked. More power, control over illegal finances and urge for dominance are some reasons that have militants baying for one anothers blood.
In the last 10 days, around three Hizbul militants have been killed by Lashkar-e-Toiba sharpshooters in Doda district of Jammu. This Sunday, Lashkar militants carried their most audacious attack yet, when they stormed the heavily guarded hideout of top Hizb commander Mohammad Sain in Kither Bunjwani in Doda district and shot him down.
This is simply a war between foreigners and local militants for supremacy, says Colonel Dinesh K Badola, Colonel General Staff (IW) of the Jammu-based 16 Corps. LeT comprises 70 per cent foreigners and 30 per cent locals. In HMs case the trend is reverse. So both outfits want to regain supremacy in the area they operate.
Conservative figures released by the Army say around 15 inter-gang rivalries have been reported till now. And there are several incidents which go unreported because they take place at isolated and inaccessible areas, says Col Badola. Each incident results in the death of at least one gang member of either group.
Around 1,500 to 2,000 militants are believed to be operating in Jammu and Kashmir. Lashkar and Hizbul are the two outfits that have the maximum number of militants. It is followed by smaller outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahdeen and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
Control over finances is the major reason for militants to kill fellow comrades. A foreign militant gets a salary of Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 plus other emolument. He is also at liberty to generate the finances through extortion and other means locally.
This is against the liking of local militants who do not want foreigners to control the finances. Plus the foreigners get maximum chunk of the finances from Pakistan, which locals resent. And most of the times it spills over to roads resulting in
bloodshed, says a senior officer of the Army.
Militancy is like a mafia here and everything revolves around finances. The money factor is playing its part. And there is always an urge to control the finances, which are not being liked by other militants. This results in inter-gang clashes, says Dr S P Vaid, Inspector General of Police, Jammu range.
The inter-group clashes are not new to Jammu and Kashmir. It started in 1993 between Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and Hizbul-Mujahideen. In that battle the Hizbul Mujahideen emerged victorious.
The current turf war between Lashkar and Hizbul was initially an urban phenomenon. But as the pressure of security forces started mounting the militants shifted bases. With the result the clashes started occurring in remote areas. For the last one year most of the clashes have been reported from remote districts of Rajouri, Poonch and Doda, says the army officer.
Such was the turf war that rival militants used to tip off the security forces about rival gangs. This worked to our advantage. Top leadership of Al-Jihad, which was very strong in 1993 was eliminated within three months because of the information trickling from rival gangs, says the army officer, who was also posted in Jammu and Kashmir in the early nineties when militancy was at its peak.
Security forces, though not on record, agree that they love the turf war. We are fighting a war against terror. In this all ultras no matter which outfit they belong to are our enemies. If one enemy kills another, he lessens our burden because we have to kill only one instead of two, says a senior security force officer engaged in counter insurgency operations.
Security experts also feel that the inter-group rivalries are helping the security forces in their fight against terror. Insurgency is also a battle of nerves. Intelligence agencies and militants play games to pin down each other. Militants fighting each other helps security forces in their efforts to neutralise the ultras, says M.M.Khajuria, former Director General of J&K Police and noted security expert.
The inter-group clashes have also led to disillusionment among the militant ranks who consider it wise to surrender and join the mainstream. Around 10 militants of Hizbul have laid down their arms before security forces in Doda district in this month, says Vaid.
Foreign militants do not trust the local ultras. In many cases locals ultras are being dubbed as traitors and killed by foreign militants, Asif Mohammad Jan, alias Omar Jan, a hardcore militant of Hizbul, hailing from Nandana Thatri, who laid down arms before the security forces a few days ago, told DNA.
#1
Ultras, I love it. Doesn't Nisson make ultras ?
I hope this interkill tendency will affect the democrats as well. This is further proof that the world has taken a turn toward the luny bin.
The rest of us should be issued cards that say
Official Observer and make popcorn.
#2
On January 15, when a Lashkar sharpshooter pumped 15 bullets into the stomach of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Imtiyaz Ahmad, it signalled the beginning of a new kind of war
I think I got a woody over that :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2006 20:41 Comments ||
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An American news and analysis service claimed this week that Al Qaeda and its leadership are headquartered in NWFPs Dir and Swat districts, and possibly Malakand, given the confluence of certain unique ground conditions in those locations. Stratfor said, For Al Qaedas leaders to be in touch with global news and events, and to be relaying sophisticated communiqués, they need to be in an area that offers satellite television, Internet access, an electricity supply, basic equipment, mail service and good roads. The NWFP meets these criteria; the (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) FATA, where Islamabads control was minimal until recently, does not.
Not really. Generators and microwave access would cover it. Roads and mail service don't count when you've got internet. With a decent connection you can stay home all day and play with your stuff, never venturing out of the cave house except to throw another few gallons of diesel into the 30kw generator. With a crummy connection maybe you're up sporadically. Every goober with a turban and a gun seems to have a satphone. I'd guess the big turbans are close to whatever "legitimate" microwave there is in FATA I'm assuming there's some, to maintain the government and ISI infrastructure. A single voice-grade channel would probably do them, if they don't mind waiting for the phone or the computer, and they become a part of the background babble of civil communications. More likely they've got a bloc of channels made available to them by... ummm... whoever's backing them.
Given that FATA is a backwater in terms of infrastructure, it is highly unlikely that improvements in production and delivery (in the latest al-Zawahri video) could have emerged from this region.
Then again, it's possible they're not in that region. I'm still leaning toward Qazi's guesthouse as Binny's present abode...
Stratfor said neither Bin Laden nor Al-Zawahri would risk staying close to the Afghan border in FATA, as it would leave them vulnerable to a US air strike from Afghan territory. On the contrary, they would want to remain as deep within Pakistani territory as possible.
Like in downtown Lahore?
The US might be willing to risk violating Pakistani airspace to fire missiles into FATA - as it did in the January 13 strike against Bajaur Agencys Damadola village - but it is unlikely to venture as deep as settled areas in NWFP proper. US intelligence has disclosed, said the agency, that al-Zawahri is known to have visited Damadola on several occasions - suggesting he is able to make the journey fairly easily.
Which indicates to me he lives in the area...
According to Stratfor, Interestingly, Dir borders Bajaur Agency to the north-northwest, while Malakand borders Bajaur to the southwest. Global attention, however, has focused on two specific FATA agencies: North Waziristan and South Waziristan, both of which are far from Bajaur, separated by Kurram, Khyber, Orakzai and Mohmand agencies. Bajaur Agency also borders Afghanistans Kunar province, which is a hotbed of Taliban and Al Qaeda activity...
Bajaur it probably is, then, for Ayman and maybe Mullah Omar.
Al-Zawahris reference to four brothers present in Damadola village during the January 13 US air strike includes Abu Obaidah al-Masri, an Egyptian Al Qaeda operative ... Al-Masris presence in Bajaur underscores the regions importance as an Al Qaeda staging base for operations in Afghanistan. Stratfor said all these factors lend credence to its view that, although Al Qaeda might maintain facilities all over FATA, its leadership is unlikely in the remote tribal areas. Al-Zawahris appearance most often in videos suggests that Bin Laden is being protected at a separate location, one that is not easily accessible to the Al Qaeda studio, while Al-Zawahri is in close proximity to the facility.
That fits with my theory that Binny is in Fazl's guest house. Or Qazi's. Or Hamid Gul's.
Both al-Zawahri and Bin Laden are in the rural western areas of the NWFP and frequently attend tribal gatherings there, indicating that they feel secure with - and have influence over - the local Pashtuns, whose support they need if they are to remain secure. That this is the best hiding place they can find in all of Pakistan, however, demonstrates that Al Qaedas constituency comprises peripheral members of society, Stratfor added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2006 00:00 ||
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Welcome back, Mr. Pruitt!
The web was lonely, without you, which went down at the same time the most popular anti-jihadi website got hacked too.
I'll hit the tipjar for a couple bucks, so you can buy some much needded beer.
As for hackerz boyz, prolly ROPist or leftist, my own personal preference would include tracking them down using the NSA assets, and having them first whipped with a sjambok, then repeatedly anally raped by german shepherd dogs, until their rectum looks like a mass of overcooked bologneses spaghetti.
Can you still carry on the Djihad/Revolution after having been filled by canine semen? I guess it's still possible, but you have to wipe real well first.
That's would be my favorite punishment for assaulting free speech and depriving me of RB.
Well, I can fantasize, can't I?
#2
Btw, while you're still cleaning up the system, Rb in its current format is just great! Your effors are much appreciated (even if i'm too cheap to give a decent sum)!
Only (small) complaint would be the loss of the GWI analysis, which was very informative; I was somehow hoping for a similar review of the OIF's initial phase from you.
#3
Great to have RB back! Some of us have been running a Rantburg Junior email net, which is only a shadow of dah Real Thang. We appreciate your dedication and support, Fred. A couple of days w/o RB shows just what an asset your site is.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/02/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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GWI will be back. That's a pretty easy reformat. I've just been too busy to get to it. Eventually everything will be back.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2006 11:16 Comments ||
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Glad you're back. Thought you finally said to hell with it. Very happy that you didn't.
#6
Glad to see you back, Fred! Trying to keep the crew happy was more than I could do. You're one of a kind, and the best source of information anywhere. If you ever find out who hacked you, let me know. I still have a few friends on active duty, including one or two in bomb wing targeting offices.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/02/2006 11:31 Comments ||
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Bleemy, the thought was there...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2006 11:32 Comments ||
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Every Spring and Fall there are a several hundred people up on Mount Everest blogging, reporting and managing missions to one of the most remote and in-hopsitable points on the Globe for months at a time. They all have internet connectivity and electricity. It is difficult and takes some planning; but, quite doable none the less.
Somalia - NE and Eastern Coast Thirty seven incidents have been reported since 15.03.05. Heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. Ships not making scheduled calls at Somali ports are advised to keep at least 200 nm from the Somali coast.
January 28 2006 at 2315 LT at Chittagong 'B'anchorage, Bangladesh. Robbers boarded a general cargo ship at forecastle and stole ship's stores. Duty crew raised alarm and robbers escaped. Port control informed and a coast guard on boat arrived for investigation.
January 27 006 at 0645 LT in position 11:55.0N - 051:19.0E, off Cape Guardafui, Somalia. Five pirates armed with machine guns and rocket launchers in a speedboat fired upon a bulk carrier underway. Master took evasive manoeuvres and activated SSAS; crew mustered and started fire hoses. Pirates continued firing causing damage to bridge windows and accommodation. They restocked ammunition from a nearby wooden fishing boat and resumed firing. Another black steel hulled fishing boat came close and also fired at the ship. A coalition warship responded to the alert and at 0740 LT a helicopter arrived and pirates ceased firing. At 0810 LT a coalition warship arrived at the scene.
January 25.2006 at 0152 UTC in position 13:27.6N - 042:59.0E, southern Red Sea. An unlit speedboat chased a container ship underway. Boat increased speed to 35 knots and came within 1.5 nm. Ship altered course and crew directed search lights. Craft reduced speed and aborted chase.
And from the 'Better Late Than Never Desk':
November 11 2006 at 1600 LT in position 04:49N - 005:21E, 8 miles SW of Dodo River, off EA oilfield, Nigeria. 40 persons armed with guns in three canoes boarded a pollution control ship underway. They vandalized ship's equipment and kidnapped four expatriate personnel. The ship was engaged in a security role with 14 naval personnel onboard. So far the pirates have made no demand. Authorities informed.
PRESIDENT BUSH had plans to lure Saddam Hussein into war by flying an aircraft over Iraq painted in UN colours in the hope he would shoot it down, a book reveals.
Mr Bush told Tony Blair of the extraordinary plan during a meeting in the White House on January 31, 2003, six weeks before the war started, according to an updated version of Lawless World by Philippe Sands, a human rights lawyer. He says the President made it clear that he had already decided to go to war, despite still pressing for a UN resolution.
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/02/2006 21:00 ||
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Everyone knows this is false, as Bush was too busy listening to your personal telephone calls and flying UFOs.
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/02/2006 21:02 Comments ||
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Very silly -- Bush doesn't make the plans.
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
02/02/2006 21:19 Comments ||
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SHUT UP, Karl!
Posted by: Dick C. ||
02/02/2006 21:19 Comments ||
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#4
Surprised the Times prints tripe like this. This is more the Guardian style. Maybe Dan Rather helped them with authentication of the memo.
#6
Yeah, back then it was definitely bad form to notice that the UN is a total waste of time, a den of corruption and vile scams, a fatally-flawed parody worthy of nothing but scorn.
#11
Impeachment, Amer Hirsohima(s)?, and North Korea/NK-Taiwan, etc. in one summer - clearly anti-Perfectionist, defective Limited Socialist Fascist Repubs and Male Brutes need a Motherly, full-fledged Commie and Socialist, Amer woman/women to show us the way to the promised land and Marx/StalinGod.
At least eight people were killed on Wednesday when a suicide bomber strapped with explosives attacked a crowd of labourers in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Hospital sources said at least 65 people were wounded.
"We were eating breakfast and we heard an explosion. We went to see what happened and we saw people torn apart on the pavement," said Mohammed Daoud, a labourer.
The attack took place in New Baghdad. Police sources said earlier the explosion hit the Baab al-Sharjee area of Baghdad.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:37 ||
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This insurgency is not only evil, but it is just plain stupid as well. Everytime al qaeda in Iraq does these attacks on innocent people, it further isolates their group from any section of the Iraqi population that might have been willing to support them orginally. But the terrorists just don't get this. Its been the beginning of the end for al qaeda in Iraq for a while now....
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgaria will send some 120 non-combat troops to Iraq, the government decided on Thursday. The Balkan country will send a 120-strong non-combat unit tasked with guarding the Ashraf refugee camp, Defense Minister Veselin Bliznakov told reporters emerging from a cabinet meeting. The unit is due to be positioned in Iraq by mid-March.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2006 10:54 ||
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That's where the 4000 cult members of the Iranian Islamo-Trotskyite terrorists of MEK are warehoused.
Posted by: ed ||
02/02/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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The big bowl of popcorn please, salt, extra butter, and lots of beverages.
Goddamn! $3.75 for Milk Duds?
ABBASSAN, Gaza Strip -The bomb only singed the wall of his home, but Fatah loyalist and former security heavyweight Suleiman Abu Mutleq says the message is crystal clear: Hamas wants a fight. The one-time senior officer in the preventive security force, one of those services created by the late Yasser Arafat and made up of Fatah members, was heavily defeated by the Islamic Resistance Movement in last weeks election. Abu Mutleq was rudely awakened from a peaceful nights sleep on Wednesday by an explosion outside his front door in the central Gaza Strip. Three kilos of explosives, detonated by a mobile phone. It broke the door, shattered the windows.
Yup, sounds like an IED (Islamic explosive device) allright.
I don't think they really care about a "Paleostinian state." I think they just like bombs.
Around him, mope dozens of glum-looking men, some of them armed, most of them in civilian clothes.
Their moping around gives me a warm glow.
Mope Factor 9.8, is it?
Relatives, friends and political allies turned up to commiserate with the unfortunate Fatah candidate, swept aside like so many others by the tidal wave that accorded Hamas an absolute majority in the Palestinian parliament. We are certain it was the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas). Theyre in a hurry to take our place. They think anythings allowed after their victory.
To the victor belong the spoils, or in the case of Gaza, spoiled.
In Gaza City, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri denied that the faction had anything to do with the blast, dismissing baseless accusations.
"Lies! All lies!"
"Nope. Nope. Wudn't us."
Instead, he charged that an Ezzedine Al Qassam leader was subject to a failed assassination attempt on the same morning.
"Yeah! It wudn't us! It wuz them!"
Yet to degenerate into serious clashes, friction between Fatahall powerful in the Palestinian security forcesand Ezzedine Al Qassam has increased since the election, provoking fears that worse lies round the corner. In a string of gunfights, assassination attemps and the seizure of government and party offices, so far only a handful of people have been wounded.
Because Paleos have never learned to shoot straight.
At work in the neighbouring town of Khan Yunis, the local preventive security chief said Abu Mutleqs attack was not the first. The day before yesterday, they threw a grenade at my home in Rafah. My wife and children were inside, saud Yussef Siam. Hamas looks at us like enemies ... Its true that in 1996 we made decisions against them, but we were on orders from Yasser Arafat.
"It was just business, Michael!"
Under heavy international pressure, the late Palestinian Authority president at the time ordered hundreds of Hamas militants to be arrested. One senior Hamas leader, Mahmud Zahar, likes to recall how he was released with several broken ribs after a testing interrogation.
"Yer cockin' yer elbow, Mahmoud! Y'need a nice, straight swing, like this!"
"Ooooowwww!"
Aware of the sensitive nature of the subject and strained relations, Hamas top brass have recently stepped up assurances that they would not go ahead with any purge of the Fatah-dominated security apparatus. We intend to reform these organisations, but nobody will lose his salary or his position ... Anyone who serves will remain in his job, Ismail Haniya told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in a recent interview.
Typical Arab world 'reform': everyone remains employed, just with a new layer of bosses.
Some officials suggest that Hamas be ultimately incorporated into a Palestinian army, although most believe any such merger and acquisition will figure low on the new governments list of priorities.
Like Hamas wants to be saddled with the Paleo army.
The entire security apparatus, around 58,000 men, is directly answerable to Arafats successor and Fatah yes-man, Mahmud Abbas. For Siam, the mechanics are clear. The future interior minister can propose things to the president, but he can refuse. We we are answerable to him.
"At least until something unfortunate happens to him and we get our guy in."
Outside Abu Mutleqs house in Abbassan, 33-year-old Ahmed Awadallah, pistol on hip, lets rip.
Shouldn't have had the chili...
Hamas can certainly appoint officers ... but no one will obey their orders!
Sure, Mr. Bigshot, until the day an IED goes off under your bed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2006 11:22 ||
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Now that Abbas has refused to create a government of Hamas, until they agree to abide by the agreements the PA signed, he is target #1.
All things considered, I wonder if the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will start fighting with the Iranians.
at 50,000 feet, all muslims sing kumbaya together. but at ground level, they hate each other. So the muslim brotherhood and iran, while having a common enemy, don't subscribe to the same tenents of the religion.
and you know what happens when a muslim disagrees!
#4
at 50,000 feet, all muslims sing kumbaya together.
And make nice targets. I'm beginning to believe there is no such thing as a moderate Arab Muslim. Maybe they exist elsewhere, but 90% of the Middle East is populated by seething, angry Arabs who just happen to be Muslims, and who use that as their reason for seething. It dates all the way back to Mohammed, possibly all the way back to Ishmael. Either way, it has to end, one way or another. If the only way is the Carthagenian way, too bad.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/02/2006 12:13 Comments ||
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Worried? Israeli estimates suggest a 10 to 1 margin favoring Fatah, in weapons. More firepower too. Without a constitution, Abbas could simply seize powers that effectively nullify Hamas' power.
Philippine troops, backed by rocket-firing helicopters, killed at least 18 communist rebels in a northern farming town Tuesday in their bloodiest clash in months, officials said.
In a separate battle, Philippine marines fought a group of al-Qaeda-linked rebels on southern Jolo island Tuesday, killing one Abu Sayyaf militant in a security sweep ahead of joint exercises between U.S. and Philippine troops next month, the military said. The marines did not suffer any casualties, a military spokesman said. The Abu Sayyaf, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist groups, has been blamed for deadly bombings and kidnappings for ransom in recent years.
In the fighting in the north, four bodies of rebels were brought by helicopter and placed side by side on the ground near a Roman Catholic church, attracting a large crowd of onlookers. The gunbattle broke out before dawn in a thickly forested mountain area near Santa Ignacia town, about 80 miles north of Manila, when about 25 New People's Army guerrillas opened fire on approaching army troops, officials said. Police had received information that the guerrillas planned to attack Santa Ignacia and nearby Mayantok town, and soldiers scaled a mountain area, where the rebels reportedly massed, police Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said. Army MG520 helicopters fired rockets on rebel positions, Bartolome said. Soldiers on the ground killed 18 rebels in the daylong clashes, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Preme Monta. There were no immediate reports of casualties among government troops.
The army has vowed to launch new offensives this year after the guerrillas intensified attacks against military and police targets in recent months. A rebel land mine killed nine army soldiers and wounded 25 in November in central Iloilo province. The Maoist guerrillas suspended Norwegian-brokered talks with the Philippine government two years ago, mainly to protest Manila's refusal to ask the United States and the European Union to remove them from terrorist blacklists.
On Jolo, the marines recovered an M-16 rifle from the slain militant following the brief clash in the mountainous coastal town of Patikul, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, said Col. Domingo Tutaan of the military's Southern Command. Government troops have been trying to crush the rebels for years on Jolo, in Sulu province and have stepped up security patrols before at least 250 American soldiers arrive for annual joint military exercises called "Balikatan," officials said. The military exercises on Jolo will focus on humanitarian missions, including dental treatments and building classrooms. Joint maneuvers will be held simultaneously in the northern and central Philippines, officials said. "The Balikatan in Sulu is part of our efforts to curb terrorism and to improve the security there," Tutaan said. "The idea is to build a community that is unfriendly to terrorists." U.S.-backed military offensives have reduced Abu Sayyaf to a few hundred rebels who are mostly on the run, the military says.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:18 ||
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Government soldiers killed on Tuesday a member of the militant Abu Sayyaf, tied by the authorities to the al-Qaeda terror network, in the island of Jolo, about 950 km south of Manila, a military spokesman said. The fighting erupted ahead of the joint antiterror training exercise between United States and Philippines troops on Jolo island. The Marines attacked an Abu Sayyaf group around 6 a.m. in the town of Patikul, a known lair of the militants blamed for the series of kidnappings and bombings in the Philippines, said Air Force Major Gamal Hayudini of the Southern Command. One Abu Sayyaf was killed and we have recovered his body. There are no military casualties, Hayudini said, adding, soldiers tracked down the Abu Sayyaf after civilians tipped off the military.
He said security forces were pursuing other Abu Sayyaf members who managed to escape. The offensive came barely a week after suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed a government soldier in Mauboh, Patikul, while he was about to meet two civilian informers. It was unknown if the informers helped set up or were involved in the attack.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:17 ||
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Noordin Mohamed Top wanted for his alleged role in terror attacks in Indonesia is now claiming to be the head of a new South-East Asian militant organisation with links to al-Qaeda.
Noordin had been regarded as a key leader in Jemaah Islamiah.
Indonesia's police chief, Gen Sutanto, told lawmakers yesterday that Noordin was claiming to be the head of the Tanzim Qaedat-al Jihad'' or Organisation for the Basis of Jihad'' for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
Qaedat'' comes from the same Arabic language root as al-Qaeda.
Sutanto said the claim came in a message from Noordin in which he took responsibility for last year's restaurant bombings in Bali which killed 20.
Sutanto's revelation backs up the contention of some analysts, who have speculated that Noordin and his followers have been operating outside Jemaah Islamiah's command structure in recent years, due to a rift within the network over attacks that kill innocent Muslims.
If it is true that he has given a new name to the group, that would suggest that the split has been formalised,'' said Sidney Jones, an expert on South-East Asian militant groups.
She said that dubbing the group al-Qaeda'' did not mean that Noordin had fresh financial and formal links with Osama bin Laden's terror group, which police and analysts say have now dried up.
It could be a way of buoying up his image to his followers," Jones said. He could be trying to ape the ways of some of the other al-Qaeda affiliates."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:15 ||
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Indonesian police are investigating possible links between a purported new militant network with al Qaeda, with initial indications showing it was set up by two key Malaysian radicals, police said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Indonesia's police chief told parliamentarians that documents seized in November showed Noordin M. Top had proclaimed himself leader of a group called Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad network, or Organisation for the Basis of Jihad.
Top has been Southeast Asia's most wanted Islamic militant since Indonesian anti-terrorism police killed his sidekick, Malaysian Azahari bin Husin, in a shootout in East Java province that coincided with raids in which the documents were found.
An expert in recruiting young suicide bombers among Indonesia's impoverished masses, Top eluded capture at the time but was still in the country, deputy national police spokesman Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam said on Tuesday.
Asked what links Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad had to groups such as Jemaah Islamiah, a shadowy network long seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda, Alam said: "This (Tanzim) was their group -- Noordin and Azahari. They have long been involved in terrorism."
Top and Azahari were also key members of Jemaah Islamiah.
The seized documents did not give details about Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad, Alam added, although security experts have said Jemaah Islamiah has recently splintered, with concern among some that bombing attacks were drawing too much attention.
The previously unheard of Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad encompassed Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and several other countries, police chief General Sutanto said late on Monday.
Investigators were checking to see if it had links to al Qaeda, police said.
Indonesia's chief of detectives, Makbul Padmanegara, however, told reporters that Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad was not a new organisation and might be part of Jemaah Islamiah.
"There is no new grouping. But the people in it might be new ... they have to recruit," Padmanegara said.
A number of junior militants linked to Top have been arrested in the past couple of months in Indonesia, since police killed Azahari, who was Jemaah Islamiah's master bombmaker.
The two men worked closely together on several attacks, police have said, using their charisma and cash to induct budding militants into their anti-Western cause.
Western governments have warned that Jemaah Islamiah was still a threat, despite a series of arrests of various members and the killing of Azahari.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:12 ||
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NARATHIWAT, Thailand - Seven people were killed in a brazen series of bombings and shootings by suspected militants in Thailands Muslim-majority southern provinces, police said on Thursday. The attacks included the bombing of a local officials pick-up truck, another bombing on a military convoy escorting a teacher, and a spate of daytime shootings, police said.
One soldier was killed and five others injured when a roadside bomb exploded on Thursday as they escorted a teacher home from school in Chanae district of Narathiwat province. The 15 kilogramme bomb that killed sergeant Therdsak Auisuwan was inside a fire extinguisher that exploded as the military pick-up truck passed by, destroying the vehicle, police said.
The brave, brave Lions of Islam strike again.
Earlier in Narathiwat, a bomb weighing 10 kilogrammes exploded under a pick-up belonging to a village leader as he arrived at a meeting. The blast killed his deputy and driver, while leaving village chief Anwar Sulong in critical condition with shrapnel wounds, police said.
Also in Narathiwat, two militants opened fire in broad daylight on a gas station, leaving two people in critical condition, police said.
Meanwhile, four others were killed in attacks in nearby Pattani province. Police said one of them, 41-year-old Abduloh Gasor, was a former militant who had defected to the government. In another attack, police sergeant Suthin Nakpradit was shot dead on Thursday as he headed to a local market in Pattani district. And Wednesday evening, former village chief Chuae Thongaram, 63, was stabbed to death at his rubber plantation while wood trader Yaya Kabo, 42, was shot to death in separate attacks.
Despite the flaring violence, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he believed the unrest that has left more than 1,000 dead since January 2004 would end this year. The situation in the south is getting better because many well-respected figures have travelled to the area recently, Thaksin told reporters, referring to a series of visits by senior politicians.
Oh. And here I thought the violence would end because the Thais had caught and strung up the ones responsible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2006 11:00 ||
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#1
Gee, that title needs a bit of work...
Lessee... "flares"?
Not very accurate, since the violence never really stopped.
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Seven what killed?
Muzzies? Mormons? Vacuum Cleaner Salesmen from Indiana? No, just regular run-of-the-mill innocent non-Muzzy Thais who have no special status.
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Rather uninformative, isn't it KhaleejCheeseDicks?
Accurate title: Muzzies Kill Seven More in Conquest of Thailand
Subtitle: Toxin's Cowardice Also Unabated; Buddhist Death Toll in Thousands
#2
Darn it, .com! Please purchase a significant share in any one of the major news organizations, give yourself the job of Editor-in-chief, then teach the simpering, self-satisfied idiots how to do their job!!
#3
Aw, you're just funnin' me. That's not nice, tw! If'n I had that amount of cash I wouldn't be buying any stock in an industry that's in a classic swan-dive, heh.
I'd buy Blackwater and equip 'em with some Spookys and, um, do stuff.
Sri Lanka has recovered from the tsunami with all its political problems still intact.
A security scare shut down Sri Lanka's Parliament on Thursday, just before the government named two members of a five-man team that will represent the government in peace talks with Tamil rebels in Geneva later this month.
After a half-hour delay, W.J.M. Lokubandara, the speaker of the house, opened the day's session and announced that police conducting daily security checks had not given clearance for the session to continue. "Due to serious security concerns arising in Parliament, the house will be suspended until Feb. 14," Lokubandara told the chamber as antiterrorism police ushered lawmakers out of the building.
Police officials began a heavy search of the chamber after sniffer dogs started behaving unusually during a routine check, although no bombs were uncovered. Shortly after the chamber was cleared, the trade and commerce minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, said he had been named as part of the team to attend the Geneva talks, which are seen as crucial in heading off the prospect of a slide back into a civil war that has killed more than 64,000 people since 1983.
The team will be led by Nimal Siripala de Silva, a veteran politician and a lawyer, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera later announced at a news conference. Samaraweera declined to give any other details.
Members of an al-Qaeda cell arrested recently in Lebanon had recruited Lebanese and Palestinian nationals in the country to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq, As Safir reported Tuesday.
Several of the 13 alleged members confessed that they were able to convince Lebanese and Palestinians living in northern Lebanon, Bekaa and refugee camps to join groups planning to conduct suicide operations in Iraq, security sources were quoted as saying in the Lebanese daily.
The sources said the recruits would have been prepared for the mission at training camps in neighboring countries.
The 13 people arrested, who were said to be affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, were arrested on different occasions starting from December 30 in Lebanon. They had crossed the border into Lebanon after spending years in Syria.
The authorities found an arms cache belonging to the cell, including explosives, hand-grenades, Kalashnikovs and Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW) rockets, according to the newspaper.
Some of the detainees said they were planning to stage attacks in Lebanon that were similar to military operations conducted in Iraq. But it was not clear whether these attacks would include suicide bombings and what the targets were.
Several detainees gave similar comments to their interrogators, such as complaining about why only Hizbullah had the right to carry weapons in Lebanon, the security sources told the newspaper.
Earlier this month, Beirut's assistant military court prosecutor, Ahmed Oweidat, charged the 13 suspects with "establishing a gang to carry out terrorist acts, forging official and private documents and possessing unlicensed arms."
The suspects include three Lebanese, seven Syrians, a Saudi, a Jordanian and a Palestinian, court officials said.
The arrests gained extra significance in light of Zarqawi's claim of responsibility for a rocket attack launched against Israel from south Lebanon in December.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:21 ||
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The ongoing investigation into the emergence of an al-Qaeda terror network in Lebanon has revealed that members of the cell had plans to establish a military infrastructure in Lebanon with direct links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Lebanese security sources said Tuesday.
Lebanese security forces uncovered a terrorist network in December 2005 consisting of 13 people suspected of belonging to al- Qaeda and charged them with planning to carry out terrorist operations in various parts of Lebanon.
According to the sources, the arrested members confessed to recruiting Lebanese and Palestinian volunteers from the northern port city of Tripoli, the eastern Bekaa valley and the 12 Palestinian refugee camps which are scattered across Lebanon.
The Lebanese police confiscated weapons, including hand grenades, bombs and machineguns from the arrested militants.
The Lebanese authorities expressed fears that the al-Qaeda network had taken a decision to form a base in Lebanon. In this regard the Internal Security Forces had re-enforced their anti-terrorism office, especially after Lebanon was hit with fifteen bomb blasts in 2005, including one which killed former premier Rafik Hariri in February.
The sources said that some of those arrested confessed they had been preparing to carry out attacks in Lebanon similar to ones currently taking place in Iraq.
Al-Qaeda has rarely launched attacks in Lebanon, although it has used allied factions to recruit scores of volunteers among Lebanese and Palestinian refugees who went to Iraq to fight.
Recently an Iraqi group affiliated with Zarqawi claimed responsibility for three rockets fired from south Lebanon into Israel.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:10 ||
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#1
Attack infrastructure, eh? Iz'zat kinda like givin' some money to some idjit's Mom so he'll blow himself up or fine a rocket at some rocks?
Four people were arrested in Beirut on Thursday after an overnight explosion near an army barracks. The explosion occured around 0200 local time near the outer wall of the Fakhr ad-Din barracks in western Beirut and injured one soldier. The daily al-Balad received a phone call from a man purporting to "belong to al-Qaeda in Lebanon." He said "the operation was a response to the arrest of 13 members". In January, three Lebanese, seven Syrians, a Saudi a Jordanian and a Palestinian were arrested. Police say they were linked to an al-Qaeda affiliate and preparing attacks in Lebanon and abroad.
The phone caller identifying himself as a member of "al-Qaeda in Lebanon" also threatened further attacks and demanded the release of two women linked to an al-Qaeda operative who sought refuge in one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon before being caught, convicted and executed. Rest at link.
Most of us is, anyway. I've got another bunch of stuff to restore tonight, before I tear our dev server down and rebuild it. We actually didn't lose any data when we went down this time. I was expecting the databases to be trashed, but they don't look like they were touched.
I'll leave a bug bucket open for a few days to fix the things that fell apart in the move. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. We've been spending too much time being down lately.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2006 11:21 ||
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#1
Thanks Fred for the hard work to come back online....I was suffering severe Rantburg withdrawls.
#5
Ahh, it feels so good when the twitching stops. All hail Fred! Long live the Rant!
Posted by: Jonathan ||
02/02/2006 11:58 Comments ||
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#6
Praise be to Allan for the return of Rantburg. And Fred, too! I was afraid I would have to go back to the BBC for news on the WOT. Wouldn't that be pointless!
#7
I think we should run a poll on what everyone's initial reactions were when they couldn't reach the 'burg.
Color me clueless but I must have missed the memo about being offline for a bit.
First time I tried to connect and failed was ok, but by the fortieth time on the second day I was distraught. I started looking at the cached page on Google to see if I had to sent a team to rescue Fred from some nefarious LLL hostage situation...
Really, really, really glad you're back up again!
Could barely function without my hourly dose.
~shudders at the memory~
Posted by: DanNY ||
02/02/2006 12:03 Comments ||
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#8
Fred, Thank you so much for getting back on line. I have not felt so disconnected and withdrawn since rehab! Thanks again we can't live without Rantburg!!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/02/2006 12:07 Comments ||
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#9
Welcome back to the living! Geeeze those rantburg withdrawls are almost as bad as cigarettes.
Thanks Fred for your hard word and dedication. And thanks for Rantburg.
#11
I think the only feeling worse than not being able to pull up Rantburg these past two days would be to look in a mirror, and see nothing looking back. Fred, I don't do Paypal, but the check is in the mail.
#14
Welcome back . . . and a tip of the hat to Alaska Paul and the other Rantburgers who organized and contributed to the Temporary Emergency Rantburg Substitute E-Mail List ("Rantburg Junior") and were kind enough to cc: me on it.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/02/2006 12:39 Comments ||
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#15
Fred Akbar!!!
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/02/2006 12:44 Comments ||
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#17
Frank-
MAN, am I glad to see you back. I was beginning to think the MSM and its minions (or is it henchmen)had gotten to you. Long live da 'Burg!!!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/02/2006 12:45 Comments ||
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#18
...And Fred too.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/02/2006 12:46 Comments ||
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#19
I think we should run a poll on what everyone's initial reactions were when they couldn't reach the 'burg.
That image of the melted computer immediately came to mind.
#20
Fred, honey, don't you apologize for a thing. You aren't responsible for this crap, and the ones who are will never apologize. Even as we're drawing and quartering them. (I can dream, can't I?)
Thanks for all the work you do to keep this site up. Have I mentioned you are a god? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/02/2006 12:48 Comments ||
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#21
I made up for the loss by being sarcastic at work.
#27
What's that "Rantburg Junior" thingie, exactly?
If membership is free and doesn't requiers something too demanding like eating a rabbit foetus, I'm interested (as long as you don't sell my email adress to spammers, though I migh tuse a penis enlargement pill or two).
#31
Don't worry; I hear GW Bush is gonna have the feds make a rantburg substitute based on ethanol.
Posted by: Phil ||
02/02/2006 14:09 Comments ||
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#32
Ululating so hard I swallowed my tongue....quite embarrassing
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2006 14:21 Comments ||
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#33
Fred,
I was beginning to be seriously worried that you had been the victim of foul play by the LLL. I'm VERY glad to see you back up and online. Thanks so much for providing this service!
Posted by: mac ||
02/02/2006 14:27 Comments ||
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#34
Wow, Frank G, that's a serious mental image. I ululate for the coffee club guys here at work and they fall on the floor laughing thinking they're in Mecca itself. Only thing missing is my AK to fire into the air at the wedding. Seriously, though, it's great to have you back Fred. I've been missing it for a while (newborn future Rantburger 3 weeks ago) and finally got back online at work, and pulled up that crap the last 2 days. The guys in my morning AWGSG (Angry White Guy Support Group) were beginning to think I'd lost my touch with no news! Hip, hip, hooray!
Now, when's Israel gonna fire up the F-16s?
Posted by: BA ||
02/02/2006 14:29 Comments ||
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#38
Don't worry; I hear GW Bush is gonna have the feds make a rantburg substitute based on ethanol.
It'd take more than ethanol - about 180proof everclear - by the gallon.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/02/2006 14:51 Comments ||
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#39
Rantburg Junior was just emails amongst those of us who have each others' e-addies. Anyone who emailed me wondering where the 'Burg went got put on the list.
Mainly we just told dirty jokes and worked on our application to the UN for Rantburg's own personal High Commissioner, refugee camp, and ammo dump.
#43
Last two days I got all the years physical excercise out of the way pacing the floor, beating on the keyboard, writing strong demarches to Kofi. Back to 'normal' now. Thanks Fred. :)
send me your email addresses through the link on the comments (fix the address up right first) and I will put you on my Rantburg mailing list for emails. We had quite the little community of DPs (displaced persons) going during the outage, so we kept the sense of community. Old Patriot made links to articles on his blog site. Trailing wife made dessert and drinks. Autobartender was shopping for .50 BMG ammo, and I was dodging the ash from Augustine Volcano.
The difference between Rantburg and Rantburg Junior was like having a full, healthy meal with protein and fine wine, versus eating survival rations out of your emergency gear, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/02/2006 16:21 Comments ||
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#46
Thanks Fred...I was afraid it was on my end. Played with the host file yesterday but to no avail. Life is good again.
So I'm scrolling down the list of names above and suddenly realized I can match a "personality/disposition" with soooo many of the people on this site. People I've never met. And gwad help me... I missed 'em. I gotta get a life....
Posted by: Mark Z ||
02/02/2006 19:36 Comments ||
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#56
Hey, BA, congratulations on your new addition! (I'm clearly a little slow today -- I'm still shaking...) Remember, as soon as it can hold up its head, you can sit down with it to read Rantburg together. And the next generation must be brought along quickly -- Dan Darling will graduate this year, Edward Yee is already cutting a swath through his university, and Frank G's lads and the trailing daughters will be off to university in turn in only a few short years. ;-)
#57
My oldest boy (18 in March) has a habit of reading over my shoulder when I get home from work and fire up RB - the Lego pirates really kick his laughs...he likes what we all do and I wouldn't be surprized if he didn't join in....already reading my (casually available) National Review mags...youngest (17) has my sense of humpor but too much into sports to see the outside world as dangerous and exciting as it is. Daughter (21)....welllll she's too much like her Mom, but Republican to spite her
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2006 23:15 Comments ||
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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.
KABUL -A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-filled car into an army convoy in volatile southeastern Afghanistan, killing three Afghan soldiers and a roadworker, the defence ministry said on Thursday. The attack in Khost province late Wednesday was the latest in a spate of more than 20 such blasts in the past four months, pointing to a change of tactics in an insurgency that erupted after the 2001 fall of the Taleban militia.
An Algerian newspaper has reported quoting a Muslim group linked to al-Qaida that the Algerian army has killed its spiritual leader. The 
The killing of a GSPC figure by security forces would be yet another blow to the movement, born in 1998 of a split among dissidents of the 
At least 150 people were injured as police opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells on agitators demanding expulsion of a Pir from Sunamganj on Tuesday night. Locals said the 'controversial' Pir [a cult leader], Maolana Dillur Rahman, along with 300 companions on January 30 checked into Nurani Hotel to hold a rally.
Tajik authorities say they have detained an alleged local leader of a banned Islamist group. A police chief in the Soghd region, Makhmadsaid Jurakulov, said today that Moghadam Madalieva was detained on 30 January. She is suspected of leading Hizb ut-Tahrir's female wing in the northern region.
A top aide to Chechen warlord Shamil Basyev was captured in Dagestan, a republic in the Russian Federation on the Caspian Sea, a report said.
Five suspected militants have reportedly been captured in Russia's restive southern republic of Chechnya. The Russian Interior Ministry's Northern Caucasus department believes one of the men seized took part in an attack on a police patrol in 2004, in which one police officer was killed and two others were injured.
Beijing announced plans last week to build high-frequency radar on the South Pole. Analysts say the radar could be used to disrupt U.S. intelligence satellites. 
Somalia - NE and Eastern Coast Thirty seven incidents have been reported since 15.03.05. Heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. Ships not making scheduled calls at Somali ports are advised to keep at least 200 nm from the Somali coast.
At least eight people were killed on Wednesday when a suicide bomber strapped with explosives attacked a crowd of labourers in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Hospital sources said at least 65 people were wounded.
Philippine troops, backed by rocket-firing helicopters, killed at least 18 communist rebels in a northern farming town Tuesday in their bloodiest clash in months, officials said.
Government soldiers killed on Tuesday a member of the militant 
NARATHIWAT, Thailand - Seven people were killed in a brazen series of bombings and shootings by suspected militants in Thailands Muslim-majority southern provinces, police said on Thursday. The attacks included the bombing of a local officials pick-up truck, another bombing on a military convoy escorting a teacher, and a spate of daytime shootings, police said.
Four people were arrested in Beirut on Thursday after an overnight explosion near an army barracks. The explosion occured around 0200 local time near the outer wall of the Fakhr ad-Din barracks in western Beirut and injured one soldier. The daily al-Balad received a phone call from a man purporting to "belong to al-Qaeda in Lebanon." He said "the operation was a response to the arrest of 13 members". In January, three Lebanese, seven Syrians, a Saudi a Jordanian and a Palestinian were arrested. Police say they were linked to an al-Qaeda affiliate and preparing attacks in Lebanon and abroad.
![Map [related article]](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/11/031113-d-6570c-004.jpg){kind=link}