Hundreds of U.S.-led troops have launched an offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban militants in an area of eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden once hid, officials said Wednesday.
A bomb attack near the capital, meanwhile, killed three German police officers assigned to protect their country's embassy, and a British national was shot and killed in Kabul.
The offensive involving ground troops and airstrikes in Tora Bora region of eastern Nangarhar province is targeting "hundreds of foreign fighters" who are using dug-in fighting positions, said coalition spokeswoman Capt. Vanessa Bowman.
The remote mountainous area bordering Pakistan was heavily bombarded in late 2001 by U.S. troops hunting bin Laden and his associates following the Sept. 11 attacks.
"This region has provided an ideal environment to conceal enemy support bases and training sites, as well as plan and launch attacks aimed at terrorizing innocent civilians, both inside and outside the region," Bowman said in a statement released later Wednesday by the Pentagon.
A U.S. official in Washington with knowledge of the operation said it was "intelligence driven" and had been "piggy-backed" on top of a previously planned action against extremists.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it was not clear exactly who was being targeted, but that those believed to be in the area included Taliban officials who could be accompanied by some mid-level members of al-Qaida's leadership, but not the top echelon. There were no immediate reports of casualties among militants or U.S. and Afghan troops.
...
Separately, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops clashed with militants in central Logar province on Tuesday, killing nine suspected militants, the Interior Ministry said. No police or coalition troops were wounded in the clash, it said.
Posted by: ed ||
08/15/2007 19:38 ||
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#1
Q: When the Taliban emptied out there bases in Pakistan, where did they go?
Six Afghan civilians, one security guard and four Taliban were killed in two separate incidents on Tuesday, police said. The six Afghanis had been travelling in a minibus near a convoy bringing supplies to NATO-led troops that came under attack in Kandahar province on Monday, the provincial police commander said. An Afghan guard with a US private security firm was also killed in the attack, police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb told AFP. Five vehicles, including three trucks, were destroyed, he added.
The attack was in the Zhari district, just west of Kandahar city, which sees regular clashes between Taliban-led insurgents and troops.
A separate clash between troops and insurgents on Monday in Ghazni province, further north, left four Taliban dead, provincial police chief Alishah Ahamdzai said. Another was arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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A Polish soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, becoming the country's first fatality since it joined the Nato-led force there in March 2002. Second Lieutenant Lukasz Kurowski was fatally wounded during an attack on a convoy by suspected Taleban insurgents.
He died en route to hospital after an exchange of fire some 20 km (12 miles) southeast of the city of Gardez.
Poland earlier this year increased its existing Afghanistan contingent of around 200 troops to more than 1,100. Polish defence minister Aleksander Szczyglo said that Lukasz Kurowski, 28, had "died in the line of duty".
More than 30 people have been killed in the Somali capital in the past 24 hours, a local human rights group said Tuesday. Sudan Ali Ahmed, chairman of Elman Human Rights, an independent Somali group, said the battles began Monday when insurgents attacked government bases. His organization arrived at the death toll by contacting hospitals and doing its own surveys throughout the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
His organization arrived at the death toll by contacting hospitals and doing its own surveys throughout the city.
A total of 80 Algerian volunteers for jihad in Iraq have been detained in Iraqi prisons since 2006, according to a report issued by Iraqi defence and home affairs ministries.
Some 200 Algerian volunteers for jihad in Iraq out of 1550 foreigners were detained by Syria in 2006. Other 120 Algerians were arrested in Algeria after discovering that they were working in the so-called Iraqi network, said the same source. According to the report, Algerians are ranked third in terms of volunteers for jihad in Iraq.
Western intelligence agencies say foreign volunteers from North Africa represent 25 percent of each 1000 foreign volunteer fighters in Iraq. In Algeria, four people working in the so-called Iraqi network were arrested in June.
A former Islamist repentant chief has been seriously wounded Tuesday at dawn in a bomb explosion claimed by a terrorist group, security services unveiled. The 55-year old Mr. Kartali was to ride his car when leaving the Mosque in El Arbaa in the eastern suburb of Algiers after accomplishing the first prayer in the daily ritual. The bomb exploded in his car, according to the same sources. The former repentant terrorist chief was transported to the nearest hospital in Al Harrach south east of Algiers.
To recall, Mustapha Kartali was the former mayor of El Arbaa, elected from the dissolved Islamic Salvation Front FIS, he joined the Islamic Salvation Army AIS, FIS armed wing after the diversion of the democratic process in 1992 and the cancellation of the legislative election won by FIS. He became the "Katibat Errahmane" Emir, i.e. a political-religious leader of "God Phalange". In 1999, he surrendered to the authorities and benefited from civil concord measures initiated by President Bouteflika.
Noteworthy, Kartali is the third former FIS repentant leader to be targeted by a murdering attack by al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb terrorist organization that rejects the national reconciliation endeavor.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Bow bow bow...
(um, do that again)
Bow bow bow...
Have you ever heard of a wish sandwich? a wish sandwich is the kind of a sandwich where you have two slices of bread and you, hee hee hee, wish you had some meat...
Bow bow bow...
Ummm... the other day I had a ricochet biscuit bomb. a ricochet biscuit bomb is the kind of a biscuit bomb thats supposed to bounce back off the wall into your mouth. if it dont bounce back... you go hungry and live!
Bow bow bow...
Umm, umm, umm... the other day I had a cool water sandwich and a sunday-go-to-meetin bun...
Bow bow bow...
Hee hee hee hee... what da ya want for nothing? ... a rubber biscuit and life?
Bow bow bow...
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/15/2007 4:48 Comments ||
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#2
It seems to be an unfortunate aspect of human nature that when a member of a criminal/terrorist organization deserts his fellows for the comforts of mainstream society, his fellows are likely to act on the insult they feel. Which is why, boys and girls, we must always avoid evil companions lest we pay the consequences of deserting them later.
#4
And TW this is the problem in our own sports society with the likes of Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, et.al. They can't seem to shake off their "homeys" who become part of the enterouge even though they didn't earn a college scholarship or a sports marketing deal. You are the company you keep. Best to leave them behind quickly. Never go back to the hood and never give away your house.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
08/15/2007 11:17 Comments ||
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#5
TW, yes, but what if there's no choice, in the sense that someone lives within a society with a lopsided moral compass not based a golden rule but on delirious hallucinations and pathological deeds of their respective profit.
Walid Shoebat comes to mind. One may say that before he's got his epiphany, he did not know any better (although he may have been gnawed by some form of suspicion at the time and thus some rudiment of compass semed to present). Despite that he picked rather uncomfy path of educating about that evil as opposed to "comforts of mainstream society", they may still get him.
The rule still applies, but wrapped in a coarse sandpaper.
August 14, 2007: China and Pakistan has signed a formal agreement covering security arrangements for the 4,000 Chinese citizens working in Pakistan. What this has done is make China a major player in the war against al Qaeda inside Pakistan.
China is a major supplier of military technology to Pakistan, but most of the Chinese in Pakistan are working on major industrial and infrastructure projects. Currently, 7,000 Pakistani military and police personnel protect Chinese working inside Pakistan. In addition, there are a small, but growing, number of Chinese security personnel. The Chinese security detachment works with the Chinese community in Pakistan, to make sure there are no misunderstandings about the need for tight security. The Chinese security personnel also advise the Pakistanis on Chinese security needs, and help get needed technical equipment brought in from China. The major danger to Chinese in Pakistan is Islamic terrorists. Most of these are al Qaeda, and local Islamic radicals (mostly Taliban) who want Pakistan run by a religious dictatorship. Since China has come down hard on real, or perceived, Islamic radicalism at home, China is seen by Pakistani Islamic radicals as "foreign devils" and "enemies of Islam." The Islamic radicals recognize that China is crucial to maintaining Pakistani military and police power, and keeping the current government in power. So there are more attacks on Chinese by Pakistani Islamic radicals.
All this Chinese counter-terror work is done very quietly, and covertly. That may keep it out of the Western press, but the Chinese are increasingly tagged as major bad guys by the Islamic media, especially the outlets that are pro-radical.
Preferably w/o the water-logged cardboard, please.
Posted by: BA ||
08/15/2007 13:19 Comments ||
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#4
security arrangements for the 4,000 Chinese citizens working in Pakistan ... Currently, 7,000 Pakistani military and police personnel protect Chinese working inside Pakistan.
With an almost 2:1 ratio of security to workers you'd think each individual Chinese would have a personal escort.
I can't wait for the Taliban to put their collective tit in the Chinese wringer. The results should be hilarious. Plus, China really needs to feel the heat for how they continue to exacerbate tensions in the MME (Muslim Middle East) by supporting so many terrorist regimes.
#8
and i am willing to bet that not only are the Chinese results better ( more dead talibunnies) but they will not give a flying phuque about any human rights protests when the fluffy ducks, baby rabbits and civilians get fragged whilst hunting terrs......and i am also willing to bet that the cost per terr is a lot less than what we are paying. and quicker results.
#10
and i am also willing to bet that the cost per terr is a lot less than what we are paying. and quicker results.
USN, Ret., please permit me to add that we will also hear a deafening silence from the human rights watchdogs about any heavy-handedness by the Chinese.
#12
Of course, if we really got lucky, the Chinese would annex Pakistan like they did Tibet. Maybe we could make a deal with them - leave Taiwan alone and you can have Pakistan.
#13
Maybe we could make a deal with them - leave Taiwan alone and you can have Pakistan.
Not good enough, pal. All further Chinese expansionism must be discouraged in no uncertain terms. China's legacy will be identical to that of the Soviets and their satellite Iron Curtain nations. Namely, a profound retrograde influence upon all future progress and political freedom. Not that it could get much worse in Pakistan but the downside is just too big for any good to come of it.
Suspected Islamic militants decapitated one of 16 paramilitary soldiers kidnapped last week in northwestern Pakistan, and threatened to kill more captives if authorities do not release rebel prisoners, officials said Tuesday. The body of Laiq Hussain was found Tuesday in a soccer field near a military base in Jandola, a town in the South Waziristan tribal region where al-Qaida- and Taliban-linked militants operate, said Latifur Rehman, a security officer in the area.
Happy Independence Day, Pakistan!
Hussain was among 16 troops who were abducted on Friday near Jandola as they traveled home on vacation. An intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make media comments, said a faction of militants in South Waziristan led by Qari Hussain was holding the soldiers and demanding the release of 10 of his supporters who are in government custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
take two of the ten Qari wants released and behead them. Their deaths are his fault. See how his "militants" like that.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2007 8:14 Comments ||
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#2
What is with this beheading fetish?
Some sexual high we don't get?
#3
What is with this beheading fetish?
Religous commandment: e.g. koran 8-12: When Allah inspired the angels, (saying): I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will instill terror in the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger.
And emulation of Mohammed: e.g after the battle of Badr (the first significant victory against the Meccans) when the Banu Quraiza Jews surrendered instead of enduring a seige, Mo had the ~700 men beheaded and the women sold into slavery. Same fate for the enemies of Mo the early muslims caught onesy-twosy.
Some sexual high we don't get?
No doubt. Power is an aphrodisiac and no power greater than that of life and death.
Posted by: ed ||
08/15/2007 19:26 Comments ||
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Three explosions late on Tuesday rocked music shops in the Landi Kotal bazaar, but no casualties were reported. According to sources, militant organisation Amer Bil Maroof claimed responsibility for the incidents and left a letter in the bazaar warning all video and music shop owners to stop spreading 'vulgarity' in the area or face more attacks. The political administration arrested Ahmad Shah Shinwari, Mian Wali Shinwari, Ibrar and Shams - the owners of the music centres - for investigation.
Meanwhile, flood-affected people in Khyber Agency protested against the government on Independence Day and refused the political administration's request to take down the black flags of mourning flying over their houses.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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AL MANSOUR (Baghdad) U.S. forces have launched a new offensive north of Baghdad in an attempt to crush insurgents who have recently fled Baqouba. A major bridge was attacked on the outskirts of the city (several killed). And some roundup raids, which I cannot get into, may be stepping off in the city center as we speak. . . .
Along the op route, we stopped by the house of a poor Iraqi family with at least seven small kids beautiful, smiling children (girls and boys, none more than 10-years-old) all wanting to hold my hand, and wear my sunglasses and helmet. Of course, I let them. One of them a smiling boy of about eight was sitting on the floor, naked, his lower body partially covered by a sheet. At first I noticed his little hand when he reached up for mine: His left index finger was gone and the dirty remaining nub was somewhat ragged looking. Flies were buzzing around it. But the boy was smiling and his eyes as bright as if he had just run into the house from some nearby playground. But there is no playground for this child: Not now, anyway.
Weeks ago, the boy was with his mother, shopping for bread in an open-air market, when an IED exploded. In a instant, shrapnel ripped through both of his legs and his stomach. His index finger was blown off, and part of his genitals were torn away. His right femur was completely broken near the hip. And his entire right leg from his foot to his hip was badly (third degree) burned.
Our soldiers discovered him sick with infection while they were patrolling the neighborhood, got him to one of our doctors, and have been following up and taking care of him since.
Today, the mother a tired-looking woman dressed in an all black abaya and headscarf pulled back the sheet to show me the severity of her son's wounds. He's healing now, but there are still open wounds, and his entire right leg is black (only because the skin is dead). One of the Army's medical corpsmen assured me he would heal. But the bones currently held together with metal rods need to fuse together. The boy will probably walk again: I pray he will. His mother afraid he won't heal asked for reassurance from our corpsman through our Iraqi interpreter.
None of us could understand what she was saying, but I knew exactly what she was trying to convey. She was crying, holding her fingers up to her quivering lips. Her eyes searching mine and others for the truth. The corpsman, trying to reassure her, was also tearing up. I had to walk outside so no one would see my own tears. I couldn't help it. Then two of the little girls came up to me and took my hand. They were looking up and me and smiling. This may all sound mawkishly sweet, but I don't care. This is what happened today. This is reality on the ground in an impoverished and dangerous area of Baghdad, where the "mujh" still operates. This is where 70 percent of the houses and buildings are unoccupied (providing the terrorists a network of safe houses and sniper positions from which they can and do operate). This is where bound, blindfolded, and summarily executed bodies are still turning up. This is where IEDs and small arms are still killing and wounding Americans. This is where Iraqi children live, try to play, and have been deliberately targeted by terrorists.
When we left the house, a captain told me that all the soldiers wept when they saw the torn and burned boy for the first time. Today, they were all smiles and playing around with the other children because they know the little boy is healing.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/15/2007 06:23 ||
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#1
I'm speechless. While I love that American soldiers are the best in the world at kicking arse and takin' names, it means as much (or more) that they show their human side too.
It's the little events, like this one, that are winning "hearts and minds" over there. A mother will never forget this event and the soldiers and doctors that worked to save her son, especially if he does completely heal and walks again. Little by little, also, the evil that is Islamofascism is working to turn the civilians over there against the jihadis too. Sadly, of course, this will never be printed in the MSM to show the American populace that our troops are the best and brightest in the world at this sort of thing, and that they are not the ogres and brutes they're portrayed to be.
Posted by: BA ||
08/15/2007 8:37 Comments ||
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#2
This sort of thing also tends to make troops moody towards a vicious enemy.
#3
Yes, the little boy, his mother, and the kindness of our troops makes tear up back home. It also makes one curse a damnable uncaring enemy who plants IEDs and justifies them in the name of Allah or his screwed-up cause.
The Islamofascists have gotten a pass in our media and in Hollywood. Although, the MSM and the Hollywood elites enjoy the benefits of a free society, they are mute on the good things their country-particularly the military is doing for others. And when they are not going through rehab, they take every opportunity to bash Bush or the U.S.A. or our efforts in Afghanistan or Iraq.
#7
I think it was VDH (perhaps quoting or reflecting Stephen Ambrose?) who pointed out that, especially during and since WW2, American troops are almost unique in history as the only ones children approach openly and gladly.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2007 Coalition forces killed four terrorists and detained a Jaysh al-Mahdi militia leader and several of his operatives during a raid in the Sadr City section of Baghdad early this morning.
The eight men detained are suspected of coordinating and conducting attacks against coalition forces and moderate Iraqis within the Baghdad area. These militants threaten the stability and security of areas within Baghdad, military officials said. They also are known to have ties to materials being smuggled from Iran.
After searching three buildings, coalition forces confiscated miscellaneous documents, photographs and identification cards. As their vehicles were departing the area, they were attacked with two improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire from multiple locations. Helicopters fired warning shots to allow the ground forces to break away from the extremists. Coalition ground forces also returned fire, killing four armed gunmen. There were no coalition force casualties during the operation.
"Coalition forces continue to gain momentum in attacking the extremist networks that employ improvised explosive devices, especially explosively formed penetrators, which are smuggled from Iran to attack the Iraqi people and the security forces that protect them," said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. "We will continue our operations against these extremists to expose, disrupt and destroy the supply networks of lethal materials and aid flowing into Baghdad."
In other operations today:
-- Coalition forces captured a suspected terrorist when he identified himself as the targeted individual to ground forces during a raid west of Baqubah. The man allegedly specializes in weapons facilitation for terrorists in Diyala province, officials said.
-- North of Taji, coalition forces conducted two operations targeting associates of an al Qaeda emir whose network is responsible for most of the bombings in the northern belts around Baghdad. Ground forces detained six suspected terrorists associated with the network's military leader and five suspected terrorists associated with an individual believed to conduct beheadings for the network.
-- Coalition forces also conducted operations against a car-bombing network in western Baghdad, targeting a direct associate of a media and car-bombing cell leader with contacts in several foreign countries. Ground forces detained two suspected terrorists who were assessed to be foreigners.
-- Northwest of Balad, coalition forces detained two individuals believed to be part of the network assisting foreign terrorists in Iraq. The two are allegedly associated with suspects detained in earlier coalition operations. An Iraqi citizen provided important information to the ground forces on the scene.
"We're not waiting for al Qaeda to strike; we're constantly going after these networks," Garver said. "Dismantling the car-bombing network that conducts vicious attacks against the Iraqi people is a top priority for us."
In other news, Iraqi army and coalition forces, working with tips from local citizens, rescued six people while detaining five terrorists in Mosul yesterday. While searching for caches, soldiers from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division and the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment discovered an al Qaeda prison. They freed the hostages, made up of Kurdish and Christian men, and detained a guard. The hostages, bound and blindfolded for over two weeks, were being held for a ransom of $100,000 each.
"This is a great example of the efforts of Iraqi security and coalition forces working together to protect the people of Nineveh province," said Army Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. "This wouldn't have been possible without tips from the local community.
"Due to the continued vigilance of our joint forces, these six men will be safely reunited with their families," he continued, "and these terrorists will be forced to take responsibility for their actions as they face Iraqi justice."
While searching an area in Mosul yesterday, coalition forces stopped a suspicious vehicle containing four males who had been circling the area. The men tested positive for signs of handling explosives and were detained. Nearly $4,500 in U.S. currency and identification cards were taken. The four men and prison guard were detained by 2nd Iraqi Army Division soldiers and taken to a nearby coalition facility.
Iraqi and U.S. Special Forces soldiers detained 12 insurgents yesterday in Baghdad. The detainees include eight high-level leaders linked to militia groups that carry out attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces. The suspects include a brigade commander, battalion commander, two company commanders and one leader of an extra-judicial killing cell. In addition, the forces captured several cell members suspected of carrying out killings and IED attacks.
Apache crews from 227th Aviation Regiment reported finding a suspicious stockpile of drums and other materials north of Baghdad on Aug. 12. The area recently was identified as a location used by insurgents for producing homemade explosives. The crews fired on the drums, destroying them. A follow-up reconnaissance the next day revealed that insurgents had gone to the location and removed the remnants of the explosive materials.
"Air cavalry pilots continue to conduct aggressive reconnaissance in support of the Ironhorse (1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division,) Team," said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Walach, commander of 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment. "This reconnaissance find shows that insurgents are increasingly taking more risks to move and store (homemade explosive-mixing) solutions in the 1st Cavalry Division's operational area. Air cavalry teams will seek out and destroy insurgent (homemade explosive) sites in order to disrupt the flow of materials used to make (roadside bombs) against coalition forces."
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Corps Iraq and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula news releases.)
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/15/2007 06:16 ||
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A suicide truck bomber struck a strategic bridge outside Baghdad on Tuesday, sending vehicles plunging into the river and killing at least 10 people in the second attack on the span in three months, police said. The attack came as 16,000 US and Iraqi troops began a new operation north of the Iraqi capital targeting insurgents who have fled a crackdown in the restive city of Baqouba, the military said Tuesday.
On the political front, leaders of Iraq's divided factions held a flurry of meetings in preparation for a crisis council planned by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as he seeks to save his crumbling government, which faces allegations of a Shiite bias. "I think that the circumstances require us to do our best to bring the country out of this difficult situation," Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq Hashemi told reporters after holding talks with Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, who traveled from his autonomous northern region to Baghdad this week to help broker a compromise .
The Thiraa Dijla bridge in Taji, a town near a US air base some 20 kilometers north of the capital, came under attack around noon, police said, giving the casualty toll. The bridge, which stretched across a canal on the main highway that links Baghdad with the northern city of Mosul, was bombed three months ago and only one lane had reopened, according to the police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. The attacker detonated his payload in the middle of the bridge after avoiding an Iraqi army checkpoint that was only monitoring traffic going the other direction, a police officer said, adding that 40 meters of the bridge had collapsed. Rescue crews were trying to recover bodies trapped inside three minibuses and the truck that had fallen into the canal, which links the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, the officials said. US and Iraqi troops cordoned off the area to evacuate the wounded, the military said, without providing a casualty toll.
The US and Iraq operation farther north of the capital, dubbed Operation Lightning Hammer, began late Monday with an air assault and was part of a broader US push announced Monday to build on successes in Baghdad and surrounding areas by targeting al-Qaida in Iraq and Iranian-allied Shiite militia fighters nationwide.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of US forces in northern Iraq, said the troops were pursuing al-Qaida cells that had been disrupted and forced into hiding by previous operations. "Our main goal with Lightning Hammer is to eliminate the terrorist organizations ... and show them that they truly have no safe haven - especially in Diyala," he said in a statement.
Four more US soldiers were reported killed in separate attacks - three in an explosion near their vehicle Monday in the northwestern Ninevah province and another who was died of wounds sustained during combat operations in western Baghdad.
A US transport helicopter also went down Tuesday near the Taqaddum air base, west of Baghdad, the military said. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter was conducting a routine post-maintenance test flight when it went down in Anbar province, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Shawn Mercer said, adding the site had been sealed off and the cause was being investigated. He gave no immediate information about how many people were on the helicopter or their status.
Local officials, meanwhile, said four civilians, including a young girl, were killed and five wounded Tuesday during a raid by joint US-Iraqi forces in Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City. The US military said four gunmen were killed and eight detained after a fierce gunfight, but it had no reports of civilian deaths.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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A Mosul police source told the BBC that there had been "large loss of life". Officials said at least one of the attacks near Mosul involved a fuel tanker. Up to 200 other people were hurt in the blasts, which destroyed or set fire to a number of buildings. The attacks are among the worst carried out in Iraq during the insurgency.
Tensions between the sect and local Muslims have grown since a Yazidi girl was reportedly stoned by her community in April for converting to Islam. Members of the Yazidi community worship an archangel, sometimes represented by a peacock figure. Some Christians and Muslims believe the angel they revere to be the devil.
#1
Let me know when the families' victims begin reporting all such terrorist perpetrators. Until then, they can kiss my Infidel ass. Muslims must either learn to intervene against Islamist terrorism or die in droves for it. Period.
#4
Zenster,
The Yazidi are a small, non muslim religion with a few tens of thousands followers. Usually they don't bother anybody and nobody bothers them.
The fact that they have been singled out for this kind of barbaric attack is an indication of how desperate AQI is for any kind of success. You can bet that if they could have pulled this off in Baghdad they would have. Instead they have to go after a small minority in a rural setting to get mass casualties.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/15/2007 13:29 Comments ||
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#5
Let me know when the families' victims begin reporting all such terrorist perpetrators. Until then, they can kiss my Infidel ass. Muslims must either learn to intervene against Islamist terrorism or die in droves for it. Period.
The only thing worse than finding out about the bombing was logging onto the net this morning and finding out that you've lived down to my expectations and decided to blame Al Qaeda's victims once again.
The Peshmerga militia has already done a hell of a lot more in the war on terror than you ever will.
Scrape off the thin sheen of anti-islamic prejudice, and all that's left is that you're providing moral support for al Qaeda's massacres.
Hamas security forces and members of the Doghmush clan traded rifle and grenade fire west of Gaza City on Tuesday. Hamas said in a cryptic statement that its forces came under fire while on a mission in the area. The Doghmushes said the fighting began after Hamas came to collect some protection money arrest a clansman and confiscate his car. Ahab Ghussen, a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza, told The Associated Press that seucrity forces had surrounded a house in which several clansmen had holed up. "We will not return to the era of chaos," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Sounds like the Executive Force boys got their asses kicked...
Gaza - Ma'an A member of the Executive Force was killed and other eight were injured during clashes between the Executive Force and a family in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The dead man has been named as twenty-three-year-old Mohammad Mousa Joundeyah.
The Executive Force confirmed that one of their men was killed near Tel Hui neighbourhood south of Gaza City.
The deputy spokesman for the force, Saber Khalifa told Ma'an that the Executive Force was carrying out exercises in the southern Gaza Strip when they came under attack.
Khalifa added that the Executive Force has surrounded the area where the incident occurred searching for the attacker.
PCHR's preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 16:45 on Tuesday, 14 August 2007, members of the Executive Force entered Sabra Quarter in Gaza City to detain a member of the Doghmush clan suspected of car theft. Immediately, members of the clan fired at the Force members, which resulted in the eruption of clashes between both sides in the area. Guns and rockets were used in the clashes, which continued on and off till 2:00 the following day. The clashes resulted in the killing of 2 members of the Executive Force: Mohammad Mousa Jondeyya (30) and Khaled Khader Saad (28). Seven others were injured, including 5 members of the Force, a woman inside her house, and a member of the Doghmush clan. In addition, several houses were damaged in the area.
IDF infantry backed by tanks and aircraft raided a village in the southern Gaza Strip before dawn on Tuesday, sparking fierce clashes in which 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed. Islamic Jihad said six of its members were killed by an IAF strike in Khan Yunis, and Hamas said two of its gunmen were killed in battles with IDF ground troops. A third Hamas gunmen was reportedly killed by an air strike late Tuesday evening.
A soldier was lightly wounded in the heavy exchanges of gunfire that lasted throughout the day. He was evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba for treatment. Palestinian hospital officials reported two civilians were killed in the fighting, including the 70-year-old mother of one of the Hamas fatalities. The medical officials said that at least eight gunmen and seven civilians were wounded. Two more gunmen died in the combat, according to witnesses.
Soldiers who took part in Tuesday's fighting reportedly said Hamas's gunmen were better armed than in the past and were equipped with radios, and seemed to operate according to a distinctive command hierarchy, using tactics that reminded the IDF soldiers of methods used by Hizbullah.
The IDF withdrew from the area under the cover of darkness, bringing a day of pitched battles to an end. Separately, four Gazans succeeded in infiltrating into Israel on Tuesday morning, the second such incident in as many days. After extensive searches, the four suspects were apprehended and were being questioned by security forces.
In the raid east of Khan Yunis, soldiers searched numerous homes, finding explosive belts and ammunition, as well as several antitank missiles and explosives primed with detonators, Army Radio reported. All local males above the age of 16 were rounded up and questioned, according to the report. Some will be released while rest will be arrested and brought to Israel for further interrogation.
The IAF confirmed hits on four different groups of men armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers who approached the area where soldiers were conducting the arrest raids, IDF officials said. Palestinian witnesses told Arab media outlets that Israeli sniper and tank machine-gun fire was targeting gunmen and medical personnel who were attempting to reach the village from Khan Yunis to the west.
IDF officials said the "pinpoint" incursion was the latest in a string of operations meant to "negate terror threats in the area." An IDF representative said soldiers entered the area to search for a network of tunnels and to strike at the terrorist organizations ability to fire Kassam rockets and mortar shells.
An official in the Southern Command said troops witnessed instances during Tuesday's fighting in which Palestinian gunmen used civilians as human shields. "We regret the injuries to civilians. We have no desire to harm innocent individuals," the officials said. "It is the terrorists who were responsible for their cynical use of civilians as cover."
Meanwhile, a Kassam rocket fired from the northern Gaza Strip damaged a greenhouse in Sderot on Tuesday afternoon. Two more rockets landed near the central Gaza security fence in the evening without causing damage, the IDF confirmed. No injuries from those attacks were reported.
A military source said the terrorists might step up their efforts to fire rockets, as they have done during previous IDF incursions into the coastal strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad
#1
including the 70-year-old mother of one of the Hamas fatalities.
Terrorists Separatist militants have killed two more Muslim civilians in the south of Thailand, police said on Wednesday, while a suspected rebel was shot dead as he tried to set fire to a school.
A 26-year-old man was shot dead on Tuesday evening in Narathiwat, one of three Muslim-majority provinces hit by the terrorist separatist bloodshed. Two of his friends were seriously injured in the attack, local police said. Later that night in Yala province, a 56-year-old was stabbed to death at his rubber plantation, taking the death toll for Tuesday up to seven. A spate of shootings and a bombing earlier in the day had killed five.
Overnight, terrorists militants staged a series of acts of arson and sabotage across Pattani province, placing logs and spikes on the roads and setting fire to schools, phone booths and a local government building.
Lieutenant Colonel Pathom Thammasek, a local chief investigator, said that one suspected terrorist militant was killed in the unrest early on Wednesday. "He entered Ban Fang school with equipment ready to set a fire, then a defence volunteer (soldier) shot him," Pathom told AFP by telephone.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday hinted her administration might grant the demand of Muslim rebels Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the return of their claimed "ancestral domain" when peace negotiations between the government and the rebel group resumes.
Arroyo made the announcement during the 16th anniversary of the Federation of Philippine Industries where she downplayed public fears of returning ancestral domain to the MILF in southern Philippines. She said, "We have declared many ancestral domain regimes among indigenous peoples, I really don't see why anybody should be scared if an ancestral domain is declared for the Muslim people."
After all, it's the 17,498th most holy site in all Islam.
#2
Over time the Radicalists will begin to demand that Christian and other non-Muslim churches-bodies limit their hours of attendance, then stop worship services altogether - WILL HAPPEN IN GUAM ALSO IFF RADICAL ISLAMISTS/XTREMISTS EVER GET A LT FOOTHOLD HERE.
#4
"We have declared many ancestral domain regimes among indigenous peoples, I really don't see why anybody should be scared if an ancestral domain is declared for the Muslim people."
#5
Won't work, Gloria. Appeasement never works. You give an inch and they'll want a mile. The Indians gave the muslims Pakistan. You might have thought they would be satisfied but, no. Now they want Kashmir. And if they ever get Kashmir they'll want something else. The only way to stop the terrorism is to kill the terrorists.
#6
The only way to stop the Islamists terrorism is to kill the Mohammedans terrorists.
That's better.
Posted by: Natural Law ||
08/15/2007 13:40 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Give them their islands and then blockade them to make sure they never leave. Make sure they have no contaminating Western cultural items such as electricity, antibiotics, vaccines, gasoline, fuel oil, etc.
Nasrallah said he is interested in achieving a balance of power with Israel, and therefore decided to declare that Hezbollah has the capability to strike anywhere in Israel. [note: he did not say 'destroy Israel'- like he has in the past - perhaps he is ticked at Iran for not sending all the loot they promised].
Nasrallah did not personally attend the rally still afraid of assasination. His speech was relayed to the crowd on giant screens set up in a stadium and on top of buildings in the southern suburbs.
Nasrallah said the United States and Israel tried to split the Lebanese along sectarian lines and to describe the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah as a terrorist group in order to weaken it during the 34-day war. "They told [the Lebanese] that Hezbollah is an Iranian and Syrian tool," Nasrallah said.
And they were right!
[I guess he is ticked at Syria too]
"The most serious accusation was the sectarian issue. They told the Christians that the fighting was with a Muslim group and that it has nothing to do with you. They told Sunni Muslims that the fighting was with a Shiite group and was targeting the Shiite project [in the region]," Nasrallah said.
Tens of thousands of people big deal= last year he had 500k people attend rallies attended the rally, carrying pictures of Nasrallah and placards that read "August 14 - the day of victory over the Zionist regime."
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.
A Polish soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, becoming the country's first fatality since it joined the Nato-led force there in March 2002. Second Lieutenant Lukasz Kurowski was fatally wounded during an attack on a convoy by suspected Taleban insurgents. 
A suicide truck bomber struck a strategic bridge outside Baghdad on Tuesday, sending vehicles plunging into the river and killing at least 10 people in the second attack on the span in three months, police said. The attack came as 16,000 US and Iraqi troops began a new operation north of the Iraqi capital targeting insurgents who have fled a crackdown in the restive city of Baqouba, the military said Tuesday. 
At least 175 people have been killed in a series of suicide bomb attacks in northern Iraq, Iraq's military says. 
Hamas security forces and members of the Doghmush clan traded rifle and grenade fire west of Gaza City on Tuesday. Hamas said in a cryptic statement that its forces came under fire while on a mission in the area. The Doghmushes said the fighting began after Hamas came to 
IDF infantry backed by tanks and aircraft raided a village in the southern Gaza Strip before dawn on Tuesday, sparking fierce clashes in which 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed. Islamic Jihad said six of its members were killed by an IAF strike in Khan Yunis, and Hamas said two of its gunmen were killed in battles with IDF ground troops. A third Hamas gunmen was reportedly killed by an air strike late Tuesday evening. 
