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Al Qaeda's Leader Encourages Somali Militants to persist the fight
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
7 19:28 Hellfish [] 
3 18:13 Pappy [] 
4 22:08 Zhang Fei [] 
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7 20:17 Nimble Spemble [1] 
7 13:57 Frank G [] 
1 00:32 g(r)omgoru [] 
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2 00:36 Rambler in Virginia [] 
2 12:36 Bright Pebbles [] 
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1 09:43 Richard Aubrey [1] 
2 13:48 Barbara [] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
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4 23:09 JosephMendiola []
3 12:45 lord garth []
1 21:32 Redneck Jim []
1 23:14 JosephMendiola []
1 07:31 g(r)omgoru []
5 19:31 Hellfish []
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1 23:23 JosephMendiola [1]
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1 02:52 Redneck Jim []
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4 23:35 JosephMendiola []
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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3 16:52 Steve White []
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Page 4: Opinion
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1 13:09 Besoeker []
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Page 6: Politix
1 07:40 ryuge []
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Candice Accola aka Caroline Forbes in "The Vampire Diaries (TV 2009– )" aka Melody in "On the Doll (2007)" aka Joann in "Deadgirl (2008)" aka Caitlin Stone in "The Truth About Angels (2011)" aka Sophia in "Kingshighway (2010)" aka Girl Lab Partner in "Juno (2007)" (age 25)



The label's showing
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/13/2012 3:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot 05/12

Malin Akerman (Swedish) aka Linda Lovelace in "Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story (2013)(Pre-production)" aka Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II in "Watchmen (2009)" aka Gertrude in "The Proposal (I) (2009)" aka Lila in "The Heartbreak Kid (2007)" aka Annie in "Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)" aka Ronnie in "Couples Retreat (2009)" (age 34)



Gorb, I'm looking for a bicycle.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/13/2012 3:10 Comments || Top||

#3  I think this one would work great!
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2012 5:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm a good SAM kinda guy. I'll just give a good pull on that tag.
My father-in law was in church and was faced with a similar dilemma. The poor Lady just in front of him had a dress wedgie. To help her he pulled it out. Slap!.. Well he felt bad about that so on the next hymn he stuck it back in to make things right. Slap!.. Well we both still don't understand women very well. Happy Mothers Day.
Posted by: Dale || 05/13/2012 9:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's (and Dad's who had to be both)!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 13:02 Comments || Top||

#6  You did okay, Frank.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/13/2012 13:56 Comments || Top||

#7  thx Pappy :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 13:57 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Roadside bomb kills 4 policemen in northwestern Afghanistan
[Iran Press TV] Four coppers have been killed by a roadside kaboom in Badghis province, which is located 555 kilometers (344 kilometers) northwest of the Afghan capital Kabul.

Provincial governor's front man Sharafudin Majedi said that a police pick-up truck hit a roadside kaboom planted by cut-throats in the Qadis district of the province on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, all four coppers onboard were killed," he added.

Roadside bombs and improvised bombs (IEDs) are by far the most lethal weapon Talibs use against Afghan forces, foreign troops, and civilians.

The homemade explosives accounted for about half of the 1,500 civilian deaths in the first six months of last year, according to the United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Al Qaeda's Leader Encourages Somali Militants to persist the fight
(Sh.M.Network)-Al Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, has released a new video in which he encourages Somali Orcs and similar vermin to fight on despite the challenges.

In the video, reported Friday by the Site Intelligence Group which monitors myrmidon activities, Mr. Zawahri urges the Shabaab Orcs and similar vermin not to be deterred by American drone attacks.

It is Mr. Zawahri's second video address to the group, which formally joined Al Qaeda in February.

The Shabaab's fighters have increasingly come under pressure in recent times from regional armies and government forces that are pushing them from three sides inside Somalia.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  "You guys keep fighting whilst I bravely stay here and collect the necessary 'boodle'."

Sincerely,
Your Pal Ayman
I.S.I. Hamza Camp Resort & Spa
Muree Road
Rawalpindi, PK
Ph 9290791
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 05/13/2012 12:08 Comments || Top||

#2  He's following the brave example set by bin Laden of hiding in a room and ranting at the TV.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/13/2012 12:36 Comments || Top||


Dutch warship rescues 17 hostages from Somali pirates
,(Sh.M.Network) -- A Dutch Navy vessel on Friday rescued seventeen people who were being held hostage on a suspected pirate dhow off the coast of Somalia, the Dutch Ministry of Defense said. Eleven suspected pirates were taken into custody.

The Dutch Navy warship Van Amstel came across the dhow when its helicopter carried out a reconnaissance flight in the area. The dhow was pulling two smaller skiffs carrying ladders behind it, but the suspected pirates threw them overboard once they noticed they were discovered.

"The Van Amstel headed to the location and made radio contact. The dhow then stopped," the Dutch Ministry of Defense said in a statement. "With the use of Rhibs, fast motorboats, a special boarding-unit consisting of marines made the ship safe under observation of the (Van Amstel helicopter) Lynx."

The marines took eleven suspected pirates into custody and seized weapons, ammunition and other items which can be used in piracy. The Ministry said it also rescued seventeen hostages although their nationalities were not immediately released and it was unclear when they were taken hostage.

"The freed crew is doing fine considering the circumstances and has continued on their way," the statement added. "The suspected pirates were transferred to the frigate. At the moment the staff of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
mission Atalanta is discussing the possibilities of prosecuting the suspected pirates."

Last month, the Danish Navy warship Absalon freed nine Paks and three Iranians who were being held captive by Somali pirates in the Horn of Africa off the coast of Somalia.

Seychelleslater agreed to prosecute four of the Somali pirates, but it remains unclear what will happen to the other pirates. Most pirates are eventually released as many countries cannot or do not want to prosecute them.

In February, a similar operation carried out by Absalon resulted in the deaths of two hostages while several others were rescued. But with none of the nearby countries willing to prosecute the pirates, the seventeen suspects involved in the incident were released in April.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  Good things happen when you name a warship after a beer.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 05/13/2012 9:43 Comments || Top||


South Sudan pulls out its forces from Abyei
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] South Sudan has withdrawn hundreds of police from the territory of Abyei that it disputes with Sudan ahead of a UN Security Council ultimatum, a UN front man said on Friday.

But the United Nations
...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the sound of artillery...
is still "verifying" the South's claim that it has withdrawn all forces from the small territory on the uncharted border between the two rivals, said the front man, Martin Nesirky.

Abyei is one of a many disputes between South Sudan and Sudan that has brought the two sides close to all-out war. Khartoum troops seized most of Abyei a year ago.

The United States and the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
welcomed South Sudan's withdrawal and said Sudan should now pull its troops out of the territory.

AU chief Jean Ping congratulated Juba on "honouring its engagement to withdraw from Abyei" and called on Khartoum to do the same and withdraw its forces from Abyei in accordance with an AU roadmap it endorsed to avert war between the two sides, the 54-member group said in a statement.

The UN Security Council has given both sides until May 16 to withdraw their forces from Abyei and return to peace talks on all their disputes or face possible sanctions.

The two Sudans have already missed one Security Council deadline to halt hostilities.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  Why on earth should the UN be considering sanctions against South Sudan, which is the victim in this entire affair?

If any sanctions should be considered, it should be against the aggressor in Khartoum.
Posted by: American Delight || 05/13/2012 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  "Why on earth should the UN be considering sanctions against South Sudan, which is the victim in this entire affair?"

You just answered your own question, AD.

Also, I'm sure there's bribery money involved.
Posted by: Barbara || 05/13/2012 13:48 Comments || Top||


Arabia
20 Al-Qaeda fighters, 8 soldiers killed in preparation for 'bigger battle' in south Yemen
A total of 28 people were killed on Saturday following clashes and shelling between al-Qaeda fighters and the Yemeni army as the Defense Ministry is launching its "decisive and historic" battle for eradicating terrorism in the south, said military and local sources.

At least eight soldiers were killed including Colonel Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, and 12 others were injured in the preliminary clashes which took place as the army advanced towards Zinjibar and Jaar, reported military sources.

Moreover, 20 al-Qaeda militants were killed additionally to the death toll caused by the air strikes as the fight gained in intensity on the ground said local residents to the Yemen Observer.

Eye witnesses also mentioned that helicopters dropped leaflets and publications urging the residents to stay away from the places where terrorists were staying to save their lives.

The 25th Mechanized Brigade advanced to the area of Husn Shaddad, to help the troops in Dafwas and Al Kud at the outskirts of Zinjubar, which became almost surrounded from all directions.

And al-Huror area the troops advanced 10 km west of Jaar to the area of al- Abadi, the sources said.

American military experts are participating in preparation for the "decisive battle".
Posted by: tipper || 05/13/2012 07:47 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


SAS Strikes At Al Qaeda's Heart In Yemen
THE SAS has been fighting Al Qaeda forces of Evil in Yemen. Our elite servicemen are thought to have been involved in hunting leaders of Al Qaeda In The ­Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), ­targeting bomb-makers.

The revelation comes days after a double agent with British links infiltrated AQAP, posing as a jacket wallah, and escaped with their latest "undetectable" bomb designed to bring down a US-bound passenger jet.

It is believed that thanks to his information a CIA drone strike in a mountainous region of Yemen killed AQAP leader Fahd al-Quso.

He was on the FBI's most wanted list with a £4million bounty on his head. Now this reward seems likely to go to the MI6-trained agent.

He could also be eligible for a further £20million from the US State department for preventing a ­terrorist attack.

Reports suggested yesterday the agent was born in Yemen not Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
and acquired a British passport as he had worked and studied here.

It is believed he spent time at a language school in the Yemen capital Sana'a, where he may have been recruited as a suicide bomber.

The Saudi secret service, the Mabahith, had already recruited him while working closely with MI6, whose expertise in handling infiltration agents is world renowned.

Intelligence expert and author Gordon Thomas said: "He told the officers he was willing to join Al Qaeda if he could guarantee his family would be flown to the West. After months of secret meetings with his MI6 controller he was given the cover name Falcon."

Mr Thomas says the agent met the world's most hunted bomb-maker, chemist Ibraham Hassan al Asiri, in remote mountains and was shown how to use the suicide bomb.

Asiri, now believed to be in Saudi Arabia, knows he may not have long to live and has been passing on his bomb-making skills to at least 10 others in Yemen. He is thought to have created the underpants bomb for former London student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to bring down a jet over Detroit and is now in a US jail.

However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
the SAS and the CIA are striking back against Al Qaeda in Yemen by monitoring the movements of suspected beturbanned goons and supplying information for drone strikes. Last Wednesday night in the town of Jaar, an Al Qaeda stronghold in the Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province, a drone killed eight ­militants. Intelligence suggested the group had been meeting to discuss renewed terrorist outrages.

One of the group, called Jallad, had been in charge of supplying arms for AQAP fighters in Yemen.

On April 22, the financier of Yemen's Al Qaeda, Mohammed Said al-Omda, also known as Abu Gharib Taizi, was killed in an air strike in the northeast of the country. He was considered AQAP's number four.

A week before that, a US drone destroyed a vehicle carrying Al Qaeda beturbanned goons in Bayda, some 130 miles south-east of the capital Sana'a, killing three leaders. One was Abu Hamza al-Sabri, referred to as the "Emir (prince) of Bayda".

The drone strikes are seen as the prelude to an all-out offensive on Al Qaeda strongholds by the SAS and US troops.

However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
while military action intensifies in Yemen, there are fears this may provoke agents in Britannia to mount attacks during the Olympics in July.

Russian secret agents last week smashed a plot by Islamist Chechen separatists to attack the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. Portable surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, flame throwers, rifles, explosives and maps were seized.
Posted by: || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "On April 22, the financier of Yemen's Al Qaeda, Mohammed Said al-Omda, also known as Abu Gharib Taizi, was killed in an air strike in the northeast of the country. He was considered AQAP's number four."

I hadn't heard that.

Too much work, too little time..
Posted by: American Delight || 05/13/2012 7:27 Comments || Top||

#2  But, but... I thought the war on terror was OVER!! Obama lied?
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/13/2012 10:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Obama lied; soldiers died.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/13/2012 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  That would the BRITISH Special Air Service (SAS), as in Forces of the United Kingdom, as in the same blokes whom, while attempting to stop tribal slaughter in Kenya, allegedly imprisoned and tortured British Army mess cook Hussein Onyango Obama....for hmmm, hmmmm, allegedly leaking sensitive military operational information to rebels.

Might be difficult to "spike" this one.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/13/2012 13:01 Comments || Top||

#5  "Obama lied?"

Were his lips moving, Darth?

Then yes, he LIED.
Posted by: Barbara || 05/13/2012 13:45 Comments || Top||


#7  Not as costly as backing them would have been. It's all a matter of time frame.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/13/2012 20:17 Comments || Top||


Bahrain Police Disperse Protests
Bahraini security forces fires tear gas and birdshot on Saturday to disperse protests staged in Shiite villages in solidarity with tossed in the calaboose
You have the right to remain silent...
opposition activists, witnesses said.

Dozens erupted into the streets in several villages following calls by the February 14 Coalition -- a youth group that works mainly on cyber social networks with no public leaders.

Witnesses said that some demonstrators burned tires and garbage containers in the middle of the roads, and that some were hit by birdshot pellets and others hurt by tear gas.

Men and women carried posters of leading opposition figures who are behind bars, including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February, and Nabeel Rajab, who has been held for a week pending investigations over tweets deemed insulting to the government.

"We shall never forget the tossed in the calaboose
You have the right to remain silent...
," they chanted.

"Khalifa, we shall never abandon Abdulhadi," they also chanted addressing Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman, who is widely despised by the Shiite majority of the kingdom ruled by the Al-Khalifa Sunni dynasty.

Amnesia Amnesty International says 60 people have been killed since Shiite-led democracy protests began in February 2011, including a brutal mid-March crackdown last year.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Scores Injured In Crackdown on Yemen Protest
[Yemen Post] Scores of people were maimed when the security forces cracked down a demonstration in Yemen's western Hodeida province on Saturday, locals said by telephone.

Many central security were dispatched to the streets early Saturday with batons and teargas to face the demonstration organized by the physicians' syndicate, they said, adding the protest was held to demand removing head of the health ministry's office in Hodeida.

The forces intercepted the people and prevented them from heading to the compound of the provincial government firing teargas, beating and hurling stones on them, the sources added.

"It was a battle between the people and the forces with the two sides clashing and fighting each other with stones and batons," the continued.

Many were maimed, especially from the civilians and there were injuries among the forces, they said. "No one knew how many forces were maimed because of heavy teargas fire on the people".

Medical sources said more than 263 civilians inhaled smoke and among those who were rushed to hospitals were those suffering from injuries caused by batons.

Revolts at Yemen's public offices have been continuing since a power-sharing government took office after the 2011 popular uprising.

In most cases, the state employees and unionists demand to remove heads of offices and other corrupt officials including the remnants of the former regime.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Omani Diplomats Evacuated From Yemen After Threats, Site
[Yemen Post] Oman has ordered the staff of its embassy to leave Yemen and head to Muscat for the time being after threats from an anonymous group, Alahale reported, quoting a diplomat at the embassy on Saturday.

"The Omani embassy in Yemen received threats from unknown people. The Sultanate of Oman took the threats seriously and ordered its staff to leave the country indefinitely," the diplomat said, according to the website.

"The embassy did not close its door. The ambassador and the Omani staff have just been ordered by the Omani Foreign Ministry to head to Muscat," the diplomat said.

The Yemeni workers continue and will continue their work at the embassy until the Omani staff is ordered to come back, the diplomat said. "The Omani authorities are currently contacting the Yemeni authorities to upgrade security around the embassy compound and the residence of the Omani staff".

"The staff will resume job, expectedly within a month, when the Omani authorities get sure the security level around the embassy is much better," the website quoted the diplomat as saying.

Weeks ago, the Saudi embassy was shut down in protest at the continuous detention of the Saudi consul, Abdullah Al-Khalidi, who was kidnapped and taken to Shabwa province in March.

Al-Qaeda, which has also kidnapped a Swiss woman and a Frenchie in the past two months, was behind the abduction of the Saudi consul in Aden.

The authorities are exerting major efforts to release the foreigners amid continuous battles on the Death Eaters in southern and southeastern regions including Shabwa and Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Secessionists Take Over Yemen Base Amid Ongoing Battles On Militants
[Yemen Post] Gunmen, believed to be from the southern secessionist movement, Harak, took over a military post in Yemen's southern Dhale province on Friday, informed sources told the Yemen Post.

The post is based on the peak of the highest mountain in the province and fierce battles erupted between the forces and the gunnies, the sources said.

"The attack on the military post took place during the prayers on Friday when the gunnies exploited the absence of the troops who were at mosque," they said.

Furthermore, the gunnies besieged another nearby military post and the forces were fighting them to retake the seized one, the Dar Al-Haid camp, and lift the besiege, they added.

The southern movement, Harak, emerged in 2007 to demand legal rights of the people in the south but later it turned to be divided into wings including armed ones.

Separately, the army is preparing to storm from all directions Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
, to clear cut-throats from the remaining areas, after the forces in association with popular fighters have recently regained control of some areas in it. Al-Qaeda cut-throats seized Zinjibar and other towns in Abyan last year.

In southern and southeastern regions, the army, with direct support from the US, has been fighting Al-Qaeda jihad boys, mainly in Abyan and Shabwa, for the past few years.

Hundreds of cut-throats have been killed and injured in the past few weeks including senior jihad boy leaders wanted by the US. Some of the leaders were killed in drone strikes in Shabwa.

Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


U.S. Raids Kills 11 Qaida Militants in Yemen
[An Nahar] A U.S. drone killed five suspected members of al-Qaeda in two rocket attacks on vehicles transporting the jihadists near Marib in eastern Yemen, a tribal chief said.

"A drone fired two rockets at two vehicles, killing five al-Qaeda members," near the village of al-Hosoon, outside the city of Marib, 170 kilometers east of the capital Sanaa, he said.

Other witnesses confirmed the attack.

The attack was reported shortly after another raid further to the east, near Shabwa, took out six suspected members of al-Qaeda, according to a local official, as U.S. drone raids intensified and the Yemeni army moved to reclaim areas controlled by the bad turbans.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Yemen Troops Launch Offensive on Zinjibar
[An Nahar] Yemeni troops launched an all-out offensive on Saturday to retake the southern city of Zinjibar, held for a year by al-Qaeda gunnies, in fighting that killed 12 people, military and local sources said.

The "wide offensive" began from three sides and is supported by the air force and the navy," said a military official, adding that Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Ahmed is supervising the operation from nearby.

"The defense minister is supervising a military plan to regain control of the city of Zinjibar and (the neighboring town of) Jaar from al-Qaeda gunnies," the official said.

Two soldiers, including a colonel, were killed in the fighting, while 12 others were maimed, he said.

Six fighters of the al-Qaeda-linked Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), were also killed in the attack, said a tribal source in Jaar, to where the gunnies evacuate their casualties.

The beturbanned goons took control of Zinjibar, the picturesque provincial capital of Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
, last May. They also control Jaar and other parts of the province.

Military units also attacked Jaar from the west, the military official said, adding that troops reached the area of Kadama, on the outskirts of the town.

In the morning, air strikes hit Jaar, killing three al-Qaeda gunnies and a civilian, and wounding three civilians, a tribal source said.

The air raids were to pave the way for advancing troops, said another military official.

Yemen's new president, Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, vowed last week to intensify the war against al-Qaeda, which has made much of the lawless southern and eastern part of the country a safe haven.

"The war against bully boyz has not started yet, and will not be over before we purge every province and village so that the displaced can return home peacefully," he warned.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Britain
Controlled Blasts in UK Town as 'Terror Plan' Foiled
[An Nahar] Bomb disposal experts carried out a series of controlled blasts in the British town of Cheltenham, media reports said Saturday, after police evacuated the area and held two men on terror charges.

The local men, aged 52 and 31, were jugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
over explosives offences in Friday raids on two locations in a quiet residential suburb of the spa town, which is also home to Britannia's national electronic surveillance center.

Some 100 homes were evacuated overnight as counter-terror police investigated "items found in a garage" and the pair were then rearrested on suspicion of preparing or instigating a terrorist act, police said.

Police warned residents to expect a "controlled disruption" at the site, where four loud blasts were heard in television footage broadcast by ITV on Saturday afternoon.

Britannia's government communications headquarters, GCHQ, is based in Cheltenham, where thousands of workers gather intelligence through intercepting electronic communications.

Mainly based in a purpose-built development known as the "doughnut", they also defend the country's own information and communications systems from hackers.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain

#1  held two men on terror charges.

Clive? Nigel?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 8:51 Comments || Top||

#2  2 and a bit miles from the nearest mosque.
Very close to a school and a college.

Might even be green terrorism.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/13/2012 12:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Related to the terror plot Moscow just foiled???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/13/2012 23:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Either that, or the Hard Boyz have declared jihad agz "Kidney Pudding/Pie"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/13/2012 23:07 Comments || Top||


MI5 feared British police attended terrorist camps
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Bad guys hit newspaper office in Nuevo Laredo with grenades

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Ranburg.com

A newspaper office was attacked with small arms and hand grenades last Friday night in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state, according to Mexican news and Twitter accounts.

According to a web posting Sunday morning by El Universal news daily, the offices of El Manana was attacked at around 2300 hrs Friday by armed suspects. The firing last five minutes.

No one was reported hurt in the attack and damage was limited to the walls of the building and nearby parked cars. The armed suspects committing the attack then left a blanket painted with a message, the contents of which were not disclosed in news accounts.

Blankets painted with messages are colloquially known as narcopintas or narcomantas, depending on the area of Mexico they are found. The contents are often claims and threats, which in most cases are not considered credible. However, those messages are the drug cartels' most effective means of mass communication with the broader citizenry.

Nuevo Laredo is in the grip of a deadly competition between Los Zetas drug gang, of which Nuevo Laredo is considered to be their home turf and the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels, which have vowed to end Los Zetas' dominance in the city.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 05/13/2012 12:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The death of newspapers" taken to another level
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 13:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Pretty droll, Frank.

Headline should read:

Not satisfied with "dying newspapers" drug cartels take to killing them.
Posted by: badanov || 05/13/2012 14:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Where did they get the grenades? Certainly not from a gun shop in Phoenix.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/13/2012 16:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Probably directly from Holder, AU. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 05/13/2012 16:41 Comments || Top||

#5  prolly directly from a BATFE agent
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 16:41 Comments || Top||

#6  heh
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 16:43 Comments || Top||

#7  You might want to change the headline from "Bad Guys" to something else. "Good Guys"? "Freedom Fighters"?
Posted by: Hellfish || 05/13/2012 19:28 Comments || Top||


Police find 49 mutilated dead near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon: UPDATED II

For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey city, click here. This story will be updated and revised as more information becomes available. Updated: revised death toll. Updating with information on the message left at the scene.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 49 unidentified individuals were found dead early Sunday morning on a highway east of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a Sunday morning post on the website of Milenio news daily, the find was made at Kilometer 47 on Mexico Federal Highway 40,which leads to Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Police were dispatched to the area based on a telehpone call. Mexican Policia Federal agents were the first on the scene and found several black garbage bags containing the remains of 49 individuals. The actual location is 10 kilometers east of Cadereyta, near the village of San Juan. Cadereyta itself is about seven kilometers east of Monterrey.

Milenio reported late that six women and 43 men were among the dead. Previous reports had said a narcomanta left at the scene had been removed, but reportedly said "100 percent Zetas" Another Associated Press dispatched said that the victims were migrants heading to the United States. A late revised report on the website of Milenio said the some of the victims had the facial features of individuals from South America. The report also said the narcomanta had the symbol of Los Zetas only, probably the letter Z, suggesting Los Zetas likely committed the crime.

A late report from El Universal news daily quoted Jorge Domene, spokesman for the Nuevo Leon state Secretaria de Seguridad Pública (SSP), as saying that some of the victims had gang tattoos, suggesting the deaths were a settling of accounts between gangs. He also said that most of the victims had been killed two days prior to their discovery.

Nuevo Leon attorney general Adrian de la Garza said that that he has reports of a sudden increase of abductions in the area.

Some of the bodies left at the scene were already in a state of decomposition. The report also said spent shell casings were found at the scene, suggesting some of the victims were killed at the scene. He also said some of the remains were dusty, and theorized the dead may have been transported to the scene in a dump truck,

The municipality of Cadereyta-Jiminez is at the terminus of a bypass from Mexico Federal Highway 85 -- which goes to Monterrey proper -- to the east of Monterrey. The road starts in Allende. The area around the intersection in Cadereya has been the scene of several shootouts between Mexican security forces and drug cartels gangs which operate in the area.

Recent similar bloody incidents have taken place in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, essentially the home of Los Zetas drug cartel in which members from both the Los Zetas and gangs affiliated with the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels have have killed and mutilated the bodies of their rivals in grisly fashion.

El Excelsior news daily reported that the highway, closed since about 0400, was reopened at about 1000 hrs.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 05/13/2012 09:48 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another Associated Press dispatched said that the victims were migrants heading to the United States

Story also reported also by ABC news. The question is: Is the threshold of 'newsworthiness' the number of dead, or that the deceased may have been migrants?
Posted by: Pappy || 05/13/2012 14:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Obviously the story is the massive number of dead. Milenio now saying the great majority of the dead are Los Zetas. The migrants angle, if you believe the narco boards ( an who doesn't :oP) are actually Guatemalans, who, if case you haven't heard, love their new Los Zetas overlords.
Posted by: badanov || 05/13/2012 14:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Perhaps I should elaborate that to say "newsworthiness to the US media"....
Posted by: Pappy || 05/13/2012 18:13 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
DSP escapes blast
[Dawn] A deputy superintendent of police on Friday survived a kaboom, while three people were killed in separate incidents in the lovely provincial capital.

A bomb went kaboom! near the Ring Road bridge moments after a police vehicle with DSP at the City Circle Banaras Khan on it passed by it in the morning.

The DSP told news hounds that he was on the routine visit to different parts of the city and as he was entering GT Road from Ring Road near a bridge, the blast took place.

An official of the bomb disposal unit said around two kilogrammes explosives packed in a plastic can was planted in a manhole and detonated through a remote-controlled device.

The kaboom was so loud that it was heard in different parts of the district. It damaged vehicles, including two Edhi Foundation ambulances parked nearby.

Officials of the Paharipura cop shoppe said the prime target of the kaboom was the DSP but he escaped unhurt.

It was the second blast in the area during the last two days with the first injuring security personnel in Badbher area.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Southeast Asia
Rubber tapper shot by Thai terrorists
A rubber tapper was wounded in a shooting at a small roadside shop in Pattani province on Saturday morning.

Witnesses said that Paosi Kaelae,33, was sitting in front of the shop when a gunman riding on pillion of a motorcycle fired opened fire on him. The attackers then fled. Paosi was hit once and taken to the hospital.

Also in Pattani, suspected terrorists militants attacked police security checkpoint early morning on Saturday, but no one was wounded.

The attackers sprayed the policemen on duty at the checkpoint with bullets from AK47 assault rifles. Policemen stationed at the checkpoint fired back and the suspected terrorists militants fled the scene after a clash that lasted about ten minutes. No one was wounded.
See also:
Noodle stand vendor shot by motorcyclist
Posted by: ryuge || 05/13/2012 07:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Sunni-Alawite clashes in Tripoli leave one dead
Ongoing clashes in Tripoli between factions supporting and opposed to the Syrian uprising have left one person dead on Sunday. The man was killed in clashes between residents of the predominantly Sunni Muslim district, hostile to the Syrian regime, and residents of the Jabal Mohsen district belonging to the Alawite community.

A resident of the largely Sunni district of Kobbe was killed in similar clashes on Saturday, which also left five wounded. Clashes between the two sects are common in Tripoli.

In a separate incident, an army officer was killed by sniper fire after clashes broke out on Saturday night between the army and a group of young Islamists, who were demonstrating in Tripoli for the release of a terrorist suspect.

The gun battles first erupted between the Islamists and the army started as the youths, sympathisers with the rebels in Syria, tried to approach the offices of the pro-Assad Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

About 100 young men, mostly Islamists, blocked the northern and southern roads into Tripoli, setting up camp at the southern entrance to the city. Black flags bearing the slogan "God is Great" were put alongside the flag of the Syrian rebels.

Nizar al-Mawlawi, whose 27-year-old brother Shadi was arrested by Lebanese security forces said, "We will not leave until my brother is released."

Lebanese security services stated that Shadi al-Mawlawi was arrested as part of an "investigation into his ties to a terrorist organisation," without going into details.
Posted by: || 05/13/2012 08:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  spillover - expect more as the Alawites and Shias see Sunni gains over Assad
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2012 13:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Popcorn
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2012 15:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Extra butter with that, grom? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 05/13/2012 16:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Sunni Arabs are a majority at 60% of the population. However, everyone in Syria knows that Sunni Arabs are tyrannical rulers and intolerant religious zealots. Unless NATO provides air support for the rebels, I don't see how 60% prevails over the 40% that has tanks, howitzers and an air force. Assad may solve his demographic problem the traditional Middle Eastern way, by driving millions of whatever recalcitrant populations exist from his country.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/13/2012 22:08 Comments || Top||


Islamist Group Claims Deadly Damascus Bombings
Al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group unknown before the Syrian revolt, released a video on Saturday claiming responsibility for twin suicide kabooms in Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
that killed 55 people.

The video says the Thursday bombings, the deadliest since the uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
The Scourge of Hama...
regime erupted in March 2011, were "in response to regime bombing of residential areas in Damascus, Idlib, Hama, Daraa provinces and others."

Al-Nusra Front, which does not give a precise date for the attacks, says it has launched a "military operation in Damascus against the regime strongholds, targeting the Paleostine branch of the security services."

Those were the buildings targeted in Thursday's bombings.

The statement accompanying the video, dated May 10 but posted on the site on Saturday, is titled "Communique No. 4," although the group has already posted seven such communiques.

The group has grabbed credit for previous attacks, including double blasts in Damascus on March 17 that killed 27 people, as well as two other deadly kabooms in the capital and two in the northern city of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...

Thursday's car boomings in Damascus left 55 dead and nearly 400 maimed, with the regime and opposition trading accusations of responsibility.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2012 0:32 Comments || Top||


Jaafar Clan Kidnaps Syrian Opposition Members in Retaliation to their Abduction of Family Member
[An Nahar] Members of the Free Syrian Army kidnapped overnight two Lebanese citizens and a Syrian national, reported Voice of Leb radio on Saturday.

Khodr Hussein Jaafar, Ahmed Medlij, and Syrian Abdullah al-Zein were kidnapped for their alleged role in persecuting Syrian opposition members in Syria, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
on Saturday.

The Jaafar clan retaliated by abducting some 50 members of the opposition in the Syrian border towns of Zeita and al-Burhaniyeh, it added.

They have been taken to the region of Beit Jaafar near the city of al-Qasr in al-Hermel in the Bekaa, it continued.

VDL said that the residents of Arab al-Mojadleh and Abou Jabal have since intervened to negotiate the release of the hostages.

The Free Syrian Army proposed the release of Jaafar in exchange for all the Syrians, but the clan refused, it revealed.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria Violence Kills 10 Even as U.N. Mission Grows
[An Nahar] Violence in Syria cost at least 10 lives on Saturday as a U.N force to oversee a truce neared half its planned .strength, monitors said.

In Idlib province, a stronghold near the Turkish border of rebels fighting President Bahar Assad's regime, security force gunfire killed a man and a woman during a series of raids, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another civilian and a child were killed in pre-dawn shelling in central Hama province, the Britannia-based watchdog said, while a fifth was killed by sniper fire in the northeastern city of Deir al-Zour.

Meanwhile,
...back at the hoedown, Bob finally got to dance with Sally...
four soldiers and an army deserter were killed in festivities between rebel groups and regime forces in Idlib province, according to the Observatory.

For its part, state news agency SANA said authorities thwarted an infiltration attempt by an "armed terrorist group" from Turkey and entered the Idlib city of Jisr al-Shughur.

Syrian forces killed and maimed a number of the "terrorists," as the rest fled back into Turkey, SANA added, saying the groups' weapons had been seized and RPG launchers and machineguns.

Elsewhere, troops also clashed with rebel fighters in the flashpoint central province of Homs, in southern Daraa province, and in several areas of Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
province.

A military court, meanwhile, has released eight activists, including blogger Razan Ghazzawi, until their May 29 trial on charges of "possession of banned publications," human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
lawyer Anwar Bunni said on Saturday.

The persistent violence came as the U.N. mission in Syria said it now had 145 military observers on the ground, just shy of half the force of 300 authorized by the Security Council. They are backed by 56 civilian staff.

The observers are tasked with shoring up a ceasefire brokered by U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
peace envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
that was supposed to take effect on April 12 but which has been broken daily.

According to the Observatory, another 17 people were killed in violence on Friday, including 12 civilians, while the total corpse count has climbed to more than 930, over two-thirds of them civilians, since the battered ceasefire.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  U.N. Mission Grows

Found a good restaurant in Damascus?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/13/2012 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Who are the Syrian UN members who are supposed to "observe" the Syrian situation? Are they even armed enough for self defense (from either side of the conflict)?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/13/2012 0:36 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2012-05-13
  Al Qaeda's Leader Encourages Somali Militants to persist the fight
Sat 2012-05-12
  Tens of Thousands of Protesters Defy Syrian Regime Gunfire, 13 Dead
Fri 2012-05-11
  Somali Gov't, Al shabab claim victory over Bay,Bakol fighting
Thu 2012-05-10
  Damascus bombings kill 40, wound 170: state TV
Wed 2012-05-09
  Annan Fears 'Civil War' Looming in Syria
Tue 2012-05-08
  Al-Qaeda underwear bomb plot was targeted by US drone
Mon 2012-05-07
  Nine soldiers killed, military convoy attacked in N Wazoo
Sun 2012-05-06
  Man wanted in USS Cole bombing killed in Yemen: tribal chief
Sat 2012-05-05
  Pro-Regime Gunmen Kill 12 'Qaida' Militants in Yemen
Fri 2012-05-04
  Bajaur teenyboomer kills 24
Thu 2012-05-03
  Afghanistan: Pakistani driving truck bomb arrested
Wed 2012-05-02
  Suicide bomb blast hits hotel in Somalia, two MPs believed dead
Tue 2012-05-01
  'Egyptians thwart Iranian plot to kill Saudi envoy'
Mon 2012-04-30
  US drone 'kills three militants' in Miramshah
Sun 2012-04-29
  Syria Troops Kill 10 Rebels in Damascus Region

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