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50 Iraq football fans killed in car bombs
Today's Headlines
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Africa North
Egyptian big time Iman revising Jihad theology
In a prison cell south of Cairo a repentant Egyptian terrorist leader is putting the finishing touches to a remarkable recantation that undermines the Muslim theological basis for violent jihad and is set to generate furious controversy among former comrades still fighting with al-Qaida.

Sayid Imam al-Sharif, 57, was the founder and first emir (commander) of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organisation...

Sharif recently gave an electrifying foretaste of his conversion by condemning killings on the basis of nationality and colour of skin and the targeting of women and children, citing the Qur'anic injunction: "Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress the limits; for God loveth not transgressors." Armed operations were wrong, counterproductive and must cease, he declared sternly.

Zawahiri, evidently rattled, rounded sarcastically on him in a video message broadcast after Sharif's statement - faxed from Torah prison to an Arabic newspaper - announced not only his change of heart but a book-length repudiation endorsed by hundreds of other former militants, and which is due to be published soon.

The quote is 2:190 (the phrase translated "do not transgress the limits" has also been translated as "do not begin hostilities"). I would give high odds that the eventual book will be hard on muslims who kill muslim civilians but somewhere between enthusiasically praising and equivocal about muslims killing infidels. This Iman probably realizes that if Islam ever loses the ability to kill opponents, masses of people will leave the faith.
This article starring:
SAIID IMAM AL SHARIFEgyptian Islamic Jihad
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Posted by: mhw || 07/27/2007 13:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Egyptian Islamic Jihad

#1  Past "revisions" have included apologies to the victims of terror attacks, recognition of them as "martyrs", and the annulment of fatwas as misguided. But these are not an Islamist version of The God That Failed - the 1949 anthology written by disillusioned communists - but rather a reasoned rejection of theological misinterpretations. Their authors are neither secular nor liberal: their self-criticism includes observations that the wrong path to jihad benefits only the Jews, the US and Egypt's Christian minority. "The Egyptian state is holding all this out as a huge triumph," says a foreign diplomat. "But the views these people preach are still pretty sinister. The state has to some extent accommodated itself to the Islamists."

The goal, establishing the Caliphate, remains the same, but the preferred method is now ballots rather than bullets? "One man, one vote, one time"
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2007 13:59 Comments || Top||

#2  In a prison cell south of Cairo...

Well take your time, Sayid. Do it right...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 14:04 Comments || Top||

#3  I would give high odds that the eventual book will be hard on muslims who kill muslim civilians but somewhere between enthusiasically praising and equivocal about muslims killing infidels.

Would someone please give mhw a Kewpie doll!

All of this is utterly meaningless until all Muslims genuinely and thoroughly renounce taqiyya. Until then, we are absolute morons to believe a single thing issued spewed forth from the ideological sewer pipe otherwise known as Islam.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 15:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Zenster, I think you focus too much on Islam as ideology and forget that it's also an experiment in selective breeding---might as well ask Swedes to give up blond hair & blue eyes.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/27/2007 15:21 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: doc || 07/27/2007 15:28 Comments || Top||

#6  it's also an experiment in selective inbreeding

There, fixed that for ya, gg. Otherwise, you're most likely right.

PS: Spot on graphic, doc!
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 15:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Zawahiri, evidently rattled, rounded sarcastically on him in a video message broadcast after Sharif's statement-faxed from Torah prison to an Arabic newspaper
sure doesn't sound like Zawahiri is in the remote provinces in NW Pakistan to have such access to current news to me
Posted by: Danielle || 07/27/2007 16:07 Comments || Top||

#8  I think he's Olmert's house guest for the summer.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/27/2007 16:18 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, confusion to the Islamist enemy then... maybe they'll get so rattled over this, they'll turn to killing each other, rather than non-Muslims.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 07/27/2007 17:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Sgt. Mom, actually, they very much always did kill each other in larger quantities, but as they say... faster! ;-)
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/27/2007 17:46 Comments || Top||

#11  Then, "faster, please!"
As Winston Churchill said...if you're going to kill someone, it costs nothing to be polite....
;-)
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 07/27/2007 18:19 Comments || Top||

#12  As Winston Churchill said...if you're going to kill someone, it costs nothing to be polite....

Dayuum, how'd I miss that one? Winnie rulz! Great cite, Sgt. Mom.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 19:00 Comments || Top||


Two terrorists arrested in Tizi Ouzou
Security sources told El Khabar that judiciary police services managed to arrest yesterday morning two terrorists attempting to plant two homemade bombs in a passenger station, who were then proved to be involved in the murder of Tizi Ouzou prefect.
Got a twofer on that one, by Gum!
Sources revealed that two homemade bombs were discovered, during a search operation that netted two young men from Draâ el Mizane municipality: 20 year-old B. N, and 31-year-old K. R, the brother of the mastermind and perpetrator of the murder of the late Aissat Rabah, Tizi Ouzou wilaya prefect, in a cafeteria last October 12.

During the cross-examination, the two terrorists acknowledged that they’ve been in charge of exploding a passenger station near a police head office, the first one further recognized that he coordinated the murder operation with his brother and the second transported the perpetrators of the criminal act in his private car.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Bangladesh
Ex-BD minister gets 31 years for helping JMB
24 others get the same for helping hard boyz
A former Bangladeshi minister was Thursday jailed for 31 years for aiding Islamic militants who were hanged for murdering two judges in a nationwide terror campaign to impose Sharia, police said.

Aminul Huq, telecommunications minister in the emergency-ruled country’s most recent elected government, was convicted and sentenced by a court in the northwestern town of Rajshahi, said court police inspector Khondoker Golam Mortuza. Bangladesh executed six Islamic militant leaders convicted of the murder of the two judges in March. The militants were also accused of masterminding a country-wide wave of bomb attacks that shook the nation.

The attacks included 400 almost simultaneous blasts in almost every main town on August 17, 2005. The attacks were part of a campaign aimed at forcing Bangladesh to replace its Muslim but secular legal system, which dates from the British colonial period, with traditional Islamic law. At least 28 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the attacks, and an ensuing crackdown saw some 1,000 members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh group arrested. The blasts forced the then prime minister Khaleda Zia, of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to admit that the government had underestimated the threat from Islamists. The Islamist-allied government had earlier denied claims that senior members of the government had turned a blind eye to the activities of the extremists for political gain.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


Britain
British Muslim students jailed
A British court on Thursday jailed a group of British Muslim students who collected a library of Al Qaeda propaganda and intended to travel to Afghanistan to fight coalition forces, for a total of 13 years. The five Muslim men linked up with sympathisers in Pakistan and the US and held video conferences over the Internet to discuss violent jihad. They were caught after the parents of one of the students contacted police.

Schoolboy Irfan Raja had run away from home in February 2006 when he was just 17, leaving a suicide note. “If not in this dunya (world) we will meet in Jannat (paradise),” the note said. When his parents looked on his computer they found speeches by Osama bin Laden calling for Muslims to take revenge on the West for invading Islamic lands and other extremist speeches, the prosecution told a London court.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  That's getting with the program, now if we can get this Arab on Arab snitch out to catch on we might have something.

Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/27/2007 7:48 Comments || Top||

#2  If not in this dunya (world) we will meet in Jannat (paradise)

Speak English or die.
Posted by: Excalibur || 07/27/2007 9:49 Comments || Top||

#3  What's the word for sodomy in Arabic?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  More likely Urdu for these particular miscreants being as how they are probably non-Arabic Paks but a relevant question considering the circumstances.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/27/2007 11:29 Comments || Top||

#5  tu, Hello?
Posted by: BA || 07/27/2007 14:50 Comments || Top||


Europe
Will Serbs Declare Independence from Kosovo?
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/27/2007 12:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unless they like to live under Islamic rule.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/27/2007 21:53 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
No more surrenders at LoC, govt tells Army
NEW DELHI: Increasingly suspicious that its policy for the rehabilitation of militants who surrendered was being exploited, the government has asked Army to discontinue offering any more amnesty to "misguided youth" who are offering to come back from Pakistan and lay down arms.

Rehabilitation of surrendered militants was part of the healing touch policy unveiled by the government on the assumption that some of the youth who crossed over into Pakistan to take up guns were no longer enamoured of the jehad in Kashmir and may, feeling fatigued, be allowed to return and given the opportunity to turn a new leaf.

The enthusiasm, however, soon gave way to apprehension with doubts piling of rampant misuse by jehadi groups as well as those on the lookout to collect money from the government by passing themselves off as militants.

The strong action has been provoked by warning sounded by intelligence agencies as well as the state government over the manner in which surrenders have been happening at the LoC.

In the dossier sent to the Union home ministry sometime back, sleuths pointed out a distinct pattern in the surrenders: the confessional statements read exactly the same and so were the reasons put forward for the change of heart.

This led to the apprehension of an organised effort by jehadi groups to infiltrate their members. Apart from this, the agencies have also expressed suspicion that some "fake" militants were made to "surrender" with an eye on the money that the state government proposed to spend on the rehabilitation schemes.

Every militant who surrenders at the LoC gets Rs 1.5 lakh as fixed deposit in his bank account. Besides, he is also given a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 till a job has been arranged.

The package is too lucrative for the largely unemployed youth of J&K who have very few job opportunities available in the state. For a "misguided youth" who surrenders at the LoC, the cost involved is not high — he is tried only for cross-LoC transgression under the Foreigners Act — and let off after a routine interrogation and a cooling off period of a few months in the Army camps.

Sources said a pattern of "surrenders" was noticed at a few Army posts. About 140 militants have "surrendered" at the LoC since 2006, of which 35 were wives and children of terrorists who had married in PoK. Though the Army's request for 900 militants willing to lay down arms had been put in abeyance by the state government, both J&K and the intelligence agencies had briefed the Centre about the possibility of infiltration through the "surrender" route.

Suspicion arose after a militant was found linked to an aborted attempt made on the life of chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad early this year. The militant was found to be one of those who had "surrendered" at the LoC.
Posted by: John Frum || 07/27/2007 16:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, what's the appeasment plan B ?
Posted by: wxjames || 07/27/2007 16:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Food stamps.
And, of course...Midnight Basketball.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 16:22 Comments || Top||

#3  What? No mur revolving door? I'mer makin' sum chicken curry to celebrate!
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 19:13 Comments || Top||


New violence, black flag of Jihad raised at reopened Pakistan mosque
Looks a lot like the old violence, with 80% more spittle...
Hundreds of students clashed with security forces and a nearby bombing killed 11 people Friday during the reopening of Islamabad's Red Mosque for the first time since a bloody army raid to oust Islamic militants from the complex.

The bomb struck the Muzaffar Hotel, in a downtown market area about a quarter mile from the mosque. Local television showed victims — many of them bleeding or badly burned, with their clothing in tatters — being carried from the wreckage to waiting ambulances. Amir Mehmood, a witness, said he saw blood, body parts, and shreds of a Punjab police uniform inside the hotel. Senior Interior Ministry official Javed Iqbal Cheema said 11 people were killed, including seven police, and 43 were wounded.

The bombing came soon after police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who had occupied the Red Mosque complex during its reopening after the raid that left more than 100 dead. The protesters denounced President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and demanded the return of a pro-Taliban cleric, Abdul Aziz, who was detained by the government during the mosque siege. The demonstrators threw stones at an armored personnel carrier and dozens of police in riot gear on a road outside the mosque. After the demonstrators disregarded calls to disperse peacefully, police fired tear gas, scattering the crowd.

Earlier, security forces stood by as protesters clambered onto the roof of the mosque and daubed red paint on the walls after they forced a government-appointed cleric assigned to lead prayers to retreat. A cleric from a seminary associated with the mosque eventually led the prayers. "Musharraf is a dog! He is worse than a dog! He should resign!" students shouted. Some lingered over the ruins of a neighboring girls' seminary that was demolished by authorities this week. Militants had used the seminary to resist government forces involved in the siege.

Friday's reopening was meant to help cool anger over the siege, which triggered a flare-up in militant attacks on security forces across Pakistan.
Shoulda paved Paradies and put in a parking lot instead.
Public skepticism still runs high over the government's accounting of how many people died in the siege, with many still claiming a large number of children and religious students were among the dead. The government says the overwhelming majority were militants.

In an act of defiance to authorities' repainting of the mosque this week in pale yellow, protesters wrote "Lal Masjid" or "Red Mosque" in large Urdu script on the dome of the mosque. They also hoisted a black flag with two crossed swords — meant to symbolize jihad, or holy war.

The crowd shouted support for the mosque's former deputy cleric, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who led the siege until he was shot and killed by security forces after refusing to surrender. Ghazi was the public face of a vigilante, Islamic anti-vice campaign that had challenged the government's writ in the Pakistani capital.

"Ghazi, your blood will lead to a revolution," the protesters chanted.

Police stood by on the street outside the mosque, but did not enter the courtyard where the demonstration was taking place.

Islamabad commissioner Khalid Pervez said police forces did not want to go inside the mosque in case it led to a clash with protesters, but maintained the situation was under control. He said the reaction of Aziz's supporters was understandable and predicted things would calm down.

Over mosque loudspeakers, protesters vowed to "take revenge for the blood of martyrs."

In a speech at the mosque's main entrance, Liaqat Baloch, deputy leader of a coalition of hard-line religious parties, the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, condemned Musharraf as a "killer" and declared there would be an Islamic revolution in Pakistan.

"Maulana Abdul Aziz is still the prayer leader of the mosque. The blood of martyrs will bear fruit. This struggle will reach its destination of an Islamic revolution. Musharraf is a killer of the constitution. He's a killer of male and female students. The entire world will see him hang," Baloch said.

Pakistan's Geo television showed scenes of pandemonium inside the mosque, with dozens of young men in traditional Islamic clothing and prayers caps shouting angrily and punching the air with their hands.

Officials were pushed and shoved by men in the crowd. One man picked up shoes left outside the mosque door and hurled them at news crews recording the scene.

Maulana Ashfaq Ahmed, a senior cleric from another mosque in the city who was assigned by the government to lead the prayers, was quickly escorted from the complex, as protesters waved angry gestures at him.

Wahajat Aziz, a government worker who was among the protesters, said officials were too hasty in reopening the mosque.

"They brought an imam that people had opposed in the past," he said. "This created tension in the environment. People's emotions have not cooled down yet."

Security was tightened in Islamabad ahead of the mosque's reopening, with extra police taking up posts around the city and airport-style metal detectors put in place at the mosque entrance used to screen worshippers for weapons.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/27/2007 10:18 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  What did the people at the hotel have to do with this?

Never mind... nothing these jihadi fools does makes any sense anyway.
Posted by: Free Radical || 07/27/2007 10:52 Comments || Top||

#2  It is not a real protest without IRB. Gosh, imagine if there was a IRG. My eyes, my eyes!!!
Posted by: Steven || 07/27/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  The hotel was hit because that's where all the (Punjabi) police were. Death toll now at 12 (mostly police) and climbing.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/27/2007 10:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Students? Shoot any "student" who can't tell
what is the result of e**(i*pi) and demonstrate why.
Posted by: JFM || 07/27/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm sick of hearing about "students." Most are illiterate and all they "know" is the select parts of the koran they have learned by rote recitation. They should all be sat down and tested as follows. Hold a 1911 to each student's temple, and make him / her read a newspaper story and solve a math problem. Fail at either, pull the trigger. Call it remedial education...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/27/2007 11:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Well this looks like it's gonna work out well...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 11:38 Comments || Top||

#7  The problem is Islam. The problem has always been Islam.
Posted by: Crusader || 07/27/2007 11:46 Comments || Top||

#8  I doubt that Musharraf is ever far removed from his overnight bag.....
Posted by: OyVey1 || 07/27/2007 12:30 Comments || Top||

#9  His coffin is closer than his bag.
Posted by: Skunky Glins5285 || 07/27/2007 14:54 Comments || Top||

#10  Wahajat Aziz, a government worker who was among the protesters, said officials were too hasty in reopening the mosque.

And I thought the internal gov't rot in the US and the UN was bad. They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, do they?
Posted by: BA || 07/27/2007 15:09 Comments || Top||

#11  51 'students' from the last attack at this mosk were released today; how many have returned to continue their jihad in this new violence?
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/27/2007 16:31 Comments || Top||

#12  "Musharraf is a dog! He is worse than a dog! He should resign! students shouted"

Ahhh...those wacky college hijinx. They're just blowing off alittle steam. I remember how mid-term exams were always hectic. Especially during summer semister. Whazat? Not that kind of student? Oops...my bad.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/27/2007 16:33 Comments || Top||

#13  New violence, black flag of Jihad raised at reopened Pakistan mosque

bombs away.
Posted by: eLarson || 07/27/2007 16:39 Comments || Top||

#14  Just level the red mosque.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/27/2007 17:45 Comments || Top||

#15  Musharraf is a dog! He is worse than a dog!

As a moslem, that's probably true. Worse than a Jackal, for sure.

said officials were too hasty in reopening the mosque.

I have to agree there. Never reopen any mosque.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 07/27/2007 20:06 Comments || Top||

#16  I'm sick of hearing about "students." Most are illiterate and all they "know" is the select parts of the koran they have learned by rote recitation. They should all be sat down and tested as follows. Hold a 1911 to each student's temple, and make him / her read a newspaper story and solve a math problem. Fail at either, pull the trigger. Call it remedial education...

Careful, you'll soon enough be tarred with my own apellation.

The problem is Islam. The problem has always been Islam.

Warmer, getting warmer.

Never reopen any mosque.

Budda boom, budda bing!!!
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 21:21 Comments || Top||

#17  It's hard to tell where bombs come from when they fall from 50,000 feet.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/27/2007 22:33 Comments || Top||


Six people injured in powerful blast in Kashmir
(KUNA) -- At least six people including a woman were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device blast in Baramulla town of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Thursday night. All the injured have been taken to a hospital in Baramulla, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported. Indian security forces are conducting searches at the bus stand in Baramulla where the blast occured. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin


Suicide attackers killed by Indian paramilitary force in Jammu, Kashmir
(KUNA) -- Indian security forces killed two suicide attackers who stormed the battalion headquarters of the country's key paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) near Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir early Thursday. "The operation is over and both the attackers have been killed," Inspector General of CRPF SK Singh told Indo-Asian News Service at Srinagar.

Six CRPF personnel were injured in the nearly two-hour-long encounter and have been taken to hospital. Singh said two suicide attackers hurled grenades and fired bullets at a sentry post of the CRPF battalion headquarters morning. "While one attacker was killed near the sentry post, the other was killed in the camp," he said.

No separatist guerrilla group has yet claimed responsibility for today's attack, the news agency said. This was the first suicide attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir this year.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  This facility is actually operated by the Indian Department of Atomic Energy. It has been radically scaled down since the jihad began but still operates. Several buildings have been handed over to the CRPF.

The facility contains Cobalt-60 equipment, used for phyto-sanitary purposes with agricultural produce.
Posted by: John Frum || 07/27/2007 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  The facility contains Cobalt-60 equipment, used for phyto-sanitary purposes with agricultural produce.

I'm sorry John, but you've gone far beyond my vocabulary. Could you translate, please?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Because of the dangers that foreign pathogens and insects pose to agriculture and the native ecosystem, produce imported into the US must meet phyto-sanitary standards. Sterilization is achieved by several means, depending on country of origin.
One method is by ionizing radiation.

The Cobalt 60 isotope is a gamma radiation emitter, commonly used for medical radiotherapy and food irradiation.

I'm wondering if the attackers had intention of stealing some? Would be ideal for a dirty bomb but quite challenging (lethal dose) to remove.

It is possible they just wanted to attack a symbol of the Indian state - the Federal police - or the DAE. They've tried to enter the main BARC complex in Mumbai (where the Plutonium pits for nuclear weapons are made) but the security there is quite extensive (from commandos to chain-guns to S300 missile batteries).
Posted by: John Frum || 07/27/2007 8:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Cobalt60 put off quite a bit of rads. Doesnt take much to Cobalt60 to have enough nearby to kill.

Posted by: Abu do you love || 07/27/2007 11:42 Comments || Top||


Soldier killed in Waziristan attack
A rocket attack on an army post in Sarwaki tehsil, South Waziristan on Thursday left one soldier dead. In another attack, a roadside bomb hit a military convoy in North Waziristan, injuring 10, officials and eyewitnesses said. Two roadside bombs, hitting a police van carrying prisoners, and then the consequent investigation team, left six prisoners and five police officials injured. Paramilitary forces also exchanged fire with militants in Mir Ali, but no casualties were reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Bajaur youth, 2 others 'arrested' for foiled suicide-attack on Mulllah Nazir
Taliban commanders continued investigations into an unsuccessful suicide-assassination attempt on Mullah Nazir Ahmed by a youngster from Bajaur, sources close to Mullah Nazir told Daily Times on Thursday. The youth, intercepted a week ago wearing an explosive-laden belt, told Taliban commanders Uzbek militant Saiful Asad sent him to “blow up Mullah Nazir,” sources said. “Two locals suspected of involvement in the plot have also been arrested and we are trying to extract maximum information from them,” sources quoted Taliban commanders as saying. The locals who were pinpointed by the alleged assassin “received the Bajaur resident from Jandola and brought him to Wana where he was guided for a few days before the attempt,” sources said. Taliban commanders continue to grill the Bajaur resident and two locals to find out who else was involved in the plot. “The Taliban commanders seem concerned and think it needs much deeper investigation than simply arresting a few people,” a local elder close to Mullah Nazir said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

#1  The suicide bomb bosses are being attacked by suicide bombers???
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/27/2007 9:34 Comments || Top||


Islamabad courts bombing mastermind identified
Joint investigation teams from intelligence agencies and Islamabad police have identified and located the culprits and the mastermind involved in a suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts, but the arrests are yet to be made, sources told Online.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have been informed about this development. The suspects are expected to be arrested in a couple of days, according to sources. Investigations suggest that there were three suicide attackers involved in the attack. Intelligence agencies report that the attackers are from Kohistan.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


International-UN-NGOs
Gitmo critic urges world: Take captives

VIENNA, Austria - One of Europe's most vocal critics of the U.S. terror detention facility at Guantanamo Bay turned the tables on fellow opponents Thursday, urging the world's nations to speed its shutdown by agreeing to incarcerate detainees.

Belgian senator Anne-Marie Lizin, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's special envoy for Guantanamo, told the 56-nation group that few countries are willing to imprison 80 detainees who are ready for transfer. Lizin said only Albania, a staunchly pro-U.S. nation, has expressed willingness to host Guantanamo prisoners of any kind. Albania already has taken in eight former Guantanamo inmates. She said her native Belgium has taken in two prisoners, and that Denmark, Lithuania and Germany have expressed conditional interest.

Her message to Guantanamo critics: "Criticizing the U.S. is easy — but they also have to look at reality and maybe take some responsibility. It has to be closed, because it's a negative symbol for the United States," she said. "We would like to continue this pressure until the prison is closed."

Lizin, who made her second visit to Guantanamo Bay last month, told the OSCE that conditions at the facility in Cuba have noticeably improved since her first visit in March 2006. At the time, she called for the complex to be phased out by the end of this year.

Lizin said she no longer thinks that is an option. But she urged countries to accept inmates deemed less dangerous so Guantanamo ends up being used only for the most hard-core terror suspects — "high-value" detainees in CIA parlance. About 360 men are still held at Guantanamo on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

"The situation has changed inside the jail. They have a very clear procedure for interrogation," Lizin said. Officials who question detainees "realize that today, they are observed by the entire international community ... they can no longer make the slightest error," she added."Clearly a great effort has been made," she said, crediting U.S. authorities for "very good cooperation and a very good flow of information."

Lizin visited Guantanamo at the invitation of the U.S. government, although she was not allowed access to detainees, which is reserved only for representatives of the International Red Cross. She continued to insist that all detainees have access to a lawyer and a means of redress.

Ideally, Lizin said, Middle East and North African nations such as Libya and Qatar should consider taking some of Guantanamo's detainees.

Lizin conceded that some Guantanamo prisoners who were returned to their countries of origin, such as Yemen, subsequently were found to engage themselves again in attacks on U.S. interests — and that nations might be reluctant to take detainees as a result. "Some (prisoners) are considered extremely dangerous, and a number, no doubt, are exceedingly dangerous," she said. "There's no question of considering them in terms of pure and simple innocence."
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 12:30 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Yeah, let Belgium be the first to step up. But why stop at Guantanamo. Display your superior humanitarianism to those brutish Americans. Take the several tens of thousands under Ameican lock and key and give them all flats in Brussels.
Posted by: ed || 07/27/2007 12:59 Comments || Top||

#2  In belgium a guy who kidnaps, rapes, tortures, kills, and eats young girls gets about 12 years in prison. How long will it take these guys to talk their way out of a belgian jail.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 07/27/2007 13:10 Comments || Top||

#3  When I read the headline, I thought that the Gitmo critic wanted the world to take Americans hostage to force us to release the poor kids at Gitmo.
Posted by: Rambler || 07/27/2007 14:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe we can sell the Gitmo inmates on Ebay? Put your Pounds where your mouth is Ann-Marie? Bidding starts at $25 Million.

Better yet "Ali-Harmony.com" US could build nice prisoner profiles so any left-leaning a$$hat can make a love connection
Posted by: airandee || 07/27/2007 14:58 Comments || Top||

#5  My exact thought too, Rambler.

Albeit, I can't think that plan is not that far off in the future.
Posted by: BA || 07/27/2007 15:13 Comments || Top||

#6  I believe it's about time for all the critics to take responsibility and put their own money where their mouth is: the Euros can take the jihadis off our hands, the UN should accept personal financial responsibility for all their schemes out of their own Swiss accounts, and those Churches who sponsor the refugees created by them should also personally pay for their subsidies and help them relocate rather than at taxpayers' expense. Bet the policies of the bleeding hearts would change immediately.
Posted by: Danielle || 07/27/2007 16:21 Comments || Top||

#7  We kept all the thousands of Germans prisoner until their leaders surrendered. Why should this be any different?
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 07/27/2007 20:09 Comments || Top||

#8  #7 We kept all the thousands of Germans prisoner until their leaders surrendered. Why should this be any different?

weellllll, the Germans wore uniforms and were entitled to Geneva treatments, so, I guess these mooks should be executed. Good devil's advocate point, Gary! :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 07/27/2007 20:16 Comments || Top||

#9  Unreal. Totally unreal. Gary has it right.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 20:45 Comments || Top||


Iraq
July 07 Likely to be Lowest Fatality month this year
The info below is from the noted site:

Month deaths
2006
August 70
September 77
October 111
November 76
December 117
2007
January 92
February 88
March 86
April 108
May 131
June 111
July 70 as of this am
(July 07 figure is remarkable in light of the extent of combat)
Posted by: mhw || 07/27/2007 12:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  The critical month will be Ramadan, which is the typical month for violence. If this years Ramadan is relatively quiet, 13 Sept-12 Oct, on top of a successful surge, that will be about the end of any resistance.

That is, by then, the Iraqi army will pretty much control everything, and the US will not need to be in the line of fire for much of anything. The US will have continuous surveillance of the major arteries over which almost all of our traffic will flow, so we can go to "island mode" on our bases.

Our casualty rates will drop to nothing but accidents and disease.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/27/2007 13:22 Comments || Top||

#2  but the MSM will just not care!
up on the headline scrolls righ tnow is this:
Iraqi government in deep crisis, analysts say

which analysts? Uh, those that say THAT! A nice tight circle-jerk

and then there is the old standby that the MSM loves...and which they have been using ALL this month of lower casualty RATES. The old standby is this:
"American death toll in Iraq continues to climb"

Perfectly true...perfectly mis-leading! Because a TOLL, which is a SUM, can never go DOWN, they are correct is saying that it continues to climb! Even as the RATE drops dramatically, especially when you consider the stepped up pace of action!!
Posted by: Justrand || 07/27/2007 14:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Overall deaths are down. IED deaths are down and the enemy continues to die in quantity.
http://northshorejournal.org/index.php/2007/07/update-on-losses-in-iraq
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 07/27/2007 14:11 Comments || Top||

#4  The Surge is working.

WIN. THE. WAR.
Posted by: eltoroverde || 07/27/2007 14:56 Comments || Top||

#5  The War is already lost. Ask Harry. He's worked hard to lose it.
From an interview on Captain's Quarters with Col. Twitty in Nenewah:
Withdrawal debate - has it made the Iraqis fearful and damaged HUMINT capabilities? -- "Absolutely". It comes up daily. They accuse us of betraying them, and have stopped giving good intel as a result. It's significant.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/27/2007 15:52 Comments || Top||


U.S., Iraqi Troops Clash With Shiite Militia, 17 Dead
BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi troops came under heavy gunfire after they captured an alleged Shiite militia leader Friday in the holy city of Karbala, prompting them to call in an airstrike in a battle that left some 17 militants dead, the military said.

The fighting in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, broke out after the joint U.S.-Iraqi force detained a man the military described as a rogue Mahdi Army terrorist commander and two other gomers suspects during a pre-dawn raid.

The raid took place without incident, but a gunbattle began after the troops left the building and faced attackers wielding small-arms fire, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from three separate locations, the military said, adding that five militants were killed in the fighting.

U.S. special forces called in attack aircraft after militants fired on a helicopter assisting the operation and about a dozen militants were killed in an airstrike, the military said.
Not a good idea to attack the helicopters with small arms fire - the boss ain't gonna get sprung!!!

You do the crime - you do the time
Posted by: Wxman || 07/27/2007 10:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  add em too the death watch chuck
Posted by: sinse || 07/27/2007 13:27 Comments || Top||


U.S. says kills 17 militiamen in Iraq clashes
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it had killed around 17 militia fighters in clashes in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, but hospital and police sources said some camp-followers civilians were among the dead.

The clashes broke out at about dawn when U.S. Special Forces and Iraqi soldiers entered Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Baghdad, in search of a Mehdi Army commander accused of heading an assassination cell.

The Mehdi Army is the feared militia of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Snaggletooth Moqtada al-Sadr that the U.S. military says is fuelling Iraq's cycle of sectarian violence.

The military said in a statement that U.S. and Iraqi forces came under fire, including from machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades, as they prepared to withdraw after capturing the wanted Mehdi Army commander and two others. The troops responded, killing five suspected insurgents. A U.S. helicopter, which was called in to assist the ground forces, also came under fire.

"U.S. Special Forces called in precision aerial fires that resulted in approximately a dozen insurgents killed," the U.S. military statement said, adding that there were no civilians in the area at the time.

However, hospital and police sources said civilians were among the dead and that 25 people were wounded in the fighting.

Reuters pictures showed fighters dressed in black, traditionally the uniform of Mehdi Army fighters, and brandishing AK-47 assault rifles as they stood looking fierce in the back of a truck beside coffins being taken for burial.
Did they have a steely gaze in their eyes?
Other pictures showed coffins being held aloft by civilians and Mehdi Army fighters, and a teenage boy lying wounded on a mattress. Walls in several streets were pockmarked by bullet holes, and several cars had shattered windscreens.

The U.S. military accused the detained Mehdi Army commander of organizing roadside bomb attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces and of killing Iraqi civilians.

U.S. soldiers generally stay out of Kerbala, home to one of the holiest Shi'ite shrines in Iraq. Kerbala is one of Iraq's best protected cities because of its holy status, although there have been several large bomb attacks in the city this year. Insurgents posing as Americans drove into a government compound in Kerbala in January, killing one U.S. soldier and kidnapping four others who were later found dead.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/27/2007 10:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army


50 Iraq football fans killed in car bombs
The death toll from two car bomb attacks on Iraqi football fans celebrating their side's Asian Cup semi-final win has risen to at least 50 dead and 90 wounded, according to the US military yesterday. Iraq's dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against South Korea on Wednesday sent thousands of jubilant fans cheering into the streets of Baghdad waving flags, singing and firing rifles wildly into the air.

While the majority of Iraqis from across the country's warring communities hailed the victory and enjoyed a rare moment of shared national joy, insurgent car bombers detonated two devices among the crowds. A spokeswoman for the US division deployed in Baghdad, Captain Dawn Williams, said 50 Iraqi civilians and one policeman were killed in the blasts, 90 people were wounded and 18 vehicles destroyed.

Medics at the capital's Kindi, Yarmuk and Ibn Nafees hospitals reported treating 126 wounded from the attacks in the western Mansour and central Zayuna districts, along with two deaths from stray bullets. Some of the bodies may have been removed from the scene directly, and Iraqi security officials gave higher estimated tolls. An interior ministry official said 58 people were killed, while a defence source said 53.

It was not clear who planted the bombs, but similar attacks have in the past been blamed on Sun insurgent groups such as Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, which kills to spread chaos and undermine the US-backed government.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Fatwa against Al-Qaeda. Good job Iraq, congrats too!
MANY more wins to come.
Posted by: newc || 07/27/2007 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I just know those Iraqi patriots resisting George Bush's immoral war cannot be responsible for this. It must be a mistake!
Posted by: Cindy al-Sheehan || 07/27/2007 3:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Winning at football/soccer is against the teachings of the holy prophet™.
Posted by: Free Radical || 07/27/2007 10:54 Comments || Top||

#4  firing rifles wildly into the air

Armed football hooligans. Charming.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble || 07/27/2007 11:12 Comments || Top||


IED emplacers captured
KIRKUK, Iraq – Two men linked to the emplacement of an improvised explosive device in the western Kirkuk province were captured July 23 by Coalition ground forces with support from a team of helicopters patrolling overhead.

Soldiers from Company D, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division observed one of the men emplacing what was later confirmed as an improvised explosive device and attempting to escape in a sedan driven by the other. A scout weapons team of Kiowa Warrior helicopters from the 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade prevented their escape as the ground forces moved in to detain the two men. Coalition Soldiers also confiscated two AK-47 rifles and two magazine laden vests from inside the vehicle. Components of the IED were recovered for further analysis and the explosive ordnance was destroyed on site.

The 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment is part of the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment is also based out Schofield Barracks and habitually works with 3IBCT.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Call Congressdude Nagel for Habeus Corpus advice, and in the meantime, sing like canaries.
Posted by: Phinater Thraviger || 07/27/2007 0:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Nadler...geeez
Posted by: Phinater Thraviger || 07/27/2007 0:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Was just reading about Guadalcanal and the exploits of this same brigade of the 25th in taking various key positions (Galloping Horse, Sea Horse). There are American units with amazing collections of battle ribbons on their colors .... may their glorious stories continue.
Posted by: Verlaine || 07/27/2007 2:30 Comments || Top||

#4  The 27th 'Wolfhound' Regiment's main fame is as the savior of the Pusan battle alone with the 5th Marine Regiment.
Posted by: Brett || 07/27/2007 8:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Do the Mad Max on them. Attach emplacers to IED. start ignition sequence and then hand emplacers bacon knives.
Posted by: Steven || 07/27/2007 9:06 Comments || Top||

#6  "Goin' somewhere, boys?..."
Posted by: mojo || 07/27/2007 10:00 Comments || Top||

#7  The Marines hate to admit it, but there were MORE amphibious ops undertaken by the US Army in WW2 than there were by the Marines. And the Army got good at it. Phillipines and a lot of other places.

Over in the other ocean, ever heard of little places called Sicily, Anzio (great landing, failed leadership), Normandy?

The Marines do what they have always done - get better press.

People seem to forget that the Army was the largest amphibious unit operator in the military until after WW2.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/27/2007 10:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Do the Mad Max on them. Attach emplacers to IED. start ignition sequence and then hand emplacers bacon knives.

I was going to suggest something but I do believe that my work is done here.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 10:50 Comments || Top||


Scout weapon teams kill 14 insurgents in Diyala
BAQOUBA, Iraq – Scout weapons helicopters from the 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, killed 14 insurgents in two engagements supporting coalition ground forces in the Diyala province, July 24. Scout weapons aircraft responded to a call from ground force receiving small-arms fire from insurgents. The teams arrived on the scene and engaged the insurgents killing five. Surveillance aircraft responded to a radio call from ground forces observing a group of insurgents moving tactically along a canal in central Diyala. The air teams moved into position and fired on the insurgents killing nine.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Surveillance aircraft responded to a radio call from ground forces observing a group of insurgents moving tactically along a canal in central Diyala. The air teams moved into position and fired on the insurgents killing nine.

accommodating hajjis bunched up in a kill box.
Posted by: RD || 07/27/2007 1:52 Comments || Top||

#2  RD, hajji (various spellings) is the term for a person who has made the haj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. It is a term of respect (historically) - and the haj is one of the more benign and less weird aspects of the Islamic cult. When we misused the term in reference to shopkeepers and the like it wasn't too bad, but for terrorists a different word should apply (jihadi is not unreasonable. Or terrorist. Or murderer. Etc.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/27/2007 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3  RD - I re-read my comment and an image flashed into my head of a million true hajjis crawling in a spiral around (and in) a massive 'kill box'.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/27/2007 9:46 Comments || Top||

#4  rag head (testing the word filter)
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/27/2007 10:20 Comments || Top||

#5  wierd. IT keeps eating my posts about the bad nicknames we had for the arabs since forever, like "wog"
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/27/2007 10:21 Comments || Top||

#6  crawling in a spiral around (and in) a massive 'kill box'.

Like moths to a flame, or ants to poisoned sugar.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2007 14:07 Comments || Top||

#7  OS, I thought that was lil' sheet head?

*ducks*
Posted by: BA || 07/27/2007 14:58 Comments || Top||

#8  I thought "hajji" was what our troops called the insurgents...
Posted by: Hokie Low || 07/27/2007 17:28 Comments || Top||


36 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists detained
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces detained 36 suspected terrorists during operations Thursday targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq network in central and northern Iraq.

During two synchronized raids near Tarmiyah, Coalition Forces captured a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq cell leader allegedly responsible for coordinating vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks. The ground forces also destroyed a vehicle used to transport terrorist weapons and personnel, and detained 18 other individuals allegedly linked to the VBIED cell.

Coalition Forces detained 11 suspected terrorists west of Taji during a raid targeting a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq figure there. The targeted individual is suspected of coordinating VBIED and suicide bombing operations, as well as attacks on Coalition Forces.

In Mosul, Coalition Forces captured two suspected terrorists. One individual is allegedly the primary weapons facilitator for al-Qaeda in Iraq in the Mosul area and has experienced a steady rise in power because of the degradation of the terrorist leadership network in the city. The other targeted individual was captured with four other suspected terrorists, and was found with fake documents and materials for counterfeiting identification. “Al-Qaeda in Iraq is on the run, and placing less qualified operatives into leadership positions to make up for vacancies left when Coalition Forces cripple their network,” said Maj. Marc Young, an MNF-I spokesperson. “We will continue our operations to keep pressure on the terrorists and diminish their ability to attack the people of Iraq.”
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  "responsible for coordinating vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks"
So now VBIEDS will be uncoordinated.

"primary weapons facilitator has experienced a steady rise in power because of the degradation of the terrorist leadership network."
I was wondering when that phenomenon was going to be officially noticed. Encouraging - after a critical point is reached. At first it is Darwinian - weeding out the 'unfit' leaders and replacing them with ones better adapted to the battle condition, but eventually they just get replaced with warm bodies. Keep pushing, I am pretty sure we're past the tipping point there. If only the process could be applied to the source of the problem though - the mullahs in the mosques.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/27/2007 9:56 Comments || Top||


Iraqi, U.S. Special Operations Forces detain al-Qaeda leader
Iraqi Special Operations Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained an al-Qaeda-in-Iraq cell leader July 25 in southern Baghdad. ISOF entered and secured the building where the targeted individual was located without incident. As the occupants were being questioned, one identified himself as the primary suspect. One other suspicious individual who was present during the operation was also detained.

The primary suspect is believed to command an al-Qaeda-in-Iraq cell which operates out of the Jamia area. The primary suspect’s cell is allegedly responsible for conducting attacks against Iraqi citizens using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices intended to stimulate sectarian violence. The detainees are being held for questioning. No Iraqi or Coalition Forces were injured in the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Hummm -- is it just me..... and memory is to be cherished by the young, but lately haven't these leaders (bad guys) mostly are being killed or capture in the Baghdad Belts?

I'm reading this one, as the bad guy shows up in town, with a friend, and KAPOW... he and his friend are taken.....

Good show guys -- Would like this movie, Iraqi Special Operation guys and US Special Forces...

This, with the lottery, I could turn into a great movie. Probably a B-grade movie, but still a good movie.

Good intelligence here... "targeted individual was located without incident." I just have to admire these Iraqi guys. With the horrid tales we know of the horrific acts again their family members during the Saddam era, and now, for four years, more torture from ?????, they still, "locate and capture without incident."

I love the pictures of Iraqi kids our soldiers post for us. These kids are clean, their clothes are clean, their faces are clean... and smiles beam, with a look of a kid well loved.

How many pics of Iraqi kids have you seen, Iraqi kid, posing relaxed, with an arm or hand, laced comfortably on an American soldier? Most of them?

Just another story, about Iraqi Special Forces capturing a bad guy. Wonder where this bad guy is in the Iraqi forces deck of cards?
Posted by: Sherry || 07/27/2007 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  sherry, better go somewhere besides holly weird too make that movie
Posted by: sinse || 07/27/2007 8:41 Comments || Top||

#3  I hate "detained". It makes it sound like they got pulled over for speeding.
We need a new word...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 10:01 Comments || Top||

#4  tu3031: How about a new phrase, as in "He's detained, Jim."
Posted by: OyVey1 || 07/27/2007 12:33 Comments || Top||

#5  #3 I hate "detained". It makes it sound like they got pulled over for speeding. We need a new word... Posted by: tu3031 2007-07-27 10:01

How about "capped", as in "knee-capped"?
Maybe "jugged", as in "Saddam was jugged in a rabbit hole"?
Perhaps a better word all around would be "vaporized", as in ceasing to exist except as a few free-floating molecules. That does reduce the amount of intelligence we might gather, but it sure cuts down on recidivism.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/27/2007 13:41 Comments || Top||

#6  I like "shot in the face" myself...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 14:00 Comments || Top||

#7  How about "Shot in the nuts, then released with an implanted tracking device activated"?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/27/2007 16:04 Comments || Top||


Five killed, 30 injured in bombing in north Iraq
(KUNA) -- Five people were killed and 30 others injured on Thursday in a bomb car explosion at a marketplace in central Kirkuk, north of Iraq, the Iraqi police said. Kirkuk Police Chief Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that a bomb car exploded in Al-Jumhuria Street at a marketplace in the northern Iraqi City of Kirkuk, leaving five dead and 30 others wounded. Kirkuk has recently witnessed serial bomb explosions, leading to the death and injury of some 250 people.

Meanwhile, nine people were killed and 16 others, mostly women, wounded in a violent bomb car blast in Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said. The car bombing took place when a parked car bomb exploded near an intersection in the central Baghdad district of Karrada on Thursday, Iraqi police said. At least one building and several cars were ablaze after the blast in the predominantly Shi'ite district. Ambulances and fire engines were rushed to the explosion site while the Iraqi police sealed off the Karrada Street, where the car bombing occurred.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Five wanted individuals arrested in Kirkuk
(KUNA) -- Five wanted individuals were arrested in search operations near Kirkuk, northern Iraq, while unknown militants bombed a sports club in Mosul. Kirkuk police chief Brigadier Sarhad Qader told KUNA that Iraqi police, backed by coalition forces, conducted a search operation in the district of Yayji and arrested 19 people, including five individuals wanted by security authorities.

Meanwhile, a Mosul police source said unknown militants bombed the Mosul Sports Club, west of the city, using TNT, but that only material damage was sustained. Moreover, the source said a civilian was killed and nine others were wounded when mortar shells fell over the Dawasa area and Gumhouriya Street.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Some 428 insurgents killed in Baghdad in five months
"Chuck just called again. He wants some numbers. And he wants them now!"
(KUNA) -- The security plan imposed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad five months ago has so far resulted killed 428 insurgents and defusing 133 car bombs, said Iraqi army spokesman on Thursday. As part of the Baghdad Law Enforcement Plan, said the Brigadier Qassim Atallah, joint Iraqi-US forces also released some 315 abducted people and defused 1443 explosive devices in the city. The plan also resulted in the detention of many suspected terrorist, and the discovery of 3,197 unlicensed weapons as well as 4,642 kg of TNT.

Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi had criticized the Baghdad security plan and said it was no longer legal following two booby-trapped car explosions yesterday that killed many civilians while celebrating the Iraqi soccer team's qualification for the Asian Cup finals. Baghdad is witnessing a considerable decline in sectarian violence since the implementation of Law Enforcement Plan and the proliferation of security elements in the suburbs of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Just in Baghdad. These numbers wouldn't include the Arrowhead Ripper?
Posted by: Captain Lewis || 07/27/2007 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Orders for 2008 score cards are being filled now, don't be late.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/27/2007 10:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Do we have a pool going?
Posted by: Free Radical || 07/27/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#4  MNF reported 837 KIA in the period from January 15 through about May 31 in Baghdad. This guys' probably talking about Iraqi kills alone.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 07/27/2007 11:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe they're using Arabic numbers.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/27/2007 16:33 Comments || Top||


Two Iraqis killed, clan leader's son kidnapped in Kirkuk
(KUNA) -- Two Iraqi civilians were killed when unidentified armed men shot them in Kirkuk on Wednesday and the son of a clan leader in the city was also kidnapped. A source at the Kirkuk police told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that unknown men in a civilian car fired on another car southern of the city where two farmers were seriously injured and soon died. It added that unidentified men also abducted Moustafa Qeis Muzher Al-Aasi, son of the Al-Obeid clan leader south-western of the city on the Kirkuk-Piji road, today.

Meanwhile, Colonel Othman Abdullah from the Kurkuk police told KUNA that the Iraqi military had captured 11 insurgents and diffused six improvised explosive devices during raids in some Kirkuk villages.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Following the headlines and reading the articles posted tonight, seems the terrorists are making a last stand in Kirkuk or at least, the northern lands. Kinda hard to whip the flames of a "civil war" in Kirkuk....

Terrorists are moving north.... and Friday, the holy day always brings out the crazies.. What will this Friday give us?
Posted by: Sherry || 07/27/2007 1:14 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli raid kills Hamas activist in Khan Younis
(KUNA) -- An Israeli airstrike killed n activist from the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas armed wing, and injured another on Thursday. "An Israeli aircraft fired a missile targeting a group of activists in Khan Younis; one was killed and another injured," medical sources said. They added that the activist whose torn body was brought to the European Hospital in southern Gaza, was Mahmoud Abu-Duqa. Thus, the Israelis killed five Palestinians today, four in airstrikes and the fifth with a mortar that targeted him eastern of Khan Younis.
This article starring:
MAHMUD ABU DUQAHamas
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  targetted a guy with a mortar, huh? Nice aim, Avner!
Posted by: Frank G || 07/27/2007 9:36 Comments || Top||


Gaza Islamic Jihad chief gets a visit from Oscar the Cat
Two days after surviving an Israeli attempt on his life, a senior Islamic Jihad commander was killed in Gaza City on Thursday - along with two other terrorists - in an IAF strike on his car. Earlier in the day, a Hamas operative was killed in an air strike after he was spotted cuddling a cute li'l kitty in a nursing home aiming an antitank missile at IDF troops.

Security officials said Islamic Jihad leader Omar Khatib, 32, was behind Islamic Jihad's foiled kidnap attempt near the Kissufim crossing on June 9, when three terrorists driving a jeep with TV-reporter markings infiltrated into Israel. Khatib, the officials said, was also responsible for dozens of Kassam rocket and mortar attacks on the western Negev.

Palestinians said Khatib was head of Islamic Jihad's military wing in Gaza. On Tuesday, the IAF bombed a building in Gaza in a failed targeted killing of Khatib.
This article starring:
OMAR KHATIBIslamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad

#1  gr0mgoru, damn! Your headline caused masive deposit of cofee on my monitor! ;-)
Posted by: zazz || 07/27/2007 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  coffee (with 2 fs). Making typos on my new keyboard as I am not yet used to it. That is a result of nuther unannounced coffee alert about 2 days ago. Rantburg is expensive. :)
Posted by: zazz || 07/27/2007 0:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Good shot, Oscar.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/27/2007 1:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Gaza Islamic Jihad chief gets a visit from Oscar the Cat

Oscar, "Meow! Ima Purrrfect!"

"Islamic Jihad leader, [Shit Stick] Omar Khatib [spit], choked on hair ball."

"He waz never a Kool Kat, Kause he never had 9 lives!"
Posted by: RD || 07/27/2007 1:39 Comments || Top||

#5  leaders of these teerorist groups are getting mighty young aren't they
Posted by: sinse || 07/27/2007 8:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Two days after surviving an Israeli attempt on his life, a senior Islamic Jihad commander was killed in Gaza City on Thursday...

Sounds like Omar had a bad case of Attention Deficit Syndrome?
Well, he doesn't anymore...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/27/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||

#7  I guess RB's resident feline sniper has a new name now, huh?

Excellent...

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/27/2007 10:27 Comments || Top||

#8  With apologies to Winston Sharples

He's amazing, he's remarkable
He is fearless, unbelievable
He is superdooper and extraordinary
He's the kind of guy that keeps you feeling merry
Who?

Oscar the cat
The wonderful, wonderful cat
Whenever Paleos act like prix
He reaches into his bag of schticks

Oscar the cat
The wonderful, wonderful cat
You'll laugh so much your sides will ache
Your heart will go pit-a-pat
Watching Oscar the wonderful cat
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Oscar the Cat is based on an article appearing in 'Burg yesterday.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/27/2007 15:47 Comments || Top||

#10  Note to self: Never eat pizza whilst reading 'Burg articles about jihad chiefs and O.T.C.; pepperoni slices do not pass through nasal passageas as easily as milk or 7-Up....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/27/2007 16:52 Comments || Top||

#11  Poor USN, Ret! P'rhaps a warning should be posted:
Do not attempt ingestion while reading this blog
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/27/2007 21:30 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Ex-MP killed in southern Thailand
Terrorists Insurgents shot dead an ex-New Aspiration party MP in southern province of Yala on Friday afternoon. Sitthisak Marohabutr, 50, was shot twice in the head and in the torso when he was leaving a mosque in Raman district after a prayer at around 1.30pm, police said. A villager who was also leaving the mosque was also wounded from the shooting.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/27/2007 08:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency

#1  Insurgents, or Tai military becoming effective?
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/27/2007 22:14 Comments || Top||


Philippine govt gives MILF more time to surrender beheaders
War is coming to Basilan. Lots more at linky.
Acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales on Wednesday said the government has extended the ultimatum imposed by the government against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), DZMM reported. Correspondent Ruby Tayag said that according to Gonzales, the government had given the armed secessionist group more time to validate the list of suspects in the beheading of 10 members of the 1st Marine Brigade in Al-Barka town in Basilan province after a clash between the military unit and a MILF group last July 10.

Gonzales said the MILF would have to be able to determine if the people included on the list are its members. He said the separatist group should surrender its men involved in the gruesome act.

The extension was given to the separatist group days after the Armed Forces of the Philippines poured troops to Basilan. There are already four Marine and Army battalions deployed to the province. Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, Basilan Police Provincial Office director, said at least 1,000 families have already evacuated from Al-Barka town's Barangay Guinanta.

Thousands of residents from other barangays including, Linuan, Macalang, Danapah, Kailih and Cambug have also left their homes and started building temporary huts in nearby towns, particularly Lamitan.

Temporary evacuation centers have already been put up in nearby Tipo-Tipo municipality and other areas in the province.

The villages left their homes after the military poured troops into Basilan province.

A greater number of troopers were deployed to Al-Barka town, where the perpetrators of the beheading of 10 slain members of the 1st Marine Brigade are believed to be hiding.

Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, deputy commander of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, said there are three battalions of the Philippine Marines already placed in the province.

The Marine battalions are being reinforced by an Army battalion. The police in the province have also been put on standby in case an additional force is needed.

Sabban said there are already "selected" targets that have been pinpointed by the military in the province. The military official said the "punitive actions" of the military is only against the bandits responsible in the beheading of the Marines.

Macapantar, meanwhile, said the police in Basilan are on a stand by status. He said the police can help in sealing off Basilan island through checkpoints once the punitive actions start.

As early as Saturday, the MILF placed its troops on a "high alert" status in anticipation of military offensives in their known territories in Basilan.

The separatist group had also warned that the looming war in Basilan may also happen in other provinces in Mindanao. The group said the MILF has hundreds of sympathizers in several provinces, particularly those inside ARMM.

Posted by: Seafarious || 07/27/2007 01:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front

#1  how do they knopw if they will hand over the right ppl or if the ones who did it are really still there?
Posted by: sinse || 07/27/2007 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  I still can't figure out why 10 Filipino Marines thought it was a good idea to surrender to Muslims.
Posted by: gromky || 07/27/2007 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  'cuz they thought they was surrendering to the OTHER kind of MILFs??????
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/27/2007 16:53 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan jets pound rebel positions
Sri Lankan fighter jets pounded Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the northern part of the country Thursday afternoon, the military said.

Air force planes launched two airstrikes on two separate targets in the rebel-held Mullaitivu district, said an officer at the Defence Ministry’s media centre. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said details of casualties and damage were not immediately available. A spokesman for the Tigers was not immediately available to comment.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court allowed a challenge on Thursday to the eviction of nearly 400 minority ethnic Tamils from Colombo carried out during an anti-rebel drive. The court allowed the challenge on the grounds that anti-torture provisions of the constitution may have been violated by the police and troops and fixed a formal hearing for November 28.

The three-judge bench granted “leave to proceed” in the case filed against the police and the state security apparatus for forcibly removing nearly 400 men, women and children last month as part of an anti-rebel campaign. “The case is being taken up on the basis of article 11 and 12 which says that all are equal before the law and that no person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” a court official said.

The petition was filed by a lobby group called the Centre for Policy Alternatives. The lobby group complained that hundreds of Tamils were dragged out in their night clothes by security forces and bused out of Colombo in a violation of basic rights. An order preventing police and security forces carrying out similar evictions would remain in force till the conclusion of the case, officials said.

Mass protests in Colombo: Thousands of opposition activists and ruling party dissidents took to the streets of the Sri Lankan capital Thursday in protest against human rights violations and high living costs. Supporters of the main opposition United National Party and a group of ruling party dissidents led by former foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera marched from Campbell Park in Colombo to the nearby Hyde Park for a rally.

Anti-government activists poured into the streets despite warnings by the government that Tamil Tiger rebels had infiltrated the city of 650,000 people with truck and car bombs. Fewer vehicles were on the streets Thursday as many people remained indoors fearing trouble during the opposition rally, police said, adding that they stepped up their presence. “We have placed anti-riot squads on stand-by,” a police official at the rally said.

The activists were denouncing the government over its human rights record and displayed a white van with photographs of hundreds of people who had “disappeared” in the past year.
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Good morning
US study portrays Guantanamo inmates as threat50 Iraq football fans killed in car bombsZawahiri 'obsessed with killing Perv'Two terrorists arrested in Tizi OuzouEx-BD minister gets 31 years for helping JMB Bajaur youth, 2 others 'arrested' for foiled suicide-attack on Mulllah NazirKyrgyz authorities aspire to make the Issyk-Kul Film Festival a rival of the one in Cannes
Posted by: Fred || 07/27/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lebanese babes are hotter:

Link
Posted by: McZoid || 07/27/2007 1:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Keyes to the Kingdom.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/27/2007 1:35 Comments || Top||

#3  use a link or tiny url rather than busting the page width, k?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/27/2007 8:32 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
37[untagged]
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6Taliban
4Global Jihad
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1Islamic Jihad
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1Thai Insurgency
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1Hizbul Mujaheddin

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Fri 2007-07-27
  50 Iraq football fans killed in car bombs
Thu 2007-07-26
  Iraq: Khalis tribal leaders sign peace agreement
Wed 2007-07-25
  U.S., Iranian envoys meet in Baghdad
Tue 2007-07-24
  Abdullah Mehsud: Dead again
Mon 2007-07-23
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Wed 2007-07-18
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  N Korea closes nuclear facilities
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Fri 2007-07-13
  Hek urges Islamist revolt in Pakistain

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