Hi there, !
Today Sat 04/08/2006 Fri 04/07/2006 Thu 04/06/2006 Wed 04/05/2006 Tue 04/04/2006 Mon 04/03/2006 Sun 04/02/2006 Archives
Rantburg
531693 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 100 articles and 468 comments as of 12:44.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion           
Cleric links ISI and Banglaboomers
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
14 00:00 FeralCat [] 
1 00:00 Frank G [] 
1 00:00 Wholuth Flanter4973 [] 
1 00:00 liberalhawk [] 
3 00:00 ShepUK [] 
0 [1] 
3 00:00 liberalhawk [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 mhw [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 gromgoru [] 
2 00:00 Dreadnought [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Besoeker [] 
7 00:00 6 [] 
4 00:00 Ptah [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 2b [] 
1 00:00 Creans Chomogum3852 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
11 00:00 Frank G [] 
2 00:00 Seafarious [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
3 00:00 Old Patriot []
0 []
7 00:00 wxjames []
8 00:00 no mo uro [1]
9 00:00 USN, ret. []
7 00:00 Captain America [1]
2 00:00 DarthVader []
11 00:00 trailing wife [3]
8 00:00 Thinemp Whimble2412 []
2 00:00 Thrager Slainter5546 []
18 00:00 Frank G []
7 00:00 Thinemp Whimble2412 []
0 []
5 00:00 Fordesque []
7 00:00 mojo [1]
0 []
12 00:00 BigEd []
2 00:00 gromgoru []
8 00:00 Pappy []
2 00:00 liberalhawk []
7 00:00 bgrebel []
5 00:00 Thinemp Whimble2412 []
0 []
1 00:00 bigjim-ky []
5 00:00 Thinemp Whimble2412 []
5 00:00 ex-lib [1]
4 00:00 Perfesser []
21 00:00 Cyber Sarge []
1 00:00 trailing wife []
7 00:00 Zenster []
1 00:00 Ptah [1]
3 00:00 Nimble Spemble []
7 00:00 anon []
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
1 00:00 RD []
10 00:00 SteveS []
20 00:00 Alaska Paul [1]
2 00:00 Seafarious [1]
0 []
12 00:00 lotp []
9 00:00 3dc []
8 00:00 john []
6 00:00 Nimble Spemble []
3 00:00 Zenster []
17 00:00 wxjames []
1 00:00 gromky []
0 []
4 00:00 DMFD []
2 00:00 Steve []
0 [1]
3 00:00 Mike []
17 00:00 DMFD []
14 00:00 CrazyFool []
1 00:00 Unish Thruling7155 [1]
6 00:00 Korora []
4 00:00 CrazyFool []
1 00:00 Grunter []
0 []
16 00:00 Jackal []
Page 4: Opinion
6 00:00 FOTSGreg [1]
6 00:00 Besoeker []
7 00:00 Frank G []
13 00:00 ex-lib []
3 00:00 Besoeker []
9 00:00 SPoD [2]
2 00:00 2b []
22 00:00 DMFD []
Afghanistan
Intelligence chief killed
Suspected Taliban fighters shot dead a district intelligence director in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday while four insurgents were killed in a separate clash, officials said. Gunmen opened fire on Mohammad Tahir, the Intelligence director of Delarum district of southwestern Nimroz province, as he was in a car travelling to his office, provincial police chief Abdul Khalil Bakhtiary said. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the Islamist movement.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2006 00:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Somalia is the latest battleground between US and al-Qaeda
Somalia's worst fighting in years suggests the failed Horn of Africa state may become a new proxy battleground for Islamist militants and the United States. Washington sees Somalia as a terrorist haven and backs the warlords in Mogadishu, which may have galvanised the Islamists against them both, analysts say.

A battle in March pitted warlords calling themselves the Anti-Terrorism Coalition against Islamic fighters backed by the influential Islamic courts. As many as 90 people were killed in the fighting. A widely held perception that the United States backs the warlords with weapons, money and surveillance prompted Islamist hardliners to start a fight that killed 37 people in February, hours after the coalition announced its presence.

What has many worried is that these two battles were seen as a fight between the United States and Islam. The U.S. backing for the warlords has, in fact, strengthened the position of the Islamists and "helped extreme elements to get the Somali public behind them," an official involved with Somalia told Reuters.

While the Islamic courts are not viewed as extremists, they and their supporters are seen as sympathetic to al Qaeda and foreign fighters who operate in Somalia, the official said. Others say the Islamic courts, whose leaders have blamed the United States for supporting warlords, want to fight any attempt to create a government that would undermine their authority.

Complicating things is what many say are some dissenting voices in the U.S. government over what the priority in Somalia should be: Washington's counter-terrorism agenda or diplomatic efforts to help its riven interim government succeed.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sometimes, to save a village you have to destroy it.
Posted by: Slealing Spunter7084 || 04/05/2006 10:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Somalia is the latest battle ground between US and Al-Qaeda

And the loser has to keep Somalia?
Posted by: Dreadnought || 04/05/2006 12:55 Comments || Top||


Acquitted Kenyan Muslim jailed on weapons charges
A Kenyan Muslim acquitted last year of murder in the 2002 al-Qaeda-linked bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel was yesterday jailed for eight years on weapons charges. Nairobi magistrate Rose-melle Mutoka convicted Omar Said Omar of having a cache of firearms, five light anti-tank missiles, one hand grenade and ammunition in Mombasa.

Omar and three others were acquitted of the murder charges on June 9 last year relating to an attack on the hotel near Mombasa. But Omar was immediately re-arrested on the charges of possessing arms.

Prosecutors hailed the ruling as an important step in fighting terrorism in the East African country, which has been criticised for not doing enough despite suffering a number of al-Qaeda attacks.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Jihadi groups active in Yemen
A number of previously clandestine Islamic groups have spread in Yemen, especially after the unification of the north and south in 1990. These groups carry different names and vary in beliefs. Some of these groups are the Islamic Jihad, Al-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa, the Aden Abyan Army, and the Faithful Youth organization, led by Badr adinne al-Houthi. The confrontation between the Faithful Youth and the authorities between 2004 and early last year, posed the greatest challenge to the political regime in Yemen since the civil war between the north and south in the summer of 1994.

Asharq Al-Awsat looks into the topic of the jihadist groups in Yemen. In this report, the geographic location, programs and government support of groups will be looked into. Furthermore, the claim that some jihadist leaders have been integrated into the Yemeni Armed Forces as a way for the government to keep watch on them will be examined.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Wealthy Soddies still funding terrorism
Stuart Levey, the Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence says Saudi Arabia must do a better job at ferreting out major individual donors who continue to fund terrorism abroad, including in Iraq.

The top U.S. Treasury official concedes that Saudi Arabia had made significant strides in counterterrorism efforts in recent years and that the kingdom was "doing an excellent job" fighting operatives of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network at home.

However, Stuart says concerns remain including the existence of so-called "deep-pocket donors" and the abuse of charities to fund militants.

According to Levey, "What needs to happen is they need to do financial investigations in a serious way in order to locate those deep-pocket donors that are still funding terrorism abroad. And that's something which is a concern that hasn't happened as robustly as it needs to happen."
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The bears-woods thing is still happening, too.
Posted by: Grunter || 04/05/2006 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Among the wealthy Soddies funding terrorism are the royals, which, frankly, means the Soddie "government" is funding terrorism.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 04/05/2006 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  The bears-woods thing is still happening, too.

Reports also continue to trickle in that the Pope is still Catholic. While in breaking news, cutting edge scientific research reveals that a frog's @ss is water-tight.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/05/2006 11:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm still waiting for confirmation on the Pope/Catholic connection. The Vatican *did* issue a press release, but until CENTCOM makes a statement, I consider it speculative hearsay.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/05/2006 11:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Is that the New York Times he's reading? Good thing, he forgot the Cottonelle.
Posted by: Perfesser || 04/05/2006 12:22 Comments || Top||

#6 

Who cares about Saudi Arabia funding terrorism when the honey futures are in the toilet because of Africanized Bees...
Posted by: BigEd || 04/05/2006 13:36 Comments || Top||

#7  heh heh Big Ed.... Africanized Bees are better producers of honey than lazy European Bees - course you gotta be really motivated to get the honey.
Posted by: 6 || 04/05/2006 15:40 Comments || Top||


Soddy arrests thwart another wave of attacks
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow. It's like magik. Whenever they need a miracle, Nayef Allan provides.
Posted by: Creans Chomogum3852 || 04/05/2006 0:19 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda statement on the al-Hesbah network
Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia issued a communiqué yesterday, April 3, 2006, which concerns both the recent arrest by Saudi security officers of forty suspects accused of abetting terrorist activity in the state, and their impact on the jihadist Internet community, specifically, the al-Hesbah network. The group states that all claims made by the Saudi government that those arrested managed the group’s statements and multimedia presentations are fallacious. Rather, these people are argued to have little influence and the announcement of their arrest is only to scare the supporters of the mujahideen from using the Internet. In addition, al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia promises to “bring the worshippers good tidings of the surprises that will be released soon, especially a chain of blood that will heal the chests of the believers and irk the infidels and hypocrites.”

Concerning the al-Hesbah Internet network, the group states that reports linking the forum and purported “infiltrators” to fallen mujahideen in Yarmouk are false, and al-Hebsah has “provided great services to the jihad and the mujahideen”. The message states: “We warn the supporters of the Jihad and the Mujahideen to lend no weight to those who are trying to rend the ranks of the Mujahideen and bring fear to their supports.”

Al-Hesbah, before going down on Friday, March 17, 2006, used by thousands of members, was one of the primary forums used by al-Qaeda, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgency groups in Iraq, and myriad terrorist organizations that have a presence on the Internet. Membership to the board became very selective over time, employing lengthy screening procedures and member oversight, rarely opening new registration for even limited access, and utilizing passwords.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
4 hard boyz captured in Chechnya
A militant group comprising four members has been captured in a sweep operation in Chechnya.

"A total of four people, including the group's leader - Khamzat Tushayev, emir of the village of Duba-Yurt - have been arrested," the republic's Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax on Tuesday.

The operation was carried out by Chechen policemen and servicemen of the Russian Interior Ministry's provisional task force, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Turkish Terminations Tallied
Ankara, 5 April (AKI) - Three Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday in a clash with Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants in Turkey's mountainous southeastern Sirnak region. Four soldiers were also wounded in the fighting, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. It was not immediately clear if any of the militants were injured. Anatolia also said that a police officer wounded in an attack by militants against a police station in the Bingol province on Tuesday had died from the injuries.
Posted by: Steve || 04/05/2006 08:38 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Turks say PKK TV stroking street violence
Roj TV is the PKK equivalent of al-Manar, for those who are curious. The PKK, for those who might otherwise view it as a natural reaction to Turkish racism and oppression, is an extremely freaky Marxist group that would be far more oppressive to ordinary Kurds than Turkey would ever conceive of. The PUK, our Kurdish allies in Iraq, have fought against them alongside Turkey on at least one occasion.
A Denmark-based Kurdish television station denied on Tuesday Turkish accusations it was stoking street violence in the southeast of the country and said it sought only to give a voice to people Ankara refused to heed.

Roj TV head Manouchehr Tahsili Zonoozi said he planned to set up a 24-hour Kurdish language news station -- a proposal likely to further anger Ankara which deems the satellite broadcaster a tool of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Sixteen people have died in a week of street violence triggered by the funeral of 14 PKK fighters killed in a clash with Turkish troops. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says the unrest is engineered by those wishing to split Turkey.

Zonoozi, sitting before a map showing borders of a projected independent Kurdish state embracing parts of southeast Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, told Reuters he had no links to the PKK though its members had contacted the station during phone-ins.

"We give voice to people they (the Turkish government) don't want to hear," he said in an interview at his office in the centre of the Danish capital.

"They say we are fully responsible for driving people on to the street, they think of us as the enemy."

Turkey, seeking European Union entry, has lifted a ban on Kurdish language broadcasting; but in practice tight limitations on television and radio remain, presenting Roj with its market.

The area also suffers, partly because of the past violence, from high unemployment and economic backwardness.

Turkish media, linking the station to separatist guerrilla violence that has killed over 30,000 since 1984, have compared Roj TV to an al Qaeda channel. The United States, the European Union and Ankara regard the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

"We condemn Roj TV. We believe it incites," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Matt Bryza told reporters in Ankara.

"We believe it should be closed and we will continue to do everything we can with our other European allies besides Turkey to close down this support mechanism and any operations of the PKK in Europe," he said.

Zonoozi says his channel, a mix of news, culture and entertainment with a Kurdish theme, provided objective uncensored journalism. Denmark had effectively backed this, he said, in turning down Turkey's demands to shut the broadcaster.

"We don't support either one side, but it's all happening to the Kurds," the slim, grey-haired 47-year-old said.

Last year Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a joint news conference with the Danish Prime Minister because a journalist from Roj TV was present.

An ornament of the Kurdish flag -- orange, white and green horizontal stripes behind a golden sun -- stood above a fireplace in Zonoozi's office.

With an estimated 25 to 30 million people, the Kurds are one of the world's biggest ethnic groups without their own country.

Although the violence dwindled after the arrest of former leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999 -- Zonoozi described it as a kidnap -- it has increased again in recent months.

"We do not interfere in politics but we are giving the chance to human rights organisations and the people," Zonoozi, from the Iranian city of Tabriz near the Turkish border, said.

He said it was only a matter of time before he added a 24-hour news channel to his media outlets, which include a radio station and music TV channel.

Wealthy Kurds and advertising pay the 35 million euro ($42.65 million) bill.

He said the Danish government had already given him the licence and he just has to find the extra cash.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Cleric links ISI and Banglaboomers
An Indian cleric on Wednesday publicly confessed his involvement and of a Bangladeshi Islamist group in last month's terrorist strikes in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi that killed at least 20 people.

The sensational disclosure was made at a press conference called by the Uttar Pradesh Police who announced the arrest of the cleric and five others for the March 7 Varanasi killings.

The six, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force, alleged the hand of the Bangladesh militant organisation Harkat-ul-Jihad Al Islami, which the cleric said was linked to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

While Waliullah, an imam in Phoolpur town of Allahabad district and the alleged mastermind, was picked up March 26, his confessions led to the five others on Wednesday from Sarojini Nagar locality in this state capital.

Weapons and explosives seized from them included an AK-47 rifle with a magazine containing 27 bullets, 15 grenades, nine kg of RDX and other plastic explosives with 10 detonators, officials here said.

The 32-year-old imam said the five had been sent by him to Bangladesh for arms training.

The blasts, he added, were carried out by three militants from the Harkat-ul-Jihad, with which he said he was closely associated.

"They were specially detailed for the blasts and have gone back to Bangladesh," he said, admitting his involvement in the blasts that left 13 dead at Varanasi's Sankat Mochan Temple and seven at the railway station.

Waliullah said he provided shelter to the three Bangladeshi militants, took them around to the sites of the explosions for a reconnaissance trip and got them to buy three pressure cookers that were used as killer bombs.

"They came to me on March 3 and I provided them a room to stay just across my home in Phoolpur. They undertook two trips with me to Varanasi," he stated.

"Finally, on March 7 (when the blast took place), the three men left Phoolpur very early in the morning by train to Varanasi after which they never came back to me. They were scheduled to go back to Bangladesh."

Waliullah admitted going to Bangladesh sometime in 2003, but claimed his plans to go to Pakistan could not materialise because of "some trouble at the Pakistan end".

"It was in Bangladesh that the Harkat-ul-Jihad chief Asad Ullah nominated me as area commander of the group for Uttar Pradesh," Waliullah said.

"Subsequently, in 2004, I sent these five young men to Bangladesh from where Asad Ullah forwarded them over to Pakistan to attend a 28-day ISI training camp," he said.

He confessed to having been inspired by the taped discourses of Maulana Azhar Mahmood, the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief who was released following the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in Kandahar in 1999.

Referring to the three men who allegedly carried out the blasts, Senior Superintendent of Police SK Bhagat said: "Waliullah was known to the three Bangladeshi militants as they had all received their Islamic schooling (at India's well-known Islamic institution) in Deoband in Uttar Pradesh."

Posted by: DepotGuy || 04/05/2006 12:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  what a surprise! The ISI spends more time fomenting war than security
Posted by: Frank G || 04/05/2006 21:41 Comments || Top||


Pakistanis, Suspected Militants Clash
Pakistani security forces and suspected Islamic militants battled for a second day Wednesday near the Afghan border, leaving four soldiers and 16 fighters dead, an army spokesman said. Another 19 militants - some of them surrendering and laying down their weapons - were captured in the fighting in the North Waziristan tribal region, spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said.

The fighting erupted in the northwestern tribal region after militants fired rockets at two military bases Tuesday night, he said. Eight militants were killed overnight after the troops retaliated after the rocket attack on the security post in Shawal, a rugged region near the Afghan border and the eight others died in the fighting on Wednesday, he said.
Posted by: Steve || 04/05/2006 09:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They fired rockets and there's an ongoing two day gunbattle and they're suspected militants?

Oh, it's AP. I get it.
Posted by: Wholuth Flanter4973 || 04/05/2006 10:31 Comments || Top||


Politician shot dead in Kashmir
The leader of a party set up by former militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir has been shot dead, police have said. Mohammad Yousuf Ganaie was killed by suspected militants in Baramulla, about 50km (30 miles) north of the state's summer capital, Srinagar, police said. He was part of the Awami League party, formed by militants who had disarmed. A number of militant groups have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989 in an insurgency that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

Mr Ganaie, who had unsuccessfully stood in elections in 2002, was shot dead at a bus station. Two women were also injured in the shooting. Police say they were injured by firing by the militants. Local people say the shots were fired by security forces who mistook the militants' attack on Mr Ganaie as directed at them and opened fire, says the BBC's Bashir Ahmad in Srinagar.

Elsewhere in the region, seven people were injured in two separate grenade attacks on security forces, the Associated Press news agency reports.
Posted by: Steve || 04/05/2006 09:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  its very dangerous being a former militant in Kashmir

Dead moderate muslims watch?
Posted by: liberalhawk || 04/05/2006 17:57 Comments || Top||


India arrests bomb 'mastermind'
Police in India say they have arrested the mastermind behind last month's bomb attacks in the holy city of Varanasi. Vali Ullah, a resident of northern Uttar Pradesh state, ran a religious school and was associated with a famous seminary in the state, the police said.
Just like all the leading masterminds
Fourteen people were killed and over 100 others hurt in the twin blasts at a Hindu temple and a railway station. The police said the blasts were conducted with the help of a Bangladesh-based extremist group.

Senior Uttar Pradesh police official Jag Mohan Yadav told reporters that Mr Ullah was arrested in Gosaiganj near the state capital, Lucknow. "He was the mastermind of the whole operation which was conducted with the help of a Bangladesh-based group called Harkatul Jihadi Islami," Mr Yadav, who is inspector general of police, said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Senior Superintendent of Police SK Bhagat alleged that Bangladesh was being used as a transit route by militants. "It appears that such groups are using Bangladesh as a route for infiltration since the route from Kashmir and Rajasthan is effectively sealed." There was no immediate comment from the Bangladeshi authorities.

The police had earlier freed two men they arrested in connection with the blasts. A wedding party took the brunt of the attack at Varanasi's famous Sankat Mochan temple. Nine people were killed in the temple attack and five at the city's Cantonment railway station. Varanasi, also known as Benares, is about 670 km (415 miles) south-east of Delhi. It is the religious capital of Hinduism and is usually packed with Indian pilgrims and foreign tourists.
Posted by: Steve || 04/05/2006 09:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  can we have a pic of the classic mastermind chair as used on the old tv show 'mastermind'. Mastermind lol - funny word really when you think about it - a Master Mind, don't make alot of sense to me. :) but then again i studied in a english school so what can we expect otherwise lol.
Posted by: ShepUK || 04/05/2006 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2 

Ask and you shall receive, Shep..
Posted by: Howard UK || 04/05/2006 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  lol ty howard! :)
Posted by: ShepUK || 04/05/2006 11:35 Comments || Top||


LeJ members to swing
A court in Pakistan on Tuesday convicted five Islamic militants and sentenced them to death for attacking police in a deadly bid to free an arrested comrade from custody, said lawyers.

The five had opened fire on a police van carrying their companion on his way to jail from a court hearing in Karachi in 2002. The raid, which failed, killed a policeman and another prisoner and injured several other people.

Their lawyer MA Wasti said that the anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentenced the five men, all Pakistanis, to death for the killings and also imposed a fine.

They were also given 12-year prison terms for attacking police and the attempted murder of the injured. Wasti said they would appeal.

He said: "The evidence was contradictory and the verdict is flawed." Government prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum said he was satisfied with the judgment.

The men, in their 20 and early 30s, were said to be members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an al-Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim militant group that the government banned in 2001. The group had been implicated in attacks on minority Shi'ite Muslims.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Twelve years, the death penalty, and a hefty fine for the surviving family. Nicely done I'd say.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/05/2006 8:45 Comments || Top||


Rockets fired at Pakistani military base
Suspected militants fired rockets at a military post in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, triggering a gunbattle but causing no casualties, an official said on Tuesday.

The attack happened late on Monday on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, but “the terrorists fled toward nearby mountains when our soldiers returned fire,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

Although the official gave no further details, residents said the exchange of fire continued for two hours. Militants suspected of having ties with remnants of Al-Qaeda and Taliban often launch attacks against security forces. The latest attack came hours after Pakistani forces shot and killed two suspected militants after a grenade attack wounded five soldiers in the nearby town of Mir Ali.

The troops were patrolling a bazaar there when one of the two assailants hurled a grenade at them, according to a local government official.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban now targeting Pakistani infrastructure
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That just might get the Pakistanis pissed off at the murdering bastards taliban - nothing else seems to have worked.

So far.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/05/2006 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Reminds me of the Sprint commercial. "But you ARE then man."
Posted by: Perfesser || 04/05/2006 12:23 Comments || Top||

#3  lol!
Posted by: 2b || 04/05/2006 16:21 Comments || Top||


Soldier killed, two others injured
QUETTA: A paramilitary man was killed and two others seriously injured when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a landmine in Pathar Nulleh on Tuesday. Sui officials said that unidentified 'miscreants' had placed the landmine in the path of the water tanker

Also, unidentified men fired six rockets at a security forces convoy in Kohlu. Security personnel responded with artillery fire. Local administration registered a case against the unknown men. A search operation is also underway. Later, security personnel successfully raided and destroyed Ferrari camps in Goth Habib Lahi, Kundoi. Soldiers also confiscated a large amount of weapons and explosive material from Jugseela. The arms recovered include landmines, rifles, Kalashnikoves and thousands of bullets.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Militants fire rockets at army base
MIRANSHAH: Suspected militants fired rockets at a military post in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, triggering a gunbattle but causing no casualties, an official said on Tuesday. The attack happened late on Monday on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, but “the terrorists fled toward nearby mountains when our soldiers returned fire,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

Although the official gave no further details, residents said the exchange of fire continued for two hours. Militants suspected of having ties with remnants of Al-Qaeda and Taliban often launch attacks against security forces. The latest attack came hours after Pakistani forces shot and killed two suspected militants after a grenade attack wounded five soldiers in the nearby town of Mir Ali. The troops were patrolling a bazaar there when one of the two assailants hurled a grenade at them, according to a local government official.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Baloch activist arrested
Law enforcement agencies detained Munir Mengal, a retired officer of the State Bank of Pakistan and aide of some Baloch leaders, at Jinnah International Airport upon his arrival from Dubai on Tuesday morning. An immigration official told Daily Times that Mengal had arrived by an Emirates Airline flight. "He was leaving the immigration counter when personnel of the law enforcement agencies whisked him away," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Five SSP men given death
Five activists of the outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) were handed down capital punishment by an anti terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday on charges of killing a police constable and an under-trial prisoner (UTP) in an ambush on a prison van near the city courts in 2002.

According to the prosecution, Sabir Ali Waseem, Faizal Pehalwan, Mazharul Hasan, Muzamil and Malik Tasaduq had opened fire on a jail van that was escorting the UTPs back to Central Prison Karachi after a hearing at the sessions courts at the City Courts Complex on February 28, 2002 in the limits of Bohra Pir police station. Police constable Shakeel Arshad and UTP Saqib were killed in the ambush.

Presiding Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of ATC-V had earlier reserved judgment after recording the evidence and hearing arguments of the defence and prosecution. On Tuesday, the judge awarded the death sentence to all the convicts and handed down prison sentences of various terms for injuring policemen and UTPs and causing damage to property.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban attack party to stop music
TANK: A group of Taliban stormed a wedding ceremony to disrupt a music programme, wounding one man a few days after they ordered Bhittani tribesmen to grow beards, eyewitnesses said on Tuesday. Naib Nazim Haji Abdur Rehman told reporters that dozens of Taliban attacked the music programme at the wedding of Haji Saeedullah’s two sons in Maghzey village of Tank district. “They came by vehicles and opened fire at the participants in the music programme, wounding one late on Monday evening,” the naib nazim said.

Riaz Kundi, Tank district nazim, confirmed the incident but gave no details. “I am still gathering information,” he said. “Everyone ran for cover when the bearded Taliban attacked the programme,” the naib nazim said. “The music was stopped and all the frightened music-lovers went home.”

The attack came three days after a Taliban chief in Jandola, a town on the Tank border with South Waziristan, ordered Bhittani tribesmen to grow beards within three weeks. “Maulana Asmatullah, who claims to be the Taliban chief in Jandola, asked every adult to grow a beard or severe punishment will be awarded after the deadline expires,” a shopkeeper in Jandola bazaar told Daily Times.

Meanwhile, key tribal commander Baitullah Mehsud denied on Tuesday that the Taliban had set up a parallel government in the tribal areas. “Reports about the establishment of a parallel administration or parallel government in Waziristan are baseless and it is a media smear campaign against Islam and Pakistan,” he said in a statement issued in Tank city.

His statement comes after reports from Waziristan that a Taliban-style parallel administration was set up disperse justice under Sharia. The Tuesday statement is the first from Mehsud since his peace deal with the South Waziristan administration on February 7, 2005. “We want development and peace in our areas and Pakistan is our country and we have to uphold its constitution,” Mehsud added. He said the local population pressed his force to help them against criminals and their illegal activities. “We are helping our people who asked for help,” the Taliban commander said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/05/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  fckin scumbags - i say set up a giant acoustic system balsting out every kind of music they hate over a 1000sq km area - think massive 'ghetto blaster' but when they come and try to shut it down gun the fck outa them. These chumps can't be hard to decieve like that, hell why arnt we doing just that sort of thing to lure them to us instead of us hunting high and low for them!!!! makes no sense with people this stupid, were making life hard for ourselves by not using their own stupidity and hatred against them! Argghhhh the dumbness of it all!
Posted by: ShepUK || 04/05/2006 7:59 Comments || Top||

#2  The things that irritate these guys is so stupid. Cartoons and they kill each other. Music, and they atttack it. I had a dog like that once, everytime we brought out the ironing board, he'd attack it. He did'nt grow a beard though, so I did'nt mind.
Posted by: plainslow || 04/05/2006 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  rofl - the ironing board :) oh thats funny, lol i've got a picture of Koranimals svagly attacking Ironing boards now in my head, Stoning it and jumping up and down on it shouting down with housework! Sorry but some things like this just make me laugh.
Posted by: ShepUK || 04/05/2006 8:43 Comments || Top||

#4  C'mon. It's really not a wedding in Wazoostan without at least some small arms fire.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/05/2006 8:49 Comments || Top||

#5  What's the deal with the beards? As if life wasn't shitty enough in that part of the world, now you have the Tallywhackers pestering you. If they can't rule Afghanistan in the open, they'll subject the highlanders to their miserable islamic lifestyle, berift of any fun or simple pleasures. What an attractive way of life. I can see why people would flock to it.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 04/05/2006 11:02 Comments || Top||

#6  The fools are by and large illiterate, and rely on old on-eye to interpret the Koran...and he's as illiterate as they are. What a bunch of maroons. Fools leading fools...and none of them could tell you what the Koran really said if there life depended on it.
Posted by: anymouse || 04/05/2006 17:47 Comments || Top||

#7  From a Hadith: 'Rasulullah Peace be upon him has said: 'Amongst the fitrat (Deen) of Islam is the cutting of the moustache and the lengthening of the beard for surely the Majoos (fire worshippers) lengthen their moustaches and cut their beards so oppose them by cutting your moustaches and lengthening your beards'.

In other words, to separate the muslim cult from others. They would have been better off shaving their heads and selling flowers at airports.
Posted by: ed || 04/05/2006 18:04 Comments || Top||

#8  I feel a Warren Zovon song coming on!


You know, the Sheriff's got his problems too
He will surely take them out on you
In walked the village idiot and his face was all aglow
He's been up all night listening to Mohammed's Radio

Don't it make you want to rock and roll
All night long
Mohammed's Radio
I heard somebody singing sweet and soulful
On the radio, Mohammed's Radio
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 04/05/2006 21:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Zovon??

Mohammed's Radio is a great Warren Zevon (RRIP) song :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 04/05/2006 21:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Eric. You do realize this could get him killed. I know he's already died, but they will be looking for him now.
Posted by: plainslow || 04/05/2006 22:19 Comments || Top||

#11  Thanks Eric, earworm intact, now I've got my IPod Zevon'd out....
Posted by: Frank G || 04/05/2006 22:45 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Al-Qaeda Leader And 25 Others Arrested
Baghdad, 5 April (AKI) - Iraqi police arrested 25 alleged terrorists in various parts of the country on Tuesday, including a member of the al-Qaeda network, according to Saudi daily al-Watan. The al-Qaeda member is reported to have sought refuge in the western city of Ramadi, a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, and was found in possession of explosive belts and large sums of cash, as well as four kilos of gold.
That's about $75,000
In the man's hideout police found false passports, documents pertaining to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Among the suspected terrorists detained on Tuesday were five people - including two Sudanese nationals - trying to cross illegally into Iraq from Jordan.
Posted by: Steve || 04/05/2006 08:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmmm... These are Jabr's "police"... How many kilos of gold?
Posted by: Creans Chomogum3852 || 04/05/2006 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Good point, CC3852.
Posted by: wxjames || 04/05/2006 9:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Jabrs head of the Interior Minister, but from what i can gather there are SOME elements in the police, trained by the MNF, that are not so bad.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 04/05/2006 17:18 Comments || Top||


Mahdi calls on Jaafari to step down
Iraq's vice-president has added his voice to calls for Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down as candidate to lead a new government.

Adel Abdul Mahdi is the most senior figure in Mr Jaafari's dominant Shia alliance to urge him to withdraw.

Mr Jaafari's nomination is one of the main sticking points in deadlocked coalition talks with Kurds and Sunnis.

In further violence, 10 people have been killed in a car bomb attack in the Shia district of Sadr City in Baghdad.

Another 25 people were injured in the explosion that happened during the evening rush hour, in a street where car auctions are held, a BBC correspondent in the city said.

Mr Mahdi's comments came a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw ended a visit to Baghdad to press for swifter movement on establishing a government of national unity.

He told the BBC's HARDtalk TV programme he had urged Mr Jaafari to step down pointing out "that the country is already in crisis and we have to find an end to that".

Mr Jaafari has so far failed to get the approval of minority political groups in parliament in his efforts to form a national unity government, and was also facing rejection within his own United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), Mr Mahdi went on.

"After such a time of naming him, not getting approval of others, now even in the UIA there is some rejection, so I think he should step aside," he said.

But he revealed that Mr Jaafari was determined to press ahead with his nomination, " and he's willing to go to the parliament.... he will welcome the decision of the parliament".

Mr Mahdi lost to Mr Jaafari by one vote in the contest within the Shia alliance for the nomination and is still considered a possible candidate for the prime minister's job.

His comments add significantly to the pressure on Mr Jaafari, the BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Baghdad says.

The US was reported in Baghdad last week to have taken a similar view of Mr Jaafari's position.

The first public calls within Mr Jaafari's own alliance for his withdrawal came at the weekend, but they were from less senior figures.

There are, however, some within the Shia bloc who are concerned that a growing challenge to Mr Jaafari would leave the alliance divided and weak, our correspondent says.

Iraq's political parties have been wrangling over forming a new government since December's election.

Kurdish and Sunni Arab parties rejected the ruling Shia-led bloc's nomination of Mr Jaafari as prime minister and have threatened to boycott a government unless he withdraws.

The delay in forming a government is thought to be partly responsible for fuelling the increasing sectarian violence which has struck since February's bombing of a key Shia shrine in Samarra.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 01:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  by the way, I must say this guy, who sounds pretty good in English, has the most unfortunate name - Mahdi.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 04/05/2006 17:59 Comments || Top||

#2  a loose translation would be

Adel Abdul Mahdi= Adel messiah-servant
Posted by: mhw || 04/05/2006 19:54 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda sez they downed US helicopter
The Mujahideen Shura Council released a communiqué today claiming responsibility for shooting down an American helicopter in Baghdad on Saturday April 1, 2006. News reports of the incident cite the United States military announcing the death of two American pilots.

Among the many communiqués issued today by the Mujahideen Shura Council, seven claimed responsibility for the assassination of a "crusader spy" in Baaquba on Monday, April 03; detonating explosive packages against humvees in the al-Amyira region of Baghdad, Mosul, and the Kanaan area of Baaquba; detonating an explosive package against an American foot patrol in al-Howeider in Diyali; and firing "Snap" rockets at the American base in al-Ghozlani, Mosul.

The Mujahideen Shura Council is composed of eight insurgency groups in Iraq: al-Qaeda in Iraq, Victorious Army Group, the Army of al-Sunnah Wal Jama’a, Jama’a al-Murabiteen, Ansar al-Tawhid Brigades, Islamic Jihad Brigades, the Strangers Brigades, and the Horrors Brigades, collaborating to meet the “unbelievers gathering with different sides” and defend Islam.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Horrors Brigades - big Wes Craven fans, I hear.
Posted by: Howard UK || 04/05/2006 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  rofl - what next the 'Hammer Horror brigade' ?? using poorly done animation to show there skills? And just WTF are 'snap' rockets?? do they break in two when fired or do they make a snapping noise like a firecracker when they hit? I'm so confused, Im genuinly suprised they havnt tacked in the word 'stealth' here though, just like the so called stealthy Iranian sea 'lawn mowers' that were doing the rounds the other day. Oh wait WTF is the 'strangers brigade' , is it a bunch of wierd strangers or is it the name they give to foreign fighters, maybe the strangers brigade are just strange?
Posted by: ShepUK || 04/05/2006 8:07 Comments || Top||

#3  "crusader spy" has got to be a tough job.

Blow the trumpets! I am going in undercover! *blammo*

I bet there is lots of turnover...
Posted by: flash91 || 04/05/2006 10:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Hmm. And how long exactly did it take for this communique to come out?

The quality of the insurgency is really slipping: a more alert propaganda minister would have had this out sunday morning at the latest, not 3 days afterwards.

Even if they didn't do it.
Posted by: Ptah || 04/05/2006 12:24 Comments || Top||


Iraq sentences 12 Ansar Al Islam members to death
ARBIL - A court in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region Tuesday sentenced to death 12 members of militant group Ansar Al Islam for numerous killings and explosions, an Arbil judiciary official said. “Zana Nusrat Abdel Karim, the chief of a cell of Ansar Al Islam and 11 other members were condemed to death by the criminal court of Arbil,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said the 12 were convicted of numerous “terrorist” activities and killings of civilians in Kurdistan’s Arbil and Dahuk regions.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/05/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Next!!
Posted by: anymouse || 04/05/2006 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  That big news, I think. Pre-war, Ansar al-Islam was *based* in Kurdistan.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/05/2006 0:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
10 al-Qaeda members have entered Gaza
Around 10 terror operatives affiliated with Al-Qaida and other global jihad factions have infiltrated the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.

Palestinian Authority sources said their security agencies suspect that the operatives, who arrived in Gaza from Egypt - some through the Rafah terminal - are staying in the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah and are involved in smuggling materiel on a large scale.

According to various reports, some of which could not be fully verified by Israelis, the operatives belong to several factions, mainly radical Islamic movements in Egypt, that are affiliated with Al-Qaida. Beside Palestinians, there are citizens of Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

Citing Jordanian security officials, the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday "a definite presence" of Al-Qaida operatives in Gaza who intend to carry out attacks on "sensitive" targets. The reference apparently was to attacks on crossings into Israel and perhaps also the foreign observers at the Rafah terminal.

The observers left the terminal in the past - during the wave of abductions in Gaza on the day the Israel Defense Forces raided the Palestinian jail in Jericho. The PA went to great lengths to mollify them. Through these attempts, it sent several delegations of Gaza children to the terminal to express Palestinian support for the observers.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas confirmed several weeks ago that Al-Qaida operatives had entered Gaza. The IDF admits that Gaza is wide open to weapons smuggling and the entry of terrorists - both through the Rafah terminal and through recently reactivated tunnels beneath the Philadelphi route in Rafah. Among the terrorists who entered were specialists affiliated with Al-Qaida, people who underwent training in sophisticated explosive devices and mass attacks at camps in Lebanon and even in Iran and Afghanistan.

A senior source on the IDF General Staff told Haaretz, "The focus of global Islamic terror on our region has already become a distinct phenomenon. We're not talking about gut feelings: The Katyushas fired on Shlomi and before that the Katyusha fire from Aqaba that hit the airport in Eilat were carried out by organizations affiliated with Al-Qaida and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's people in Iraq. The operational direction of these organizations is clear. They will try in the future to hit more Israeli targets."

MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud), chair of the outgoing Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Tuesday that terror organizations in Gaza now have unfettered access to expert assistance and materiel through the Egyptian border.

"More sophisticated materiel is getting into Gaza, as are global jihad operatives who didn't used to get there. A weapons industry is developing there; it's still in an initial phase, but it is worrisome," Steinitz warned.

He claimed that Egypt is not living up to the agreement it reached with Israel before the disengagement, in which it pledged to combat these phenomena.

General Staff sources disagreed with Steinitz, saying there has actually been improvement in Egypt's activity to counter smuggling. With the entry of terror operatives and weapons smugglers from Sinai to the southern Negev, changes were made in the military deployment along the Egyptian border. There are now more than double the number of troops along the border than before the disengagement. In addition, cooperation among Israeli intelligence agencies has been increased to foil potential air and sea attacks by global jihadists.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Egypt is not living up to the agreement it reached with Israel before the disengagement, in which it pledged to combat these phenomena.

Surprise meter.
Posted by: gromgoru || 04/05/2006 11:37 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda setting up new operation in Levant under the leadership of mysterious Syrian
Jordanian security sources have confirmed statements from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in early March alleging the presence of Al Qaeda terror operatives in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

London-based Arab daily Al Hayat on Tuesday quoted the sources as saying that the movement has commenced its activities in the Palestinian Territories.

Abbas had in an interview published by the same newspaper on March 2 said that Palestinian authorities had “signs” that Al Qaeda had established a foothold in the area, adding that the development could have dire consequences for the Middle East.

The latest report said a movement directly affiliated to Al Qaeda had been planning an operation aimed at a vital strategic target in Gaza City, but that the operation was foiled. The sources indicated that the movement’s membership exceeded ten individuals, but did not say whether any of them were arrested or not.

Al Qaeda militants are reportedly making use of the chaotic situation in the overpopulated Gaza Strip to build an organizational network in the area.

Conditions in the West Bank are however not as conducive due to its relative stability and due to Israel’s tight control over this territory.

Al Qaeda is said to have restructured its organization in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine and reportedly also appointed a new leader in charge of the area who is of Syrian origin.

Analysts say this latest appointment seems to indicate that the movement has sought to limit the influence of Jordanian-born terrorists Abu Musab Al Zarqawi’s organizational network in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Blast Hits Police Compound Killing At Least Two
Jakarta, 5 April (AKI) At least two police officers were killed Wednesday in an explosion at an Indonesian police compound in the western city of Medan, the capital of the province of Sumatra, according to the Indonesian television station, Metro TV. A number of people were also injured, the report said. The cause of the blast is still unknown and the authorities have sealed off the area. The police compound houses the elite Mobile Brigade. Without citing sources, Metro TV reported that the blast occured as the officers were practicing defusing bombs, while some other reports suggested that the blast occured at the anti-terrorism unit or at the police forensic lab.
Could have been an accident, I suppose.
Reports say that the injured are being treated at a police hospital in the city. Indonesia has been on high alert after both the United States and Australia warned last week of possible attacks on Westerners in the country. There have been several attacks in the past few years on Western targets believed to have been carried out by al-Qaeda linked militants.
Posted by: Steve || 04/05/2006 08:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Local Abu Sayyaf leader killed in Sacol
A SUSPECTED leader of the Al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf Group and his brother were killed in a fierce clash with government troops at the island village of Sacol in Zamboanga City, military officials said yesterday.

But the security forces lost one of the militiamen who accompanied them to verify civilian reports that Abu Sayyaf rebels were in the small island just off the city.

Col. Edgardo Gidaya, commander of Task Force Zamboanga, identified the Abu Sayyaf leader as Romy Akilan, who operates in Basilan with a band of 60 rebels, and his brother Patta Akilan.

The militiaman was identified as Mujid Ammang, who accompanied troops who were sent to the village Monday afternoon after civilians complained of heavily armed men on the island which has often served as an Abu Sayyaf refuge.

“Security forces are now conducting pursuit operation to track down other members of the group,” Gidaya said, adding some firearms were recovered from the scene of the fighting.

Earlier, Army spokesman Maj. Bartolome Bacarro said another ASG member, Kahal Asmad, alias Bua Akmad, was arrested by a combined team of the military and police intelligence agents in Isabela City.

Asmad, who guarded the hostages who were abducted from a beach resort in Sabah, Malaysia in 2000, had admitted he was the leader of Team Zero, a group of pirates who operate around the island of Tapul.

It was during the time that he was approached by a certain Jaja, said to be leader of another armed group based in Balloh Island, also in Tapul, Sulu, who asked him to guard the hostages from Sabah, Malaysia with his men.

He and his group then became a part of Abu Sayyaf which has been blamed for series of terrorist attacks in the country.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Abu Dujana profile
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Field Notes: World War 4, Gulf Theater
I am posting this to elicit input from the Rantburg group. I read spectator.org for the politix, but this guy, John Batchelor, who I believe to be a radio host, keeps posting these gloomy assessments of the US/Iran conflict. The common theme is that they are in great shape vs. the US militarily. Today he stated that the Iranian wargames are successful and indicated capabilities I did not know they had, like a German electric boat:

1. You will recall that Ahmadinejad vanished from the scene for ten days in February. Now confirmed that he spent his ten days at the new Gulf Operations HQ, site of the command and control for the recent Great Prophet war games. Successful demonstration of headquarters, subordinate headquarters, linked by secure communications, linked to National Command Center at Tehran.
2. During the games, National Command Center conducted successful simulation of ballistic missile launch. This means a nuclear warhead launch. Missile type identified as Fajar 3, or Victory 3. Resembles the body of a Russian SS-4 with a mirved warhead resembling Iskander 3, likely Chinese and or Russian assist. Mirved warhead also associated with distribution to Syria.
3. Announcements of test firings by two types of underwater warheads. Both Russian designs. The cavitation weapon is likely the KV111, rebuilt, and was likely acquired from Ukraine Black Sea Fleet. The Whale torpedo demonstrated in the Straits of Hormuz is Russian design, likely from the Black Sea Fleet. The torpedo maneuvered the shallows and depths of the Straits. The Whale is built for targeting big ships, such as carriers or supertankers.
4. Rebuilt German electric boat deployed and operational in Gulf: this is smaller than German original, aimed at operations on Gulf bottom and in crowded shipping lanes. Also Kilo boats (Russian made) deployed in Indian Ocean from Mozambique to Pakistan. No information if the Kilo boats are using the silencing technology avaiable.
5. Emphasize command and control and communications for all this equipment was successful. Does this mean satellite linkage? Does this mean AWACs?
6. Area of war games operation extended from from the Iraqi coast to Straits of Hormuz. Practicing for a crisis, both blocking the Straits, assault on Gulf oil and transportation facilities.
5. Analysis to follow. Snarky thought: Fifth Fleet is MacArthur, 1941.

To the extent I am qualified to perform the analysis, I believe that it's highly unlikely that Iran has made so many simultaneous advances even with Russian, Chinese, Ukranian and Pak help. However, I do believe that the proliferation of modern air to air missiles, anti-shipping missiles, torpedoes and air independent subs to a wack job country that already has IRBMs is a not good. I can only hope that the Navy and Air Force have been paying attention and that, in some ways, an air and naval battle vs. Iran would be easier for our military than the counterinsurgency slog in Iraq in that we trained for it.

I do think Batchelor's observation that the Iranians successfully communicated is trivial. We were not trying to stop them, after all.
Posted by: JAB || 04/05/2006 18:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I fear it's all a red herring. This show of new weapons and craft. There is something quite different that they're actually proud of.

I think in part, given the lack of invective towards Israel in the last weeks, and this deflection to such a specific area, this is a diversion towards a build-up of Iranian-sponsored hit on Israel. A closer look at the Al Q build up in Paleostine and arms in surrounding territory is wise. How many gunnies are ammassed in surrounding areas now (Syria, Leb, Egypt, jordan - and close by enough to move within 24 hours?).

I do smell fish - not that the show isn't to be taken seriously.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 04/05/2006 18:45 Comments || Top||

#2  One question that has occured to me:

* If there's an incident in the Gulf, where a sub shoots a tanker and sinks it and the sub is then sunk or chased off or whatever...

How will we know that sub is Iranian?

Are we sure noone else is going to show up to the dance?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 04/05/2006 18:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Lots of countries have Kilo diesel-electric subs. You can't tell what country they're from from their accoustic signatures...
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 04/05/2006 19:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Re JAB's question, I think the best thing to do from here until Showtime is to take EVERYTHING we hear with double the normal grains of salt-- if for no other reason than there's going to be a lot of disinformation floating around from both sides of the conflict. It was that way in the runup to Gulf War I, I recall.

As to the Snowman's question, I suspect we're simply going to announce that any sub attack will be assumed to be Iranian and will be responded to appropriately; that should keep any underwater rubberneckers away.

Posted by: Dave D. || 04/05/2006 19:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Ya'think that maybe pulling their money out of the Swiss banks might be a strong hint of something afoot?

I find it hard to believe that Ahmadinejad would confront the US and/or Isreal at this point. Otherwise, where could Iran go on the tactical offensive?

Lebanon: Establish Shia supremacy over Sunnis and Christians.
Iraq: Consolidate the position of the Sadrists through violence.
Iraq or Afghanistan: Increase tempo of insurgency.
Gulf: Hit and run attacks on shipping
WMD: Nuclear test.
Posted by: 11A5S || 04/05/2006 19:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Yanking the money out of the Swiss banks was the result of fear of sanctions resulting from the referral to the Security Council.

I suspect they're blowing hot air as far as these weapons go in an attempt to provide support to the anti-war forces in the west. The U. S. forces will be able to handle the Iranians with little difficulty as long as we control the tempo, i.e. they might pull off a "Peral Harbor" sneak attack for a few days at most, but that's it.

But the most important battle will be the one fought by the MSM and Iran against the United States in the living rooms of America. What will be interesting to see is which side the Democrats chose.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/05/2006 20:13 Comments || Top||

#7  I think all of the latests tests and such are for Iranian internal consumption. The people know they were held to a standstill for nearly a decade by Iraq and that the Allies took Iraq down in weeks. They need to bolster some confidence pretty badly and the Iranian folks this is aimed at aren't going to be as knowledgable or doubtful as the posters on Rantburg are.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/05/2006 20:43 Comments || Top||

#8  If they had real confidence, they wouldn't need bluster.
Posted by: Crock Thrager2875 || 04/05/2006 21:45 Comments || Top||

#9  John Batchelor, who I believe to be a radio host, keeps posting these gloomy assessments of the US/Iran conflict. The common theme is that they are in great shape vs. the US militarily.

You know I heard the same thing all during the Cold War that the Soviet soldier was 10 foot tall and immune the the harsh conditions of combat. Then their arab allies kept getting their ass handed to them by the Israelis. Oh, that was just poor arab performance was the chorus. Then Afghanistan and then Chetchnya, and the doom and gloom assessements of superior Soviet capabilities were laid to rest. Then there was the 'terrible' Afghan winter and the victors over the Soviets who were doing to teach the Americans their place. One of the quickest campaigns in history. Then there was the Republican Guard [tm] which was suppose to give the American forces a fight for their lives, especially with the absolutely necessary northern thrust removed from the operation by Turkish politics. However, it was a sand storm that slowed the Americans down more than any action by Saddams' forces. But wait, taking Baghdad was going to be Stalingrad Part Deux. Instead we got live feed from the front balcony of the press hotel as Saddam's statute falls.

When are these idiots going to get a grip?
By playing into the enemy propaganda these twerps make conflict more probable. They play primitive warfare. Its a show, a display of posture and territory. Americans approach warfare like an engineering project. The hand wringer create a misunderstanding on the part of the posturing enemy that they have some effect. Let the record show the reality. They are about the face the most professional and deadly armed force in human history. They are about to get their collective asses handed to them. Sure there's going to be some degree of foul up. That goes along with the friction of war. However, when the dust settles they are going to end up in the same situation as Saddam does today. Don't screw with the thousand pound gorrilla in the living room.
Posted by: Juck Sleath3598 || 04/05/2006 22:03 Comments || Top||

#10  I think Batchelor is not so much afraid of a confrontation with Iran as he is agitating for one. He has been implicating Iran in the difficulties in Iraq for several years, and I think he is trying to use what influence he has to convince people to take Iran more seriously. To that end, he occasionally indulges in hyperbole.
Posted by: tibor742 || 04/05/2006 22:20 Comments || Top||

#11  "But the most important battle will be the one fought by the MSM and Iran against the United States in the living rooms of America. What will be interesting to see is which side the Democrats chose."

Please. By now, you should already know what side they are on.
Posted by: newc || 04/05/2006 22:32 Comments || Top||

#12  I think America should take a long, hard look at how hard we want to press Iran, regardless of how . Forty percent of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. All of you gas-guzzling SUV drivers with your predictable Bush/Cheney 04 stickers and your oxymoronic Support our Troops stickers on your rear windows are finally going to recka-nize that the Iranians have us by the proverbial balls, and that the use of force is economically disastrous. They tested two missiles, two torpedos and a ridiculous excuse for a flying boat in the Strait, and the price of oil shot up to $70/barrel. If/when the shooting starts, you'll have CARRY your kids to soccer practice. Nevermind if they get lucky and plug a super-tanker. I'm interested to see how this plays out, but definitely don't want to see the US, or anyone trading hot punches with Iran. The American economy can't afford it. And neither can the Iranian economy if they can't use their prime resource. I think there's room for a creative, non-military solution here...if only cooler heads would prevail.
Posted by: GradStudent06 || 04/05/2006 23:10 Comments || Top||

#13  So far the security council has shown no motivation to impose sanctions.

Maybe Iran is about to do something that would precipitate sanctions?
Posted by: 11A5S || 04/05/2006 23:33 Comments || Top||

#14  John Batchelor belongs oh the radio show "Coast to coast". You know the one about aliens, UFO's, etc. Or he could have his own radio show "Chicken little returns". Of course, he might eventually get something right?
Posted by: FeralCat || 04/05/2006 23:46 Comments || Top||


Salafists are a new force in Lebanon
Posted by: Dan Darling || 04/05/2006 00:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
100[untagged]

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2006-04-05
  Cleric links ISI and Banglaboomers
Tue 2006-04-04
  Pirates hijack UAE tanker off Somalia
Mon 2006-04-03
  Sudan Bars Egelund From Darfur
Sun 2006-04-02
  Zarqawi fired
Sat 2006-04-01
  US cuts contact with Hamas-led PA
Fri 2006-03-31
  Hizbul Mujahedeen offers ceasefire
Thu 2006-03-30
  Smoking Gun in Hariri Murder Inquest?
Wed 2006-03-29
  US Muslim Gets 30 Yrs for Bush Assasination Plot
Tue 2006-03-28
  Pak Talibs execute crook under shariah
Mon 2006-03-27
  30 beheaded bodies found in Iraq
Sun 2006-03-26
  Mortar Attack On Al-Sadr
Sat 2006-03-25
  Taliban to Brits: 600 Bombers Await You
Fri 2006-03-24
  Zarqawi aide captured in Iraq
Thu 2006-03-23
  Troops in Iraq Free 3 Western Hostages
Wed 2006-03-22
  18 Iraqi police killed in jailbreak

Better than the average link...



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.
3.82.232.31
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (33)    Non-WoT (26)    Opinion (8)    (0)    (0)