Heavy bombers and AC-130 gunships struck the area around Tora Bora, while Afghan troops traded machine-gun fire with al Qaeda. Afghan tanks also pounded al Qaeda positions in the mountains. Afghan commander Hazrat Ali said the Eastern Alliance are cutting down the area in which al Qaeda forces can operate. Ali said al Qaeda has suffered heavy casualties and is essentially finished. He said bin Laden is probably in a "special place," such as a bunker or a cave. Afghan sources said that 70 to 80 U.S. troops were aiding their effort, with especially intense activities taking place during nighttime hours. British special forces were also reported in the area. Surrender negotiations which were expected to take generations having failed, al-Qaeda has been reduced to "Hazrat, your shoe's untied" and "We'll be back in a half hour or so. We left something on the stove."
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12/14/2001 ||
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Thirteen injured Arab fighters were holed up at the Kandahar's main hospital, threatening to blow themselves up if anyone other than medical staff entered their rooms. The al Qaeda gunmen were wounded either by U.S. bombing or in fighting with Afghan tribal forces. They were brought to the Mirwais Hospital by al Qaeda a few days before the Taliban fled the city. The Arabs have explosives tied to their waists, hospital staff said.
Just think of all the screeching about atrocities that'll come after these goobers have been hung.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Johnny Jihad has been moved from Camp Rhino to the USS Peleliu, where he was "safe and being well cared for." He will remain there until the administration decides whether to process him in the military or civilian judicial system.
Somebody's got to clean the ship's toilets, and the swabbies are busy.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Pakistani security officials arrested 109 Pakistanis who fought with Afghanistanâs Taleban as they crossed the border.
Welcome home, boys. How was jihad?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Twelve members of the U.S. special forces and dozens of tribal eastern alliance fighters were trying to take out an al-Qaida defensive position at Tora Bora when they came under machine-gun fire. In an exchange of fire, two of the Americans were grazed by bullets -- one in the shoulder, the other in the knee. The wounded men, in Afghan dress, were well enough to walk down the mountain. They were taken back to a schoolhouse in a nearby town where they have been staying for medical treatment. The special forces were also acting as spotters for an American airstrike against the machine-gun placement. The Americans and their allies eventually took the al-Qaida position.
With reports of wounded almost non-existent, with the exception of claims in the Pak papers, it would seem body armor's been vastly improved in the past few years. Bet that cheezes the al-Qaeda Bad Guys no end.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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FoxNews reports about 50 al-Qaeda have surrendered at Tora Bora. We'll see how many of them blow up or otherwise attempt to inflict damage on our guys. When they do, there will be a screech raised about bumping them off.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Taliban Defence Minister Mullah Abdul Razaq said Osama bin Laden escaped from the country about a fortnight ago. He said the information came to him from ex-potentate Mullah Mohammad Omar who is still hiding in southern Afghanistan. Razaq, who claimed to have spoken to Omar, said Omar himself was safe despite the loss of Kandahar. Razaq claimed the Taliban would re-occupy Afghanistan within one month. "We will soon carry out our operations and the whole world will see it, " he said.
"Save yer Taliban money, friend, 'cuz the Pashtuns're gonna rise again!" Actually, we suspect this is something Mullah Omar may have had revealed to him in a dream.
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Brazenly advertising their presence in a city where the Taliban were routed only last weekend, a group of American and British special forces rode downtown in open trucks and set up camp right next to the governor's compound. The move, by troops whose presence was not, until today, officially admitted by the Pentagon, startled the throngs who shopped for long-forbidden music cassettes and other goods in Kandahar's fully opened markets. A large crowd stood outside the downtown compound that the Western soldiers had entered with duffel bags and packs, riding in trucks with "I Love New York" bumper stickers. The mood seemed more curious than hostile. "We came here to see the Americans and to see how they will treat us," one man said. A British soldier with short blond hair and a Palestinian-style checkered scarf stood through the roof of a Land Rover and waved back at children, sometimes offering a thumbs up.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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An armored convoy of U.S. Marines rolled through downtown Kandahar and took control of the city's heavily damaged airport. Commanders said they planned to remove unexploded bombs and booby traps left by the Taliban before rebuilding the airport with the help of local contractors. "There is a ton of unexploded ordinance" said Lt. Don Faul. "There are active minefields all around." An official of the new administration of Kandahar said officials were hoping to reopen the airport in time for humanitarian aid flights next week.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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A plane chartered by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has landed in Kabul in the first flight of its kind. The aircraft was carrying 31 tonnes of blankets, tents, jerry cans, tarpaulins and kitchen equipment as part of a humanitarian aid package aimed at alleviating food and basic health shortages in the region.
You're welcome.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Indian sources believed two of five Parliament attackers could be Kashmiris and other three foreign mercenaries, probably Afghans. Times of India says there were two Afghan nationals, two Kashmir residents and a Pakistan national. At least 20 people, apart from the five slain terrorists, were in some way involved in the planning of the attack. It possibly required over two months of planning and organising. Investigators have already rounded up over a dozen people for questioning. "The slain terrorists were found in possession of five mobile phones and a number of cash cards. The record of these phones was checked and this led us to the suspects we have so far rounded up," said a police official. What a relief. That brings it back to probably the Taliban, which points the finger at Gen. Gul and the rogue ISI as the culprits, rather than Boskone/Ernst Stavro Blofeld/Professor Moriarty.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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"It's a pack of lies," Yahya Mujahid, spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, said in Islamabad. "The attack was sponsored by India itself. The whole drama was staged to malign Kashmir's Islamic groups and to involve Pakistan."
They're all pickin' on Pakistan's gunmen and they were just standin' around mindin' their own business. Say! I'll bet the Jews are behind it all. Yeah. That's it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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V K Malhotra, spokesman of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, part of the ruling coalition, said MPs pushed Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the prime minister, to "adopt a pro-active and hot pursuit policy to destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The government should take steps similar to the ones adopted by the US in Afghanistan," he said. Mr Vajpayee refused to comment on whether his government was contemplating such measures against Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Security forces killed a dozen rebels, including three top members of Hizbul Mujahedin and seized more than three million rupees ($64,000). The three Hizbul members were shot dead by army and counter-insurgency police near Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital. The dead included a divisional commander named Nazir Ahmed Yatoo, who "has been a kingpin and chief coordinator of all militant activities in north Kashmir" and headed a list of most-wanted militants. "Yatoo was raising finances for the group," a spokesman said. "His death is a major setback to the Kashmir militancy." Security forces also recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition and 40 kilograms of plastic explosive. Meanwhile, security forces shot dead two militants near the international border in the southern Jammu region. Two militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammed were also shot dead by security forces in the Zainpora area. During the exchange of fire nearly a dozen residences and other structures caught fire and were destroyed. Five more militants, two of them belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, were killed elsewhere in Kashmir.
Nice shootin', Mukkerjee! We might also point out that Jaish-e-Muhammad has "declared war on all Americans."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Pakistani military government spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi threatened India if it engages in retaliation for the attacks. "India seems to be making efforts to create tension by blaming Pakistan," he said. "India will pay heavily if they engage in any misadventure."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
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Police arrested two Kashmiris following leads from the site of the terror attack on Parliament about ownership of the car used in the strike. The two, having identical names Ashiq Hussain Khan, were arrested by a joint team of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir police and were being flown to Delhi for interrorgation.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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"Pakistan is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, responded blandly to India's charges. "President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the government have already condemned the incident. Simply issuing a statement is not enough," he added, saying that India would "have to provide us some evidence" that would be examined.
These guys just have no originality at all. Sure is a coincidence that countries on either side of them are plagued by terrorist attacks and lunatic gunmen.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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India accused Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad of carrying out the suicide attack on Parliament and demanded that Pakistan arrest the group's leaders. India demanded that Pakistan's government prove its commitment to fighting international terrorism by also the activities and freezing the funds of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and another Islamic militant group also fighting for independence in Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Israeli troops raided four Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, killing seven Palestinians in gunbattles and arresting dozens of suspected militants. In the Gaza Strip, warplanes attacked a compound of Force 17, a Palestinian security service. The attack in Gaza City was the third straight night of air strikes this week.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Palestinian Authority Minister for planning and international cooperation Nabil Sha'ath accused the United States of bias towards Israel and urged it to do more to prevent attacks by Israeli forces. "If a Palestinian commits an offence, then this is a big crime and terrorism in the eyes of the Americans. But the Israeli killing and destruction is not a crime and is something that happens 'accidentally'," he said. "That is bias." Sha'ath said Washington's policies were not helping U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's peace mission in the region. Ummm... Could be that Palestinians slaughtering granny ladies and teeny-boppers and buses full of civilians mighta had some dampening effect on his mission, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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The head of Lebanon's Hizbollah urged Palestinians to launch more suicide bomb attacks on Israelis and defy U.S.-led demands to crack down on terrorist militant groups. "These suicide bombings are the only way to defeat the Zionists,'' Hizbollah head Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told thousands at a rally in Beirut. "These suicide operations are the weapon that God gave this nation, and no one can take it away... Pay no attention to those who say there are civilians and soldiers in Israel. They are all occupiers and invaders, partners in crimes and massacres.'' Hundreds of young boys, some masked and with rifles, paraded through Ain El-Hilweh, near Tyre. About 1,000 people held a similar protest in the nearby Al Burj Al Shamali camp.
Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all. Wonder of some Lebanese Reifenstahl managed to film it? The "pay no attention" part certainly does echo Zawahri's philosophy, doesn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said Israel will look for a new peace partner to replace Chairman-for-Life Arafat because of his failure to rein in Islamic militants. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was also quoted as telling Germany's popular Bild newspaper that Arafat was "history" and that his troops would stay in Palestinian land to keep "law and order."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Hamas pledged to keep up its attacks on Israel and said Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority was now "in the trenches" alongside the radicals. "These operations (attacks) are in response to the massacres carried out by (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon against our people," Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Damascus-based Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) called on Palestinian organizations to adopt a "resistance plan that is answerable to the people and to the world." It did not elaborate, but a source close to the DFLP said the group plans to limit attacks to Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories, rather than inside Israel.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh charged that Israel is trying to sabotage international peace efforts. "This is a comprehensive war against the Palestinian people, its elected leadership and the peace process," he said. Palestinian officials said they cannot continue their operations against the militants because of the Israeli strikes. The Palestinian Authority suspended a day-old order closing all offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, groups that have claimed responsibility for dozens of bombings, including suicide attacks that have killed scores of Israelis and injured hundreds.
"We just can't do it! And it's all your fault!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/14/2001 ||
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The Saudi cleric visiting Osama bin Laden in the Pentagon video was named as Sheikh al Ghamdi. Al Ghamdi is a militant cleric from a tribe of the Assir province. Several of the September 11 suicide hijackers were members of his tribe. In the video, al Ghamdi brings news of other clerics, Sheikh al Bahrani and Sheikh Sulayman al 'Uman. He describes how al Bahrani gave a sermon in his mosque at the same time as the suicide attacks. His speech was videotaped in order to be taken to bin Laden at a later date. Al Ghamdi tells bin Laden that the cleric sends him his "special regards". After his September 11 sermon he was arrested by the Saudis and interrogated, according to the video conversation. Al 'Uman is also mentioned by al Ghamdi for issuing a fatwa on the Quran radio station. In it he says the people who died in America were not innocent. If I were in the intel business, I'd be hopping right now to trace everyone connected however remotely with those "clerics." Are they allies of bin Laden? Supporters? Or controllers? BTW, Mark Steyn has his usual low-key assessment of the video here.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
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Canadian troops are unlikely to be in Afghanistan in any numbers before the new year, although it's possible a small reconnaissance mission, perhaps a single officer, might join an international scout party next week.
Yup. That should tilt the battlefield situation in our favor. Glad to see it's so important to the Great White North.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
