Iraqi militants holding a German woman and her son hostage demanded Saturday that Germany withdraw its troops from Afghanistan to ensure their safety.
The little-known Arrows of Righteousness group posted video on the Internet on Saturday threatening to kill the two in 10 days if Berlin won't comply.
CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video. In it, a woman identified as Hannelore Marianne Krause urges German Chancellor Angela Merkel to heed the demands. A passport with that name is shown in the video. German officials did not confirm the kidnap victims' names or say why they were in Iraq.
"Crisis management officials are working on the case of the hostages" and are in contact with the appropriate government officials and with family members, according to the German Foreign Ministry.
While sitting next to her son, Krause tells Merkel, "These people want to kill my son in front of my eyes, and then they'll kill me, if the German troops did not withdraw from Afghanistan." She and her adult son clutch each other and cry as they speak while three militants, two armed with large assault rifles, stand behind them. "They are not joking, and they'll kill us," Krause says. "I am very tired. Please help me. Make a decision or we will be killed."
As part of NATO's Afghanistan force, Germany has about 3,000 troops in the relatively peaceful northern part of the country. On Friday, Germany decided to send additional reconnaissance jets and personnel to the area. German troops also help train Iraqi soldiers and police, but not in Iraq.
Krause also called on German citizens and government and nongovernmental organizations to help.
The three masked men who are shown standing behind the two Germans are in civilian clothes, not the usual uniform worn by militants in Internet videos. Reading a prepared statement, one of the militants says: "We have warned you. Otherwise, you will not see their bodies."
"Muslims are all one nation, and have one religion. It is not acceptable that Germany leads the coalition troops in Afghanistan, and attacks the secured villages and claim it is not fighting in Iraq."
Police detained five suspects on Friday in connection with the killing of a German aid worker in northern Afghanistan, said officials. The five men were detained this morning in the province of Sari Pul, where the victim worked for aid group German Agro Action and was shot dead on Thursday, said police spokesman Zemrai Bashary. He gave no further details. Two gunmen killed the aid worker and robbed his three Afghan colleagues after stopping their two vehicles near the village of Mirza Wolang in Sayyad district, said deputy the provincial governor, Qamarudin Shikeb. They took them out of their cars, searched and robbed the Afghans and took the German a short distance away, killing him with two bullets, said Shikeb.
A spokeswoman for Bonn-based German Agro Action confirmed the death, but said the organisation was still working to get more details. We dont know anything yet except that this has happened, said spokeswoman Simone Pott. She declined to release the name of the dead man.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:37 ||
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Senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah demanded on Friday that Italian troops in Afghanistan be withdrawn and two arrested spokesmen for the Islamic militia be set free, for the release of an abducted Italian journalist.
Shahabuddin Attal, claiming to be a spokesman for Mullah Dadullah, emailed the commanders audio statement to Daily Times from an undisclosed location. Dadullah said in the statement that Italian newspaper La Republica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo would only be set free when the Talibans demands were met.
Italy should set a timetable for the withdrawal of its troops, and the US forces should release two arrested Taliban spokesmen Dr Muhammad Hanif and Lutfullah Hakimi, said Mullah Dadullah, who is leading the Taliban insurgency against US and Afghan forces, in the audio message. The Italian journalist was last seen on Sunday, and the Taliban claimed they kidnapped him in Helmand province, where British forces are engaging the Taliban.
The Taliban accused Daniele and an Afghan companion, Ajmal, of spying for the British forces. If these demands are not met in the next seven days, the Taliban will make no distinction between the Italian and the American forces, said the Taliban commander.
Reuters adds: However, another Taliban spokesman told Reuters by satellite phone from an undisclosed location that the Taliban would free the Italian reporter if he could prove he was not a spy. Taliban spokesman Mullah Hayat Khan said on Friday the Taliban were still questioning Mastrogiacomo, and he could be released if he was found innocent.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:35 ||
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#1
This shouldn't be too difficult to arrange unless Prodi's bank account has a hold on it. Probably cheaper to withdraw a bunch of useless supply clerks, truck drivers and APO workers than pay ransom. Why is it Italian reporters are always "spying for the Brits"? Doesn't Italy have any intelligence service?
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
03/10/2007 8:40 Comments ||
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MOGADISHU, March 10 (Reuters) - Newly-trained security forces clashed with police at a Mogadishu police station on Saturday in a gunbattle that killed one person and wounded two, witnesses said. The incident was a reminder of the size of the task faced by Ugandan soldiers, the vanguard of an African Union (AU) force that started arriving this week to tame the anarchy that has usually reigned in the Somali capital since 1991.
"A stray bullet came from nowhere. Tensions were high and there was firing from both sides," said local reporter Abdullahi Addow, who was inside the police station at the time.
A security source said one policeman was killed and two security troops were wounded in the brief clash that took place when about 1,500 new forces turned up for duty at the police station in an eastern suburb of the coastal city.
Many residents say insecurity is worsening in Mogadishu, with shootings and almost daily assaults on government forces and their Ethiopian allies, who defeated militant Islamists in a swift December offensive.
Didn't defeat them quite enough, now did they?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2007 11:11 ||
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A European tour group that went missing last week is "safe and secure" but being held by unknown kidnappers near the disputed border of Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ethiopia's foreign minister said. "Last evening I heard they are safe and secure," Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin told The Associated Press Friday, citing tribesman in the remote, hostile region who say they have seen the group. "They are in good condition. We don't even know yet who the kidnappers are."
Seyoum said tribal elders had reported the group was in the Afar region, which straddles the border of Ethiopia and archrival Eritrea, and that they appeared to be well. While the region's ancient salt mines and volcanoes offer a spectacular, moonlike landscape for tourists, bandits operate there and tourists must have armed guides. The group - five employees of the British Embassy in Addis Ababa or their relatives - were abducted along with 13 Ethiopian drivers or translators March 1. Four of the Europeans are believed to be British citizens, including one of Italian origin; the other is French. Five of the Ethiopians are believed to have escaped or been released.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:20 ||
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#1
"While the region's ancient salt mines and volcanoes offer a spectacular, moonlike landscape for tourists, bandits operate there and tourists must have armed guides."
And a complete lack of common sense, plus a death wish....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/10/2007 1:42 Comments ||
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#2
Ahh! The obligatory Italian in the midst.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
03/10/2007 8:41 Comments ||
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#3
The area IS spectacular, but I think I'll do my "visiting" via Google Earth.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/10/2007 11:29 Comments ||
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Kenyan police officials have arrested a man who they believe to be Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a ring al Qaeda suspect in the 2002 Israeli airline attack and hotel bombing that killed at least 15 people.
The arrest occurred just days before the United States Embassy in Kenya issued a warning Tuesday, that a possible "terrorist attack" was being planned in Mombasa to coincide with the World Cross Country Championships on March 24.
The man believed to be Nabhan was arrested last week in Mombasa after a foreign exchange dealer hit a panic button because of the man's uneasy behavior. Police thought the man resembled Nabhan's photo and arrested him, although Kenyan authorities have not confirmed his true identity.
Al-Amin Kimathi, executive coordinator of Muslim Human Rights, an Islamic group in Kenya said all attempts to retrieve information from the suspect turned futile.
Did you try the number seven truncheon?
"We tried to get access to him, but we could only manage a very brief chat," said Kimathi. "He was terrified, he told us that he was in Somalia. He didn't tell us any details."
Nabhan is wanted for questioning by the FBI and Kenyan police for the 2002 attacks and the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people. He fled to Somalia after the attacks. Last year, Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State of African Affairs, accused Islamic radicals in Somalia of sheltering him and demanded a hand over.
#1
fled Somalia back into waiting arms in Kenya. I hope he's terrified. That way he'll be even more susceptible to Mr. Black & Decker reversible drill interrogation.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2007 8:03 Comments ||
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Algerian security forces killed Friday three suspected Islamist militants, the Interior Ministry said. The three were shot to death in the center of the city of M'sila, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of the capital, Algiers, the ministry said in a statement. Three pistols and four grenades were found on the suspects.
The operation "shows the security forces' determination to fight against these criminals," the statement said. Friday's incident come less than two days after nine suspected militants were killed in separate sweeps by security forces in the regions of Ain Defla, 145 kilometers (90 miles) west of Algiers, and Skikda, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:21 ||
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Kenyan police have arrested a man they believed to be a key al-Qaida suspect who tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner and helped plan the simultaneous bombing of a hotel in 2002 that killed 15 people, officials said.
The man's identity was not immediately confirmed, but investigators said they believe he is Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior official in Kenya's security services told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the matter was classified.
Bet he got flushed out of Somalia along with the rest of the garbage
Nabhan is wanted for questioning by the FBI and the Kenyan police for the 2002 attacks and the 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people. Nabhan fled to Somalia after the attacks near Mombasa. Last year US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer accused Islamic radicals in Somalia of sheltering him and demanded they hand him over.
The man believed to be Nabhan was arrested last week in Mombasa after a foreign exchange dealer hit a panic button because of the man's nervous behavior, the security official said. Police thought the man resembled Nabhan's photo and arrested him, the official added. US officials have interrogated the suspect, another law enforcement official said, who also asked not to be named because the matter was classified. The US Embassy in Kenya declined to comment.
The arrest took place just days before the US Embassy in Kenya issued a warning on Tuesday that a possible "terrorist attack" was being planned in Mombasa to coincide with the World Cross Country Championships on March 24. The Kenyan government reacted angrily to the warning. The Kenyan government has a history of playing down any possible terrorist threats to protect its tourism industry.
Al-Amin Kimathi, the executive coordinator of the group Muslim Human Rights in Kenya, said his group was aware of the arrest and investigating. He said the police register listed the suspect's name as Mohamed Abdulmalik Abduljabar.
"We tried to get access to him, but we could only manage a very brief chat," he said. "He told us that he was in Somalia. He didn't tell us any details... he was terrified." The suspect, who is the same age as Nabhan, believed he was going to be flown out of Kenya, Kimathi said. The suspect has a Middle Eastern appearance, he added, like Nabhan.
"He'll be leaving, on a jet plane. Don't know when he'll be seen again..."
Terrorists believed to be from an East Africa al-Qaida cell killed 15 people when they drove a car bomb into a hotel near Mombasa on November 28, 2002. Almost simultaneously, members of the group fired a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli airliner taking off from the Mombasa airport. The missile missed.
Four men were charged in the attack, including Nabhan's brother, Mohammed Ali Saleh Nabhan, but all were acquitted. US and Kenyan authorities have been searching for Nabhan and at least two other suspects, accused cell leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Comorian, and a Sudanese, Abu Taha al-Sudani. Mohamed Saleh Nabhan told the Associated Press on Friday that he had no information about his brother and did not know if he was dead or alive.
This article starring:
ABU TAHA AL SUDANI
FAZUL ABDULLAH MOHAMED
MOHAMED ALI SALEH NABHAN
SALEH ALI SALEH NABHAN
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2007 00:00 ||
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Yep GreenMan, that PP&Mary classic is just begging for the RantBurg treatment.
Police arrested Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai's close aide Mahtab Khamaru at a mosque near his house at Talgharia in Bagmara upazila after Juma prayers yesterday.
Rab men arrested Khamaru on November 27, 2005, but they had to release him following a ministerial diktat. Since then he was absconding. Khamaru, son of Hamirkutsa Union Parishad Chairman Muhammad Ali Khamaru, was wanted in several murder cases including those of Osman, Mukul and Dipankar, police said. The killings took place during Bangla Bhai's Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) operations in 2004. Khamaru was one of those who led the JMJB procession at Rajshahi on May 23, 2004. He addressed a rally in front of the law enforcers and threatened journalists for writing against Bangla Bhai.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:44 ||
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#1
Don't know what a diktat is, but if it leads to an absconding that the RAB can quash, I am all over it. Maybe we can get some diktat imported here and given out in Dearborn, or other places of high infestation....
THE leader of the Christian Democratic Party, Reverend Fred Nile, has called for an immediate moratorium on Islamic immigration to Australia
Rev Nile, who is the longest serving member of the NSW Legislative Council, was speaking to supporters at a gathering in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde yesterday.
He said there has been no serious study of the potential effects on Australia of more than 300,000 Muslims who are already here, and Australians deserve a breathing space so the situation can be carefully assessed before Islamic immigration can be allowed to resume.
In the meantime, Australia should extend a welcoming hand to the many thousands of persecuted Christians who are presently displaced or at risk in the Middle East. "I pray that within a decade, Muslims in Australia will clearly have demonstrated their commitment to Aussie values including democratic pluralism and the rights of women. We can then assess whether Muslim immigration should begin again," he said.
Rev Nile is leading 21 Christian Democratic Party candidates contesting seats in the NSW Legislative Council at the March 24 state election. Fifty-three Christian Democratic Party candidates are also running in Legislative Assembly electorates across the state.
Rev Nile said there are many reasons why it's appropriate for NSW voters to make a statement on a federal issue as important as immigration.
He said NSW has the benefit of a big share of Australia's Middle Eastern Christians, and they're rightly alarmed at the rapid growth in NSW of Islamic concentrations, where the English language is disregarded and Australian family values are unknown or despised.
#5
"The fear of Allah is not there. So we have now a polluted earth, a polluted water, a wasteland," he(sheik Mohammed Omran) told a meeting this year. As a opposed to the environmental paradise known as the middle east.
Nile wants to halt the invasion while Oman wants to solidify the colonization through procreation.
#6
A halt on islamic immigration is like putting a finger in the dyke (I hope I am spelling that correctly). It is a start but at some point somebody else is going to have to start bailing.
#13
Only those among us with brains have already realized that we are at war with Islam. Therefore, why would we ever consider allowing more of them into our country ?
Only asshole politicians would answer in the affirmative.
Australian David Hicks is expected to be arraigned on March 28 at Guantanamo Bay on a charge of "material support for terrorism", a senior Pentagon official said Friday. The charge was formally filed against Hicks on March 1, setting the stage for a war crimes trial this summer at the U.S. naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba.
The Pentagon official speaking on condition of anonymity said the March 28 date was set after prosecutors were granted a one week delay from an earlier arraignment date of March 21. Under the commission rules, Hicks' arraignment is supposed to be held within 30 days of the charges being approved by Judge Susan Crawford, who oversees the military commissions.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 00:31 ||
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Suspected pro-Taliban rebels in Pakistans tribal belt shot dead an Afghan refugee accused of spying for US forces operating in neighbouring Afghanistan, officials said on Friday.
Abdul Rahim was shot dead in Mohammad Khel village south of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district late on Thursday, a security official said. A note near his body said that he was an American spy, the official said, adding that Rahim had been abducted by militants a few weeks ago and his body had been taken to Afghanistan by relatives. It was the third such killing in a week near Miranshah and the eighth this year in the tribal areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:33 ||
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Good news, in a way. Good to know that the Tallys think there are American spys ergo SFs in the area. Nothing like a little tattle-tailing to start the war of paranoia amoung the riff-raff. So, when we will hear the real news about some of these guys like disappearing or becoming civilians caught in a crossfire at a wedding?
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
03/10/2007 8:49 Comments ||
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DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two gunmen on a motorcycle killed a Shia businessman here on Friday, a day after an assailant fatally shot an activist of a Sunni extremist group here. Anwar Ali Shah, a 35-year-old tractor dealer, was sitting outside his shop in Dera Ismail Khan, a town in NWFP province - when the attackers opened fire on him, said Bahawal Khan, an area police chief. One of Shahs salesmen was wounded. But another report said the salesman was also killed. Khan declined to say who might have been behind the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:31 ||
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Police on Friday arrested a suspected suicide bomber with explosives. Sukkur District Police Officer (DPO) Mazhar Nawaz Sheikh told a press conference that Jalil Ahmed Ababaki alias Abubakar of the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was allegedly planning a suicide attack on a Muharram procession here today (Saturday). The police have recovered from him a hand grenade, 1.5 kilogrammes of explosive material, seven detonators, four steel switches, two plastic switches, five screws and a jacket used for suicide bombing, he added.
Sheikh said that Ababakis three accomplices had been arrested on February 16 and added that Ababaki had escaped at the time. He said that police had recovered from them an explosive jacket used for suicide bombing, detonators, hand grenades and bomb-making material. He said that Ababaki belonged to the group of Usman alias Saifullah, who leads Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Balochistan and is wanted by the provincial government with a head money of Rs 1 million. He said that Ababaki used fake names like Abubakar alias Tariq, Jawad alias Shah Jee and Sahib and Zakria to deceive the police.
The police officer said that initially Ababaki had confessed to six terrorist acts in Balochistan. He has admitted that he carried out a failed suicide attack on Allama Sajjid Naqvi on December 3, 2006 and that he and his accomplices killed 13 police recruits at a training centre in Quetta on June 8, 2003. He and his two accomplices killed 45 people at a Muharram procession on March 2, 2004. The DPO said that Ababaki and his accomplices were also involved in several terror attacks in Sindh.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:31 ||
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#1
Take him out to the middle of a field and see if the explosives are real, if so, cancel the trial, just plant whatever is left of him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2007 10:16 Comments ||
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"After preliminary investigations, it was proven that the arrested al-Qaida person is not Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, but, in fact, another important al-Qaida official," said Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, an Iraqi military spokesman. "Interrogations and investigations are still under way to get more information."
Al-Mousawi declined to give the suspect's name on Saturday. It was al-Mousawi who announced late Friday that al-Baghdadi had been captured. A senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also had told The Associated Press that al-Baghdadi had been taken into custody. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
The reported arrest followed rumors this week that al-Baghdadi's brother had been arrested in a raid near Tikrit. Almost nothing is known of al-Baghdadi, including his real name and what he looks like; his capture would be difficult for officials to verify.
The man captured Friday was found along with several other insurgents in a raid on the western outskirts of Baghdad, officials said. Al-Mousawi said the suspect at first identified himself as al-Baghdadi, and that his identity was corroborated by another man captured with him. Bet Al-Baghdadi was hoofing it in a hiked up burkha while this future Black & Decker test subject was playing Spartacus.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2007 07:01 ||
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Nobody knows his name, or what he looks like - are we sure he even exists?
Think of it - create an imaginary figurehead leader and he can never be killed or captured!
From an Iranian sources, corroborates the original report. Still no U.S. confirmation, so 48-hour rule would still apply. A key leader of Islamic State of Iraq , an al-Qaeda-inspired insurgent group, has been arrested, an Iraqi military spokesman said. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the self-styled leader of the Sunni Arab group the Islamic State in Iraq, was captured in the Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad, the BBC reported.
He heads an umbrella group of Sunni insurgent movements fighting the government and U.S. troops in Iraq. "He was captured this afternoon by Iraqi forces with several of his aides as a result of receiving intelligence tips," an Iraqi government official said. No other immediate confirmation of the report from official sources was available.
Al-Baghdadi's group is believed to be behind a series of attacks in Iraq , including the kidnapping of at least 18 police officers last week who were subsequently killed. Security sources said he was also among militants who stormed a prison near the northern city of Mosul, allowing some 140 prisoners to escape.
This article starring:
ABU OMAR AL BAGHDADI
Islamic State of Iraq
Islamic State of Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 00:29 ||
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A combined operation between ground forces and Apache attack helicopters engaged and killed platoon-sized terrorists west of the Baghdad International Airport Complex on Iraqi Highway two days ago, the Multi-National Force (MNF) said in a statement on Friday. The statement said a patrol reported tracer fire from terrorists in Az-Zaidon area. As they moved toward the firing, they detected armed insurgents in an ambush position along both sides of a canal road, the statement added.
The statement said after clearing the area of friendly forces, the patrol called for close air support from nearby AH-64 Apache attack aircraft. The helicopter engaged the enemy fighters, killing 12 and destroying the truck, which had an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted in the bed, the statement added.
#1
What's up with these guys thinking this is a viable tactic? It's too much to hope that this is a major trend. Anyone who saw the video clip (posted at HotAir yesterday) of one gun crew/truck being dusted off (presumably by Apache fire) would be thrilled to think these guys will continue with this.
Though I kinda get the (uneasy) feeling, as with the reports of bad guy training camps being engaged north of Baghdad last year, that the very existence of such quasi-conventional, albeit hopeless, efforts by the enemy is yet another confirmation that we've been incredibly lax in Iraq. Something that struck me a while back - Michael Gordon, the NYT military writer whose stuff I normally give only average weight at best, made a comment in his "controversial" interview (Charlie Rose?) that was quite telling: he said that the US hadn't really been trying to win in Iraq. Now I know we're all supposed to assume a hushed respect whenever fancy concepts like counter-insurgency are raised - but sorry, no sale here. Establishing order is usually a matter of actually enforcing your will and kicking some butt along the way. If an enemy that is so inferior that they suffer 100/1 casualties or worse in an actual engagement feels like they can establish training camps or mount ZSUs on trucks, it's incontestable confirmation that we're not really even in the game.
Basing smaller units in Baghdad neighborhoods is long, long overdue (something that was commonly discussed long ago). But our refusal to apply our power in any decisive way (yes, Virginia, even unconventional wars are usually decided by decisive applications of force) continues to yield bad fruit.
#2
I'll suggest a different explanation for this incident.
The 'Insurgency' has plenty of money but running out of trained/skilled cadres. Money is now going to groups who may have conventional military expertise but don't have the skills to run IED, suicide bomber, etc. operations.
This looks to me like an ambush of a type that Saddam's army may have trained for.
#3
As the trained terrorist cadres are weeded out, the remaining fighters are the street gangs and dead-enders from Saddam's army and secret polices. Their military skill sets are geared toward a different type of warfare, and are more easily dealt with. The major advantage for the terrorists with these guys is that 1. they are locals, and 2. they are for hire. Al-Q has run some of its best crews into Iraq and gotten them ground up. So, now they are down to hiring the local gangbangers, gangsters, and secret police to do their dirty work. Two of the biggest advantages that the terrorists have had in Iraq are : the BILLIONs in looted cash hidden by Saddam and the Baathists around Iraq, and the unbelievable amount of munition dumps that Saddam had in Iraq. The Baathists have been playing rent-a-thug from the fall of Saddam, and when they hooked up with Al-Q for awhile, they spread the money around so Al-Q could do the same. Plus, this is the first war where IEDs are such a major weapon : every other war, the enemy fired artillery shells at you from their guns, not placed them alongside the roads as remote-control bombs.
When IEDs are your main mode of attack, sloppy ambushes are to be expected, after the experienced cadres are killed or captured.
#5
As the trained terrorist cadres are weeded out, the remaining fighters are the street gangs and dead-enders from Saddam's army and secret polices. Their military skill sets are geared toward a different type of warfare, and are more easily dealt with. The major advantage for the terrorists with these guys is that 1. they are locals, and 2. they are for hire. Al-Q has run some of its best crews into Iraq and gotten them ground up. So, now they are down to hiring the local gangbangers, gangsters, and secret police to do their dirty work. Two of the biggest advantages that the terrorists have had in Iraq are : the BILLIONs in looted cash hidden by Saddam and the Baathists around Iraq, and the unbelievable amount of munition dumps that Saddam had in Iraq. The Baathists have been playing rent-a-thug from the fall of Saddam, and when they hooked up with Al-Q for awhile, they spread the money around so Al-Q could do the same. Plus, this is the first war where IEDs are such a major weapon : every other war, the enemy fired artillery shells at you from their guns, not placed them alongside the roads as remote-control bombs.
When IEDs are your main mode of attack, sloppy ambushes are to be expected, after the experienced cadres are killed or captured.
#6
There were many articles in 2003 and 2004 where the Baathists held entire families hostage to force one of them to carry out attacks (including suicide car bombs). In 2007, that's old hat and the news media no longer finds it exciting and could care less.
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2007 7:21 Comments ||
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#7
How many are in a platoon? The dictionary only says two squads, but I don't know how many for that, either.
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian hoodlums gunmen on Saturday stopped a car carrying a Hamas Cappo Cabinet minister and opened fire on the vehicle, mouthpieces officials said, sparking a gunbattle and underscoring lingering tensions between rival gangs movements trying to form a syndicate coalition government. No one was hurt in the shootout, which came a day before President Mahmoud Kingfish Abbas was expected to discuss the racketeering deal unity deal between his Fatah gang movement and Hamas at a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud da Weasel Olmert.
Hamas gangsters officials said Cappo Cabinet minister Wasfi The Schemer Kibha, the target of the attack, was traveling to a sit down ceremony in the West Bank town of Tubas when his car was stopped at a nearby village by three gunmen. The muscle militants opened fire, hitting the vehicle four times, da filthy coppers security officials said. Hamas goons forces quickly rushed to the scene, there was an exchange of fire, and the three gunmen fled, Hamas killers officials said. The meetin ceremony, where Kibha and another consigliere minister planned to dedicate a new Safe House Education Ministry building, was canceled. Hamas accused Palestinian hitmen security officials with ties to Fatah of being behind the attack. The made-men Security officials said they were aware of the incident but did not know who was responsible.
In other violence Saturday, Palestinian goons militants opened fire at Palestinian security hidey-hole headquarters and forced the racketeering joint government offices to close in the West Bank town of Jenin, demanding that they receive long-overdue payoffs salaries promised by the gang government. About 20 members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a pro-Fatah violent group, gathered outside the hideout security building, periodically firing rounds. After about an hour, the heat militants retreated, saying they had received assurances that da checks in da mail their demands would be met. No injuries were reported. Zakariye Three Fingers Zubeydi, the local Al Aqsa leader, said he ordered his men to halt their fire after the Top Dogs government agreed to resume payments to families of men killed in violence with Israel, and to open negotiations on paying da boys the militants their back salaries. "We solved the problem. We stopped shooting," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2007 14:16 Comments ||
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#2
No one was hurt in the shootout, which came a day before President Mahmoud Abbas was expected to discuss the unity deal between his Fatah movement and Hamas at a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
#5
DepotGuy thanks for the rich material. We must give the credit due them, Pali-Paleos and Paki-Wackis manufacture tons of material with which to deride them with! ;-)
Frank so are you sticking with RD or one-eyed Elmo?
LOL, Ima conflicted...
I like it, it haz a certain panache but one-eyed Elmo is just too easy to cap on. ;-)
Amy my favorite niece along with her girl friends [all 16-17 years old and gorgeous] were teasing myself and her Dad a couple week ago.
Of course we played along and teased them back, after-all they learned the art from us, the very best. What they wanted waz to drive one of the new trucks and go shopping, well we both said NO!, so they called us both emos and gigled like hell and then ran out of the house. [ya had to be there]
Anyway when they got back from shopping We had to ask them what an emo was??
..Comparatively emos are psychological opposite types from Dale and myself [and in suspect most all RBees too] hence the girl's fun from tagging us emos for giggles.
Two explosive devices detonated earlier Thursday morning in Jabalia Camp, northern Gaza strip, damaging a currency exchange shop and a toy store, Palestinian security sources said. The bombs were set off by unidentified individuals near the shops, which resulted in severe damage but no casualties were reported, the sources added.
In a separate incident, a vehicle belonging to a Palestinian colonel was stolen by four unknown gunmen this morning, security sources said today. The armed men hijacked the car as it was parked in front of the colonel's house northeastern of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.
(IsraelNN.com) Israel has developed the capabilities to engage in both air and land combat via remote control.
Israels Air Force received the Heron (Mahatz in Hebrew) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Thursday. The UAV is called the Shoval by the IAF and expands Israels capabilities greatly.
The Heron has a 50-foot wingspan, can fly at an altitude of up to 30,000 feet and carries a 550-pound payload. It can fly up to 30 hours without refueling and can be operated completely remotely. The large UAV can identify the launch sites of missiles as well as deliver air-to-surface missiles itself, eliminating targets as far away as Iran. Herons over Teheran (a good name for a movie).
It will be phased in at the expense of the older Sarcher model. The Heron is considered the most advanced UAV in the world and can carry the largest payload as well. Israel leads the UAV market and is currently producing several models on rush order for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another Israeli defense company, Elbit Systems, has designed a new robot that can enter a combat zone, hurl grenades and shoot an automatic pistol at enemy forces. Reach fer your gun, Ahmad.
Called the VIPeR, the robot is about the size of a small television. The machine moves on tread and is "undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys caves or narrow tunnels," according to Elbit. The last TV program many a Paleo'll see.
Elbit says the machine has bomb-detecting capabilities as well and greatly reduces the risk to soldiers in hand-to-hand combat situations such as those encountered in the war against Hizbullah terrorists last summer.
#4
Oh, goody. Zionist Killbots(tm).
/snark
I wonder how long untill the cry of "apartheid killbots" or some other such insanity comes out.
Posted by: N guard ||
03/10/2007 1:23 Comments ||
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#5
Dr. Susan Calvin was heard to comment, “How dare they.”
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/10/2007 7:32 Comments ||
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#6
If I know my regulars (just 19 years old kids), sooner or later one of these vipers will be caught in Chen (acronym for female corps in Hebrew) showers.
#7
Y'all MUST read the Keith Laumer BOLO series, intelligent tanks, absolutely loyal, extremely versitile, and downright friendly to the right folks, death on treads to the baddies, great ideas. great combat, especially when outnumbered or out gunned.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2007 10:33 Comments ||
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#8
This is a good step, but wake me when they get the Flaterpillar robotic bulldozers. Specializing in flattening "peace activists" and making Saints out of them.
Posted by: BA ||
03/10/2007 15:53 Comments ||
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#9
Meanwhile the Indian Army Chief is in Israel, shopping for UAVs and other high tech weapons...
Marking a growing defence relationship, Army chief General JJ Singh is visiting Israel and is scheduled to hold a wide range of discussions, including training for elite Special Forces, joint exercises and anti-terrorism and infiltration strategies.
General Singh is the first Army chief to visit Israel, which is the second biggest defence partner of India with an annual trade crossing $10-billion-mark.
The Israeli imprint is now visible in almost all spheres of the Indian defence forces and industry as it is world leader in electronic warfare, hitech avionics and upgradation of weapon systems, including guns and aircraft.
Besides holding meetings with his counterparts, General Singh is also expected to explore possibilities of having joint exercises between the Special Forces of the two countries, sources said here on Thursday.
The two countries have never held a joint exercise even after diplomatic relations were established in 1990 and the subsequent years witnessing robust defence ties. In fact, the Israelis supplied weapons from their operating units when India sought equipment at the height of the Kargil war, thereby signalling a trusted relationship.
While IAF chief Air Marshal SP Tyagi and his predecessor S Krishnaswamy had visited Israel, the first visit by an Indian Army chief holds special significance in the backdrop of terrorism and infiltration faced by both the countries.
The Indian Army is operationally deployed for the past 12 years in Jammu and Kashmir and is facing the scourge of terrorism and infiltration. Similarly, the Israeli Army is also fighting terrorism unleashed by Palestinian terrorists, Hizbollah and is surrounded by hostile nations.
Both the armies are keen to learn from each other's rich and varied operational experience and General Singh is likely to firm up an institutional mechanism for this purpose.
The Army chief, meanwhile, is also expected to visit some defence manufacturing establishments, including those manufacturing artillery guns, hitech weapons for the Special Forces, anti-infiltration devices like thermal imagers and specialised mines, sources said.
The Indian Army is using the Israeli manufactured infantry rifles for the past few years in Kashmir and the 750-km long anti-infiltration fence along the Line of Control is fitted with Israeli anti-personnel devices like thermal imagers.
The volume of defence business between the two countries can be gauged from the fact that Israel has already supplied Barak missiles to the Navy, night fighting devices to the Army and the Air Force, improving the radar network of the IAF supplying, besides hitech electronic warfare and information technology. The IAF will also get four Phalcon airborne early warning radar systems (AWACS) early next year thereby enhancing manifold its reconnaissance capabilities.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/10/2007 17:14 Comments ||
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#12
the Israelis supplied weapons from their operating units when India sought equipment at the height of the Kargil war, thereby signalling a trusted relationship
Jeez! Out of WarStocks? That's a trusted relationship.
#13
Logistics aside, this makes me wonder if the Indian Army is trustworthy? if so, the Robots will be helpful, if not, keep the untrustworthy in barracks and send a remote.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2007 21:29 Comments ||
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Southern militants detonated a bomb hidden inside a school in Yala's Muang district Saturday morning, critically injuring one soldier. In another incident, three villagers were wounded in a shooting by a suspected insurgent in Pattani province.
Police said the insurgents hid the remote control device in a flower bed at the school. They waited until soldiers entered the schoolyard to check it for safety before detonating the bomb, apparently via a mobile phone. The blast took place shortly after 7 a.m. The wounded 22-year-old soldier was rushed to a hospital in the district.
Violence also occurred late Friday after three villagers in Pattani's Yaring district were shot by an unknown gunman. The victims, identified as Sulgifli Bilhem, 22 , Haji Maelae, 22 and Makori Samae, 36, were driving their motorcycles on their way home from a tea shop. Police are investigating the incident.
Ten people were injured last night when Muslim insurgents detonated a bomb inside a karaoke bar in Thailand's Muang district. The explosion occurred at 8:30 am. Police said the bomb weighed about 5 kilogrammes and was detonated by a mobile phone
At least 20 guerrillas and three anti-insurgency commandos were killed when the Sri Lanka military raided a rebel base in the eastern part of the country on Friday. The Tamil Tiger base located 130 miles east of the capital, Colombo, was believed to be a "threat to the main road" where suspected rebels often plant roadside bombs targeting the military, Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.
Meanwhile, the military announced it seized three Tamil Tiger bases and a smaller camp overnight in northeastern Trincomalee district. There were some 100 to 150 rebels in the bases. "They have suffered heavy casualties," Samarasinghe said without providing an exact figure. But troops clearing the areas saw bloodstains on the jungle path, suggesting the rebels suffered casualties, he said.
Trincomalee has a strategic port and serves as a base for the Sri Lankan navy and a chief sea supply route to 40,000 Sri Lankan troops stationed in the Jaffna peninsula. The rebels indirectly acknowledged that the military had taken over the bases but suggested they were empty when the troops reached them. "We had hundreds of bases in that area. Many were closed years back, some were closed recently," rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said, adding, "It is a matter of walking into vacated places."
The military offensives coincided with reports that thousands of villagers were escaping from rebel-held areas in the east, fearing new fighting between the guerrillas and government troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 00:33 ||
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Israel said on Friday that Syria had positioned along its border with the Jewish state thousands of medium- and long-range rockets capable of striking major town across the north of the country, the same day the European Union (EU) confirmed that its foreign policy chief was preparing to visit Damascus.
Talking to AFP on condition of anonymity, Israeli military and government sources said that the Jewish state viewed the Syrian deployment, coupled with other recent reports of troop mobilisation, as an indication that Damascus might be preparing for future low intensity warfare against Israel. We have noticed that in recent months Syria has deployed hundreds, possibly thousands, of medium- and long-range rockets along the border (with Israel), one military source said. Many of the rockets are hidden in underground chambers and in camouflaged silos, which make them very difficult to locate, the source added.
The sources, three of whom were from the military and two from the government, said that Syria had built a system of fortified underground tunnels along its border with Israel, which they said posed a real strategic threat to the Jewish state.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2007 01:28 ||
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#1
low intensity, huh? I think Israel would escalate the intensity to "high" as soon as Syria launched into Israel. Might wanna rethink that, pencilneck
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2007 8:16 Comments ||
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#2
Great. I understand the IDF air arm was running out of real-time bomb sites to practice their runs on. Won't be long, just after tea.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
03/10/2007 9:10 Comments ||
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#3
Thank you International Community for saving Hezbollah in last minute.
#4
Israel needs a leadership overhaul, then one false move by Syria makes Damascus a gravel pit. Keep the status quo and Israel dies on the installment plan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/10/2007 13:31 Comments ||
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(Reuters) SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan - Osama bin Laden, if hes alive, celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday, and his friends in the Taliban prayed for his long life.
The al-Qaida leaders long silence has fueled speculation that the worlds most-wanted fugitive may have died, though many in the international intelligence community reckon Islamist militant Web sites would circulate word of his death. Why would they possibly want to hide the death of the leader of their international movement?
He is alive. I am 100 percent sure, Taliban spokesman Mullah Hayatullah Khan told Reuters, adding that senior leaders were in touch with bin Laden, reinforcing a widely held view that he is hiding near the rugged Pakistan-Afghanistan border.That suggests some ambiguity as to which side of the border he is on
Khan said special prayers were offered by Taliban fighters in camps in Afghanistan to mark bin Ladens birth on March 10, 1957, in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
We prayed that Allah may give him 200 years to live, Khan said, by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location. Hope that works out for ya
When we woke up today, we offered collective and long prayers for him because he is a great mujahid (holy warrior).
The most recent videotape of bin Laden was released in late 2004 -- subsequent tapes released were identified as old footage -- and around half a dozen audio tapes surfaced in the first half of 2006.
But a long silence since then has fueled rumors that bin Laden is unwell, or dead, though the United States fears that the al-Qaida network he founded is rebuilding its base in Pakistani tribal lands, and has forged ties with affiliates in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Dead or alive, bin Laden is revered by some as the symbolic leader of a global jihad, or holy war, against the United States, following the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed more than 3,000 people. By some... what a quaint way to put it
He is the man who raised voices against excesses being committed on Muslims all over the world, the Taliban spokesman said. Well, him and every single professor at Berkeley, Harvard, etc.
The Taliban were ousted from power by U.S.-backed forces in late 2001 after their leaders refused to surrender bin Laden following the al-Qaida attacks on the United States.
The attacks triggered the largest manhunt in history, with over 12,000 U.S.-led troops scouring the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan for over five years.Geez, I wonder why they haven't been able to find him in Afghanistan
The United States also announced a $25 million reward for any information leading to the arrest or death of bin Laden, but leads on his whereabouts have been few and far between.
Intelligence on the movements of his Egyptian deputy, Ayman al Zawahri, is gathered more frequently. Well that makes sense
#1
Happy Birthday, Binny! Enjoying living in a cave? Or are you dead? Either way, let me know. We will split the reward money. Live or die, we'll make a million!
#2
Living in a cave or having assumed room temperature, it's all pretty much relative. Nobody's seen or heard from anyone but his butt buddy Zawahiri in what, years?
"He's dead, Jim."
(Or eventually will be as soon as the bastard sticks his head out from under whatever rock it's flattened under)
Sorry, I was distracted by those leggggggsssssss...
They do seem to go all the way up to a bit of bum there hanging off the right side of the fence. Must be uncomfortable. I've got a nice, soft lap right here she can sit on.
Oh, and that shirt must be awfully warm. Allow me to help her take it off.
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.
Iraqi militants holding a German woman and her son hostage demanded Saturday that Germany withdraw its troops from Afghanistan to ensure their safety.
Senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah demanded on Friday that Italian troops in Afghanistan be withdrawn and two arrested spokesmen for the Islamic militia be set free, for the release of an abducted Italian journalist. 
Algerian security forces killed Friday three suspected Islamist militants, the Interior Ministry said. The three were shot to death in the center of the city of M'sila, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of the capital, Algiers, the ministry said in a statement. Three pistols and four grenades were found on the suspects. 
Police arrested Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai's close aide Mahtab Khamaru at a mosque near his house at Talgharia in Bagmara upazila after Juma prayers yesterday.
Australian David Hicks is expected to be arraigned on March 28 at Guantanamo Bay on a charge of "material support for terrorism", a senior Pentagon official said Friday. The charge was formally filed against Hicks on March 1, setting the stage for a war crimes trial this summer at the U.S. naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba. 
"After preliminary investigations, it was proven that the arrested al-Qaida person is not Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, but, in fact, another important al-Qaida official," said Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, an Iraqi military spokesman. "Interrogations and investigations are still under way to get more information."
A key leader of 
A combined operation between ground forces and Apache attack helicopters engaged and killed platoon-sized terrorists west of the Baghdad International Airport Complex on Iraqi Highway two days ago, the Multi-National Force (MNF) said in a statement on Friday. The statement said a patrol reported tracer fire from terrorists in Az-Zaidon area. As they moved toward the firing, they detected armed insurgents in an ambush position along both sides of a canal road, the statement added.
NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian 
Two explosive devices detonated earlier Thursday morning in Jabalia Camp, northern Gaza strip, damaging a currency exchange shop and a toy store, Palestinian security sources said. The bombs were set off by unidentified individuals near the shops, which resulted in severe damage but no casualties were reported, the sources added. 
Israel said on Friday that Syria had positioned along its border with the Jewish state thousands of medium- and long-range rockets capable of striking major town across the north of the country, the same day the European Union (EU) confirmed that its foreign policy chief was preparing to visit Damascus. 
