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Helicopter gunships strafe Aleppo
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
1 20:59 Redneck Jim [336074] 
2 15:39 regular joe [336066] 
1 10:38 DepotGuy [336083] 
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2 15:07 Raider [336068] 
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4 16:01 manversgwtw [336082] 
1 18:54 Zhang Fei [336132] 
2 07:01 Fester Clunter7205 [336080] 
1 12:02 bman [336067] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
6 13:41 Richard Aubrey [336082]
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1 12:02 newc [336085]
1 08:07 Redneck Jim [336069]
5 15:08 Raider [336072]
1 20:02 Dale [336080]
3 16:15 manversgwtw [336077]
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15 23:16 gorb [336076]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
5 17:44 Matt [336097]
2 13:22 Bright Pebbles [336070]
3 17:00 Besoeker [336089]
1 15:15 Raider [336068]
4 14:49 Steve White [336067]
6 22:15 USN, ret. [336103]
8 22:08 JosephMendiola [336087]
7 23:18 swksvolFF [336080]
Page 4: Opinion
5 19:51 Zhang Fei [336074]
Page 6: Politix
2 11:31 Redneck Jim [336068]
8 21:49 Barbara [336078]
Bangladesh
10 hurt in BCL infighting
At least 10 people, including a policeman, were injured as two rival groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) locked in a clash in Phulbari upazila on Wednesday noon.

Of the injured, sub-inspector of Phulbari police station Amir Hossain and former president of the upazila BCL Harun-ur-Rashid were rushed to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital in critical condition.

Police said, the supporters of the incumbent president of upazila BCL unit Emdadul Haque Milon and the defeated president aspirant Sumon Poddar locked in an altercation over a trivial matter on Tuesday night.

Later, both groups sat with Md Golam Rabbani, chairman of the upazila, to resolve the feud through an arbitration.

Terming the chairman's role biased, Sumon's men attacked Rabbani on the same night.

As a sequel to the incident, the rival groups attacked each other with lethal weapons, leaving at least 10 injured.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336104 views] Top|| File under:


Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
This is a short tale, a teaser, but it's all we have...
A man was shot dead and another one injured during crossfire with Rapid Action Batallion (RAB) in city's Mirpur Zoo Road area on Thursday night.

Shah Ali Thana Sub-Inspector Masud Rana confirmed the incident to the news agency.
The RAB has always taken care of the press...
The crossfire incident took place at 9:00pm
A little early...
between RAB and the alleged terrorists.
Now now, they're 'miscreants'...
However, the identities of the victims could not be known immediately, he added.
What, no manly alias for any of them?
It's the new efficiency drive. They've already expanded to something like twelve Rab battalions, and besides, they need manpower for the trials of the miscreants in the 1971 war and that thing on the docks in 1994 or so whose details I can't remember. So there's no time just now for the acts of formulaic creativity we've grown to know and love if the journalist is not prepared to pick up the slack.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A dacoit went strolling in Mirpur,
with his criminal colleagues to confer,
R-A-B arrived,
crossfire was contrived,
as always in Bangla does occur.
Posted by: gromky || 07/28/2012 6:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Bravo! LOL!
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Why would the crossfire have to be contrived, since it always happens there anyway?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/28/2012 12:13 Comments || Top||

#4  poetic licence

good one G
Posted by: manversgwtw || 07/28/2012 16:01 Comments || Top||


Britain
IRA disidents join forces, plan new terror campaign
Posted by: Frozen Al || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So now, when they can't train in Libya any longer, or can they?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/28/2012 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  With McGuiness and Adams not involved the American funds should be dried up?
Posted by: Fester Clunter7205 || 07/28/2012 7:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
U.S. man pleads guilty to exporting missile parts to Iran
A California man pleaded guilty on Thursday to seeking to export missile parts to Iran via the United Arab Emirates. Andro Telemi changed his plea to guilty Thursday in Chicago federal court.

Prosecutors say an accomplice contacted the 42-year-old Telemi in 2009 and asked for his help buying and exporting 10 connector adapters used in an Iranian missile system. Telemi allegedly negotiated a purchase for $9,500 from an Illinois company that was part of a sting.

The naturalized U.S.citizen from Iran will be sentenced Oct. 30. He faces up to 20 years in prison for one count of attempting to export defense articles without a license or approval. There was no immediate response to a telephone message and email seeking comment from Telemi's attorney.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  and after his sentence is served, deport him
Posted by: Frank G || 07/28/2012 12:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Glad to see we're still importing Iranians, they're a real plus for America.
Posted by: regular joe || 07/28/2012 15:39 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Blast targets Lashkar-e-Islam HQ, 3 killed
BARA: At least three militants died while four others were injured in a blast at the Lashkar-e-Islam headquarters in Khyber Agency, late Thursday night. Media reports said that the explosion occurred at the banned organisation’s headquarters in Aqakhail area of Bara in Khyber Agency.

Sources said that a remote-controlled device was used in the attack. According to government sources, three militants were killed in the blast, including two commanders identified as Sher Ali and Mashar Khan, while four others were wounded. The injured were shifted to the agency’s headquarter hospital for treatment.

Local administration said that the bombing incident could be the outcome of rivalry between the militant groups.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under:


US Congress pushes for terrorist label for Haqqani network
WASHINGTON: United Nations Congress ratcheted up the pressure on the Obama administration to slap terrorist label on the Haqqani network, the terrorist group responsible for plotting and launching attacks from Pakistan against US-led forces in Afghanistan.

By voice vote, the Senate approved a bill on Thursday that would require the secretary of state to report to the Congress on whether the Haqqani network meets the criteria to be designated a foreign terrorist organisation and if not, explain why.
She'll be at least as forthcoming as Eric Holder...
The report is due within 30 days of the president signing the measure. The bill now goes to Obama. The administration has sanctioned top individuals of the Haqqani network, but it is still reviewing whether to label the entire organization terrorist. That delay has frustrated members of the Congress.
Wonder why...
Rep Mike Rogers, Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee, had added an amendment to the bill, saying that it was the sense of the Congress that the Haqqani network meets the definition of a terrorist organisation and it should be designated as one.

The US State Department has defended its effort, citing its sanctions of the network’s top individuals.
If you're citing the 'top individuals' you'd think it wouldn't be much of a stretch to sanction the organization as a whole.
The Haqqani network, largely operating in eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, is affiliated with both the Taliban and al Qaeda. The US officials say it represents one of the biggest threats to Afghanistan’s stability because it is believed to use Pakistan as a rear base for attacks on American and coalition troops in Afghanistan.

In May, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence committees wrote to Clinton asking her to act immediately in labelling the Haqqani network a terrorist group.

The four leaders said that based on meetings with the US and Afghan officials in Afghanistan, “It was clear that the Haqqani network continues to launch sensational and indiscriminate attacks against US interests in Afghanistan and the group poses a continuing threat to innocent men, women and children in the region.”

The four noted that it had been six months since the State Department had undertaken its "final formal review" of the Haqqani network.

"The Haqqanis have continued to attack US troops and the US Embassy in Kabul during that period," the lawmakers said.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does it really make a difference? Last I checked The Taliban weren't even designated a foreign terrorist organisation. They say it's about negotiations and sich. Things us non-diplomats wouldn't understand.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/28/2012 9:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Just some history here .. didn't the USA have a hand in setting up that network while fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan? I guess the problem is - once you put something together, it's hard to disassemble it.
Posted by: Raider || 07/28/2012 15:07 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Two dead in separate attacks in southern Thailand
Two people were gunned down and one wounded in separate attacks in Pattani province yesterday.

A young couple on their way to see their son in hospital were attacked in Khok Pho district. The mother was killed and the father injured.

Rosa Dorloh and wife Waesoh, both 18, were heading to Pattani Hospital on a motorcycle when they were shot by an unknown number of terrorists attackers in a pickup truck about 3:30 a.m. Mr Rosa was hit in the leg, while his wife was hit twice in the torso. They were rushed to the hospital by villagers. Waesoh was pronounced dead on arrival.

Less than two hours later, a former village leader was killed in an ambush in Muang district. Arong Jehmasae, 66, was walking to the village mosque when terrorists gunmen hiding in the roadside woods opened fire on him with AK-47 assault rifles. He was struck in the head and torso and died on the spot.

Also yesterday, a 10-man squad of military rangers fought with a group of terrorists insurgents hiding in a roadside forest in Narathiwat province. The gun battle lasted ten minutes. An armored vehicle carrying soldiers of Narathiwat Special Task Force Unit 30 passed by and fired at the terrorists attackers, who ran away fled to the nearby mountains. No casualties were reported.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency

#1  was walking to the village mosque
Yeah, right.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/28/2012 20:59 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Turkey sets up secret base to bring aid to Syria rebels
Turkey has set up a secret base with allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar to direct vital military and communications aid to Syria's rebels from a city near the border, Gulf sources have told Reuters.

News of the clandestine Middle East-run "nerve centre" working to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad underlines the extent to which Western powers - who played a key role in unseating Muammar Gadhafi in Libya - have avoided military involvement so far in Syria.

"It's the Turks who are militarily controlling it. Turkey is the main coordinator/ facilitator. Think of a triangle, with Turkey at the top and Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the bottom," said a Doha-based source.

"The Americans are very hands-off on this. U.S. intel(ligence) are working through middlemen. Middlemen are controlling access to weapons and routes."

The centre in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 100 km from the Syrian border, was set up after Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Saud visited Turkey and requested it, a source in the Gulf said. The Turks liked the idea of having the base in Adana so that they could supervise its operations, he added.

A Saudi foreign ministry official was not immediately available to comment on the operation.

Adana is home to Incirlik, a large Turkish/U.S. air force base which Washington has used in the past for reconnaissance and military logistics operations. It was not clear from the sources whether the anti-Syrian "nerve centre" was located inside Incirlik base or in the city of Adana.

Qatar, the tiny gas-rich Gulf state which played a leading part in supplying weapons to Libyan rebels, has a key role indirecting operations at the Adana base, the sources said. Qatari military intelligence and state security officials are involved.

"Three governments are supplying weapons: Turkey, Qatar andSaudi Arabia," said a Doha-based source. Ankara has officially denied supplying weapons.

"All weaponry is Russian. The obvious reason is that these guys (the Syrian rebels) are trained to use Russian weapons, also because the Americans don't want their hands on it. All weapons are from the black market. The other way they get weapons is to steal them from the Syrian army. They raid weapons stores."

The source added: "The Turks have been desperate to improve their weak surveillance, and have been begging Washington fordrones and surveillance." The pleas appear to have failed. "So they have hired some private guys come do the job."

The presence of the secret Middle East-run "nerve centre" may explain how the Syrian rebels, a rag-tag assortment of ill-armed and poorly organized groups, have pulled off major strikes such as the devastating bomb attack on July 18 which killed at least four key Assad aides including the defense minister.

A Turkish diplomat in the region insisted however that his country played no part in the Damascus bombing.

"That's out of the question," he said. "The Syrian minister of information blamed Turkey and other countries for thekilling. Turkey doesn't do such things. We are not a terrorist country. Turkey condemns such attacks."

However, two former senior U.S. security officials said thatTurkey has been playing an increasing role in sheltering andtraining Syrian rebels who have crossed into its territory. One of the former officials, who is also an adviser to agovernment in the region, told Reuters that 20 former Syrian generals are now based in Turkey, from where they are helping shape the rebel forces. Israel believes up to 20,000 Syrian troops may now have defected to the opposition.

Former officials said there is reason to believe the Turks stepped up their support for anti-Assad forces after Syria shotdown a Turkish plane which had made several passes over borderareas.

Sources in Qatar said the Gulf state is providing training and supplies to the Syrian rebels.

"The Qataris mobilized their special forces team two weeks ago. Their remit is to train and help logistically, not to fight," said a Doha-based source with ties to the FSA.

Qatar's military intelligence directorate, Foreign Ministry and State Security Bureau are involved, said the source.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  …Syrian rebels, a rag-tag assortment of ill-armed and poorly organized groups…

Ahh yess…the ole Rag-Tag moniker we’ve heard before. You have to admit it does sound a tad more romantic then - loosely affiliated bands of Islamist cut-throats.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/28/2012 10:38 Comments || Top||


Helicopter gunships strafe Aleppo
BEIRUT: Troops fired from helicopter gunships on several neighborhoods of Syria's second city Aleppo on Friday, as the army faced off against rebel fighters, activists told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army was using helicopter gunships in the southwest of the city, in the Salaheddin, Bustan Al-Qasr, Sukari, Al-Mashhad and Al-Azamiya neighborhoods. Troops also clashed with rebels in the central Jamiliya district, adjacent to Aleppo's historic old quarter, as well as in Mahatat Baghdad and in Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square.

The Observatory reported four people killed in the city on Friday morning -- three killed in shelling of the southern Fardoss district and one shot dead in the Maysaloon neighborhood.

In Salaheddin, the scene of fierce fighting in recent days, hundreds of rebels were bracing for a threatened offensive by loyalist troops in Syria's commercial capital, which has been engulfed in violence since July 20. An AFP photographer saw improvised barriers made up of sandbags and even a bus thrown up across the the streets and makeshift clinics set up inside schools and mosques.

A rebel fighter in the neighborhood, reached by telephone, told AFP that residents were fleeing the districts and confirmed helicopter gunships had been firing on the area since 6:00 a.m. (0300 GMT). He said troops were on the outskirts of the neighborhood but had not yet tried to enter.

In nearby Idlib province, the Observatory reported clashes in the town of Maaret Al-Numan, saying shelling was ongoing and there were deaths and injuries among government troops, as well as three injuries among the rebels.

On Thursday, violence nationwide killed 164 people -- 84 civilians, 43 soldiers and seven rebel fighters, according to the Observatory's figures.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336132 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's pretty amusing that the use of helicopter gunships to suppress a rebellion has turned into a headline. During the Iraqi campaign, if they put up a headline for every day gunships were employed in Baghdad alone, every day would be gunship headline day.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/28/2012 18:54 Comments || Top||


Two Jordanian Soldiers Injured In Border Clash With Syrian Army
Debka: It erupted at Tal Al Sihab when Syrian forces fired on 300 refugees attempting to flee to Jordan.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:

#1  love me some Huey gunships
Posted by: bman || 07/28/2012 12:02 Comments || Top||


Palestinian Killed In Aleppo
[Ma'an] A young Paleostinian man was killed Friday amid escalating attacks by forces loyal to Bashir al-Assad in Syria's largest city, sources in the country said.

Nidal al-Ashi, 21, from Gazoo City, died in the festivities between Assad's forces and members of the Free Syrian Army rebel group in the city of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
, sources in Syria told Ma'an.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/28/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2012-07-28
  Helicopter gunships strafe Aleppo
Fri 2012-07-27
  62 Mexican Policias Federales kidnapped in Michoacan
Thu 2012-07-26
  Syrian envoy to Cyprus defects
Wed 2012-07-25
  Syrian forces attack mosque, kill 30
Tue 2012-07-24
  Syrian Army Retakes Most of Damascus
Mon 2012-07-23
  23 wounded in Iraq car bombing
Sun 2012-07-22
  Pencilneck may use chemical weapons against rebels
Sat 2012-07-21
  Islamic Jihad Leadership Abandons Syria For Iran
Fri 2012-07-20
  Syria Rebels Take 'All Iraq Border Points'
Thu 2012-07-19
  Pencilneck runs away to Latakia
Wed 2012-07-18
  Two Buses With 40 Israeli Tourists Blown Up At Bulgarian Airport
Tue 2012-07-17
  Blast kills MP in Mogadishu, Militants claim responsibility
Mon 2012-07-16
  US Ship Fires on Boat off Dubai, 1 Dead
Sun 2012-07-15
  At Least 83 Killed across Syria
Sat 2012-07-14
  NDS Chief Among Bombing Victims at Afghan Wedding

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