ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan mistakenly fired at a Pakistani border post and killed a soldier, Pakistan's military said Monday after lodging a protest over the death.
Oh. Gosh. Darn.
A U.S. military spokesman said four precision-guided bombs were dropped on four suspected militants who were firing rockets at a U.S. military outpost at Bermel in Afghanistan's Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.
Heh. That'll ruin your day
"I cannot confirm or deny loss or injury of Pakistani military," said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, the spokesman. "This all happened inside Afghanistan." He also said the coalition was investigating.
"Sargeant , check on this Pakistani complaint, will you? Right after you finish washing my car."
"Yes, sir!"
But the Pakistani military said in a statement the post that was hit is located near Shawal, a mountainous area close to the Afghan border in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.
Case closed..
Pakistan, a key U.S. ally, has a long border with Afghanistan that straddles rugged mountain regions and is not clearly demarcated in places. It is under growing pressure to help contain Taliban and al-Qaida militants suspected to operate from its soil.
Think of those four bombs as a hint
It's a little hard to think that 'four precision-guided bombs' could make a mistake like that ...
Pakistan strongly protested to the coalition authorities, asking them to investigate and take "necessary steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future," its statement said.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/22/2007 13:54 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Pakistan, a key U.S. ally...
It's good that's mentioned. If it wasn't, I might not have known...
#2
To summarize: being in a feisty mood, the four Pakistani soldiers fired some of the rockets they had lying about at the Afghan border picket across the way. Unfortunately, there was an American soldier standing keeping the Afghani troops company, and he took umbrage (Silly American! There really is no reason to so overreact to such boyish exuberance). As everybody knows from watching American films, when American soldiers take umbrage, people and things end up broken.
MOSCOW: Russia has blocked the sale of Chinese fighter planes with Russian engines to Pakistan.
"We've denied China the right to supply its JF-17 fighter aircraft powered by Russian RD-93 engines to third countries, asking it to sign an end-user certificate for the engines," said Colonel-General Anatoly Mazurkevich, head of the Defence Ministry's International Cooperation Department.
President Pervez Musharraf said last year that the JF-17s would be flying in Pakistani skies by March 2007. Islamabad plans to acquire 150 JF-17s, known in China as FC-1. China has bought 100 Klimov RD-93 engines from Russia for installing on JF-17s, with an option to contract another 400 engines.
Speaking to Indian and Russian journalists ahead of a visit to India by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov on January 22, Col.-Gen. Mazurkevich confirmed that India and Russia are shortly to sign accords to jointly develop and produce a 5th generation fighter plane and a multi-role transport aircraft.
India is expected to announce during Mr. Ivanov's visit its choice between two Russian concepts of a multi-role stealth fighter plane of the 5th generation that the Russian aviation majors, Sukhoi and MIG, presented to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) last year.
The aircraft deals will be discussed when Mr. Ivanov co-chairs with Defence Minister A.K. Antony the 6th meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission for Military-Technical Cooperation. Ahead of the commission meeting on January 24 Mr. Ivanov will fly to Bangalore to visit the HAL and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as well as some leading Information and Technology companies, and meet business people.
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 05:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Chinese have failed miserably in their engine development efforts. They are unable to copy the Russian jet engines and were forced to buy hundreds of RD-93 and AL-31 engines for Chinese made and assembled aircraft.
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 6:01 Comments ||
Top||
#2
India is expected to announce during Mr. Ivanov's visit its choice between two Russian concepts of a multi-role stealth fighter plane of the 5th generation that the Russian aviation majors, Sukhoi and MIG, presented to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) last year.
...I wouldn't be so sure on that. The Indians are a patient people, but they aren't likely to wait ten years for the Sukhoi and MiG bureaux to keep extorting 'just a little more money' out of them for a plane that's never quite ready to fly. The fact of the matter is that both bureaus have made extravagant claims about their new birds, and most of them haven't panned out. Sukhoi has their Berkut , which is a good plane - the equivalent to the early 90s variants of the F-18 - but technologically is a warmed-over Su-27. MiG's last major combat project was a bird they unveiled a couple years ago that looked suspiciously like the one in the movie Firefox - and as near as can be told, still hasn't flown.
The Indians might be talking to the Russians to stay polite, but I suspect they'll be flying F/A-18s or F-16s - or possibly the USMC versions of the F-35 - before long.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/22/2007 6:37 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Actually Mike, Sukhois bid was the PAK-FA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_PAK_FA
Something which they have failed to even finalize what it looks like. Outside of some artist renderings there is no concept demonstrator or model.
#6
Pakistan went halfsies on the development of the JF-17 and build components for it. At the time there was a US arms embargo on the Paks for their nuclear program. The Paks are way outnumbered by India's Air Force.
Posted by: ed ||
01/22/2007 12:05 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Valentine-
Thanks for the heads up. BTW, here's the MiG I mentioned:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_Project_1.44
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/22/2007 12:33 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Still and all, it's rather curious why Putie would put the block on ChiComs on this sale. Russians make most of their defense dollars by selling 2nd-3rd generation technology to ChiComs. ChiComs dispense at will. Why would Russkies disrupt the pipeline now ? By the by, Putin is moving to consolidate Mig/Sukhoi design bureaus into one entity with some new name. What's more significant is that Boeing has performed a technology sellout debacle rivaling Loral/Chicoms. They have set up design divisions in Moscow which interacts worldwide on the 787 design, giving Russians access to the latest design software, build technology, fly-by-wire fiber optics, weather radar, etc. A bonanza. Russians are excellent already at science basics like CFD, but just need computational solver power to pull level with any US competency. Think any of this knowledge will leak over to the military design staffs. Naw, me either.
#9
ed, I agree the Paks are way outnumberd by the Indians but it's not just the numbers. I do not believe Pakistan has a prayer of building up an airforce capable to dealing with India. This has to do with training, quality of maitanance and numbers. Pakistan would be better off building (a) missiles (b) anti-aircraft defenses.
Fighter jets are a foolish pride purchase (like India's carrier) that is not going to give them what they want in the long run because they'll be afraid of losing them, and losing face, and thus losing a war.
#10
They have set up design divisions in Moscow which interacts worldwide on the 787 design, giving Russians access to the latest design software, build technology, fly-by-wire fiber optics, weather radar, etc.
Interesting. Does this mean we will see air-superiority and strike-fighter versions of the 787?
The only reason I can think of for Russia to block sales to the Pakis is because they want a bigger piece of the action. The Russians would sell their grandmothers for hard cash.
#13
The only reason I can think of for Russia to block sales to the Pakis is because they want a bigger piece of the action.
This is the soothing balm to Indians irritated at the Russian veto on exports of the Brahmos Cruise Missile.
India objected to the engine transfer to Pak.
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 19:27 Comments ||
Top||
#14
"MIG/SUKHOI design bureaus into one entity" - no surprise here, as have been saying/arguing that since the 1990's. Sukhoi > was post-USSR's Russia's PC medium of vital internat tech transfer to the military-only/centric MIG Bureau. As for CHINA, their self-proclaimed war agz the USA and only the USA was to begin as early as Year 2014 [actually 2012-2014]. NO ENGINES > ANTI-US WAR MAY HAVE TO BE DELAYED.
OTOH, PRAVDA today > America may DESTROY THE MOON searching for Helium-3 as fuel alternative. WHY WAIT FOR YEAR 2029-2030 + COMET APOPHIS, etal. events. Theres also WORLDTRIBUNE > LAVROZOV > dead Chinese activist claimed that, besides a hidden agenda for defeating = destroying America, CHICOMS also have a plan to get rid of approxi 3.0Bilyuuuhn of world's population. CAN'T WE JUST ALL FEEL THE LOVE?
Indian space scientists have successfully brought back to earth an orbiting satellite in the first of its kind mission aimed at demonstrating spacecraft recovery technology capability.
The 550-kg spacecraft, Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1), spashed down in the Bay of Bengal, about 140 km east of Sriharkikota coast at around 9.45 am on Monday as planned, ISRO officials said.
"A Coast Guard helicopter has located it. A ship has already move in. Recovery efforts are in full swing. The capsule is expected to be brought to Sriharikota via the Ennore Port by Monday night," an ISRO official told PTI.
The capsule was launched by PSLV-C7 along with Cartosat-2 on January 10 from the Sriharikota spaceport and space scientists conducted two microgravity experiments on board related to metallurgy and biometric synthesis.
According to Bangalore-based ISRO, on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, after initial aerodynamic braking, a parachute system reduced the touch down velocity.
A floatation system kept the SRE afloat.
ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair had said earlier that SRE was intended for demonstrating the capability to recover an orbiting space capsule, and the technology of an orbiting platform for performing experiments in microgravity condition.
Officials said SRE, made of mild steel, was intended to test reusable thermal protection system, navigation, guidance and control, hypersonic aero-thermodynamics, management of communication blackout, deceleration and floatation system and recovery operations.
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 05:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[14 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Photo of the SRE capsule being mated to the PSLV payload bus
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 5:49 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 16:18 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Umm, James Bond looking?? Paint a Mercury capsule black and have it recovered upside down, is more like it. And what the hell is that big red thing on the end, some sort of recovery inflatable?
#6
I think he liked the 'before' photo of the thermal silica tiles on the carbon-carbon backing.
The red thing is a flotation device.
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 18:21 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Photos from 1964.. the guy on the right is now the President of India.
U.S. scientists from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) launched the first small rocket from Indian soil - an American Nike Apache - in 1963. "We were waiting for the payload to arrive when we saw a guy on a bicycle coming up an unpaved road," recalls one NASA veteran of the launch. "He had the payload in the basket."
Posted by: john ||
01/22/2007 18:33 Comments ||
Top||
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) considers the Pakistan Peoples Partys decision not to participate in its all parties conference (APC) unless it is held under the ARD to be an expression of no-confidence in the PML-N. Our leaders consider the recent decision of the PPP leadership not to attend the APC as an expression of no-confidence in the PML-N. Mian Nawaz Sharif had sought the opinion of PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto by sending her the agenda of the moot, sources in the PML-N told Daily Times.
They said that Sharif had decided to convene the APC because he had good ties with other opposition parties. If the PPP were to hold the APC, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) would be reluctant to participate. The sources added that during his meeting with Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan had expressed concern that the PPP would not attend the APC, but Sharif was still optimistic about the partys participation. The sources said that the top leadership of the PML-N in Pakistan had discussed this development with Nawaz Sharif. Once we get a formal reply from the PPP, only then will we decide whether this APC should held under the umbrella of the ARD or not, said the sources. However, they said that the PML-N believed the PPPs decision would send a negative signal about the ARD and Charter of Democracy signed last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[19 views]
Top|| File under:
One person was killed and four were wounded on Sunday when police shot at clashing mobs of Hindus and Muslims in Bangalore, police and witnesses said. The clash occurred in the city centre after Hindu mobs went on a rampage, burning shops and vehicles owned by Muslims. A police officer said police had been forced to open fire to break up the clashes. He said one person was killed and four wounded. The violence occurred as activists moved through the city to join an RSS rally.
On Friday, thousands of Muslim demonstrators protesting against last months execution of Saddam Hussein in Iraq clashed with police and destroyed shops and cars in the city. More than 2,000 police officers patrolled the affected areas as mobs targeted Muslim shops and vehicles, forcing the closure of some businesses, witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It's something to do on a Saturday night, I s'pose. But really -- protesting Saddam Hussein's execution now? When the last trump is blown, clearly Bangalore will be the place to be!
The Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP) will not allow President General Pervez Musharraf to get himself re-elected from the present assemblies, JUP chief Shah Muhammad Ans Noorani told a press conference on Sunday. Noorani said that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) was in contact with other opposition parties and Musharrafs re-election may lead to en-bloc resignations by the opposition, creating a national crisis. Noorani criticised law and order in Punjab and urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the deteriorating situation in the province and dismiss the PML government.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
Fifty clerics from various schools of thought have been banned from entering Jhang until the 10th of Muharram. Sixteen clerics have been have been banned from delivering speeches and the activities of 25 are being observed. Police have set up 18 check posts at entrances to the city and 12 inside the city. Pakistan Army troops have also arrived to help the civil administration maintain law and order during the holy month. The district administration has announced the 95 members of the District Peace Committee including government officers, politicians and clerics, who will coordinate with the administration to maintain law and order. Jhang district has been declared sensitive during Muharram.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[17 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A headline that I'd like to see 50 clerics disappeared on their way to Jhang.
Sardar Sagir Ahmed Khan, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has rejected President General Pervez Musharrafs four-point proposals for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and has announced countrywide protest rallies against the expected visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Khan said that Musharrafs four-point suggestions were against the interest of Kashmiris. He accused the Pakistani government of changing its stance on the issue. The JKLF leader said that the Indian prime minister was expected to visit Pakistan in the coming months to sign a pact with Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir, adding that the Kashmiri people led by the JKLF would hold demonstrations if Singh does come to Pakistan for this purpose. Khan said that Pakistan and India should let the Kashmiris take a decision about their future whether they want to join either country or become a free state. He said the Kashmiris had not given any mandate to the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to decide Kashmirs fate.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If they'd called themselves the Jammu And Central Kashmir Active Liberators, they'd have a better acronym.
Allegations that Pakistan is backing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan were lent further strength on Sunday with the publication of two reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post.
This kind of coverage in the mainstream US press has also come to assume the dimensions of a campaign. While the Post report carried extensive excerpts from an interview with Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, the NYT report was far darker. Carlotte Gall reports from Quetta that while the government vehemently rejects the allegations, Western diplomats in both countries and Pakistani opposition figures say that Pakistani intelligence agencies - in particular the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence - have been supporting a Taliban restoration, motivated not only by Islamic fervour but also by a longstanding view that the jihadist movement allows them to assert greater influence on Pakistans vulnerable western flank.
Gall bases her report on more than two weeks of reporting along this frontier, including dozens of interviews with residents on each side of the porous border. The interviews have left her with little doubt that Quetta is an important base for the Taliban, and she claims to have found many signs that Pakistani authorities are encouraging the insurgents, if not sponsoring them. The evidence, she adds, is provided in fearful whispers, and it is anecdotal.
#4
Former Taliban members who have refused to fight in Afghanistan have been arrested - or even mysteriously killed - after resisting pressure to re-enlist in the Taliban
Former Taliban turning their backs on the effort? Interesting. Perhaps the cause --> effect thingy can be learnt after all.
Police have registered cases against five khateebs for violating the ban on loudspeakers and arrested four khateebs in Islamabad. Kohsar police arrested Maulana Ghulam Mustafa from the F-6/1 Qamaru Zaman Masjid, Maulana Muhammad Hussain Zeshani from the Blue Area Jamia Masjid Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa, and Maulana Zahoor Ahmad Alawi from the F-6/4 Muhammadain Ahmadia for misusing loudspeakers. Margalla police arrested Khateeb Qari Ahsan Ullah from Masjid Qasmia while I-9 police registered a case against Qari Muhammad Anwar Tahir from Masjid Anwar Mustafa.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
Police killed at least five Maoists in a central Indian state, a senior police officer said on Sunday. Three were killed in a gun battle with police late on Saturday in the forests of Timarpur in Bastar region, 520 km south of the state capital, Raipur, said police Inspector General for Bastar, RK Vij.
In a separate incident on Saturday, two rebels and a police constable were killed in Dantewada district of the same region, Vij said. Two female Maoists were arrested but dozens of their male colleagues escaped.
Chhattisgarh is one of the worst hit of the 13 Indian states affected by a Maoist revolt that began more than three decades ago to fight for the rights of Indias poor farmers and landless labourers. Thousands have been killed in the movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sorry about the cop. But Maoists are like Jihadis: they all deserve to die.
Eleven people including six policemen were hurt in separate incidents in Nepal involving the Maoists just days after the former rebels joined the political mainstream by entering parliament, officials said on Sunday.
The policemen were wounded when 200 Maoists, carrying batons and stones, attacked a police post on Saturday, at Patabhar, 350 km southwest of the capital, Kathmandu. Three of the wounded policemen have been rushed to a nearby hospital with head injuries, district official Shiva Nepal said. The Maoists ransacked the post, threw out belongings and utensils of the policemen before leaving the area, he added. Maoist leaders were not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
At least three people were injured by a powerful bomb blast Sunday near a railway station in Indias insurgency-hit northeast state of Assam, police said. The blast took place near the parking lot of the main railway station in New Bongaigaon, about 210 kilometers west of Assams main city of Guwahati. Three people were wounded in the explosion, senior police official A Das told AFP by telephone.
On Saturday, three people, including a government official, were killed and 15 injured in two explosions and a shootout in eastern Assam, which has witnessed a spurt of attacks this month.
Authorities blamed the latest attacks on the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which claims to be fighting for an independent homeland. A man claiming to be a ULFA commander told local newspapers by telephone that the outfit would attack government officials if New Delhi did not stop a military crackdown against it that began on January 8.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[19 views]
Top|| File under:
(KUNA) -- A guerrilla of the Hizbul Mujahideen group and a young woman were killed in separate incidents in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Sunday. The bullet-riddled body of Hizbul guerrilla Zahoor Ahmad Shah was found near Srinagar, summer capital of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir today, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Police also recovered a bullet-riddled body of a young lady Khalida Akhter in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir today, the news agency said. Khalida Akhter was abducted by unidentified guerrillas early Sunday and later killed, the news agency said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/22/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan mistakenly fired at a Pakistani border post and killed a soldier, Pakistan's military said Monday after lodging a protest over the death. 
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) considers the Pakistan Peoples Partys decision not to participate in its all parties conference (APC) unless it is held under the ARD to be an expression of no-confidence in the PML-N. Our leaders consider the recent decision of the PPP leadership not to attend the APC as an expression of no-confidence in the PML-N. Mian Nawaz Sharif had sought the opinion of PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto by sending her the agenda of the moot, sources in the PML-N told Daily Times.
One person was killed and four were wounded on Sunday when police shot at clashing mobs of Hindus and Muslims in Bangalore, police and witnesses said. The clash occurred in the city centre after Hindu mobs went on a rampage, burning shops and vehicles owned by Muslims. A police officer said police had been forced to open fire to break up the clashes. He said one person was killed and four wounded. The violence occurred as activists moved through the city to join an RSS rally. 
Fifty clerics from various schools of thought have been banned from entering Jhang until the 10th of Muharram. Sixteen clerics have been have been banned from delivering speeches and the activities of 25 are being observed. Police have set up 18 check posts at entrances to the city and 12 inside the city. Pakistan Army troops have also arrived to help the civil administration maintain law and order during the holy month. The district administration has announced the 95 members of the District Peace Committee including government officers, politicians and clerics, who will coordinate with the administration to maintain law and order. Jhang district has been declared sensitive during Muharram.
Allegations that Pakistan is backing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan were lent further strength on Sunday with the publication of two reports in the New York Times and the Washington Post. 
Police killed at least five Maoists in a central Indian state, a senior police officer said on Sunday. Three were killed in a gun battle with police late on Saturday in the forests of Timarpur in Bastar region, 520 km south of the state capital, Raipur, said police Inspector General for Bastar, RK Vij. 
(KUNA) -- A guerrilla of the Hizbul Mujahideen group and a young woman were killed in separate incidents in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Sunday. The bullet-riddled body of Hizbul guerrilla Zahoor Ahmad Shah was found near Srinagar, summer capital of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir today, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
