KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Airstrikes called in by U.S. Special Forces soldiers fighting with insurgents in southern Afghanistan killed at least 21 civilians, officials said Wednesday. One coalition soldier was also killed.
Helmand provincial Gov. Assadullah Wafa said Taliban fighters sought shelter in villagers' homes during the fighting in the Sangin district Tuesday evening, and that subsequent airstrikes killed 21 civilians, including several women and children.
The U.S.-led coalition said militants fired guns, rocket propelled grenades and mortars at U.S. Special Forces and Afghan soldiers on patrol 15 miles north of Sangin.
Maj. William Mitchell, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said troops killed a "significant" number of militants. "We don't have any report of civilian casualties. There are enemy casualties I think the number is significant," Mitchell said without releasing an exact figure.
A resident of the area, Mohammad Asif, said five homes in the village of Soro were bombed during the battle, killing 38 people and wounding more than 20. He said Western troops and Afghan forces had blocked people from entering the area. 38 killed minus 21 civilians equals 17 terrorists (accepting THEIR numbers).
Those aren't 'civilians', those are the Taliban version of close combat support elements.
Death tolls in remote battle sites in Afghanistan are impossible to verify. Taliban fighters often seek shelter in Afghan homes, leading to civilian casualties, and it is often difficult to determine if people killed in such airstrikes were militants or civilians.
The battle left one coalition soldier dead, the U.S. military said. The military did not release the soldier's nationality, but it was likely an American Special Forces soldier. The soldier's death brings to 48 the number of NATO or coalition soldiers who have died in Afghanistan this year.
Sangin, a militant hotbed in the heart of Afghanistan's biggest opium poppy region, has been the site of heavy fighting in recent weeks.
The report of civilian casualties comes less than a week after Afghan officials said that 51 civilians were killed in the western province of Herat. It also comes one day after the U.S. military apologized and paid compensation to the families of 19 people killed and 50 wounded by U.S. Marines Special Forces who it is alleged fired indiscriminately on civilians after being hit by a suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan in March.
Afghanistan's upper house of parliament on Tuesday passed a bill calling for a halt to all international military operations unless coordinated with the Afghan government, action seen as a rebuke of the international mission here. I'm sure getting government approval (Afghan or US Congress) to fight one's way out of an ambush is going to work real well.
They're feeling pretty cocky. Mayhaps they'd like to whack the Taliban on their own?
#1
KABUL, Afghanistan (May 9) Contrary to some press reports, International Security Assistance Force is unaware, at this time, of any NATO air strikes resulting in civilian casualties over the past 24 hours.
Looks like another local AP stringer makes the call.
To me, it looks like this should tell them that there's no place to hide. Maybe we're finally starting to learn how to fight this war...
#3
Chuck,
The reporter cites Major Mitchell who confirms "significant" casualties, though not (necessarily) civilian. It cits Gov. Wafa who claims the number 21 civilians, but admits they were killed in a battle in which the Taliban took shelter in their homes, which to me makes them totally acceptable 'collateral damage' - assuming they were not complicit, and therefor legitimate targets and not even 'collateral.' All-in-all this was a pretty well-done report, except for the original headline.
Members of 1st Kandak, 1st Brigade, 209th Afghan National Army Corps combat advised by U.S. Special Forces were engaged with small-arms, mortar, and rocket propelled grenade fire from an unknown number of Taliban fighters 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) northeast of the Sangin District Center in Helmand Province on May 8.
The combined force returned fire at Taliban fighters near the village of Lwar Malazi, and then pursued retreating fighters.
During the pursuit, the friendly force continued to receive enemy small-arms, RPG, and mortar fire from the western side of the Helmand River. The ANA and Coalition force maintained contact with the enemy as Taliban fighters took cover in compounds or continued firing on Coalition forces. Coalition close air support aircraft destroyed three enemy command and control compounds including an enemy underground tunnel network located along the upper Sangin River Valley.
During the 16-hour battle, ANA and Coalition forces fought through three separate enemy ambush sites while dozens of Taliban fighters from Kajaki and Lashkar Gha reinforced enemy positions. Over 200 Taliban fighters massed on the combined ANA and Coalition forces throughout the engagement.
Intelligence also indicates foreign fighters and some Shindand district area Taliban fighters from Herat were involved in the battle.
One Coalition member was killed in action during the long fought battle and there were no reported injuries to any Afghan civilians.
http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentcom2/Lists/Current%20Press%20Releases/DispForm.aspx?ID=4854
#5
When is someone from the military command going to appear before this "legislative body" and make it perfectly clear that enemy soldiers hiding in their homes or others only results in destruction of these places and anyone occcupying it. There will be no change or accomodation. What needs change is their attitude that they can run and hide among non-fighters. Tell them directly and tell them to pass it along to their compatriots.
On another note, I think we could eliminate the entire population of Afghanistan with little discernable difference. Why are we pretending that the problem is not Pakistan and mounting direct attacks there? We should be killing most of their population to overcome the real problem. Our stated task is to run Bin Laden to ground, true? We all concede he's likely holed up and protected by Pakistan. Let's go. Americans are tired of this subterfuge and BS. If we were actually eliminating problems I think support would not waver. All this peripheral hocus pocus is what diminishes support. What is wrong with leadership? It is missing. This is just like watching a hound chasing his own tail.
#8
Maybe the next airstrike should be on the Afghanistan "upper house of parliament".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/09/2007 12:42 Comments ||
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#9
Afghanistan's upper house of parliament on Tuesday passed a bill calling for a halt to all international military operations unless coordinated with the Afghan government
And just what exactly do they propose to bring to the table, aside from warning the terrorists to go hide somewhere else? This is time-sensitive stuff. What are they going to do different? I'd threaten to pull out unless the coalition has the authority to do what needs to be done.
#10
Coalition aircraft destroyed enemy command and control compounds including an enemy underground tunnel network
The opium cartel has been busy, if they had time to dig a tunnel network... and someone did well to locate it for destruction.
Woozle Elmeter2970, a lot of Afghanis are putting everything on the line, including their wives, children, uncles and cousins, to make a go of their country. But Opium Territory was a major source of income for the Taliban, and before that for the local warlords, and they're tied by blood relationships (the most important, in that part of the world) to the tribes on the Pakistan side of the border, not to mention the longstanding support of the ISI (Pakistan's CIA, essentially). As for Pakistan, the Pakistani press often reports (as posted here at Rantburg) that President Bush and the US in general not only do not trust President General Musharref and the ruling oligarchy, but force him at frequent intervals to prove that he is on our side of the WoT. Hence the occasional news item about stray Pakistani missiles accidentally fired into certain villages and such... and no doubt other things that never get reported.
Our troops are on second, third, fourth year-long rotations to various battle zones; they've been going flat out since 2003. How many fronts would you have them take on at once, pray tell? Especially while Congress is playing stupid games with funding, so that at the moment everything not critical to current actions is being put on hold until further notice?
As for Bin Laden, he has become a nullity. We haven't heard a peep from him in years, only from his #2 man, who is fond of boasting about all sorts of things from his hideaway deep in the tribal territories. This is a war on terror (ok, really on Islamofascism or Jihadi Islam, or whatever we're calling it nowadays) not on Mr. Bin Laden, whose only virtues were his telegenic eyes and his money bags.
Finally, how do you propose to conquer Pakistan? If you look at a map, youll discover that a significant portion of the country is little valleys tucked in the Himalayas -- where a great many consider RPG launchers to be normal equipment for household defense, and the local tribes support the Taliban, Al Qaeda and all the rest of the jihadi groups who come there to rest and recover. There was a nice little battle between the tribes against a group of Chechnyans recently, with several hundred deaths on each side until the Chechnyans gave up and agreed to go jihading in Afghanistan instead. Quite a few military people here at Rantburg have opined that the only serious option with regard to Pakistan is to glass it over -- the place can only be destroyed, not conquered. Please share your own expertise on the matter, dear Woozle Elmeter2970, that we may know how to judge your opinions.
(SomaliNet) Somalias interim government officials said Tuesday that a curfew has been imposed in Kismayu, 500km south of Somalia last night after insecurity has increased in the city for the past days Kismayu is controversial city which lies along the coast of Indian Ocean. The curfew, which starts from 9:00 pm local time to dawn every night will continue unless the security condition improves, according to the government officials.
Last night, all business owners were ordered to close their commercial interests as security forces were deployed everywhere to keep the curfew in place. Clan militias within the interim government are now in control of Kismayu after the government forces were ousted fom the city. The militia argued that they are not against the government and are ready to work with it.
Government delegations that were sent to Kismayu failed to mediate between the clan rivals of Majerten (those ousted from the city) and Marehan clans, both clans are among Darod, a powerful tribe in Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The three Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants, who were placed on a five-day remand in Rangpur Thursday, disclosed sensational information about their regrouping, technique and plans to blast bombs in NGO offices and other important establishments.
Sources in Gangachara Police Station said JMB militants Rokonuzzaman, Khalequzzaman Lebu and Mahbul Haque revealed to the interrogators that they recruited a large number of people at a number of established NGOs in the northern districts.
They were working in NGOs at grassroots-levels and simultaneously regrouping JMB members. The sources said they told interrogators that there are at least 100 active JMB militants in Rangpur of whom 25 are in Gangachara upazila. During interrogation the JMB men said many JMB men took up jobs at different NGOs upon instructions from the high command. Their purpose was to attack those offices in future.
Meanwhile, the three JMB militants were sent to jail custody yesterday on completion of their five-day remand. Police lodged cases against them under Special Powers Act. Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested them at a remote char of the Teesta. Rokunuzzaman is the chief of Saudpara Dakhil Madrasa and Khalequzzaman is a grassroots-level worker of ASOD, a local NGO. Mahbul is the owner of the house from which police arrested them.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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London, 9 May (AKI) - Anti-terror police on Wednesday arrested four people aged 29-34 in connection with the 7 July 2005 suicide bombings of London's transport system that killed 52 commuters and injured 700. Two men and a woman were arrested in northern England and another man was arrested in central England. Unconfirmed reports said the woman arrested was the widow of the London bombing ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan. Three British Muslim men aged between 23 and 30 were last month charged with conspiracy over the London bombings. They are the first people to be charged in connection with the attacks and Metropolitan police said the inquiry remained a "painstaking investigation."
The three men and the woman arrested on Wednesday are being detained at a central London police station on suspicion of the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism and are being questioned by counter-terrorism detectives. The suspects were arrested under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000
Searches were under way Wednesday at two flats in the central English city of Birmingham - where one man was arrested on Wednesday and at five addresses in West Yorkshire two houses in Dewsbury, two houses in the Beeston neighborhood of Leeds and one house in Batley, police said. Khan was a resident of Dewsbury and had grown up in Beeston.
A key focus of investigations into the London bombings is to trace people who may have provided logistical support to the bombers. "As we have said previously, we are determined to follow the evidence wherever it takes us to identify any other person who may have been involved, in any way, in the terrorist attacks," Metropolitan police said.
A Metropolitan police spokesman reissued an appeal for information about how the London bombers - Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Jermaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussein - were motivated and financed. "We need to know who else, apart from the bombers, knew what they were planning. Did anyone encourage them? Did anyone help them with money or accommodation?" the spokesman said.
There has been severe criticism of both the police and the security services over the handling of the 7 July attacks. Britain's M15 domestic spy service last week issued a rare public defence of its operations after it emerged that British security officials had filmed and recorded conversations of two of the London bombers, Khan and Tanweer, over a year before the attacks. They were also twice filmed in the company of a group of men convicted last week for planning a separate attack.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/09/2007 08:20 ||
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#1
Question Pakistan and the ISI.They are the common theme in UK plots!
#2
How is it they're just now rounding up the wife of the ringleader?
Posted by: RJB in JC MO ||
05/09/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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#3
They seem to assume that the women are merely veiled household drudges, not active participants. I imagine the wife was making calls on her cell phone to other bad guys, or something.
Oslo police swept into action on Wednesday with a coordinated series of raids to smash a family believed to be central to a criminal gang.
Arrests were coordinated with a series of raids in Brazil, where Norwegian police took part. The Oslo action was designed to take out central members of the Pakistani 'B-Gang'. Aftenposten.no received confirmation that Oslo police had arrested at least five of six brothers centrally placed in the gang. Three of the five were in custody before the raids.
Armed police moved into the Furuset district of Oslo, where assorted gang members reside, and at least two arrests were made here. The raids are part of a major police offensive against criminal Pakistani gangs, a project that began in the autumn of 2006. Uff da! Self-supporting jihad.
Police stormed over ten addresses in the Oslo are. According to information received by Aftenposten.no, the raids were not confined to members of the B-Gang, but also to family members that may have profited from their criminal activities. At the same time, a major police offensive against Norwegians in Natal was mounted by a total of 230 officers, with Norwegian police assisting their Brazilian colleagues.
According to NRK's (Norwegian Broadcasting) web site, there was a target list of 23 names of arrest targets in the Brazilian city. The list was not restricted to members of the B-Gang who have invested heavily in property there but also a number of other Norwegians. Search warrants had been procured in order to investigate persons with economic means not in keeping with their declared income, Oslo police said in a press release.
"The action is part of a strategic choice where we have chosen to focus on economic investigation. The objective is primarily to secure and seize proceeds believed to be the profits of criminal operations," said police inspector Iver Stensrud.
A male employee who works at Circuit City behind the Moorestown Mall is the unsung hero that first enabled authorities to foil the Fort Dix terror plot. Circuit City corporate spokesman Jim Babb confirmed this morning that a current employee was asked by one of the alleged terrorists to dub a Jihadist training VHS cassette into a DVD. The clerk alerted Mount Laurel police about the video in January 2006, who then contacted the FBI, which launched the investigation.
"Out of respect for our store associates and also to avoid interfering with the investigation, we're not doing interviews," Babb said. "This is in the midst of the early stages of an investigation and we don't want to do anything to interfere with
that.
Babb declined to give the clerk's name. At the office for Rep. Jim Saxton, R-Mount Holly, spokesman Jeff Sagnip Hollendonner said the congressman had not spoken to the clerk but that the office was considering sending a thank you note. "He is obviously someone who is alert and acted in a very responsible way and he very likely saved lives, there's no question about that," Sagnip Hollendonner said. "So he's a hero because of that."
#3
fuck the muslim boycot and the AVLU and i don't think there rights where viloated by the employee for reporting them wanting too copy the material if it where terrorists related
#5
If they hadn't closed the Circuit City near me, I'd be making a big purchase there.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/09/2007 21:14 Comments ||
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#6
remember it's not the business, it was the employee.
Also don't forget how Circuit City laid off most of their employees for no other reason but to make bigger profits and are only offering to rehire them back at almost half their previous wages, with part time positions so no benefits.
Babb declined to give the clerk's name.
I wonder if he's in the unemployment line
Posted by: Jan ||
05/09/2007 22:10 Comments ||
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#7
Jan's on the money. CC is a burn-job operation. Firing all of their senior employees as a cost saving measure guaranteed the buying public a less qualified level of assistance in all of their stores. Please consider shopping somewhere else that makes real careers for its workers.
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/8/07) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today applauded efforts by federal law enforcement authorities that apparently thwarted a planned attack on Fort Dix in New Jersey.
In a statement, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said:
"Based on the information gathered in this case, it seems clear that a potentially deadly attack has been averted. We applaud the FBI for its efforts and repeat the American Muslim community's condemnation and repudiation of all those who would plan or carry out acts of terror while falsely claiming their actions have religious justification.
"We continue to urge American Muslims to be vigilant in reporting any suspected criminal activities that could harm the safety and security of our nation."
CAIR also requested that media outlets and public officials refrain from linking this case to the faith of Islam. The council asked mosques and Islamic institutions in New Jersey and nationwide to report any incidents of anti-Muslim backlash.
Along with innumerable condemnations of terror, CAIR has in the past launched an online petition drive called "Not in the Name of Islam," initiated a television public service announcement campaign of that same name and coordinated a "fatwa," or Islamic religious ruling, against terrorism and religious extremism.
CAIR is beginning to figure out what a PR disaster they've had by screeching 'discrimination' every time a Muslim jihadi wannabe gets arrested in America. They've noticed that most people hear about such an arrest, nod their heads and grimly think, "good, let that bastard rot in prison forever", and go on about their business. What CAIR is doing now is damage control.
#1
I think one thing that is clear here, is that this was clearly an out and out terrorist attack, unlike the Flying Imams case. There, it could have been an attack, or a probe of security for a future attack, but the Flying Imams did nothing illegal. In the Fort Dix case, what the jihadis did was clearly illegal.
Of course, CAIR's real advice to the jihadis will be "next time be more careful so you don't get caught"
#2
[The Imams' Flying Legal Circus] could have been an attack, or a probe of security for a future attack
or even a means of trying--via lawsuit--to chill the participation of Concerned Citizens toward reported behavior that looks plain odd.
Thanks to the clerk who spotted this and said "These guys ain't right."
Thanks to the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey for his diligence.
Thanks to any of the state and local police forces who worked with the FBI.
#3
FBI: Clerk 'unsung hero' in Fort Dix plot WASHINGTON An alert store clerk suspicious of a videotape exposed the plan of six aspiring Islamic holy warriors who were plotting to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey with assault weapons, the FBI said Tuesday.
#4
In the Fort Dix case, what the jihadis did was clearly illegal.
I'd phrase it as "not illegal". And that's just because we nobody's been obviously killed. Yet.
And even if I were a terrorist organization trying to masquerade as CAIR an advocacy group, sometimes you gotta pay the devil his due so you have at claim to legitimacy, however tenuous, to people on the outside to maintain deniability.
#7
CAIR also requested that media outlets and public officials refrain from linking this case to the faith of Islam.
This is like the White Citizens' Council asking that Klan lynchings not be linked to White supremacy. Most White supremacists are, after all, peaceful and law abiding. We condemn those who commit such heinous acts and falsely claim to have a racial motivation. To stigmatize the White supremacist community only breeds more terrorists.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/09/2007 22:06 Comments ||
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The federal government has charged five alleged Islamic radicals with plotting to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey. A sixth was charged with aiding and abetting the illegal possession of firearms by three of the others.
The men were arrested Monday night and heard the charges against them Tuesday in federal court. They will be held without bond pending a hearing Friday, according to Michael Drewniak, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey.
The video "depicted 10 young men ... So at least 5 (10 in video minus 6 arrested plus cameraman) are not currently accounted for.
... who appeared to be in their early 20s shooting assault weapons at a firing range in a militia-like style while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allah Akbar,' according to an FBI affidavit filed with the criminal complaints. What kind of legitimate shooting range allows this sort of behavior? One hopes it has been identified and carefully watched for the past year.
Sure would be nice to know who owns the range, eh?
Two paid informants infiltrated the group, one in March 2006 and the other in July. Both of them "consensually recorded" meetings and conversations, How long before CAIR, MSM, Surrendercrats and fellow travelers spin this as a case of entrapment of another little group of stupid, hopelessly inept wannabees, all set up to give the Bushies something to talk about.
See the CAIR statement: they weren't that dumb.
One of the informants claimed to have connections with an arms dealer who could sell the alleged conspirators AK-47 automatic machine guns (sic) and other weapons, according to the affidavit. Both took part in firearms training with the group, the affidavit said. This will be claimed as proof that strict national gun control laws are needed - what could have happened if these guys had been somewhere besides gun-free NJ? Ironically, military bases may be among the most 'gun-free' zones of their size in the country - only 'open carry' and only MPs, sentries and other obvious carriers to avoid.
"They watched the blowing off of the arm of a United States Marine, and the room burst out into laughter," Can we blow their heads off? I need a good laugh.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said the three brothers involved, all with the last name Duka, were born in the former Yugoslavia and are illegally residing in the United States. It identified them as Eljvir, 23, Shain, 26, and Dritan, 28, and said the three operate businesses known as Qadr Inc., Colonial Roofing and National Roofing.
The other three men charged are Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 22, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a U.S. citizen born in Jordan who is employed as a taxicab driver in Philadelphia; Serdar Tatar, 23, of Philadelphia, born in Turkey, whose last known employment was at a 7-Eleven; and Agron Abdullahu, 24, of Buena Vista Township, born in the former Yugoslavia and employed at a Shop-Rite Supermarket.
Abdullahu is charged only with aiding and abetting the Duka brothers' illegal possession of weapons, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, the attorney's office said. Hope we can provide him a good roommate.
The complaint said the group conducted firearms training in Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains. It also said Shnewer conducted surveillance at several U.S. military sites: Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, and the U.S. Coast Guard building in Philadelphia.
It said Tatar acquired a map of Fort Dix and distributed it to others.
#1
I was reading all this yesterday and was wondering if the surveilance on them was good enough to let them try to pull it off, setup an ambush on them, and wipe them out. Might've sent a nice message to all the wannabes out there.
The arrests renewed worries among New Jersey's Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim men from New Jersey were rounded up and detained in the months after the 2001 terror attacks, but none were connected to that plot.
"If these people did something, then they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented scores of detainees after the Sept. 11 attacks. "But when the government says `Islamic militants,' it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous."
#3
The only down side of this is that the tip that set the FBI on them has been made public. This has taught others of this intention that sharing videos with patriotic Americans will cause mission failure. These are jerks, but they learn from our actions and make adjustments.
#4
How long before CAIR, MSM, Surrendercrats and fellow travelers spin this as a case of entrapment of another little group of stupid, hopelessly inept wannabees, all set up to give the Bushies something to talk about.
That was Michael Isikoff (Newsweek) yesterday being interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered. Also, apparently because there was no known link to "official" jihadist groups such as al Qaeda, it's not really important and the government has overreacted before and...blah, blah, blah...
#10
This will be claimed as proof that strict national gun control laws are needed
It's easy for gun dealers to screen out this portion of the population. Have them eat a ham sandwich and a beer in front of you while you discuss the latest playboy centerfold pinned up on the wall behind the counter. If they pass, then give them their gun.
#11
"This will be claimed as proof that strict national gun control laws are needed - what could have happened if these guys had been somewhere besides gun-free NJ?"
The exact same thing that happened in "gun-free NJ": they were attempting to buy automatic weapons-- i.e., weapons capable of continuous automatic fire, and you cannot buy those anywhere in the United States unless you have a Federal machine gun permit.
In other words, the guns they were trying to buy are already illegal, EVERYWHERE in the US.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/09/2007 17:37 Comments ||
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Three brothers charged in the alleged Fort Dix terror plot have been living illegally in the U.S. for more than 23 years. A federal law enforcement source confirmed to FOX News that the three Dritan "Anthony" or "Tony" Duka, 28; Shain Duka, 26; and Eljvir "Elvis" Duka, 23 also accumulated 19 traffic citations, but because they operated in "sanctuary cites," where law enforcement does not routinely report illegal immigrants to homeland security, none of the tickets raised red flags.
The brothers entered the United States near Brownsville, Texas, in 1984, the source said, which would put their ages at 1 to 6 when they crossed the border. The source said there is no record of them entering by way of a regular border crossing, so they are investigating whether they were smuggled into the country.
The US military is now posting video clips on YouTube showing US troops in combat and insurgents being bombed in a "boots on the ground" perspective of the Iraq war, officials said Monday. Multi-National Forces Iraq created a "channel" on the popular video sharing website in March to show the clips, which often capture the intensity of combat while generally showing US troops in a positive light.
Grab the smelling salts and the crash cart. Aunty and the Old Grey Lady are about to have a stroke.
Pentagon spokesmen were unable to explain what the military hopes to accomplish with the "MNFIRAQ" channel, but it appeared to be part of a push by to find new ways to gain support for a deeply unpopular war.
MNFIRAQ is not a very elegant acronym and a less appealing YouTube channel name. "We Win, They Lose" would be ever so much catchier.
"This is a specific effort to get information out about Iraq," said Colonel Gary Keck, a Pentagon spokesman. White House spokesman Tony Snow said he thought airing video clips of combat on YouTube was "a good idea. Because it's important sometimes to be able to get ... images out that are going to portray a fuller picture of what's going on on the battlefield."
The brief, slice-of-life-and-death videos carry titles like "More Fighting in Baqubah," "Battle on Haifa Street," "'Soft Knock' Search in Baghdad," and "Counter Mortar Operation." One shows US troops helping the victim of a car bombing, another returning a freed hostage to his family. Soldiers fire their weapons at unseen combatants in some shots, and run through smoke-filled streets in others. But in most, death remains somewhere beyond the frame.
"MNF-I established this YouTube channel to give viewers around the world a 'boots on the ground' perspective of Operation Iraqi Freedom from those who are fighting it," a statement posted on the channel said. "Video clips document action as it appeared to personnel on the ground and in the air as it was shot," it said. ""We will only edit video clips for time, security reasons and for over disturbing or offensive images."
In "Counter Mortar Operation," viewers are presented with an aerial view of six insurgents who are said to be firing a mortar, then breaking it down, and piling into their car to escape. They speed down a country road, seemingly unaware they are being watched. A missile is then seen entering the frame, followed by a fiery explosion. "Coalition air power destroys vehicle, mortar and insurgents," a caption reads.
These Hawaiian lifeguards wish all the ladies of Rantburg and other interested parties a hearty "Aloha!" They'll be over at the pool as soon as they finish resuscitating this distraught journo.
Typical of the emailed reactions to the clip, which the website says has been viewed more than 39,000 times,
38,994 of them from a Rooters IP
was one signed dboy4ever:
"Die terrorists and people who sympathize with them. You messed with the wrong country," he wrote.
Sometimes viewers take away a different message.
"I am sure the Iraqi freedom fighters don't like that the American terrorists are on their turf. I guess that's why you'll never win this war," wrote Lleuwelynn in response to another combat video.
#1
Most of the 100 US casualties in April were killed in direct combat. Fortunately, Operations chose to ignore last November's consultant report, advocating 24-7 patrols. Patrols are of limited use in this kind of war. Good Intel and taking it to the enemy will win it, and foster more good Intel. In spite of the casualty rate, dollars for dimes says that US troops are now fighting the war that they have always wanted to fight.
#2
Pentagon spokesmen were unable to explain what the military hopes to accomplish...
Seems more likely that the 'reporter' didn't like the explanation, or the spokesmen were too polite to tell the idjit that maybe its because he and his ilk are traitors and should be hung from the nearest lamp post. This should have started four years ago.
Pentagon spokesmen were unable to explain what the military hopes to accomplish...
Followed by:
"This is a specific effort to get information out about Iraq," said Colonel Gary Keck, a Pentagon spokesman. White House spokesman Tony Snow said he thought airing video clips of combat on YouTube was "a good idea. Because it's important sometimes to be able to get ... images out that are going to portray a fuller picture of what's going on on the battlefield."
Sounds like you got two explanations of what they're trying to accomplish. I guess the explanations didn't fit the story line you prefer, though, so you had to say they're "unable to explain" and try to spin them as incompetent or acting with secret motives.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/09/2007 5:37 Comments ||
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#5
This reminds me of the black and white videos that were done by the War Department during World War II and Korea. The videos would be shown prior to feature presentations in the movie houses.
When Mash was still on TV, I remember they used to use the same method to show the world what was taking place in Korea and then cut to the live actors.
It was a pretty effective way of getting the message out to the people at home and a way to keep morale up. And also to show what was happening on the ground. The Military also had direct say on what was shown, not to also inadvertently give the enemy information; unlike to today unfortunately.
Obviously, it was also a alternative to the Paper and Radio; then later Television. I can't remember if the same tactic was used during the Vietnam War. I only remember watching the action in Vietnam on the news broadcasts.
An Anti-Terrorism Appellate bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Muhammad Afzal Soomro and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jaffery, reserved Monday judgment in a state appeal challenging the acquittal of Mohammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi by ATC-V. The respondent was acquitted from the murder case of Agha Abbas, owner of Al Abbas Bakery, Nazimabad. The other accused include Azam and Ata. After hearing the respective sides the bench reserved the judgment.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI/DAWN) - The local Taliban Shura (Council) in Pakistan's tribal area of North Waziristan has imposed a ban on the sale of CDs and cassettes and music in buses and passenger coaches. The Shura on Monday also ordered owners of music and video shops in the regional capital of Miran Shah to wind up their businesses immediately. Armed volunteers raided music centres and CD shops in the town and asked the shopkeepers to stop playing music.
Eyewitnesses said the militants stopped passenger vehicles on the Miran Shah-Mirali road and removed cassette and CD players. Locals said that the militants, who virtually control the region, also asked people not to play or listen to music in public places, including Miran Shah Bazaar. The Shura announcement said that anybody violating the order would have to face "consequences".
Most music shops and hair-dressing salons in Khar in the tribal area of Bajau have also been closed and their owners have switched to other businesses. Some of them moved out of the tribal area after pro-Taliban militants bombed their shops over the past weeks.
Last week, armed men set up road blocks in different areas and stopped private and public transport vehicles to search for cassette and CD players. They seized cassettes and players from several vehicles and smashed them on the spot. Masked gunmen also warned clean-shaven commuters to grow beards or face punishment. They also ordered passengers to remove musical ring tones from their cell phones and not to use mobile phones with built-in cameras.
According to residents in Bajaur, car-owners and drivers of public transport vehicles have removed cassette and CD players from their vehicles and owners of music shops in Khar town, Inayat Kallay Bazaar, Siddiqabad, Nawagai, Raghgan, Lagharai, Loi Sam, Pashat and other areas have closed the business and opened vegetable shops and general stores. They said that the board of governors of the Bajaur Public School and College, an English medium institution run by the political administration of the tribal area, had changed students uniform from shirt and trousers to shalwar-kameez after they received threats and "orders" to stop using "western uniform."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Less money wasted on things like CDs means more available to give to your Imam. And if you're bored without your ipod, maybe you should join the jihad and put a little explosiveness into your life.
#3
In the movie Apocolypse Now, Robert Duval played The Flight of the Valkyries from loudspeakers on his helicopter while he raided VC villages. Our boys fighting the Taliban should play the Beatles song Happiness Is a Warm Gun when they attack these idiots. Maybe the Brits could play some bagpipes for them. Spread the rumor that just hearing the music will corrupt their souls and make them ineligible for the 72 virgins.
Eventually they'll get around to prohibiting people from salting their food because the improved flavor is "decadent". We really need to overcome our squeamishness and begin killing these twisted fucks in huge numbers. We They deserve nothing less.
Highlighted and EFL A U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday that Shiite-dominated Iran is providing support to some Sunni insurgents fighting American forces in Iraq.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military had credible intelligence to support the allegation but did not elaborate. He said the support to Sunni insurgents was limited to select groups, which he did not identify.
"It's not all Sunni insurgents but rather we do know that there is a direct awareness by Iranian intelligence officials that they are providing support to some select Sunni insurgent elements," Caldwell told reporters. "We have audio tapes of Iranians and Salafists discussing supplies, targeting and results". On Sunday, a U.S. general also said powerful armor-penetrating roadside bombs believed to be of Iranian origin were turning up in the hands of Sunni insurgents south of Baghdad.
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Army's Task Force Marne, said the presence of "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs, in Sunni weapons caches suggests some degree of Iranian influence among Sunni as well as Shiite extremists.
...
Caldwell said the weapons issue was still being investigated, but "we do know that they're providing support in terms of financial support at this point."
U.S. military officials have been saying for months that the Iranians were supplying EFPs to Shiite militias, despite lies strong denials by Tehran.
Some Sunni insurgent groups are strongly anti-Iranian, blaming the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government for helping Iran expand its influence here.
...
#3
Bomb Qom, dammit. Bomb the bastards. Make them pay. Do NOT ask the UN for permission. Just do it. One of the big advantages of the US presence in Iraq is that it can be used as a base to bomb Iran. Get on with it. They've been at war against us since 1979. When to we start fighting back?
This is not going to sit well. Even if untrue, it will be believed. We need an effective 'propaganda/counter-propaganda' organization; we are being totally skunked in that area.
US Airstrike "Hits Primary School" in Diyala
Report: Helicopter's Missile Kills Seven Children and Injures Three
Posted 16 hr. 29 min. ago
Photo by Patrick Baz/AFP.
US Army Blackhawk helicopters fly over Baghdad at sunset, 28 March 2007. A US helicopter struck a primary school in Diyala province on Tuesday, killing seven children and injuring three more, Voices of Iraq reports.
A U.S. chopper shelled on Tuesday a primary school in Mindli town, killing seven students and injuring three others, eyewitnesses and medical sources said.
"The Mindli hospital received seven bodies and three wounded of a primary school's students," a medical source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) over the phone.
"A U.S. helicopter shelled Al-Saada primary school, killing seven students and injuring three," the source said, adding no further details.
An eyewitness confirmed the news by saying that "a U.S. chopper bombarded the school while students and teachers were still there and the blasts rattled the town. We rushed to the scene to rescue victims."
The U.S. miltiary has not commented on the incident directly except to say that there was "helicopter activity" in the area and that it is investigating the events, the BBC reports.
According to an Iraqi policeman, the helicopter took fire from the ground and hit the school with its return fire, the BBC reports. I'm pretty sure ROE would only permit this action if the helicopter was actively taking fire FROM THE SCHOOL.
#1
Tie this together with civilians killed by air strikes in Afghanstan and you have a pretty good propaganda campaign to thwart the very effective air war we are fighting. Even if the press did not start to pick on this, Congress will, and the result will be to second guess the RoE. Al Qaida wins.
Posted by: john ||
05/09/2007 15:41 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Why were students in a primary school in session at "sunset"?
Do helicopters "shell"?
inquiring minds & all...
A suicide truck bomb ripped through the Interior Ministry in the relatively peaceful Kurdish city of Irbil on Wednesday morning, killing at least 19 people and wounding 80, officials said. Kurdish officials blamed al-Qaida linked insurgents for the devastating attack.
The attack came just as U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad for an unannounced visit that was to include meetings with top Iraqi government officials, leaders of influential Iraqi factions and the senior U.S. military commander here. Cheney's visit was aimed at encouraging rival Iraqi factions to work together to overcome their divisions to work together to end the conflict.
The explosion in Irbil, 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Baghdad, underscored how even relatively safe areas of the country were not immune from the violence. Irbil, the capital of the Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, had been spared much of the violence wracking the rest of Iraq.
The Interior Ministry building was badly damaged. Kurdish television showed rubble laying in piles and twisted metal beams. Rescue workers reached into the wreckage to pull out one of the victims of the blast. Windows were blown out down the street and wreckage was scattered nearly 100 meters (yards) away. The nearby security headquarters was also damaged.
Zariyan Othman, the Kurdish health minister, said 19 people were killed and 80 were wounded, including five who were in serious condition. Hamza Ahmed, a spokesman for the Irbil governor's office, said the dead and wounded included police and civilians.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman blamed the attack on Ansar al-Sunnah, a Sunni Arab insurgent group, and Ansar al-Islam, a mostly Kurdish militant group with ties to al-Qaida in Iraq. Ansar al-Islam has been blamed for a number of attacks, including attempts to assassinate Kurdish officials.
Othman said authorities learned that insurgents were planning a large attack a week ago when police arrested a militant cell in the town of Sulaimaniyah. "During questioning they confessed that were getting training lessons in a neighboring country and that was Iran," he said. It's past time to let the Kurds and the Shiia fix the Sunni 'insurection' problem. It won't be pretty, but it will bring a final resolution. All the USA has to do is guarantee Iraq's borders, so the Kurds in particular don't have to watch their backs while they are clearing the Sunnis into the Western desert. And I'll note, a Sunni population geographically contained essentially fixes the Iraq problem.
A U.S. combat brigade commander was shot by a sniper while surveying the construction of a wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave in Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Monday. Colonel Billy Don Farris, commander of the 2nd "Falcon" Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, was shot in eastern Adhamiya on May 3, a statement said. Farris, who was hit by a single bullet, was evacuated from the area and is in stable condition.
Initial plans to build a controversial 5-km (3-mile) wall with concrete barriers up to 12 feet (3.5 metres) high drew bitter complaints from residents in Adhamiya, which is surrounded on three sides by Shi'ite districts. They said the project would isolate them from other communities and sharpen sectarian tensions. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a halt to its construction. The Iraqi military later said it was modifying the plan to use barbed wire and smaller cement barriers instead.
The temporary barrier is one of a number being built in Baghdad as part of a three-month-old security plan aimed at halting sectarian violence and protecting neighbourhoods and markets. U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad has reduced the number of sectarian killings blamed on death squads, but a string of car bombs has killed hundreds in recent weeks. The crackdown, seen as a last-ditch attempt to stop Iraq from sliding into all-out civil war, is aimed at giving Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki breathing space to push power-sharing agreements to tame the raging Sunni resistance.
Both President George W. Bush and General David Petraeus, commander of the 150,000 U.S. forces in Iraq, have called al Qaeda "public enemy number one" in Iraq. Since U.S-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003, the country has been plagued by violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and more than 3,300 U.S. soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Seen as a last-ditch attempt" > read, MAKING SURE US DEMS = DEM POTUS DON'T HAVE A REAL-WORLD PROB IFF AND WHEN THEY WIN THE WH AFTER 2008.
#3
Maintaining the general Tigris River divide between Shiites and Sunnis might be more advisable than cross-river protection. Shiites will be lobbing mortars over the wall. They wouldn't do that in consolidated areas. Sounds like somebody is infected with State Department thinking.
#4
...Has anyone noticed that in this war, a lot of the commanders seem to be leading from the front? Rough on 05s and 06s but it has got to be reassuring to the troops.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/09/2007 7:25 Comments ||
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#5
The Col. is doing well and is with his family. He will be returning to duty. Arrests were made in the sniping. That's all the 82nd PAO is releasing.
#6
The Col. is doing well and is with his family. He will be returning to duty. Arrests were made in the sniping. That's all the 82nd PAO is releasing.
thx Chuck, thats sum good news,
to be hit by a sniper in a city environ and live to kick ass again makes that Col one lucky dude!
heh he should buy a lotto ticket today and thank the man upstairs!
A car bomber killed at least 16 people in the Iraqi city of Kufa on Tuesday, police and hospital sources said, the latest in a spate of car bombs in the Shi'ite south apparently aimed at stoking sectarian strife. One witness who said he saw the explosion said the bomber drove a minibus into an open market packed with morning shoppers. "I saw the minibus coming through the crowds. There was one person driving. He tried to park the vehicle and then it exploded. There were many bodies," Mohan Ali told said. A hospital source in Kufa said the blast, near a restaurant, killed 10 people and wounded 30.
Kufa, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, is near the Shi'ite city of Najaf, one of the holiest in Shi'ite Islam. The attack bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, which U.S. and Iraqi officials accuse of trying to tip Iraq into full-scale civil war between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Demands release of Muslim prisoners from British prisons Not the fun loving bunch of happy go lucky guys you thought they were, huh, Alan?
Gaza - Ma'an - More than two months after British BBC journalist Alan Johnston was abducted by gunmen in the Gaza Strip, the 'Jaish al-Islam', or 'Army of Islam', has claimed responsibility for his abduction. A spokesman of the army announced in a videotape, distributed in Gaza, their responsibility for Johnston's abduction and demanding the release of "the Muslim prisoners in the British prisons, primarily the Palestinian Abu Qatada".
The abducted journalist did not appear in the videotape and the spokesman did not present any other details. So this could be...bullshit?
According to Al-Jazeera International, the kidnappers continued in the tape, "and in this regard we do not forget our prisoners in other infidel countries and we say to all of them free our prisoners or we will do the same to you. We wont make an exception for anyone. If you need money to release our prisoners we will give you all you need up to the last dirham we have," the tape continues, according to Al-Jazeera. What's a dirham worth in real money?
The BBC has said that it is investigating the contents of the tape. "We are aware of the tape released by the Army of Islam concerning our Gaza correspondent, Alan Johnston. We have no comment on the demands made of the British government in the tape - we remain concerned for Alan's well-being and call for his immediate release," a BBC statement reads. The BBC report adds that the videotape, received by Al-Jazeera in Gaza, also apparently shows pictures of Johnston's BBC identity card.
The Army of Islam appeared in the Gaza Strip nearly one year ago when it announced its participation in the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gil'ad Shalit on 25 June 2007.
Abu Qatada is under a worldwide embargo from the United Nations Security Council for his affiliation with al Qaeda. He is wanted on terrorism charges in Algeria, the United States, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Jordan. He has been detained in British custody in the UK since his most recent arrest in August 2005, shortly after the London underground bombings. A British court ruled in February of this year that he may be deported to Jordan, but appeals are still pending.
#1
I am sorry about Johnston and ever more sorry about Shalit, Goldwasser et al.
Should be a good lesson to the BBC (and maybe to the Guardian and to the Journalist association) not to send people to Gaza and to impose a complete gag order on Gaza and the West Bank. No more publicity about the plight of anybody...........
Posted by: Caesar Hupaise9769 ||
05/09/2007 11:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
What's a dirham worth in real money?
About a quarter.
From Wikipedia: On 28 January 1978, the dirham was officially pegged to the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)[2]. In practice, it is pegged to the U.S. dollar for most of the time[3]. Since November 1997, the dirham has been pegged to the 1 U.S. dollar = 3.6725 dirhams[4], which translates to approximately 1 dirham = 0.272294 dollar.
Insurgents on Wednesday killed seven soldiers with a bomb detonated under their truck as they patrolled Rangae district of Narathiwat province in the deep South, police said. The explosion occurred at mid-afternoon near Bongo village, Rangae district of Narathiwat (about 790km south of Bangkok) near a hilltop where a Thai patrol on March 2 had surprised a group of Runda Kampulan Kecil (RKK), and killed five.
All seven soldiers in the pickup truck on Wednesday were killed. Other booby trapped bombs and nails thrown on the road prevented authorities from immediately getting to the scene.
"This was an act of revenge for the deaths of their people two months ago," said Rangae Pol Col Manot Anantarikul, blaming the attack on the RKK, one of a dozen insurgent groups engaged in a separatist struggle in Thailand's three southernmost provinces - Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
A Muslim father was killed and his son injured allegedly by Muslim insurgents in this southern border province at noon Wednesday, police said.
Police said Halim Sara, 41, was riding a motorcycle with his son, Dailamee Sara, 12, on a village road in Moo 4 Village in Tambon Lohhaloh of Raman district at 12:40 pm when an unknown number of insurgents opened fire at them. Police said Halim died at the scene and his son was severely injured and rushed to the district hospital.
#1
Ryuge - What exactly is going on here. It's a daily barrage of Muslim on Buddhist, Muslim on Muslim and Muslim on Government. I never hear which is typical of any government/police action against the "militants". Besides the beating the government gave out at the Mosque a few years back we've got nada. No more Thaksin origami, when does the Thai, Military Government get serious. I know Boonie is a Muslim, but there is no way he can look at this as a positive? Plus he seems like a nationalist and not driven by an islamic agenda. I need some information, my current opinion is of disgust over the lack of retaliation of offensive oppeations. PS Didn't Thaksin have an anti-Yaba campaign that killed some 2,000 drug dealers? What gives?
#2
I wish I knew more about what was going on in Thailand myself. My only connection to Thailand comes from a trip I took there around 10 years ago. I went to Bangkok and then took a small trek through the mountains in the north of the country. I enjoyed my visit immensely. Not only was the place beautiful, but I loved the Thai people that I met as well. After I returned home, I always thought that I might want to return someday and check out the famous beaches in the south.
Years later, after I started posting articles here, I became aware that the terrorist incidents in southern Thailand, that I would hear about from time to time, were just the tip of the iceburg. So I decided to start posting any articles about the jihad in Thailand that I discovered, so that others could see how intense the struggle had become there.
I am bewildered as to many aspects of what is going on there. For instance, sometimes the jihadis are portrayed to be completely mysterious bands who refuse to communicate any demands. Other times whole villages seem to be in on the plans and, at still others, "spokesmen" - from Sweden, of all places, are quoted. And I am astonished by the fanatic commitment to appeasement by the government in the face of the obvious contempt the jihadis have for such policies. I also suspect that certain aspects of the jihad get downplayed in the MSM for whatever reason, and I wonder if local reporters may know things that would help clarify the situation, but don't report them.
Sometimes people who do have more of an inside viewpoint add comments to the articles I post. One of them, Lone Ranger, had mentioned that he has lived in Thailand for some time and has filled in some details in the past (I remember him explaining why many Thais - at first - thought the New Year's bombings in Bangkok were not related to the jihad, for example). In fact, hoping that better informed people will comment is one of the reasons I like posting here so much.
I pray that the Thai people will get the strength to fight this menace head on with all the decisiveness it will require. I would love to be able to post some articles that don't leave me with the sense of helpless despair that I get whenever I look for the latest atrocities in southern Thailand on most mornings.
Sri Lankan troops shot dead a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in the north of the island on Tuesday as ground battles raged elsewhere in the region, a military official said. Security forces killed the man who was riding a motorcycle in Vavuniya district. An official, speaking from the area by telephone, said troops found a pack of explosives, a pistol and a grenade on the victim. The shooting came as ground troops engaged in long-range attacks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - Another student of a top Tehran university, the Amir Kabir Polytechnic, was arrested on Monday. Meghdad Khalilpur, a member of the university's reformist Islamic association of students, is also an editor of the students' publication Atieh (Future). He was reportedly arrested by plainclothes officials near the university campus. Many students at the university have been arrested in the past few days including Babak Zamanian, a students' spokesman. All are reportedly accused of 'contacts with foreign powers to overthrow the Islamic government'.
Many of those arrested are in contact with western media and committees formed abroad in support of Iranian reformist students, such as 'Tehran 2007', an Italian bipartisan body set up last December. University students in Tehran, Lorestan, Babol near the Caspian sea, and Shiraz in the west, are rallying against new government measures imposing strict new dress codes and opening hours on campus as well as restrictions on political activity. At Amir Kabir scuffles broke out last week between reformist and pro-government students who are demanding a purge of liberal and western influence from universities.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
That's how it starts. Conservatives (Rafsanjani) will seek some support from reformist against radicals (AhmadiNejad). Reformists will gain little more influnce. And even little more next time......
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.
The three Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants, who were placed on a five-day remand in Rangpur Thursday, disclosed sensational information about their regrouping, technique and plans to blast bombs in NGO offices and other important establishments. 
London, 9 May (AKI) - Anti-terror police on Wednesday arrested four people aged 29-34 in connection with the 7 July 2005 suicide bombings of London's transport system that killed 52 commuters and injured 700. Two men and a woman were arrested in northern England and another man was arrested in central England. Unconfirmed reports said the woman arrested was the widow of the London bombing ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan. Three British Muslim men aged between 23 and 30 were last month charged with conspiracy over the London bombings. They are the first people to be charged in connection with the attacks and Metropolitan police said the inquiry remained a "painstaking investigation."
The US military is now posting video clips on YouTube showing US troops in combat and insurgents being bombed in a "boots on the ground" perspective of the Iraq war, officials said Monday. Multi-National Forces Iraq created a "channel" on the popular video sharing website in March to show the clips, which often capture the intensity of combat while generally showing US troops in a positive light.
The brief, slice-of-life-and-death videos carry titles like "More Fighting in Baqubah," "Battle on Haifa Street," "'Soft Knock' Search in Baghdad," and "Counter Mortar Operation." One shows US troops helping the victim of a car bombing, another returning a freed hostage to his family. Soldiers fire their weapons at unseen combatants in some shots, and run through smoke-filled streets in others. But in most, death remains somewhere beyond the frame.
(AKI/DAWN) - The local Taliban Shura (Council) in Pakistan's tribal area of North Waziristan has imposed a ban on the sale of CDs and cassettes and music in buses and passenger coaches. The Shura on Monday also ordered owners of music and video shops in the regional capital of Miran Shah to wind up their businesses immediately. Armed volunteers raided music centres and CD shops in the town and asked the shopkeepers to stop playing music.
Most music shops and hair-dressing salons in Khar in the tribal area of Bajau have also been closed and their owners have switched to other businesses. Some of them moved out of the tribal area after pro-Taliban militants bombed their shops over the past weeks.
A suicide truck bomb ripped through the Interior Ministry in the relatively peaceful Kurdish city of Irbil on Wednesday morning, killing at least 19 people and wounding 80, officials said. Kurdish officials blamed al-Qaida linked insurgents for the devastating attack.
A U.S. combat brigade commander was shot by a sniper while surveying the construction of a wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave in Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Monday. Colonel Billy Don Farris, commander of the 2nd "Falcon" Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, was shot in eastern Adhamiya on May 3, a statement said. Farris, who was hit by a single bullet, was evacuated from the area and is in stable condition. 
A car bomber killed at least 16 people in the Iraqi city of Kufa on Tuesday, police and hospital sources said, the latest in a spate of car bombs in the Shi'ite south apparently aimed at stoking sectarian strife. One witness who said he saw the explosion said the bomber drove a minibus into an open market packed with morning shoppers. "I saw the minibus coming through the crowds. There was one person driving. He tried to park the vehicle and then it exploded. There were many bodies," Mohan Ali told said. A hospital source in Kufa said the blast, near a restaurant, killed 10 people and wounded 30. 
